Article III. The Full Perfection of Charity Presupposes the Passive Purification of the Senses and of the Spirit

We have seen that Christian perfection consists chiefly in charity. Quite evidently, the possession of this virtue, the state of grace, is not sufficient for the attainment of perfection, properly so called, which ascetical and mystical theology speaks of and which all interior souls, particularly those con secrated to God in the religious state, aspire to. “Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect/' says St. Paul, “but I follow after, if I may by any means apprehend.”¹ This perfection consists precisely in the charity of the perfect, which is superior to the charity of beginners and of souls that are making progress. In this article we are going to treat of this charity of the perfect, and we will consider it both in its essence and in its integrity, or its normal plenitude.

We are here concerned with the summit of charity in its normal development, the fundamental law of which, quite different from that of our fallen nature, is the law of grace, which regenerates us progressively, and the consummation of which is eternal life.

All spiritual writers admit three phases in this develop ment of charity: (1) That of beginners whose main effort is strife against sin. For this reason, it is called the purgative way. ² That of those who are making progress in the virtues by the light of faith and of contemplation. It is often called the illuminative way. (3) That of the perfect, who live espe cially in union with God through charity. It is called the unitive way. These three degrees constitute the infancy, ado lescence, and adult age of the spiritual life.(2)

These general terms are commonly accepted, but they have not exactly the same meaning for all theologians. Beginning in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a number of authors have admitted two unitive ways; the one ordinary and ascetical, the other called “extraordinary,” passive, and mystical, which cannot be reached without a special vocation. From this point of view, souls can generally be perfect, and even reach the lofty perfection required for beatification, without having received any mystical grace. Others maintain, according to the traditional doctrine, that there is only one unitive way, and that its full, normal development is the perfect mystical union, or the transforming union. 8 In their opin-

8 Certain authors merely say rather timidly: "To have an ensemble of the unitive life, the mystical state must be joined thereto.” Thus Father Meynard, O.P., expresses his opinion in his Traits de la vie interieure, I, 464 note, 23-38 ion, this way belongs in its essential quality to the order of sanctifying grace, or "the grace of the virtues and of the gifts,” and not to the lower order of graces gratis datae, such as the gift of prophecy or that of miracles, which sometimes accompany it. We touched on this question when we discussed the relations between ascetical and mystical theology. 4

The authors of whom we have just spoken appeal to tradition previous to the seventeenth century, and in particular to St. John of the Cross. Therefore we must closely examine his doctrine on this subject, that we may see how it should be interpreted and what its relations are with earlier tradition.

I. DOCTRINE OF ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS ON THE PERFECTION OF CHARITY

This great saint speaks of the three ways, purgative, illuminative, and unitive, in several of his works, notably in The Ascent of Mount Carmel (Bk. I, chap. 1), TVte Dark Night of the Soul (Bk. I, chaps. 1, 14), and The Spiritual Canticle (stanzas 1, 4, 6, 22, 26). According to him the illuminative way, or the way of souls that are making progress, begins with the cessation of meditation and the beginning of infused or mystical contemplation. Treating of this contemplation, he says: "Souls begin to enter this dark night (passive) when God Himself disengages them little by little from the state of beginners, that in which one meditates, and introduces them into the state of proficients, which is that of contemplatives. They must pass through this way to become perfect, that is, to attain the divine union of the soul with God.” 5

This ascent is not without suffering, as St. John of the Cross warns us in The Ascent of Mount Carmel: "To attain the divine light and the perfect union of the love of God—I speak of what can be realized in this life—the soul must pass through the dark night. . . . Ordinarily, when chosen souls

4 Cf. supra , chap. 2, art. 2.

6 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 1.

strive to attain this state of perfection, they encounter such darkness, endure such severe physical and moral sufferings, that human science is unable to penetrate them, and human experience to represent them.” 4

Not without difficulty does one succeed in completely conquering selfishness, sensuality, laziness, impatience, envy, unjust judgment, impulses of nature, natural haste, self-love, foolish pretensions, and also self-seeking in piety, the immoderate desire for sensible consolations, intellectual and spiritual pride; in a word, all that is opposed to the spirit of faith and confidence in God; 7 that one may succeed in loving God perfectly with all one’s heart, soul, strength, and mind, and one’s neighbor (enemies are included under this title) as oneself; in short, to remain firm and patient and to persevere in charity, whatever may happen, when the expression of the Apostle is verified, that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.” 8

To reach this perfection, the mortification or active purification of the senses and of the spirit is not all that is necessary: “In spite of all its generosity, the soul cannot completely purify itself, so that it will be even slightly fit for divine union in the perfection of love. God Himself must put His hand to the work, and purify the soul in this fire that is hidden from it, according to the mode and manner which we shall explain in what follows.” 9

First of all, the soul is weaned from sensible consolations, which at a certain time have their value, but which become an obstacle when they are sought for their own sake. Hence the necessity of the passive purification of the senses, which establishes the soul in sensible aridity and leads it to a spiritual life which is much more detached from the senses, the imagination, and reasoning. By the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the

« The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Prologue.

7 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chaps. 1-7.

8 See II Tim. 3: 12.

» The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 3.

soul at this time receives an intuitive knowledge, which despite a very painful darkness initiates it profoundly into the things of God. Occasionally it makes the soul penetrate them more deeply in one instant than months and years of meditation would have done. Resistance to temptations, which frequently present themselves in this night of the senses, requires heroic acts of chastity and patience. 10 This period has justly been compared to that of teething in children who have just been weaned. In fact, at this stage the soul is prepared to receive a stronger food, the spiritual graces which are bestowed on it. These are far more precious than the preceding graces, but they disconcert the soul by giving no satisfaction to its desire for sensible graces.

After treating of this purification, St. John of the Cross observes: “The soul has, therefore, gone forth; it has begun to penetrate into the way of the spirit, which is followed by proficients and advanced souls, and which is also called the illuminative way, or the way of infused contemplation.” 11 This text is very important, for St. John here speaks expressly of infused contemplation and not of acquired contemplation. 12

But to reach the perfection of charity, the passive purification of the senses does not suffice: “On leaving the state of

10 As St. John of the Cross says, in The Dark Night of the Soul (Bk. I, chap. 8): “The passive purification of the senses is common. It takes place in the greater number of beginners/’ Consequently we are surprised to see the night of the senses placed in the last chapter consecrated to the perfect, or to the unitive way, in a plan of ascetical and mystical theology (published in the Revue d’ascitique et de mystique, January, 1921, p. 35). According to St. John of the Cross, the night of the senses ordinarily takes place much earlier.

11 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 14.

12 The saint speaks of infused contemplation also in the first text cited (The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 1), and even in The Ascent (Bk. II, chap. 13). When he uses the word “contemplation,” he is speaking of contemplation properly so called, or infused contemplation, which is more or less passive at the beginning. These correspond to the first supernatural prayers of St. Teresa, those of passive recollection and of quiet (fourth mansion). She describes the night of the spirit in the sixth mansion. We mention these texts infra (chap. 5, art. 3, no. 2).

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beginners, the soul remains more often than not immobile in the exercises proper to the advanced for an indeterminate period, which may last for years. Like the prisoner who has just left his narrow prison, the soul is more at ease in divine things and finds more satisfaction in them. . .Neither the imagination nor the powers of the soul preserve any longer, in fact, their former attachment to discursive prayer 18 and to spiritual effort because the soul now tastes without any intellectual effort a very calm and affectionate contemplation accompanied by spiritual delights. . . . The purification of the soul is, however, not yet complete and cannot be so, since the principal one, which is that of the spirit, is still lacking. . . . The soul has still, therefore, to undergo dryness, darkness, and anguish, often far more severe than the preceding experiences.” 14 The necessity of this passive purification of the spirit could not be more clearly affirmed. In one way or another, it must be undergone for the attainment of perfect purity of soul.

In this period there are no longer any deliberate venial sins, but there are still the imperfections peculiar to the advanced, imperfections that are incompatible with the full perfection of charity. “The stains of the old man still remain in the spirit, though it does not suspect their presence, nor scarcely perceives them. They must, however, yield to and be removed by the strong soap and lye of the passive purification of the spirit, without which the purity required for union will still be lacking. These proficients suffer also from dullness of mind and from the natural rudeness which every man contracts by sin. They are subject to distractions and to dissipation of mind. . . . The devil often dupes many by imaginary visions and false prophecies which lead to presumption. . . . This matter is inexhaustible, and these imperfec- is Discourse or reasoning is no longer found in the knowledge proceeding from the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which at this point intervene more and more. See St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.8, 45.

14 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 1.

tions are so much the more incurable because these proficients consider them spiritual perfections. Therefore he who wishes to make progress must, of necessity, pass through the purification of the spiritual night. . . . Therein only can the soul find suitable and adequate means for uniting itself to God.” 15

The perfect are, therefore, not only those who have imposed on themselves exterior and interior mortifications, but who have passed through the purifications of the senses and of the spirit. The soul which has not passed through this crucible is not yet cleansed from its blemishes.

Speaking of the night of the spirit, St. John of the Cross observes: “How often on this way exaltation and depression succeed one another, and how often, too, is prosperity enjoyed for a moment and then followed by storms and trials. . . . These fluctuations are ordinary in the contemplative state. Before attaining the state of definitive peace, rest is unknown; life is a constant succession of ascents and descents. As the state of perfection consists in the perfect love of God and contempt of self, it cannot be conceived without its two parts, the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self. From this we see how necessary it is that the soul have a preliminary formation in both. This is why God at times lifts the soul up by making it taste its own greatness, and at times humbles it by showing it its baseness. This movement of ascent and descent can, therefore, be stopped only when the perfect habit of the virtues is acquired, when the soul has reached union with God.” 16

To resist temptations against the theological virtues which present themselves rather frequently in the night of the spirit, the soul must make heroic acts of faith, hope, and charity, which notably augment the intensity of these virtues. At the same time the illuminations of the gift of understanding en-

15 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 2.

i« The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 18.

*53 lighten the soul on the unknown depths of the mysteries of faith, on the fathomless perfections of God, on the nothingness of creatures, on the infinite gravity of mortal sin, on the ineffable abasement of Christ, to such an extent that the incarnation and the Eucharist seem absolutely impossible. The understanding, which is still too feeble, is bewildered and helpless like a man who does not know how to swim and who, upon being cast into the open sea, believes himself on the point of drowning. Therein lies the purifying action of God, opposed to the temptation of the demon, which is often simultaneous and which the Lord makes serve His ends.

Once this passive purification of the spirit is completed, souls are normally ready to enter heaven immediately after death: “Because of their perfect purification by love, they are not obliged to pass through purgatory.” 17 They have had their purgatory in this life and in a fitting manner; that is, while meriting; whereas after death souls, which by their fault must be purified, no longer merit. We will treat more at length of the nature of these purifications in chapter 6, article 2.

According to St. John of the Cross, the full perfection attainable in this life is found only in the transforming union, or the spiritual marriage. “Then, in fact, the soul is no longer disturbed by the demon, nor by the world, nor by the flesh, nor by the appetites; it can then utter the words of the Canticle, Tor winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land/ ” 18 This state represents the full development of charity; perfect love accepts n Ibid., chap. 20. There are doubtless souls that avoid purgatory, without having passed through the passive purifications of the spirit; for example, those who died immediately after baptism, and religious who died immediately after their solemn profession; but if these had continued to live, they would have fallen into many imperfections, which would have necessitated the purifications mentioned here by St. John of the Cross. He does not consider accidental cases, but what is ordinarily required to attain a lofty perfection in this life, and in heaven, a proportionate degree of glory.

18 The Spiritual Canticle, Part III, st. 22 to the end.

any work or suffering whatever for God, and even finds a holy joy in suffering. 19 It does not fear death, but desires it. It attributes nothing to self, but refers all to God, and is transformed so to speak in Him, according to St. Paul’s expression, “He who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit.” 20 “It is, in short, God Himself who communicates Himself to the soul by an admirable glory and transforms it in Himself. Then there takes place the perfect union of the soul and God, who are as intimately united as glass and sunlight, as coal and fire, as starlight and sunlight. Nevertheless, such a union is neither as essential nor as complete as that of heaven.” 21 When charity is perfected, all the Christian virtues reach their perfect development. “They are intertwined, closely united to each other, which renders their resistance stronger by reason of their mutual support. From this union there results a whole which constitutes the complete perfection of the soul, a compact ensemble, a solidarity, which excludes the possibility of any weak spot which might facilitate the entrance of the devil or things of the world into the soul.” 22 Finally, “the soul possesses the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost according to the entire perfection compatible with life here below.” 23 “The operations of the soul in union come from the divine Spirit. . . . They alone, as a result, are perfectly harmonious ... without ever being untimely. . . . The Spirit of God reveals to these souls what they should know, reminds them of what they should remember, . . . causes them to forget whatever deserves to be forgotten, to love what is worthy of their love, and to love nothing that is not found is Ibid,, st. 24.

20 See I Cor. 6: 17.

f 1 The Spiritual Canticle, st. 26. This teaching of St. John of the Cross on the spiritual marriage, the acme of the development of the mystical life, does not differ from that of the other saints who have commented on the Canticle of Canticles. These commentaries become truly the light of life only for souls that are in the way of this perfect union. On this subject, see the last work of Father Arintero, O.P., Cantar de los Cantares, Exposicidn misiica.

22 The Spiritual Canticle, st. 24.

23 Ibid., st. 26.

in God. Thus, all the first movements of the powers in such souls are divine, and we must not be surprised that the movements and operations of these powers are divine because they are transformed in the divine Being/* 24

According to St. John of the Cross, the illuminative and the unitive ways belong, therefore, to the mystical life, properly so called. This is without doubt a very lofty conception of what the full development of “the grace of the virtues and of the gifts’* ought to be, of what the intimacy of divine union should normally become in an interior soul after a life spent in great fidelity to the Holy Ghost.

Needless to say, this conception of the unitive or perfect life far surpasses what many modern writers on asceticism call the ordinary unitive way. In their opinion, this way does not presuppose the painful passive purifications, at least not those of the spirit, which belong to the mystical states. 25 There is a considerable difference between souls which have valiantly passed through these great trials and those which have not as yet undergone them. In the following article we will seek the source of this divergence between the ascetical teachings of these modern writers and the doctrine of St. John of the Cross.

The problem is a serious one. Is not the ideal of perfection notably lessened by maintaining that we can reach the full, normal development of Christian life without passing under one form or another through the passive purifications, which

24 The Ascent of Mount Carmel Bk. Ill, chap. 1. It would be manifestly an error to believe that The Ascent of Mount Carmel deals only with the ascetical way, and that the contemplation mentioned therein is not infused or mystical contemplation. Cf. Bk. II, chap. 13. But in The Ascent the soul learns what it must do, while in The Dark Night of the Soul it learns how it should allow itself to be formed by God. Cf. Father Gabriel of Jesus, C.D., “jLa Subida del Monte Carmelo es asc&ica o es mistica?” in La Vida Sobrenatural, 1923, p. 24. The author holds the same opinion as we do.

25 For example. Father Naval in his recent Cursus theologiae asceticae et mysticae, pp. 240-259, demands for the ordinary unitive life only the contemplation which is called acquired. According to him, the soul reaches this state without having undergone the strongest passive purifications of the senses, and without having experienced those of the spirit.

belong to the mystical order, and without being raised to infused contemplation, that dark and secret initiation into the mystery of God present in us? Are not the impulse and the great aspirations of the interior life suppressed under the pretext of avoiding illusion, of following the common way, the beaten paths? Is this not equivalent to proposing to souls a comfortable illuminative and unitive way, which is of a nature to give them an illusion just the opposite of those which they wish to avoid? Under pretext of combating one form of presumption, is this not yielding to another? Is this not leading souls to believe that they are on the point of attaining perfection, that they are already in the unitive life, when perhaps as yet they are only among the beginners and have only a faint notion of the true illuminative life, that of the proficients? Is this not also exposing them to complete divergence from the right road when the painful passive purifications come, during which they will think they are retrogressing, while in truth these trials are the narrow gate leading to true life? “How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way which leads to life, and few there are that find it” (Matt. 7: 14). It would be well to consider the words of St. John of the Cross on this subject, which we have quoted in the preceding pages. As yet we have only proposed the question. Finally, it is well to remember the saying of St. Thomas Aquinas: “The servant of God ought always to aspire without ceasing to more perfect and holier things.” *•

Footnotes

1. Phil. 3:18. ↩

2. Cf. St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.24, a.9; II Sent., Dist. IX, 2 ad 8um. In the latter text, St. Thomas, speaking of the purgative, the illuminative, and the uni tive ways, observes that all who truly lead souls to perfection, also illumine them and purify them, but the reverse is not true. He who purifies them from sin, may not always be able to illumine them and a fortiori may be unable to lead them to perfection, to divine union. ↩