Article II. The General and Remote Call to Mystical Contemplation

The question we are studying may be formulated exactly either by considering the life of grace in an abstract manner, or concretely by studying the souls which have received this light. In the first case, the intimate law of the superior development of the divine seed, semen gloriae, is considered; in the second case, as in the parable of the sower, the variable conditions of the soil are considered. Likewise the two following questions are distinct: (1) Is grace by its very essence the seed of eternal life? (2) Does God give, not only to all men in general, but to each person individually, sufficient grace to obtain salvation?

We will, therefore, consider first the general and remote call of souls in the state of grace to the mystical life; and is Translation by Longfellow.

18 Cf. Blessed Grignion de Montfort, Traite de la vraie devotion d Marie, chap. 4, art. 5. St. Teresa, The Interior Castle, epilogue.

secondly, the individual and proximate call. In another article, we will examine the objections that may be raised against this doctrine.

THE THREE PRINCIPAL REASONS WHICH ESTABLISH THE GENERAL AND REMOTE CALL

The question confronting us is whether the life of grace can have its full, normal development without the mystical life, properly so called. This latter, as we have seen, is characterized by the predominance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost and of their divine mode, specifically distinct from the human mode of the virtues which characterizes the ascetical life.¹ According to what we have said in the preceding article, it appears certain to us that the mystical life thus defined is the adult age of the Christian life. For a clear grasp of this doctrine, the division of the supernatural should be recalled (cf. supra , p. 59).

It is evident from this division that the supernatural nature of a miracle, of prophecy, of the gift of tongues, etc., is inferior to that of sanctifying grace, of the infused virtues, and of the gifts of the Holy Ghost. As a help in discerning among these forms of the supernatural, those which are ordinary, although eminent, and those which are extraordinary, the classic division of the divine power directed by wisdom should also be recalled.

Our problem in this question is to examine whether the essential foundation of the mystical state belongs to the first

'God in His intimate life, mystery of the Trinity.

funcreated J substantiam 1 created

Uncreated Person of the Word made flesh.

'Light of glory. Habitual - grace of the virtues and gifts, and actual grace.

Super- I natural 1 fof finality s

Natural act of an acquired virtue, supernaturally ordained by charity to the supernatural end.

quoad modum

Miracle quoad substantiam (ex., glorification of the body and prophecy).

Miracle quoad subjectum (ex., non-glorious resurof rection) and knowledge of efficiency the secrets of hearts.

Miracle quoad modum (sudden change of water into wine), and gift of tongues and similar graces.

category or to the third; the third, while extraordinary, is inferior to the first, which alone contains eternal life begun. Is the mystical life the full normal development of the life of grace? We are concerned here not only with the collective sanctity of the Church, which requires even graces gratis ordinary

'super- natural

Divine

(according

• to laws)

natural power ordained

• or r directed extraordinary super- by wisdom natural

(outside of ordinary laws)

natural

1: life of grace, sanctity, eternal life.

2: ex., natural life of the intellect.

3: ex., extraordinary visions, private revelations.

4: ex., miracle in the physical order.

datae, such as that of the discernment of spirits, but with what is normally necessary in the majority of cases for a soul to reach sanctity.²

The reasons for the affirmative answer must be based on the life of grace considered in its essence, and not only on exterior signs or statistical material. As a matter of fact, it is not sufficient to say that this call is general because there are mystical souls in every human condition; among the ignorant and the learned, priests and laity, religious and seculars, in the contemplative orders and also in the active orders. This reason is probable, but is insufficient; for we can just as well say that artists are to be found among all classes of people, and yet the artistic vocation in the natural order is not general but special. It is a particular gift not granted or promised to all.

Likewise, to establish that God wishes to save all men, we must do more than show that He wishes to save men from every condition of life; Jews and pagans, learned and illiterate, rich and poor.

To prove that all souls in the state of grace are in a general and remote manner called to the mystical life, as they are to that of heaven, the reasons for this call must be based on the very nature of the life of sanctifying grace, or “grace of the virtues and the gifts.” This life may be considered chiefly in three ways:- in its principle, grace itself; in its progress, perfect purification from sin and imperfection; in its end, the life of heaven. These three considerations are not accidental, exterior, or material, but essential and formal. In other words, to show that the interior life has its full, normal development here only in the mystical life, properly so called, we must demonstrate: (1) that their principle is the same;

A. THE BASIC PRINCIPLE OF THE MYSTICAL LIFE IS THE SAME AS THAT OF THE COMMON INTERIOR LIFE

The basic principle of the mystical life is sanctifying grace, or “the grace of the virtues and the gifts.” It manifests itself in the interior ascetical life according to the human mode of the virtues; in the mystical life, according to the superhuman mode of the gifts which predominates in it. These gifts, as habitual dispositions rendering us docile to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, grow, as do the infused virtues, with charity, which in this life ought always to develop, through our merits and holy communion, according to the requirements of the first precept of love which has no limit. 8 Therefore the soul cannot possess charity in a high degree without having the gifts, as habitual dispositions, in a corresponding degree. 4 It follows that a truly generous and faithful soul s Summa, Ha, Ilae, q. 184, a. 3.

4 Cf. Ia Ilae, q. 66 , a.2: All the virtues, as habitus, by reason of their relation (and the same must he said for the gifts which are also connected with³⁴ will come more and more under the immediate direction of the Holy Ghost, and the human mode of its activity will be gradually subordinated to the divine mode of the inspirations of the interior Master. This mode should end by dominating, a condition which characterizes the mystical life.

The objection has been raised that if progress is normal, the virtues and gifts should be perfected pari passu , without the mode of the gifts eventually prevailing over the mode of the virtues. This objection fails to reckon with what St. Thomas has proved 6 and with what we have explained in accordance with his teaching, 6 namely, that the human mode of the infused virtues is essentially imperfect in relation to our supernatural end, for it is that of the human faculty in which these virtues are received. The purpose of the gifts is precisely to remedy this imperfection by joining with the virtues, as occurs especially in infused contemplation. 7

Hence the imperfection of the human mode of the virtues should be corrected in proportion as the soul approaches perfection, so much the more so, as it is a question here not only of believing the mysteries, but of penetrating them, tasting them, judging all by them, living by them and that, not in a transitory, but in an habitual manner. The influence of the gifts should be exercised more in proportion as the soul needs to be purified in its inmost depths, where God penetrates, so as to root out the seeds of death, the existence of which we ourselves do not suspect. God alone can eradicate them by them in charity, la Ilae, q.68, a. 2, 5) grow together, while keeping their difference of perfection like the fingers of one’s hands. A man may, however, have a greater natural inclination to practice one virtue than another, or he may be more inclined by the grace of God to make acts of that virtue. Likewise St. Thomas, when speaking of the connection of the gifts, says: “One cannot be perfect without the others’’ (la Ilae, q.68, a.5 ad 3um). Yet one soul has greater excellence in the acts of one than of another.

6 Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a.i, 2.

« Cf. supra , pp. 281 ff.

7 In fact, it proceeds as to its substance from faith, and as to its mode from the gift of wisdom.

applying iron and fire to them. This explains why, in the normal progress of the life of grace, the superhuman mode of the gifts should end by dominating and prevailing over the human mode of the virtues. Habitual facility thus supernaturalizes us more and more, and eventually the virtues are no longer exercised without the co-operation of the gifts, without an almost constant direction on the part of the interior Master, who unites us more and more closely to His life and His action. This is the prelude of eternal life. “A thing is perfect so far as it attains to its principle” 8 and is united to it. Each of our acts is perfect in proportion as God imprints His manner. His inimitable mark, more deeply upon it. The sovereign efficacy of His action in us does not destroy our liberty; it is His action which causes our liberty, by producing in us and with us even the free mode of our acts. 9 He alone can thus penetrate our souls, since He is closer to us than we are to ourselves. The mystical state with its constant docility is none other than the perfect fruit of efficacious grace, as conceived by St. Paul, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas. Only in this way does the soul attain to the living and profound knowledge of God’s infinite grandeur and of its own wretchedness, of the value of grace and the gravity of sin.

“But, someone will say,” declares St. Teresa in the objection she raises to her own doctrine, 10 “if for long days and years I considered what a frightful thing it is to offend God, and how those who are lost are His children and my brethren; and if I were to weigh the perils to which we are exposed in this world, and how advantageous it would be for us to leave this wretched life, would that not suffice? No, my daughters, the pain to which these reflections give rise in us would be quite different from the torture of which I speak. With the grace of God and by many considerations we can experience

8 St. Thomas la, q.12, a.i.

® Ibid., q. 19, a.8.

10 The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 2.

35*

this grief; but it does not penetrate the very depths of our being like the other which seems to rend and grind the soul without its co-operation, and at times even without its wish. What is this sorrow, then, and whence does it come? I will tell you. You remember those words of the Bride, which I quoted to you, but with another meaning: ‘He brought me into the cellar of wine, He set in order charity in me.’ 11 In this quotation you have the explanation of what you asked me. This soul has so completely abandoned itself into the hands of God and loves Him so greatly that, as a result, it is so submissive that it knows and wishes nothing, but that God should dispose of it according to His good pleasure. In my opinion, this is a grace which God bestows only on a soul which He considers entirely His. His will is that, without knowing how, the soul should issue forth stamped with His seal. . . . O God of goodness! It is Thou alone who dost all! Thou dost demand but one thing, that we abandon our wills to Thee, in other words, that the wax offer no resistance.”

Attentive reading of this quotation, which expresses the mystical suffering of the soul at the sight of the greatest evil, sin, will reveal the full development of the grace of the virtues and the gifts which we received in baptism—perfect abandonment, most pure charity, equally lively faith, and complete docility to the Holy Ghost who impresses His seal on the faithful soul. This demonstrates that the principle of the common interior life contains the seed of the mystical life. It is, therefore, called to develop under this superior form which is on earth the flower of the supernatural life. 12

11 Cant, 2: 4.

12 Some theologians have taught that the Holy Ghost moves souls in two ways: (1) according to the common mode which accommodates itself in everything to the human mode and does not exceed the ordinary laws of grace; (2) according to an extraordinary and preternatural mode of which mystical authors speak. Cf. Billot, De virt. infusis, pp. 173, 188.

These expressions seem to show that for these theologians mystical contemplation is essentially extraordinary and not eminent only. If they hold this

In some perfect souls the gifts of action will be especially prominent; but the gift of wisdom will have a diffuse, though very real, influence.

In virtue of the fact that this principle is common both to the ordinary interior life and to the mystical life, we must add that by the progress of charity 13 we can come to merit, in the strict sense of the word (de condigno, condignly), the superior degrees of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, considered as habitual dispositions, connected with charity. Thereby we merit, at least in the broad sense (saltern de congruo, congruously), the actual inspirations corresponding to these superior degrees of the gifts; for, as a rule (and the propriety of this is evident), the Holy Ghost enlightens and inspires souls according to the degree of their habitual docility, humility, and love of God. 14 opinion, we no longer see how they remain faithful to the teaching of St. Thomas on the gifts. It is clear that each of the gifts cannot have two distinct modes, a distinction not only of degree but of nature. There would then be two habitus specifically distinct; the first would develop in vain, for it would never attain the second. Moreover, it would be incomprehensible why, above the acquired virtues and the infused virtues with a human mode, there would still be necessary an exercise of the gifts according to a human mode, distinct from their exercise according to their divine mode. The human mode of the gifts would be identical with that of the infused virtues. The opinions mentioned above might, however, be explained in a way not opposed to the teaching we have set forth according to the principles of St. Thomas. As a matter of fact, we recognize that the inspirations of the gifts of the Holy Ghost are exercised at first in a latent manner which is suited to the human mode, and that later their superhuman mode becomes manifest and frequent. The latter may even be called extraordinary when it is accompanied by graces gratis datae, destined for the benefit of one’s neighbor, such as the grace called sermo sapientiae. This is what St. Thomas means in Ila Ilae, q.45, a.5, as Cajetan explains, ibid.; John of St. Thomas, De donis, d.18, a. 2, 9; and Joseph of the Holy Ghost, Cursus theol. myst., II, 236 ff. Compare this text (Ila Ilae, q.45, a.5) with la Ilae, q. 111, a.4 ad 4um.

is Cf. Ia Ilae, q.114, a. 8. St. Thomas shows that we can merit condignly the increase of grace and glory, by quoting this text from the Book of Proverbs, 4: 18: “But the path of the just as a shining light, goeth forward and increaseth even to perfect day.” But what we cannot merit is the very principle of merit, the grace of justification, and the efficacious grace which preserves us in statu gratiae, particularly that of final perseverance. Cf. ibid., a.5, 9.

14 Condign merit is based on divine justice; it is a right to a reward. Congruous merit is based on divine friendship, in jure amicabili, or at least on

This is the teaching concerning the merit saltern de congruo of Thomistic mystical theologians who follow St. Thomas, St. John of the Cross, and St. Teresa. Among these theologians are Philip of the Blessed Trinity, O.C., 15 Vallgornera, O.P., 16 and Meynard, O.P. 17 From this teaching on merit, it is evident that the actual grace of contemplation can be merited more than that of a happy death, which is, nevertheless, necessary to salvation. 18

The first reason for the remote and general call of souls in the state of grace to the mystical life rests, therefore, on the the liberality of God. The first renders us worthy of reward; the second, as the name indicates, implies only propriety.

15 Summa theologiae mysticae (1874), II, 311.

is Mystica theologia D. Thomae (1911), I, 445.

17 TraiU de la vie interieure (1885), II, 128.

is The grace of a happy death or of final perseverance cannot be merited condignly in the strict sense of the word, nor even strictly congruously. It is, however, necessary for salvation and we ought certainly to desire it, to dispose ourselves for it, and to ask for it incessantly, because persevering prayer will obtain it for us. The same may be said for the grace of conversidn or justification for a sinner. It cannot be merited, since it is the principle of merit; yet anyone in the state of mortal sin ought, with the actual grace offered him, to desire it and ask for it. These are profound mysteries of the efficacy of grace and of predestination. Cf. Ia Ilae, q. 114, a. 5, 9.

The grace of justification and that of final perseverance are necessary for salvation, but they cannot be merited condignly. The same is true of efficacious graces which keep us in the state of grace.

The grace of infused contemplation is not gratuitous, since one can progressively merit condignly a very high degree of the gift of wisdom, considered as a habitus , and since the Holy Ghost generally inspires souls according to the degree of their habitual docility.

Moreover, we must add to merit the imperative power of prayer. Since we ought to ask for the grace of a happy death, which we are unable to merit, a fervent soul may indeed ask also, with as much confidence as humility, for the grace of contemplation in order to live the mysteries of salvation more fully, to know its own wretchedness better, to humble itself on this account, and to be less indifferent to the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Reduced to common terms, this is what the soul requests when it recites the Veni Creator with sincerity. The grace of contemplation is thereby less gratuitous than graces gratis datae, such as the grace of a miracle or prophecy, which are in no way necessary to our personal sanctification. After all, the fact remains that the Holy Ghost breathes where He wills, and when He wills; for we do not exercise at will the acts which proceed from the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Cf. infra , pp. 409 ff., “An examination of some theoretical difficulties/' in particular as to merit.

basic principle of this life, that is, the grace of the virtues and the gifts. This fundamental reason may also be more concretely expressed and even confirmed thereby in the following terms: there is no sanctity without the heroism of the infused virtues, connected with charity; that is, without a high degree of these virtues, described by St. Thomas when he speaks of the perfecting virtues and especially of the perfect virtues. 19

The gifts of the Holy Ghost, as habitual dispositions connected with charity, grow with it. The Holy Ghost ordinarily moves us according to the degree of our habitual docility, and with greater frequency as we become more docile. Consequently, as a rule, 20 there is no sanctity unless the soul is often moved by the Holy Ghost according to the superior degrees of the gifts. This constitutes the mystical life in the broad sense and also in the strict sense, the passive state in which the human mode of our activity no longer dominates, but rather the activity of the Holy Ghost, and our completely docile passivity. 21

In relation to this subject, the statement of Benedict XIV in regard to the heroicity of virtues and their connection should be read. It is this connection, he says, which was lacking in the heroes of paganism and also in the false martyrs, who died obstinately persisting in their errors; they did not pray for their executioners. 22 For the proof of heroic virtue, he lays down four necessary conditions: ⁵ the matter must be difficult, above the common strength of man; (2) the acts must be accomplished promptly, easily; (3) they must be accomplished joyously; (4) they must be performed not only once or rarely but often, when the occasion presents itself.

20 We do not speak here of any case in particular, but of a general law.

21 Summa, la Ilae, q.68, a.3 ad 2um. St. John of the Cross held that the virtues of the purified soul of which St. Thomas speaks belong to the mystical life. Cf. CEuvres (2d ed.), II, 42.

22 De Servorum Dei beatificalione , Bk. III. chao. 21. “de virtute heroica.”

This supposes a high degree of charity and a proportionate degree of the gifts of the Holy Ghost.

This teaching clarifies the meaning and the compass of the first reason that we invoked: namely, that the basic principle of the mystical life is identical with that of the common interior life. Farther on we shall see the objections that may be raised against this first reason. 23 We will now consider the second, which considers what the progress of the interior life demands.

B. IN THE PROGRESS OF THE INTERIOR LIFE THE PURIFI- CATION OF THE SOUL IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT THE PASSIVE PURIFICATIONS, WHICH BELONG TO THE MYSTICAL ORDER

This progress should, in fact, be brought about by the purification from sin, from its results, and from imperfections. It is twofold: an active purification or mortification which we impose on ourselves; and a passive purification which has its origin in the divine action within us. 24 Although exterior trials supernaturally borne contribute greatly to our purification, yet, according to the great masters, especially St. John of the Cross, this work is normally completed only by the passive purifications of the senses and of the soul.

According to these same masters, these painful purifications, which are a sort of anticipated purgatory, belong to the mystical order, properly so called. Wholly generous souls are purified by the Holy Ghost while they are on earth, to such an extent that they do not, through their own fault, have to undergo after death the meritless purification of purgatory. Ordinarily we must pass through this crucible in one way or

23 Cf. infra, chap. 5, art. 4; chap. 6, art. 1.

24 It proceeds especially from the gift of understanding. Cf. St. Thomas, Ila Ilae, q.8, a. 7. Ia Ilae, q.69, a. a ad gum: *‘In this life . . • the (mind’s) eye being cleansed by the gift of understanding, we can, so to speak, see God.”

another; either in this life while meriting, or in the life to come without meriting. 25

This reason appears decisive to one acquainted with the reasons given by St. John of the Cross to explain the necessity of the double, passive purification of the senses and of the soul. 28 We have already (chap. 4, art. 1) given a brief exposition of these purifications, and (chap. 5, art. 3) we have shown how St. Teresa describes the night of the soul at the beginning of the sixth mansion

According to St. John of the Cross, God almost immediately bestows the grace of the passive purification of the senses on persons who are habitually recollected. 27 The entrance into this purification is indicated by inactivity of the imagination, 28 the human or discursive mode of prayer disappears; the soul must content itself with a loving and peaceful attention to God. 29 His grace, which is then given to it, is no longer sensibly manifest; it is entirely spiritual, which explains why the sensible part is cowardly in regard to action, but the spirit is generous and strong. 80 In the light of the gift

25 We say that ordinarily the soul must pass through this crucible. There are, in fact, exceptions, to mention only that of children who die immediately after their baptism. They will not, however, have as high a degree of glory as if they had merited in trial. As for martyrs who before their torture did not pass through the crucible of which we speak, they did pass through it in their last sufferings. This explains why St. John of the Cross says of souls which have undergone the very painful night of the soul: "As a result of their perfect purification by love, they will not pass through purgatory" {The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 20).

Likewise Tauler states (Sermon 55) on the subject of beginners, who remain faithful to the commandments: "It is rather an exception for them to live in sufficient purity to avoid purgatory, although that may occasionally happen." It may occur, for example, in the case of a young religious who dies immediately after profession. If he had lived longer, he would probably have fallen again into faults which would exact the purification of which we are speaking either before or after death. In any case, no one goes to purgatory after death except through his own fault. If he had been more faithful to grace, he could have avoided it.

26 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. I, chap. 3; Bk. II, chap. 1.

27 Ibid., Bk. I, chap. 8 .

28 Ibid., chap. 9.

29 ibid., chap. 10.

so Ibid., chap. 9.

of knowledge, the soul sees in itself wretchedness and unworthiness which it was ignorant of in the time of its prosperity; at times it believes itself abandoned by God. But in suffering, it is purified of numerous imperfections and exercised in the virtues that perfectly subject the flesh to the spirit. 81 Thus, interior liberty grows through the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost, and the love of God through an ardent desire to serve Him. St. John of the Cross ofEers a good summary of his doctrine when he says: “The night of sense is common, and the lot of many among beginners. . . . As the manner in which they behave when they first start out on the way to God is not noble, and since they become entangled in sensible tastes and self-love, God intervenes to make them progress by freeing .them from their vulgar conception of love. He wishes to lift them up to Himself, to make them abandon the inferior exercise of sense and reasoning, by which they seek God in a petty manner in the midst of the obstacles which we have pointed out, and to introduce them into the more profitable exercise of the spirit, which will permit them to communicate less imperfectly with God.” 82

This passive night of the senses, which seems to consist especially in the disappearance of the so-called sensible graces, marks rather the appearance of spiritual graces; the human mode of prayer ceases only because the superhuman mode of the contemplative gifts begins to become frequent and manifest. Corruptio unius, generatio alterius: the grain of wheat, cast into the earth, dies that the seed which it bears may develop; just so, the soul must die to its too human manner of thinking of God and loving Him that it may live in the divine manner which the Lord wishes to see in it. It is thus that the soul enters upon the illuminative way. 88 si Ibid., chaps. 11-13.

32 The Dark Night of the Soul , Bk. I, chap. 8 .

33 Ibid., Bk. I, chap. 14: “The soul has g me forth: it has begun to penetrate the way of the spirit, which the proficient and the advanced follow, and which

Since the object of the passive purification of the senses is the perfect subjection of the passions to the intellect and will, the object of the purification of the soul—proceeding especially from the illumination of the gift of understanding —is the full subjection of the spirit to God and the purification from all alloy not only of the moral virtues, but also of the theological virtues, which unite us immediately to God. This purification, granted to souls that have already made progress, is intended to remove habitual imperfections of which we are so often unaware, and which are an obstacle to divine union. 34 It marks the entrance into the unitive way, according to St. John of the Cross. He expresses himself in the following terms: 35 “The dark night (of the soul) is a certain inflowing of God into the soul, which cleanses it of its ignorances and imperfections, habitual, natural, and spiritual. Contemplatives call it infused contemplation. . . . But it may be asked: ‘Why does the soul call the divine light, which enlightens the soul and purges it of its ignorances, the dark night?' . . . The first reason is that the divine wisdom is so high that it transcends the capacity of the soul, and is, therefore, in that respect, darkness. The second reason is based on the meanness and impurity of the soul and, in that respect, the divine wisdom is painful to it, afflictive and dark also. . . . We take for granted a principle of the Philosopher, namely, the more intelligible and evident divine things are, the darker and more hidden they are to the soul naturally. Thus the clearer the light, the more it blinds the eyes of the owl. So the divine light of contemplation, when it beats on the soul not yet perfectly enlightened, causes spiritual darkness, because it not only surpasses its strength, is also called the illuminative way, or the way of infused contemplation." This traditional conception of the illuminative way is far superior, as is evident, to that which has been set forth by several non-mystical writers since the seventeenth century.

34 ibid., Bk. II, chap. 2.

85 ibid., chap. 5.

but because it blinds it and deprives it of its natural perceptions. It is for this reason that St. Dionysius and other mystical theologians call infused contemplation a ray of darkness, that is, for the unenlightened and unpurified soul . . . ‘clouds and darkness are round and about him.’ 88 . . . God is surrounded by a cloud and darkness. He dwells in ‘light inaccessible.’

“The soul seeing its own impurity distinctly though dimly in this bright pure light, acknowledges its own unworthiness before God and all creatures. What pains it still more is a fear that it never will be worthy and that all its goodness is gone.” 87 The suffering is such that the soul believes itself crushed under an immense weight; it is broken and overwhelmed at the sight of its miseries and feels itself wrapped in a mortal cloud. “So great are the weakness and impurity of the soul that the hand of God, which is so soft and so gentle, is felt to be so heavy and oppressive, though neither pressing nor resting on it, but merely touching it and that, too, most mercifully; for He touches the soul not to chastise it, but to load it with His graces.” 88 The soul cannot, as before, raise its mind and heart to God; it feels that God has interposed a cloud which cuts off the way of prayer. 89 The light of this purification permits the soul to see only its sins and miseries. 40 In this darkness it distinguishes, however, better than before between what is more and what is less perfect. 41 To enjoy the fruits of this purification, the soul must suffer from the impression that it will never possess God. 42 It must pass through this crucible for “one single, actual, or habitual particular affection is

86 Ps. 96: 2.

87 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 5.

as ibid.

89 Ibid., chap. 5.

40 Ibid., chap. 13.

4 1 Ibid., chap. 8.

42 ibid., chap. 9.

sufficient to prevent the perception, taste, and communication of the subtle sweetness of the spirit of love which contains all sweetness within itself in an eminent degree.” 43 This night of purification is also a safe road, “for it holds the appetites, affections, and passions, lulled, asleep, and mortified. Were they awake and active, they would not fail to oppose the departure” of the soul toward these higher regions. 44

This passive purification, this refinement of the spirit, is “indispensable for union with God in glory. After death, impure souls pass through the fires of purgatory; in this life, the soul attains to union only by undergoing the fire of trials, which are more violent for some than for others, and proportionate in length to the degree of union to which God intends to raise them and to their need of purification.” 46 From these trials we can judge the sufferings of purgatory. Its fire has no effect on those who have no faults to expiate; 46 it is dark and material; that of this life is spiritual and obscure. 47 In this life, the soul is purified while meriting; after death, without meriting.

These purifications are the most efficacious means leading to divine union, because they alone free humility and the three theological virtues from all alloy. They alone bring into powerful relief the entirely supernatural formal motive of these highest virtues. They oblige us to make extremely meritorious acts, which thus increase the gifts tenfold by immediately obtaining for us a great increase of faith, hope, and charity. They oblige us to believe for the sole motive that God has said it. Moreover, they make us adhere firmly to the first revealing Truth, in an order infinitely superior

43 Ibid.

44 Ibid., chap. 15.

46 The Living Flame of Love, st. II, 5.

46 The Dark Night of the Soul, Bk. II, chap. 10.

47 Ibid., chap. 12.

to a sensible miracle and to the human reasoning that discerns it. 48 They oblige us to hope against all human hope for the pure motive that God, who is all powerful and good, is infinitely helpful, Deus auxilians , and will not abandon us first. They lead us to love Him, not for the sensible or spiritual consolations He grants us, but for Himself, because He is infinite goodness; to love Him above all things and more than ourselves, because He is infinitely better than we are.

Happy are those who pass through these painful purifications, which alone can fully supernaturalize them and conduct them to the summit of faith, hope, and charity. Since these passive purifications belong to the mystical order, we must conclude that the mystical life is not extraordinary in its very essence, but is on the normal way of sanctity. Now that we have studied the means, we will consider the end of the interior life.

C. THE END OF THE INTERIOR LIFE IS THE SAME AS THAT OF THE MYSTICAL LIFE, BUT THE LATTER PREPARES THE SOUL MORE IMMEDIATELY FOR IT

Heaven is the end of the interior life. Although in fact quite rare, the normal summit of the development of the life of grace on this earth should be a very perfect disposition to receive the light of glory immediately after death,

48 When a soul passing through this night of the spirit is suffering from temptations against faith, and is at the same time blinded, so to speak, by the divine light which illumines the depths of mysteries, it would be singularly strange to advise as a remedy the reading of a good, well-reasoned study on apologetics. The divine work, which the soul is undergoing, has precisely for its object to raise the soul above reasoning and to make it adhere in an entirely supernatural manner to the first uncreated and revealing Truth (“Veritas prima in dicendo, auctoritas Dei revelantis”). At such a time the soul should ask the Lord for the grace of faith, the inspiration and illumination of the Holy Ghost which elevates our will and intellect even to the uncreated and eternal Word of God, the Author of grace, in order to make them adhere to it in spite of the darkness, with a certitude superior to that of the most evident rational principles. Ila Ilae, q.i, a.i; q.4, a.8. See supra, pp. 63-77.

without passing through purgatory. As a matter of fact, no one goes to that place of suffering, where there is no merit, except through his own fault, because he has neglected graces received or offered. It is in the radical order to see God immediately after death; that is why the souls in purgatory suffer so greatly at not seeing Him.

The perfect disposition to receive the beatific vision immediately after death can be only the intense charity of a fully purified soul, coupled with the earnest desire to see God, such as we find them in the mystical union, and more especially in the transforming union. This last is, therefore, the summit of the development of the life of grace on earth; in it alone do we find the full development of the supernatural life.

It would be easy to show that this third reason, like the two preceding reasons, has been more or less explicitly formulated by all the great masters of mysticism. Let us merely recall what St. Thomas says about the superiority of the contemplative life over the active life.

The contemplation of God is not a means to the moral virtues and the works of the active life; on the contrary, it is the end to which they are subordinated as means and dispositions. 49 The moral virtues dispose to the contemplative life by producing peace, quiet in the passions, and purity. 50 Prudence serves wisdom, as a guard serves the king.

God is the end and object of the theological virtues and the corresponding gifts, whereas He is merely the end of the moral virtues, which have a created object.

The contemplative life, with its beginning and end in love, is the eminent exercise of the theological virtues. In it the soul burns to see the beauty of God. 51 Contemplation itself is not perfection; perfection is found essentially in

49 Summa, Ila Ilae, q.180, a. 2, c and ad 211m. soSumma, la Ilae, q.58, a.5.

«. See Ila Ilae, q. 180, a. 1, 7.

S64 charity. But contemplation is the most excellent means united to the end, since it joins us to God, 82 for “the contemplative life is directed to the love of God, not of any degree, but to that which is perfect.” 83 By it man “offers his soul in sacrifice to God,” 84 and it is, so to speak, a beginning of perfect beatitude “for it bestows on us a certain inchoate beatitude, which begins now and will be continued in the life to come.” 88

Thus the contemplative life is better than the active life. 88 It is proper to man according to his soul’s noblest faculty. It can be more continuous than the active life. For example, Mary remains at our Lord’s feet to listen to His words, while Martha busies herself. Although it contains great trials, the contemplative life is more delightful and more meritorious, because the love of God is in itself more meritorious than love of our neighbor. 67 It is sufficient to itself, moreover, and is not busy about many things. It is loved for itself, while the active life is ordained to something other than itself. This is why the psalmist says: “One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house

“The contemplative life pertains directly and immediately to the love of God” {ibid., q. 182, a. 2).

63 Ibid., a. 4 ad imn.

A sacrifice is rendered to God spiritually when something is offered to Him; and of all of man’s goods, God especially accepts that of the human soul when it is offered to Him in sacrifice. Now a man ought to offer to God, in the first place his soul; ... in the second place, the souls of others. . . . And the more closely a man unites his own or another’s soul to God, the more acceptable is his sacrifice to God; wherefore, it is more acceptable to God that one apply one’s own soul and the souls of others to contemplation than to action. Consequently, the statement that no sacrifice is more acceptable to God than zeal for souls, does not mean that the merit of the active life is preferable to the merit of the contemplative life, but that it is more meritorious to offer to God one’s own soul and the souls of others, than any other external gifts” {ibid., a. 2 ad 3um).

M Ibid., q.180, a. 4.

66 Ibid., q.182, a.i.

67 “Wherefore, that which pertains more directly to the love of God is generically more meritorious than that which pertains directly to the love of our neighbor” (ibid., a. 2).

of the Lord all the days of my life.” 58 The contemplative life is a sort of holy repose in God (otium sanctum): “Be still and see that I am God/* 59 It is occupied with divine things; the active life, with human affairs: “In the beginning was the Word; behold Him to whom Mary listened,” says St. Augustine. “And the Word was made flesh; behold Him whom Martha served.” 60 Moreover, Christ Himself said: “Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.” 61 St. Augustine observes: “It is not that your part, O Martha, is bad, but that Mary’s is better. Why is it better? Because it will not be taken from her. A day will come when the burden which necessity imposes on you will be withdrawn; but the sweetness of truth is eternal.” 62

This contemplative life exists fully only in the mystical life, which is the true prelude to that of heaven. All, even those who are engaged in the active life, should strive for it in virtue of the first precept; prayer is no less necessary to them. If the conditions of their life render the highest forms of contemplation less accessible, its substance is not refused them; on the contrary, our Lord invites us all. “Those who are more adapted to the active life can prepare themselves for the contemplative by the practice of the active life,” 68 by fulfilling its duties for the love of God. It would be an error to think that a person should pray well for the purpose of accomplishing well the duties of his state: for example, in order to take good care of the sick or to teach well, as if prayer and union with God were ordained and subordinated to these acts which are inferior to them. Rather, the active soul should accomplish the duties of its state out of love for God, to be more closely united to our Lord and to make Him loved es p s . 26:4.

69 P S . 45: 11.

«o De verbis Domini, serm. 27.

Luke 10: 42.

02 De verbis Domini, serm. 27.

«8 St. Thomas, Ha Ilae, q.182, a.4 ad 311m.

more, so that its activity should become as it were the exterior radiation of its prayer, of its union with God, which is the most important part of activity. Thus the mystical life, far from harming action, is its living source.

St. Augustine says: “Holy leisure is longed for by the love of truth; but it is the necessity of love to undertake requisite business. If no one imposes this burden upon us, we are free to sift and contemplate truth; but if it be laid upon us, we are necessitated for love's sake to undertake it. And yet not even in this case are we obliged wholly to relinquish the sweets of contemplation; for were these to be withdrawn, the burden might prove more than we could bear.” 64 St. Thomas says that, when a person is called from the contemplative to the active life, it should not be by way of subtraction from the first, but by addition of the second. 65 This is why the apostolate should flow, as he says elsewhere, from “the plenitude of contemplation.” 66 The faithful, the interior souls who come to listen to the word of God, expect it to be given to them in a divine manner, which is but the radiation of contemplation.

The contemplative life, which by its intimacy with the interior Master and its perfect docility to His inspirations merits the name of mystical life, or life hidden with Christ in God, is therefore truly the normal prelude to that of heaven.

In the preceding pages we have discussed th,e three principal reasons for the remote and general call of just souls to the mystical life. They are fundamental since they rest: (1) on the common principle of the interior life and of the mystical life, and on the law of the progress of the gifts as habitus , or habitual dispositions, connected with charity; (2) on the necessity of the passive purifications, which belong

64 City of God, Bk. XIX, chap. 19.

Summa, Ila Ilae, q. 182, a.i ad gum. wibid., q. 188, a. 6.

to the mystical life and are the most efficacious means to lead the soul to divine union on earth; (3) on the common end of the interior and of the mystical life, and on the perfection normally required to receive the beatific vision immediately after death, and that not in its lowest degree. These three considerations of the principle of the supernatural life, of its most efficacious means, and of its end are not accidental or material; they are essential and formal, and thus permit us to establish the law of the superior development of the divine seed, of the life of grace, semen gloriae.

Therefore it seems certain that the mystical life, characterized by the predominance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, is required for the full perfection of the Christian life. Is this likewise true of mystical contemplation, properly so called? After granting what precedes, certain writers, who hestitate to answer this question, explain their attitude by saying that in some souls the dominant gifts of the Holy Ghost are those relating especially to action; in their prayers and in the psalmody the dominant gift is piety; yet their prayer is not properly passive, nor is there any frequent and manifest intervention of the contemplative gifts of understanding and wisdom. Consequently these souls would be in the mystical life, which is superior to the ascetical, but without having mystical contemplation, properly so called, the prayer of passive recollection or of quiet.

As we have already stated, the gifts of contemplation may as yet intervene in these souls only in a diffuse manner; the mystical life is still imperfect in them. It may be accompanied by a great generosity, which merits the name of perfection without, however, being the full perfection of the Christian life. 67 This last, to be truly a plenitude, requires a

87 As St. Teresa frequently observes, the delights of contemplation are not required for perfection, and not even for very high perfection. As a matter of fact, mystical contemplation is often arid and painful. Cf. Saudreau, La complete development of the entire spiritual organism, including the superior gifts of understanding and wisdom. 68 It is the prelude to the life of heaven, the perfect, immediate preparation for the beatific vision, which is given only to entirely purified souls when they desire it keenly.

This seems to us, in conformity with tradition, to be St. Thomas* doctrine on the relations of the gifts of the Holy Ghost with the progress of charity. 69 In the different religious orders, it is also the teaching of St. Bonaventure, Tauler, Ruysbroeck Louis de Blois, Dionysius the Carthusian, St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, Father Lallemant, S.J., and his disciples, Father Surin, S.J., and others as Canon Saudreau proves at length in the third edition of his work on The Life of Union with God according to the Great Masters of Spirituality. Father Lamballe holds the same opinion in his book entitled Contemplation . We agree with these authors and with Father Arintero, O.P., that the supernatural life has its full development in this life only in the transforming union, such as it is described by St. John of the Cross and by St. Teresa in the seventh mansion. It will vie d*union a Dieu , d’apres les grands maitres de la spirituality (3d ed.), p. 263, where he quotes several texts from St. Teresa's writings.

68 In other words, the mystical contemplation of the mystery of God present in us is required for the full perfection of the life of grace, if we take this word “perfection” not only in the broad sense and from the moral point of view, but in the strict and metaphysical sense, which in this case expresses the full development of the supernatural organism.

69 See particularly la Ilae, q.69, a. 2: “Whether the rewards assigned to the beatitudes refer to this life?” They are, he says, granted to the perfect (not only to some of them) as a prelude to the life of heaven, “by a kind of imperfect inchoation of future happiness.” See also Ila Ilae, q.45. “Every Christian,” says St. Thomas, “should participate in the contemplation of God, for the precept (Ps. 45: 11) applies to all: ‘Be still and see that I am God’ ” (Ilia, d.36, q. 1, a.3 ad 5um). If this is true of every Christian, what must be said of the Christian who has reached the full perfection of the interior life?

79 The third edition is more complete than the former editions and contains (notably p. 290) the result of the research done by Father Colunga, O.P., on the struggle between the spirituals and the intellectuals at the time of Cano.

be sufficient to recall here some characteristic texts and also those which seem opposed to them.

Speaking of the passive purification of the senses, which belongs to the mystical order, St. John of the Cross says, as we have seen: “The soul must pass through this dark night in order to become perfect.” 71 “The soul has set out and begun to penetrate the way of the spirit, the way of the proficient and the advanced, which is also called the illuminative way, or the way of infused contemplation.” 72 “It is God alone who must raise the soul to this supernatural state. What is required of the soul is that, so far as it can, it should prepare itself for it. This is possible naturally, especially when we consider the divine help which ordinarily accompanies effort. As the soul makes progress in rejecting forms and emptying itself of them, God gives it union. In this operation the soul is passive.” 78 “In the case of religious, this change often takes place after a relatively short time, for having renounced the world they more easily fashion their senses and spirit according to the will of God.” 74 “As soon as the soul succeeds in carefully purifying itself of forms and sensible images, it will bathe in that pure and simple light which will become for it the state of perfection. As a matter of fact, this light is always ready to penetrate the soul; forms and veils of creatures create an obstacle to its infusion.” 78

Farther on, after showing the necessity of the passive purification of the soul in order to reach full perfection, 78 St. John of the Cross tells us that such perfection is found only in the transforming union where “the soul is no longer

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

72 Ibid., Bk. I, chap. 14.

73 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. Ill, chap. 1.

74 The Living Flame of Love, st. Ill, verse 3.

75 The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk. II, chap. 15.

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

37® troubled by the devil, or the flesh, or the world, or the appetites. It can now say: ‘Winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land.’ ” 77 St. Teresa expresses the same idea in the beginning of the fifth mansion: “Thus all we who wear the holy habit of Carmel are called to prayer and contemplation. This is our first object . . . and yet I declare to you that very few of us prepare themselves so that our Lord may reveal to them the precious pearl of which we are speaking. I admit we are outwardly virtuous. But how many things we lack, and what need we have to banish all negligence in order to acquire the virtues necessary to attain to contemplation!” 78

In The Way of Perfection, speaking of infused contemplation and the living waters of prayer, St. Teresa enunciates this general principle, which she later develops (chaps. 20, 21, 23. 25, 29, 33). We have already quoted some of these texts. “Remember, our Lord invited ‘Any man’: He is truth itself; His word cannot be doubted. If all had not been included He would not have addressed everybody, nor would He have said: ‘I will give you to drink.’ He might have said: ‘Let all men come, for they will lose nothing by it, and I will give to drink to those I think fit for it.’ But as He said, unconditionally: ‘If any man thirst let him come to Me,’ I feel sure that, unless they stop halfway, none will fail to drink of this living water.” 79 The saint says in chapter 21: “I maintain that this is the chief point; in fact, that everything depends on their having a great and a most resolute determination never to halt until they reach their journey’s end, happen what may, whatever the consequences are, cost what it will, let who will blame them . . . whether the earth itself goes to pieces beneath their feet.” The general call of

77 The Spiritual Canticle, Part III, st. 22.

78 The Interior Castle, fifth mansion, chap. 1.

7 ®Chap. 19.

souls to the mystical life could not be more clearly affirmed.

And yet, St. Teresa, Tauler, and St. John of the Cross occasionally make reservations. We read, for example, in The Way of Perfection: 80 “It does not follow, because all the nuns in this convent practise prayer, that they must all be contemplatives. Such an idea would greatly discourage those who do not understand the truth that contemplation is a gift of God. 81 . . . Sometimes our Lord comes very late, and pays as much all at once as He has given to others during many years.”

Why does St. Teresa make these reservations, which seem at first glance to contradict the principle of the general call of souls to infused contemplation? She herself says: 82 “The last chapter seems to contradict what I said, when in order to console those who were not contemplatives I told them that God had made many ways of reaching Him, just as He has made ‘many mansions/ I repeat that His Majesty, being God, knows our weakness and has provided for us. He did not say: ‘Let some men come to Me by drinking this water, but let others come by some other means/ His mercy is so great that He hinders no one from drinking of the fountain of life. . . . Indeed, He calls us loudly and publicly to do so. He is so good that He will not force us to drink of it, but He gives it in many ways to those who try to follow Him, so that none may go away disconsolate or die of thirst. From this overflowing river spring many rivulets, some large, others small, while there are little pools for children—by children, I mean beginners, unformed in virtue. You see, sisters, there so Chap. 17.

si Even if all souls, and more particularly all Carmelites, are called to contemplation, it evidently does not follow that all must be contemplatives from the start. As St. Teresa says in the text which we quote, God often delays greatly in bestowing this gift. It may even happen that a very generous soul, which is naturally much inclined to the active life, would attain to infused contemplation only after a longer period than the ordinary span of life.

82 The Way of Perfection , chap. 20.

37*

is no fear you will die of drought on the way of prayer. . . . Then take my advice; do not loiter on the road, but struggle manfully, until you perish in the attempt.” 88 The restrictions made above by St. Teresa do not, therefore, concern the remote general call, but the proximate individual call, which we shall now consider.

Footnotes

1. Cf. St. Thomas, la Ilae, q.68. The mystical state is identified with the passive way. It is, consequently, entirely distinct not only from graces gratis datae, like prophecy, but also from certain special and extraordinary favors, such as interior words, which may be ordained especially to the sanctification of the soul receiving them, and sometimes accompany infused contemplation and the mystical union, without constituting its essence. They are concomi tant, accessory, and passing phenomena which may be declared essentially extraordinary, without impairing the doctrine according to which mystical contemplation itself is not essentially or intrinsically extraordinary, but only extrinsically so. ↩

2. Cf* supra, pp. 235-38, for the meaning of the words “ordinary” and “ex traordinary.” ↩

3. that the progress of one is complete only in the other; ↩

4. that their end is the same, and that only the mystical life prepares immediately and perfectly for this end. These are, as we shall see, the principal reasons proving the normal though eminent character of the mystical life. ↩

5. vSumma, la Ilae, q.61, a.5; q.68, a.i ad lum; In Matth., 5. ↩