Sermon LXII. On the Two Kinds of Contemplation Corresponding to the Hollows of the Wall and the Clefts of the Rock

"My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall shew me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears; for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely."

"My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall." It is not only in the clefts of the Rock, my brethren, that the dove finds a secure refuge. She has also a safe asylum in the hollow places of the wall. Now if we take this wall to mean, not a structure of material stones, but rather the communion of saints, let us consider lest perchance by the hollow places of the wall are designated the places in that blessed society which the angels who fell through their pride left empty, so to speak, and which, like the fissures of a ruin, have now to be built up and repaired with the living stones of human spirits. It is in this sense the Apostle Peter exhorts us, saying, "Unto Whom coming, as to a Living Stone, be you also built up, a spiritual house." Nor do I think we should be far wrong if we conceived the guardianship of the angels to be the enclosing wall, as it were, of the Lord's vineyard, which is the Church of the predestinate. For St. Paul says, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who shall receive the in- j heritance of salvation?" And the Psalmist witnesses to the same in the words, "The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear Him." Assuming this to be so, our text may be explained as follows. There are two things which console the Church in the time and the place of her banishment, namely, the recollection of Christ's sufferings in the past, and, as regards the future, the thought and the confidence that she shall be received one day into the society of the holy angels. With her memory and her hope, as with two eyes, one behind and one before,¹ she lovingly and insatiably contemplates both these objects, namely, the Lord's Passion and her own future bliss. Each of the two visions is a source of consolation to her, because in each she finds a refuge from what the Psalmist calls "the trouble of evils and sorrow." It is her perfect consolation that she knows not merely what she ought to hope for, but the ground and reason of her hope as well. Joyous and assured must be the hope which has been confirmed by the death of Christ. Why should the magnitude of the reward make her diffident, when she calls to mind the worth of the ransom? How gladly does she visit in spirit those "clefts of the Rock," those Wounds of the Saviour through which flowed the thrice-holy Blood of her redemption! How gladly does she explore the "hollow places," the inns and the mansions, many and various, which are in the Father's house, and in which He is pleased to place His children according to the variety of their merits! At present, indeed, nothing better being as yet in her power, she reposes there only in thought, and mentally visits the heavenly habitations above. But the day will come when she shall "fill up the ruins"; when she shall dwell in the hollow places of the wall in body as well as in mind; when with the multitude of her children she shall occupy and adorn the tabernacles left untenanted by the fall of their original possessors. Then hollow places shall no more be seen in the celestial wall, but it shall rejoice everlastingly in the bliss of its consummation and in the restoration of its integrity.

But perhaps you will be better pleased if I say that these hollow places are not so much found by devout and studious minds as effected and formed. Do you ask, by what means? "By thought and desire." For the spiritual wall, like a structure of soft material, readily yields to the desires of the soul, readily yields to pure contemplation, readily yields to frequent prayer. We read in Holy Scripture that "the prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds." It is not meant surely that humble prayer can cleave this corporeal atmosphere, diffused around in its wide expanses, as does the flying bird with the oars of its wings. Nor are we to suppose that prayer, like a sharp sword, cuts its way, in a material sense, through the high and solid dome of the visible heaven above us.² But there are the heavens of blessed spirits, my brethren, the living, rational heavens, which "show forth the glory of God." These, on account of the fostering love which they feel for us, gladly incline to our prayers; and whenever with a pure intention we knock at them, their affection yields to the force of our devotion, and through the hollow thus made we obtain admission to their interior. For "to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Therefore it is in the power of each one of us, even during the present time of our mortality, to form for himself such hollows in the heavenly wall, and in whatever part of it he may choose. For whenever we please we can visit the patriarchs, or salute the prophets, or associate ourselves to the august council of the apostles, or mingle with the choirs of the martyrs; nay, we may even pass through and examine, with all pious curiosity, the various orders and mansions of the pure celestial spirits, from the lowest of the angels to the Cherubim and the Seraphim, according as each one's devotion shall incline him. And if we stand and knock there whither our attraction draws us, the Holy Ghost, guiding us by His grace as He wills, a hollow shall at once appear in the living wall of happy spirits, who will affectionately curve themselves to enfold us, so that we may enjoy a little repose amongst them. Well pleasing to God are the face and the voice of every soul that thus hollows the heavenly wall. Her face is pleasing because of its beauty, her voice on account of its praise. For, as the Psalmist says, "Praise and beauty are before Him." Hence every soul that is such hears herself addressed in the words, "Shew Me thy face, let thy voice sound in My Ears." Now the voice of the soul is the holy admiration she feels in contemplating the things of God and also her thanksgiving for the divine benefits. And God takes great pleasure in those hollows of the wall whence proceeds the voice of thanksgiving, the voice of admiration and praise.

Blessed is the man that devotes and applies himself fervently and frequently to the work of hollowing this mystical wall. But still more blessed he who makes for himself hollows in the Rock. For we are permitted, if we have the power, to excavate even the Rock. Yet for this the soul has need of a purer keenness of edge, of a more strongly-directed intention, and of greater merits of sanctity. But who can pretend to such qualifications? He, at all events, might do so who said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Same was in the beginning with God." Does it not seem to you, my brethren, as if the Evangelist had plunged into the very Heart of the Word, and brought forth from Its innermost recesses the sacrosanct essence of Wisdom Divine? And shall we not say the same of him who used to "speak wisdom among the perfect, the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which none of the princes of this world knew"? Did not that pious explorer, after penetrating with a keen yet devout curiosity, the first and second heaven, bring down to earth from the third this mystery of wisdom? Neither did he keep it to himself, for he has faithfully delivered it to us in the most faithful words he could find. But he also "heard secret words which it is not granted to man to utter. *' That is, it was not granted to him to utter these secrets to his fellow-men, but he was allowed to speak of them to himself and to God. We may therefore imagine the Lord consoling St. Paul's solicitous charity, and saying to him," Why art thou troubled because human ears cannot take in what thou hast conceived in thy mind? ' Let thy voice sound in My Ears.' Even though thou art not permitted to reveal thy secret to mortals, be not grieved thereat, since thy voice may give pleasure to the Ears of God."Do you not observe how this holy soul is now" sober "out of charity for us, and now" transported to God "because of her purity? Holy David was another soul qualified to excavate the Rock. And consider if he is not himself the man of whom, as of a different person, he speaks to God and says, ** For the thought of man shall give praise to Thee: and the remainders of the thought shall keep holiday to Thee" Therefore as much of the prophetic thought as could be expressed by the Prophet's words and example he immediately made manifest to all, in order thereby to "give praise to the Lord among the people." But the rest,"the remainders of the thought," he reserved to God and to himself, keeping holiday with the Lord, in "gladness and rejoicing." This is what the verse I have just quoted is intended to convey to us. Hence we may infer that the Prophet, by zealous preaching, used to expend for the people's salvation whatever he could of all that his curious and eager mind was able to draw from wisdom's secret fountain; whilst the incommunicable residue became for himself an additional motive for praising God with festive jubilee. Notice how nothing goes to loss in divine contemplation. For whatever cannot contribute to the edification of the people, with that especially we may render "to our God joyful and comely praise."

It follows from what I have said that there are two kinds of contemplation.³ The one considers the stability, the state, the happiness, and the glory of the heavenly Jerusalem, and in what manner of repose or activity the mighty multitude of its citizens occupy themselves. The other has for object the King Himself, His Divinity, His Majesty, His Eternity. By the former we make hollows in the wall, by the latter in the Rock. And if the excavations in the Rock are the more difficult to make, more precious in proportion are the / treasures they reveal to us. Nor need you be afraid of that penalty wherewith Holy Scriptures threaten the "searchers of Majesty,*' provided you bring a pure and simple eye to this contemplation. You shall not / be "overwhelmed by glory," but rather admitted to glory, unless indeed you seek your own glory instead of the glory of God. For it is not God's glory but his own that overwhelms a man, because whilst he is bent on the latter and pressed down by the weight of ambition, he cannot lift up his head to contemplate the former. Let us, therefore, my brethren, shake off this yoke from our necks, and then we may securely excavate the Rock, "in Whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." But if you are not yet reassured, listen to what the Rock Himself says, *' They that work in Me shall not sin." Oh, "who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest! ** For the meek and the simple shall find rest there where the deceitful shall be overwhelmed, as well as the proud and the lovers of vainglory. The Church is a dove, and is therefore at rest. She is a dove because of her innocence and because of her mourning. She is a dove, I say, because she has "with meekness received the ingrafted word," according to the advice of St. James. And she rests in the Word, that is to say, in the Rock, for the Word is the Rock. The Church, consequently, dwells in the clefts of the Rock, through which she looks into the interior and beholds the glory of her Bridegroom. Neither does that glory overwhelm her, because she does not attempt to arrogate it to herself. She is not "overwhelmed by the glory," because she is not a "searcher of Majesty," but a seeker of the divine will. As regards the Divine Majesty, she does indeed venture to look upon it occasionally, not however as a searcher but merely as an admirer. But even if she happens sometimes to be drawn up to that Majesty in a spiritual ecstasy, "this is the finger of God "mercifully exalting the creature, not the creature's temerity impudently invading the privacy of God. For when even the Apostle thinks it necessary to excuse the boldness of his intrusion, by explaining that he then suffered a rapture, what other mortal shall presume to take upon himself the fearful responsibility of searching out, by his own efforts, the secrets of the Divine Majesty, and of intruding as a rash inquirer into the most awful mysteries of the Godhead? Therefore I believe that by the "searchers of Majesty "are meant such irreverent invaders of Majesty, not they who are ravished but they who encroach. And it is of these we are told that they "shall be overwhelmed by glory."

It is therefore a very dangerous thing to search into the.Majesty of God. But to search out His will is as safe as it is pious. Why should I not persevere in scrutinising the mystery of the glory of that divine will with all diligence, since, as I know, I am bound to render it universal obedience? Sweet is this glory which comes from no other source than the contemplation of Sweetness Itself, which has no other fountain save the prospect of the riches of God's goodness and v^ the "multitude of His tender mercies." As the Evangelist says, "We saw His glory, the glory, as it were, of the Only-Begotten of the Father." For whatever of glory has been manifested in the divine will is entirely paternal, entirely condescending. This glory shall never overwhelm me, even though I contemplate it with all my powers. Rather I shall be impressed with its likeness, agreeably to what is written, "We all beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." We are so transformed, my brethren, when we are conformed. But God forbid that any man should have the presumption to expect to be conformed to the Lord in the glory of His Majesty and not rather in the meekness of His will. This shall be my glory, if ever I am deemed worthy to hear Him say of me what He said of David, "I have found a man according to My own Heart." The Heart of the Bridegroom is the Heart of His Father. And what are the dispositions of the Father's Heart? Christ I Himself has told us, where He says, "Be ye merciful as your Father also is merciful." This is the image which He desires to see when He says to the Church, "Shew Me thy face," the image, namely, of His own meekness and piety. And when her face exhibits these lineaments, she may raise it with all confidence to the Rock, to Whom she is thus proved to be conformed. "Come ye to Him," cries the Psalmist, "and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be confounded." How indeed could an humble Bride be confounded by an humble Bridegroom, a holy Bride by a loving-kind

TWO KINDS OF CONTEMPLATION 213 Bridegroom, a modest Bride by a gentle Bridegroom? No, the pure face of the Spouse can no more be repelled by the purity of the Rock than virtue can be repelled by virtue, or light by light.

But the Church cannot as yet, whilst she is still in exile, draw nigh in all her members to form fissures in the Rock; because not all who belong to the Church have the power to scrutinise the mysteries of the divine will, or to comprehend of themselves "the deep things of God." This appears to be the reason why she is here represented as dwelling not only in the clefts of the Rock, but also in the hollow places of the wall. We may suppose, then, that she abides in the clefts of the Rock in the persons of her perfect members, who, by reason of their purity of conscience, have the courage to scrutinise and penetrate the secrets of divine wisdom, and have the power to do so from the acuteness of their minds. In her other members she occupies the hollow places of the wall. For such as lack either the strength or the daring necessary for piercing the Rock, employ themselves in making hollows in the wall, and are satisfied with contemplating the glory of the saints. But should there be any amongst her children to whom even this is impossible, to them she proposes "Jesus and Him crucified"; so that now, without any effort on their own part, they may abide in the clefts of the Rock, the opening of which has cost them nothing.* The Jews have laboured in forming these fissures, and they, that they may remain faithful, enter into the labours of the unfaithful. Nor need they be apprehensive lest

• "⁴ they should meet with a repulse, since they are even invited to seek sanctuary in the clefts. "Enter thou unto the Rock," so we read in Isaias, "and hide thee in the digged earth from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of His Majesty." To the weak and sluggish soul, which can say of herself, like the unjust steward in the Gospel, "To dig I am unable and to beg I am ashamed," to such a soul the Prophet here points out ground that is already excavated. In these pits she may lie concealed until she has acquired sufficient strength and energy to be able of herself to pierce holes in the Rock, through which, by means of purity and vigour of mind, she shall gain admission to the Heart of the Word.

If by the "digged earth" we understand the Saviour's Body, whereof He said, "They have digged My Hands and My Feet," then there can be no doubt that the wounded soul that hides herself therein shall soon be restored to health. For what can be so efficacious for curing the wounds of the conscience and for purifying the eye of the soul as assiduous meditation on the Wounds of the Redeemer? But until she has been perfectly healed and cleansed, I do not see how she can understand as addressed to herself the words of the Bridegroom, "Shew Me thy face, let thy voice sound in My Ears." For how will she dare to show her face or to raise her voice, after receiving a command to hide herself? "Hide thee in the digged earth," says the Prophet. Wherefore? Because her face is not yet entirely pure and worthy of the Bridegroom's regard. And as long as she lacks the power of contemplating Him, so long shall she remain unworthy of being looked upon by Him. But when, by dwelling in the hollow places of the digged earth, she shall have made such progress in the purification of her interior eye, that she also can "with open face behold the glory of the Lord," then, at last, being now able to see, she may speak too with all confidence; for both in voice and face she has become pleasing. Pleasing beyond doubt must that face be which can bear to be turned towards the Brightness of God. For this would be intolerable to it, were it not itself pure and lustrous and transformed into the image of the same glory which it contemplates. It would be repelled by reason of the dissimilitude and would be dazzled and beaten back by the unwonted splendour. Therefore, when the Spouse is herself pure she will be able to 1/ contemplate the pure and naked truth. Then she J will desire to see the Face of her Bridegroom, and also to hear His voice.

How great pleasure He takes in the preaching of truth when it is accompanied with purity of mind, He gives us clearly to understand by the words which are added, "For thy voice is sweet." Nevertheless, He at the same time insinuates that the voice cannot please Him, unless the face also is pleasing, since He immediately subjoins, "And thy face comely." What can be the comeliness of the interior face except purity? The comeliness of purity pleases Him in many without the sweet voice of preaching. But He can take no pleasure at all in the latter unaccompanied by the former. Truth wiU not reveal itself, nor will wisdom 1 entrust itself to minds that are impure. How then shall they preach what they have not seen? For it is written, "We speak what we know and we testify what we have seen." And wilt thou be so presumptuous as to testify what thou hast not seen, and to speak what thou dost not know? Do you ask me, my brethren, whom I mean by the impure of mind? I mean every preacher who looks for the applause of men, who does not ** deliver the Gospel without charge," who preaches that he may eat, who *' supposes gain to be godliness," who seeks not fruit for his hearers but gifts for himself. Such persons have certainly impure minds. But although they cannot see the truth because of their impurity, nevertheless they have the presumption to proclaim it. Why will you be so premature? why not wait for the light? why would you attempt to do in the dark that which is a work of light? "It is vain for you to rise before the light," as the Psalmist warns us. Now light is purity, light is that charity which "seeketh not her own." Only let this light precede to illumine thy way, and the foot of thy tongue shall advance in security. The truth, which is concealed from the *' haughty eye," lies open to the simple. It is impossible that it should not allow itself to be seen by the pure of heart, and thus also proclaimed. "But to the sinner, God saith: Why dost thou declare My justices and take My covenants in thy mouth? "Many neglecting this purity undertake to preach the truth before they have seen it. The consequence is that either they fall into gross errors, talking at random and affirming what they know not; or else they forfeit all respect by giving their hearers occasion to say of them that while undertaking to teach others, they have jiot first taught themselves. From both these evils may your prayers obtain that we shall be always protected by the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen.

Footnotes

1. "Ambo haec, veluti ante et retro occulata, desiderio insatiabili contuetur." It is the same fancy we find in the poet Gray: "The herd stood drooping by: Their raptures now that widely flow No yesterday nor morrow know, 'Tis man alone that joy descries With forward and reverted eyes." — "Ode on the Pleasures of Vicissitude." ↩

2. The Saint is speaking in accordance with the astronomical theories in vogue in his day. — (Translator.) ↩

3. Modem writers on mysticism distinguish in the same way two species of supernatural contemplation, according as the object is God Himself or some creature. The first kind is called deific {indeique), the other ex-deific (exdeique). See Poulain, Graces of Interior Prayer (Eng. Trans.), p. 53. — (Translator.) II. o ↩

4. If thou knowest not how to meditate on high and heavenly things, rest in the Passion of Christ and willingly dwell in His sacred Wounds" {Imitation, II. i.). — (Translator.) ↩