Chapter XII. Of certain counsels which should be observed in this holy exercise

All that has been said so far, serves to give matter for consideration. And this is a necessary part of the subject, since the majority of persons have not sufficient matter to meditate upon, for want of which many fail in this exercise. We will now speak briefly of the manner and form which is to be followed. Although the chief Teacher of this subject must be the Holy Spirit, yet, nevertheless, experience has shewn us that certain Counsels in this behalf are necessary, for the road by which we go to God is difficult and needs a guide, without which many have lost much time and have gone astray.

First Counsel

Let this, then, be the first Counsel, that -when we have set ourselves to the consideration of any one of the above-mentioned subjects, at the time and in the exercise determined upon, we are not to be so bound down to it as to think it wrong to pass on from it to some other subject in which we may find more devotion, more delight, or more advantage. For as that is devotion which will best serve for the end in view, such freedom may be held to be the best.

Nevertheless we should not avail ourselves of this liberty for any light cause, but only for some manifest advantage. So, too, if in some passage of our Prayer or Meditation we should feel more pleasure or devotion than in another, we may rest in it for as long as this effect should last, even though the whole time of retirement should pass away in it. For as the end of all this is devotion, as we have said, it — would be an error to seek in some other direction with doubtful hope what we have already secured in our hearts.

Second Counsel

Let the second be, that we should strive to avoid in this exercise any excessive intellectual speculation, and should endeavour to treat the matter more with the affections and feelings of the will than with the discursive speculating of understanding. For, without any doubt, those who set themselves down in Prayer to meditate upon the Divine Mysteries, as though they were preparing themselves for preaching, do not here hit upon the right way. For thismode of treating the subject is rather to dissipate, than to gather up, the mind, and to wander away from the subject rather than to penetrate within it.

impressed by our devotion, and as light and frivolous as we were before. For in .

very deed, when this takes place, it is because we have not been really praying. We have been saying words, or we have been musing, which is a matter very different from Prayer. We should remember that in this exercise we come rather to listen to God speaking to us, than to speak to Him.

Indeed, to make good progress in such ‘an exercise as this, we should come to it in a simple humble spirit, and with a-will disposed and prepared, and should feel and take a deepened interest in heavenly things, rather than come with understanding sharpened and quickened for speculations. This might be the natural state of mind in one simply in pursuit of knowledge, but not in one who came to pray and think upon God with contrite heart.

Third Counsel

The preceding Counsel teaches us how, throughout this exercise, we must quiet the understanding and make it submissive to the will. And the present Counsel would further prescribe some rules and limitations to the will itself, that it may not be too intense or violent in its exercise. For this we should know that the devotion we are seeking to attain to is not something to be attained by force of arms, as some would seem to think, who with unmeasured eagerness, and over-wrought sadness, and as it were mechanically, endeavour to bring forth tears and compassion when they think upon the Saviour's sufferings. For this is wont to dry up the heart, and make it less fit for the visitation of our Lord (as Casiano teaches us.)! And, besides this, those things often do harm to bodily health, and sometimes leave the mind so repelled by the distaste which it has conceived for them, that it fears another time: to return to the exercise, from which it had experienced so much pain.

One should, therefore, be content to do as well as possible with what is granted to us; that is, being present in spirit with the sufferings of our Lord, looking upon them with simple, subdued gaze, with heart tender, compassionate, and disposed for whatsoever feeling the Lord shall be pleased to give us ; more desirous to entertain the sentiments which in His mercy He may bestow upon us, than to express them by force of arms.

en we have done this, we need not be troubled in respect of any other feelings which He may at any time see fit to withhold from us. i

Fourth Counsel

From all that has been said above, we may gather what should be the kind of attention we ought to have in Prayer, for here especially our hearts should be neither dejected nor faint, but rather alert, attentive, and uplifted.

But as it is necessary to come to this exercise with attention and recollectedness, so at the same time we should take care that this attention should be tempered with discretion, that it may not be hurtful to our bodily health, nor really hindering to our devotion. For while some fatigue their brains by the exaggerated violence which they use to make themselves -attentive to what they are meditating upon, there are others who, to avoid this evil, become very lax and wanting in earnestness, and easily carried away by every wind that blows.

To avoid these extremes, we should take such middle course that we may neither fatigue the mind with over-much attention, nor through indolence or weakness allow the thoughts to go wandering whithersoever they will.

Just as we should counsel one riding a restive horse, to hold the rein firmly ; that is, not too tightly, nor too loosely, lest the animal should either jib backwards or bolt dangerously on; so we should endeavour to secure that our attention may be maintained in calm moderation, unforced : with care, but without any fatiguing excess.

It is especially necessary in the beginning of Meditation to take care that we do not overtax our powers with too great demands upon them, for when this is done, our strength is wont to fail later on; as it happens to the traveller when he has been putting on too much speed in the beginning of his journey.

Fırru Covunse.

Fifth Counsel

But in all these Counsels, the principal one should be that he who is praying should not be discouraged, nor cease from prayer, because, on some occasion he does not feel that sweetness of devotion which he looked for.

It is necessary that we should with long patience and perseverance wait for our Lord’s coming. For when we think of the glory of His Majesty, and of the meanness of our condition, and of the goodness of the matter in hand, we shall feel it to be fitting that we should often be in a state of expectation, and be keeping watch at the gates of the Sacred Palace. Then when we have so watched for Him awhile, if the Lord should come, let us render thanks for His coming; or if it should seem that He does not come, we should humble ourselves before Him, acknowledging that we do not deserve that which has been withheld from us, and should be satisfied with having thus made submission of ourselves, and renounced our own will, crucified our affection, striven against our enemy and ourselves, and having at least done what we could. And if we have not adored the Lord with that sensible adoration which we were desiring, be it~enough that we have worshipped Him “in spirit and in truth,” as He desires to be worshipped.

And believe me, indeed, that this is a passage in our journey full of peril, and a position in which the truly devout may prove themselves, and if they come out well from this, all that follows will go favourably.

Lastly, if it should, nevertheless, seem to you to be like wasted time thus to persevere in Prayer and weary oneself without any good result, in such case it might be well, after having done all in your power, to take some other book of devotion, and change for the time Prayer into study ; only with care that the reading should not be hasty or scanty, but with much calmness and feeling as to what you are about to read, mingling often in passages Prayer with the study.

This is attended with much advantage, and is quite easy of accomplishment, to persons of all kinds, even to.the simplest ginners in devotion.

Sixth Counsel

Not very different teaching from the former, nor less necessary to observe, is this, viz., that the servant of God must not be content with having experienced some little satisfaction in Prayer, as some are, who think that when they have shed some few tears, and have felt some tenderness of heart, they have fulfilled the purpose of this exercise. This is not sufficient for what we are aiming at in this matter. For just as a little sprinkling of water, which does no more than lay the dust, and damp the surface of the ground, does not suffice to make the earth fruitful: and as water in abundance is required to get to the roots, so here, too, we need an abundance of the dew of Heaven, and of the outpouring of the Blessed Spirit, that we may bring forth the fruit of good works. For this reason we are strongly advised to take as much time as we can for this holy exercise. And it would be better to take’ for our exercise one good space of time, than several short spaces: because if the space taken is only a short one, it may be all taken up in calming our imagination, and quieting our hearts, and then, when all is quiet, we may be rising up. from our devotion just when we should have been beginning it.

And to come down to particulars, in arranging the time for this devotion it seems to me that anything less than an hour and a half, or two hours, is a short time for it. For very often it takes more than half-an-hour to tune the viol, and calm the imagination, as I have said, and all the rest of the time is needed for the enjoyment of the fruit of the Meditation. And in truth, when we come to this devotion after other holy exercises, as after Mattins, or after having heard or having said Mass, or after some devout reading, or vocal Prayer, we are so much the better disposed for it, and as dry wood in the fire, we are the more quickly enkindled by the heavenly flame. Possibly the time for this exercise may be shorter in the morning hours, because of all time this is the time when we are most prepared for it. But he who, because of his many occupations, has the least time to spare for this, should not fail to offer his mite with the poor Widow in the Temple. For, unless it were by his own fault he was so pressed for time, He Who provides for all His creatures according to their necessities, and their natural condition, will provide also for this one in respect of his.

Seventh Counsel

In accordance with this teaching, another like it is given, that, whensoever the soul shall be visited, in Prayer, or out of it, with any special visitation of the Lord, he must not allow it to pass in vain, but must seek to profit by the occasion then presenting itself. For it is certain, that with this wind a man will sail further in one hour than in many days without it. So it is said of S. Francis, of whom S. Bonaventura writes, that he took such special care in this matter, that if, in his journeying, our Lord visited him with any especial visitation he would make his companions go forward; while he himself stayed behind, until he fee finshed ruminating and digesting the food which was coming to him from heaven.

Those who do not do this are likely most often to be chastised with this punishment, that they do not find God when they seek Him, since when He sought them He did not find them.

Eighth Counsel

Let the last and chiefest Counsel be that in this holy exercise we should endeavour to unite Meditation with Contemplation, making of the one a ladder for attaining to the other. For this we must know that the very office of Meditation is to consider Divine things with studiousness and attention, passing from one to another, to move our hearts to some affection and deep feeling for them, which is as though one should strike a flint to draw forth from it the spark.

For Contemplation is to have drawn forth this spark: I mean, to have now found this affection and feeling which were sought for, and to be in peace and silence enjoying them; not with many discursive and intellectual speculations, but with simple gaze upon the truth.

Wherefore, saith a holy teacher, Meditation goes its way and brings forth fruit, with labour, but Contemplation bears fruit without labour. The one seeketh, the other findeth, the one consumeth the food, the other enjoys it; the one discourseth, and maketh reflections, the other is con- : tented with a simple gaze upon the things, for it hath in possession their love and joy. Lastly, the one is as the means, the other as the end: the one as the road and journeying along it, the other as the end of the road and of the journeying.

From this is to be inferred a very common thing, which all masters of the spiritual life teach, although it is little understood of those who learn it; which is this, that, as the means cease when the end has been attained, as the voyaging is over when the port fag been touched, so when, through the working out of our Meditation, we have come to the repose and sweet savour of Contemplation, we ought then to cease from that pious and laborious searching; and being satisfied with the simple gaze upon, and thought of, God—as though we had Him there present before us—we should rest in the enjoyment of that affection then given, whether it be of love, or of admiration, or joy, or other like sentiment.

The reason why this Counsel is given is this, that as the aim of this devotion is love and the affections of the will rather than the speculations of the understanding, when the will has been caught and taken by this affection, we should put away all those discursive and intellectual speculations, so far as we can, in order that our soul with all its forces may be fastened upon this affection without being diverted by the action of other influences. A learned teacher, therefore, counsels us that as soon as one should feel himself fired by the love of God, he should forthwith put aside all these considerations and thoughts— however exalted they may seem—not because they are really not good in them- selves, but because they are then hindrances to what is better, and more important. For this is nothing else than that, having come to the end and purpose of our work, we should stay therein, and leave Meditation for the love of Contemplation. This may especially be done at the end of any exercise, that is, after the petition for the Divine love of which we have spoken, for one reason, because then it is supposed that the labour of the exercise we have just gone through has produced some Divine devotion and feeling, since, saith the wise man, “ better is the end of prayer than the beginning: ” and for another reason, that, after the work of Prayer and Meditation, it is well that one should give his mind a little rest, and allow it to repose in the arms of Contemplation. At this point, then, we should put away all other thoughts that may present themselves, and, quieting the mind and stilling the memory, fix all upon our Lord ; and remembering that we are then in His Presence, no longer dwell upon the details of Divine things. Cf. Eccles, vii. 8.

We should content ourselves with the knowledge which we have from Him by faith, and give to it our will and love, for this only is to embrace Him, and in this is the fruit of our whole Meditation. The understanding can apprehend little indeed of God, but the will can love Him much. Let us, then, retire within ourselves to the centre of our soul, where is now the Image of God, and there be intent upon Him ; as one would listen to what He should say from some lofty tower, or as though we held Him within our hearts, and as if, in all the world, there were nothing save one’s own soul and God Himself. And even of ourselves and of what we do we have to be forgetful for, as said one of the fathers of old, “ That is the perfect prayer, when the one who is praying does not remember that he is praying.’ And not only at the end of the exercise, but in the midst of it, and at whatsoever other part of it, this spiritual swoon should come upon us, when the intellect is laid to sleep, we should make this pause and enjoy the blessing bestowed ;

and then, when we have finished the digestion of it, turn to the matter we have in hand, as the gardener does, when he waters his garden-bed ; who, after giving 1 it a sufficiency of water, holds back the stream, and lets it soak and spread itself through the depths of the earth ; and then when this has somewhat dried up, he turns down upon it again the flow of water that — it may receive still more, and be well irrigated.

But what the soul then feels, the light and satisfaction and charity it then enjoys, the peace it then receives, no words can tell, for this is the peace which passeth understanding, and the happiness which exceedeth all that this life can attain to. Some have been so taken captive by the love of God, that when they have hardly begun to think of it, the memory of this dear Name consumes them wholly. These have as little need of discourses and considerations to make them love Him, as the mother or the bride to delight themselves with the memory of son or husband, when any speak of them. And others there are who not only in the exercise of Prayer, but at other times, are so absorbed and saturated with the thoughts of God, as to forget all things, and their own selves for the sake of Him. For if the maddening fear of one who is lost could cause this oblivion, how much more should the love of that Infinite Beauty effect this, since grace could not be less powerful than nature and sin !

Whensoever, then, the soul should feel this, in whatsoever part of the Meditation it should be, we should on no account put the feeling aside; even if the whole time of the exercise should be spent upon it, without our bringing in and meditating upon the other subjects determined upon, unless these should be of obligation. For, as S. Augustine says, ‘ We are to cease vocal Prayer, when at any time it should be a hindrance to devotion; and so, too, we should stay Meditation, when it would be a hindrance to Contemplation.”

Hence, too, it is much to be observed, that as it may behove us to cease Meditation at the call of spiritual affection, that we may rise up from the less to the greater; so, on the other hand, it may at times be right to leave affection for Meditation, as when through persevering in it, the excess of feeling might be dangerous to health. This is often the case with those who give themselves to these exercises, without advice, and being carried away by the force of Divine sweetness use them indiscreetly. In such a case as this, says a teacher, a good remedy is to stir up some responsive feeling by meditating for a while on the Passion of Christ, or on the sins and miseries of the world, in order to relieve the heart and set it at rest.

THE SECOND PART OF THIS TREATISE WHICH SPEAKS OF DEVOTION.

125 THE SECOND PART OF THIS TREATISE WHICH SPEAKS OF DEVOTION.