CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER I
Shows how, when the Lord begins to grant
the soul greater favours, it has also to endure greater trials. Enumerates some of these
and describes how those who are in this Mansion must conduct themselves. This is a good
chapter for any who suffer interior trials.
LET US now, with the help of the Holy
Spirit, come to speak of the sixth Mansions, in which the soul has been wounded with love
for the Spouse and seeks more opportunity of being alone, trying, so far as is possible to
one in its state, to renounce everything which can disturb it in this its solitude. That
sight of Him which it has had is so deeply impressed upon it that its whole desire is to
enjoy it once more. Nothing, I must repeat, is seen in this state of prayer which can be
said to be really seen, even by the imagination; I use the word "sight" because
of the comparison I made.
2 The soul is now completely determined to
take no other spouse; but the Spouse disregards its yearnings for the conclusion of the
Betrothal, desiring that they should become still deeper and that this greatest of all
blessings should be won by the soul at some cost to itself. And although everything is of
but slight importance by comparison with the greatness of this gain, I assure you,
daughters, that, if the soul is to bear its trials, it has no less need of the sign and
token of this gain which it now holds. Oh, my God, how great are these trials, which the
soul will suffer, both within and without, before it enters the seventh Mansion![152] Really, when I think of them, I am sometimes afraid
that, if we realized their intensity beforehand, it would be most difficult for us,
naturally weak as we are, to muster determination enough to enable us to suffer them or
resolution enough for enduring them, however attractively the advantage of so doing might
be presented to us, until we reached the seventh Mansion, where there is nothing more to
be feared, and the soul will plunge deep into suffering for God's sake. The reason for
this is that the soul is almost continuously near His Majesty and its nearness brings it
fortitude. I think it will be well if I tell you about some of the things which I know are
certain to happen here. Not all souls, perhaps, will be led along this path, though I
doubt very much if souls which from time to time really taste the things of Heaven can
live in freedom from earthly trials, in one way or in another.
3 Although I had not intended to treat of
this, it has occurred to me that some soul finding itself in this state might be very much
comforted if it knew what happens to those whom God grants such favours, at a time when
everything really seems to be lost. I shall not take these experiences in the order in
which they happen, but as each one presents itself to my memory. I will begin with the
least of them. An outcry is made by people with whom such a person is acquainted, and even
by those with whom she is not acquainted and who she never in her life supposed would
think about her at all. "How holy she's getting!" they exclaim, or "She's
only going to these extremes to deceive the world and to make other people look sinful,
when really they are better Christians than she is without any of these goings-on!"
(Notice, by the way, that she is not really indulging in any "goings-on" at all:
she is only trying to live up to her profession.) Then people whom she had thought her
friends abandon her and it is they who say the worst things of all and express the deepest
regret that (as they put it) she is "going to perdition" and "obviously
being deluded", that "this is the devil's work", that "she's going the
way of So-and-so and So-and-so, who ruined their own lives and dragged good people down
with them", and that "she takes in all her confessors". And they actually
go to her confessors and tell them so, illustrating what they say by stories of some who
ruined their lives in this way: and they scoff at the poor creature and talk about her
like this times without number.
4 I know of a person[153] to whom these things were happening and who was
terribly afraid that there would be nobody willing to hear her confession; but there is so
much I could say about that that I will not stop to tell it here. The worst of it is,
these things are not soon over -- they last all one's life long. People warn each other to
be careful not to have anything to do with persons like oneself. You will tell me that
there are also those who speak well of one. But oh, daughters, how few there are who
believe the good things they say by comparison with the many who dislike us! In any case,
to be well spoken of is only one trial more and a worse one than those already mentioned.
For the soul sees quite clearly that if there is any good in it this is a gift of God, and
not in the least due to itself, for only a short time previously it saw itself in dire
poverty and plunged deep into sin. So this praise is an intolerable torment to it, at
least at the beginning: afterwards it is less so, and this for various reasons. The first
of these is that experience shows it clearly how people will speak well of others as
readily as ill, and so it takes no more notice of the former class than of the latter. The
second, that the Lord has given it greater light and shown it that anything good it may
have does not come from itself, but is His Majesty's gift; so it breaks into praises of
God, but as though He were being gracious to a third person, and forgetting that it is
itself concerned at all. The third reason is that, having seen others helped by observing
the favours which God is granting it, the soul thinks that His Majesty has been pleased
for them to think of it as good, though in fact it is not, so that they may be profited.
The fourth is that, as the soul now prizes the honour and glory of God more than its own
honour and glory, it no longer suffers from a temptation which beset it at first --
namely, to think that these praises will do it harm, as it has seen them do to others. It
cares little about being dishonoured itself, provided that it can be the cause of God's
being even once praised -- come afterwards what may.
5 These and other considerations mitigate the
great distress caused by such praises, although some distress is nearly always felt,
except when a soul takes no notice of such things whatsoever. But to find itself publicly
and unmeritedly described as good is an incomparably greater trial than any of those
already mentioned. Once the soul has learned to care little about this, it cares very much
less about the other, which, indeed, makes it rejoice and sounds to it like sweetest
music. This is absolutely true. The soul is fortified rather than daunted by censure, for
experience has shown how great are the benefits it can bring, and it seems to the soul
that its persecutors are not offending God, but that His Majesty is permitting this for
its great advantage. Being quite clear about this, it conceives a special and most tender
love for them and thinks of them as truer friends and greater benefactors than those who
speak well of it.
6 The Lord is also in the habit of sending the
most grievous infirmities. This is a much greater trial, especially if the pains are
severe; in some ways, when they are very acute, I think they are the greatest earthly
trial that exists -- the greatest of exterior trials, I mean -- however many a soul may
suffer: I repeat that it is only to very acute pains that I am referring. For they affect
the soul both outwardly and inwardly, till it becomes so much oppressed as not to know
what to do with itself, and would much rather suffer any martyrdom than these pains.
Still, at the very worst, they do not last so long -- no longer, as a rule, than other bad
illnesses do. For, after all, God gives us no more than we can bear, and He gives patience
first.
7 I know a person of whom, since the Lord
began to grant her this favour aforementioned, forty years ago,[154] it cannot be truly said that she has been a day
without pains and other kinds of suffering; I mean because of her poor physical health, to
say nothing of other great trials. It is true that she had been very wicked and it was all
very slight by comparison with the hell that she had merited. Others, who have not so
greatly offended Our Lord, will be led by Him along another way, but I should always
choose the way of suffering, if only to imitate Our Lord Jesus Christ, and even were there
no other special benefit to be obtained from it -- and there are always a great many. But
oh, when we come to interior sufferings! If these could be described they would make all
physical sufferings seem very slight, but it is impossible to describe interior sufferings
and how they happen.
8 Let us begin with the torture
which it costs us to have to do with a confessor so scrupulous and inexperienced that he thinks nothing
safe: he is afraid of everything, and doubtful about everything, as soon as he sees that
he is dealing with anything out of the ordinary. This is particularly so if he sees any
imperfection in the soul that is undergoing these experiences. He thinks that people to
whom God grants these favours must be angels; and, as this is impossible while they are in
the body, he attributes the whole thing to melancholy or to the devil. The world is so
full of melancholy that this certainly does not surprise me; for there is so much abroad
just now, and the devil makes so much use of it to work harm, that confessors have very
good cause to be afraid of it and to watch for it very carefully. But, when the poor soul,
harassed by the same fear, goes to the confessor as to a judge, and he condemns her, she
cannot fail to be upset and tortured by what he says -- and only a person who has passed
through such a trial will know how great it is. For this is another of the great trials
suffered by these souls, especially if they have been wicked -- namely, to think that
because of their sins God will permit them to be deceived -- and although, when His
Majesty grants them this favour, they feel secure and cannot believe that it comes from
any other spirit than a spirit of God, yet, as it is a state which passes quickly, and the
soul is ever mindful of its sins, and it sees faults in itself -- for these are never
lacking -- it then begins to suffer this torture. When the confessor reassures the soul,
it becomes calm, though in due course it gets troubled again; but when all he can do is to
make it still more fearful the thing grows almost intolerable, especially when on top of
everything else come periods of aridity, during which the soul feels as if it has never
known God and never will know Him, and as if to hear His Majesty spoken of is like hearing
of a person from a great distance away.
9 All this would be nothing to the person
concerned were it not followed immediately by the thought that she cannot be describing
her case properly to her confessor and has been deceiving him; and, although when she
thinks about it she feels sure she has not kept back even the first movement of her mind,
it is of no use. For her understanding is so dim that it is incapable of seeing the truth,
but believes what the imagination (now mistress of the understanding) presents to it and
the nonsense which the devil attempts to present to it, when Our Lord gives him leave to
test her soul, and even to make her think herself cast off by God. For there are many
things which assault her soul with an interior oppression so keenly felt and so
intolerable that I do not know to what it can be compared, save to the torment of those
who suffer in hell, for in this spiritual tempest no consolation is possible.
10 If she decides to take up the matter with
her confessor, it would look as if the devils have come to his aid so that he may torture
her soul the more. A certain confessor, dealing with a person who had been in this state
of torment, after it had passed away, thought that the oppression must have been of a
dangerous type, since it had involved her in so many trials; so he told her, whenever she
was in this state, to report to him; but this made her so much worse that he came to
realize that he could no longer do anything with her. For, although she was quite able to
read, she found that, if she took up a book written in the vernacular, she could
understand no more of it than if she had not known her alphabet; her understanding was not
capable of taking it in.
11 Briefly, in this tempest, there is no help
for it but to wait upon the mercy of God, Who suddenly, at the most unlooked-for hour,
with a single word, or on some chance occasion, lifts the whole of this burden from the
soul, so that it seems as if it has never been clouded over, but is full of sunshine and
far happier than it was before. Then, like one who has escaped from a perilous battle and
gained the victory, the soul keeps praising Our Lord, for it is He Who has fought and
enabled it to conquer. It knows very well that it did not itself do the fighting. For it
saw that all the weapons with which it could defend itself were in the hands of its enemy,
and was thus clearly aware of its misery and realized how little we can do of ourselves if
the Lord should forsake us.
12 We have no need of reflection to enable us
to understand this, for the soul's experience of enduring it, and of having found itself
completely powerless, has made it realize that it is utterly helpless and that we are but
miserable creatures. For, though it cannot be devoid of grace, since despite all this
torment it does not offend God, and would not do so for anything upon earth, yet this
grace is buried so deeply that the soul seems not to feel the smallest spark of any love
for God, nor has it ever done so. If it has done anything good, or His Majesty has granted
it any favour, the whole thing seems to it like a dream or a fancy: all it knows for
certain is that it has sinned.
13 Oh, Jesus! How sad it is to see a soul thus
forsaken, and how little, as I have said, can it gain from any earthly consolation! So do
not suppose, sisters, if you ever find yourselves in this condition, that people who are
wealthy, or free to do as they like, have any better remedy for such times. No, no; to
offer them earthly consolations would be like telling criminals condemned to death about
all the joys that there are in the world; not only would this fail to comfort them -- it
would but increase their torment; comfort must come to them from above, for earthly things
are of no value to them any more. This great God desires us to know that He is a King and
we are miserable creatures -- a point of great importance for what follows.
14 Now what will a poor creature like that do
if such a thing goes on for a very long time?[155] If
she prays, she might as well not be doing so at all -- I mean for all the comfort it will
bring her, for interiorly she is incapable of receiving any comfort, nor, even when her
prayer is vocal, can she understand what she is saying; while mental prayer at such a time
is certainly impossible -- her faculties are not capable of it. Solitude is still worse
for her, though it is also torture for her to be in anyone's company or to be spoken to;
and so, despite all her efforts to conceal the fact, she becomes outwardly upset and
despondent, to a very noticeable extent. Is it credible that she will be able to say what
is the matter with her? The thing is inexpressible, for this distress and oppression are
spiritual troubles and cannot be given a name. The best medicine -- I do not say for
removing the trouble, for I know of none for that, but for enabling the soul to endure it
-- is to occupy oneself with external affairs and works of charity and to hope in God's
mercy, which never fails those who hope in Him. May He be blessed for ever. Amen.[156]
15 Other trials caused by devils, which are of
an exterior kind, will not occur so commonly and thus there is no reason to speak of them
nor are they anything like so grievous. For, whatever these devils do, they cannot, in my
opinion, go so far as to inhibit the working of the faculties or to disturb the soul, in
the way already described. After all, it thinks (and rightly), they cannot do more than
the Lord permits, and, so long as it is not lost, nothing matters much by comparison with
what has been described above.
16 We shall next deal with other interior
troubles which occur in these Mansions, treating of the different kinds of prayer and
favours of the Lord; for, although a few are still harder to bear than those referred to,
as will be seen by the effects which they leave upon the body, they do not merit the name
of trial, nor is it right that we should give them that name, since they are such great
favours of the Lord and the soul understands them to be so, and far beyond its deservings.
This severe distress comes just before the soul's entrance into the seventh Mansion,
together with many more, only a few of which I shall describe, as it would be impossible
to speak of them all, or even to explain their nature. For they are of another type than
those already mentioned, and a much higher one; and if, in dealing with those of a lower
kind, I have not been able to explain myself in greater detail, still less shall I be able
to explain these others. The Lord give me His help in everything I do, through the merits
of His Son. Amen.
Treats of several ways in which Our Lord
awakens the soul; there appears to be nothing in these to be feared, although the
experience is most sublime and the favours are great ones.
WE seem to have left the little dove a long
way behind, but we have not done so in reality, for these very trials enable it to make a
higher flight. So let us now begin to treat of the way in which the Spouse deals with it,
and see how, before it is wholly one with Him, He fills it with fervent desire, by means
so delicate that the soul itself does not understand them, nor do I think I shall succeed
in describing them in such a way as to be understood, except by those who have experienced
it; for these are influences so delicate and subtle that they proceed from the very depth
of the heart and I know no comparison that I can make which will fit the case.
2 All this is very different from what one can
achieve in earthly maters, and even from the consolations which have been described. For
often when a person is quite unprepared for such a thing, and is not even thinking of God,
he is awakened by His Majesty, as though by a rushing comet or a thunderclap. Although no
sound is heard,[157] the soul is very well aware that
it has been called by God, so much so that sometimes, especially at first, it begins to
tremble and complain, though it feels nothing that causes it affliction. It is conscious
of having been most delectably wounded, but cannot say how or by whom; but it is certain
that this is a precious experience and it would be glad if it were never to be healed of
that wound. It complains to its Spouse with words of love, and even cries aloud, being
unable to help itself, for it realizes that He is present but will not manifest Himself in
such a way as to allow it to enjoy Him, and this is a great grief, though a sweet and
delectable one; even if it should desire not to suffer it, it would have no choice -- but
in any case it never would so desire. It is much more satisfying to a soul than is the
delectable absorption, devoid of distress, which occurs in the Prayer of Quiet.
3 I am straining every nerve,[158] sisters, to explain to you this operation of love,
yet I do not know any way of doing so. For it seems a contradiction to say that the
Beloved is making it very clear that He is with the soul and seems to be giving it such a
clear sign that He is calling it that it cannot doubt the fact, and that the call is so
penetrating that it cannot fail to hear Him. For the Spouse, Who is in the seventh
Mansion, seems to be calling the soul in a way which involves no clear utterance of
speech, and none of the inhabitants of the other Mansions -- the senses, the imagination
or the faculties -- dares to stir. Oh, my powerful God, how great are Thy secrets, and how
different are spiritual things from any that can be seen or understood here below. There
is no way of describing this favour, small though it is by comparison with the signal
favours which souls are granted by Thee.
4 So powerful is the effect of this upon the
soul that it becomes consumed with desire, yet cannot think what to ask, so clearly
conscious is it of the presence of its God. Now, if this is so, you will ask me what it
desires or what causes it distress. What greater blessing can it wish for? I cannot say; I
know that this distress seems to penetrate to its very bowels; and that, when He that has
wounded it draws out the arrow, the bowels seem to come with it, so deeply does it feel
this love. I have just been wondering if my God could be described as the fire in a
lighted brazier, from which some spark will fly out and touch the soul, in such a way that
it will be able to feel the burning heat of the fire; but, as the fire is not hot enough
to burn it up, and the experience is very delectable, the soul continues to feel that pain
and the mere touch suffices to produce that effect in it. This seems the best comparison
that I have been able to find, for this delectable pain, which is not really pain, is not
continuous: sometimes it lasts for a long time, while sometimes it comes suddenly to an
end, according to the way in which the Lord is pleased to bestow it, for it is a thing
which no human means can procure. Although occasionally the experience lasts for a certain
length of time, it goes and comes again; it is, in short, never permanent, and for that
reason it never completely enkindles the soul; for, just as the soul is about to become
enkindled, the spark dies, and leaves the soul yearning once again to suffer that loving
pain of which it is the cause.
5 It cannot for a moment be supposed that this
is a phenomenon which has its source in the physical nature, or that it is caused by
melancholy, or that it is a deception of the devil, or a mere fancy. It is perfectly clear
that it is a movement of which the source is the Lord, Who is unchangeable; and its
effects are not like those of other devotions whose genuineness we doubt because of the
intense absorption of the joy which we experience. Here all the senses and faculties are
active, and there is no absorption; they are on the alert to discover what can be
happening, and, so far as I can see, they cause no disturbance, and can neither increase
this delectable pain nor remove it. Anyone to whom Our Lord has granted this favour will
recognize the fact on reading this; he must give Him most heartfelt thanks and must not
fear that it may be deception; let his chief fear be rather lest he show ingratitude for
so great a favour, and let him endeavour to serve God and to grow better all his life long
and he will see the result of this and find himself receiving more and more. One person
who was granted this favour spent several years in the enjoyment of it and so completely
did it satisfy her that, if she had served the Lord for very many years by suffering great
trials, she would have felt well rewarded. May He be blessed for ever and ever. Amen.
6 It may be that you wonder why greater
security can be felt about this than about other things. For the following reasons, I
think. First, because so delectable a pain can never be bestowed upon the soul by the
devil: he can give pleasures and delights which seem to be spiritual, but it is beyond his
power to unite pain -- and such a great pain! -- with tranquillity and joy in the soul;
for all his powers are in the external sphere, and, when he causes pain, it is never, to
my mind, delectable or peaceful, but restless and combative. Secondly, this delectable
tempest comes from another region than those over which he has authority. Thirdly, great
advantages accrue to the soul, which, as a general rule, becomes filled with a
determination to suffer for God's sake and to desire to have many trials to endure, and to
be very much more resolute in withdrawing from the pleasures and intercourse of this
world, and other things like them.
7 That this is no fancy is very evident; on
other occasions the devil may create fancies of the kind, but he will never be able to
counterfeit this. It is so wonderful a thing that it cannot possibly be created by the
fancy (I mean, one cannot think it is there when it is not) nor can the soul doubt that it
is there; if any doubt about it remains -- I mean, if the soul doubts whether or no it has
experienced it -- it can be sure that the impulses are not genuine, for we perceive it as
clearly as we hear a loud voice with our ears. Nor is there any possible way in which it
can be due to melancholy, for the fancies created by melancholy exist only in the
imagination, whereas this proceeds from the interior of the soul. I may conceivably be
mistaken; but, until I hear arguments to the contrary from someone who understands the
matter, I shall always be of this opinion; I know, for example, of a person who was
terribly afraid of being deceived in this way, and yet who never had any fears about this
kind of prayer.
8 Our Lord, too, has other methods of
awakening the soul. Quite unexpectedly, when engaged in vocal prayer and not thinking of
interior things, it seems, in some wonderful way, to catch fire. It is just as though
there suddenly assailed it a fragrance so powerful that it diffused itself through all the
senses or something of that kind (I do not say it is a fragrance; I merely make the
comparison) in order to convey to it the consciousness that the Spouse is there. The soul
is moved by a delectable desire to enjoy Him and this disposes it to make many acts and to
sing praises to Our Lord. The source of this favour is that already referred to; but there
is nothing here that causes pain, nor are the soul's desires to enjoy God in any way
painful. This is what is most usually felt by the soul. For several of the reasons already
alleged I do not think there is much reason here for fear; one must endeavour to receive
this favour and give thanks for it.
Treats of the same subject and describes
the way in which, when He is pleased to do so, God speaks to the soul. Gives instructions
as to how we should behave in such a case: we must not be guided by our own opinions. Sets
down a few signs by which we may know when this favour is, and when it is not, a
deception. This chapter is very profitable.
THERE is another way in which God awakens
the soul, and which, although in some respects it seems a greater favour than the others,
may also be more perilous. For this reason I will spend a short time in describing it.
This awakening of the soul is effected by means of locutions, which are of many kinds.[159] Some of them seem to come from without; others from
the innermost depths of the soul; others from its higher part; while others, again, are so
completely outside the soul that they can be heard with the ears, and seem to be uttered
by a human voice. Sometimes -- often, indeed -- this may be a fancy, especially in persons
who are melancholy -- I mean, are affected by real melancholy -- or have feeble
imaginations.
2 Of persons of these two kinds no notice
should be taken, in my view, even if they say they see or hear or are given to understand
things, nor should one upset them by telling them that their experiences come from the
devil. One should listen to them as one would to sick persons; and the prioress, or the
confessor, or whatever person they confide in, should advise them to pay no heed to the
matter, because the service of God does not consist in things like these, over which many
have been deceived by the devil, although this may not be so with them. One should humour
such people so as not to distress them further. If one tells them they are suffering from
melancholy, there will be no end to it. They will simply swear they see and hear things,
and really believe that they do.
3 The real solution is to see that such people
have less time for prayer, and also that, as far as is possible, they attach no importance
to these fancies. For the devil is apt to take advantage of the infirmity of these souls,
to the injury of others, if not to their own as well. Both with infirm and with healthy
souls there is invariably cause for misgivings about these things until it becomes clear
what kind of spirit is responsible. I believe, too, that it is always better for them to
dispense with such things at first, for, if they are of God, dispensing with them will
help us all the more to advance, since, when put to the proof in this way, they will tend
to increase. Yet the soul should not be allowed to become depressed or disquieted, for it
really cannot help itself.
4 Returning now to what I was saying about
locutions, these may come from God, in any of the ways I have mentioned, or they may
equally well come from the devil or from one's own imagination. I will describe, if I can,
with the Lord's help, the signs by which these locutions differ from one another and when
they are dangerous. For there are many people given to prayer who experience them, and I
would not have you think you are doing wrong, sisters, whether or no you give them
credence, when they are only for your own benefit, to comfort you or to warn you of your
faults. In such cases it matters little from whom they proceed or if they are only
fancies. But of one thing I will warn you: do not think that, even if your locutions come
from God, you will for that reason be any the better. After all, He talked a great deal
with the Pharisees: any good you may gain will depend upon how you profit by what you
hear. Unless it agrees strictly with the Scriptures, take no more notice of it than you
would if it came from the devil himself. The words may, in fact, come only from your weak
imagination, but they must be taken as a temptation against things pertaining to the Faith
and must therefore invariably be resisted so that they may gradually cease; and cease they
will, because they will have little power of their own.
5 To return, then, to our first point: whether
they come from within, from above or from without, has nothing to do with their coming
from God. The surest signs that one can have of their doing this are, in my opinion, as
follows. The first and truest is the sense of power and authority which they bear with
them, both in themselves and in the actions which follow them. I will explain myself
further. A soul is experiencing all the interior disturbances and tribulations which have
been described, and all the aridity and darkness of the understanding. A single word of
this kind -- just a "Be not troubled" -- is sufficient to calm it. No other word
need be spoken; a great light comes to it; and all its trouble is lifted from it, although
it had been thinking that, if the whole world, and all the learned men in the world, were
to combine to give it reasons for not being troubled, they could not relieve it from its
distress, however hard they might strive to do so. Or a soul is distressed because its
confessor, and others, have told it that what it has is a spirit sent by the devil, and it
is full of fear. Yet that single word which it hears: "It is I, fear not,"[160] takes all its fear from it, and it is most
marvellously comforted, and believes that no one will ever be able to make it feel
otherwise. Or it is greatly exercised because of some important piece of business and it
has no idea how this will turn out. It is then given to understand that it must be, and
all will turn out well; and it acquires a new confidence and is no longer troubled. And so
with many other things.
6 The second sign is that a great tranquillity
dwells in the soul, which becomes peacefully and devoutly recollected, and ready to sing
praises to God. Oh, Lord, if there is such power in a word sent by one of Thy messengers
(for they say that, in this Mansion, at least, such words are uttered, not by the Lord
Himself, but by some angel), what power wilt Thou not leave in the soul that is bound to
Thee, as art Thou to it, by love.
7 The third sign is that these words do not
vanish from the memory for a very long time: some, indeed, never vanish at all. Words
which we hear on earth -- I mean, from men, however weighty and learned they may be -- we
do not bear so deeply engraven upon our memory, nor, if they refer to the future, do we
give credence to them as we do to these locutions. For these last impress us by their
complete certainty, in such a way that, although sometimes they seem quite impossible of
fulfilment, and we cannot help wondering if they will come true or not, and although our
understanding may hesitate about it, yet within the soul itself there is a certainty which
cannot be overcome. It may seem to the soul that everything is moving in the contrary
direction to what it had been led to expect, and yet, even if many years go by, it never
loses its belief that, though God may use other means incomprehensible to men, in the end
what He has said will come true; as in fact it does. None the less, as I say, the soul is
distressed when it sees things going badly astray. It may be some time since it heard the
words; and both their working within it and the certainty which it had at the time that
they came from God have passed away. So these doubts arise, and the soul wonders if the
whole thing came from the devil, or can have been the work of the imagination. Yet at the
time it had no such doubts and it would have died in defence of their veracity. But, as I
say, all these imaginings must be put into our minds by the devil in order to distress us
and make us fearful, especially if the matter is one in which obeying the locutions will
bring others many blessings, or produce good works tending greatly to the honour and
service of God but presenting considerable difficulties. What will the devil not do in
this case by encouraging such misgivings? At the very least he will weaken the soul's
faith, for it is most harmful not to believe that God is powerful and can do works which
are incomprehensible to our understanding.
8 Despite all these conflicts, despite the
assertions of some (I refer to confessors) that these locutions are pure nonsense; and
despite all the unfortunate happenings which may persuade the soul that they cannot come
true, there still remains within it such a living spark of conviction that they will come
true (whence this arises I cannot tell) that, though all other hopes may be dead, this
spark of certainty could not fail to remain alive, even if the soul wished it to die. And
in the end, as I have said, the Lord's word is fulfilled, and the soul is so happy and
glad that it would like to do nothing but praise His Majesty everlastingly -- much more,
however, because it has seen His assurances come true than because of the occurrence
itself, even though this may be of very great consequence to it.
9 I do not know why it is, but the soul is so
anxious for these assurances to be proved true that it would not, I think, feel it so much
if it were itself caught in the act of lying -- as though it could do anything more in the
matter than repeat what is said to it! In this connection a certain person used
continually to recall what happened to the prophet Jonas, when he feared that Ninive was
not to be destroyed.[161] Of course, as the locutions
come from the Spirit of God, it is right that we should have this trust in Him, and desire
that He should never be thought false, since He is Supreme Truth. Great, therefore, is the
joy of one who, after a thousand vicissitudes and in the most difficult circumstances,
sees His word come true; such a person may himself have to suffer great trials on that
account, but he would rather do this than that what he holds the Lord most certainly told
him should not come to pass. Not everybody, perhaps, will have this weakness -- if
weakness it is, for I cannot myself condemn it as wrong.
10 If the locutions come from the imagination,
none of these signs occur, nor is there any certainty or peace or interior consolation. It
might, however, happen (and I even know of a few people to whom it has happened) that,
when a person is deeply absorbed in the Prayer of Quiet and in spiritual sleep (for some,
because of the weakness of their constitution, or of their imagination, or for some other
reason, are so entirely carried out of themselves in this act of deep recollection, that
they are unconscious of everything external, and all their senses are in such a state of
slumber that they are like a person asleep -- at times, indeed, they may even be asleep),
he thinks that the locutions come to him in a kind of dream, and sees things and believes
that these things are of God, and the effects of these locutions resemble those of a
dream. It may also happen that, when such a person asks something of Our Lord with a great
love, he thinks that the voices are telling him what he wants to be told; this does in
fact sometimes happen. But anyone who has much experience of locutions coming from God
will not, I think, be deceived in this way by the imagination.
11 The devil's locutions are more to be feared
than those which come from the imagination; but, if the locutions are accompanied by the
signs already described, one may be very confident that they are of God, although not to
such an extent that, if what is said is of great importance and involves some action on
the part of the hearer, or matters affecting a third person, one should do anything about
it, or consider doing anything, without taking the advice of a learned confessor, a man of
clear insight and a servant of God, even though one may understand the locutions better
and better and it may become evident that they are of God. For this is His Majesty's will,
so by carrying it out we are not failing to do what He commands: He has told us that we
are to put our confessor in His place, even when it cannot be doubted that the words are
His. If the matter is a difficult one, these words will help to give us courage and Our
Lord will speak to the confessor and if such is His pleasure will make him recognize the
work of His spirit; if He does not, we have no further obligations. I consider it very
dangerous for a person to do anything but what he has been told to do and to follow his
own opinion in this matter; so I admonish you, sisters, in Our Lord's name, never to act
thus.
12 There is another way in which the Lord
speaks to the soul, which for my own part I hold to be very certainly genuine, and that is
by a kind of intellectual vision, the nature of which I will explain later. So far down in
the depths of the soul does this contact take place, so clearly do the words spoken by the
Lord seem to be heard with the soul's own faculty of hearing, and so secretly are they
uttered, that the very way in which the soul understands them, together with the effects
produced by the vision itself, convinces it and makes it certain that no part in the
matter is being played by the devil. The wonderful effects it produces are sufficient to
make us believe this; at least one is sure that the locutions do not proceed from the
imagination, and, if one reflects upon it, one can always be certain of this, for the
following reasons.
13 The first reason is that some locutions are
very much clearer than others. The genuine locution is so clear that, even if it consists
of a long exhortation, the hearer notices the omission of a single syllable, as well as
the phraseology which is used; but in locutions which are created fancifully by the
imagination the voice will be less clear and the words less distinct, they will be like
something heard in a half-dream.
14 The second reason is that often the soul has
not been thinking of what it hears -- I mean that the voice comes unexpectedly, sometimes
even during a conversation, although it frequently has reference to something that was
passing quickly through the mind or to what one was previously thinking of. But often it
refers to things which one never thought would or could happen, so that the imagination
cannot possibly have invented them, and the soul cannot be deceived about things it has
not desired or wished for or that have never been brought to its notice.
15 The third reason is that in genuine
locutions the soul seems to be hearing something, whereas in locutions invented by the
imagination someone seems to be composing bit by bit what the soul wishes to hear.
16 The fourth reason is that there is a great
difference in the words themselves: in a genuine locution one single word may contain a
world of meaning such as the understanding alone could never put rapidly into human
language.
17 The fifth reason is that frequently, not
only can words be heard, but, in a way which I shall never be able to explain, much more
can be understood than the words themselves convey and this without any further utterance.
Of this way of understanding I shall say more elsewhere; it is a very subtle thing, for
which Our Lord should be praised. Some people (especially one person with experience of
these things, and no doubt others also) have been very dubious about this way of
understanding locutions and about the differences between them, and have been quite unable
to get the matter straight. I know that this person has thought it all over very
carefully, because the Lord has granted her this favour very frequently indeed; her most
serious doubt, which used to occur when she first experienced it, was whether she was not
imagining the whole thing. When locutions come from the devil their source can be more
quickly recognized, though his wiles are so numerous that he can readily counterfeit the
spirit of light. He will do this, in my view, by pronouncing his words very clearly, so
that there will be no more doubt about their being understood than if they were being
spoken by the spirit of truth. But he will not be able to counterfeit the effects which
have been described, or to leave in the soul this peace or light, but only restlessness
and turmoil. He can do little or no harm if the soul is humble and does what I have said
-- that is, if it refrains from action, whatever the locutions may say.
18 If gifts and favours come to it from the
Lord, the soul should consider carefully and see if they make it think any the better of
itself; and if, as the words grow more and more precious, it does not suffer increasing
confusion, it can be sure that the spirit is not of God; for it is quite certain that,
when it is so, the greater the favour the soul receives, the less by far it esteems
itself, the more keenly it remembers its sins, the more forgetful it is of its own
interest, the more fervent are the efforts of its will and memory in seeking nothing but
the honour of God rather than being mindful of its own profit, and the greater is its fear
of departing in the least from the will of God and its certainty that it has never
deserved these favours, but only hell. When these are the results of all the experiences
and favours that come to the soul in prayer, it need not be afraid, but may rest
confidently in the mercy of the Lord, Who is faithful, and will not allow the devil to
deceive it, though it always does well to retain its misgivings.
19 It may be that those whom the Lord does not
lead by this road think that such souls need not listen to these words which are addressed
to them; that, if they are interior words, they should turn their attention elsewhere so
as not to hear them; and that in this way they will run no risk of incurring these perils.
My answer is that that is impossible -- and I am not referring now to locutions invented
by the fancy, a remedy for which is to be less anxious about certain things and to try to
take no notice of one's own imaginings. When the locutions come from God there is no such
remedy, for the Spirit Himself, as He speaks, inhibits all other thought and compels
attention to what He says. So I really think (and I believe this to be true) that it would
be easier for someone with excellent hearing not to hear a person who spoke in a very loud
voice, because he might simply pay no heed and occupy his thought and understanding with
something else. In the case of which we are speaking, however, that is impossible. We have
no ears which we can stop nor have we the power to refrain from thought; we can only think
of what is being said; for He who was able, at the request of Josue (I think it was), to
make the sun stand still,[162] can still the faculties
and all the interior part of the soul in such a way that the soul becomes fully aware that
another Lord, greater than itself, is governing that Castle and renders Him the greatest
devotion and humility. So it cannot do other than listen: it has no other choice. May His
Divine Majesty grant us to fix our eyes only on pleasing Him and to forget ourselves, as I
have said: Amen. May He grant that I have succeeded in explaining what I have attempted to
explain and that I may have given some help to any who have experience of these locutions.
Treats of occasions when God suspends
the soul in prayer by means of rapture, or ecstasy, or trance (for I think these are all
the same), and of how great courage is necessary if we are to receive great favours from
His Majesty.
HOW much rest can this poor little butterfly
have amid all these trials and other things that I have described? Its whole will is set
on desiring to have ever-increasing fruition of its Spouse; and His Majesty, knowing our
weakness, continues to grant it the things it wants, and many more, so that it may have
the courage to achieve union with so great a Lord and to take Him for its Spouse.
2 You will laugh at my saying this and call it
ridiculous, for you will all think courage is quite unnecessary and suppose there is no
woman, however lowly, who would not be brave enough to betroth herself to the King. This
would be so, I think, with an earthly king, but for betrothal with the King of Heaven I
must warn you that there is more need of courage than you imagine, because our nature is
very timid and lowly for so great an undertaking, and I am certain that, unless God
granted us strength,[163] it would be impossible. And
now you are going to see what His Majesty does to confirm this betrothal, for this, as I
understand it, is what happens when He bestows raptures, which carry the soul out of its
senses; for if, while still in possession of its senses, the soul saw that it was so near
to such great majesty, it might perhaps be unable to remain alive. It must be understood
that I am referring to genuine raptures, and not to women's weaknesses, which we all have
in this life, so that we are apt to think everything is rapture and ecstasy. And, as I
believe I have said, there are some people who have such poor constitutions that one
experience of the Prayer of Quiet kills them. I want to enumerate here some different
kinds of rapture which I have got to know about through conversations with spiritual
people. I am not sure if I shall succeed in doing so, any more than when I wrote of this
before.[164] For various reasons it has been thought
immaterial if I should repeat myself in discussing this and other matters connected with
it, if for no other object than that of setting down in one place all that there is to be
said about each Mansion.
3 One kind of rapture is this. The soul,
though not actually engaged in prayer, is struck by some word, which it either remembers
or hears spoken by God. His Majesty is moved with compassion at having seen the soul
suffering so long through its yearning for Him, and seems to be causing the spark of which
we have already spoken to grow within it, so that, like the phoenix, it catches fire and
springs into new life. One may piously believe that the sins of such a soul are pardoned,
assuming that it is in the proper disposition and has used the means of grace, as the
Church teaches.[165] When it is thus cleansed, God
unites it with Himself, in a way which none can understand save it and He, and even the
soul itself does not understand this in such a way as to be able to speak of it
afterwards, though it is not deprived of its interior senses; for it is not like one who
suffers a swoon or a paroxysm so that it can understand nothing either within itself or
without.
4 The position, in this case, as I understand
it, is that the soul has never before been so fully awake to the things of God or had such
light or such knowledge of His Majesty. This may seem impossible; because, if the
faculties are so completely absorbed that we might describe them as dead, and the senses
are so as well, how can the soul be said to understand this secret? I cannot say, nor
perhaps can any creature, but only the Creator Himself, nor can I speak of many other
things that happen in this state -- I mean in these two Mansions, for this and the last
might be fused in one: there is no closed door to separate the one from the other. As,
however, there are things in the latter Mansion which are not shown to those who have not
yet reached it, I have thought it best to separate them.
5 When the soul is in this state of suspension
and the Lord sees fit to reveal to it certain mysteries, such as heavenly things and
imaginary visions, it is able subsequently to describe these, for they are so deeply
impressed upon the memory that they can never again be forgotten. But when they are
intellectual visions they cannot be so described; for at these times come visions of so
sublime a kind that it is not fitting for those who live on earth to understand them in
such a way that they can describe them; although after regaining possession of their
senses they can often describe many of these intellectual visions.
6 It may be that some of you do not understand
what is meant by a vision, especially by an intellectual vision. I shall explain this in
due course, as I have been commanded to do so by him who has authority over me; and
although it may seem irrelevant there may possibly be souls who will find it helpful.
"But," you will say to me, "if the soul is not going to remember these
sublime favours which the Lord grants it in this state, how can they bring it any
profit?" Oh, daughters, the profit is so great that it cannot be exaggerated, for,
although one cannot describe these favours, they are clearly imprinted in the very depths
of the soul and they are never forgotten. "But," you will say next, "if the
soul retains no image of them and the faculties are unable to understand them, how can
they be remembered?" This, too, is more than I can understand; but I know that
certain truths concerning the greatness of God remains so firmly in the soul that even had
it not faith which will tell it Who He is and that it is bound to believe Him to be God,
the soul would adore Him as such from that very moment, just as Jacob adored Him when he
saw the ladder.[166] He must, of course, have learned
other secrets which he could not describe; for, if he had not had more interior light, he
would not have understood such great mysteries merely from seeing a ladder on which angels
were descending and ascending.
7 I do not know if I am right in what I am
saying, for, although I have heard of the incident, I am not sure if I remember it
correctly. Moses, again, could not describe all that he saw in the bush, but only as much
as God willed him to;[167] yet, if God had not revealed
secret things to his soul in such a way as to make him sure of their truth, so that he
should know and believe Him to be God, he would not have taken upon himself so many and
such arduous labours. Amid the thorns of that bush he must have learned marvellous things,
for it was these things which gave him courage to do what he did for the people of Israel.
Therefore, sisters, we must not seek out reasons for understanding the hidden things of
God; rather, believing, as we do, in His great power, we must clearly realize that it is
impossible for worms like ourselves, with our limited powers, to understand His greatness.
Let us give Him hearty praise for being pleased to allow us to understand some part of it.
8 I am wishing I could find a suitable
comparison which would give some sort of explanation of what I am saying. But I can think
of none that will answer my purpose. Let us put it like this, however. You enter a private
apartment in the palace of a king or a great lord (I think they call it a camarín), where
they have an infinite variety of glassware, and earthenware, and all kinds of things, set
out in such a way that you can see almost all of them as you enter. I was once taken into
a room of this kind in the house of the Duchess of Alba, where I was commanded by
obedience to stay,[168] in the course of a journey, at
her pressing invitation. When I went in I was astounded and began to wonder what all this
mass of things could be used for, and then I realized that the sight of so many different
things might lead one to glorify the Lord. It occurs to me now how useful an experience it
was for my present purpose. Although I was there for some time, there was so much to be
seen that I could not remember it all, so that I could no more recall what was in those
rooms than if I had never seen them, nor could I say what the things were made of; I can
only remember having seen them as a whole.[169] It is
just like that here. The soul becomes one with God. It is brought into this mansion of the
empyrean Heaven which we must have in the depths of our souls; for it is clear that, since
God dwells in them, He must have one[170] of these
mansions. And although while the soul is in ecstasy the Lord will not always wish it to
see these secrets (for it is so much absorbed in its fruition of Him that that great
blessing suffices it), He is sometimes pleased that it should emerge from its absorption,
and then it will at once see what there is in this room; in which case, after coming to
itself, it will remember that revelation of the great things it has seen. It will not,
however, be able to describe any of them, nor will its nature be able to apprehend more of
the supernatural than God has been pleased to reveal to it.
9 Is this tantamount to an admission on my
part that it has really seen something and that this is an imaginary vision? I do not mean
that at all, for it is not of imaginary, but of intellectual visions that I am treating;
only I have no learning and am too stupid to explain anything; and I am quite clear that,
if what I have said so far about this kind of prayer is put correctly, it is not I who
have said it. My own belief is that, if the soul to whom God has given these secrets in
its raptures never understands any of them, they proceed, not from raptures at all, but
from some natural weakness, which is apt to affect people of feeble constitution, such as
women. In such cases the spirit, by making a certain effort, can overcome nature and
remain in a state of absorption, as I believe I said when dealing with the Prayer of
Quiet. Such experiences as these have nothing to do with raptures; for when a person is
enraptured you can be sure that God is taking her entire soul to Himself, and that, as she
is His own property and has now become His bride, He is showing her some little part of
the kingdom which she has gained by becoming so. This part may be only a small one, but
everything that is in this great God is very great. He will not allow her to be disturbed
either by the faculties or by the senses; so He at once commands that all the doors of
these Mansions shall be shut, and only the door of the Mansion in which He dwells remains
open so that we may enter. Blessed be such great mercy! Rightly shall those who will not
profit by it, and who thus forgo the presence of their Lord, be called accursed.
10 Oh, my sisters, what nothingness is all that
we have given up, and all that we are doing, or can ever do, for a God Who is pleased to
communicate Himself in this way to a worm! If we have the hope of enjoying this blessing
while we are still in this life, what are we doing about it and why are we waiting? What
sufficient reason is there for delaying even a short time instead of seeking this Lord, as
the Bride did, through streets and squares?[171] Oh,
what a mockery is everything in the world if it does not lead us and help us on the way
towards this end, -- and would be even though all the worldly delights and riches and joys
that we can imagine were to last for ever! For everything is cloying and degrading by
comparison with these treasures, which we shall enjoy eternally. And even these are
nothing by comparison with having for our own the Lord of all treasures and of Heaven and
earth.
11 Oh, human blindness! How long, how long
shall it be before this dust is removed from our eyes? For although, as far as we
ourselves are concerned, it seems not to be bad enough to blind us altogether, I can see
some motes and particles which, if we allow them to become more numerous, will be
sufficient to do us great harm. For the love of God, then, sisters, let us profit by these
faults and learn from them what wretched creatures we are, and may they give us clearer
sight, as did the clay to the blind man who was healed by our Spouse;[172] and thus, realizing our own imperfections, we shall
beseech Him more and more earnestly to bring good out of our wretchedness, so that we may
please His Majesty in everything.
12 Without realizing it, I have strayed far
from my theme. Forgive me, sisters; and believe me, now that I have come to these great
things of God (come to write about them, I mean), I cannot help feeling the pity of it
when I see how much we are losing, and all through our own fault. For, true though it is
that these are things which the Lord gives to whom He will, He would give them to us all
if we loved Him as He loves us. For He desires nothing else but to have those to whom He
may give them, and His riches are not diminished by His readiness to give.
13 Returning now to what I was saying, the
Spouse orders the doors of the Mansions to be shut, and even those of the Castle and its
enclosure. For when He means to enrapture this soul, it loses its power of breathing, with
the result that, although its other senses sometimes remain active a little longer, it
cannot possibly speak. At other times it loses all its powers at once, and the hands and
the body grow so cold that the body seems no longer to have a soul -- sometimes it even
seems doubtful if there is any breath in the body. This lasts only for a short time (I
mean, only for a short period at any one time) because, when this profound suspension
lifts a little, the body seems to come partly to itself again, and draws breath, though
only to die once more, and, in doing so, to give fuller life to the soul. Complete
ecstasy, therefore, does not last long.
14 But, although relief comes, the ecstasy has
the effect of leaving the will so completely absorbed and the understanding so completely
transported -- for as long as a day, or even for several days -- that the soul seems
incapable of grasping anything that does not awaken the will to love; to this it is fully
awake, while asleep as regards all that concerns attachment to any creature.
15 Oh, what confusion the soul feels when it
comes to itself again and what ardent desires it has to be used for God in any and every
way in which He may be pleased to employ it! If such effects as have been described result
from the former kinds of prayer, what can be said of a favour as great as this? Such a
soul would gladly have a thousand lives so as to use them all for God, and it would like
everything on earth to be tongue so that it might praise Him. It has tremendous desires to
do penance; and whatever penance it does it counts as very little, for its love is so
strong that it feels everything it does to be of very small account and realizes clearly
that it was not such a great matter for the martyrs to suffer all their tortures, for with
the aid of Our Lord such a thing becomes easy. And thus these souls make complaint to Our
Lord when He offers them no means of suffering.
16 When this favour is granted them secretly
they esteem it very highly; for so great are the shame and the confusion caused them by
having to suffer before others that to some extent they lessen the soul's absorption in
what it was enjoying, because of the distress and the anxiety which arise from its
thoughts of what others who have seen it will think. For, knowing the malice of the world,
they realize that their suffering may perhaps not be attributed to its proper cause but
may be made an occasion for criticism instead of for glorifying the Lord. This distress
and shame are no longer within the soul's own power of control, yet they seem to me to
denote a lack of humility; for if such a person really desires to be despitefully treated,
how can she mind if she is? One who was distressed in this way heard Our Lord say:
"Be not afflicted, for either they will praise Me or murmur at thee, and in either
case thou wilt be the gainer."[173] I learned
afterwards that that person had been greatly cheered and consoled by those words; and I
set them down here for the sake of any who find themselves in this affliction. It seems
that Our Lord wants everyone to realize that such a person's soul is now His and that no
one must touch it. People are welcome to attack her body, her honour, and her possessions,
for any of these attacks will be to His Majesty's honour. But her soul they may not
attack, for unless, with most blameworthy presumption, it tears itself away from its
Spouse, He will protect it from the whole world, and indeed from all hell.
17 I do not know if I have conveyed any
impression of the nature of rapture: to give a full idea of it, as I have said, is
impossible. Still, I think there has been no harm in my saying this, so that its nature
may be understood, since the effects of feigned raptures are so different. (I do not use
the word "feigned" because those who experience them wish to deceive, but
because they are deceived themselves.)[174]
18 As the signs and effects of these last do
not harmonize with the reception of this great favour, the favour itself becomes
discredited, so that those to whom the Lord grants it later on are not believed. May He be
for ever blessed and praised. Amen. Amen.
Continues the same subject and gives an
example of how God exalts the soul through flights of the spirit in a way different from
that described. Gives some reasons why courage is necessary here. Says something of this
favour which God grants in a way so delectable. This chapter is highly profitable.
THERE is another kind of rapture, or flight
of the spirit, as I call it, which, though substantially the same, is felt within the soul[175] in a very different way. Sometimes the soul becomes
conscious of such rapid motion that the spirit seems to be transported with a speed which,
especially at first, fills it with fear, for which reason I told you that great courage is
necessary for anyone in whom God is to work these favours, together with faith and
confidence and great resignation, so that Our Lord may do with the soul as He wills. Do
you suppose it causes but little perturbation to a person in complete possession of his
senses when he experiences these transports of the soul? We have even read in some authors
that the body is transported as well as the soul, without knowing whither it is going, or
who is bearing it away, or how, for when this sudden motion begins the soul has no
certainty that it is caused by God.
2 Can any means of resisting this be found?
None whatever: on the contrary, resistance only makes matters worse. This I know from a
certain person who said that God's will seems to be to show the soul that, since it has so
often and so unconditionally placed itself in His hands, and has offered itself to Him
with such complete willingness, it must realize that it is no longer its own mistress, and
so the violence with which it is transported becomes markedly greater. This person,
therefore, decided to offer no more resistance than a straw does when it is lifted up by
amber (if you have ever observed this) and to commit herself into the hands of Him Who is
so powerful, seeing that it is but to make a virtue of necessity. And, speaking of straw,
it is a fact that a powerful man cannot bear away a straw more easily than this great and
powerful Giant of ours can bear away the spirit.
3 I think that basin of water, of which we
spoke in (I believe) the fourth Mansion (but I do not remember exactly where),[176] was being filled at that stage gently and quietly --
I mean without any movement. But now this great God, Who controls the sources of the
waters and forbids the sea to move beyond its bounds, has loosed the sources whence water
has been coming into this basin; and with tremendous force there rises up so powerful a
wave that this little ship -- our soul -- is lifted up on high. And if a ship can do
nothing, and neither the pilot nor any of the crew has any power over it, when the waves
make a furious assault upon it and toss it about at their will, even less able is the
interior part of the soul to stop where it likes, while its senses and faculties can do no
more than has been commanded them: the exterior senses, however, are quite unaffected by
this.
4 Really, sisters, the mere writing of this
makes me astounded when I reflect how the great power of this great King and Emperor
manifests itself here. What, then, must be the feelings of anyone who experiences it? For
my own part I believe that, if His Majesty were to reveal Himself to those who journey
through the world to their perdition as He does to these souls, they would not dare -- out
of very fear, though not perhaps out of love -- to offend Him. Oh, how great, then, are
the obligations attending souls who have been warned in so sublime a way to strive with
all their might so as not to offend this Lord! For His sake, sisters, I beseech you, to
whom His Majesty has granted these favours or others like them, not merely to receive them
and then grow careless, but to remember that anyone who owes much has much to pay.[177]
5 This is another reason why the soul needs
great courage, for the thought is one which makes it very fearful, and, did Our Lord not
give it courage, it would continually be in great affliction. When it reflects what His
Majesty is doing with it, and then turns to reflect upon itself, it realizes what a little
it is doing towards the fulfilment of its obligations and how feeble is that little which
it does do and how full of faults and failures. If it does any good action, rather than
remember how imperfect this action is, it thinks best to try to forget it, to keep nothing
in mind but its sins, and to throw itself upon the mercy of God; and, since it has nothing
with which to pay, it craves the compassion and mercy which He has always shown to
sinners.
6 He may perhaps answer it as He answered
someone who was very much distressed about this, and was looking at a crucifix and
thinking that she had never had anything to offer God or to give up for His sake. The
Crucified Himself comforted her by saying that He was giving her all the pains and trials
which He had suffered in His Passion, so that she should have them for her own to offer to
His Father.[178] That soul, as I have understood from
her, was so much comforted and enriched by this experience that she cannot forget it, and,
whenever she feels miserable, she remembers it and it comforts and encourages her. There
are several other remarks on this subject which I might add; for, as I have had to do with
many saintly and prayerful people, I know of a number of such cases, but I do not want you
to think that it is to myself that I am referring, so I pass them over. This incident
which I have described seems to me a very apt one for helping you to understand how glad
Our Lord is when we get to know ourselves and keep trying all the time to realize our
poverty and wretchedness, and to reflect that we possess nothing that we have not been
given. Therefore, my sisters, courage is necessary for this and for many other things that
happen to a soul which the Lord has brought to this state; and, to my thinking, if the
soul is humble, more courage is necessary for this last state than for any other. May the
Lord, of His own bounty, grant us humility.
7 Turning now to this sudden transport of the
spirit, it may be said to be of such a kind that the soul really seems to have left the
body; on the other hand, it is clear that the person is not dead, though for a few moments
he cannot even himself be sure if the soul is in the body or no. He feels as if he has
been in another world, very different from this in which we live, and has been shown a
fresh light there, so much unlike any to be found in this life that, if he had been
imagining it, and similar things, all his life long, it would have been impossible for him
to obtain any idea of them. In a single instant he is taught so many things all at once
that if he were to labour for years on end in trying to fit them all into his imagination
and thought, he could not succeed with a thousandth part of them. This is not an
intellectual, but an imaginary vision, which is seen with the eyes of the soul very much
more clearly than we can ordinarily see things with the eyes of the body; and some of the
revelations are communicated to it without words. If, for examples he sees any of the
saints, he knows them as well as if he had spent a long time in their company.
8 Sometimes, in addition to the things which
he sees with the eyes of the soul, in intellectual vision, others are revealed to him --
in particular, a host of angels, with their Lord; and, though he sees nothing with the
eyes of the body or with the eyes of the soul, he is shown the things I am describing and
many others which are indescribable, by means of an admirable kind of knowledge. Anyone
who has experience of this, and possesses more ability than I, will perhaps know how to
express it; to me it seems extremely difficult. If the soul is in the body or not while
all this is happening I cannot say; I would not myself swear that the soul is in the body,
nor that the body is bereft of the soul.
9 I have often thought that if the sun can
remain in the heavens and yet its rays are so strong that without its moving thence they
can none the less reach us here, it must be possible for the soul and the spirit, which
are as much the same thing as are the sun and its rays, to remain where they are, and yet,
through the power of the heat that comes to them from the true Sun of Justice, for some
higher part of them to rise above itself. Really, I hardly know what I am saying; but it
is a fact that, as quickly as a bullet leaves a gun when the trigger is pulled, there
begins within the soul a flight (I know no other name to give it) which, though no sound
is made, is so clearly a movement that it cannot possibly be due to fancy. When the soul,
as far as it can understand, is right outside itself, great things are revealed to it;
and, when it returns to itself, it finds that it has reaped very great advantages and it
has such contempt for earthly things that, in comparison with those it has seen, they seem
like dirt to it. Thenceforward to live on earth is a great affliction to it, and, if it
sees any of the things which used to give it pleasure, it no longer cares for them. Just
as tokens of the nature of the Promised Land were brought back by those whom the
Israelites sent on there,[179] so in this case the
Lord's wish seems to have been to show the soul something of the country to which it is to
travel, so that it may suffer the trials of this trying road,[180] knowing whither it must travel in order to obtain
its rest. Although you may think that a thing which passes so quickly cannot be of great
profit, the help which it gives the soul is so great that only the person familiar with it
can understand its worth.
10 Clearly, then, this is no work of the devil;
such an experience could not possibly proceed from the imagination, and the devil could
never reveal things which produce such results in the soul and leave it with such peace
and tranquillity and with so many benefits. There are three things in particular which it
enjoys to a very high degree. The first is knowledge of the greatness of God: the more we
see of this, the more deeply we are conscious of it. The second is self-knowledge and
humility at realizing how a thing like the soul, so base by comparison with One Who is the
Creator of such greatness, has dared to offend Him and dares to raise its eyes to Him. The
third is a supreme contempt for earthly things, save those which can be employed in the
service of so great a God.
11 These are the jewels which the Spouse is
beginning to give to His bride, and so precious are they that she will not fail to keep
them with the greatest care. These meetings[181] with
the Spouse remain so deeply engraven in the memory that I think it is impossible for the
soul to forget them until it is enjoying them for ever; if it did so, it would suffer the
greatest harm. But the Spouse Who gives them to the soul has power also to give it grace
not to lose them.
12 Returning now to the soul's need of courage,
I ask you: Does it seem to you such a trifling thing after all? For the soul really feels
that it is leaving the body when it sees the senses leaving it and has no idea why they
are going. So He Who gives everything else must needs give courage too. You will say that
this fear of the soul's is well rewarded; so too say I. May He Who can give so much be for
ever praised. And may it please His Majesty to grant us to be worthy to serve Him. Amen.
Describes one effect of the prayer referred to in
the last chapter, by which it will be known that it is genuine and no deception. Treats of
another favour which the Lord grants to the soul so that He may use it to sing His
praises.
HAVING won such great favours, the soul is
so anxious to have complete fruition of their Giver that its life becomes sheer, though
delectable, torture. It has the keenest longings for death, and so it frequently and
tearfully begs God to take it out of this exile. Everything in this life that it sees
wearies it; when it finds itself alone it experiences great relief, but immediately this
distress returns till it hardly knows itself when it is without it. In short, this little
butterfly can find no lasting repose; indeed, her love is so full of tenderness that any
occasion whatever which serves to increase the strength of this fire causes the soul to
take flight; and thus in this Mansion raptures occur continually and there is no way of
avoiding them, even in public. Further, although the soul would fain be free from tears,
these persecutions and murmurings never leave her; for these all kinds of persons are
responsible, especially confessors.
2 Although on the one hand she seems to be
feeling great interior security, especially when alone with God, on the other hand she is
in great distress, for she is afraid that the devil may be going to deceive her so that
she shall offend Him for Whom she has such love. She is not hurt by what people say about
her except when her own confessor blames her, as though she could prevent these raptures.
She does nothing but beg everyone to pray for her and beseech His Majesty to lead her by
another road, as she is advised to do, since the road she is on is very dangerous. But she
has gained so much from following it (for she cannot help seeing, and she reads and hears
and learns from the commandments of God that it leads to Heaven) that, try as she may, she
feels unable to desire any other; all she wants to do is to leave herself in His hands.
And even this impotence of will distresses her, because she thinks she is not obeying her
confessor, for she believes that her only remedy against deception consists in obeying and
not offending Our Lord. So she feels that she would not intentionally commit so much as a
venial sin, even were she to be cut in pieces; and thus she is greatly distressed to find
that, without being aware of the fact, she cannot avoid committing a great many.
3 God gives these souls the keenest desire not
to displease Him in any respect whatsoever, however trivial, or to commit so much as an
imperfection if they can avoid doing so. For this reason alone, if for no other, the soul
would like to flee from other people, and greatly envies those who lived, or have lived,
in deserts. On the other hand it would like to plunge right into the heart of the world,
to see if by doing this it could help one soul to praise God more; a woman in this state
will be distressed at being prevented from doing this by the obstacle of sex and very
envious of those who are free to cry aloud and proclaim abroad Who is this great God of
Hosts.
4 Oh, poor little butterfly, bound by so many
fetters, which prevent you from flying whithersoever you will! Have pity on her, my God;
and dispose things so that she may be able to do something towards fulfilling her desires
to Thy honour and glory. Remember not the slightness of her merits and the baseness of her
nature. Mighty art Thou, Lord, for Thou didst make the great sea to draw back, and the
great Jordan, and didst allow the Children of Israel to pass over them.[182] And yet Thou needest not have pity on her, for, with
the aid of Thy strength, she is capable of enduring many trials. And this she is
determined to do: to suffer them is her desire. Stretch out Thy mighty arm, O Lord, and
let not her life be spent in things so base. Let Thy greatness appear in this creature,
womanish and base though she is, so that men may realize that nothing she does comes from
herself and may give Thee praise. Cost what it may, it is this that she desires, and she
would give a thousand lives, if she had them, so that on her account one soul might praise
Thee a little more. She would consider them all well spent, for she knows that in actual
fact she deserves not to suffer the very smallest trial for Thy sake, still less to die
for Thee.
5 I do not know why I have said this, sisters,
nor to what purpose, for I have not understood it all myself. It should be realized that
such, without any kind of doubt, are the effects which remain after these suspensions or
ecstasies; the desires they inspire are not fleeting but permanent; and when any
opportunity occurs of demonstrating the fact, it becomes evident that the experience was
not feigned. You may ask why I use the word "permanent", since sometimes and in
the most trifling matters the soul feels cowardly, and is so fearful and devoid of courage
that it seems impossible it can be courageous enough to do anything whatsoever. But this,
I take it, occurs at a time when the Lord leaves it to its own nature -- an experience
which is extremely good for it, making it realize that any usefulness it may have had has
been a gift bestowed upon it by His Majesty. And this it realizes with a clearness which
annihilates any self-interest in it and imbues it with a greater knowledge of the mercy of
God and of His greatness, which He has been pleased to demonstrate to it in so small a
matter. But more usually it is as we have already said.
6 Note one thing, sisters, concerning these
great desires of the soul to see Our Lord: that they will sometimes oppress you so much
that you must not encourage them but put them from you -- if you can, I mean; because
there are other desires, of which I shall write later, which cannot possibly be so
treated, as you will see. These of which I am now speaking it is sometimes possible to put
from you, since the reason is free to resign itself to the will of God, and you can echo
the words of Saint Martin[183]; in such a case, where
the desires are very oppressive, the thoughts may be deflected from them. For, as such
desires are apparently found in souls which are very proficient, the devil might encourage
them in us, so as to make us think ourselves proficient too; and it is always well to
proceed with caution. But I do not myself believe he could ever fill the soul with the
quietness and peace caused it by this distress; the feelings he arouses are apt to be
passionate ones, like those which we experience when we are troubled about things of the
world. Anyone without experience of each kind of distress will not understand that, and,
thinking it a great thing to feel like this, will stimulate the feeling as much as
possible. To do this, however, may be to injure the health, for the distress is
continuous, or, at the least, occurs with great frequency.
7 Note also that distress of this kind is apt
to be caused by weak health, especially in emotional people, who weep for the slightest
thing; again and again they will think they are weeping for reasons which have to do with
God but this will not be so in reality. It may even be the case (I mean when they shed
floods of tears -- and for some time they cannot refrain from doing so whenever they think
of God or hear Him spoken of) that some humour has been oppressing the heart, and that it
is this, rather than their love of God, which has excited their tears. It seems as if they
will never make an end of weeping, having come to believe that tears are good, they make
no attempt to control them. In fact, they would not do otherwise than weep even if they
could, and they make every effort they can to induce tears. The devil does his best, in
such cases, to weaken them, so that they may be unable either to practise prayer or to
keep their Rule.
8 I seem to hear you asking whatever you are
to do, as I am telling you there is danger in everything. If I think deception possible in
anything as beneficial as shedding tears may I not be deceived myself? Yes, of course I
may; but, believe me, I am not talking without having observed this in certain persons. I
have never been like it myself, however, for I am not in the least emotional; on the
contrary, my hardness of heart sometimes worries me; though, when the fire within my soul
is strong, however hard my heart may be, it distils as if in an alembic. You will easily
recognize when tears arise from this source, because they are comforting and
tranquillizing rather than disturbing, and seldom do any harm. The great thing about this
deception, when such it is, will be that, although it may harm the body, it cannot (if the
soul is humble, I mean) hurt the soul. If it is not humble, it will do it no harm to keep
its suspicions.
9 Do not let us suppose that if we weep a
great deal we have done everything that matters; let us also set to and work hard, and
practise the virtues, for these are what we most need. Let the tears come when God is
pleased to send them: we ourselves should make no efforts to induce them. They will leave
this dry ground of ours well watered and will be of great help in producing fruit; but the
less notice we take of them, the more they will do, because they are the water which comes
from Heaven.[184] When we ourselves draw water, we tire
ourselves by digging for it, and the water we get is not the same; often we dig till we
wear ourselves out without having discovered so much as a pool of water, still less a
wellspring. For this reason, sisters, I think our best plan is to place ourselves in the
Lord's presence, meditate upon His mercy and grace and upon our own lowliness, and leave
Him to give us what He wills, whether it be water or aridity. He knows best what is good
for us, and in this way we shall walk in tranquillity and the devil will have less
opportunity to fool us.
10 Together with these things, which are at
once distressing and delectable, Our Lord sometimes bestows upon the soul a jubilation and
a strange kind of prayer, the nature of which it cannot ascertain. I set this down here,
so that, if He grants you this favour, you may give Him hearty praise and know that such a
thing really happens. I think the position is that the faculties are in close union, but
that Our Lord leaves both faculties and senses free to enjoy this happiness, without
understanding what it is that they are enjoying and how they are enjoying it. That sounds
nonsense but it is certainly what happens. The joy of the soul is so exceedingly great
that it would like, not to rejoice in God in solitude, but to tell its joy to all, so that
they may help it to praise Our Lord, to which end it directs its whole activity. Oh, what
high festival such a one would make to this end and how she would show forth her joy, if
she could, so that all should understand it! For she seems to have found herself, and,
like the father of the Prodigal Son,[185] she would
like to invite everybody and have great festivities because she sees her soul in a place
which she cannot doubt is a place of safety, at least for a time. And, for my own part, I
believe she is right; for such interior joy in the depths of the soul's being, such peace
and such happiness that it calls upon all to praise God cannot possibly have come from the
devil.
11 Impelled as it is by this great joy, the
soul cannot be expected to keep silence and dissemble: it would find this no light
distress. That must have been the state of mind of Saint Francis, when robbers met him as
he was going about the countryside crying aloud and he told them that he was the herald of
the great King. Other saints retire to desert places, where they proclaim the same thing
as Saint Francis -- namely, the praises of their God. I knew one of these, called Fray
Peter of Alcántara. Judging from the life he led, I think he is certainly a saint, yet
those who heard him from time to time called him mad. Oh, what a blessed madness, sisters!
If only God would give it to us all! And how good He has been to you in placing you where,
if the Lord should grant you this grace and you show others that He has done so, you will
not be spoken against as you would be in the world (where there are so few to proclaim
God's praise that it is not surprising if they are spoken against,) but will be encouraged
to praise Him the more.
12 Oh, unhappy are the times and miserable is
the life which we now live, and happy are those who have had the good fortune to escape
from it! Sometimes it makes me specially glad when we are together and I see these sisters
of mine so full of inward joy that each vies with the rest in praising Our Lord for
bringing her to the convent; it is very evident that those praises come from the inmost
depths of the soul. I should like you to praise Him often, sisters, for, when one of you
begins to do so, she arouses the rest. How can your tongues be better employed, when you
are together, than in the praises of God, which we have so many reasons for rendering Him?
13 May it please His Majesty often to bestow
this prayer upon us since it brings us such security and such benefit. For, as it is an
entirely supernatural thing, we cannot acquire it. It may last for a whole day, and the
soul will then be like one who has drunk a great deal, but not like a person so far
inebriated as to be deprived of his senses; nor will it be like a melancholiac, who,
without being entirely out of his mind, cannot forget a thing that has been impressed upon
his imagination, from which no one else can free him either. These are very unskilful
comparisons to represent so precious a thing, but I am not clever enough to think out any
more: the real truth is that this joy makes the soul so forgetful of itself, and of
everything, that it is conscious of nothing, and able to speak of nothing, save of that
which proceeds from its joy -- namely, the praises of God. Let us join with this soul, my
daughters all. Why should we want to be more sensible than she? What can give us greater
pleasure than to do as she does? And may all the creatures join with us for ever and ever.
Amen, amen, amen.
Treats of the kind of grief felt for
their sins by the souls to Whom God grants the favours aforementioned. Says that, however
spiritual people may be, it is a great mistake for them not to practise keeping in mind
the Humanity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, His most sacred Passion and life, and
His glorious Mother and the Saints. This chapter is of great profit.
You will think, sisters, that these souls to
whom the Lord communicates Himself in so special a way (I am speaking now particularly to
those who have not attained these favours, for if they have been granted the enjoyment of
such favours by God, they will know what I am about to say) will by now be so sure that
they are to enjoy Him for ever that they will have no reason to fear or to weep for their
sins. This will be a very great mistake, for, the more they receive from our God, the
greater grows their sorrow for sin; I believe myself that this will never leave us until
we reach that place where nothing can cause us affliction.
2 It is true that this sorrow can be more
oppressive at one time than at another, and also that it is of different kinds, for the
soul does not now think of the pain which it is bound to suffer on account of its sins,
but only of how ungrateful it has been to Him Whom it owes so much, and Who so greatly
merits our service. For through these manifestations of His greatness which He
communicates to it the soul gains a much deeper knowledge of the greatness of God. It is
aghast at having been so bold; it weeps for its lack of reverence; its foolish mistakes in
the past seem to it to have been so gross that it cannot stop grieving, when it remembers
that it forsook so great a Majesty for things so base. It thinks of this much more than of
the favours it receives, great as they are like those which we have described and like
those which remain to be described later. It is as if a mighty river were running through
the soul and from time to time bringing these favours with it. But its sins are like the
river's slimy bed; they are always fresh in its memory, and this is a heavy cross to it.
3 I know of a person who had ceased wishing
she might die so as to see God, but was desiring death in order that she might not suffer
such constant distress at the thought of her ingratitude to One to Whom her debts were so
great. She thought nobody's evil deeds could equal hers, for she believed there was no one
with whom God had borne for so long and to whom He had shown so many favours.
4 With regard to fear of hell, these souls
have none; they are sometimes sorely oppressed by the thought that they may lose God, but
this happens seldom. Their sole fear is that God may let them out of His hand and that
they may then offend Him, and thus find themselves in as miserable a state as before. They
have no anxiety about their own pain or glory. If they desire not to stay long in
Purgatory, it is less for the pain which they will have to suffer than because while they
are there they will not be with God.
5 However favoured by God a soul may be, I
should not think it secure were it to forget the miserable state it was once in, for,
distressing though the reflection is, it is often profitable. Perhaps it is because I
myself have been so wicked that I feel like this and for that reason always keep it in
mind; those who have been good will have nothing to grieve for, although for as long as we
live in this mortal body we shall always have failures. It affords us no relief from this
distress to reflect that Our Lord has forgiven and forgotten our sins; in fact the thought
of so much goodness and of favours granted to one who has merited only hell makes the
distress greater. I think these reflections must have been a regular martyrdom for Saint
Peter and for the Magdalen; because, as their love was so great and they had received so
many favours and had learned to understand the greatness and majesty of God, they would
find them terribly hard to bear, and must have been moved with the deepest emotion.
6 You will also think that anyone who enjoys
such sublime favours will not engage in meditation on the most sacred Humanity of Our Lord
Jesus Christ, because by that time he will be wholly proficient in love. This is a thing
of which I have written at length elsewhere,[186] and,
although I have been contradicted about it and told that I do not understand it, because
these are paths along which Our Lord leads us, and that, when we have got over the first
stages, we shall do better to occupy ourselves with matters concerning the Godhead and to
flee from corporeal things, they will certainly not make me admit that this is a good way.
I may be wrong and we may all be meaning the same thing; but it was clear to me that the
devil was trying to deceive me in this way, and I have had to learn my lesson. So,
although I have often spoken about this,[187] I propose
to speak to you about it again, so that you may walk very warily. And observe that I am
going so far as to advise you not to believe anyone who tells you otherwise. I will try to
explain myself better than I did before. If by any chance a certain person has written
about it, as he said he would, it is to be hoped that he has explained it more fully; to
write about it in a general way to those of us who are not very intelligent may do a great
deal of harm.
7 Some souls also imagine that they cannot
dwell upon the Passion, in which case they will be able still less to meditate upon the
most sacred Virgin and the lives of the saints, the remembrance of whom brings us such
great profit and encouragement. I cannot conceive what they are thinking of; for, though
angelic spirits, freed from everything corporeal, may remain permanently enkindled in
love, this is not possible for those of us who live in this mortal body. We need to
cultivate, and think upon, and seek the companionship of those who, though living on earth
like ourselves, have accomplished such great deeds for God; the last thing we should do is
to withdraw of set purpose from our greatest help and blessing, which is the most sacred
Humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I cannot believe that people can really do this; it
must be that they do not understand themselves and thus do harm to themselves and to
others. At any rate, I can assure them that they will not enter these last two Mansions;
for, if they lose their Guide, the good Jesus, they will be unable to find their way; they
will do well if they are able to remain securely in the other Mansions. For the Lord
Himself says that He is the Way;[188] the Lord also
says that He is light[189] and that no one can come to
the Father save by Him;[190] and "he that seeth Me
seeth my Father."[191] It may be said that these
words have another meaning. I do not know of any such meaning myself; I have got on very
well with the meaning which my soul always feels to be the true one.
8 There are some people (and a great many of
them have spoken to me about this) on whom Our Lord bestows perfect contemplation and who
would like to remain in possession of it for ever. That is impossible; but they retain
something of this Divine favour, with the result that they can no longer meditate upon the
mysteries of the Passion and the life of Christ, as they could before. I do not know the
reason for this, but it is quite a common experience in such cases for the understanding
to be less apt for meditation. I think the reason must be that the whole aim of meditation
is to seek God, and once He is found, and the soul grows accustomed to seeking Him again
by means of the will, it has no desire to fatigue itself with intellectual labour. It also
seems to me that, as the will is now enkindled, this generous faculty would have no desire
to make use of that other faculty,[192] even if it
could. There would be nothing wrong in its setting it aside, but it is impossible for it
to do so, especially before the soul has reached these last Mansions, and it will only
lose time by attempting it, for the aid of the understanding is often needed for the
enkindling of the will.
9 Note this point, sisters, for it is
important, so I will explain it further. The soul is desirous of employing itself wholly
in love and it would be glad if it could meditate on nothing else. But this it cannot do
even if it so desires; for, though the will is not dead, the fire which habitually kindles
it is going out, and, if it is to give off heat of itself, it needs someone to fan it into
flame. Would it be a good thing for the soul to remain in that state of aridity, hoping
for fire to come down from Heaven to burn up this sacrifice of itself which it is making
to God as did our father Elias?[193] No, certainly not;
nor is it a good thing to expect miracles: the Lord will perform them for this soul when
He sees fit to do so, as has been said and as will be said again later. But His Majesty
wants us to realize our wickedness, which makes us unworthy of their being wrought, and to
do everything we possibly can to come to our own aid. And I believe myself that, however
sublime our prayer may be, we shall have to do this until we die.
10 It is true that anyone whom Our Lord brings
to the seventh Mansion very rarely, or never, needs to engage in this activity, for the
reason that I shall set down, if I remember to do so, when I come to deal with that
Mansion, where in a wonderful way the soul never ceases to walk with Christ our Lord but
is ever in the company of both His Divine and His human nature. When, therefore, the
aforementioned fire is not kindled in the will, and the presence of God is not felt, we
must needs seek it, since this is His Majesty's desire, as the Bride sought it in the
Songs.194 Let us ask the creatures who made them, as Saint Augustine says that
he did (in his Meditations or Confessions,195 I think) and let us not be so
foolish as to lose time by waiting to receive what has been given us once already. At
first it may be that the Lord will not give it us, for as long as a year, or even for many
years: His Majesty knows why; it is not our business to want to know, nor is there any
reason why we should. Since we know the way we have to take to please God -- namely, that
of keeping His commandments and counsels -- let us be very diligent in doing this, and in
meditating upon His life and death, and upon all that we owe Him; and let the rest come
when the Lord wills.
11 Such people will reply that they cannot stop
to meditate upon these things, and here they may to some extent be right, for the reason
already given. You know, of course, that it is one thing to reason with the understanding
and quite another for the memory to represent truths to the understanding. You will say,
perhaps, that you do not understand me, and it may very well be that I do not understand
the matter myself sufficiently to be able to explain it; but I will deal with it as well
as I can. By meditation I mean prolonged reasoning with the understanding, in this way. We
begin by thinking of the favour which God bestowed upon us by giving us His only Son; and
we do not stop there but proceed to consider the mysteries of His whole glorious life. Or
we begin with the prayer in the Garden and go on rehearsing the events that follow until
we come to the Crucifixion. Or we take one episode of the Passion -- Christ's arrest, let
us say -- and go over this mystery in our mind, meditating in detail upon the points in it
which we need to think over and to try to realize, such as the treason of Judas, the
flight of the Apostles, and so on. This is an admirable and a most meritorious kind of
prayer.
12 This is the kind of prayer I was referring
to which those whom God has raised to supernatural things and to perfect contemplation are
right in saying they cannot practise. As I have said, I do not know why this should be the
case; but as a rule they are in fact unable to do so. A man will not be right, however, to
say that he cannot dwell upon these mysteries, for he often has them in his mind,
especially when they are being celebrated by the Catholic Church; nor is it possible that
a soul which has received so much from God should forget all these precious signs of His
love, for they are living sparks which will enkindle the soul more and more in its love
for Our Lord. But these mysteries will not be apprehended by the understanding: the soul
will understand them in a more perfect way. First, the understanding will picture them to
itself, and then they will be impressed upon the memory, so that the mere sight of the
Lord on His knees, in the Garden, covered with that terrible sweat, will suffice us, not
merely for an hour, but for many days. We consider, with a simple regard, Who He is and
how ungrateful we have been to One Who has borne such pain for us. Then the will is
aroused, not perhaps with deep emotion but with a desire to make some kind of return for
this great favour, and to suffer something for One Who has suffered so much Himself. And
so it is with other subjects, in which both memory and understanding will have a place.
This, I think, is why the soul cannot reason properly about the Passion, and it is because
of this that it believes itself unable to meditate upon it at all.
13 But if it does not already meditate in this
way, it will be well advised to attempt to do so; for I know that the most sublime kind of
prayer will be no obstacle to it and I believe omission to practise it often would be a
great mistake. If while the soul is meditating the Lord should suspend it, well and good;
for in that case He will make it cease meditation even against its own will. I consider it
quite certain that this method of procedure is no hindrance to the soul but a great help
to it in everything that is good; whereas, if it laboured hard at meditation in the way I
have already described, this would indeed be a hindrance -- in fact, I believe such labour
is impossible for a person who has attained greater heights. This may not be so with
everyone, since God leads souls by many ways, but those who are unable to take this road
should not be condemned or judged incapable of enjoying the great blessings contained in
the mysteries of Jesus Christ our Good. No one, however spiritual, will persuade me that
to neglect these mysteries can be profitable for him.
14 Some souls, at the beginning of the
spiritual life, or even when well advanced in it, get as far as the Prayer of Quiet, and
are about to enjoy the favours and consolations given by the Lord in that state, and then
think it would be a very great thing to be enjoying these gifts all the time. Let them
take my advice, and become less absorbed in them, as I have said elsewhere.[196] For life is long and there are many trials in it and
we have need to look at Christ our Pattern, and also at His Apostles and Saints, and to
reflect how they bore these trials, so that we, too, may bear them perfectly. The good
Jesus is too good company for us to forsake Him and His most sacred Mother. He is very
glad when we grieve for His afflictions although sometimes we may be forsaking our own
pleasures and consolations in order to do so -- though for that matter, daughters,
consolations in prayer are not so frequent that there is not time for everything. If
anyone told me that she experienced them continuously (I mean so continuously that she
could never meditate in the way I have described) I should consider it suspicious. Keep on
with your meditation, then, and endeavour to be free from this error, and make every
effort to avoid this absorption. If your efforts are not sufficient, tell the prioress, in
order that she may give you some work which will keep you so busy that this danger will no
longer exist. Any continuous exposure to it would be very bad for the brain and the head,
if nothing worse.
15 I think I have explained what it is well for
you to know -- namely that, however spiritual you are, you must not flee so completely
from corporeal things as to think that meditation on the most sacred Humanity can actually
harm you. We are sometimes reminded that the Lord said to His disciples that it was
expedient for them that He should go away:[197] I
cannot, however, allow that as an argument. He did not say this to His most sacred Mother,
because she was firm in the faith and knew that He was God and Man; and, although she
loved Him more than they, her love was so perfect that His being on earth was actually a
help to her. The Apostles could not at that time have been as firm in the faith as they
were later and as we have reason to be now. I assure you, daughters, that I consider this
a perilous road and that if we took it the devil might end by causing us to lose our
devotion to the Most Holy Sacrament.
16 The mistake, I think, which I used to make
myself did not go as far as this; it was only that I would take less pleasure than
previously in thinking of Our Lord Jesus Christ and would go about in that state of
absorption, expecting to receive spiritual consolation. Then I saw clearly that I was
going wrong; for, as it was impossible always to be having consolations, my thoughts would
keep passing from one subject to another, until my soul, I think, got like a bird flying
round and round in search of a resting-place and losing a great deal of time, without
advancing in the virtues or making progress in prayer. I could not understand the cause --
nor, I believe, should I ever have understood it, because I thought I was on the proper
road, until one day, when I was telling a person who was a servant of God about my method
of prayer, he gave me some counsel. This showed me clearly how far I had gone astray and I
have never ceased regretting that there was once a time when I failed to realize that so
great a loss could not possibly result in gain. Even if I could obtain it, I want no
blessing save that which I acquire through Him by Whom all blessings come to us. May He be
praised for ever. Amen.
Treats of the way in which God
communicates Himself to the soul through intellectual vision.[198] Describes the effects which this produces when
genuine. Charges that these favours be kept secret.
IN order, sisters, that you may the better
appreciate the accuracy of what I have been saying to you and see that the farther a soul
progresses the closer becomes its companionship with this good Jesus, it will be well for
us to consider how, when His Majesty so wills, we cannot do otherwise than walk with Him
all the times as is clear from the ways and methods whereby His Majesty communicates
Himself to us, and reveals His love for us by means of such wonderful appearances and
visions. Should the Lord grant you any of the favours which I shall describe (I mean, if
He grants me ability to describe any of them), you must not be dismayed. Even though it be
not to us that He grants them, we must give Him hearty praise that He should be pleased to
commune with a creature -- He Who is of such great majesty and power.
2 It may happen that, while the soul is not in
the least expecting Him to be about to grant it this favour, which it has never thought it
can possibly deserve, it is conscious that Jesus Christ Our Lord is near to it, though it
cannot see Him either with the eyes of the body or with those of the soul. This (I do not
know why) is called an intellectual vision. I saw a person to whom God had granted this
favour, together with other favours which I shall describe later. At first that person was
greatly perturbed, for she could not understand what the vision was, not having seen
anything. She realized with such certainty that it was Jesus Christ Our Lord Who had
revealed Himself to her in that way that she could not doubt it -- I mean, could not doubt
that that vision was there. But as to its being from God or no she had great misgivings,
although the effects which it produced were so remarkable that they suggested it came from
Him. She had never heard of an intellectual vision, or realized that there was any such
thing, but she understood quite clearly that it was this Lord Who often spoke to her in
the way I have described: until He granted her this favour to which I am referring she
never knew Who was speaking to her, although she understood the words.
3 Being frightened about this vision (for it
is not like an imaginary vision, which is quickly gone, but lasts for many days --
sometimes for more than a year), she went off to her confessor in a state of great
perturbation.[199] "If you see nothing," he
asked her, "how do you know it is Our Lord?" Then he told her to tell him what
His face was like. She replied that she did not know, that she had seen no face, and that
she could not tell him more than she had done already: what she did know was that it was
He Who was speaking to her and that it was no fancy. And, although people aroused grievous
misgivings in her about it, she felt again and again that she could not doubt its
genuineness, especially when He said to her: "Be not afraid: it is I." These
words had such power that when she heard them she could not doubt, and she was greatly
strengthened and gladdened by such good companionship. For she saw plainly that it was a
great help to her to be habitually thinking of God wherever she went and to be taking such
care to do nothing which would displease Him because she felt that He was always looking
at her. Whenever she wanted to draw near to His Majesty in prayer, and at other times as
well, she felt He was so near that He could not fail to hear her, although she was unable
to hear Him speaking to her whenever she wished, but did so at quite unexpected times,
when it became necessary. She was conscious that He was walking at her right hand, but
this consciousness arose, not from those senses which tell us that another person is near
us, but in another and a subtler way which is indescribable. It is quite as unmistakable,
however, and produces a feeling of equal certainty, or even greater. Other things of the
kind might be attributable to fancy, but this thing is not, for it brings such great
benefits and produces such effects upon the interior life as could not occur if it were
the result of melancholy. The devil again, could not do so much good: were it his work,
the soul would not have such peace and such constant desires to please God and such scorn
for everything that does not lead it to Him. Later, this person attained a clear
realization that it was not the work of the devil and came to understand it better and
better.
4 None the less, I know she sometimes felt the
gravest misgivings, and at other times the greatest confusion,[200] because she had no idea whence such a great blessing
had come to her. She and I were so intimate that nothing happened in her soul of which I
was ignorant and thus I can be a good witness and you may be sure that everything I say
about it is true. This favour of the Lord brings with it the greatest confusion and
humility. If it came from the devil, it would be just the reverse. As it is a thing which
can be clearly recognized as the gift of God and such feelings could not possibly be
produced by human effort, anyone who has it must know it does not in reality come from
him, but is a gift from the hand of God. And although, as I believe, some of the other
experiences that have been described are greater favours than this, yet this brings a
special knowledge of God, and from this constant companionship is born a most tender love
toward His Majesty, and yearnings, even deeper than those already described, to give
oneself wholly up to His service, and a great purity of conscience; for the Presence Which
the soul has at its side makes it sensitive to everything. For though we know quite well
that God is present in all that we do, our nature is such that it makes us lose sight of
the fact; but when this favour is granted it can no longer do so, for the Lord, Who is
near at hand, awakens it. And even the favours aforementioned occur much more commonly, as
the soul experiences a vivid and almost constant love for Him Whom it sees or knows to be
at its side.
5 In short, the greatness and the precious
quality of this favour are best seen in what the soul gains from it. It thanks the Lord,
Who bestows it on one that has not deserved it, and would exchange it for no earthly
treasure or joy. When the Lord is pleased to withdraw it, the soul is left in great
loneliness; yet all the possible efforts that it might make to regain His companionship
are of little avail, for the Lord gives this when He wills and it cannot be acquired.
Sometimes, again, the companionship is that of a saint and this is also a great help to
us.
6 You will ask how, if this Presence cannot be
seen, the soul knows that it is that of Christ, or when it is a saint, or His most
glorious Mother. This is a question which the soul cannot answer, nor can it understand
how it knows what it does; it is perfectly certain, however, that it is right. When it is
the Lord, and He speaks, it is natural that He should be easily recognized; but even when
it is a saint, and no words are spoken, the soul is able to feel that the Lord is sending
him to be a help and a companion to it; and this is more remarkable. There are also other
spiritual experiences which cannot be described, but they all help to show us how impotent
our nature is, when it comes to understanding the great wonders of God, for we are not
capable of understanding these but can only marvel and praise His Majesty for giving them
to us. So let us give Him special thanks for them; for, as this is not a favour which is
granted to all, it is one which should be highly esteemed and we must try to render the
greatest services to God Who has so many ways of helping us. For this reason no one thus
favoured has any better opinion of himself on that account. On the contrary, he feels that
he is serving God less than anyone else on the earth, and yet that no one else has so
great an obligation to serve Him. Any fault which he commits, therefore, pierces his very
vitals and has every reason to do so.
7 These above-described effects which such
visions cause in the soul may be observed by any one of you whom the Lord leads by this
way, and you will then see that they are due neither to deception nor to fancy. For, as I
have said, if they are of the devil, I do not think they can possibly last so long or do
the soul such a great deal of good, or bring it such inward peace. It is not usual for one
who is so evil to do so much good; he could not, in fact, even if he would. The soul would
soon become clouded over by the mist of self-esteem and would begin to think itself better
than others. But its continual occupation with God and its fixing of the thought on Him
would make the devil so furious that, though he might attempt such a thing once, he would
not do so often. God is so faithful that He will not allow the devil to have all this
power over a soul whose one aim is to please Him and to devote its whole life to His
honour and glory; He will see to it that the devil is speedily disillusioned.
8 My point is, and will continue to be, that,
if the soul walks in the manner described above, and these favours of God are withdrawn
from it, His Majesty will see that it is the gainer, and if He sometimes allows the devil
to attack it, his efforts will be brought to confusion. Therefore, daughters, if any of
you travel along this road, as I have said, do not be alarmed. It is well for us to have
misgivings and walk the more warily; and you must not presume upon having received these
favours and become careless, for if you do not find them producing in you the result
already described it will be a sign that they are not of God. It will be well at first for
you to communicate this, in confession, to some very learned man (for it is from such men
that we must seek illumination) or to any highly spiritual person if you know one. Should
your confessor not be a very spiritual man, someone with learning is better; or, if you
know such a person, it is best to consult one both spiritual and learned. If he tells you
that it is fancy, do not let that trouble you, for fancy can have little effect on your
soul, either for good or for evil: commend yourself to the Divine Majesty and pray Him not
to allow you to be deceived. If he tells you that it is the devil, this will be a greater
trial to you, though no learned man would say such a thing if you have experienced the
effects described; but, if he says it, I know that the Lord Himself, Who is walking at
your side, will console you and reassure you, and will continue to give him light, so that
he in his turn may give it to you.
9 If your director, though a man of prayer,
has not been led in this way by the Lord, he will at once become alarmed and condemn it;
that is why I advise you to go to a man who has both spirituality and great learning if
such a one can be found. Your prioress should give you leave to do this; for although,
seeing you are leading a good life, she may think your soul is safe, she will be bound to
allow you to consult someone for your own safety and for hers as well. When you have
finished these consultations, calm yourself and do not go on talking about the matter, for
sometimes, when there is no reason for fear, the devil implants such excessive misgivings
that they prevent the soul from being content with a single consultation, especially if
the confessor has had little experience and treats the matter timorously and enjoins you
to go and consult others. In such a case what should by rights be a close secret gets
noised abroad and the penitent is persecuted and tormented; for she finds that what she
thought was secret has become public, and this leads to many sore trials, which, as things
are at present, might affect the Order. Great caution, then, is necessary here and such
caution I strongly recommend to prioresses.
10 And let none of you imagine that, because a
sister has had such experiences, she is any better than the rest; the Lord leads each of
us as He sees we have need. Such experiences, if we use them aright, prepare us to be
better servants of God; but sometimes it is the weakest whom God leads by this road; and
so there is no ground here either for approval or for condemnation. We must base our
judgments on the virtues. The saintliest will be she who serves Our Lord with the greatest
mortification and humility and purity of conscience. Little, however, can be known with
any certainty about this on earth, nor until the true Judge gives each his deserts. Then
we shall be amazed to see how different His judgment is from the ideas which we have
formed on earth. May He be for ever praised. Amen.
Treats of the way in which the Lord
communicates Himself to the soul through imaginary visions and gives an emphatic warning
that we should be careful not to desire to walk in this way. Gives reasons for the
warning. This chapter is of great profit.
LET us now come to imaginary visions, in
which the devil is said to interfere more frequently than in those already described. This
may well be the case; but when they come from Our Lord they seem to me in some ways more
profitable because they are in closer conformity with our nature, except for those which
the Lord bestows in the final Mansion, and with which no others can compare.
2 Let us now imagine, as I said in the last
chapter, that this Lord is here. It is as if in a gold reliquary there were hidden a
precious stone of the highest value and the choicest virtues: although we have never seen
the stone, we know for certain that it is there and if we carry it about with us we can
have the benefit of its virtues. We do not prize it any the less for not having seen it,
because we have found by experience that it has cured us of certain illnesses for which it
is a sovereign remedy. But we dare not look at it, or open the reliquary in which it is
contained, nor are we able to do so; for only the owner of the jewel knows how to open it,
and though he has lent it to us so that we may benefit by it, he has kept the key and so
it is still his own. He will open it when he wants to show it to us and he will take it
back when he sees fit to do so. And that is what God does, too.
3 And now let us suppose that on some occasion
the owner of the reliquary suddenly wants to open it, for the benefit of the person to
whom he has lent it. Obviously this person will get much greater pleasure from it if he
can recall the wonderful brilliance of the stone, and it will remain the more deeply
engraven upon his memory. This is what happens here. When Our Lord is pleased to bestow
greater consolations upon this soul, He grants it, in whatever way He thinks best, a clear
revelation of His sacred Humanity, either as He was when He lived in the world, or as He
was after His resurrection; and although He does this so quickly that we might liken the
action to a flash of lightning, this most glorious image is so deeply engraven upon the
imagination that I do not believe it can possibly disappear until it is where it can be
enjoyed to all eternity.
4 I speak of an "image", but it must
not be supposed that one looks at it as at a painting; it is really alive, and sometimes
even speaks to the soul and shows it things both great and secret. But you must realize
that, although the soul sees this for a certain length of time, it can no more be gazing
at it all the time than it could keep gazing at the sun. So the vision passes very
quickly, though this is not because its brilliance hurts the interior sight -- that is,
the medium by which all such things are seen -- as the brilliance of the sun hurts the
eyes. When it is a question of exterior sight, I can say nothing about it, for the person
I have mentioned, and of whom I can best speak, had not experienced this; and reason can
testify only inadequately to things of which it has no experience. The brilliance of this
vision is like that of infused light or of a sun covered with some material of the
transparency of a diamond, if such a thing could be woven. This raiment looks like the
finest cambric. Almost invariably the soul on which God bestows this favour remains in
rapture, because its unworthiness cannot endure so terrible a sight.
5 I say "terrible", because, though
the sight is the loveliest and most delightful imaginable, even by a person who lived and
strove to imagine it for a thousand years, because it so far exceeds all that our
imagination and understanding can compass, its presence is of such exceeding majesty that
it fills the soul with a great terror. It is unnecessary to ask here how, without being
told, the soul knows Who it is, for He reveals Himself quite clearly as the Lord of Heaven
and earth. This the kings of the earth never do: indeed, they would be thought very little
of for what they are, but that they are accompanied by their suites, or heralds proclaim
them.
6 O, Lord, how little do we Christians know
Thee! What will that day be like when Thou comest to judge us? If when Thou comest here in
such a friendly way to hold converse with Thy bride the sight of Thee causes us such fear,
what will it be, O daughters, when with that stern voice He says: "Depart, accursed
of My Father"![201]
7 Let us keep that in mind when we remember
this favour which God grants to the soul, and we shall find it of no small advantage to
us. Even Saint Jerome, holy man though he was, did not banish it from his memory. If we do
that we shall care nothing for all we have suffered through keeping strictly to the
observances of our Order, for, however long this may take us, the time will be but short
by comparison with eternity. I can tell you truly that, wicked as I am, I have never
feared the torments of hell, for they seem nothing by comparison with the thought of the
wrath which the damned will see in the Lord's eyes -- those eyes so lovely and tender and
benign. I do not think my heart could bear to see that; and I have felt like this all my
life. How much more will anyone fear this to whom He has thus revealed Himself, and given
such a consciousness of His presence as will produce unconsciousness![202] It must be for this reason that the soul remains in
suspension; the Lord helps it in its weakness so that this may be united with His
greatness in this sublime communion with God.
8 When the soul is able to remain for a long
time looking upon the Lord, I do not think it can be a vision at all. It must rather be
that some striking idea creates a picture in the imagination: but this will be a dead
image by comparison with the other.
9 Some persons -- and I know this is the
truth, for they have discussed it with me; and not just three or four of them, but a great
many -- find that their imagination is so weak, or their understanding is so nimble, or
for some other reason their imagination becomes so absorbed, that they think they can
actually see everything that is in their mind. If they had ever seen a true vision they
would realize their error beyond the possibility of doubt. Little by little they build up
the picture which they see with their imagination, but this produces no effect upon them
and they remain cold -- much more so than they are after seeing a sacred image. No
attention, of course, should be paid to such a thing, which will be forgotten much more
quickly than a dream.
10 The experience we are discussing here is
quite different. The soul is very far from expecting to see anything and the thought of
such a thing has never even passed through its mind. All of a sudden the whole vision is
revealed to it and all its faculties and senses are thrown into the direst fear and
confusion, and then sink into that blessed state of peace. It is just as when Saint Paul
was thrown to the ground and there came that storm and tumult in the sky, just so, in this
interior world, there is a great commotion; and then all at once, as I have said,
everything grows calm, and the soul, completely instructed in such great truths, has no
need of another master. True wisdom, without any effort on its own part, has overcome its
stupidity and for a certain space of time it enjoys the complete certainty that this
favour comes from God. However often it may be told that this is not so it cannot be
induced to fear that it may have been mistaken. Later, when the confessor insinuates this
fear, God allows the soul to begin to hesitate as to whether He could possibly grant this
favour to such a sinner. But that is all; for, as I have said in these other cases, in
speaking of temptations in matters of faith, the devil can disturb the soul, but he cannot
shake the firmness of its belief. On the contrary, the more fiercely he attacks it, the
more certain it becomes that he could never endow it with so many blessings -- which is
actually true, for over the interior of the soul he wields less power. He may be able to
reveal something to it, but not with the same truth and majesty, nor can he produce the
same results.
11 As confessors cannot see all this for
themselves, and a soul to whom God has granted such a favour may be unable to describe it,
they have misgivings about it, and quite justifiably. So they have to proceed cautiously,
and even to wait for some time to see what results these apparitions produce, and to
observe gradually how much humility they leave in the soul and to what extent it is
strengthened in virtue; if they come from the devil there will soon be signs of the fact,
for he will be caught out in a thousand lies. If the confessor is experienced, and has
himself been granted such visions, it will not be long before he is able to form a
judgment, for the account which the soul gives will at once show him whether they proceed
from God or from the imagination or from the devil, especially if His Majesty has granted
him the gift of discerning spirits. If he has this and is a learned man, he will be able
to form an opinion perfectly well, even though he may be without experience.
12 The really essential thing, sisters, is that
you should speak to your confessor very plainly and candidly -- I do not mean here in
confessing your sins, for of course you will do so then, but in describing your
experiences in prayer. For unless you do this, I cannot assure you that you are proceeding
as you should or that it is God Who is teaching you. God is very anxious for us to speak
candidly and clearly to those who are in His place, and to desire them to be acquainted
with all our thoughts, and still more with our actions, however trivial these may be. If
you do this, you need not be disturbed, or worried, for, even if these things be not of
God, they will do you no harm if you are humble and have a good conscience. His Majesty is
able to bring good out of evil and you will gain by following the road by which the devil
hoped to bring you to destruction. For, as you will suppose that it is God Who is granting
you these great favours, you will strive to please Him better and keep His image ever in
your mind. A very learned man used to say that the devil is a skilful painter, and that,
if he were to show him an absolutely lifelike image of the Lord, it would not worry him,
because it would quicken his devotion, and so he would be using the devil's own wicked
weapons to make war on him. However evil the painter be, one cannot fail to reverence the
picture that he paints, if it is of Him Who is our only Good.
13 This learned man thought that the counsel,
given by some people, to treat any vision of this kind with scorn,[203] was very wrong: we must reverence a painting of our
King, he said, wherever we see it. I think he is right; even on a worldly plane we should
feel that. If a person who had a great friend knew that insulting things were being said
about his portrait he would not be pleased. How much more incumbent upon us is it, then,
always to be respectful when we see a crucifix or any kind of portrait of our Emperor!
14 Although I have written this elsewhere, I
have been glad to set it down here, for I knew someone who was in great distress because
she had been ordered to adopt this derisive remedy. I do not know who can have invented
such advice, for, if it came from her confessor, it would have been a torture to her: she
would be bound to obey him, and would have thought herself a lost soul unless she had done
so. My own advice is that, if you are given such counsel, you should not accept it and
should with all humility put forward this argument that I have given you. I was extremely
struck by the good reasons against the practice alleged by the person who advised me in
this case.
15 The soul derives great profit from this
favour bestowed by the Lord, for thinking upon Him or upon His life and Passion recalls
His most meek and lovely face, which is the greatest comfort, just as in the earthly
sphere we get much more comfort from seeing a person who is a great help to us than if we
had never known him. I assure you that such a delectable remembrance gives the greatest
help and comfort. It also brings many other blessings with it, but as so much has been
said about the effects caused by these things, and there is more still to come, I will not
fatigue myself or you by adding more just now. I will only warn you that, when you learn
or hear that God is granting souls these graces, you must never beseech or desire Him to
lead you along this road. Even if you think it a very good one, and to be greatly prized
and reverenced, there are certain reasons why such a course is not wise.
16 The first reason is that it shows a lack of
humility to ask to be given what you have never deserved, so I think anyone who asks for
this cannot be very humble. A peasant of lowly birth would never dream of wishing to be a
king; such a thing seems to him impossible because he does not merit it. Anyone who is
humble feels just the same about these other things. I think they will never be bestowed
on a person devoid of humility, because before the Lord grants a soul these favours He
always gives it a high degree of self-knowledge. And how could one who has such ambitions
realize that He is doing him a great favour in not casting him into hell?
17 The second reason is that such a person is
quite certain to be deceived, or to be in great peril, because the devil has only to see a
door left slightly ajar to enter and play a thousand tricks on us.
18 The third reason is to be found in the
imagination. When a person has a great desire for something, he persuades himself that he
is seeing or hearing what he desires, just as those who go about desiring something all
day think so much about it that after a time they begin to dream of it.
19 The fourth reason is that it is very
presumptuous in me to wish to choose my path, because I cannot tell which path is best for
me. I must leave it to the Lord, Who knows me, to lead me by the path which is best for
me, so that in all things His will may be done.
20 In the fifth place, do you suppose that the
trials suffered by those to whom the Lord grants these favours are light ones? No, they
are very heavy, and of many kinds. How do you know if you would be able to bear them?
21 In the sixth place, you may well find that
the very thing from which you had expected gain will bring you loss, just as Saul only
lost by becoming a king.
22 And besides these reasons, sisters, there
are others. Believe me, the safest thing is to will only what God wills, for He knows us
better than we know ourselves, and He loves us. Let us place ourselves in His hands so
that His will may be done in us; if we cling firmly to this maxim and our wills are
resolute we cannot possibly go astray. And you must note that you will merit no more glory
for having received many of these favours; on the contrary, the fact that you are
receiving more imposes on you greater obligations to serve. The Lord does not deprive us
of anything which adds to our merit, for this remains in our own power. There are many
saintly people who have never known what it is to receive a favour of this kind, and there
are others who receive a favour of this kind, and there are others who received such
favours, although they are not saintly. Do not suppose, again, that they occur
continually. Each occasion on which the Lord grants them brings with it a great many
trials; and thus the soul does not think about receiving more, but only about how to put
those it receives to a good use.
23 It is true that to have these favours must
be the greatest help towards attaining a high degree of perfection in the virtues; but
anyone who has attained the virtues at the cost of his own toil has earned much more
merit. I know of a person to whom the Lord had granted some of these favours -- of two
indeed; one was a man. Both were desirous of serving His Majesty, at their own cost, and
without being given any of these great consolations; and they were so anxious to suffer
that they complained to Our Lord because He bestowed favours on them, which, had it been
possible, they would have excused themselves from receiving. I am speaking here, not of
these visions, which bring us great gain, and are very much to be prized, but of
consolations which the Lord gives in contemplation.
24 It is true that, in my opinion, these
desires are supernatural, and come from souls fired with love, who would like the Lord to
see that they are not serving Him for pay; for which reason, as I have said, they never
spur themselves to greater efforts in God's service by thinking of the glory which they
will receive for anything they do; rather do they serve Him for the satisfaction of their
love, for the nature of love invariably finds expression in work of a thousand kinds. If
it were able, the soul would invent methods by which to be come consumed in Him, and if,
for the greater honour of God, it were necessary that it should remain annihilated for
ever, it would agree to this very willingly. May He be for ever praised Who is pleased to
show forth His greatness by stooping to commune with such miserable creatures. Amen.
Speaks of other favours which God grants
to the soul in a different way from those already mentioned, and of the great profit that
they bring.
THERE are many ways in which the Lord
communicates Himself to the soul by means of these apparitions. Some of them come when the
soul is afflicted; others, when it is about to be visited by some heavy trial; others, so
that His Majesty may take His delight in it and at the same time may comfort it. There is
no need to particularize about each of these; my intention is only to explain in turn the
different experiences which occur on this road, as far as I understand them, so that you,
sisters, may understand their nature and the effects which they cause. And I am doing this
so that you may not suppose everything you imagine to be a vision, and so that, when you
do see a vision, you will know that such a thing is possible and will not be disturbed or
distressed. For, when you are, it is a great gain for the devil; he is delighted to see a
soul distressed and uneasy, because he knows that this will hinder it from employing
itself in loving and praising God. His Majesty also communicates Himself in other ways,
which are much more sublime, and are also less dangerous, because, I think, the devil
cannot counterfeit them. But, being very secret things, they are difficult to describe,
whereas imaginary visions can be explained more readily.
2 When the Lord so wills, it may happen that
the soul will be at prayer, and in possession of all its senses, and that then there will
suddenly come to it a suspension in which the Lord communicates most secret things to it,
which it seems to see within God Himself. These are not visions of the most sacred
Humanity; although I say that the soul "sees" Him, it really sees nothing, for
this is not an imaginary, but a notably intellectual, vision, in which is revealed to the
soul how all things are seen in God, and how within Himself He contains them all. Such a
vision is highly profitable because, although it passes in a moment, it remains engraven
upon the soul. It causes us the greatest confusion, by showing us clearly how wrongly we
are acting when we offend God, since it is within God Himself -- because we dwell within
Him, I mean -- that we are committing these great sins. I want, if I can, to draw a
comparison to explain this, for, although it is a fact and we hear it stated frequently,
we either pay no heed to it or refuse to understand it; if we really understood it, I do
not think we could possibly be so presumptuous.
3 Let us imagine that God is like a very large
and beautiful mansion or palace. This palace, then, as I say, is God Himself. Now can the
sinner go away from it in order to commit his misdeeds? Certainly not, these abominations
and dishonourable actions and evil deeds which we sinners commit are done within the
palace itself -- that is, within God. Oh, fearful thought, worthy of deep consideration
and very profitable for us who are ignorant and unable to understand these truths -- for
if we could understand them we could not possibly be guilty of such foolish presumption!
Let us consider, sisters, the great mercy and long-suffering of God in not casting us
straight into the depths, and let us render Him the heartiest thanks and be ashamed of
worrying over anything that is done or said against us. It is the most dreadful thing in
the world that God our Creator should suffer so many misdeeds to be committed by His
creatures within Himself, while we ourselves are sometimes worried about a single word
uttered in our absence and perhaps not even with a wrong intention.
4 Oh, human misery! How long will it be,
daughters, before we imitate this great God in any way? Oh, let us not deceive ourselves
into thinking that we are doing anything whatever by merely putting up with insults! Let
us endure everything, and be very glad to do so, and love those who do us wrong; for,
greatly as we have offended this great God, He has not ceased loving us, and so He has
very good reason for desiring us all to forgive those who have wronged us. I assure you,
daughters, that, although this vision passes quickly, it is a great favour for the Lord to
bestow it upon those to whom He grants it if they will try to profit by having it
habitually present in their minds.
5 It may also happen that, very suddenly and
in a way which cannot be described, God will reveal a truth that is in Himself and that
makes any truth to be found in the creatures seem like thick darkness; He will also
manifest very clearly that He alone is truth and cannot lie. This is a very good
explanation of David's meaning in that Psalm where he says that every man is a liar.[204] One would never take those words in that sense of
one's own accord, however many times one heard them, but they express a truth which is
infallible. I remember that story about Pilate, who asked Our Lord so many questions, and
at the time of His Passion said to Him: '"What is truth?"[205] And then I reflect how little we understand of this
Sovereign Truth here on earth.
6 I should like to be able to say more about
this matter, but it is impossible. Let us learn from this, sisters, that if we are in any
way to grow like our God and Spouse, we shall do well always to study earnestly to walk in
this truth. I do not mean simply that we must not tell falsehoods, for as far as that is
concerned -- glory be to God! -- I know that in these convents of ours you take very great
care never to lie about anything for any reason whatsoever. I mean that we must walk in
truth, in the presence of God and man, in every way possible to us. In particular we must
not desire to be reputed better than we are and in all we do we must attribute to God what
is His, and to ourselves what is ours, and try to seek after truth in everything. If we do
that, we shall make small account of this world, for it is all lying and falsehood and for
that reason cannot endure.
7 I was wondering once why Our Lord so dearly
loved this virtue of humility; and all of a sudden -- without, I believe, my having
previously thought of it -- the following reason came into my mind: that it is because God
is Sovereign Truth and to be humble is to walk in truth, for it is absolutely true to say
that we have no good thing in ourselves, but only misery and nothingness; and anyone who
fails to understand this is walking in falsehood. He who best understands it is most
pleasing to Sovereign Truth because he is walking in truth. May it please God, sisters, to
grant us grace never to fail to have this knowledge of ourselves. Amen.
8 Our Lord grants the soul favours like these
because He is pleased to treat her like a true bride, who is determined to do His will in
all things, and to give her some knowledge of the way in which she can do His will and of
His greatness. I need say no more; I have said these two things because they seem to me so
helpful; for there is no reason to be afraid of these favours, but only to praise the
Lord, because He gives them. In my opinion, there is little scope here either for the
devil or for the soul's own imagination, and when it knows this the soul experiences a
great and lasting happiness.
Treats of the desires to enjoy God which
He gives the soul and which are so great and impetuous that they endanger its life. Treats
also of the profit which comes from this favour granted by the Lord.
HAVE all these favours which the Spouse has
granted the soul been sufficient to satisfy this little dove or butterfly (do not suppose
that I have forgotten her) and to make her settle down in the place where she is to die?
Certainly not; she is in a much worse state than before; for, although she may have been
receiving these favours for many years, she is still sighing and weeping, and each of them
causes her fresh pain. The reason for this is that, the more she learns about the
greatness of her God, while finding herself so far from Him and unable to enjoy Him, the
more her desire increases. For the more is revealed to her of how much this great God and
Lord deserves to be loved, the more does her love for Him grow. And gradually, during
these years, her desire increases, so that she comes to experience great distress, as I
will now explain. I have spoken of years, because I am writing about the experiences of
the particular person about whom I have been speaking here. But it must be clearly
understood that no limitations can be set to God's acts, and that He can raise a soul to
the highest point here mentioned in a single moment. His Majesty has the power to do all
that He wishes and He is desirous of doing a great deal for us.
2 The soul, then, has these yearnings and
tears and sighs, together with the strong impulses which have already been described. They
all seem to arise from our love, and are accompanied by great emotion, but they are all as
nothing by comparison with this other, for they are like a smouldering fire, the heat of
which is quite bearable, though it causes pain. While the soul is in this condition, and
interiorly burning, it often happens that a mere fleeting thought of some kind (there is
no way of telling whence it comes, or how) or some remark which the soul hears about
death's long tarrying, deals it, as it were, a blow, or, as one might say, wounds it with
an arrow of fire. I do not mean that there actually is such an arrow, but, whatever it is,
it obviously could not have come from our own nature. Nor is it actually a blow, though I
have spoken of it as such; but it makes a deep wound, not, I think, in any region where
physical pain can be felt, but in the soul's most intimate depths. It passes as quickly as
a flash of lightning and leaves everything in our nature that is earthly reduced to
powder. During the time that it lasts we cannot think of anything that has to do with our
own existence: it instantaneously enchains the faculties in such a way that they have no
freedom to do anything, except what will increase this pain.
3 I should not like this to sound exaggerated:
in reality I am beginning to see, as I go on, that all I say falls short of the truth,
which is indescribable. It is an enrapturing of the senses and faculties, except, as I
have said, in ways which enhance this feeling of distress. The understanding is keenly on
the alert to discover why this soul feels absent from God, and His Majesty now aids it
with so lively a knowledge of Himself that it causes the distress to grow until the
sufferer cries out aloud. However patient a sufferer she may be, and however accustomed to
enduring great pain, she cannot help doing this, because this pain, as I have said, is not
in the body, but deep within the soul. It was in this way that the person I have mentioned
discovered how much more sensitive the soul is than the body, and it was revealed to her
that this suffering resembles that of souls in purgatory; despite their being no longer in
the body they suffer much more than do those who are still in the body and on earth.
4 I once saw a person in this state who I
really believed was dying; and this was not at all surprising, because it does in fact
involve great peril of death. Although it lasts only for a short time, it leaves the limbs
quite disjointed, and, for as long as it continues, the pulse is as feeble as though the
soul were about to render itself up to God. It really is quite as bad as this. For, while
the natural heat of the body fails, the soul burns so fiercely within that, if the flame
were only a little stronger, God would have fulfilled its desires. It is not that it feels
any bodily pain whatsoever, notwithstanding such a dislocation of the limbs that for two
or three days afterwards it is in great pain and has not the strength even to write; in
fact the body seems to me never to be as strong as it was previously. The reason it feels
no pain must be that it is suffering so keenly within that it takes no notice of the body.
It is as when we have a very acute pain in one spot; we may have many other pains but we
feel them less; this I have conclusively proved. In the present case, the soul feels
nothing at all, and I do not believe it would feel anything if it were cut into little
pieces.
5 You will tell me that this is imperfection
and ask why such a person does not resign herself to the will of God, since she has
surrendered herself to Him so completely. Down to this time she had been able to do so,
and indeed had spent her life doing so; but now she no longer can because her reason is in
such a state that she is not her own mistress, and can think of nothing but the cause of
her suffering. Since she is absent from her Good, why should she wish to live? She is
conscious of a strange solitude, since there is not a creature on the whole earth who can
be a companion to her -- in fact, I do not believe she would find any in Heaven, save Him
Whom she loves: on the contrary, all earthly companionship is torment to her. She thinks
of herself as of a person suspended aloft, unable either to come down and rest anywhere on
earth or to ascend into Heaven. She is parched with thirst, yet cannot reach the water;
and the thirst is not a tolerable one but of a kind that nothing can quench, nor does she
desire it to be quenched, except with that water of which Our Lord spoke to the Samaritan
woman,[206] and that is not given to her.
6 Ah, God help me! Lord, how Thou dost afflict
Thy lovers! Yet all this is very little by comparison with what Thou bestowest upon them
later. It is well that great things should cost a great deal, especially if the soul can
be purified by suffering and enabled to enter the seventh Mansion, just as those who are
to enter Heaven are cleansed in purgatory. If this is possible, its suffering is no more
than a drop of water in the sea. So true is this that, despite all its torment and
distress, which cannot, I believe, be surpassed by any such things on earth (many of which
this person had endured, both bodily and spiritual, and they all seemed to her nothing by
comparison), the soul feels this affliction to be so precious that it fully realizes it
could never deserve it. But the anguish is of such a kind that nothing can relieve it;
none the less the soul suffers it very gladly, and, if God so willed, would suffer it all
its life long, although this would be not to die once, but to be always dying, for it is
really quite as bad as that.
7 And now, sisters, let us consider the
condition of those who are in hell. They are not resigned, as this soul is, nor have they
this contentment and delight which God gives it. They cannot see that their suffering is
doing them any good, yet they keep suffering more and more -- I mean more and more in
respect of accidental pains[207] -- for the torment
suffered by the soul is much more acute than that suffered by the body and the pains which
such souls have to endure are beyond comparison greater than what we have here been
describing. These unhappy souls know that they will have to suffer in this way for ever
and ever: what, then, will become of them? And what is there that we can do -- or even
suffer -- in so short a life as this which will matter in the slightest if it will free us
from these terrible and eternal torments? I assure you it is impossible to explain to
anyone who has not experienced it what a grievous thing is the soul's suffering and how
different it is from the suffering of the body. The Lord will have us understand this so
that we may be more conscious of how much we owe Him for bringing us to a state in which
by His mercy we may hope that He will set us free and forgive us our sins.
8 Let us now return to what we were discussing
when we left this soul in such affliction. It remains in this state only for a short time
(three or four hours at most, I should say); for, if the pain lasted long, it would be
impossible, save by a miracle, for natural weakness to suffer it. On one occasion it
lasted only for a quarter of an hour and yet produced complete prostration. On that
occasion, as a matter of fact, the sufferer entirely lost consciousness. The violent
attack came on through her hearing some words about 'life not ending".[208] She was engaged in conversation at the time -- it
was the last day of Eastertide, and all that Easter she had been affected with such
aridity that she hardly knew it was Easter at all. So just imagine anyone thinking that
these attacks can be resisted! It is no more possible to resist them than for a person
thrown into a fire to make the flames lose their heat and not burn her. She cannot hide
her anguish, so all who are present realize the great peril in which she lies, even though
they cannot witness what is going on within her. It is true that they can bear her
company, but they only seem to her like shadows -- as all other earthly things do too.
9 And now I want you to see that, if at any
time you should find yourselves in this condition, it is possible for your human nature,
weak as it is, to be of help to you. So let me tell you this. It sometimes happens that,
when a person is in this state that you have been considering, and has such yearnings to
die,[209] because the pain is more than she can bear,
that her soul seems to be on the very point of leaving the body, she is really afraid and
would like her distress to be alleviated lest she should in fact die. It is quite evident
that this fear comes from natural weakness, and yet, on the other hand, the desire does
not leave her, nor can she possibly find any means of dispelling the distress until the
Lord Himself dispels it for her. This He does, as a general rule, by granting her a deep
rapture or some kind of vision, in which the true Comforter comforts and strengthens her
so that she can wish to live for as long as He wills.
10 This is a distressing thing, but it produces
the most wonderful effects and the soul at once loses its fear of any trials which may
befall it; for by comparison with the feelings of deep anguish which its spirit has
experienced these seem nothing. Having gained so much, the soul would be glad to suffer
them all again and again; but it has no means of doing so nor is there any method by which
it can reach that state again until the Lord wills, just as there is no way of resisting
or escaping it when it comes. The soul has far more contempt for the world than it had
previously, for it sees that no worldly thing was of any avail to it in its torment; and
it is very much more detached from the creatures, because it sees that it can be comforted
and satisfied only by the Creator, and it has the greatest fear and anxiety not to offend
Him, because it sees that He can torment as well as comfort.
11 There are two deadly perils, it seems to me,
on this spiritual road. This is one of them -- and it is indeed a peril and no light one.
The other is the peril of excessive rejoicing and delight, which can be carried to such an
extreme that it really seems as if the soul is swooning, and as if the very slightest
thing would be enough to drive it out of the body: this would really bring it no little
happiness.
12 Now, sisters, you will see if I was not
right in saying that courage is necessary for us here and that if you ask the Lord for
these things He will be justified in answering you as He answered the sons of Zebedee:
"Can you drink the chalice?"[210] I believe,
sisters, that we should all reply: "We can"; and we should be quite right to do
so, for His Majesty gives the strength to those who, He sees, have need of it, and He
defends these souls in every way and stands up for them if they are persecuted and spoken
ill of, as He did for the Magdalen[211] -- by His
actions if not in words. And in the end -- ah, in the end, before they die, He repays them
for everything at once, as you are now going to see. May He be for ever blessed and may
all creatures praise Him. Amen.
