|
“If this little volume does not proceed from Tauler himself, it proceeds from one of that remarkable group of German mystics—‘Friends of God,’ as they called themselves, amongst whom the great Dominican preacher of Strasburg lived and worked. The contents of the little book, notwithstanding its forms and repetitions, are full of value. Therefore we may well say in this case with the Imitation,—which itself, also, issued from the deep religious movement felt in the Germanic lands along the Rhine in the fourteenth century—‘Ask not who wrote it, but attend to what it says.’ Mr. Morell’s translation is on the whole a sound and good one, with the signal merit of reproducing the plain and earnest tone characteristic of the original. * * * * * * * “The reader will recognise the strain of homage which from age to age successive generations of mystics have ever loved to uplift to ‘the eternal word’! I will not say that it is entirely satisfying, but at least it is always refreshing, consoling, and ennobling. Whoever turns to the little volume which Mr. Morell has translated, will find plenty in this strain to give him refreshment. But he will find more than this. He will find sentences fitted to abide in the memory, to be a possession for the mind and soul, to form the character.” MATTHEW ARNOLD (In the Nineteenth Century). |
First Edition, 1886
Second Impression, 1910
TAULER is by no means unknown to English readers, not only of the Catholic Church. Translations of many of his sermons have appeared as early as 1857, together with a Life of Tauler and a Preface by the Rev. Charles Kingsley.
For many interesting particulars relating to the great German Dominican of the fourteenth century we refer the reader to the work in question—“The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler of Strasburg, with twenty-five of his Sermons, translated by Susanna Winkworth, and a Preface by the Rev. Charles Kingsley.” This book is very readable, though recent researches, and especially those of Dr. Denifle, have corrected certain erroneous views associated with it.
Anything the translator of the present work
can say in praise of the high spirituality and
acute intellectual power of Tauler would be
The “Following of Christ” appears to contain many of the special features and excellences of the great Dominican; and being almost entirely apart from any doctrinal, controversial, and formal questions, will commend itself as a book of great edification to a large number of Christians.
Many indeed will take exception to the spirit and tone of his teaching, which is diametrically contrary to, and condemnatory of, the spirit of the world at all times, and especially in our time.
But it is interesting to note that his exaltation of eternal views, and a life centred in
them, to the depreciation of time and temporals, is a feature that Tauler shares not only
with the most eminent Churchmen, He supports his principles primarily by Holy
Writ, and secondly by the Fathers, but chiefly St.
Austin, St. Gregory the Great, and St. Bernard. Compare many passages of Epictetus, Seneca,
and Marcus Aurelius.
Passing to his method and language, I
have to remark that the editions I have
used are one in the original Middle High
The form of the original Middle High German is peculiarly quaint and muscular, and has suffered considerable softening in the modern German edition. That of 1670 has retained much of the original strength.
In the preface to the latter we read thus: “The ‘Following of Christ’ was first printed at Tübingen in 1621, by Herrn Christophorum Besoldum, J. V. D., and Professor. In the title-page it is stated that this edition of 1621 was printed from a copy one hundred and seventy years old, and thus it has been faithfully, without falsifying, and word for word reprinted.” Comparing this edition with the older Middle High German, reprinted at Frankfort in 1833, I am of opinion that the statement is correct, as the two editions agree in almost every respect. Dr. Denifle’s edition has, however, afforded a different reading of certain passages, resulting from a careful comparison of all the known existing MSS. of the work.
It is further stated in the Frankfort edition I have adopted that division of chapters, which
seemed most convenient on a comparison of the
three earlier editions, which, however, only differ
slightly.
While treating of editions it may be added that the “Following of Christ” was translated into Latin by Laurentio Surio, a well-known Carthusian monk.
With regard to Tauler’s method, it is interesting to note how the scholastic influence,
and especially that of St. Thomas Aquinas,
had imprinted itself on the mind of the writer,
who moreover shows a considerable acquaintance with the philosophers of classical antiquity, He often describes these as teachers. The passages are naturally differently translated from versions that had not then appeared,
but the sense is the same. “We give the chapter
and verse in each case. With regard to the circulation of the Bible, in modern versions, during the
fifteenth century, see “Geschichte des Deutschen
Volkes,” by J. Janssen (1883), vol. i. p. 51.
Tauler divides his argument invariably
With regard to the language of the translation, it has appeared right and necessary to adopt much of the terseness and strength of the English of our early version in order to convey a proper idea of Tauler’s expressions. To fritter him down to the dulcet style of Gibbon, or even the polished propriety of Macaulay, would have been incongruous and unseemly.
It has been necessary to employ terms which, to modern readers and thinkers, may present some difficulty, but a little consideration is sufficient to explain the writer’s line of thought.
In speaking of the natural reason of man
he often styles it “Bescheidenheit,” or the
power of discretion, which corresponds to
the Greek ἠγεμεονικόν of the Stoics. In one
place he uses the term synteresis for the
highest power of the mind, the term meaning the power of preservation. συντήρησις
The objects presented to these faculties are styled images and forms, by which he evidently describes what in modern philosophy are termed representations, ideas, and conceptions (Anschauungen, Vorstellungen, Ideen, und Begriffe). With this explanation his meaning will become sufficiently clear.
It may be added that Tauler belonged to a great school of spiritual writers nourishing in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in Germany and Holland, and including Thomas à Kempis, Süss, Ruysbrock, Seuse, and others. His writings have been commended by many Lutherans, though some of his sentiments were combated by Beza, who naturally, as a Calvinist, had objections to the great stress he lays on charity. Even John Eckius describes him as circa fidem suspectum. But this view was entirely confuted by Ludovicus Blosius.
From the middle of the thirteenth century
two Orders in the Church, the Franciscans
and the Dominicans, were chiefly instrumental
in giving a rapid development to German
prose, raising it to a position equal to that of
the admirable early poetry of the Nibelungen
Lied and the Minnesingers. After the middle
Most of the great Mystics issued from that
Order in Germany, and had for nearly a century so great an influence that they almost
effaced the poetry of the time. It is with
reason that these thinkers have been called
the sires of German speculation; for in them
we trace the origin of an independent German
philosophy, nay, the germs of many celebrated
systems developed five centuries later on, in
some cases fully outspoken in these early
thinkers. Of these men, Eckhart, Seuse, and
Tauler are the most striking individualities,
and their writings, as well as those of Hermann von Fritzlar, Nicolaus von Strassburg,
and David von Augsburg, are well entitled to
careful study, and are now accessible to the
student of Middle High German by the
assiduous labours of modern critics. Deutsche Mystiker des 14ten Jahrhunderts,
herausgegeben von F. Pfeiffer (Leipzig, 1845-57);
Die Deutsche Mystiker des 14ten Jahrhunderts,
von Bischof Greith. 1861.
“The Following of the Poor Life of Christ,
or the Book of Spiritual Poverty,” as Denifle
would have it called, was presented to the
German world in a perfect form by that able
critic after a careful study and comparison of
the best MSS. in the Leipzig, Munich, St.
Gallen, and other collections. Denifle enumerates the
following MSS.:— 1. A. At the Leipzig University Library, No. 560,
on parchment. Date 1429. 2. B. Graz, private property, derived from the
Convent of Hasslach, on paper. Date 1434. 3. C. St. Gallen, Stiffs Library. Paper, fifteenth
century (No. 962). 4. D a-f. Munich, Hof Library. Paper, fifteenth
century. 4-9. Six MSS. Dates 1443, 1455, sixteenth
century, 1477, sixteenth century, and fifteenth century, Nos. 263, 781, 782, 783, 4306, and 4415. Denifle made principal use of A. in his edition (1877).
But I have added the division and headings of Denifle’s edition for comparison, and I have largely used his valuable notes in the Preface and Appendix.
Though differing from him in his view of the author and of the work, I readily admit our large debt of gratitude to him for his patient studies and admirable edition which, with its beautiful text and learned annotations, has been of the greatest service to me in the arduous labour of translation.
Though Denifle is inclined to dispute the
authorship of the “Following” by Tauler, he
gives the work a high antiquity (the fourteenth century), and admits that it was
largely quoted by the Provincial of the Franciscans, Marcus of Lindau, about that time. Provincial of the Strassburg Franciscan Province, died August 15, 1392, used extensively the
“Following” in his book on the Ten Commandments (Introduction to Denifle’s edition, p. lii.)
He further admits that the work has much merit and many passages equal to anything to be found in the mystical writers.
At page liii. of his Introduction he says:—“Let it not be inferred from our representations that all teachings in this work are
exaggerated and erroneous. Such a conclusion would not be just. Especially the sections on the Passion of Christ belong to the
It is very natural to find a member of the Mendicant Orders, when they were still in the early energy of the movement, stand forth as a powerful expositor of the great principle involved in it. But I propose to show how strongly the best Catholic commentators on the New Testament endorse the conditions of perfection held forth in this book.
Thus basing my argument on far higher and more conclusive authority, I hope to establish that this work is worthy of the great name of Tauler.
The passage of Scripture most frequently
recurring in the “Following,” and forming
the master theme of the work, occurs in
I shall now compare the view of this passage in the two great Catholic commentators with that taken by the author of the “Following.”
J. Maldonatus (Comment, in Matt., c. xix.,
p. 409, v. 24, Moguntiae, 1602), says: . . . “Apostoli mirabantur quasi nimis dura esset
ac severa sententia; respondit Christus, eam,
Cornelius a Lapide (Comment, in Matt., c. xix., pp. 265-267; Venetiis, 1761, v. 21-23), has: . . . “Tum quia cupido divitiarum facit eus coacervari per fas et nefas; tum quia eadem ita mentem auro alligat ut nequeat cogitare de coelo; tum quia divitiae sunt materia et stimulus ad superbiam, gulam, luxuriam, omniaque scelera.” “Et iterum Christus enim adaugendo quasi corrigit id quod dixit.” Dixi difficile esse divitem salvari; nunc addo quod amplius est, facilius esse camelum . . . Quemlibet divitem accipias.
“Rursum impossibile hie proprie capias;
nam divitem salvari impossibile est apud
homines (p. 267).—Humanae naturae viribus
After this survey by those who accept Christian and Catholic teaching, it must be admitted that the argument of the “Following,” with reference to the condition of perfection, is founded on the words of Christ, as they are explained by the most competent and approved commentators of the Church.
It has appeared to us useful to show that the teachings in the “Following” are, in many cases, conformable with those of the Mystics of the fourteenth century, and with previous saints and doctors of the Church. But it would be as absurd to deny the author’s originality on this account, as to represent that Schelling and Hegel copied all their views from Fichte and Kant, or that Brown was a plagiarist of Dugald Stewart and Reid.
On the Doctrine of Poverty, in No. 9, p. 7, Part I., &c., and throughout the “Following,” compare Nicolaus von Strassburg in Pfeiffer’s edition, Die Deutsche Mystiker, Predigten (p. 301):
“We are on the way to the kingdom of
heaven, and are always waiting for the end
Again, at p. 314, “The seven Rules of Virtue:” “The third rule is that the spiritual man do sparingly use the things that
are of the world, as far as his necessity
alloweth in food, and clothing, and house,
and all things. Our Lord Jesus Christ teacheth us this rule, who would not have so
much from the world, as even where to lay
His head. . . . The more sparingly a man
useth the world’s goods and its lusts, the
more readily he flieth to the height of the
heavenly kingdom. . . . We have high to
climb into the heavenly kingdom. . . . But
whoso overloadeth himself with a heavy
“Seneca saith: ‘If two words were not in the world, men would live in concord without any war: these words are “mine and thine.”’ These words were not in Christendom at first, where all earthly things were in common to them, but to each as his necessity required, not according to caprice and lust. Therefore they lived together in concord as if they had only one heart and one soul. This was to us a pattern of peace and Christian perfection.”
On the doctrine of essential virtue (Following, Part I. No. 7, p. 5; Part II. No. 72, p. 241), &c., see Eckhart (Pfeiffer’s edition), 524, 12; 571, 3, &c.
On suffering in God, see Eckhart (op. cit.) 4, 8; 6, 34; 8, 1; 16, 1; 15, 24; 23, 28, &c.
Respecting the drawing in of the powers
(the lower powers into the higher), op. cit., 3,
If God speaks creatures must hush, op. cit.; 36, 30.
God worketh in the highest union the works of the soul, which is, as it were, an instrument, op. cit., 127, 34; 402, 32; 515, 36; 526, 2 (Part II. No. 95, p. 272).
The spirit becomes divinised, or has a godlike form; op. cit., 156, 5; 161, 26; 240, 14; 643, 19, 38 (Part II. No. 37, p. 193).
Man loses his name in this state (Part II. No. 37, p. 193), (op. cit.) 387, 12; 503, 4; 513, 20.
The comparison of the sun and moon occurs (op. cit.), 505, 5; 509, 18 (Following, Part I. No. 148, p. 128).
The soul becomes, from knowing, knowingless; from loving, loveless; op. cit., 491, 8; 504, 36; 509, 14 (Following, Part II. No. 20, p. 171).
The spirit loses itself in God, so that it knows nothing but God; see op. cit., 519, 25. Even Dionys. in his De Mystica Theolog., c. 1, § 3, says of the νοῦς . . πᾶς ὤν τοῦ πάντων ἐπέκεινα καὶ οὐδενὸς οὔτε έαυτοῦ οὔτε ἑτέρου τῶ παντελῶς δὲ ἀγεώστω . . ἐνοουμενός.
St. Bernard teaches: “Mens . . . quodammodo se sibi furatur, immo rapitur atque
elabitnr a seipsa, ut verbo fruatur.” (In Cant.
Cod. Einsidl., No. 278, translates this passage thus: Book 7—compare c. 9, p. 318: “A semetipsa penitus deficit.”
David of Augsburg (De septem processibus religiosi, c. 1 5) explains: “Haec est hominis in vita sublimior perfectio ita uniri Deo ut tota anima cum omnibus potentiis suis et viribus in Deum collecta unus spiritus fiat cum eo, nihil meminerit nisi Deum, nihil sentiat et intelligat nisi Deum.”
Albert, M. (De adhaerendo Deo, c. 6): “Et sic transformatur quodammodo in Deum, quod nec cogitare nec intelligere nec amare nec memorari potest nisi Deum pariter et de Deo.” Therefore, says Seuse in his little book, of Truth (c. 6, p. 277, 3 edit, of Diepenbr.), the spirit loses itself in God.
The teaching that a man can scarcely fall after this elevation, is found in Eckhart, op. cit., 10. 14 (Part II. No. 103, p. 280).
The doctrine that accidental reward attaches to external works, but essential reward attaches to merit, as it has its excellence from love or charity, is the ordinary Catholic teaching, and a quotation from St. Thomas suffices to show this:
“Labor exterior operatur ad augmentum
proemii accidentalis; sed augmentum meriti
respectu proemii essentialis consistit principaliter in charitate.” (2, 2, qu. 182, a. 2, ad
1.
Comp. 4 dist. 49, qu. 5, a. 1, ad. 3; in Ep. ad
The doctrine of the communion of good works (Part I. No. 44, p. 34), in which Schmidt (op. cit. p. 131) sees a suppression of all differences, of all diversity in the spirit that has gone out of itself in union with God, is also the Catholic doctrine. Like the Mystics, St. Thomas also traces back this communion to love working in the Mystical Body of Christ: “Illud quod unus videtur specialiter haberi inter homines, quodammodo omnes communiter habent, in quantum se per charitatem perfectam unusquisque bonum alterius suum reputat.” (1 c. e Libro in Sent. ad 4.)
Peter Blesensis says of the communio
sanctorum in heaven: “Bonum; quod in
Deo vel in proximo diligam, diligendo faciam meum. (Maxima Bibliotheca,
P. P. tom.
Denifle affirms that the great matter of the perfection of the will (Part II. No. 51, p. 214) is an older teaching than the Mystics. Compare St. Thomas, 2, 2, qu. 81, a. 6 ad 1.): “Laus virtutis in voluntate consistit, non autem in potestate, et ideo deficere ab aequalitate, quae est medium justitiae propter defectum potestatis non diminuit laudem virtutis, si non fuerit defectus ex parte voluntatis.”
Hugo of St. Victor (De sacram. lib. 2, p. 14,
c. 6, p. 498, ed. Mog. 1618): “Totum meritum voluntate est. Quantum vis, tantum
mereris”—provided, as he explains, the will,
without any fault on its part, is unable to
come to work. (St. Thomas, 1, 2, qu. 20, a. 4
in fine.) This doctrine is, moreover, found
in
THIS Book teacheth how a man should follow the poor life of our Lord Jesu Christ, and how a man should live inwardly, and how he should come to right true perfection, and teacheth sundry lovely differences of godly truth.
| No. | |
In the first place, this book teacheth how poverty is a (state of) being withdrawn (detached) from all creatures |
|
What is a poor man’s holding, since he holdeth to nothing, and yet all things hold to something |
|
How some folk say this is the highest poverty and detachment, that a man be as when he was nothing |
|
How man ought to know and love God |
|
What man’s knowledge is |
|
What use there is in a man’s having in him a rational distinction in images and forms, since with them he cannot be saved (or blessed). To this it is answered that distinction is useful for right poverty in four ways |
|
If man should be also poor in graces and virtues |
|
If a man can have virtue essentially who has his bodily necessity, and yet inwardly doth not possess it as property |
|
What chance or accident is |
|
If the favour of creatures hindereth poverty |
|
Rich folk cannot have a thorough love and truth to a right poor man; this be proved by eight matters |
|
|
In the next place, how true poverty is a free capacity or power (vermögen). |
|
A question, What is freedom? |
|
If freedom is hindered when a man giveth himself up into obedience to another man, and how in three ways a man letteth himself to another |
|
It is not necessary that a right perfect man, who hath become empty of himself and of all things, should let himself to another for the sake of four things |
|
How a poor man should hold himself in lawful matters |
|
A poor man may let himself in three wise |
|
If a poor man should at all times take heed of his heart, and never cumber himself with outward things |
|
How shall we understand if the impulse to outward works of love be from the evil spirit, or from nature, or from God |
|
Through four matters shall a man know if the impulse to outward works of love is from the evil spirit |
|
Through three matters a man should know if the impulse to outward works be of nature |
|
Through three matters shall a man know if the impulse to outward works of love be from God |
|
Distinction between godly freedom and subordinate freedom |
|
Of two kinds of subordinate freedom |
|
|
In the third place, how true poverty is a pure working. |
|
How what is called pure is when a thing is one and separate from the manifold or mixed |
|
How working is to make something out of nothing, or of one thing another or better than it was before, and out of something nothing |
|
Of how working can be in poverty, since it is a pure being |
|
In man is a natural work, a work of grace and a godly work. In the first place— |
|
How three kinds of work are in man, bodily, sensual, and spiritual |
|
How natural knowledge is to be attributed and not attributed |
|
What difference there is between knowledge natural, of grace and godly |
|
A natural man is to be known by three things |
|
This natural understanding is useful to a man to come to a complete detachment from himself and all things |
|
Secondly, of the work and knowledge of grace. |
|
How Holy Scripture is understood fundamentally through divine grace |
|
Through the knowledge of grace is also understood the distinction of virtue and what is unvirtuous (vice) |
|
Through grace also man knows his sins |
|
Through grace a man knoweth the injury that lieth in sin |
|
How not nature but the badness in nature ought to be blamed |
|
Through grace each sin is known in its degree and how it is called |
|
Through grace the distinction of spirits is known, for there are four kinds of spirit that speak in man |
|
Secondly, how the natural spirit speaketh in man |
|
What distinction there is between natural and divine truth |
|
If divine truth can be known without images |
|
In the third place, how the angelic spirit speaketh in man |
|
If a true repentance hath all virtue |
|
How many men guard against sins, and yet have not all virtues |
|
How man should not drive out the images and forms of the angel if he hath need of them |
|
Distinction between natural, angelic, and devilish images |
|
Since a right poor man is raised above all creatures in God, how can he then tarry at the images of the angel or of another creature |
|
In the fourth place, how the Divine Spirit speaketh in man |
|
Three things make a friend |
|
How some men say, If they knew the dearest will of God they would fulfil it, and how they say untruth in this |
|
Since no accident or defective quality can attach to God, how then can He hate sin? |
|
How it is the noblest gift that a man can give, that he give himself |
|
Threefold use lieth in this, that man getteth his temporal good through God |
|
If a man can be perfect, who keepeth his necessity from without, and yet holdeth all things to be nothing for the love of God |
|
How the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh |
|
Why Christ said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, as you cannot be perfect without poverty of temporal things? |
|
In the third place. Of the godly work and of three kinds of men. |
|
Some keep their necessity from without, but are empty (of all earthly desire), and leave themselves to God inwardly; others leave temporal good outwardly for God’s sake, and yet remain coarse and unenlightened inwardly, and these two classes war (contend) with one another, and each of these think it is right; the third leave all things outwardly and inwardly through God, and look inwardly what God will have of them; with this they are satisfied, and they dispute with no one |
|
What the work of God is in souls |
|
Whoso followeth Christ as He went before us becometh one spirit with God |
|
How Christ hath two kinds of work in Him, and which work we ought to follow |
|
That we follow Christ as close as we can on earth, maketh us near to God in the kingdom of heaven |
|
By two kinds of work a man draweth nigh the aim, that is Christ—one is internal,
|
|
The first aim that man ought to have internally is to see his own defects, and how he may he free of them |
|
The second object that a man ought to have internally is the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ |
|
Whoso will know and seek godly truth, he findeth them nowhere else than in the Passion of Jesu Christ |
|
Of a bodily heaven that is over us, and of a spiritual heaven that is in us, and that is the essential being of the soul in which God dwelleth |
|
The third object that man ought to have in his internal work that he may come to the right aim, that is God in His simple divinity |
|
Of the external work that man may draw nigh the right aim, that is Christ |
|
|
The Spirit of God speaketh in man without image and form, life, light, and truth. |
|
In the first place, the Spirit of God speaketh life in man |
|
Why sermons should be heard, since the highest happiness of man lies in this, that he hear the eternal Word in himself |
|
When man has heard the word of the Teacher, or hath exercised himself in other virtues, he should turn inwardly and perceive the eternal Word in himself, and he ought to drive out violently what hindereth him in this |
|
How God the Father speaketh His Word in the being or essence of the soul, and is the Teacher in the powers of the soul |
|
The other way that the Spirit of God speaketh in the soul is light |
|
What light can the soul receive since she is herself light, as she hath sundered herself from all grossness |
|
If the soul is to receive the divine light she must turn to it |
|
Man must exceed the righteousness of the hypocrites and scribes if he is to be enlightened with the divine light |
|
Whereby a man can know the distinction between natural and divine light |
|
How several men have not much divine influence (or influx), and yet their soul is not on that account dead |
|
The divine sun begetteth the fish in the water, the beast on the earth, the bird in the air, the phoenix in the fire, and many hidden secret things that God only knoweth |
|
The third thing that God speaketh in the understanding of man, without image or form, is truth, and how the understanding of man is likened unto lust |
|
What a perfect will is, whereof the works and virtue are essential. |
|
How the will is movable if it turneth to the creature, and immovable if it turneth to God |
|
What an essential work is |
|
How the will given up to God is immovable and yet always advanceth (runneth) in God |
|
How the will of man ought to be immovable, but yet he turneth to this and to that as long as man is in time |
|
What a man’s own self-will is, and what a resigned will is |
|
How there are several men, who have their necessity, and yet inwardly hold nothing as property, and thereby they think that they are empty of their own will |
|
How man possesseth himself in spiritual things in a twofold manner |
|
If it be better that a man should take heed of his heart inwardly, or that he should cumber himself with external matters |
165-168 |
If it be good or not that a man should give himself up to the authority of another, since the lights shining into him are various |
|
If you should always follow the teaching of an exemplary man |
|
In two things man should understand if he is touched by God |
|
The other part of this little Book teacheth how a man can come by four means to a perfectly poor life. |
|
|
In the first place, the teaching and the life of our Lord Jesus Christ impel a man to a poor life. |
|
A man must deny himself in four things if he wisheth to follow Christ |
|
In the first place, man should kill sins in himself by virtues |
|
How a man is to know if he have all virtues |
|
If a man can have all virtue so that he need no more |
|
In the second place, man must overcome and kill in himself the love of creatures with a poor life |
|
In the third place, man must overcome bodily lust and kill it with continual internal contemplation of the Passion of our Lord Jesu Christ |
|
Of the fruit of the Passion of our Lord Jesu Christ |
|
How the men, who contemplate the Passion of Christ internally, from the hot hunger which they have for God, run to the Holy Sacrament of the Body of our Lord that they may be satisfied |
|
They who contemplate internally the Passion of Christ with a steady earnestness, they are so overflowed by divine love that they would have nothing of self, either internally or externally, and will also love God with their whole heart, with their whole soul, with all their might, and all their mind |
|
Since divine love binds the mind so that it becomes powerless over itself, it might be said that in this way the freedom of the will is taken away from man |
|
In the fourth place, if man wisheth to follow Christ, he must leave himself and kill in himself all spiritual and natural lust which subsists in images and forms that are created. He must do this through the inspeaking of the eternal Word, that God the Father speaketh in the ground of the soul |
|
Of an indwelling work and of an outflowing work of God |
|
What use it is that man should work, since with his works he cannot come to God |
|
Whereby a man shall know if his work is of himself or of God |
|
God worketh two kinds of work in the soul, a work of grace and an essential work |
|
In the second place, perfection of virtue driveth a man to a poor life. |
|
If a man is weak by nature and keepeth the thing he needeth for his necessity, if that something hindereth perfection |
|
In the third place, this ought to drive man to a poor life, that he may die to himself and to all creatures, and God alone may live in him. |
|
How a poor man must always die, since he sometimes appeareth quite cheerful with other men |
|
Whoso wisheth to be blessed (saved) must always die, on account of two things |
|
Five uses are found in this that a man must always die |
|
If no one can come to this, that he fundamentally dieth, without external poverty |
|
In the fourth place, the perfection of a contemplative life should impel a man to a poor life. |
|
If rich folk can also be bound with the bond of divine love, and if they can also have a contemplative life |
|
How many men say, If our Lord were still on earth, He would not bid me leave all things externally, for it may be it doth not belong to me to do |
|
Rich folk, who have not divine love, work from two kinds of love, from natural love, and from the love of grace |
|
Eight uses lie in a contemplative life |
|
If all those are contemplative men who give themselves to a poor life |
|
Since a poor life and a contemplative life both stand in emptiness of all works, and in a pure suffering God to act, how can they then have works? |
|
Four ways lead a man to a poor, perfect, contemplative life, seeing God inwardly. The first way is, that a man have a perfect will to give up all that is against God, that is not a matter of God and that is not solely God, and thereby you obtain all virtue. |
|
To the man who hath obtained all virtue it is easy to turn inwards, and he can well wait in fasting, and hath also the greatest joy from within; and whoso hath not all virtue, he also hath not this |
|
How can good people rejoice in this time since our Lord saith, Happy are they that weep and are troubled |
|
The other way which leadeth a man into a poor, perfect, contemplative life, is, that man steppeth in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ and followeth Him. |
|
In two ways you should go through the humanity of Christ into His divinity. In the first place, man should clothe his outer man with the outer image of our Lord |
|
Secondly, you should go through the humanity into His divinity, by man clothing himself inwardly with continual contemplation of the work and of the Passion of our Lord |
|
How the natural light of the heathen was as |
|
How the will of man is perfected and united with God in the contemplation of the Passion of Christ |
|
What is the treasure hidden in the field, and how it shall be found, and wherewith it may be bought |
|
Whoso were to know what noble fruit grows on the field of the Passion of our Lord, he would make a trench round the field, and would build a tower and sit in it, and would make a winepress in it; and what this trench and this tower and this winepress are; and on the field stand wine and corn, summer and winter; nor can the hail destroy it, nor the frost freeze it up |
|
How God compelleth the will of man by the Passion of Christ, and maketh it at once subject to Him, and maketh a man free of himself |
|
By six signs shall a man know if his will is overcome by God |
|
If a man satisfieth in all that God willeth to have from him, then God must satisfy him in what he willeth |
|
How a perfect will doeth as much with one good work, as an imperfect will with many good works |
|
How the highest power of the soul, which is called synteresis, is also brought to its highest nobility in the Passion of Christ |
|
Whoso cumbereth himself and considereth the most about the Passion of Christ, he is the most blessed and the likest Christ |
|
Whoso adhereth to Christ and considereth His Passion, can be as little abandoned by God as the Son can be abandoned by the Father |
|
What is the cause why God letteth sinners live, and slew them more swiftly under the Old Law |
|
How the friends of God remain unknown by other men, who are not like unto them, on account of seven things |
|
How it is the highest wisdom that a man can have, that he should know good men, and whoso winneth the grace that is in Christ, to him all that is intermediate vanisheth, so that all things become known to him without medium |
|
The third way of a poor, perfect life, when you contemplate God internally, is, that a man do not fly from what may kill him in spiritual things. |
|
The man who shall be ready for a poor perfect life, wherein you see God internally, must endure all judgments that fall upon him, and should omit no true virtue for the sake of any judgment |
|
If man can give no cause of falling to his fellow-man by any kind of virtue |
|
A work of love hath four rules by which it should be worked |
|
Whoso wisheth to receive the Lord worthily in the Blessed Sacrament, must be like unto Him as far as can be |
|
The man who shall be ready for a poor, perfect life, wherein you see God internally, must suffer all contradictions through God, and how sufferings are very profitable to man |
|
If the suffering that a man inflicteth on himself is better, or that which others inflict upon him, or that God layeth upon him |
|
If it be better that a man do not seek for |
|
How suffering is like unto a press with which wine is pressed |
|
How good people may always be cheerful, since our Lord saith, My soul is sorrowful, even unto death |
|
How good people may alway have joy, since our Lord curseth them who rejoiced in their time |
|
Since good folk alway rejoice, what suffering can they then have, since joy and sorrow do not consist very well together? |
|
How a true friend of God alway suffereth in a fourfold way |
|
First, he suffereth in the works |
|
Secondly, man suffereth in the will |
|
How the will may love God, according to His eternal existence, since he cannot know Him according to His eternal entity. But what a man doth not know he also cannot love? |
|
In the third place, man suffereth in the spirit |
|
In fivefold ways the spirit of a righteous man is not troubled |
|
Many men have rest and great pleasure in a rational distinction of truth through images, such as the heathen had; and we ought to part with this rest and pleasure and seek pleasure in God only |
|
If a man loved a natural man above a good holy man, if God would on that account give him reward, as if this natural man were also (good and holy) |
|
Since you do not love man without you know him, or without faith in him, shall
not therefore God give more reward to the man who loveth his neighbour, especially |
|
If God must reward the irrational man, as much for his faith as the rational who have much distinction in them, since the light of faith is above all knowledge |
|
What is the most useful way in which unenlightened men come to the true faith, in which their love may be right and good? |
|
The men who live in the senses cannot guard themselves against sins for two reasons |
|
In the fourth place, a man must have suffering in God |
|
Two kinds of work are in the soul; one is the rational and the work of grace, the other is divine and essential |
|
Two kinds of birth take place in the soul; one is called an inbirth, the other an outbirth |
|
How man can be guarded from venial and mortal sins in six different ways |
|
How God can be seized hold on in two ways |
|
Voluntary poverty, outward and inward, guards men from venial sins in four ways |
|
If the men, who have received the Holy Ghost, live always without sin, since the love of the Holy Ghost makes all sin to disappear |
|
To a God-living man all things are bitter that sever him from God, for two reasons |
|
The fourth way that leadeth a man into a poor, perfect, contemplative life, is a
zealous avoidance of all that which can please men, whether it be spiritual or bodily, so that whatever it be, it be so
|
|
What is the cause that we have unrest, and do not find God when we seek Him; and of the external senses? |
|
In what wise a man can best master and kill his senses |
|
How the sensual men, who altogether live in the senses, have not a right faith that could uphold them and save them, for they are in their works like unto the heathen |
|
Why the senses must turn inwardly into the internal man, since they are not capable of receiving the most intimate truth |
|
For three reasons man should draw in all his senses. |
|
In the first place, man ought to draw in all his senses and quiet his powers, and only hear what God speaketh in the soul, if he wisheth to have right godly love |
|
Whoso worketh virtue on God-loving men worketh it most intimately on God, and it may well be that God will never let such a man be lost |
|
How God-loving men ought properly to be hated, dishonoured, and scorned by the world |
|
Why voluntary poor men are ordained for God, so that they should wait on Him only and no one else |
|
Whereby man can be right free |
|
In the second place, as the best part of man is within, therefore he should draw in his senses and take heed of the internal man |
|
How God damneth no man, but man damneth himself |
|
In the third place, man should draw in his senses on this account, because they commonly receive something impure, when he turneth them outwardly |
|
How right inwardness is a quite perfect giving up of oneself, and all things, externally and internally |
|
A question—“What is a poor, internal, mortified life?” |
|
Whoso occupieth himself with visions and giveth much attention to images, this is a sign that the ground of the man is not simple and pure, and he hath more communion with Antichrist than with Christ |
|
How God-loving men have the greatest labour, and also inwardly the greatest divine pleasure, and of two kinds of love of working love and of suffering love |
|
This Book teacheth how we should follow the poor, despised, painful life of our Lord Jesu Christ, and, first, how Poverty is a state of Being detached from all creatures.
POVERTY is a likeness with God. What is God? God is a Being, withdrawn from all creatures, a free power, a pure working. So also poverty is an existence withdrawn from all creatures. What is the meaning of withdrawn? What doth not adhere to anything. Poverty adheres to nothing, and nothing adheres to it.
It might be said in answer: All things
adhere to something, for all things are contained by something;—to what then
doth a St. Augustin in
Several say that the highest poverty and
the most entire withdrawal consist in this,
that a man becometh as he was when he did
not yet exist. Then he understood nothing
and willed nothing, then was he God with
God. Do waz er got mit got. (Denifle’s text, p. 3,
line 24, of his edition.)
But how is man to know and love God, and
yet remain poor or empty of all knowing and
loving? He must know God by means of
God, and love God by means of God, and
otherwise he can neither know nor love Him,
so as to attain to beatitude; and he of himself
Here it may be objected: What use is there
then in a man having in himself a rational
power of distinguishing in images and forms,
if this will not save him or bless him, and if,
furthermore, he must become empty of this
distinguishing faculty and thoroughly lacking
in it. To this I reply: That a distinguishing
power is useful, because man is not yet in
thorough poverty, and because he is still burdened with manifold things. Hence he must
put up with this aptitude to distinguish. In
this imperfect condition the power of distinguishing must not be set aside, and has its
use. But when man hath come to the point
where his being is simplified and weaned
from all that is manifold, and when he thus
cometh into true poverty, then he must leave
all distinction through images, and must
transfer himself with One into One, without
any distinction. For if he remained on the
ground of distinctions, he would commit
faults, and would not be thoroughly poor.
Furthermore, to distinguish is useful, for man
The question now occurs: Shall then man
be poor and lacking even graces and virtues,
for grace is a creature, and virtues are creaturely? To this I answer: Grace is nothing
else than a light which God draweth from
Himself, and He poureth it into the soul, and
the soul thereby passes from the bodily to the
spiritual, from time to eternity, and from the
manifold to the simple. Thus when the soul
is raised above all the bodily over time and
all that is manifold, so as to become a naked
spirit, dwelling in eternity and uniting itself
to the Only One—when come to this, grace
is changed into God, So wurt gnade gewandelt in got. (Denifle, p.
4, line 35.)
Next has a man to be poor in virtues? Virtues are creaturely in operation but Divine in intention, and God doth not accept virtue according to the working but according to the intention, and man has to work from a pure intention, that is, God: Behold now, virtue is no longer a creature but Divine, for all things work through the end in view. Thus therefore God shall be thy end, and nothing else; and hence virtue consists well with poverty. Again, man has to be poor in virtue in this sense, that he has so completely worked out all virtues that he hath lost the mere image of virtue, and he hath no longer virtue as an accident but in his essence, and not in a manifold direction but in unity; and he works virtue in unity. Arrived at this point again, virtue is no longer a creature but Divine. And as God comprehendeth all things in Himself, so also a purely poor man comprehendeth all the virtues in a simple love, and in love he worketh all virtues, and these virtues are essential, and they consist well with poverty. For a man can never become genuinely poor unless all the virtues make up his being.
Another objection. Are we to understand by the term poverty of spirit, as some say, that it means when a man has what he requires bodily, he yet holds this possession, unwillingly, inwardly? And the question is if such a man hath virtue essentially in the same way as a poor man, lacking all things both outwardly and in the spirit. My answer is this: A man begins to enter into what is essential when he is empty of all that is accidental. For if he is empty of all accidents, this is a sign that Divine Love hath withdrawn from him all temporal things, and that he stands empty and naked, lacking all things, outwardly and inwardly. In this condition he hath not the faculty or property of working some virtues with materials, and can only let himself be in all virtue, given up with a simple will to God. Now another man cannot be thus, who is not yet emptied of all outward accidents, and from whom Divine Love hath not drawn away all external things, and who is not entirely stripped of all natural possession. Hence he cannot have virtue in essence but in accidence. But what is accidence? It is a thing which now is and then is not; and accordingly it now works virtue, but only as it occurs or presents itself to him. But a genuinely poor man worketh alway virtue, and as his being is indestructible so also his virtue cannot be destroyed. For this reason it is called essential, for it is like or equal to being.
It has been said: Whosoever hath one virtue
hath all virtues. Compare St. Gregory, Morals, 22. c. 1.—St.
Thomas, i. 2. qu. 65. a. 1.—St. Bonaventure, 3
dist. 36. qu. 1.
From this it follows also that the perfection of man is not only to be taken as implying emptiness of the internal, but likewise of the external man; for a man is not only man through the soul, but also through the body. Hence man is not perfect only by lacking everything in the inner spiritual man, but he must also be entirely lacking in the outer man, as far as it is possible. When then a poor man hath turned all things into virtue outwardly and inwardly, then and then only is he perfect: for perfection stands founded on virtue.
Some one may say: Supposing a man has
withdrawn himself from all creatures and yet
creatures turn to him with favour, would not
But what shall a man do if too much or too
little accrues to him? If too much accrues
to him, he must not stand upon the ground
of accidents, but take steps that he may always
remain a poor man. If any one give him a
hundred marks, let him take heed that he
doth not become richer thereby; for his
riches are God and not temporal things.
Shall he then take all that is given to him?
If he taketh it, he maketh himself laden with
it and no longer empty. But if he refuses it,
he has less reward than if he took it. But,
supposing he who wishes to give it is himself
poor,—or, again, if he is so rich in charity
that he keeps nothing and gives all away, or,
further, if he wishes to give it thee from
natural love,—then take it not, let him be cumbered with it, while you are
empty and free. But if the giver be rich in goods but poor in love, and he
giveth thee through God and you are in need of help, take; and if something
If, again, too little falls to thy share, then
seek to free thyself from thy necessity. If
any one giveth thee, take it. If they do not
give thee, suffer in patience. For want is
sometimes as profitable as possession. For in
want a man knoweth himself better than in
having; for in the lack of temporal things
man is prepared for the reception of everlasting things, and in the sickness of bodily power
man gains much in spiritual strength, which
surpasses all bodily powers; as St. Paul says: “Righteousness is made perfect in weakness.”
It may be inquired: Supposing a poor man
addresses himself to rich people, can he find
complete love and truth in them? I answer:
No; and I will establish this with a little
discourse. First, “Like cleaves to like,” a
lesson of Aristotle, 17 Eth. Nic. 1165, b. 17. Aristotle, Eth. Nic. 1165, b. 17: τὸ ὅμοιον τῷ ὁμοὶῳ φὶλον. Is extensively illustrated by St. Augustin and
explained: De Trinitate, lib. 8, c. 4, sq. lib. 10, c.
1, sq. lib. 13, c. 4.
God is a free capacity, so also is poverty a
free capacity, unchained by any one; for its
The question here occurs: What is freedom? Freedom is a complete purity and
detachment, which seeketh the Eternal; freedom is an isolated, a withdrawn being, Friheit ist ein abgescheiden Wezen. (Denifle,
p. 8, line 18.)
The soul when she dives into herself perceives what she was, what she is, and what she
is not; what she was after a sinful fashion, and
this she comprehends with bitterness; and bitterness, remorse, distress, and
displeasure, make her pure. Then in this purity springeth up a clear light,
which showeth her all truth; “Master of Nature” (see Mönch von Heilbronn, ed. Menzdorf, p. 9) is identical with philosopher, but with the definite article it means
‘Aristotle,’ his name often occurring also in the
margin of the MSS. But the passage in the text
does not appear in this form in Aristotle, who only
says, Categ. 14. b. 4: Τὸ Βέλτιον καὶ τὸ τιμιώτερον
πρότερον εῖναι τῆ φυσει θοκεῖ. The passage, as it
occurs in the “Following,” is of Neo-Platonic
origin, and was used by Dionys. De div. nom.
v. § 3; and in the Book de Causis, lect. 10 (inter. opp. St. Thomae, ed. Antverp. 1612,
tom. iv.);
later on it became a fixed principle among the
Schoolmen. Gulielmus Paris, De immort. animae,
i. p. 332. a; Alex. Alens. Summa Theol. ii. qu.
62, membr 6; Albert. M. In coelest. hierarch c. 1.
p. 10a. and c. 3. p. 33.—St. Bonaventure, 2. dist. 3.
p. 1. dub. 2.—St. Thomas, 1. p. qu. 55. a. 3: Ex
hoc sunt in rebus aliqua superiora, quod sunt uni
primo, quod est Deus, propinquiora et similiora,
i. p. qu. 106. a. 3. ad 1.—Meister Eckhart, 133. 27; 277. i.
I hear a voice say: If a man goes out of his own will, and gives himself into obedience to another man, does he not lose his freedom? To this I answer: That man gives himself up to another in four ways. First, inasmuch as he is ignorant, and is taught, he gives himself up to another. Secondly, inasmuch as he is not dead to all sins, and that he may the more readily die to all inequality in truth, he also giveth himself up to another. Thirdly, he gives himself up from genuine humility; he does not look to see if he understands the truth and is dead to sins, but holds himself to be nothing else than a sinner, and therefore he gives himself up to another and doth not trust himself. In the fourth place, he gives himself up to the commandments of the Holy Church; what he is told to do that he does willingly.
But the case is different, as I will show,
with a thoroughly perfect poor man, who has
become empty of himself and of all things.
First, he need not give himself over through
ignorance, for a poor man is a pure man;
now, where purity is, there is light; where
there is light, it shineth and showeth what is
hidden. A thoroughly poor man is a pure
light in himself, in which he sees and recognises all truth, and need not go out of himself
nor seek it elsewhere. For in this going forth
The same view occurs at No. 16, p. 11. Denifle
considers the meaning to be simply this: If man
has departed from himself and all things, then
God fills him, because there is no more obstacle at hand. That God “must give Himself
up” does not relate to necessitas coactionis, as
St. Thomas calls it ( l. 2. q. 112. a 3), but to the necessitas infallibilitatis; for the design of God
would be defeated if He did not give Himself to
a soul prepared to receive Him, as the preparation
itself is His doing. Comp. No. 137.
Furthermore, it is not needful for him to
go out of himself for the sake of dying. For
he is dead to all sins: he who is dead to them,
has no need of further dying. But here it
may be asked if a man can come to this in
time, that he hath no more to die? Man
certainly comes to this in time, that creatures
find in him nothing more to kill, for he has
gone out of himself and out of all creatures.
In this state was St. Paul when he said: “I
have reckoned all things as dung.”
In the third place: A poor and pure man
need not give himself to any man through
In the fourth place: A purely poor man is
also not bound to take externally, like another
man, all that is legally prescribed in holy
Christianity; for those who do this are not
wholly emptied of themselves. And that
which holy Christianity worketh in an external manner the poor man worketh inwardly
and essentially. For in manner and form
Now the question might occur: How is it then with the poor men, who are in a community, when one gives himself up to another and is obedient to him? Is not this against freedom? This is explained, because a poor man can give himself up in a threefold way.
First, from the necessity of the body, as to
seek bread, through God, for his own wants
or the necessity of his brother. And if he
Secondly, a poor man may give himself up
for the sake of virtue in himself and in his
In the third place, a poor man ought to give himself up to an external work of charity when he is warned by God to do so, and he ought not to resist God; he should satisfy his Creator in this, and give himself up in all that God requireth of him.
Here it might be objected: How is a
man to understand if the motive to an external work be from the Evil Spirit, or
from Nature, or from God? For internal
works that God worketh in the soul are far
better than external works of charity, and
yet both must exist. I shall consider this
distinction quite briefly, for much might be
said on the subject, which I pass over at present. First, let us see how the Evil Spirit is
to be recognised in the way in which he
stimulates to acts of charity. First, if a man
Further: Another motive proceedeth from
the Evil Spirit if a man favours rich people
and gives them what is due to poor people,
as, for example, to invite them, and to
live on a good footing with them, for in
doing this such a man seeketh praise and
honour, and that people should invite him
again, and thereby he neglects virtue, and he
gets no reward for this conduct, but much
In the third place: If a man is by himself and God worketh
works in him, and if he thinks he is too weak and he cannot suffer it, and turns
himself outwardly into time, to unnecessary works of charity, and in the
distraction of the senses, and of a bodily nature, if it be difficult to the
body to be much recollected internally, this again is a temptation of the Evil
One and of nature. In the fourth place, the motive is also inspired by the Evil
Spirit if a man turns himself to external works of charity beyond all measure or
necessity; for example, in excessive fasting and watching, and other severe
practices, by which a man is unbalanced and his senses are in some degree
perverted so that he becomes half foolish, and by which he departs so much from
himself that he can never again revert to his own heart, and he becomes so
seriously ill that for this reason he is obliged to give up many good works
which God would have worked in him. Therefore St. Paul spoke in this connection,
“Let your service be in moderation.”
Further, to discern if the external work of charity is dictated by Nature observe this: Whatsoever is turned to self or considers self in a work of charity, that is a work of Nature; for Nature always loveth and proposeth self. Again, if a man exerciseth himself in bodily joys, and testifieth love to them, that is also readily seen to be from Nature, for sinners also practise those things amongst one another. Thirdly, if rich people show trust and faith one to another that is also from Nature, for like adheres to like naturally: therefore if a poor man cumbers himself about rich folk, this is a sign that he hath a certain likeness with them, and hath not yet contemned all things; for if he had despised all things he would not hold much intercourse with rich people, for virtue would consist in only doing this as far as necessity directeth.
In the third place, how is a man to discern
if an external act of charity is prompted by
God? To determine this observe: Man has
to keep three things in view in his work.
First, the necessity of the person whom he
serves, if that person needs his services,—in
which case he ought to come to the help of
every man, friends or foes, bad or good. For
Again, a man ought to keep in view the distinction of persons in his works of charity. He should be more prone to a good man, who consumeth all things in God, than to a man in whom he doth not recognise much good. For in a good man all things are fruitful and to the praise of God, and all things are in him referred to their first source. And although it be true that God at all times worketh in a good man, that he be strengthened so that he may be able to support the work of God, yet you should come to his help rather than to that of another man, in whom God does not work so purely or unimpeded. And also all things are more the property of a good man than of him who hath them; and therefore if a man wisheth to atone for his sins, he ought to impart to a good man that which he hath; and further, a good man can obtain much more for him for whom he prayeth, and God giveth ear to him sooner than to another man.
In the third place: A man ought to keep in view, in his external act of charity, the proper ordering of time and of himself. In regard to time, in the morning a man ought to take special heed of his heart, and not cumber himself much about external works, unless a great necessity intervene. For things are easier to a man in the morning, and at that season he can more effectually turn to God than at any other time. And afterwards, in the afternoon, a man may very properly exercise himself in external acts of charity; but again, at vesper time, he should take heed of the state of his heart. Thus we see that he should keep order in the regulation of his time. He must also observe order in the management of himself. For if he feeleth himself well moved towards God, and if God driveth him from external things to Himself, he should give place to God, and suffer Him to work internally in him. And at such moments he may be quite empty of all external works, unless there be a case of great necessity. Afterwards, when God no longer worketh in him, and this internal working is withdrawn from him, he ought to give himself to external work in necessary works of charity, and for him thus to work is a divine act of charity.
A man can also detect a divine work of charity, when he is always inspired by complete devotedness to the work, and when he proposeth nothing in it save the honour of God and the necessity of his fellow man, when he doth not seek any natural pleasure in it, nor any motive save the honour and glory of God. And such works of charity should be wrought by a poor man, and he should readily leave all other kinds of work, whether prompted by the evil spirit or by nature, and therefore poverty is a free property and power.
I hear a voice saying: How then about an
ill-regulated freedom, and how is a man to
know if his freedom is regulated by God or
not? Notice here: Godlike freedom springeth
from true humility, and endeth in humility,
and in patience, and in all virtues, and in God
Himself. For if a divine poor man, who is
free, be attacked either by man or by the evil
spirit, he becometh more humble and patient,
and draweth nigher to God, and committeth
all things to Him, and he keepeth silence and
suffereth and thanketh God. But freedom of
a lower class springeth from pride and endeth
in pride, and in anger, and in insolence, and in
other vices. For if an imperfectly free man is
attacked, he becometh wrathful, and seeketh
revenge at once, and falls into arrogance, into In the margin stands: Gregory, from whom the
passage is taken. Homil. 34 in Evang. No. 2.
It also happens often that a just and free
man is viewed as ill-regulated. Thus, when
a thing is proposed to him that is good, and
he recognises that it is not the best for him,
and he turns to this best and is satisfied with
it;—this, his conduct, is often held to be bad,
There are two kinds of ill-regulated freedom. One is bodily, the other spiritual.
Bodily freedom cometh from temporal good,
from honours and friends and power. For
whosoever hath much property, honours, and
friends, and is powerful, wishes to be the
best, and wishes to be noble and free. And
this freedom is not regulated, for it doth not
spring from God. And it is seldom that a
man is taken up and implicated in property
and honours, or with friends or power, who is
at the same time unembarrassed with imperfect freedom. But whosoever wishes to be
thus perfectly free, must have departed from
property, and honours, and friends, and power,
and must have come to the true ground of
humility. For in this ground springeth up Inter excerpta (spuria) ed. Lips. 1770, p. 1004:
si vis vacare animo, aut pauper sis oportet, aut
pauperi similis.
The other kind of ill-regulated freedom ia spiritual. For it proceedeth from the spirit and is possessed by spiritual people and clerics, and it is brought forth in three fashions.
First, when a man turns away from a sinful
life and attacks his body with severity, and
exercises himself in a penitential life, and
works virtues externally, and doth not examine
himself internally, and doth not perceive God
in himself, and thus remains all along an
external man,—this man remains unknown to
himself. For true knowledge springeth from
within and not from without. Since, therefore, they are external and not internal, the
truth remains unknown to them, and they
fall from blindness into an ignorance of themselves. If they carry on a great many exercises,
they fancy themselves the best, and thus a
kind of spurious freedom arises in them,
leading them not to give way to any one, for
they think themselves the best through the
manifold nature of their works. These are,
indeed, good men, but they cannot subsist
without defects, for internal light is wanting
to them. And thus they fall into an ill-regulated freedom, and into a despising and
judging of others. And it is very distressing
to live and move with such people, for these
Furthermore, an ill-regulated freedom is
brought forth if a man hath exercised himself
in external good works, and he then leaveth
the manifold and turneth into himself, and
remaineth within. For in this withdrawal
into himself there springeth up a natural light
in him, and this shows him the distinction of
natural truth. And this distinction begets
a great pleasure, and this pleasure drives him
on to know still more truth, so that he becomes
intellectually developed; but the reason and
In the third place, an ill-regulated freedom
is generated by visions, as when a man is
ravished in ecstasy, and seeth something that
was hidden from him before, and this does
not happen without means, as St. Paul saith,
and thereby a man cometh to think that he
is in a very edifying state;
God is a pure working, therefore also is poverty a pure working; and each thing worketh according to its form. Poverty is a pure, simple working. Perhaps some one might say, What does pure signify? That is pure which is one, a unity, and severed from all else. Poverty is one, and severed from all difference, and therefore poverty is pure. That therefore which is pure worketh purely. What then is working? Working is nothing else than making something out of nothing, or making of one thing another, or making a thing better than it was before, or making into nothing something that is. And this mode hath poverty to itself.
First, Poverty maketh something out of
nothing. Thus when a man hath left all
that is not God or godlike and cleaveth only
to God, God must needs give himself and all
things back again to such a man. Hence,
what was not his before, becometh now his
own, as, for example, the good works that
other men work, and also those that Christ
worked ever, and all the saints, and all good
men have worked, or still work, and will work,
these are the property of a pure man, as
though he had worked them himself. For
in the fact that he goeth out of himself and
out of all things that are not God, and turneth Quisquis charitatem habet etiam dona alia percipit; quisquis charitatem non habet, etiam dona
quae percipisse videbitur amittit. Homil. 9 in
Evang. No. 6.
Secondly, poverty maketh out of one work another. For instance, when a man is overladen with time and creatures he hath also his working in time and with the creature, and he cannot be empty of them. When now he turneth himself from time and from creatures, and turneth to God and to eternity, he hath henceforth his working with God and in eternity, and no longer in time and with the creature; hence out of time he maketh eternity, and out of the creature, God. And this is what poverty seeketh, and therefore is its working pure.
Thirdly, poverty changeth a good work
into something better and more perfect; as,
for example, when a poor man goeth on the
way of God, and his going is always to something better and more intimate; as St. Gregory
saith, “The going in the way of God is always a
forward march.” According to Denifle this teaching is the following: Not to advance on the way of the Lord is
called to go back. St. Bernard developed this view most clearly in his Epistle 254. No. 4: “Nolle proficere deficere est.” Again, in Epistle
385, No. 1.—Tauler only cites him; but compare
St. Gregory, Lib. past, curae, p. 3. admon. 35.
In the fourth place, poverty hath this, that
it destroyeth one thing and maketh another
in its stead. Thus a man has inherited from
the fall of Adam that his nature is full of sinful inclinations; and to destroy these man
must do it by virtues,—and in the stead of
each sin must this man place a virtue; This passage, though different in other versions,
has its justification in a sentence of St. Gregory, Hom. 32 in Evang. No. 1, where he says of God: Coelestis medicus singulis quibusque vitiis obviantia adhibet medicamenta.
But some one might say: How can there
be working in poverty, for poverty is a mere
state of being, and what is mere or simple
is immovable, whereas working is movable
and takes place in movement? How then
can poverty and working agree together?
To this I answer and say, that poverty is
a likeness to God. Now God is in Himself immovable, and yet He moveth all
things; so likewise is poverty in itself a
stationary being, immovable and yet with
God it moveth all things. For poverty is
dissolved in God and united to Him; that
then which is one hath one working. Now
God and poverty are one, and therefore
poverty worketh with God all things, and
yet it remaineth pure and simple and immovable with God. Again, man is compounded of time and eternity. When, then,
man is raised with the highest forces out of
time into eternity, he becometh immovable,
according to the highest forces; for eternity
is immovable that, therefore, which is in
eternity is immovable also. If man with his
highest part is in eternity, he is immovable,
and yet he moveth the lowest forces according
There are three kinds of work in man, a natural work, and a work of grace, and a godlike work. The first man ought to make pure, the second worketh purely, the third is pure.
First, man hath a natural work in him in three fashions; the first is bodily, the second is sensuous, the third is spiritual.
The first natural work is the bodily, such
as eating, and drinking, and sleeping; man
should make all this pure, that he may not
stray from God in it. And this is effected by
three means. The first is that he should observe moderation and measure. And moderation consists in this, that is, neither too much
nor too little. And man should thus take the
necessity of the body, that he always remains
The second natural work is sensuous, such
as seeing, hearing, and the other five senses,
which man ought also to hold in such wise
that he remains always pure. He should hold
them always under the restraint of modesty,
and only grant them the essentially necessary.
For if the senses stretch forth beyond necessity, man becomes distracted, and can scarcely
remain as pure as when his senses were
gathered into one; for true purity is in unity
The third natural work is spiritual; such
as to know, to love, and to think. And this
ought a man also to use merely according to
necessity; but how is this to be? Man has.
doubtless, from nature the power of knowing,
and this forms a distinction between him and
other animals. But he ought to turn this
natural knowing to God and to godlike
things, and draw off from things which are
not necessary. For if he turneth it to another thing that is not God or godlike, God
remains unknown to him, and man goes
astray. For if Lucifer had turned his natural
understanding to God when he turned it on
himself he would not have fallen; but, as he On this teaching compare St. Thomas, 1. p. qu.
62. a. 5.
A comparison from the sun. As soon as be
ariseth, he changeth all other lights into his
light, so that there is no other light. For his
light being above all other lights, and for
that reason, as soon as he ariseth, all lesser
lights must go down and the sun shineth
alone with his light. So is it also in a pure
soul; when the Divine Sun ariseth in it all
other lights change into the Divine Light, so
that no other light remaineth but the godlike light; for God is a Light above all lights.
When He therefore shineth with His light,
it is right and necessary that all other lights
should set, whether they be natural or of
grace; but not on that account does it follow
that the natural light is destroyed. Nevertheless, though it burneth still and is not as
a thing that doth not exist, it is, however,
changed into a divine light and transfigured
and glorified, just as when the sun ariseth,
the moon’s light is changed into the sun’s
light and is glorified and magnified. So is it
also here. St. Augustine saith, “God is never
a destroyer of nature, but He ordereth it and
maketh it perfect.” This is the scholastic doctrine: Deus non destruit naturam, sed perficit eam.
Several deny natural knowledge and several attribute it. And
it must be both denied and attributed. It is to be denied, for though man’s
knowledge can run through all knowledge and distinction, and that man has a Eckhart, 513. 12. says: Whoso wisheth to
know God as He is, must be empty or naked
(bloss) of all art (Swer Got kennen wil als er ist,
der muoz bloz sin von aller kunst.)
But natural knowledge must also be attributed to man, that is, when a man stands in doubt, and he is yet exposed to error in distinguishing the truth, he must then seek distinctions in himself and out of himself. For man can never live to the truth unless he has known it first. Hence if knowledge is wanting to a man life is also wanting. For a true life springeth from a pure knowledge. And as a man needeth distinctions and seeketh them not, this is to live like the beasts and not like a human being. For man desireth by nature to learn much, and therefore is he a man because he comprehendeth the truth, and what fails in him that ought he to seek. And in this sense natural knowledge is not to be denied but attributed to him. For natural knowledge, if he be willing, leadeth a man into the knowledge of grace, and knowledge of grace leadeth him to divine knowledge. And in this way a man cometh to perfection.
Perhaps some one will ask. What difference
is there between natural knowledge and the
The question might occur, How can a natural man be recognised, whose knowledge is
merely natural? Among other things he is
to be recognised by three features. First, by
his wishing to be always the most distinguished
in speech and honours; he wishes also to
have most of the talk, for he thinketh that
no one can do it so well as himself. Secondly,
he wishes always to have the right of a question, and holds that his words are the truest;
and if people attempt o dispute his words, he
becometh wroth, and grasps at any support of
his own opinion, and will not listen to the
opinion of any one else. Thirdly, he thinks
And in this way natural knowledge is hurtful if it abideth in self, and doth not come to true denial of self and all things. But man, who is by nature discreet, if he cometh to a true denial of self and of all things, to him his natural understanding is no injury but useful, for he cometh more easily to Divine truth than a man who is coarse and stupid by nature. For that which the stupid man seizes with much labour, and must seek from far, the intelligent man obtains in himself without much labour. For a well-regulated nature, if it have a good will, is a great help toward God; but if it have a perverse will and keeps to itself it falleth much sooner than a stupid nature. And this happened with Lucifer, who was of the noblest by nature, but because he kept to himself he was the first to fall. And this happeneth yet; and therefore is poverty very noble and useful, for the man standeth alone in poverty and in denial of himself and of all things.
Next have we to speak of the knowledge
which is by grace. This signifies that to man
in that state is given the power of distinguishing the Holy Scriptures, so that he comprehend them in full truth, and that in bearing
and reading he should understand them in
the best and most profitable way. And this
knowledge is by grace and not from nature;
for by mere nature you cannot come to a true
knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. For the
Holy Scriptures are from the Holy Ghost,
and therefore whoso wisheth to understand
them properly he must be enlightened with
the grace of the Holy Ghost. An objection
might be made, that many understand the
Holy Scriptures who have not much grace,
nor walk in a holy life. That is true; but
they only understand them according to the
sense, and not rightly according to the foundation and groundwork thereof. For whoso
wisheth to understand them on their right
ground, that must issue from the life and from
the divine grace. Hence it is that Holy Writ is
understood in the light of grace, and not in the
light of nature. For genuine poverty is full
of grace, and therefore is Holy Writ understood by a genuinely poor man. Wherefore
Christ said, “To the poor the Gospel,”
The knowledge of grace is also in him the
distinction of virtue and vice. For it is
This is also of grace, that a man should
acknowledge his faults; as St. Gregory saith, “It is a great perfection that a man should
know his imperfection, for sin blindeth a man,
so that he may not understand his faults.”
When then a man feeleth displeasure of sins,
a light springeth up in him, showing him his
defects, so that he knoweth what a sin is, and
thus he leaveth his sins and turneth to virtue.
And this understanding is of grace. When
then a poor man feels a thorough disgust at
all sins, he thereby has a divine light, showing
him all sins,—and not only sins, but also the
causes of sins,—and not only gross sins, but
also spiritual and intellectual sins,—which
occur in the reason and in the will. And a
man must have very much light who understandeth all sins; and this knowledge can no
one have save a singly and purely poor man,
who stands there in denial of himself and of
all things. He alone understandeth perfectly
all sins, whether spiritual or bodily. For this
reason is perfection placed in poverty, for in
poverty alone is all truth understood, all good,
all evil, without any doubt. In thorough
poverty no one can be deceived, for deception
is in a manner a cleaving to and taking possession, whether it be of a spiritual or temporal
This also is of grace, that man recognises
what injury lies in sin. Such injury lies in it
that no one can speak of it; for it robs man
of all good, not only of natural good, but also
of spiritual good. For sin degrades nature
from its nobility and debases it to the ignoble,
which all creatures hate; nay, even the devil C. Schmidt (Tauler, p. 103) finds in the doctrine developed here, a departure from the strict
Augustinian view, according to which he affirms
that sins are the unavoidable consequence of an
eternal predestination:—“Works that come to pass slavishly in the service of Satan” (p. 106),
as if St. Augustine and Calvin were identical.
Schmidt continues “that Tauler in this book says
that we sin, not from necessity, but always only
from free will; that the sin of man is against
nature,” &c. (104). Compare also Bohringer,
Deutsche Mystiker, p. 81. An opposite view is
taken by J. Ernst, Die werke und Tugenden der
ungläubigen nach St. Augustin, Freiburg 1871.
Several persons blame nature sorely, and
these do not know what nature is; for nature
And this is found in the heathen, who,
prompted by genuine nature, left vice and
worked virtue. For they knew from nature
that vice keeps man from happiness; as
Seneca said: “Even if it were true that the Si scirem deos ignoscituros et homines ignoscituros, adhuc peccare dedignarer.
If those who lived in sin only knew in what
good they are wanting, yea, even natural good,
they would suffer the greatest pain to be inflicted on them before they would commit a
mortal sin. For sin is so bad that it robbeth
man of all good. They who live in riches and
in sin fancy it is right well with them, but
they know not what woe it is to them. The
devil prompts to the sins, and especially those
of unchastity; but when you are unchaste, he
In the margin Solomon. Compare
This is also of grace, that a man know each
sin, according to its degree. One is called a
fault, and another a debt, and another a sin,
In the first place, it is a fault for a man to know the good and for him to adhere negligently to what is less good; as when a man has a useless thought, or speaketh a useless word, or doeth a useless work, though he knows well there is a better one, and he doth not attend to it; now this is a fault.
Again, it is a debt, a measure of guilt, if you dwell with pleasure on a thing that is bad; as when an evil thought occurs to a man and he lingers on it rather too long and with pleasure. This pleasure is guilty, and he must suffer pain for it. Further, if he speaketh voluptuously improper words, and doeth works of this kind, this is guilt.
In the third place, it is a sin if we do consciously a thing that is bad; as uttering a lie, which yet doth not injure any one; this is venial sin; or uttering abandoned words and indulging in abandoned gestures, so that people are rendered angry by it.
Fourthly, it is a mortal sin, if man with evil
and obstinate will doeth that which is forbidden; as he, for example, who breaketh the ten
commandments, in which the seven deadly
sins are forbidden. Thus, in the first commandment, “Thou shalt believe in the Lord
thy God,” which condemns unbelief, for unbelief is a mortal sin. Then, “Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God, and thy neighbour; “in this envy and hatred are condemned.
“Thou shalt observe high days and holidays; “in this indolence is condemned. “Thou shalt
not covet any man’s wife,” in which unchastity is condemned. “Thou shalt not covet
any man’s property,” in which greed and
avarice are condemned. “Thou shalt not
worship idols,” where gluttony is chastised. “Thou shalt not kill any man,” where anger
is proscribed.
Fifthly, it is a capital sin if you do what is unnatural and inhuman—as to kill, rob, and burn father and mother, and other sins that are against nature.
Sixthly, you sin in God; and first, in God the Father. This occurs if a man is tempted, and in the resistance he is so rigid that he sinneth through sickness. This sin is in the Father. Again, a man sinneth in the Son, when a man sinneth unwittingly. Thirdly, you sin in the Holy Ghost, in five ways. First, if a man sinneth against God’s mercy; again, if a man having sinned, despairs in God’s compassion; thirdly, if a man entirely resists the counsel of the Holy Ghost, and destroyeth it in himself; fourthly, if a man attributes to himself the good that he hath from God, whether spiritual or bodily, and thinketh he hath it from his own worthiness, and doth not thank God for His goodness as he ought; fifthly, when the Holy Ghost wishes to do His work and man turneth away from Him, and will not make place for Him, and cumbers his heart about other things that are against God, and driveth out the Holy Ghost. And this is meant by sinning in the Holy Ghost, and is scarcely forgiven.
It is therefore a great grace that man may
know each sin, in its degree; for when he
knows it, he can more easily guard against it
and keep himself pure. Since, then, a poor
man is full of grace, he has the light of grace,
which shows him all faults, so that he can
well guard himself against all defects, and
It is also of grace that a man knoweth the distinction of spirits. There are four kinds of spirits that speak in man, and he must have very much light who wisheth to know them.
First, the evil spirit speaketh in man, and his speaking is in one direction to sin, and in another direction to virtue; the third way is to perfection.
First, he adviseth sins. That is, if a man
finds himself inclined to bodily pleasure, he
presenteth to his mind the sin with great
sweetness and voluptuousness, so that the
man thinketh that great delight and joy lie
in the sin. And the body is inclined to
luxury, and if the spirit inclineth to the
body and the body to luxury, the man
cometh to his fall and falleth into mortal sin;
but if the spirit turneth from the body and
the body remaineth in its inclination, and yet
the spirit will not concede it to do any deadly
sin, then the evil spirit counselleth the man
If, in this condition, a man resist sturdily
and invoketh God that He may help him to
overcome the evil spirit, if he should then
overcome the evil, this spirit of iniquity
maketh himself like unto a good angel and
counselleth to the man virtue. But this
virtue ib above the power of nature, and the
evil one overdoeth this in order to destroy
nature, and that man should come into a state
of sickness, so as to lose his senses. For the
virtue which the evil one counselleth is
irregular and without measure; and the end
of the virtue is evil, for it teacheth not the
mean and stretcheth over it to grasp the
end. “Irregular and without measure.” Here, according to Denifle, we have only the Aristotelian-Thomistic conception of virtue: Nic. Eth. 1106.
b. 36: “Ἔστιν ἄρα ἡ ἁρετὴ ἔξις προαιρετική ἐν μεσότητι
οῦσα τῆ προς ἠμᾶς ὠρισμενη λόγῳ καὶ ὡς ἄν ὁ
φρόνιμος ὁρισειεν μεσότης δἐ δύο κακιῶν τῆς μὲν καθ᾽
ὐπερβολὴν τῆς δέ κατ᾽ ἑλλειψιν. St. Thom. I. 2. qu. 64. a. I. 2.
But in case a man entereth into himself and vieweth each virtue in its proper measure and worketh virtue according to it, he beginneth to go into perfection. And when man thus goeth from virtues to virtues he is purified from all faults; for the virtues purify a man. And in purity springeth up a light, and the light enlightened man in. distinguishing manifold truths; and in this distinction the evil one plunges to deceive him. For when man understandeth much truth, he cometh at last to a truth that he cannot well understand, and he would gladly understand it, and yet he is not able to understand it. Then cometh the evil spirit and presenteth a false image to him, and this image is against faith. Now if it happen that the man takes this image for a truth, as often occurreth, he is deceived by the evil spirit, and he maketh in that case a spiritual fall, which is very hurtful, for he knoweth it not; and if man is to be warned against this, it must come to pass through God without any other mediation.
If now man hath been warned by God, so
that it is given to him to know that the image
is false, he then turneth away and perceiveth
what is best and cleaveth to it. And thus
when the man stands in perfection, so that
he taketh all to be good that God willeth
And with poverty he cometh to the ground
and foundation of humility, and then the evil
spirit can do him no harm, for he cannot come
to him on the ground of humility, and therefore he cannot injure him. For true humility
is a firm fastness which no one can capture;
men attack it indeed and seek to storm it, but
it is not to be taken. So also is it with true
humility; in it man cannot be overcome. The
evil spirit attacks him indeed in many ways,
but he cannot injure the man of true humility.
But if man stands on any other ground than
true humility and detachment and poverty
then the evil spirit can injure him, and can
cast down his house, for the foundations are
not laid deep enough. But true humility
hath deep foundations, on which stands firm
all that is built upon them; and without
humility every building must fall. Then
whoso wisheth to conquer the evil spirit let
him place himself on the ground of humility,
The other spirit that speaketh in man is
natural, and its speech is in images and forms,
and thereby he seeketh the distinction of
created things. And if man’s spirit understands all created things, and he is empty of
all accidental faults, he is in the highest
nobility of mere nature. But if he keeps to
himself, and considereth his nobility with
satisfaction in himself, he cannot remain in
the highest nobility of his nature, and falls
into an ignoble state, and clothes himself with
mortality and with manifold defects, for no
nature can subsist long without accidents,
whether these be from sin or grace. But if it
come to pass that when the natural spirit hath
attained the highest summit of its nature, it
should then turn of itself to God, and contemplate the nobleness of God, then the natural nobility of this man is clothed upon with
When the spirit of Adam stood on the highest summit of his nature he understood all created things, and that was his delight. And so is it still: when the spirit of man is stripped of faulty accidents, he understandeth much natural truth, and the truth begetteth much delight in him. And delight is of nature, whereas man fancies often it is of grace. Thus nature is often taken for grace. Now just as to the spirit, which is raised above itself and above all things in God, divine light and life and truth flow into it, so also flow into the natural spirit, that standeth on its mere nature, natural and supernatural truth.
It may be asked, What distinction is there
between natural truth and divine truth?
Natural truth consists in this, that a man
knoweth the distinction of manifold things
in such wise that the understanding creates
images of each and every thing, which images
approach most nearly to the truth, and that
it understands each thing from its image or
representation. Now, if the images are evil
they are. from the evil spirit; if they are
And as the natural spirit taketh its object
in images and forms that are created, when
An objection might be made that there are many pure poor men who yet do not understand or find such truth. I say that where there is a pure poor man all truth is opened up in the interior of his soul. And if he doth not understand the truth in images and forms yet he understandeth it in its essence. And if he doth not find the truth in the powers or forces (of nature) he yet findeth it in essence.
The third spirit that speaketh to a man is
the angel, and his speaking is for virtue, which
leadeth the man to God. The highest angel
draws his image from God; this image is
multiplied in him, and he giveth it over to a
second angel; this one again giveth it to the
lowest angel, and this lowest angel at length
giveth it to the soul, which obtains thereby
the power of distinguishing how she has to
seize and hold the truth, and how she shall
practise each virtue in proper order and measure,
Some one might now say, If a man feeleth
remorse at his sins God forgiveth him, so that
he hath no more sins upon him, and yet he
doth not possess all virtues. To this I answer,
that a true repentance includes in itself the
forgiveness of sins and the gaining of all virtues. And if virtue be lacking to the man in
fact, yet must he have it at least in the will,
and if sin is not to find any place in him he
must carry out his will in works, as far as this
is possible. And through the firm will that
man hath, no more to sin and to obtain all
virtue, God forgiveth him his sins. But he
must overcome every crime by a special virtue,
for the root of sins must be extirpated by
virtues. But if the man be empty of virtues
and of good works, then within him there
still abide the roots and the impulse to sin,
and if he be attacked he falleth easily. Just
as the tree that hath not deep roots falleth
It may be objected; if a man hath a
right repentance of his sins God forgiveth
them him, so that he immediately hath no
more sins upon him? To this I say, this
is done by a true repentance; but there are
many men who guard themselves against
sin, but yet have not all virtue. I say also
that a true, downright avoiding of all sins is
a true possession of all virtue. If also some
men guard themselves against sin, yet by no
means possess virtue, they only guard against
it outwardly in their works, and they often
do this on account of disgrace, as they are
afraid of dishonour before the world; but
they do it not for the sake of God, and do not
inwardly avoid sin. If also they avoid mortal
sins in their works and will, they do so from
fear of hell; but they do not avoid venial sins,
for they commit these very often; thus sin is
not avoided in the right way. If these men,
while guarding against sins, be they mortal
or venial, do not at the same time possess
all virtue, being aware of this, it must needs
But it might be urged: a child is pure and without any sins, and yet he doth not possess all virtue. I reply against this, that a child possesseth purity in the lowest degree, which is a mere necessity or necessary first condition for heaven. Therefore the child hath virtue also only in the lowest degree. As it possesseth purity only in an unmerited way, so also hath it virtue without merit, and all its virtues are imperfect, for both qualities may come to naught. It is therefore certain, that true purity is a vessel full of all virtues, and just as much as a man faileth in virtue, he faileth also in purity; therefore the absence of all sins is the possession of all virtues.
Thus the angel persuadeth the soul to
virtue, and determines her to fly from vice.
There is a great difference between natural,
angelic, and devilish images. The natural
images direct man to the preservation of
nature, they refer all things to man’s nature,
and all men have these images. Every man
is by nature more directed to himself than
to others; and what man loves in nature, he
loves on account of himself, from the pleasure
it giveth his nature, and were it not agreeable
People inquire further, if perhaps a poor
man have too many natural images in himself.
I maintain that a truly poor man is free from
all natural images, for he is stationed in a
perfect denial of himself and of all things,
and therefore the images that are in a poor
man proceed from the angel and not from
nature, for he refers nothing to himself but
all things to God. A poor man hath indeed
also more knowledge than another; but he
directeth his knowledge to virtue, and thus
it is not hurtful but useful. They who have
principally natural images in themselves are
also mostly thoughtful of themselves and
cleave too much to temporal things, for temporal things are to them a maintenance of
their nature; now those who are most thoughtful about maintaining temporal things and
their nature, are the most natural or immersed
in nature, and have mostly natural images in
themselves. They are too natural, because
they cleave too much to bodily things, and
wish thereby to attain to the best. They
But how doth it come to pass that natural
images are often like unto angelic images;
for a man thus frequently taketh a natural to
be an angelic image? The likeness is in the
forms; they have both a like form in a spiritual way; they are, however, very unlike in
their aim. Natural images are directed to
nature, and such images hath nature since the
fall of Adam; but the image of the angel is
directed away from nature to God, and we
have this image from Christ. Before Christ
But the devilish images have a likeness with the natural and the angelic. If man directs the images to his own nature, and seeketh delight thereby, then cometh the devil, and presenteth a sensual object to man, that promiseth great delight. If now the man should follow this, and seek delight, the natural is then turned into a devilish image. But if man turneth away from them, and remaineth in an abandonment of all delight of nature, then this his image becometh angelic. But the evil spirit forms himself like unto this image and counselleth to man abandonment of all natural lust; but his counsel surpasseth the forces of nature, and he doeth it to this end, that these may come to nought and destroy themselves. It is in this wise that an image of the devil hath a likeness with the natural and angelic images.
But when a poor man hath denied all
bodily lust and delight, and holdeth all
Some one might here say, “A man truly
poor in spirit is raised above all creatures in
God, whether they be angels, or whatever
creatures they may be. If now a man be
raised above them, he is then also raised
above their images; how can he then abide
by the images of the angel or of another
creature?” To this I make answer, that the
elevation of a poor man is to be taken according to the highest forces of the soul, according to the likeness of God, which is stamped
upon the soul. Thereby is the poor man
raised above all creatures and their images,
whatever the creatures may be. But according to his lowest powers, man must have
images, to the end that he may order things
according to measure. These images must be
angelic, in order that he be able to accomplish
all things orderly. When it is said that man
must be emptied of all images, this is to be
understood according to the highest power of
his spirit; but this cannot be in the lowest
powers of the soul; these must have either
good or bad images. And if a man wisheth
to practise his work in images, after the likeness
Lastly, the fourth spirit that speaketh in
man is .the Divine Spirit, and its speech is
nothing else than a real revelation of divine
truth. By it man is raised out of sensuality
above all images and forces, and attaineth
unto the divine essence. Now, the spirit
knoweth its nobility, and its nobility is now
compassed around with the godlike. By this
entrance the spirit is united with the Divine
Spirit, as St. Paul saith, “Whoso cleaveth to
God becometh one spirit with Him” ( The noted “Ama et fac quod vis.”
The Spirit of God speaketh in man that
man may speak again all things through the
Divine Spirit in God. But the spirit speaketh again all in God, when it purposes in all
its works the honour of God, and when, whatever happens or clashes with him, he remains
always pure, and never holdeth on to any
accident, if thus he always finds himself in
a pure state to receive God, and listeneth to
Him whenever God willeth to speak to him.
In thus hearing he giveth back all to God
again, and this hearing is so joyful and delightful for him, that he setteth aside all things,
and listeneth only to His words. This hearing is also called giving back all things to
God, and thus the spirit speaketh back again
all things in God. Thus man becometh one
thing with God when he giveth back all
things to God as God had given them to him,
and by this return he maketh himself the In the margin stands Aristoteles. Comp. Nic.
Eth. 1166. a. 31. “Ἔστι γὰρ ὁ φίλος ἀλλος αὐτός.
What doth a friend furnish? Three things. First, likeness, for “like cherisheth like.” God is empty of all temporal things; now, he who wisheth to be like unto Him must dispense with all that is temporal, and thus can he become like unto Him. Where likeness prevails there is also friendship; where friendship prevails there also doth union. God is the giver of all gifts, therefore man must give back all gifts to God. God loveth all virtue, therefore man must love and practise all virtue.
Secondly, the same willing and not willing
maketh a friend. As Aristotle saith, “True
friends have the same willing and not willing.” In the margin of the MS. stands Aristotle.
Allusion is made in this passage to the ὁμόνοια in
Nic. Eth. 1167. 6, which receives a much fuller
treatment by Eudaemus in his Ethics, 1241. 7.
Some men indeed often say, If I only
knew what is the dearest will of God I would
gladly do it. But they speak very much
untruth, for they know it full well, but do it
not. Christ hath often announced to us the
will of God, and whoso followeth His teaching
fulfilleth the dearest will of God. He hath also
taught us that we should leave all things and
follow Him. In so far as we do this we follow
His will, and as oft as we omit it we say an
untruth when we give out that we live according to His will. This passage signifies, that we will follow His
will and live. The negation makes the sense
obscure; nor is it found in Sudermann.
But some one might now say, But do I
know that God willeth exactly that of me?
Yes, God willeth it, but do thou see and
observe if thou art willing to have it! God
will give thee all gifts, but what wiliest thou
to accept from Him? If any of His gifts is
despised, the fault lieth only in thee. But
thou wilt perhaps say, God hath certainly
ordained all things; therefore perhaps He
hath put me in a condition that I should contract marriage, and have children, for whom I
must procure temporal goods, that they may
not suffer necessity. God hath ordained all
things for the best, and if it be otherwise, it
is no longer the order of God; man often ordereth it for himself, and then considers
it still to be God’s decree. Perhaps you continue: Well, but granted that I hold it to
be God’s will and order that I should come
to perfection, perhaps I am not meet for it,
to find myself well in it, as a purely poor
life, and this perfection, are not intended for
me, and I am not equal to act in what doth
not belong to me, as a sick man is not fitted
to cope in fight with a strong man. But I
say the best belongeth to every man, and God
will give it us if thou wilt take it, and it we
The man who wisheth to be a friend of God,
he must also hate what his Friend hateth.
But what doth God hate in us? Sin, and
this must we hate if we wish to be the friends
of God. But it might be now insinuated:
God is Love; this is not accidental but essential, therefore no accident can enter into God.
But to hate is an accident; how then can a
man say that God hatelh sin? This is to be
understood in the following way. God is a
pure being, unified in Himself with essential
love, and no accident is possible with Him.
God hath also made man alter His image, as
Thirdly, gifts procure a friend, as a teacher
saith, “Giving maketh a man well-pleasing
to God,” and Christ saith, “Give alms, and
behold all things are pure to you” (
But what gifts will God have from men that can make him a
friend? The noblest gift which man can give is this, that he give himself; and
with himself he giveth God all things, for man is himself all things, therefore
lie need give nothing more than himself, as David also saith (
If then the greatest offering consisteth in this, that man offer himself, of what use is it, people may say, that man should give other things for the sake of God? The use is threefold.
First, man is created for time and for
eternity. But time and eternity cannot be
united or made one. Whoso, therefore, wisheth to possess eternity must put aside time
and all temporals. Therefore it is needful
that the man who holdeth many temporal
things, so part with them to others for the
Secondly, the giving away of temporal
things is useful, as Christ Himself hath
taught it with the words, “Give alms, and behold all things are pure to you” (
From temporal things we should also depart,
if divine love demands it; as St. John saith, “Whoso hath temporal things and seeth his
brother suffering necessity, and closeth his
heart against him, how can divine love be in
such a one?” ( Nunquam est Dei amor otiosus, operatur etenim
magna si est, si vero operari renuit, amor non est. Hom. 20 in Evang. No. 2.
The question might now be put, If it were
not possible that the fire of divine love should
burn in man and destroy all temporals only
inwardly, while the outward man might preserve what is necessary? I answer, If a man
keep himself pure, always watcheth his interior, exercise himself with holy contemplations, especially with the contemplation of
the Passion of our Lord—for this maketh a
man pure—then in his purity cometh up a
light which burneth, and this internal burning showeth itself outwardly. If it be great,
it consumeth in man all things, outwardly
and inwardly; but if it be weak, man doth
indeed despise internally these thing
But St. Paul saith, “The flesh lusteth
against the spirit, and the spirit against the
flesh” (
But it may be said: What doth Christ mean
when He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,”
if you cannot be perfect except you are also
poor in body? For He saith Himself, “If thou
wilt be perfect, sell all that thou hast, and give
to the poor!” (
Secondly, the words, “Blessed are the
poor in spirit,” should be also thus understood. Where there is perfect poverty of
spirit there is also poverty of body. The
highest contains in itself the lower, and what
the highest doeth the lower must also do.
Now, if the spirit, which is the highest, is
poor, then the body, which is the lower, must
also be poor. Just as the servant must do
what his lord biddeth, so also the body must
do what the soul willeth, and not the soul
what the body wishes. Therefore it was not
necessary for Christ to say, “Blessed are the
poor in spirit and in body,” as poverty of
spirit includes poverty of body, for where
there is true poverty in the mind, there must
also be poverty of body. Thus poverty of
spirit consisteth with perfection, which belongeth to a poor life. And whoso accepteth
But here there is a dispute between two
classes of these men. One class retain the
needs for the body, and give themselves up
internally to God. but do not trouble themselves about external works. They watch
their heart and attend to what God wisheth
to work in the interior, and give also place
for this. This occupies them inwardly, so
that they do not care much for external reputation. It also cometh to pass that such
men attain to great internal contemplation,
and perceive divine graces. This is effected
by their zealous entering into themselves, and
by the devout contemplation of the Passion
of our Lord. These and other pious contemplations guard them also from sinful defects
and purity them. Into this purity now God
poureth his graces, so that they are conscious
of these within their. selves. If, moreover,
these men give themselves up to God, and
carry out what He hath warned them to do,
it happeneth easily that they leave all things
outward and inward, and follow Him through
a poor life. And thus they become perfect, and soar indeed to the highest degree of perfection.
In this purity and emptiness God can then
work without all hindering; and such a work
in a pure soul is much nobler than all works
that God ever worked in time and in eternity.
And for this reason. When God created all
things He had no hindering of His work; but
the work that God worketh in the soul may
But what kind of work is this? It is
nothing else than a revelation of God in the
soul when God showeth Himself to the soul.
God worketh, and is Himself the work that
He bringeth about. Therefore God draweth
away the soul from all things, that it may be
able to receive His work; and this receptiveness and the work of God make the soul one
spirit with God, and this is the dearest and
most desired thing that God will have from
man, that man should always be so disposed
that God can work in him at all times without hindering, so that he may become one
spirit with Him; therefore He also saith, “My delight is with the children of men”
(
Man’s spirit becometh also one with God,
if he followeth Christ just as He hath gone
before us. For Christ is one with God; therefore it is necessary that he who wisheth to
be one spirit with God, should be united first
with Christ. And this union of man with
Christ consisteth in this, that he do all things
as far as it is possible and he is able, as Jesus
worked them, when He was man. Christ
hath taught us in His works what we should This passage is not in St. Paul, but it occurs in
an old Church prayer which runs thus: Deus celsitudo humilium et
fortitudo rectorum, qui per
unigenitum Filium tuum ita mundum erudire
dignatus es, ut omnis illius actio nostra, fieret instructio, excita in nobis Spiritus Tui fervorem, ut
quod ille verbo et exemplo salubriter docuit nos
efficaciter imitari valeamus.
What do people believe by the expression
that we come quite near unto God in heaven?
It consists in this, that we follow Him
closely on earth. St. Bernard saith, “Many
would walk with Christ in heaven, but they
are unwilling to suffer with Him on earth.” Volunt omnes te (Jesu) frui at non ita et imitari; regnare cupiunt sed non compati. In
Cant. Sermon, 21. 2. See also the Imitation of
Thomas à Kempis, c. 11. 1I.
Thus no one cometh to God, save he only
who setteth aside all things and followeth
Christ in the way in which He hath gone before
us. Christ is the everlasting aim of all men,
and whosoever cometh nearest to this aim, he
is also nearest to God. It happeneth, indeed,
that some men come nigh to this aim by good
works, and yet do not deny things, and the
There are two kinds of works by which we come to the aim—an inner and an outer work,
In an inner work, man must have in view three objects—his defects, the Passion of our Lord, God and His Godhead.
First, man must consider his defects, learn to know himself internally, and if he knoweth this, free himself. If a man doth not turn into himself, if he doth not inwardly consider his defects, he never cometh to a right knowledge of them, and cannot free himself, so that he become quite pure. Therefore the men who only look to outer works and cleave to them, never come to a right knowledge of themselves, and often fail in their good works. They think that they are practising a virtue, and they put in practice a vice, and this proceedeth from a blinding of themselves, whilst the evil spirit can moreover often deceive them. He who wisheth not to be deceived, that he may come without hindering to the aim, which is Christ, with the light that God hath kindled in him, he must consider well everything, if it be good or bad; then he must choose the good and reject the bad, and thus he attaineth to the aim.
Secondly, he must consider the Passion of
our Lord; this must he stamp upon his
heart, and thereby he learneth how he shall
avoid all that is not God, and how he shall
exercise himself in virtue that he may attain
to God. In the contemplation of the Passion
of our Lord, God poureth a power into him
whereby He draweth man unto Himself.
This is the great fruit produced by the
Passion of our Lord. If, now, man turneth
himself to this with earnest desire and tarries
in it, then God revealeth to him the fruit of His Passion, which is so great
that it entirely streams round him, and by the stream of His grace man is led
with power and energy to God. Just as a mighty stream embraceth all and sweeps
it along with itself with overpowering force, so likewise doth it come to pass
with the man who diligently considereth
the Passion of our Lord. Into him cometh
the stream of divine graces, and leadeth him
forcibly away from himself to his first origin
from which he hath sprung. But those men
who do not institute such an inner contemplation of the Passion of our Lord, and only
exercise themselves with other good works, go
indeed to God, but often stand still or even
go backward. But it is not a human but a
divine force that is lent to them in the contemplation of the Passion of our Lord, and it
is so great that they cannot resist it. Therefore run they alway forward, and even if they
And as God the Father begetteth His Son
in Himself and in all things, so in the same
birth He leadeth man to Himself through
the Passion of His Son and all virtues. And
as God is everlasting in His begettings, so also
the initiation of man in the sufferings of His
Son is an everlasting process, and nothing can
hinder man in this work. Just as little as
God can be hindered in the birth of His
Word, will He let the man be disturbed who
giveth himself up with entire love to the
Passion of His Son. The men who with
intensest love contemplate the Passion of our
Lord, are a second Christ; for love uniteth,
therefore they cannot go astray as long as
they cleave to Christ. As God the Father
did not let His Son fail, so also doth He not
let such men go astray, but He willeth that
they should always come forward in order
that they may reach the aim. Therefore,
whoso wisheth to come to the aim, which is
Jesus Himself, must entirely immerse himself
in the Passion and consider it steadfastly.
Out of this contemplation he obtaineth so
great force, that in one hour it leadeth him
nearer than he could have attained to for a
long time by natural force. But whosoever
Jesus saith, “I am the Gate, through which
a man must go to God. Whoso entereth elsewhere is a thief and a murderer. The thief
cometh to steal, and the murderer to kill”
Some men take much exertion for the
knowledge of truth. But he who wisheth to
obtain genuine truth, let him consider with
all possible diligence the Passion of Jesus, in
which welleth forth the fountain of all truth.
Christ is the truth, and whosoever wisheth to
have the truth let him seek it in Christ and
in His Passion; here he findeth it for sure,
but nowhere else. The truth of the world he
may indeed find in his natural knowledge,
but even if he have this it helpeth him not to
true happiness. But if he wisheth to have
the truth which is alone saving, he must seek
this in the Passion of our Lord. Here is the
real fountain of divine truth, and whoso
drinketh of it drinketh living water. To this
water Jesus calleth with a loud voice, saying, “If any man thirst, let him come to Me and
drink. Whosoever drinketh of it, out of his
body shall flow streams of living water flowing into everlasting life, and whoso drinketh
of this water shall never thirst” (
But what heaven does St. Paul mean here?
Heaven is of two kinds the heaven that is
over us, and the other heaven, which is spiritual, that is. the soul, in which God dwelleth:
and where God is. there is heaven. Therefore
St. Paul saith, “The kingdom of heaven is
within you.”
Thus a man must be free from all the defects of accident if his dwelling is to be in
The heathen also sought the naked and
simple essence of the soul, but they could
never come to it without Christ. Hence
they could not know God, nor be happy, and
yet they wished to be happy. And the same
happens still to all men who seek the naked
essence of the soul without the Passion of our
Lord; for they never come to a right understanding of the truth, which is God, and by
which they can be saved and happy. For
all our salvation and happiness are placed in
Christ and in His Passion; therefore he who
wisheth to be saved must enter into the Passion of our Lord. And therefore our Lord
said, “It was necessary for Christ to suffer to See
The third object that a man ought to have
in his internal work, in order that he come to
his aim, is to contemplate God in His pure
Godhead and Divinity. If man hath seen in
his interior what he really is, hath he put
aside all defective accident, if the contemplation of the Passion of our Lord hath led
him to all virtue, then he seeth God in His
essence and simplicity and in His true nature.
Through this vision he goeth into God, uniteth
himself to Him, and God leadeth man with
Himself into Himself, and thus he hath an
everlasting entrance into God. He is indeed
quite encompassed by God, so that he loseth
himself, and knoweth nothing more save God
only. And thus sinketh he, and is drowned
in the fathomless ocean of the Godhead; he
liveth in God as the fish in the sea, and thus
as the sea encompasseth the fish, so the soul
is encompassed by God and hasteneth to its
aim, where she shall eternally abide. She
aimeth at it and hits it, as is written in the
Canticles, when the Lord, speaking of His bride,
saith. “My friend, thou hast wounded Me with
thine eyes.” Compare Solomon’s
The other work by which man draweth nigh to his aim, which is Christ, is outward; it consists of all the virtues which appertain unto a perfect life. These a man must have of necessity, if he wisheth to arrive at the right aim. Mention has already been made of these virtues further back, therefore we pass them over here, and only note, moreover, that a man who wisheth to be one spirit with God must be led to this by the life, Passion, and works of our Lord Jesus Christ. As now a thoroughly poor man is led through all this, he cleaveth to God and is one spirit with God.
The Spirit of God speaketh also in man without images and forms, or rather, raised above all images and forms. This speech is Life, Light, and Truth.
To speak of life, this life is nothing else
than a divine force, whereby man can do all
things. As St. Paul saith, “I can do all
things in Him that strengthened me” (
Of what life is in itself we cannot speak;
man, indeed, experiences something in himself, but he cannot describe it, and it is above
all words, and he cannot give it in images
and forms. Therefore he cannot speak of it,
If now the highest happiness of man consist in this, that he keep silence, and listen
only to the everlasting word, and avoid all
other words, many will say, Why then should
we listen to a sermon, to preaching? Preaching is nothing else than a leading to God, and
the power of perceiving the everlasting word.
But if man is far removed from God, he cannot hear the everlasting word, for when one
is distant from another, he cannot perceive Qui didicerunt a Domino Jesu Christo mites
esse et humiles corde, plus cogitando et orando
proficiunt, quam legendo et audiendo. Ep. 147.
No. 1.
And he should drop and drive out with
violence all that hindereth him in this. Then
he hath the capacity of depriving himself of
all that is not God, and of always hearing the
eternal word in himself, which spriugeth from
a living ground, in which God is. What he
driveth away is as Jesus did in the Temple,
when He drove out buyers and sellers, and
said, “My house is a house of prayer, but ye
have made it into a den of thieves” (
But the man who resisteth all thoughts
that keep him apart from God, and who
giveth place to God only to dwell in him,
receiveth this living, divine power from God
the Father, who pours it into him. This inpouring is His inspeaking, and that is the life
full of ecstasy and joy. Whoso hath not this
life, that is, God Himself in a pure heart, he
is also lacking all ecstasy and joy, he is more
dead than alive, and that is ever against the
nature of man. Sin killeth nature, but nature
is abhorrent of death, therefore sin is against
nature, therefore sinners can never have a joy.
Just as little as the dead can rejoice can the
sinners rejoice, for the ground from which
genuine joy springeth is dead, and thus they
cannot possibly rejoice. But in those men
who live in genuine purity there is the fountain of all ecstasy and joy, and it admitteth
of no sadness, for the eternal word, through
which all angels and saints enjoy delight and
ecstasy, speaketh in them as in the saints in
heaven. “But that their joy is not so perfect
as that of those in heaven cometh from this,
that they still have their body with them. If
they were free from their body they would
It might, however, now be said, If man is
saved by this, that he heareth the word of
The first is a speaking of God in the essence
of the soul, where no creature can enter nor
can it speak there, for here God alone dwelleth and also alone speaketh. It is an old scholastic doctrine that God only
can work in the essence of the soul. See especially St. Thomas, 1. dist. 37. qu.
3. a. 3 ad 4; in Joann. c. 11. lect. 4. Salmantic, tom. iii. tr. 9. disput. 1. dub.
§ 1, and tom. ii. tr. 7. disput. 2.
dub. 10.—Eckhart, 12. 19.
The second is the working of God in the
forces. The word is spoken by the preacher,
and man heareth it with his bodily ears; but
this will not save him unless he follows it in
his life. This speaking taketh place through
men in images and forms; but that which
cometh to pass through means or media doth
not save the soul, but it can bring them to
salvation, and teaches them how they can lay
aside the media or means so as to arrive at the
pure essence, where the soul seeth God without anything intermediate. But if the soul
can distinguish all things by reason, so that
it is free from all defective accident, then she
must let go all external words that are spoken
through men; she must turn herself to the
innermost of her being and here only perceive
the eternal word which God the Father
speaketh. And all other speech she ought
The second thing that the Spirit of God
speaketh in the soul is light. Light is nothing but an adornment of the soul with which
God adorneth her, clotheth her, and maketh
her well-pleasing to Him. He saith also in
the Book of Canticles to His bride, “Very
fair art thou, My friend, and no stain is in
thee; come from Lebanon; come, thou shalt
be crowned.” In the margin stands Solomon. Compare
Solomon’s
The soul groweth perfect in this clarity.
So long as she abideth in this body she will
always increase more and more in this divine
clarity, and according to the measure of her
purity she groweth also in divine clarity. “We can take a likeness from the sun. The
purer the air the brighter doth the sun shine
and beam forth. So is it also with the soul;
the purer it is the more doth the divine sun
shine in her and purify her. If she be quite
pure of defects of accident, then the divine
sun penetrates immediately into her. But if
she be over-burthened with venial sins the
sun shineth in her mediately but not so
brilliantly, only like a flame. If, however, Denifle thinks that the Aristotelian-Thomistic
doctrine lies at the foundation of this expression,
teaching that the last disposition for the form of
a class (Gattung) must be with the form. Aristot.
an. 414. a. 11. Comp. Hertling, Materie und
Form, Bonn 1871, p. 83. St. Thom. qu. 8. de
verit. c. 3. Ægydius Correct. 1. p. a. 1. resp. 1; Lux quae est propria forma corporis summe diaphani, nullo modo fieret forma vel actus alicujus,
quod nullo modo participat diaphaneitatem.
Comp. Dionys. De div. nom. c. 2. § 6, et c. 4. § 4.
If therefore the soul is a pure spirit,
emptied of all that is earthly, she is now a
light herself for what is pure is also a light Beginning at this place, we find a development
of the scholastic principle: Quidquid recipitur,
recipitur juxta facultatern recipientis. St Thom.
de Causis, lect. 24. Albert. Mag. de Causis, Lib.
ii. tr. 2. c. 23. and c. 28.
The soul must also be near the light, if
she is to receive it. Though a glass were
always quite pure, but it were not brought to
the sun, it would not be enlightened. Thus
also the soul must raise herself to the divine
splendour if she is to receive the clarity of
The Pharisees are those men who appear
outwardly quite holy in many good works,
but who despise the truth and do not follow
it in thorough righteousness. These cannot
enter into the kingdom of God, which is in
the depths and foundation of the soul. But
he that desireth to reach it, must exercise
himself in all good works, outwardly and
inwardly; thus such a man surpasseth the
Pharisees in righteousness, and attaineth to
the kingdom of God, in the essence of the
soul, where is the kingdom of God. The
Pharisees of the old covenant held indeed the
laws outwardly, but inwardly they were quite
false. But this did not make them righteous;
they seemed indeed righteous, but were not
so. We must exceed this apparent righteousness if we would come into heaven. What
of righteousness we show outwardly must
hold sway in full measure internally. This
maketh us then capable of receiving the
divine light; therefore St. Paul saith, “Appear what ye are, and be what ye appear!” “Abstain from all appearance of evil” ( This passage cannot be found in St. Paul, though he says, in
Man must likewise surpass the Scribes in
righteousness. The Scribes in the old covenant were those who taught the people, but
what they taught other people they did not
practise themselves. It also cometh to pass,
that such men show themselves as inwardly
righteous, so that men believe that they are
really so; but this inwardness is not divine but
natural. The natural light of their reason cometh to their help; they can distinguish all
things, which maketh them so eloquent, and they
hold themselves to be quite internal men. They
are also difficult to detect, and only the perfect man, who is enlightened with the divine
light, can recognise them; these people are
quite like the Scribes of the old covenant.
Whoso wisheth to attain to the divine light
must surpass them in righteousness, for their
righteousness consisteth only in words, but
hath no life. If they enter into their interior,
this only taketh natural images, and as there
is too much natural truth in them, they do
not obtain the supernatural light. Their outer
emptiness and their internally dwelling in themselves make them reasonable in a natural way.
But whoso wisheth to have the divine light
must speak little, but what he speaketh must,
have life. He must consider his faults and
lay them aside, and exercise himself diligently
in contemplating the Passion of our Lord.
But how can you know the distinction of
the natural and the divine light? A likeness
thereto is given by the moon and the sun.
The moon receiveth its light from the sun,
for she is in herself cold and damp, and even
when the sun throweth his light upon her, he
warmeth nothing thereby. From this we
recognise the moon, that her light giveth
no warmth, and her light maketh, as you
see, many objects doubtful in moonlight; it
also deceiveth often. Such is also the
natural light in the reason of man. As the
moon receiveth her light from the sun, so
also the natural light is cold and not warming; and just as the light of the moon is
unproductive of fruit, so also the natural
light in itself is unfruitful, for it produceth
few fruits that are useful for everlasting life.
If the natural light could produce fruits
whereby man could attain to heaven, in that
case many heathen would be in heaven, who
are, perhaps, condemned; for by his mere
nature man cannot come into heaven, but
grace must work together with it. What is
also viewed by natural light remaineth doubtful;
Some will say, however, there are many
good men who have not a special inworking
from God, and yet their soul is not dead
thereby. There are three kinds of men.
Some live in mortal sins; these lack the
influx of God entirely, and are also quite
spiritually dead. But that they are yet
called back to life is a much greater wonder
than the resurrection of the bodily dead, for
as much nobler as the soul is than the body,
so is it much greater when she cometh again
to life. A teacher saith on this point, “It
is a greater work to convert a sinner from
his sins than to create heaven and earth.” Denifle informs us that in the margin stands
Augustine. The Schoolmen were always citing
this passage: Majus est quod ex impio fiat justus,
quam creare coelum et terram. But St. Augustine only says (Tract. 72 in Joann. No. 3) of justification:
Majus hoc esse dixerim, quam est
coelum et terra et quaecunque cernuntur in coelo
et in terra.
No man hath been yet so wise by nature that he could recognise
the most unimportant work that God worketh in a pure soul. Therefore also no man
should judge good men. A really holy man is hidden from all
natural men; but such a man ought not to
proclaim his secret, especially not to those
who are ready with words by nature and
make fine speeches, but have little life. According to their natural conceptions they
cannot understand what grace worketh in
The begetting of the divine sun is wonderful. We will carry over the simile of the natural sun’s begetting to the divine sun. The natural sun produceth the fish in the water, the divine sun maketh all the works of the senses fruitful, for by the water is to be understood the senses. As the water is unsteady and fluctuating, so also are the senses. If the senses in their movements turn to virtue, and go on to work, they have become fruitful. This is effected by the divine sun, which hath enlightened them and rendered them fruitful.
The natural sun produceth the beasts of the
earth and fructifieth the earth. When the
body exerciseth itself in all good works, its
activity bringeth forth fruit for everlasting life,
as Christ also saith, “Whosoever drinketh of
the water that I give him, his body shall be a
source of living water flowing into everlasting
life.”
The natural sun also begetteth the bird.
By the bird is understood the thought of man.
As the bird flieth hither and thither, so also
are the thoughts of man restless and roving,
but these too are made fruit-bringing by the
divine sun. If at length they turn from the
earthly and fly to the contemplation of the
Passion of our Lord, and thereby into the
true Godhead, they bring forth here incalculable fruits. This is worked by the divine
light, which irradiates and beams round the
thoughts, and leadeth them to God. By the
air is also understood the reason of man. Just
as the natural sun produceth in the air various
things, grass and plants, so also doth the divine
sun bring forth in the reason various wonderful things and truths. With this truth it
adorneth the reason and prepareth for it Unspeakable rapture, so that no heart can conceive and no mouth express it. St. Paul
found himself in this rapture when he said, “I have seen things that it is not lawful to
mention.” He recognised in himself the truth
which he could not express in words, therefore he said, “which it is not lawful to mention.” Whoso speaketh out what he perceiveth
in himself proveth that he hath never yet
found in himself right divine truth, and it
cometh easily to pass that they who babble
the most have the least pure truth. For
divine truth consisteth not in speeches but
in silence, and keeping within, recollected.
The natural sun also produceth the phoenix in the fire, According to the Egyptian mythology.
But what is a perfect will, whereby works and virtues are essential? A perfect will is an abandonment of all that is not God. If a man hath not done this in works, he must do it in will if he will be perfect. What lacketh him still in works he must lay aside, and free himself in proper order. If he doeth this, and hath exercised himself in accidental virtues, he obtaineth the essence; the will penetrates into the essence, and thereby worketh also essential works, for where two things are one, then they have one working. If now the will hath entirely passed over into the essence, it hath also one working with tie essence. Each thing worketh according to its quality, and thus the essence worketh essentially, and the will with it. It is not, however, a work that is brought about by the movement of the forces, but it is a standing still without all motion, and it is Divine. In this manner worketh God, accordingly an essential work is only thus brought forth.
Now some person might say, How can
this be, that the will can work an essential
work, when it is nevertheless a force which
is movable; and what is movable cannot
work anything essential? To this I say,
that the will hath two drifts or direction’s,
one to the creature and time, and the other
to God. And in case the will is turned to
the creature, and to time, and to the body, it
is movable, and cannot generate or work out
any essential work. Nothing can work above
its power; if, then, the creature and time are
unsteady, and the will is united with time,
from this cause its working is unsteady and
movable, and therefore it is not essential.
For an essential work is immovable, and
therefore he who wisheth to work an essential
work, his will must have parted from all
creatures and from time. The other drift
which the will hath is in God, and in case
the will is directed to God, it is immovable
with God, for movement is only in time and
in those who are overladen with accidents;
and if the will be raised above time into
eternity, and is emptied of all accidents, and
penetrates into the essential good, which is
God, behold all then that God worketh, the
will also worketh with God. And since God’s
works are essential, so also the works of the
will are essential and immovable. For just
as when an imperfect thing is united with one
that is perfect, it will not work according to
Here the question might be put, What is
an essential work? An essential work is
when the essence of the soul is one and
simple, and is placed in complete silence.
And through simplicity it hath communion
with all things; for what is most simple is
most universal, and imparts itself to all
things, and yet remains undivided and unmoved in itself. And to communicate and
divide with all things is called an essential
working; and in this working one work is
all works, and all works are one work. For
just as God seeth all things with one glance,
and it worketh without any movement of
Himself, so doeth also an essential will. It
seeth all things in one glance, and in this
one glance it worketh all works, and all
works are only one glance. And this worketh
the divine light in the will, for a perfect will Confess. xiii. 8. In the margin Solomon. Compare
Objection might be made to this by some
one saying, Just before it was said that
the will was immovable, and now, again, I
speak of a course of the will; but this is a
movement? We said above that if the will
turneth away from all things and uniteth
with God, that it is immovable. And that
is true; and this immobility is to be thus
understood, that it no longer moveth to the
creature and to time, for it is raised above
creatures and time, and therefore it is not
moved by the creature nor by time. And it
turneth no more to this or to that, but it
willeth always One, and that is God; to Him
it cleaveth alway, without any going back;
and therefore is it called immovable, for it
suffereth not itself to be moved from God.
Bui when I spoke of the will always running
Some one might now say, How can this
be, that man cometh to this in time, that his
will becometh immovable, for man is scarcely
so perfect that he doth not mark how his will
inclineth now to one side and now to another,
and as man is born in time, he hath a movement with time? To this I answer, That
man is made up of time and of eternity, and
hence he must have an influence from them
both. The body is receptive of the temporal
influence, which he must endure, because he
liveth in time. Then from the necessity of
the body, the will inclineth to the body, that
It is sometimes said, that poor men stand too much on their own will and like much to follow it, and that this is a fault in them. To this I answer, that a right poor man is entirely resigned and hath given up his will, and never carrieth out his own will; but he fulfilleth alway His will to whom he hath resigned himself, that is, God’s will. Again it might be said, What is your own will? and what is a resigned will? Your own will is nothing else than a holding yourself possession of bodily and spiritual things.
The man who hath not yet parted with all
temporal things, internally and externally,
has still possession of his will for it is the
property of the will, that it inclineth to creatures and to time, and hence he who is overladen with creatures, hath still property in
his will. Therefore whoso wisheth to be free
of all property, must leave creatures inwardly
and outwardly, as far as may consist with,
discretion. It might now be said, There
are many good people, who have their outward
Further, keeping possession of ourselves in
spiritual things is from self-will, and indeed
But if a man is more modest in this his
opinion, if he doth not despise other people, and
yet is too rejoiced in his having so much penetration, this hinders him from his perfection,
which surpasseth all that is human, for the This passage of Dionysius is always introduced
by the German Mystics as far as the words “Christendom worketh.” But only what Denifle
notes really comes from Dionysius, the remainder,
according to this critic, having been copied by one
Mystic from another. Myst. Theol. c. 1. § 1:
Σὑ δέ . . τῆ περὶ τὰ μυστικὰ θεάματα συντόνῳ διατριβῆ
καὶ τὰς αἰσθήσεις ἀπόλειπε καὶ τὰς νοερὰς.
ἐνεργείας και πάντα αἰσθητὰ καὶ νοητά κ.τ.λ.. See St. Bonaventure, Itinerar. c. 7. p. 347 (ed. Hefele.
Tubingen, 1861), who introduces the same doctrine though he does not use exactly
the same expression, “speaking of the Word.”
Supposing, now, that all which a man
It might certainly be asked, Is it not better that a man should only mark the state of his heart and suffer God to work in him, than that he should trouble himself about outer works? I answer, Yes; but a distinction is needful here. It needeth a man, who hath so exercised himself in virtues, that though an external virtue were to rejoice him, he would no more be able to work it; and this happeneth in two ways.
First, if he have expended all that he had
already on virtue, so that he hath no longer
any matter on which to exercise virtue, if thus
he would gladly work it, but cannot, as he
hath nothing, and is poor, and is furthermore
devoted to God, so that he cannot sever himself
But the man who holdeth temporal things
and hath not yet devoted all to virtue, must
work out, at all events, the virtues necessary to his state. And even if God were
to work inwardly in him, yet must he often
break off from the internal work and practise
external virtue; he must do this if he hath
an object for it, and necessity demands it.
He must do it if he wisheth to be humble,
and if he doeth it not he committeth a fault;
he omitteth to do it from self-will, and not
through the will of God. He cannot yet possess virtue in essence, as he is still burthened
with the temporal; it is therefore needful for
him to exercise accidental virtues so long till
he is emptied of all accidents. If he is then
emptied of the accidental, he is then free from
the necessity of exercising this kind of virtue
(the accidental) and worketh it henceforth
essentially. If an object faileth for this exercise, he must omit it, but if one is found he
must do it. Thus man is humble if he exerciseth all virtue, till virtue becometh his property and his very essence, and if this hath
come to pass, he can omit accidental virtue.
Now that man entirely give himself up
to virtue, is worked out by the divine light,
which lighteth the will, and enkindleth in it
the fire of divine love, which driveth him on
henceforth to virtue, and suffereth him not to
rest till he hath hold on the essence of all
virtue. Whoso followeth this light is humble,
and no one else. A man may indeed show a
denial of self, but this rather hindereth a man
from true humility than helpeth him to it.
It often cometh to pass that rich folk assume
humility, and say to others they will give
way; but these people only give way as far
as they free themselves from temporal things
and practise virtue, but no further; he, however,
It might be said, This light is doubtful,
for men are often deceived, holding a natural
or a devilish light to be divine. Therefore is
it good that a man should trust to another
who hath more light. I say it is good for a
man who standeth in doubt to let himself be
led, so that he may be shown what is best,
which he can and ought to follow. He should
not only stop at external doctrine, but carry
it into the light of his heart, see what he finds
good, and follow it. Above all things should
he turn to the Passion of our Lord, consider
it with great earnestness, and what he learneth
there he should follow, but he should compare what he hath learnt with the testimony
of Holy Scripture and the general teaching
of the Church; thus he cannot err. Nor is it
necessary that he should always regard what
his Leader saith and commandeth him; but
he should mark this especially, what God commandeth him inwardly, that should he chiefly
follow, and thus cometh he to true humility.
By the counsel of men only he cometh not
thereto; man only counselleth what is human,
and this doth not make perfect. But God’s
counsel is divine, and this maketh perfect.
Whoso followeth His teaching cometh to the
It might here be said that the teaching of
an exemplary man is from God, therefore you
should always follow it. I answer, that the
teaching of an exemplary man is from Cod.
But it is still in the intermediate, and so long
as a man thus standeth he is not immediately
touched by God, for to be so he should not
follow any creature, but God. If, however,
he hath come so far that God toucheth him
without any mediation, he should give way
to no creature. For God hath revealed to
him a li^ht in which he cannot err, and God
giveth him enough to do with himself, so that
he forgetteth all creatures, and therefore, saith
the Master of Nature (Aristotle), “Whoso is
touched by the first cause must follow no
human counsel, but Him who is above all
human counsel.” In the margin stands Aristotle, but Denifle
says that he cannot find the passage in that
author.
It might be here said, How is man to understand if he is touched by God? By two
things. First, when God cometh into the
soul He revealeth Himself with a new light,
which man hath never known in himself
before, and this light breaketh out with heat
How is a man to attain to a perfect, poor life?
The second part of this book treats of how a
man shall come to a perfect, poor life, in
which man seizeth hold on the highest and
closest (perfection), and what things a man
must consider in order that he become poor.
First, man must consider the teaching and
the life of Jesus Christ, for He hath taught
poverty and lived it. And a man should
follow the teaching and the life, if he wisheth
to be perfect, for He saith, “Whoso loveth
Me keepeth My commandments and My
counsels, and heareth My word.”
It might now be said, What is man in his
selfhood, that he must deny, if he wisheth
to follow after Christ? Man’s selfhood consisteth in four things. First, his frailty, and
that he falleth into sins; and this he must
needs set aside; he must die to his defects
and sins, and mortify himself. Secondly, he
is inclined to creatures. For man is inclined
by nature to his like, and he must kill nature,
and must withdraw from creatures, for God
and creatures are opposites. And therefore
he who wisheth to have God must leave
creatures. For the soul is so narrow that
God and the creature cannot dwell together
in her; and therefore if God is to dwell in
thy soul, the creature must remain without.
The third point is, that man to part from
selfhood should drop all sensual delight, for
he must die to this and kill it in himself, it
he wisheth to have God’s comfort. As St.
Bernard saith, “The comfort of God is so
noble that no one receiveth it who seeketh
comfort elsewhere.” Compare St. Bernard, De diligendo Deo, c. 4,
No. 11 , and the Monk of Heilbronn, p. 65.
But it will here be asked, How shall man deny himself that these four things may be killed in him?
First, man should kill sin in himself through
virtue; for just as man is removed from God
by sin must he be brought nigh again unto
God by virtue. St. Paul saith, “As ye gave
up your members to serve sin in unrighteousness, so give ye up now also your members
to serve virtue in righteousness.”
But who knoweth, wilt thou ask, if he
have all virtues? I answer to this like John,
who saith, “Whosoever is born of God cannot
sin.”
Hath a man virtue in such fulness that he
needeth no more? This must be understood
differently and in two ways. First, if the
outer man hath virtue, he can never have too
much, so that he needeth no more in number,
magnitude, and purity. He must practise
continually more and more virtues, and as
long as he liveth on earth always grow and
The second thing that man must shun is
the love for creatures. Poverty of spirit is a
going out of yourself and out of everything
earthly. Thereby he despiseth creatures, is
despised by them, and is thus set free. A
truly poor man taketh nothing from creatures, but all from God, be it bodily or
spiritual. God alone will be the Giver. And
truly whoso receiveth something elsewhere
than from God is no truly poor man, for a
man can give nothing to a perfectly poor man,
except it come as a gift from God, therefore is
it also good, as God alone is the Giver, and a
poor man can gladly leave all things in order
that he may receive from God alone. His
bodily friends withdraw their love from him,
The third selfhood that man must resign is
fleshly lust. This is overcome by steady internal contemplation of the Passion of our
Lord. If a man immerse himself in the
Passion of our Lord, he is purified, and in
this purity a light is kindled that burneth
and killeth all luxury of the body. A spiritual divine rapture is begotten which surpasseth all bodily lust. Whoso wisheth to
have this divine rapture, lei him lay his
mouth at the wounds of our Lord and suck
them in. Truly, if he always doeth this, he
Many a man saith, I have no grace. Nothing is to be accused for this save that thou dost not seek it rightly. If thou seekest it rightly in the Passion of our Lord, thou wouldst always find grace and all comfort. Even though it be bitter to thee at first and giveth no delight, this is a sign that thou art still burthened with bodily luxury, which must be rooted out by bitterness. If this bodily pleasure is punished it passeth away, and a spiritual, divine pleasure is born, so that thou hast never felt so great rapture. But if thou fliest the first bitterness, thou wilt never be emptied of luxury. Man can therefore gladly suffer a short bitterness in order to be free from that bitterness which lasteth for ever.
A man who earnestly considereth the Passion of our Lord, from him its fruit also will
not be hid. For if he ascendeth the tree of
the cross, the fruit thereof beckoneth him on,
if he be willing to have it. All on the cross
is full of fruit, and more than all tongues
could in truth proclaim. Nay, angels’ tongues
could not describe the overflowing grace that
is there hidden in the Passion of our Lord.
Blessed are those who have found this treasure,
but unhappy they to whom this treasure is
hidden, and who do not turn to it that the
treasure may be revealed to them. And it is
the living fruit of living Paradise. Whoso
eat of this fruit shall never die. Had Adam
eaten the lawful fruit and not that which was
forbidden, he would have remained deathless.
The same thing cometh to pass with us. If
we eat the fruit of the cross, which is permitted us, and leave that which is forbidden,
that is, all natural lust, then we shall become
deathless. But if we neglect the fruit of life
and take the fruit of death, we become in
truth mortal, and shall be driven out of Paradise. Now they who have tasted this fruit
desire always to eat more and more, and they
are always hungering after it, and are never
satisfied so long as they live in time, and in
order to satisfy this their hunger they run
with great desire to the Sacrament, and their
hunger is so great that God could not satisfy
them with all that He hath created, but only
Priests should have care for such a hungry
soul, and should give her God’s Body, that
she may not die of hunger. It is often said,
He who suffereth a man to die of bodily
hunger when he might well have helped the
sufferer, would be guilty of the death of that
man. Much more is a man guilty towards
souls when he letteth them die of hunger.
For just as the soul is much nobler than the
body, so much more are you guilty if you
allow the soul to suffer hunger. These men
that thus hunger are often severely blamed,
because they go often to receive the Body of
our Lord, but in truth he who really saw their
hunger would not blame them. The man who
blameth them is not willing to see his own
blindness, and his small degree of love. He
doeth like a man who seeth another sitting
on his own tree, from which hangeth a fulness
of fruit, and who upbraideth him because he
eateth his own fruit. For thus do also these
divine men; they sit upon their own tree of
the cross, which hath a fulness of the noblest
fruit of the body of our Lord. For the Sacrament of the Body of our Lord is the fruit of
the holy cross, and whoso would eat its fruit
with profit must break it off from the cross
by steadfast internal contemplation of the
Passion of our Lord. And other men cannot
This man doth not need much preaching,
save to come here and stay here; for if he
entereth thoroughly into the Passion of our
Lord, he is so laid hold of that he can no
more turn away from God. They who have
come to this thank God greatly, for God hath
chosen them from among men, like our Lord
chose St. Peter, St. John, and St. James, and
And these are the right lovers of God, who
love God with their whole heart. And they
who love God with their whole heart give up
all bodily things for the sake of God; and
the heart is bodily; thus, when they turn
away their heart from all bodily things to
God, this is called loving with the whole
heart. They also love with their whole soul;
that is, when they give up their life for the
sake of God; for the soul giveth life to the
body, and this same life they give entirely to
God. They further love God with all their
strength; that is, they ordain all their powers
according to the highest discretion, and they
direct all of them to one end, and with this
effort they penetrate into God. Arrived here
all the powers keep silence and rest; this also
When the German Mystics speak of being lost
in the darkness of God, they always have in view
the contemplatio in caligine. This theme is most
clearly treated by Sandaeus, Theol. Myst. p. 201.
Mogunt. 1627.
To this it might be said, If this is so, the
freedom of the will is taken away. I answer,
the freedom of the will is not taken away but
given to it, for then is the will quite free
when it cannot bear anything save what God
willeth. We say that a king is free who
overcometh all his enemies and ruleth uncontrolled in his kingdom, and he is not
called a free king who is conquered by his
enemies and driven out of his kingdom.
Thus also the will is a free king when it
overcometh all its enemies and ruleth uncontrolled, that is, “in God, in whom he
then can do all things,”
When now man is thus prepared with all
virtues and with a poor life, and with the
Passion of our Lord, he cometh to the third
degree of perfection, in which he heareth, in
It might be asked, What is God’s working? There are two kinds
of work in God—a working within and a working outwardly. According to the scholastic expression: Actio immanens, actio transiens.
Here some one might say, Since now man
with his work cannot come to God, what use
is there then in his working? To this I say,
that man with his work much more hindereth
than furthereth himself in coming to God.
For all that man doeth of himself is defective, and with that he cannot come to God.
For as the creature is faulty, it worketh faulty
works; and therefore if man is to come to
God, he must be empty of all work and let
God work alone. Of this Christ spake, “What
the Father doth not plant is cast out and
perisheth.”
Now, it will be asked, How is a man to
know if his work is of himself or from God?
Shortly be it said: there are three supernatural divine virtues, Faith, Hope, and
Love or Charity; whatever increaseth these
What is the divine work? It is twofold,
what God worketh in the soul, one the work
of grace, the other essential and divine. By
the work of grace man is prepared for the
essential. God worketh through His grace
in man, when He draweth him away from
sin and leadeth him on to virtue; if man
leaveth sin and exerciseth virtue, this is a
grace of God; by grace God maketh man
well-pleasing, it driveth him away from all
defective things on to virtue, so that with it
he obtaineth all virtues; thus man attaineth
to a perfect life, in which he knoweth the
holiest will of God, and liveth entirely after
it. The second work that God worketh in
the soul is essential; when man cometh to
this, that he hath obtained all accidental
virtue, and so now arriveth at the essence of
virtue, then God worketh all virtue in him
in an essential way, namely: the Heavenly
Father begetteth His Son in the soul, and
this birth raiseth the spirit above all created Lumen gloriae. Compare § 144, Part I., and
§ 72, Part II. Denifle affirms that the Schoolmen
never took the light of glory in this acceptation.
By most of them it was regarded as equivalent
with qualitas creata animae per modum habitus
inhaerens, quae cum beatorum mente ad Dei visionem concurrit. Denifle admits, however, that the
majority of theologians differ in determining how
this concursus is effected. Comp. Joannes a St.
Thoma. Curs. Theol. i. 275 and foil. ed. Lugd.
1663. Suarez, De attributis Dei negativis, c. 15
(opp. tom. i. p. 101 et. seq., ed. Par. 1856).
The reason recognises full well that this
working is a work raised above all created
things, the noblest work, whereby alone the
spirit can be blessed and saved; it is always
striving after this essential working, if possible
to know and grasp it. But the reason will
never seize hold on it in time, for if she
would do so, this would give heaven, in time.
And although she cannot comprehend it in
time, she yet striveth continually after it,
and standeth not still until death. By this
act of hastening after the divine work, she
empties herself of all created images, and
The reason is not guilty of this, that man
chooseth the earthy and leaveth God, for if
reason were present this would not happen.
For what the creature chooseth instead of
God, is done by sensuality and not by the
reason, and therefore David saith, “Ye shall
not be as the horses and mules, which have no
reason;” Compare
The other thing that driveth a man to a poor life, is the perfection of virtue. For virtue is never filled up in full measure, nor followed in the highest, except a man strip himself of the love of all temporal possession, till he exerciseth himself in all virtue, and lose the image of all virtue, and cometh to the faculty of no longer being able to work any virtue outwardly, but only essentially and not accidentally. For thus is virtue brought to the highest. This causeth, that all things are small to such a man, and virtue alone great; he turneth easily all things to virtue; he exerciseth himself in all virtues till he can do no more, and becometh so poor and despised that no one desireth any more a virtue from him. Thus without any guilt he is emptied of all outward virtue; and then without any hindering he can turn to God, which was not the case before.
So long as a man hath he must give, and
when he hath nothing more he is free. Freedom is much nobler than giving was before,
for he giveth no more in accident but in
It might now be said, If a man is weak by
nature, and keepeth the things that are required as necessary, if this doth not hinder
him from the perfection of virtue? I say in
answer, If the man is weak, so that he require
this, and keepeth something that he needeth,
this is not against virtue. For virtue hath a
The third cause why a man should give
himself up to a poor life is in order that he
die to himself and all creatures, and that God
alone may live in him. Now such a poor life
is living in death, and in this death is blessedness, as St. John saith, “Blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord.”
I hear it said, How can this be, that a poor
man entirely dieth, for he is still seen to live
like other men, and he is even seen cheerful?
To this I answer and say, that a Christianly
poor man dieth alway; whether he eat or
drink, or wake or sleep, all is a suffering to
him. How this happens, that he liveth much
as the common of men, this is merely an
ordering of the outer man, according to which
necessity he cannot attend much to God, and
this is his dying. For according to the inner
man he would wish always to busy himself
with God and leave all other things. Moreover if he testifieth himself to be cheerful,
this joy hath nothing common with time, nor
with any creatures. For it springeth alone
from God, and therefore is it without defects,
and doth not oppose the dying of the creature.
Now although a poor man would perhaps
gladly help himself, so that he might not
entirely die, God will not allow it. For his
But why must we always die if we would
be blessed? There are two matters: One is,
that our nature since Adam’s fall is full of
sinful propensity, and this propensity must
be rooted out and die. And as this can never
be absolutely rooted out we must continually
die. It cometh to pass indeed that a man
die according to his rational will, and that he
willeth not otherwise than God willeth. As
St. Paul saith, “You are dead in Christ, for
your life is hidden in Christ.” St. Paul only says, Denifle admits that Tauler often assumes the
existence of visions, but he never in his sermons
gives a theory of them. Denifle adds that the
author of the “Following” often alludes to them,
but while affirming that this same author depreciates visions too much, admits that since Christ
these phenomena are not necessary, and that the
Catholic Church never taught that a Divine Faith
must be attached to them, invariably associating
only a human faith with them. Those who, like
Preger, see in the doctrine of visions “a serious
sign of erroneous belief,” can judge from Benedict
XIV. (De Server. Dei Beatificat et Beatorum
canoniz. Venet. 1764, lib. iii. c. 50. sq. p. 358)
how soundly the Church judges on this point.
D. Schram treats at great length of visions
(Institut. theologiae mysticae, Paris 1868), where
you find most of the theologians and Mystics
cited who treat of them.
A man is often judged as one standing on
his own opinion, who would, however, gladly
live after the teaching of Jesus. He should
not mind this, for it is fair that he should be
so judged. Whoso doth not live in the most,
perfect manner after the teaching of our Lord
standeth on Ids own selfhood. Let him take
unto himself humility as much as he will, yet
But what use doth it bring if a man alway
dieth? It bringeth a fivefold use. First,
man draweth nigh thereby to his first innocence. For he was created without all sins,
but when he fell into these, he became overladen with all manner of sins. But these
defects must be rooted out by dying; the
more he dieth to these the more he draweth
nigh to his first innocence, and if he cometh
again into this nobility, he is without defects.
If man had not fallen his nobility would
have remained immortal, and he would have
suffered no punishment They are best in
this who have the most died to themselves,
for in that death and denial of self a new
delight springeth up, for the death that man
suffereth thereby openeth up the hidden joy.
Christ also said, “Take My yoke upon you—that is, My Passion—and ye will find rest unto
your souls.” Richard of St. Victor, speaking of this divisio
animae et spiritus, says, “hanc autem” (divisionem); “operari in nobis solet vivus ille Dei
sermo et efficax . . . spiritus ab anima scinditur
. . . et in eandem imaginem (Divinae gloriae)
transformatur” (De exterm. c. 18, p. 33).
Some one will ask, Can then no one die
without external poverty? I give this answer,
The fourth ground that should prompt man
to a poor life is the perfection of a contemplative life. So long as a man is chained to
temporal things, he must have an active life,
for he hath much to work. As long as the
affair lasteth he must work, but whoso would
free himself from it before he hath completed all outer works, he would have an
imperfect self-denial, and fail very much.
For it is laziness to be against God and the
truth by such a neglect of virtue. A teacher
saith on this point, “He raiseth his hands in
vain to God who doth not offer them to the
poor if he could.” Neither true freedom nor
contemplation take place in the possession of
temporal things, for just as much as a man
hath in temporal things, to that same measure
he lacketh in everlasting things. For temporal and eternal are opposed to one another.
People often conceive, too, that if a man
lead a contemplative life and seeth God without a veil, yet saw that his neighbour suffereth
want, he should give up his contemplation
and come to his help. They who still have
Here it might be asked, If it be possible
that rich people be united by this bond of Probably by mistaken transcription for St. Peter.—Translator.
Some say that you can retain temporal
things if a man doth not let his selfhood (his
ego) cleave to them, and cleaveth to the will
of God and not his own will. This is a statement in which there is not much truth.
Whoso loveth the will of God right well, he
loveth it not according to his own head but
according to the teaching of Jesus Christ, who
certainly knew the will best. If we therefore
wish to fulfil the will of God we must follow
the teaching of Jesus. But His teaching was
to leave all and follow Him; whoever doeth
not this hath not struck root in the ground
of divine love, as Christ saith, “Whoso loveth
Me, he keepeth the words which I have taught
him.” In
Some may say indeed, If our Lord Himself were on earth He would not require a man to leave all externally. I say, Ii He were on earth He would say the same thing that He spake to His disciples, and no one would be excepted. He said, “If thou wouldst be perfect, sell all and follow Me.” No one is excluded or excepted from this commandment, and he who doeth it not must not lay claim to any perfection. Divine love is a force which raiseth a man above all things to the highest degree of perfection, and who standeth on this highest degree he hath the true love. But no one can arrive at this if he have not passed through the lowest degrees. The very lowest degree of divine love is to despise all temporal things, the second to despise himself, the third to deny and give up all, whether bodily or spiritual, which disturbs union between God and man. Thus only doth man arrive at right perfection. Whoever hath not climbed the first degree can arrive at none of the others.
What work of love then do rich people exercise if they [have] not divine love? This love
is of two kinds, natural, which hath no reward, or the love of grace, which indeed hath
a reward, but is not perfect, as it can increase
and decrease; on the other hand, perfect love
always groweth and never falleth off. But St. Augustine, Confess. 7. 16: Oculis aegris
odiosa lux, quae puris amabilis.
If now a man ought to give up all things
to arrive at a contemplative life, what use
doth it then bring? An unspeakable use, as
St. Paul saith, “I have seen such things as it
is not lawful to speak of.” The passage in St. John is: “Verba, quae dedisti mihi, dedi eis,” but the author mixes up the
previous verse with it.
If poverty of spirit is a preparation for a
contemplative life, it might be asked, if all
men have such a life, who give themselves
up to poverty? Certainly he who hath perfectly seized true poverty is a true, internal,
It might now be said, Poverty and contemplation have no works, for they subsist
both in emptiness of all works in a pure
suffering of God’s influence. I answer, That
is true. But in the beginning and progress
of a poor and contemplative life, you must
have works, which prepare man and set
him free, so that he can comprehend true
poverty. And whoso embraceth the right
work also cometh to a poor life. But whoso
taketh the wrong work, which happeneth
Which now are the right roads, wilt thou ask, to a poor life? In the first place, there are four of them.
The first way is this, that a man have a perfect will to give up all that is against God,
also all of which God is not the cause and
that is not God Himself. In the first path
you leave all sins; in the second you leave
the cause of sin, such as temporal property,
wives, and so on. The third removeth all
that entereth as a disturbing influence between God and man, such as spiritual images
and forms, through which you can no longer
find God. Man must conquer all virtue with
a perfect will, must exercise himself willingly
in all virtues that appertain to him, till he reacheth the summit of all virtues, so that none
escape him till he hath attained all. Whoso It is really St. Gregory who says this: Qui coelestis vitae dulcedinem . . . perfecte cognoverit, ea quae in terris amaverat libenter cuncta
derelinquit; in comparatione ejus vilescunt omnia. Homil. 11. in Evang. No. 2.
The second road to true poverty, in which
a man seeth the wonderful riches of God, is
this, that he walk in the footsteps of Jesus
Christ, and follow Him in every possible
manner. Thereby we receive all the divine
light and all the light of grace, which lead man
on the right road to a perfect contemplative
life, as Christ Himself saith, “Whoso wisheth
to come to the Father must enter through
Me,”
First, that a man should clothe himself with
the external image of our Lord. And in this
man is guarded against all sins. For His
image and pattern was a bringing again of
man in all the ways from which he had fallen
and might fall. For our Lord did not take
on Himself sin, but all that rooteth out and
atoneth for sin, and this was by sufferings
and contradictions, through which He hath
brought us back to an innocent life, and this
doth not help us except we lay the same
garment on ourselves, that is, except we leave
all sins, and give ourselves up continually to
the sufferings of our Lord. And thus we are Here, again, two verses are condensed. In
The other way by which a man should
enter through the humanity of Christ into
His Godhead is when he hath clothed his
outer man with the garment of Christ, so also
that he now formeth his inner man with a
continual contemplation of the works and of
the Passion of Christ. And by external exercising in the image of Christ, and by internal
consideration of the Passion of Christ, man is
inflamed with the fire of love, and all unlikeness to the truth is quickly consumed in him,
and then the truth is presented naked to him
and he beholdeth it in its pure nakedness.
For all that is in man has gone astray through
Adam’s fall; the senses are gone astray, the
powers of the soul are gone astray, and none
of them is obedient to another; and if that
is to be set right again, so that one may be
obedient to another, as they were when Adam
stood in his first innocence, all this must
come to pass in Christ. For just as Adam
was a cause of falling and death, Christ is also
the cause of resurrection and life; as Paul
saith, “As in Adam all die, so in Christ are
all things made alive.”
If the senses of man are to be purified, they must be ordered according to the external man of Christ, and must be formed and directed after Him, and thus they will be purified and ordered in the internal man. But without the image of Christ the senses never die to sensuality, so that the internal man may remain unhindered by them; ii this is to be, so that the man may be called a man free from sensuality, this must take place in the image of Christ; the more he turneth his senses and formeth them after that image, the more they die within him. In this way also the outward senses are brought to Christ, so that they are restored to the condition of the primitive order.
And just as the outer senses are purified
and ordered, in their first nobility, in the
image of Christ, so also must the internal
powers of the soul be purified and ordered
by an internal consideration of the works
and of the Passion of Christ. And whoso
neglecteth this will never be properly ordered in the internal man, and abideth in
the disorder following the fall of Adam, nor De Mystica Theolog. c. 5.
The will of man is also perfected in Christ,
in His works and in His Passion. Without Christ all men go astray; with a blind
will they incline to a sham good, and
give no heed to the true good. This is also
meet and proper, for all temporal things are
in themselves blind, and all are blinded by
them who choose them, and thus overlook
the true good, which is hidden in the Passion
of our Lord. If, however, man turneth with
his will to Christ and His Passion, then Christ
cometh to meet him with all true good things,
and endoweth him richly with delightful
gifts, which surpass all the gifts of creatures.
If the will embraceth these it leaveth all that
is earthly and its gifts and cleaveth to Christ,
to receive only from Him. Christ also said, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a
treasure hidden in a field; if man findeth the
treasure he hideth it, and from joy he runneth
away, selleth all that he hath and buyeth the
field, and also the treasure in the field.”
That we are poor in graces is a sign that we
have not yet come properly to this field, for
whoever cometh to it properly and diggeth
would not go away empty. Oh, how foolish
is many a man that he doth not seek this
incalculable treasure! If he can find a penny
he seeketh for it, and here he leaveth the
riches untouched, and remaineth a poor vile
creature, who can never be saved, for all our
blessedness and salvation are contained in
Christ and His Passion. For whoso seeketh his
salvation outside the Passion of Christ loseth
much more than he seeketh. The wounds of
our Lord are alone the fountains from which
all salvation floweth; whosoever seeketh salvation let him seek it in the Passion of
our
Lord; there he findeth it surely, and nowhere
else. I can find nothing better for man than
that he turn earnestly to the Passion of our
Lord and consider it; what is there counselled
him he should do, for thus he obtaineth most
surely an entrance into God. Whoever knoweth what noble fruit groweth on the field of
the Passion of Christ would work on it day
and night and never go away from it; he
would fence it round, build himself a tower
upon it, and dwell there, and set up a winepress. The fence would be his senses, which
he would guard against all luxury and turn
to the Passion of Christ; the tower would be
his spirit, raised above all created things,
where he would dwell in the uncreated Godhead; Here the author of the “Following” again combines two verses:
If the desires of all men were directed to
this, to gather this fruit and wine, how many
rich persons there would then be on earth.
If man’s will seizeth hold on these riches it
sinketh itself therein, eateth and drinketh,
and enjoyeth its ease, seeking nothing more
among creatures but all in God. But God
endoweth him richly with all gifts. With
these gifts He forceth the will and maketh it
subject to Him. He maketh man free, so
It may be asked, Whereby shall a man
know that his will is overcome by God? By
six things. First, if a man giveth not himself
up to any sinful work, but resists it and alway
fleeth from it, and draweth his will entirely
away from it. But the will of man cannot
do this, therefore he who liveth according to
his own will can never live without sin.
Secondly, if man prepareth himself for all
virtues, so that he exerciseth each virtue that
God requireth of him; this also man cannot
do of himself, and of this Christ saith, “Without Me ye can do nothing.”
A perfect will doeth as much with one good work as an
imperfect will with many good works, and it worketh as much in a moment as
another in a long time, and it doeth as much in rest as another with much
labour. This is because God doth not take this according to the plenitude of
number, nor of magnitude, but he taketh everything according to the perfection
of purity. Therefore the work that is perfect and pure is dearer to God than a
thousand that are impure and imperfect. Since now a perfect will alone can do a
perfect work, then one single work by it is worth a thousand other works. Also
for this reason is its work better, because a perfect will comprehendeth all
good works in one good work; and not only those that it might do, but those that
all men, and angels, and saints do. And this is because he doeth in one work all
that he can, and if he could do all works as that one work, he would do it
gladly. Yea, if he could do the works that God worketh, he would not omit to do
so; and thus he deserveth essential reward in all good works.
Also the highest power of the spirit, which
is called synteresis According to the greatest of the Schoolmen, the
synteresis is not a power of the soul (potentia), but a
habitus (St. Thomas, 1. p. qu. 79. a. 12) and
habitus principiorum operabilium. But according
to Alexander of Ales and St. Bonaventure it is
not a pure Power (Potenz), but a potentia habitual is (2 qu. 73. m.
1.—2 dist. 39. a. 2. qu. I.) St. Thomas expressed a similar view (2 dist.
39. qu. 3. a. I.) when he calls the synteresis a
virtus: Quae (sicut aquila) transcendit rationabilem. St. Bonaventure calls it (Itiner. c.
1), Apex
mentis, seu synteresis scintilla. According to
William of Paris there were several, who described it as Nobilissima et sublimissima pars animae (De vitiis et peccatis, c. 6. opp. ed. Par.
1674. tom. ii. p. 273} as superior pars rationis,
nay, as ipsa anima humana secundum essentiam
(p. 274). On the whole, all the Schoolmen agree in
placing this synteresis in the ratio practica, while
the Mystics seek it in parte affectiva, though
they also acknowledge in it something higher than
the intelligentia. (See Sandaeus, l. c. p. 30 and
foll.) Eckhart comes nearest to the scholastic doctrine, 113. 36, where he gives the synteresis much
the same properties as the Schoolmen.
Thus is it known of a man if he stand
rightly or wrongly. If the internal man be
well ordered according to the best, the outer
man must also be so, for what the spirit receiveth from God it also giveth to the lower
faculties, and just as God ordereth it so it
ordereth them. Thus the inner man is known
by the outer, for if the spirit is formed inwardly after Christ by grace, then the external man is formed from this. Christ also
said, “Even as the Father hath sent Me, so
send I also you, that you may go and bring
forth fruit.” Here again verses of different chapters are
combined:
Nothing maketh us liker Christ than when
we consider His works and His Passion. For
this also hath Christ worked and suffered, to
take away all inequality from us; in this same
work and Passion we must form ourselves, if
we wish to lose our inequality and unlikeness.
Verily as Christ hath redeemed in no other
wise than by His life, working, and suffering, just as little can any one be saved and
perfect, save if we hold to the teaching, works,
and Passion of Jesus; he who busies himself
the most with this is happiest and likest
Christ. The works and the Passion of Jesus
are full of blessedness, and therefore our mind
ought to live upon them. As the bee flieth
to the flower and sucketh sweetness therefrom
in order to get honey, so also ought we to fly
to the wounds of our Lord, and to suck them,
and then we shall stream over with divine
sweetness. Only thus doth man gather unto
himself this precious honey; whatever belongeth to the man will so overflow with
divine good that he will desire nothing more.
That bee which flieth out the farthest to the
flowers of the field bringeth also the most
honey home, and what cometh from it is all
honey; so is it also with the man who flieth
and sucketh the most at the wounds of Christ,
the loveliest flowers of the field; he receiveth
the most honey. His soul is full of the divine
honour, and what proceedeth from him is
nothing else than the honour of God, which
Whoso cleaveth to Christ and considereth
His Passion is as little permitted to leave God
as the Son is able to leave the Father. For
when man turneth to the Passion of our Lord,
God openeth the fountain of His grace, floodeth therewith the mind of man, and overwhelmeth him, so that he can do nothing
apart from grace; that which now floweth
from Him is only love and grace. Oh, lift up
thy wings and fly away to the field where the
flowers bloom as Solomon saith, “I am the
flower of the field,”
Oh, wise would be he who knew these men
and was intimate with them; if they desired
he should do anything he would do it quite
perfectly, for what they ask of God He granteth them. But they are known by no one
save those who are like unto them, for their
treasure, which they carry in themselves, is
hidden, as gold in the earth; therefore he
whose heart is burthened with earthly things
cannot know them. They are also for this
reason not to be known, because they carry
what they have in the innermost depths of
Denifle remarks in this connection, that if some
Protestant inquirers see in this or in other passages an undervaluing of scholasticism, let once
for all this fact suffice in answer: that the greatest
of the Schoolmen, St. Thomas, teaches that—“Scientia et quidquid aliud ad magnitudinem
pertinet occasio est quod homo confidat de se ipso,
et ideo non totaliter se Deo tradat. Et inde est
quod hujusmodi quandoque occasionaliter devotionem impediunt, et in simplicibus et mulieribus
devotio abandat.” &c. (St. Thomas, 2. 2. qu. 82,
a. 3. ad 3.)
But no one is hidden from these men; they
recognise all; for as Christ hath communion
with all things, such a man learneth, when in communion with Christ, all things.
Jesus is the rule of all men, and whoso knoweth the rule understandeth all men;
He is full of This passage, again, is not correctly cited:
The third way, which belongeth to a poor life, wherein you see God inwardly, is to give yourself up and not flee all that killeth man spiritually. This is expressed by being spiritually dead, so that a man is despised by all creatures and judged and condemned; now, a man ought not to fly from this if he wisheth thoroughly to die to his nature. Whoso flieth this steppeth aside from the way of poverty and of a pure life.
Now this is so, because man hath cast himself through sins into the hatred of God, and
this hatred must be rooted out by the hatred
of creatures. Whoso is most hated in his
repentance of sins, to him will his sins be
most surely forgiven; and in proportion as
man seeketh the love of creatures he departeth
from the divine love, for creaturely love and
godly love cannot subsist together. Thus he
who is hated by the creature in a natural way
is loved by God in a spiritual way; for no
truly poor man is ever loved by any creature
in a natural way, nor doth he love any one by
nature; this is because he dieth continually
to his nature, in him and in other men, and
hence no one findeth anything to love in
him naturally. For it is meet and lit that
natural men who live devoted to their bodily
nature should always hate him. For like
loveth its like; therefore he who wisheth
that he should never be loved unrightly,
should take heed that he always die to his
nature, in him and in other men, for what
then is loved in him is God. And whoso is
loved by natural men, that is a sign that he
is not yet dead to his nature. For what
natural men love is the luxury of nature,
and when they do not find that, they do not
love. It is therefore a good sign that a man
rejoice when he is hated, for this no sinner
can feel. He should give up all likeness
with natural love, then divine love is alway
A man must also endure all judgment?
that fall upon him, and this prepareth him
also for a poor life. If a man is to be freed
from all the judgments which a man hath
deserved, he must be judged; and by the
judgment, that he patiently endureth, the
judgment of God is taken away from him.
This is necessary for those who belong to
God—that they should be prepared by manifold judgments. Therefore Christ said,
“It
is needful that scandal should come, but woe
Therefore let no man omit any virtue
through any judgment, and say, I will spare
my fellow-man, that I be not a stumblingblock to him; or again, I will leave virtue
for God. I answer to this, that a true virtue
is never a cause of stumbling to any one, but
it is a cause of setting all men upright, and
guarding them from all falls. Whoso falleth
through virtue is like a man whom a physician
physics and who dieth of it. A man who
doth not better himself by good works can
never better himself by bad works, and the
omission to do a good work is a bad work;
therefore no one is bettered by the neglect of
a pure virtue. And whoso leaveth a virtue
for the sake of judgment, he feareth more
bodily injury to himself than the spiritual
injury of other people; for true virtue
When a man hath still an eye to other
people, and to what pleaseth them, his eye
is not clear, therefore his work is not pure:
for the creature blindeth, and God maketh
seeing. He, therefore, who wisheth to see
perfectly must turn his eye away from all
creatures, and alone to God. After this all
his works are pure virtue, and whatever
falleth then upon him is for his best. No
one should be guilty of this, that he goeth
out of his best and followeth the best of other
men; and this is because, when a man followeth
It may now be asked if man with his
virtues cannot in any way give an occasion
It might now be said, Could not an evil
work be wrought from love, so that though
the intention is to God, yet the work is evil?
I say that all right works of love are good,
and not evil.
A right work of love hath four kinds of
ordinances. First is the law of Holy Church;
the second order is that of the natural law;
and these two ordinances meet in one law,
and their law is measure, and the measure
applieth to outer works, and whoso doth not
attain to measure in his works of love, spoileth his work. Now, this is the measure, a mean
or medium between little and much; and
whoso always hitteth the mean in his works
of love, his works are ordered and ordained
according to divine love. Thus it is not a
work of love to give to a man who doth not
need it, for the giver doth not work according
to the mean, which is here the necessity; for
necessity is the object of gifts and their mean
or measure, and hence it is not a virtue that
a rich man should give to another rich man.
Just as little is it a virtue that you give to
eat to a man who is full, or to a drunken
man to drink, as it is to give temporal goods It is Guigo (in Epis. ad fratres de monte Dei.
lib. 1. c. 11) who says: “Modus in omnibus habendus est,” whereas our author confounds him
with St. Bernard. Here the author combines several verses of different Gospels:
The Sacrament of our Lord is God and
man. Whoso wisheth to receive Christ here
worthily, must as far as possible be like unto
Some say you ought to consider your fellowmen and omit it for God’s sake. Whoso goeth
Man must also suffer every persecution,
which helpeth very much to a poor life.
Man, through Adam’s fall and his defects,
is full of sinful leanings, which hinder him
from his best; this inrooted leaning and
these defects must be rooted out by sufferings. Whoso doth not overcome Adam
through sufferings, never attaineth to a pure
poor life; whoso giveth him occasion to
suffer helpeth him to this end. God willeth not that anything should be rooted
out in man without sufferings; all that is untrue must disappear through these. He also
lendeth no gifts if the ground for them is
not purified by sufferings. Holy Writ saith, In the margin stands Augustine.
But no one is worthy of suffering except he
who suffereth in the highest degree of divine
love; he who hath not this is also not worthy.
God letteth sinners suffer little upon earth;
on the other hand, good men must suffer
much, and if- any one is wise, he accepteth
suffering more joyfully than if he received
all the riches of the earth; for temporal good
robbeth man of everlasting happiness if he
tarries in it with joy. But temporal good
giveth him suffering if he suffereth from love;
he is also a fool who leaveth the good and
chooseth the evil. Yet many fools are found
It may now be asked, Which suffering is better that which man hath occasioned to himself or what other people have wrought, or what God inflicts upon him? Just as much as it is better that God should bless man than that man should make himself happy, so much better is also the suffering that other people cause him and that God inflicts upon him than that which he occasions himself. Further, that suffering is the best where the greatest patience is called forth; but patience is greater when you suffer at the hands of others than when it is caused by yourself. A man easily endureth himself, but, on the contrary, he doth not so easily endure another.
It may be said: if, then, the suffering that is inflicted on
us by others is better than that which we inflict on ourselves, it is also better
that we should not seek any suffering, but
allow it to be applied to us; and thus, therefore, the suffering of rich people is better, as
they do not seek it, than that of poor people,
who seek it? But I say thus: That suffering
is the best which is endured in true love, and
this is certainly greater love if you seek suffering from love, than if you fly from it out
of fear. But rich folk flee from sufferings,
whether caused by themselves or others. The
rich man is much more loved than hated,
therefore no one doeth injury to him, save he
himself. But the man truly poor in spirit
thrusteth himself into every suffering, he
fleeth his sins, as such sufferings give no
reward, and he seeketh that others should
do him injury, as he hath reward from this.
Your own proper suffering cometh from a
man’s own sins, and he suffereth quite rightly
who liveth in sins, as each sin begetteth a
special spiritual suffering. But if rich folk
suffer thus, they have yet no merit unless
they avoid the sins; if, however, they live
in sins, they must endure severe sufferings.
A suffering of this kind is like unto that of
hell, for the more you suffer the worse you
become; this happeneth to sinners; the more
they suffer through their sins, the more
wicked they become, and they fall continually
Nothing bringeth man nearer to God than
Buffering, and indeed for this reason, because
suffering rooteth out all that is hateful and
ungrateful to God in man, and thus man must
remain free from all hatred and must love
God. Therefore Christ saith through David: “I am with him in tribulation; I will
deliver him, and glorify him; I will give
him a long life, and show him My salvation.” This seems to be a free rendering of
Nevertheless our Lord saith, “My soul is
sorrowful unto death.”
But it will be said that Jesus called those
accursed who always live in joy here,
It might again be said, If good people
always have joy what is then their suffering?
for suffering and joy cannot subsist together.
I reply, Man is made up of body and soul,
and each hath its separate work. But when
the body rejoiceth in temporal things and
sins, the spirit sorroweth, and sinners have
this joy and sadness. Again, when the spirit
rejoiceth in God, the body sorroweth in time,
and this joy and sadness have good people.
And the suffering of the body which they
have in time bringeth them to life everlasting.
Moreover, the joy that they have is the fruit
of suffering, and thus suffering and joy subsist together, and the greater the suffering of
the body, the greater is the joy of the spirit.
That they can rejoice in sufferings is a sign
that they belong to eternal life. Never
was there to any man a divine joy in suffering, if he belonged to hell. From this cause
also sinners have an everlasting sadness in
their joy. The fruit of their temporal lust
is much more a sham and a vain fancy than a
The remark might now be made: There be
many good folk on earth who yet have little
suffering, must they then on that account
have less reward? I say, Whoso is a true
friend of God is never without temporal
suffering—he suffereth alway. This happeneth in a fourfold way. One suffering is
in the works, another in the will, a third in Instead of David, Denifle suggests Isaiah, for
at Qualiter unusquisque apud se lateat, contumelia illata probat. In the margin In the margin Paulus ad Thimoth. 2. Comp.
II. 3-12. In margin: Sapientia Vo. Comp.
Secondly, man must have Buffering in the
will, and what faileth him in works, he must
fulfil in the will. This cometh to pass in
this wise: when a man turneth into himself,
and in the light of faith seeth the love of our
Lord, which compelled Him to suffer such
great martyrdom for him, then an answering
love springeth up in man, who out of right
love for our Lord would atone and make good
all that which He hath suffered for his sake,
and thus he falleth with the will on all the
sufferings that might be inflicted upon him,
and those he is willing again to suffer through
and for Christ. Then his desire for suffering
is greater than for all the things that are in
time, and out of genuine answering love he
throws off all that may bring him pleasure,
comfort, and joy, and giveth himself a lack
It is wonderful that these beings are never
abandoned by God; they have begun in love,
which is Christ, and Jesus must support them,
and keep them with him for eternity. It
also happens that their seduction will be
attempted by nature, but the will bound to
God with the determination to give up all
things, can resist all other temptations. Such
men then are the servants of God. All that
bringeth the good to default is that their
own will was never serious, for when a man
standeth on his own responsibility he must
fall, and cannot remain upright. But he who
forceth on himself the atonement for the
sufferings of Jesus, this earnest determination
is aided by God, who raiseth him to godliness,
and never letteth him fall again into a human
will: this determination can therefore resist
deadly falls. The following giveth us an example:—“A king who hath an enemy seeketh
to catch him, and if he getteth him into his
power he punisheth him, taketh his goods from
him, and perchance killeth him.” So is it also
with the “will,” when man standeth on it unaided. It is the enemy of God, God seeketh to
get it into his power, He sendeth forth scouts,
and those are the men who announce the word
That worketh a great love which through
the sufferings of our Lord is kindled by the
burning fire of the Holy Ghost. This love
forceth the volition, to suffer all pains that are
forthcoming in atonement for the One who
loved man so strongly. He now turneth all
things to bring suffering upon him, and that
which He cannot bring to him in action he
bringeth to himself mentally: the will then
bringeth before him all the torments suffered
by our Lord, all the sufferings endured by the
saints, and all that men must yet suffer. He uniteth himself in this with complete affection, and the wish to have suffered all things,
or to suffer more. This love maketh the will
receptive of all the advantage which is to be
found in the agony of our Lord, and sufferings of all saints and pious souls. The
following is to be read anent the holy Martin, Martin occurs in the margin. The passage is
traced by Denifle to the Breviary on the Festival
of St. Martin, 11th Nov. (Brev. Rom. antiphon.
in 2 vesp. at Magn.; Brev. O.P. antiph. super
Ps. in I vesp.): “O sanctissima anima, quam etsi
gladius persecutoris non abstulit, tamen palmam
martyrii non amisit. See above, No. 44, Part L
and No. 51, Part II.; and Sylvius, Comment, in
Summam, S. Thom. tom. it p. 151, ad 7 (ed. Venetiis, 1726).
But on the other hand, he who demandeth
suffering and yet always attempteth to avoid
it in action doth not present himself in the
form of our Lord, which showeth that his
desire was not complete (earnest), and he will
therefore not take part in all sufferings. Man
must, so long as he can work anything, work
the work prescribed by God; first, when he
hath accomplished all things, and desireth
nothing more, God worketh instead of himself, and then for the first time beginneth the
godly work in entirety, because the man in
fact is freed from his own works. He beareth
also now, though sinless, a suffering; what
he can suffer he suffereth, what doth not
occur to him he seeketh to suffer; love maketh
the sufferings of strangers as his own, not one
We can here make use of the expression of
Augustin, “What one doth not understand
one doth not love,” See Part I., p. 10, No. 14. The only passage resembling this is
The third suffering abideth in the soul, when the spirit of man is seized by the godly Spirit, with the mantle of His love wound round it, so that he dependeth to it. The band of divine love is then so delightful to him that all other things revolt him; and if he meeteth anything, which is not from the love of the Holy Ghost, it paineth him. All that he seeth and heareth, and which is not divine, is a sad and unspeakable scathe.
When David saith, This passage cannot be found in the Psalms,
but in
This peace had also the pagans; they put
away all earthly things that they might enjoy
bodily peace; therefore also the spirit was
of joy, although not its true joy. But this
natural joy should be avoided, and it should
alone be sought in God; those who stand by
this joy are more like unto the Gentiles than
like Christ. It is possible, and also often
But if some one loveth a natural man (man of the world) as if
he were a divine man, will God then reward him as if he were a true one? I
answer, It is better that one should love a man who bears the name of a
Christian, if he is good or bad, than that one should dislike and hate him, as
God rewards love in any form more than if a man is without it;
But a reversed view may here be taken.
Thus love doth not come entirely from the
understanding, but also from faith. Therefore if one man hath more faith than another,
and loveth him from that reason, because he
holdeth him for good, should God not reward
him more than another who hath not so much
faith, and therefore doth not love him so
much? I answer, The man hath only so
much real faith as he obtaineth from divine
light; to whom the light faileth, faileth also
the faith. He who hath learnt to know
divine truth best hath also the truest faith;
but no one hath this except the man who
hath understood essential truth, and who
loveth from complete faith; this love is the
most useful and most worthy. It also happeneth that a man trusteth another, holding
him to be righteous, and loving him, but he
doth not exactly understand why he loveth
him; whilst another hath no trust in him,
doth not hold him as righteous, and doth not
love him, and understandeth what he should
believe; and this hostility is nobler and more
useful than that love, for God doth not reward
a false faith when some one believes a thing
that is not true; it is, on the contrary, almost
faithlessness and sinful, rather than perfection; such love is not rewarded by God which
springs from faithlessness. Thus Jesus said, “Take heed of false prophets, that come to
The light of faith is above all understanding; a man requireth no reason with faith,
for he is raised above it. Men without understanding believe truly; God giveth them
therefore the same reward as to the awakened.
Is it, therefore, not necessary to understand to
believe because faith is simple? Understanding is twofold; one is required for faith, the
other is faith itself. The first is that a man
should understand the articles of faith and
the teachings of Christ. Whosoever knoweth
the teaching and liveth according to it, in
him the fruit of the doctrine is revealed by
which he will be known, because the tree is
known by its fruit; if the man cometh to
understanding, then he at once beginneth to
The best and only way to arrive at the true
faith, which contains all love, is that man
should be monopolised with the doctrines of
our Lord, and lead a holy life; that he should
be illumined with the teachings of Jesus, in
order to know the awakening spirit and believe it. From this faith man must love
without any attachment, then he loveth not
men alone, but also the image and life of our
Lord, which love is always good and meritorious. Even if such a man who were loved
in the image and life of our Lord were still
hampered with defects, he would not lose the
reward. Christ said, “He who taketh up a
prophet in the name of a prophet will receive
the reward of a prophet.” He who discovereth
that a man walketh on the road of Christ he
should love him as a follower of Christ, he
then receives the reward of a disciple of
Christ. We should not only look on the
image but also on the works, for there is the
greatest importance. He who loveth outside
the life of Christ his love is of the world or
worldliness; this is wasted and bad; that
which is not a pure truth and love is a pain
to the spirit. He who will not be deceived
with false lights and unrighteous loves must
strive that his spirit may be emptied of all
falsity, and that it may be inflamed by the
love of the Holy Ghost. If the spirit standeth in purity everything showeth itself in its true
But if man turn again to the senses he is
befooled by the evil spirit, thus those men
who live a life of the senses cannot long persist without a fall, for they have no refuge
where they can stay. For God is the refuge
of all men, and God doth not work in the
senses nor in images, but He draweth away all
the senses, and driveth out all images, and
then he is the dwelling-place of man and his
refuge against deadly falls. But those who
do not stand withdrawn from their sensuality
and stripped of all images they are on the
verge of a fall, and it is a wonder if they still
keep their footing. For this reason it is an
absolute necessity that the senses be withdrawn into the highest reason and penetrate
therewith into God, and thus you stand alone
without a deadly fall. And if it were possible
that the senses were always drawn in under
the highest reason, and the reason were
directed to God, a man thus placed would
stand always untouched by death, and without venial sins, and would stand in original
justice, in which God created the first man.
Again, they who live in the senses cannot guard themselves against sins, and this is
because all sensuality is death-giving, therefore they who live in sensuality live in death,
and thus they cannot guard themselves against
death, hence they must needs fall. The spirit
that is raised above all things in God draweth
The fourth suffering that a man must have is in God. This happeneth when all unlikeness falleth away from the spirit through grace, and it is placed in a likeness when it is receptive of the work of God, and in this receptiveness God worketh, and the spirit suffereth the work of God.
There are two kinds of work in the soul, one is of reason and of grace, the other is essential and divine.
The first or reasonable work is when the
reason courseth through all things with the
distinction of images (ideas or conceptions),
and findeth God in all things. For God is a Compare Eckhart, 19. 29; and Eckhart the
Younger, in the Tractate of the Working and
the Possible Reason, edited by Preger, in Sitzung’s Berichten of the Phil. Hist. Class of the
Royal Bavarian Academy of Sciences, 1871, p.
185. But Preger overlooked the fact that already,
more than twenty years earlier, attention had
been directed to a Low German MS. of this
Tractate (Four Writings of John Rusbroek, Hanover, 1848, p. xxxvi.), which ought to have been
made the basis of the restoration of the text,
because, as Preger himself confesses, the Tractate
is not of High but Low German origin. Respecting the Possible and Working Reason,
see further, Greith, p. 163. The same theme is
treated in an unpublished sermon of the Mystic,
Helwic von Germar, “Der lesemeister was zu
Erforte.” With reference to the doctrine itself,
C. Werner (Der Heilige Thomas von Aquino, iii.
656) finds in it a false Gnosis, and Steffensen
(Gelzer Protest. Monathsbl. xi. 274) says it is to
be reckoned as the boldest speculation that can be
found among the German Mystics. But Denifle pronounces that neither one nor the other of these
views is true. He conceives that this view is
based on the scholastic doctrine of the intellectus
agens and the contemplatio pura. According to
the Schoolmen, if a contemplatio without images
of the fancy is possible, and if the intellectus
agens has, according to the nature of light, the
special function to enlighten the fancies or Phantasmata and to make what is intelligible in them
perceptible to the mind, then in this case, during
the contemplatio, the intellectus
agens remains
quiescent, and the essential imageless knowledge is
then imparted to the spirit, without any co-operation on its part, as St. John of the Cross teaches
(p. 515, ed. Mad. 1672), and from whence can it be
imparted save from God? This view, continues Denifle, has nothing to do either with the views
of William of Paris or Henry of Ghent respecting
the intellectus
agens, nor with those of Alexander
of Aphrodisius and the Arabian peripatetics. On
the contemplatio pura see Sandaeus, l.c. p. 144.
2 foll.
After this the godlike work goeth on; that is, when the reason has cut off all images of creatures, has unclothed itself from all created images, God cometh into the soul and placeth Himself in the stead of the working reason and worketh His works; in this case the reason is called a passive or suffering reason, for it suffereth what God worketh. And then and thus all works are worked in one work, and as all things are enclosed in God, so He encloseth all things in one work that He worketh in the soul. The soul hath received the eternal Word, when it is free from all else. If it hath entered the divine essence with ardent love it begetteth the Son in the Godhead.
This divine birth in the soul is, however,
twofold, an internal and external. It is the
internal, when the soul embraced by the
divine light penetrateth into the divine heart,
its heart and all its powers become a nutriment of the divine heart, so that it loseth at
once its heart and its powers, and hath nothing
more of them. But in return God giveth to
the soul His heart and His powers, and the
heart of the soul now is a godlike heart, and
no more a human heart. Thus the heart
liveth always in an ardour of the divine fire,
is penetrated by it, so that it becometh faint In the margin Apoc.
Thus this man is passive or suffering in
this birth, and God worketh all in him. For
this reason Jesus also said, “None is good,
save God alone.” No man’s work is good,
save that from God and by God. It is also
the best thing that a man be free from all
work, and let God alone work and suffer it
If God is the working and man the passive
being, then all is placed at rest in him. God’s
working in the soul is essential; it springeth
out of the divine essence, and is fulfilled in
the essence of the soul. By the divine work
all evil that was ever exercised is rooted out
of the soul. Punishment and guilt are remitted
Thus is it possible that man be preserved from deadly and venial sins, and this in a sixfold way.
First, man is overwhelmed with divine
power, whereby all his powers are strengthened! If the divine birth is fulfilled in the
essence of the soul, it passeth over into all its
powers; each receiveth divine power to resist
all that is against God. It is needful that
the divine power work in us, for by human
strength no one can resist sins. But man
receiveth this divine power, when all his
powers turn to the divine birth, which is
brought about in the depths of the soul. But if
each power seeketh to accomplish its work without turning to the birth, they cannot receive
godly power. For whoso wisheth to receive
anything from another, he must be nigh unto
him; therefore all the powers must be united,
waiting for the divine birth. All that bringeth good men to fall is mostly, that they take
too much interest in unnecessary things, and
thereby scatter their powers. The more they
do this the more the divine power escapes
Further, the second way to be preserved
from venial sins is, that the lower powers be
always subordinate to the higher powers;
this keepeth man in his original justice, as
Adam was. He fell by the lower powers
turning away from the higher. This happeneth still to-day. When man turneth to
sensuality without hearkening to the higher
powers he falleth. But if he exerciseth an
external work, while he listeneth to his reason,
he doth not fall, nor doth his work bear the
name of sinful. Though it is brought about
by the senses, yet the reason hath more part
in it than the senses. Therefore it is called a
reasonable work, and is a virtue. Let him
who doth not wish to fall look with every
work, whether internal or external, to his
higher reason, then his work becometh a virtue, and is more divine than human. Man’s
works are sensual when blindly brought about
without the reason. Through these man falleth, and these man ought not to have. Therefore is it also said:
“It is right that a man
Thirdly, man is guarded from venial sins
when his will is entirely united to the divine
will, and when the reason heareth always
God’s will in all things, and liveth according
to it. By this giving up of one’s own will
man is capable of receiving all divine gifts;
he is strengthened thereby to be able to resist
everything that is not God. God only dowereth His will in us, and what is not His
will is also not able to receive any gift. If
the will of God liveth entirely in him, and if
he have entirely given up his own will, he is
able to receive all gifts; what he asketh God
will he also receive. If he asketh that God
may shield him from all sins against His
holiest will, this taketh place, but if he still
fall into a fault, this happens according to the
will of God, not, however, as if the will of
God consented to faults, but God inflicteth it
on him, that man may learn to know his
weakness, and may be put down in true humility,
Fourthly, a man is guarded from venial
sins when he always employeth the proper
measure in all things; whoso always observeth
the proper measure in his words and works
will not fail. For faults and sins come from
this, that you take too much or too little,
and through too much or too little arise
faults. The opposite of virtue, compare No. 78. Aristotle teaches, Nic. Eth. 1006. 633:
Τῆς μὲν κακίας
ἡ ὑπερβολὴ και ἡ ἐλλειψισ τῆς δ᾽ ἀρετῆς ἡ μεσότης.
Fifthly, man is guarded from venial sins
by voluntary poverty, inward and outward;
for true poor men stand alway in suffering,
and if such men fall with a fault or defect,
their suffering removeth it directly. A teacher
saith “Be careless about the defects of poor
people, for what lacketh in them, is cancelled
again by poverty.” St. Gregory says: Et cum quoslibet pauperes
nonnulla reprehensibilia perpetrare conspicitis,
nolite despicere, quia fortasse quod superfluitas
tenuissimae pravitatis inquinat, caminus paupertatis purgat (Homil. 40. in Evang. No. 6). The Schoolmen express this principle thus:
Remota causa, removetur effectus. De vera religione, c. 14, No. 27: Usque adeo
peccatum voluntarium est malum ut nullo modo
sit peccatum, si non sit voluntarium.
Sixthly, a man in guarded from temporal
sins by his own heart when it is inflamed This passage is in allusion to
If now the love of the Holy Ghost destroyeth all sin, they who have received the
Holy Ghost live always free from sins, for
the gift that the Holy Ghost giveth abideth
eternally; and St. John also saith, “Whoso
is born of God cannot sin.”
If such a man really committeth a sin from
forgetfulness, and perceiveth it, he suffereth
pain again more than another who were to
commit a venial sin: for this reason, because
he who hath tasted sweetness is more disgusted at bitterness than he who hath not yet
tasted the former. So is it also with the men
who love God; all things are bitter to them
on account of the great sweetness of the Holy
Ghost; what to another man is joyful is to
such a man painful; nothing is dearer to him
than to love God in the most perfect manner.
Moreover, all is bitter to a good man; but this
bitterness leadeth to purity and greater love,
and God inflicts on many good men that they
falter, in order to be brought to greater purity,
and to love Him the more earnestly. Paul
saith, “Where sin abounds there doth grace
abound.”
The fourth way that leadeth to a poor life is when man hath exercised himself in all virtues, with inner consideration of the Passion which our Lord hath undergone, by which he attaineth unto true rest and to the peace of heart. This is the fourth way to a perfect, poor life, which therefore is nothing else than a careful ward over all that which happeneth to man, whether spiritual or bodily, that he may receive it in such wise that the spirit doth not suffer scathe, but find itself always immediately in simple purity.
To this end man must turn himself away
from all outward exercise, and exercise himself inwardly; for all outward exercise goeth
over to en azures, all inward to God. Whoso
therefore wisheth to find God must enter into This passage does not occur in the same form
in St. Augustine. It is made up of different extracts, as Enarr. in
All things are fluctuating and unquiet, and
whoso busies himself with things, his heart is
always in unrest. In unrest we find not God,
for He dwelleth only in peace; therefore he
who wishes to find Him must have a heart at
peace. St. Austin saith: “There be many
that seek God, but there be few that find
Him, for they seek Him all without, where
He is not.” De vera religione, c. 49, No. 94.
If man turneth to himself in this true
purity, perceiveth the state of his heart, and
seeketh God in it, all springeth up in him
that maketh him like unto God. If he was
before turned outwardly, he becometh now
inward; if he was fleshly minded, he is now
turned to the Spirit; if he clove to creatures,
he is now free; if he was darkened, he is enlightened;
Externally good men can gain reward in
heaven no doubt through good works, but
that with time they come to this, that they receive the complete gifts which God offers to
those, which turn into themselves, and give
heed unto him, cannot be. Of this also David
saith: “I will hear what God the Lord saith
unto me. He will give peace to His people
and those who are converted.”
Why, it will be objected, doth God form
men, so that they are exposed to fall? If he
wished to hold back man, he should have
fashioned him otherwise. But as it is, having
soul and body, with a free will to direct himself whither he wisheth; he directed himself
to his weakest side, that is to his senses, and
therefore he met the most dangerous result, “death.” Had he directed himself to the
right direction, he would have seized the truth,
and been forewarned of the fall. But as he
followed the senses, he could not perceive the
truth, and fell; for the senses cannot receive
divine truth, only the inward man can do
that, which is formed like God in truth.
This then happeneth to all those who give way
to the senses; this is right and just, and no
one should wonder that God lets the others
He who wisheth to receive eternal Beatitude, must receive it
inwardly, in the inner man, which is formed like God. When Christ saith, “Who
believes, and is baptized, is saved;”
Now a question could be asked: If the
senses cannot receive the highest truth, why
should they then be drawn to the inward
man, so that he then be capable of seizing
the truth? I answer: Where two have to
receive a gift, the weakest must always attach
This decidedly is the most useful bond, with
which to bind the senses; that they are
entirely drawn inwards and bound together
with divine truth, to the praise of God.
Without this union no man can defend himself from fall. Why alone should the inward
man be receptive of divine truth, and not also
the senses? Now the inward man can also
not receive divine truth, unless united with
the senses; so the reason is only this, that,
because there is only one God, and one faith,
so also must a man have this unity, and also
in his oneness he is receptive of his God, because oneness believes truly in God. Giving In the margin stands Solomon’s Song, but the
passage occurs in
It is usual when the master speaketh that
the servant listeneth; but if the servant is
uncivil to the master, he often waxeth wrathful. So it is also when God speaketh His
Word, all things must be as silent to the
man, and he must hearken to the divine
Word, through which all wisdom is learnt;
whoever disturbeth Him, acteth with insolence to Him. But a man disturbeth God
when he giveth way to his senses without
giving attention to His advice; over this He
waxeth wroth. These sensual men never
again come to the love of God, because they
fail in respect to Him. The greatest honour
and love man can show to God is to hear His
Word; but those who favour the senses cannot hear it, and cannot therefore love Him
with a true love. He who wisheth this
divine love must tame his passions, and
have his powers at peace to be able to hear
what God speaketh in the soul. In the
mutual conversation which the soul holdeth
with God there existeth the divine love;
God loveth the soul with this love, and the
soul returneth the love, and thus it will be
loved justly. Jesus also saith, “He who
loveth Me, heareth My Word; “those, therefore, who will not hear His Word can also not
love Him. The origin of divine love is in
the eternal word that God speaketh to the
soul; he who ignoreth this faileth also in the
Love is his entire life, he can do nothing
else than love; love hath penetrated him,
without love he desireth nothing more. Who
attributeth anything else than charity to him
doeth him injustice, for he is all love; who
attempteth to take it from him must also take
his life. Charity is his life and death. If he
liveth, he liveth from love; if he dieth, he
dieth from love; let the lot fall, as it will,
love is always one with him, and he is one
with love. What happeneth to love also
happeneth to him, what disturbeth love also
disturbeth him. Whatever form it take is
but love. Whosoever giveth to him giveth
to charity, whosoever taketh from him taketh
from charity. Whosoever wisheth closely to
work with God bringeth it to completion
through such God-loving men; for if these
men receive a work of love, then love is
uppermost, which is the consuming fire of
divine love. Whosoever feedeth such men,
feedeth also God. Thus when the food has
been received love draweth the force of the
food and consumeth it in the fountain of
But this unworthiness is the dignity of love;
for worldly honour is contemptible to them,
and whosoever showeth such to them offendeth
them. The honour of such men is the cross of
Jesus Christ, from this love hath its honour
and dignity. St. Paul saith, “Let all worthiness be far from me, except through the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; “in this
lies all my honour and worth. But the
cross of Jesus Christ leadeth to, and is, degradation, hatred, persecution, and every
form of agony. From these things love
gaineth honour and notoriety. But whosoever wisheth to be honoured, and pleaseth
This true divine love springeth from the
fatherly heart when God speaketh His eternal
Word to the soul; for in this conversation the
Spirit of the Holy Ghost poureth forth and
floodeth the soul and all its forces, so that all
that it breatheth forth is love (charity). But
this causeth the senses to be drawn under the
control of the inward man, silencing their
forces, whilst the inner love gloweth in God—in this condition the soul expandeth whilst
the eternal Word is pronounced, from which
all complete love springs. It is, therefore,
necessary that he who wisheth to attain a
perfect life must take up an inward life, and
drag himself away from all external sheen.
When he has drawn himself from this, and
freed himself from the numbing influence
of temporal greed, and even if he had the
desire to perform a material work, desireth
also that he would find no property remaining to him, then, but not till then, can he live
The highest perfection of poverty of spirit
is then in being entirely devoted to God so
completely that a man doth not perceive the
doings and defects of outside creatures, so that
God can finish His perfect work, which maketh eternal beatitude. Concerning this Christ
also said, “If thou wilt be perfect, sell all thou
hast and give it to the poor.” Jesus doth
not mean that all men without temporal
goods are perfect, He only meaneth that to be
perfect a man must have no property, and
only give attention that God worketh direct
on the soul. Thus a poor life leadeth to the
highest perfection, and poverty is the only
condition that permitteth a man to forget all
creatures, and to hear God alone. As a master
gives the first place to his disciple, and expecteth him to give only attention to him,
and not to another, so also is poverty the
highest place that God can give to His friends
that they can better approach Him. But
whosoever being poor, interesteth himself in
external things, hath a poverty more damaging than perfect. God hath directed him to
an inward life, and only to give attention to
Him; but when he giveth his attention to
outward attractions, he faileth in duty to God,
and doth not live in the true road of humility
It is quite a right sequence that they who are laden with the temporal should blame freedom, for they possess it not, and you cannot praise what you have not. True freedom consisteth in an internal life, and in perceiving God in it; but if man turneth to creatures he is bound by them, and this fetter hindereth him from going back to God in his interior. Therefore is it good to remain always very much in yourself, in order to be unfettered and unhindered by creatures, that we may always find God in the depths of the soul, where His real dwelling is.
Therefore man should hush his senses and
attend to his inner man, because the man’s best
part is within; for it is quite fair that a man
should serve the best and should give up evil.
But whoso favoureth the senses is like a man
who leaveth his best friend and giveth himself up to the public enemy; for what is sensual is the enemy of the soul; whoso serveth
sense serveth his public enemy, and it is quite
just that he should receive the reward of his
enemy, that is, everlasting death. The senses
bring death, their reward is therefore also
death. No one giveth what he hath not
therefore also they cannot also give life, for
Thirdly, man should draw his senses inward, for as often as he turneth outward, the
senses receive something impure and bring
it with them, which also sullieth the soul.
Whoso, therefore, wisheth to abide always
pure, let him keep his senses within, let him
not suffer them to roam outwardly, then his
heart remaineth pure and in peace. Whoso
stirreth about too much outwardly, even if it
be for good works, cometh never to the true
peace of his heart, for the peace of God surpasseth all sense; whoso liveth on in the
senses cannot attain to it. What is sensual is
all unstable and unquiet. Therefore he who
wisheth to attain to true rest must go apart
from the senses and enter into the depths of
the soul where stability is; there alone he
findeth rest and peace. But let no one hold
himself already so free and perfect that he
But no man can be really poor save if God
maketh him poor, and God granteth this only
to him who is inwardly with Him, from him
He taketh away all that is ungodly. He
who is the most internal is also the poorest,
and he who is the poorest is also the most
internal. Inwardness and poverty stand on
the same degree. Whoso hath not left outer
things in inwardness hath evidently not yet
obtained true inwardness, for true inwardness
is an entire abnegation of oneself and of all
things; not only inwardly but outwardly
must we suffer it to be; all must give way
to true inwardness. Into it the will entereth
into the most perfect will of God, and uniteth
itself then with God; what God willeth for
the best, the true internal will willeth also.
But that is the most perfect will of God that
we follow Jesus Christ in His life and in His
teaching. This was the voice of the Father
to the Son, when St. John baptized Him: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased: hear ye Him.” “In whom I am
pleased,” this means that all the good pleasure
of the Father is alone in the Son; and therefore it is the highest will of the Father for
Whoso attaineth to a poor life in this
inwardness hath true poverty and no one else.
It is needful that he who desireth to be right
poor, should be so internally. Poverty without inwardness is like a king without lands
or like a body without a soul, thus inwardness
maketh man’s life fruitful and well pleasing
to God. Christ said also, “Unless the seed
of corn falleth into the earth and dieth, it can
bring forth no fruit.” All things must die
inwardly in us, and we in God, then we bring
forth much fruit, that is, much life is born in
It might now be asked: What is then an
inward life, dead to all things? I give this
answer: Man is then dead when he forsaketh
all sin and obtaineth virtue, so that virtue
becometh his very being. He is internal,
when all that is outward is painful to him;
he is poor, when his spirit is a mere instrument of God, so that God, without hindrance,
can speak His Eternal Word in the ground of
the soul. These three things stand on the
same point, eternally, in the purity of a pure
being genuine dying is unity, true unity is inwardness, and true poverty is unity. Christ
said, “One thing is needful.” This is needful if God is to work in the soul, that man
should gather himself up in an internal,
mortified, and pure unity. This alone is receptive of the work of God, and God can only
work His most perfect in one, in this unity;
whoso is most united is most receptive of
God. When the heaven is clearest, the sun
What is not produced from a simple ground
is all deception; therefore whoso doth not
wish to be deceived, let him turn from the
manifold to internal unity; no deception can
be mixed up there. All that deceiveth man
is that the phantasy forms too many things,
and that it taketh these images to be the
truth; the evil spirit can shut himself up in
this, holdeth before him false images, and deceiveth him. He cannot reach a perfectly
simple, pure ground, therefore also he cannot deceive the pure, simple man. He who
attacheth weight to so-called visions, and
busieth himself much with images, showeth
that his ground is not simple or pure. For
in a simple, pure ground, nothing is begotten
save God, and what is like unto God. But
God is invisible, raised above all images,
therefore they are deceived who assume that
they wish to see Him. What is produced in
a pure ground is so fine and simple that no
one can grasp it by images, and no one can
speak of it; whoso knoweth the pure truth,
he knoweth well that it is true, and maketh
nothing of visions, especially at this time.
For the truth hath been revealed in our Lord
Jesus Christ, and whoso seeketh it outside
Him and His teaching deceiveth himself, and
also others. All that believe in this man are
sick in faith, and have more in common with
Antichrist than with Christ. They who live
Nay, even a pure and simple man, of whose
heart Christ hath taken possession must often
resist a pure distinction of truth having a
likeness to the God-like; he must do so in
order to remain pure in his simplicity, that
God may not be hindered in His working in
him, which is raised above all the distinctions
of truth by imagery. And even if they sometimes examine a thing by distinction, in order
to be able to teach their fellow-men about it,
yet as soon as they turn away from these
works they loose the very image of the thing,
return to Christ, and leave all the rest as it
is, which keepeth them also in true purity.
These men have the greatest labour and the
greatest burthen that any one can have in
time, for they must resist all that is in time
and not God, they must overcome all with
a heavy fight, all that is in them must be
broken through and set aside. It happeneth
indeed that some, who have a weak nature, or
are burthened with sins, are so weakened that they must lie down sick, and can
say with the loving soul, “Tell it to my Beloved, for I lie sick with love.” In the margin Canticorum, i.e.
The love of the Holy Ghost penetrateth all
the members of man, inflameth them all with
the love fire; and this fire burneth up all
unlikeness, and maketh all things straight
that were crooked before. Man fancieth that
he will be entirely burnt up, and this is
named the working and overwhelming love.
And as something unlike is still in man, this
love must work; but afterwards when working love hath worked off all unlikeness, a
sweet love springeth up in man, and this is
named passive love, which then suffereth in a
calm and gentle rest what God worketh; and
it worketh no more, but God worketh, and
it suffereth. And now at length the soul
is in an eternal entrance into God, and God
draweth it with Himself, and maketh the
soul one love with Himself, and thus man
becometh entirely one love with God. Whoever would now give him a name would
properly give him that of love, for nothing save love is in him. And those men do
not trouble themselves with any vision, or
with any strange ways, but only with simple,
divine love. This is brought about by the
simple, pure ground and foundation out of
which simple, divine love springeth. In
this is the greatest joy that exists in time,
and the delight is not natural or contrary to
truth, but it is God-like, and revealeth the
truth, which is God. This rapture ought not
Deuteronomy
Psalms
32:9 41 44:8 49:8 50:8 50:12-14 50:13 50:14 82:6 85:8 91:15-16 94:12 94:12 134
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Hosea
Matthew
5:3 5:10-11 5:20 5:44 5:45 6:32 7:1 7:12 7:15 7:21 7:44 10:19 10:38 11:5 11:12 11:12 11:28 11:29 11:29 13:11-13 13:44 18:7 19:16-30 19:21 19:27 19:27 20:8 20:21 20:22 21:13 26:38 26:38
Mark
Luke
6:25 10:42 11:28 11:41 11:41 12:49 14:12 14:14 14:26 17:21 18:22 18:28 19:5 19:5 24:36 24:46
John
1:5 3:3 4:14 4:14 6:35 7:38 8:2 8:34 10:1-10 10:3 10:4 10:9 10:16 12:24 12:26 12:28 12:32 14:6 14:23 14:23 14:23 15:5 15:6 15:15 15:16 16:13 17:1 17:1-4 17:3 17:21 20:21 21:22
Acts
Romans
1:20 2:1 5:20 6:19 7:24 8 8:8 8:28 8:35 8:35 12:1 12:15 14:17 14:17
1 Corinthians
2:2 2:2 4:15 6:17 6:17 13:2 13:5 15:22
2 Corinthians
3:17 8:12 11:14 11:14 12:4 12:4 12:4 12:7 12:7 12:9 12:9
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
1:23 3:8 3:8 3:20 3:20 3:20 4:4 4:13 4:13 4:13 4:13
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
1 John
Revelation
Wisdom of Solomon
2 Esdras
i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix x xi xii xiii xiv xv xvi xvii xviii xix xx xxi xxii xxiii xxiv xxv xxvii xxviii xxix xxx xxxi xxxiii xxxiv xxxv xxxvi xxxvii xxxviii xl 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 274 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311