Chapter XXXVII. Retarded Souls
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T THE beginning of the third part of this work, we shall speak of the second conversion through which one passes, with greater or lesser generosity, from the purgative way of beginners to the illuminative way of the advanced. Some souls, because of their negligence or spiritual sloth, do not pass from the age of beginners to that of proficients. These are retarded souls; in the spiritual life they are like abnormal children, who do not happily pass through the crisis of adolescence and who, though they do not remain children, never reach the full development of maturity. Thus these retarded souls belong neither among beginners nor among proficients. Unfortunately they are numerous.
Of these retarded souls, some who formerly served God with fidelity are now in a state bordering on indifference. Though in the past they knew true spiritual fervor, we may say without fear of rash judgment that they seriously misused divine graces. Had it not been for this misuse, as a matter of fact the Lord would have continued what He had begun in them, for He does not refuse His help to those who do what is in their power to obtain it.
How did these souls reach this state of tepidity? As a rule, two principal causes are indicated: the neglect of little things in the service of God and the refusal to make the sacrifices He asks.
Tue NEGLECT or LITTLE [HINGS
The neglect of little things seems slight in itself, but it may become grave in its results. Our daily merit is ordinarily constituted by little acts of virtue from morning to night. As drops of water gradually wear away a stone, as drops of rain render the dried-up earth fertile, so our good acts by their repetition engender a good 461 habit, an acquired virtue; they preserve it and increase it; and, if they. proceed from a supernatural or infused virtue, they obtain the increase of this virtue.
In the service of God, things which seem small in themselves are great in their relation to our last end, to God who should be loved above all else. They are also great by reason of the supernatural spirit of faith, confidence, and love which should make us accomplish them. If we acted thus, we would live from morning to night in the presence of God, which is infinitely precious; and we would live by Him, by His spirit, instead of living by the natural spirit in accordance with the inclination of egoism. Little by little there would grow up in us zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Unless we strive in this way, we may end by following the downward path of practical naturalism, allowing ourselves to be dominated by the more or less unconscious gross selfishness which inspires many of our acts.
The neglect of little things in the service of God leads rapidly to neglect of great things: for example, in the case of a priest or religious, it leads to the recitation of the Office without true piety, to scarcely any preparation for Mass, to saying Mass hastily or assisting at it without the requisite attention, to replacing thanksgiving by the obligatory recitation of a part of the Office, so that all personal piety disappears and gradually gives place to piety that is, in a way, official and exterior. If a priest were to follow this downward path, he would little by little become a mere functionary of God. He would end by treating holy things with carelessness, whereas, on the other hand, he would perhaps acquit himself with the utmost seriousness in those duties which assure his reputation as a professor, writer, lecturer, or man of affairs. Gradually emphasis would be shifted from what is of greatest moment in life to what is secondary. The holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which perpetuates in substance on our altars the sacrifice of the cross and applies its fruits to us, is evidently the most serious and greatest thing in life for the priest and the true Christian. A Mass well celebrated or well heard with a spirit of faith is far superior to our personal activity; it orientates this activity toward its true supernatural end and renders it fruitful. On the contrary, we swerve from this end when we reach the stage of seeking self in our activity, to the point of forgetting the salvation of souls and all that it demands on our part.
Neglect of little things in the service of God may lead us to this forgetfulness, which renders everything unfruitful.
We read, on the contrary, in St. Luke: “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater.”1 Whoever is daily faithful to the smallest duties of Christian life, or to those of the religious life, will receive the grace to be faithful even to martyrdom, if he should have to bear witness to God in his blood. Then will be fully accomplished in him the words of the Gospel: “Well done, good and faithful servant; because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” ? But whoever habitually neglects little things in the service of God, will end by neglecting great ones. How, then, will he accomplish the difficult acts that may be required of him?
THe REFUSAL oF SACRIFICES ASKED
A second cause of tepidity in retarded souls is the refusal to make the sacrifices which the Lord asks. Some persons feel themselves called to a more serious, a more pertect life, to true prayer, to the practice of humility, without which there are no true virtues; but these souls refuse, if not directly at least indirectly, by seeking diversion. They do not wish to hear the words that recur daily in the invitatory of Matins: “Today, if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Some, who are preoccupied with doing something, for example, a book, a work that would let the world know they exist, say to themselves from time to time: “First of all, it is essential to become an interior soul; if the soul is empty, it can give nothing. To do something exterior is unprofitable unless the soul is united to God.” To become an interior soul, only some sacrifices of self-love would be necessary; God would have to be truly sought instead of self. Without these sacrifices, how can anyone enter on a true interior life? If these sacrifices are refused, the soul remains retarded; it may stay so permanently.
Then it loses zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of its neighbor, the fervor of charity. It falls into tepidity, which, with habitual negligence, is affection for venial sin or the disposition of the will to commit certain venial sins deliberately when the occa- sion presents itself. There is finally, as it were, the firm resolution to remain in this state.
In addition to the lack of the spirit of sacrifice, other causes may produce this tepidity of retarded souls: namely, levity of spirit, the thoughtlessness with which one tells, for example, officious lies (1.e., lies of expediency) whenever the occasion offers; spiritual sloth, which leads finally to the abandonment of the spiritual war against our defects, against our predominant fault, which quite frequently tries to pass for a virtue, and gives rise in us to other more or less inordinate passions. A person thus arrives at carelessness and indifference in regard to perfection and no longer truly tends toward it. The fact that he has perhaps promised to tend toward it by the way of the counsels is forgotten, as is also the loftiness of the supreme precept: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind.” 3
Tue TENDENCY TO DERISION
Among the causes of tepidity in retarded souls, the tendency to derision should be particularly noted. St. Thomas speaks of the derider when he discusses the vices opposed to justice: insult, detraction, murmuring against the reputation of our neighbor. He points out + that to deride or to ridicule someone, is to show that we do not esteem him; and derision, says the saint, may become a mortal sin if it affects persons or things that deserve high esteem. It is a grievous sin to ridicule the things of God, or our parents, or superiors, or good persons who lead a virtuous life. Derision may even become very grievous by reason of its consequences, for 1t may turn weak souls forever away from the practice of good. Job replied to his friends: “He that is mocked by his friends as I, shall call upon God; and He will hear him. For the simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn.” * But it is also said of deriders: “He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them.” 6 The terrible irony of heaven will chastise that of earth.
The derider is himself a retarded soul, holding others back and
becoming, often without being aware of it, the instrument of the spirit of evil. His cast of soul, which is the direct opposite of evangelical simplicity, is the one most opposed to supernatural contemplation. The derider, who wishes “to play the rogue,” ridicules the just man who tends truly to perfection; he emphasizes the latter’s defects and depreciates his good qualities. Why is this? Because he feels that he himself has little virtue, and he is unwilling to admit his inferiority. Then, out of spite, he lessens the real and fundamental value of his neighbor and the necessity of virtue itself. He may greatly harm weak souls which he intimidates, and, while working his own ruin, he may labor at their perdition.
THe Unuappy Resutts or Tuts STATE
The saints tell us that retarded and tepid souls may reach such a state of blindness of spirit and hardness of heart that it is very difficult to reform them. This statement is borne out by St. Bernard, who says: “You will more easily see a great number of seculars renounce vice and embrace virtue than a single religious pass from tepidity to fervor.” 7 The higher a retarded or tepid soul has been raised, the more deplorable is its fall and also the more difficult is its conversion; in fact, it reaches the point where it judges its state to be satisfactory, and no longer has a desire to ascend higher. When the time of the Lord’s visit is disregarded, He sometimes returns only after long petitions. Retarded souls are in danger; they should be intrusted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who alone can bring them back to the Savior and obtain for them the graces that will rekindle in them the desire for perfection.
On this subject Father Lallemant, S.J., wrote a striking chapter reminiscent of certain pages from the writings of St. Catherine of Siena and of Tauler. Lallemant’s beautiful book, The Spiritual Doctrine, contains the following statement:
In a community there may be four classes of religious: some perfect; others wicked, haughty, full of vanity, sensual, enemies of regularity; others tepid, cowardly, indifferent, and finally, the virtuous who tend to perfection, although they may perhaps never reach it.
Religious belonging to these four classes may be found in the holiest religious orders, as well as in those communities which have fallen into a
T Epist. ad Richard.
relaxed condition; with this difference, however, that in an order which has fallen from its first fervor, the larger number belong to the tepid group, and the remainder is composed of a few wicked souls, of a small number who work at their perfection, and of a very limited number of perfect souls. But in an order in which regular observance is still in its vigor, the bulk of the community is composed of those who tend to perfection, and the remainder comprises a few perfect souls, a small number of tepid religious, and very few wicked souls.
We may make a very important observation here: that is, that a religious order leans toward decadence when the number of the tepid begins to equal that of the fervent. By the fervent, I mean those who strive from day to day to make fresh progress in prayer, recollection, mortification, purity of conscience, and humility. ‘Those who do not make this effort should be considered tepid, although they may keep from mortal sin; they corrupt many others, do extreme harm to the whole body, and are themselves in danger, either of not persevering in their vocation, or of falling into interior pride or great darkness.
The duty of superiors in religious houses is to act in such a way, as well by their good example as their exhortations, their individual conferences, and their prayers, that their inferiors may remain in the ranks of the fervent who tend to perfection; otherwise, the superiors themselves will bear the punishment, and a terrible punishment it will be.’
All this is only too true and shows how easy it 1s to become a retarded soul, to stray from the road of perfection, by ceasing to live according to the spirit of faith. Then, evidently, it becomes difficult to admit that the contemplation of the mysteries of faith is in the normal way of sanctity; or one may conclude that this doctrine seers true in theory, but is little in accord with the facts. To tell the truth, we should say that, as a matter of fact, many souls remain retarded; they are not in order; they do not really tend toward perfection and certainly do not nourish themselves sufficiently with the mysteries of faith, with the mystery of the Mass, at which, however, they frequently assist, but in a manner that is not sufficiently interior to assure the progress that should be made.
Father Lallemant adds:
There are four things prejudicial to the spiritual life, and on them are based the evil maxims that slip into holy communities: (1) the esteem of purely human talents and qualities; (2) the care to make friends for solely
8 The Spiritual Doctrine, Appendix, chap. 8.
human reasons; (3) a politic conduct directed only by human prudence, a spirit that is sly and opposed to evangelical simplicity; (4) superfluous recreations which the soul seeks or conversations and reading which give a wholly natural satisfaction to the mind.°
These four enemies of the spiritual life give rise, as Father Lallemant points out in this same chapter, to ambition, the desire for eminent positions or the wish to make a reputation for oneself in the sciences, and the seeking after one’s ease; all of which are manifestly opposed to spiritual progress.
In this discussion of retarded souls, a most important consideration should be noted: namely, that we must be on the alert to preserve in our souls the subordination of the natural activity of the mind to the essentially supernatural virtues, especially to the three theological virtues. These three infused virtues and their acts are certainly very superior to the natural activity of the mind necessary for the study of the sciences, of philosophy, and of theology. To deny this truth would be a heresy; but it is not sufficient to admit it in theory. Otherwise we would end by really preferring the study of philosophy and theology to the superior life of faith, to prayer, to the love of God and of souls, to the celebration of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which would be hurriedly celebrated without any spirit of faith, in order to give more time to a piece of work, to an intellectual overloading that would remain quite empty and fruitless, because it would be destitute of the spirit that ought to animate it. Thus we would fall into an evil intellectualism, in which there would be something like the hypertrophy of the reasoning powers to the detriment of the life of faith, of true piety, and of the indispensable training of the will. Then charity, the highest of the theological virtues, would no longer truly hold the first place in the soul, which might remain forever retarded and in part fruitless.
To remedy this retardation, we should often recall that God in His mercy continually offers us the grace to make us daily fulfill a little better the supreme precept, that is, the duty to tend toward the perfection of charity: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself.” 1° Let us re-
member that in the evening of life we shall be judged on the sincerity of our love of God.
Tue INCLINATION TO Ecotsm THAT REMAINS IN Us
Tauler in his sermons often speaks of two inclinations in us, the one good, the other evil. His disciples gathered up his preaching on this subject in the third chapter of The Institutions. At this point in our study, we must emphasize the essential elements of this teaching, by noting the indications of the inclination that seeks self, and by showing how to bring about the predominance of the other fundamental inclination by means of which we are in the image of God.
Since all our works draw their value from the intention and love which produce them, and since all should spring from the love of God, we ought often to recall the fact that all sins and eternal damnation come from an evil inclination which seeks self and is opposed to God.
Christ Himself declares: “Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” This is equivalent to saying that without the death of the evil inclination in us our soul will never become rich in merits, in fruits of life for eternity. If, on the contrary, the evil inclination dies, then the seed of eternal life will grow in us. The knowledge of this evil inclination is, therefore, more useful to man than knowledge of the entire universe.
By what traits can this evil inclination be recognized? Simply by the fact that it continually seeks self rather than God in everything. If at times it gives evidence of love for God and neighbor, such a manifestation is only a deception and an illusion. This inclination fancies that it possesses justice and goodness; it often glories in its works, but chiefly in such as have some appearance of virtue and holiness. It takes delight in them, attributes them to itself, and, although it does not love true virtues, it seeks the praise that is due them.
This evil inclination considers its sins as trifles. Such an attitude is a proof that it is destitute of true light and does not know what sin is; for, if it had a true and clear understanding of what it is to turn away from God, the sovereign Good, it would doubtless not willingly consent to do so.
This same inclination makes an effort always to appear good, although it is not. For this reason, some people would not dare to grieve anyone by a reproof because they could not endure a cross reply. This inclination at times even imagines that it loves God fervently, and consequently it reprehends its neighbor for his sins with extreme asperity. “But,” says Tauler, “if it could see its own sins, it would completely forget those of others, no matter how great they might be.” 1
Every time this inclination is reproved, it strives to justify and defend itself, and cannot bear to be corrected. It tells itself that others have their defects, but that it has always acted with a good intention or through ignorance or weakness. This inclination reaches the point of persuading itself that it seeks God in everything, whereas in reality it seeks itself always and lives only on appearances and externals. It prefers appearance to reality. Therefore it seeks itself even in prayer and the taste for spiritual things, in interior consolations turning the gifts of heaven, whether interior or exterior, and even God Himself, to its own satisfaction. If it happens to lose an object of its delight, it immediately seeks another, in order to rest in it and to refer all to self.
How to BRING ABOUT THE PREDOMINANCE OF THE OTHER INCLINATION, Wuicu Is IN THE [MAGE oF Gop
To bring about the predominance of the good inclination, man must be a severe guardian and observer of self, of his exterior and interior senses. He must not allow his senses to become dissipated, to run after creatures. “He must,” says Tauler, “build a cell within his heart, withdraw to it and live in it as far as possible unknown to the whole world, that he may be less turned away from divine contemplation. He must not lose sight of the life and passion of our Savior.” 1? The consideration of Christ’s life and passion will give birth in him to the desire to resemble Christ by humility of heart, patience, meekness, true love of God and neighbor.
When a man finds that he is not conformed to the divine model,
11 The Institutions, chap. 3. 12 Ibid.
he will ask the Holy Ghost to give him the grace better to see the ugliness of sin and its deadly results. He will abase himself with sincerity and humility, but with confidence in infinite mercy, begging it to raise him up again.
The more a man promptly mortifies his evil inclination, the more living and beautiful the image of God that is in him becomes: the natural image, that is, the soul itself in so far as by nature it 1s spiritual and immortal, and the supernatural image, in other words, sanctifying grace from which spring the infused virtues and the gifts. Then gradually man begins to think frequently of God instead of thinking always of himself, and instead of seeking self by referring everything to self, he begins to seek God in everything that happens, to love Him truly, effectively, practically, and to refer all to Him.
Tauler concludes: “As long as you seek yourself, as you act for yourself, as you ask for the reward of and the wages for your actions, and cannot endure being known by others for what you really are, you dwell in illusion and error worthy of pity. When you despise another because of his defects, and when you wish to be preferred to those who do not live according to your maxims, you do not know yourself, you are still ignorant of the evil inclination that subsists in you.” 13 It is this inclination that hinders the image of God from being what it ought to be, so that the soul may truly bear the fruits of eternal life; therefore the necessity of knowing oneself profoundly in order to know God and to love Him truly.
These reflections on retarded souls lead us to speak of the necessity of the second conversion or passive purification of the senses, which marks, according to St. John of the Cross, the entrance into the illuminative way of the advanced. We will discuss this subject in the second volume of this work.
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GENERAL HIstroricAL Works
P. Pourrat. Christian Spirituality. London, 1922.
M. Viller. La spiritualité des premiers siécles chrétiens. Paris, 1930.
F. Vernet. La spiritualité médiévale. Paris, 1929.
G. Bardy. La vie spirituelle d'après les Pères des trois premiers siècles. Paris, 1935.
COLLECTIONS
J. de Guibert, S.J. Documenta ecclesiastica christianae perfectionis studium spectantia. Rome, 1931.
Rouet de Journel-Dutilleul, S.J. Enchiridion asceticum (2d ed.). St. Louis: Herder, 1936.
PERIODICALS
Revue d’ascétique et de mystique. Toulouse, 1920- La vie spirituelle. Paris, 1920-
Vida sobrenatural. Salamanca, 1921-
Vita cristiana. Fiesole, 1929-
Etudes carmélitaines. Paris, 1911-
Zeitschrift fiir Aszese und Mystik. Innsbruck, 1934- Dictionnaire de spiritualité. Paris, 1932-
Spiritual Writers
PatristTic PERIOD Greek Patrology
St. Clement. Letter to the Church of Corinth (about the year 95) on concord, humility, and obedience.
Clement of Alexandria. The Pedagogue (after the year 195), through asceticism to contemplation, Stromata, notably: VI, 8, 9, 12; V, 11, re VIL 9s IV, 33-23.
St. Athanasius (297-373). Life of St. Anthony, in which he describes the spirituality of the patriarch of monks and cenobites.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-86). Catecheses, which contain the portrait of the true Christian.
St. Basil (330-79). On the Holy Ghost, His influence on the regenerated soul; Rules of the monastic discipline of the Orient; Homilies.
St. Gregory of Nyssa (335-95). Life of Moses, in which he treats of the ascent of the soul toward perfection.
St. Gregory of Nazianzus (330-90). Sermons, notably XXXIX, chaps. 8—10.
St. John Chrysostom (344-407). Homilies; On the Priesthood.
St. Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444). Thesaurus; Homilies; Commentary on the Gospel of St. Jobn, particularly Bk. IV on the Eucharist, and Bk. V on the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in souls.
Pseudo-Dionysius (sir. 500). The Divine Names; Mystical Theology; The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy; Letters.
St. John Climachus (d. 649). Scala paradisi, a summary of asceticism and mysticism for the monks of the Orient.
Diadochus (bishop of Photike). De perfectione.
St. Maximus Confessor (580-662). Scolia on Dionysius and his Liber asceticus. He explains the doctrine of Dionysius on contemplation.
St. John Damascene (675-749). De virtutibus et vitiis; Sacra parallela; De Nativitate Domini.
St. Ephrem (fourth century), in Syriac literature, wrote works that are essentially mystical by their lofty inspiration. Cf. J. Lamy, S. Ephraem syri Hymni et sermones, 4 vols., 1882-1902.
Latin Patrology
St. Cyprian (200-58). De habitu virginum; De dominica oratione; De bono patientiae; De zelo et livore.
St. Ambrose (337-97). De officiis ministrorum; De virginibus; De virginitate; De viduis; De Isaac et anima, chaps. 3, 8; In Ps. 118, sermo 6.
St. Augustine (354-430). Confessiones, IX, 10; X, 40; Soliloquia; De doctrina christiana; De civitate Det; Epist. 211; De quantitate animae, chap. 33; De Sermone Domini in monte, Bk. I, chaps. 3 and 4; Enarr. in ps., 33:5.
Cassian (360-435). Collationes; cf. especially Conferences ọ f.
St. Benedict (480-543). Regula, critical edition by Butler, 1912; a rule which is full of discretion and which became that of almost all the monks of the West up to the thirteenth century.
St. Gregory the Great (540-604). Expositio in librum Job, sive Moralium libri XXXV; Liber regulae pastoralis; Homiliae in Ezechielem, especially Bk. II, hom. 2, 3, 5.
St. Peter Damian (1007—72). On the Perfection of Monks, chaps. 8 and
IO.
THe MIDDLE AGEs
Benedictine and Cistercian Spirituality; Contemplative and Liturgical Spirituality
St. Anselm (1033-1109). Meditationes; Orationes; Cur Deus homo.
St. Bernard (1090-1153). Sermones de tempore; de sanctis; de diversis; In Canticum Canticorum; De consideratione; De gradibus humilitatis; De conversione, chaps. 12-14; De diligendo Deo. Cf. E. Gilson, La théologie mystique de saint Bernard, 1934.
St. Hildegard (d. 1179). Liber divinorum operum.
St. Gertrude (1256-1301) and St. Mechtilde (d. cir. 1285). Revelations, which show a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
St. Bridget (1302-73). Revelations, particularly those on the passion of our Lord.
Jean de Castel. De adhaerendo Deo, for a long time attributed to Albert the Great; De lumine increato, 1410.
García de Cisneros (d. 1510). Ejercitatorio de la vida espiritual, a work which, in a sense, prepares for the Exercises of St. Ignatius.
Dom C. Butler. Benedictine Monachism. New York: Longmans, 1924. To the above should be added:
St. Lawrence Justinian (1380-1455), reformer of the Canons Regular in Italy. De humilitate; De perfectionis gradibus; De incendio divini amoris; De vita solitaria.
The School of St. Victor
Hugh (d. 1141). Homilia I in Eccl.; De anima, Bk. II, chap. 49; De sacramentis christianae fidei; De vanitate mundi; Soliloquium de arrha animae; De laude caritatis; De modo orandi; De amore sponsi ad sponsam; De meditando.
Richard (d. 1173). Benjamin minor, seu de praeparatione ad contemplationem; Benjamin major, seu de gratia contemplationis; Expositio in Cantica Canticorum; De quattuor gradibus violentae caritatis.
Carthusian Spirituality; Contemplative Spirituality and That of the Eremitical Life
Dom Guigues II. Scala claustralium (lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio); cf. especially chap. ro.
Hugh of Balma (d. 1439). Theologia mystica.
Ludolph the Carthusian (1300-70). Vie de Notre-Seigneur par manière de méditation, a book which was very much read in the Middle Ages. .
Dionysius the Carthusian (1402-71). De conversione peccatoris; Speculum conversionis; De fonte lucis; De contemplatione; Tractatus de donis Spiritus Sancti; De discretione spirituum; Commentar. in
Dionysium (ed. of the Carthusians of Montreuil-sur-Mer, begun in 1896).
John Lanspergius (d. 1539). Alloguia Christi ad animam fidelem; Opuscula spiritualia, These works show his great devotion to the Sacred Heart.
L. Surius (1522-78). De probatis sanctorum historiis. He translated Tauler’s sermons into Latin.
Molina the Carthusian (1560-1612). Instrucción de sacerdotes; Ejercicios espirituales.
Dominican Spirituality
On a strong doctrinal basis, it unites liturgical prayer and contemlation with apostolic action, as one sees exemplified in the life of t. Dominic.
Hugh of Saint-Cher (d. 1263). De vita spirituali; Ex commentariis Hugonis de Sancto Charo O.P. super totam bibliam excerpta, under the direction of Father Dionysius Mésard, O.P. (Pustet, 1910). An excellent work, divided by Father Mésard into four parts: De vita purgativa, de vita illuminativa, de vita unitiva, de vita spirituali sacerdotum.
Blessed Humbert of Romans (d. 1277), Fifth Master General of the Friars Preachers. Expositio super Regulam S. Augustini et Constitutiones Fr. Praedicatorum (ed. Berthier, Rome, 1889).
St. Albert the Great (1206-80). Commentarii in Joannem, in Dionysium; Mariale; De sacrificio Missae.
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74). Commentarii in Psalmos; in lib. Job; in Canticum canticorum; in Matth.; in Joann.; in Epist. S. Pauli; Summa theologica, in which he treats at length of the virtues in general and of each one in particular, of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, of graces gratis datae, of rapture, of the influence of the good and bad angels; in particular the tract on charity sets forth the principles of the most solid spirituality. Cf. also his opuscula: De perfectione spirituali; Expositio in Symbol. Apost; et in Orat. dominic., Officium SS. Sacramenti. The saints completely objective doctrine reaches beyond the particular spirituality of a religious order; here again St. Thomas merits the title of Doctor communis in the Church.
St. Vincent Ferrer (1346-1419). Treatise on the Spiritual Life (English translation by D. A. Dixon. Westminster, Maryland: Newman Bookshop, 1944).
St. Catherine of Siena (1347-80). The Dialogue (English translation by Algar Thorold. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1925). Complete works in Italian published by Girolamo Gigli, Siena, 1707 (ed. Tommaseo, Florence, 1860).
Tauler (d. 1361). Sermons (critical German edition of Vetter, 1910). The Institutions were not written by Tauler, but are extracts from his sermons and contain a summary of his teaching.
Blessed Henry Suso (d. 1365). Die Schriften des Heiligen H. Suso. Published by Father Denifle, O.P.
Franciscan Spirituality
It leads the soul to live especially by the love of Jesus crucified, through the practice of abnegation and in particular of evangelical poverty.
St. Bonaventure (1221-74). He treated at length of the virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost in his Commentaries on Ecclesiastes, the Book of Wisdom, the Gospels of St. John and St. Luke, in those on the four books of The Sentences, and in the works which are, strictly speaking, spiritual: De triplice via, Itinerarium mentis ad Deum, Breviloquium (Quaracchi, Vols. V, VIII). Cf. Dict. de spirit., art. “S. Bonaventure,” by E. Longpré, O.F.M.
Blessed Angela of Foligno (d. 1309). Book of Visions and Instructions.
St. Catherine of Bologna (1413-63). Treatise on the Seven Spiritual Weapons.
The Flemish School of Mysticism
Blessed John Ruysbroeck (1293-1381). (Œuvres, translated from the Flemish by the Benedictines of the Abbey of Saint-Paul de Wisques: The Mirror of a Mystic; De septem gradibus amoris; The Spiritual Espousals.
Gerhard Groote (d. 1384). He wrote several puscula on spirituality.
Gerlac Peterssen (1378-1411). Soliloguium ignitum.
Thomas a Kempis (1379-1471). Probable author of The Imitation of Christ.1 He composed various opuscula of great piety; Soliloquium animae; Vallis liliorum; Cantica; De elevatione mentis (ed. Pohl, Fribourg, 1902-22).
John Mauburnus (Mombaer). Rosetum exercitiorum spiritualium (1491), a great compilation in which methods of meditation are discussed.
Toward the close of the Middle Ages, the following also should be noted:
Gerson (1363-1429). In spite of absolutely subversive nominalist theses (nullus est actus intrinsece malus ex objecto), he wrote some good spiritual works: La priére; La communion; La montagne de la contemplation; La théologie mystique spéculative et pratique; La perfection du coeur; Considérations sur saint Joseph.
W. Hilton (d. 1396). The Scale of Perfection. Ed. by Evelyn Underhill. London: J. M. Watkins, 1923.
Juliana of Norwich (d. 1442). Revelations of Divine Love.2
St. Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510). Dialogues; Treatise on Purgatory..
Anonymous English Mystic (14th cent.). The Cloud of Unknowing, with a commentary by Dom Augustine Baker, O.S.B. (ed. by Dom Justin McCann. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1924).
The Modern Period
In the modern period, spirituality often takes a more active form and tends to radiate more beyond the cloister, into the world; new schools appear, while the older schools continue to show the value of the traditional teaching.
Benedictine and Cistercian Spirituality
Louis Blosius (1506-66). Institutio spiritualis, an excellent treatise, which contains the substance of his other works: Œuvres spirituelles (translation by the Benedictines of Saint-Paul de Wisques). Blosius wrote a defense of Tauler, whom he explains in a way that makes his teaching more accessible.
Dom Augustine Baker (1575-1641). Sancta Sophia (Holy Wisdom), a treatise on contemplation. New York: Benziger, 1890.
Cardinal Bona (1609-74). Manuductio ad coelum; Principia et documenta vitae christianae; De sacrificio missae; De discretione spirituum; Opuscula ascetica selecta. Herder, 1911.
Schram (1658-1720). Institutiones theologiae mysticae. New edition, 1868.
Dom Prosper Guéranger (1805-75). The Liturgical Year (translation by Dom Laurence Shepherd. London: Burns, Oates, 1890-1904).
Dom Delatte (of Solesmes). Commentaire de la Règle de saint Benoît.
Dom Vital Lehodey (abbot of the Trappist monastery of Notre-Damede-Grace. The Ways of Mental Prayer (translation by a monk of Mount Melleray. Dublin: M. H. Gill, 1930); Le saint abandon. 1919.
Dom Columba Marmion (abbot of Maredsous). Christ, the Life of the Soul (1923); Christ in His Mysteries (1924); Christ the Ideal of the Monk (1926). St. Louis: Herder.
Dom E. Vandeur (of Maredsous). Various spiritual works on the Mass.
Dom Anselm Stolz. Theologie der Mystik. Regensburg, 1936. English translation, The Doctrine of Spiritual Perfection. St. Louis: Herder, 1938.
Dominican Spirituality St. Catherine de Ricci (1522-90). Lettere (ed. Guasti, Florence, 1890). Luis de Granada (1504-88). Guia de pecadores; Tratado de la oracion y meditación; Memorial de la vida cristiana. Blessed Bartholomew a Martyribus (archbishop of Braganza). Compendium doctrinae spiritualis. 1582.
John of St. Thomas (1589-1644). De donis Spiritus Sancti.
Thomas de Vallgornera (d. 1665). Theologia mystica S. Thomae. He draws considerably on the work of the Carmelite, Philip of the Blessed Trinity, which appeared shortly before his work.
V. Contenson (1641-74). Theologia mentis et cordis.
Louis Chardon (1595-1651). La croix de Jésus (new edition, 1937); Les méditations sur la passion.
A. Massoulié (1632-1706). Traité de Pamour de Dieu; Traité de la véritable oraison (ed. Rousset, 1900); Méditations sur les trois voies (ed. Florand, 1934). In these works, Massoulié, while refuting the errors of the quietists, sets forth the doctrine of St. Thomas.
A. Piny (1640-1709). Le plus parfait (Pabandon); L’oraison du cœur; La clef du pur amour; La présence de Dieu; L’état du pur amour. Recent editions, Paris: Lethielleux, Téqui.
A. M. Meynard. Traité de la vie intérieure, 1884. Re-edited and adapted by Father Gerest, 1923. Paris: Lethielleux.
B. Froget. The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the Souls of the Just. New York: The Paulist Press, 1921.
H. M. Cormier. Instruction des novices (1905); Retraite ecclésiastique ad apres PEvangile et la vie des saints (Rome, 1903); Trois retraites progressives.
M. A. Janvier. Exposition de la morale catholique, Vols. IV, V, La charité.
J. G. Arintero. La evolución mística (Salamanca, 1908); Cuestiones místicas (2d ed., Salamanca, 1920); Cantar de los cantares (1919). In 1921 Father Arintero, of sainted memory, founded in Spain the spiritual magazine, La vida sobrenatural.
V. Bernadot. De Eucharistie à la Trinité (1918). In 1919 the author founded in France La vie spirituelle. Notre-Dame dans ma vie (1937)-
A. Gardeil. La structure de Padme et Pexpérience mystique (1927); La vtaie vie chrétienne (1935).
G. Gerest. Mémento de vie spirituelle (1923).
F. D. Joret. La contemplation mystique d'après saint Thomas d Aquin (1923); Recueillements (1934).
R. Garrigou-Lagrange. Christian Perfection and Contemplation (1923. English translation by Sister M. Timothea Doyle, O.P. St. Louis: Herder, 1937); Lamour de Dieu et la croix de Jésus (1929); Les trois conversions (1932); L’unione mistica in S. Caterina da Siena (Fiesole, 1938); Providence (1932. English translation by Dom Bede Rose. St. Louis: Herder, 1944).
H. Petitot. Introduction à la sainteté. 1935.
V. Osende. El tesoro escondido. 1924.
I. Menéndez-Reigada. De dirección espiritual. 1934.
R. Bernard. Le mystére de Marie. 1933. A. Lemonnyer. Notre vie divine. 1936.
Franciscan Spirituality
Francis de Osuna. Abecedario espiritual (1528), which St. Teresa used as a guide.
St. Peter of Alcantara (d. 1562), who was one of St. Teresa’s directors. La oración y meditación.
Mary of Agreda. The City of God (1670). (English translation by Fiscar Marison. Hammond, Indiana: W. B. Conkey Co., 1915.)
Louis-Fr. d’Argentan (d. 1680). Conférence sur les grandeurs de Dieu; Exercices du chrétien intérieur.
Brancati de Lauria. De oratione christiana (1687), often quoted by Benedict XIV.
‘Ambrose de Lombez. Traité de la paix intérieure. 1757.
Ludovic de Besse. La science de la pricre (Rome, 1903); La science du Pater (1904).
Adolph a Denderwindeke, O.M.C. Compendium theologiae asceticae. 1921.
J. Heerinckx. Introductio in theologiam spiritualem. Rome, 1931.
Jesuit Spiritual Writers
Theirs is a practical spirituality directed toward the sanctification of souls in the active and apostolic life.
St. Ignatius (d. 1556). The Spiritual Exercises. Cf. also his Constitutions and Letters.
St. Francis Xavier. Letters.
Alvarez de Paz (1560-1620). De vita spirituali ejusque perfectione. Lyons, 1602-12.
St. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621). De ascensione mentis in Deum; De genitu columbae sive de bono lacrymarum; De septem verbis a Christo in cruce prolatis; De arte bene moriendi.
A. Le Gaudier (d. 1622). De natura et statibus perfectionis. 1643; re-edited, Turin, 1903.
Alphonsus Rodriguez (d. 1616). Practice of Christian Perfection, 3 vols. Chicago, 1929.
St. Alphonsus Rodriguez (d. 1617), Jesuit brother, raised to lofty contemplation. Obras espirituales. Barcelona, 3 vols., 1885.
Luis de Lapuente (Dupont) (d. 1624). Spiritual Directory; The Christian Life; Meditations on the Mysteries of Our Holy Faith. Michael Godinez (Wadding) (1591-1644). Práctica de la teología mistica. New ed., Lethielleux, 1920.
Ven. Claude de la Colombiére (d. 1682). Grande retraite. New ed., Desclée, 1897.
J. Galliffet. De Pexcellence de la dévotion au Cœur adorable de Jésus- Christ. 1733.
L. Lallemant (d. 1635). La doctrine spirituelle (ed. Pottier, 1936), a remarkable work which shows how the soul, by purity of heart and docility to the Holy Ghost, ordinarily receives the grace of contemplation.
J. Surin (d. 1665). Les fondements de la vie spirituelle; La guide spirituelle; Questions sur amour de Dieu (ed. Pottier, 1930).
P. de Caussade (d. 1751). Abandonment to Divine Providence (English translation by E. J. Strickland. St. Louis: Herder, 1921), an admirable book; Progress in Prayer (adapted and edited by J. Mc- Sorley, C.S.P. St. Louis: Herder, 1904).
Scaramelli (1687-1752). Direttorio ascetico; Direttorio mistico. He tends to show that asceticism is not essentially ordained to mysticism, and that acquired prayer does not normally dispose the soul to receive infused contemplation.
J. N. Grou (1731-1603). Maximes spirituelles; Méditations en forme de retraite sur l'amour de Dieu; Manuel des âmes intérieures. Father Grou’s doctrine reproduces and develops that of Father Lallemant.
J. B. Terrien La grace et la gloire (1901); La mère de Dieu et la mère des hommes (1900).
R. de Maumigny. Pratique de Poraison mentale. 8th ed., 1911.
A. Poulain. The Graces of Interior Prayer (English translation by Leonora Yorke-Smith. St. Louis: Herder, 1911), a treatise on mysticism written from the point of view of the descriptive method.
A. Eymieu. Le gouvernement de soi-même. 1911-21.
J. V. Bainvel. La dévotion au Sacré-Cœur de Jésus (4th ed., 1917); Le saint coeur de Marie, vie intime de la Sainte Vierge (1918). Raoul Plus. In Christ Jesus (English translation by Peter Addison. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1926); God within Us (ed. by Cowell. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1929); Progress in Divine Union (English translation by Sister Mary
Bertille and Sister Mary St. Thomas. New York: Pustet, 1941).
P. Charles. La prière de toutes les heures.
P. L. Peeters. Vers Punion divine par les exercices de saint Ignace. 2d. ed., 1931.
J. de Guibert. Etudes de théologie mystique (1930); Theologia spiritualis ascetica et mystica (1937). Since 1920 the Revue dascétique et de mystique has appeared under his direction; since 1932 Le dictionnaire de spiritualité has appeared under the direction of Father M. Viller, S.J.
J. Maréchal. Etudes sur la psychologie des mystiques. Brussels-Paris: I, 1924; I, 1937.
Paul de Jaegher. An Anthology of Mysticism (English translation by Donald Attwater and others. London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1935).
J. de Ghellinck. Lectures spirituelles daprès les écrits des Pères. Desclée de Brouwer, 1931.
R. de Sinety. Psychopathologie et direction. Paris: Beauchesne, 1934.
Carmelite Spirituality
Its center is the life of prayer, union with God through complete detachment, with the hidden apostolate by means of prayer.
St. Teresa (1515-82). Obras de Santa Teresa, editadas y anotadas por el P. Silverio de S. Teresa. 6 vols., Burgos, 1915-20. See especially the excellent English editions, published by the Benedictines of Stanbrook Abbey, of The Interior Castle (London: Thomas Baker, 1921) and The Way of Perfection (ibid.).
St. John of the Cross (1543-91). Obras de San Juan de la Cruz ed. del P. Silverio de S. Teresa. 5 vols., 1929-31. Works of Saint Jobn of the Cross (English translation by David Lewis. New York: Benziger, 1909).
John of Jesus-Mary (1564-1615). Theologia mystica (re-edited in 1911, Herder); Instructio novitiorum (1883); De virorum ecclesiasticorum perfectione.
Thomas of Jesus (1568-1627). De contemplatione divina. Cologne, 1684.
Nicholas of Jesus-Mary. Phrasium mysticae theologiae ven. P. Joannis a Cruce elucidatio.
Philip of the Blessed Trinity (d. 1671). Summa theologiae mysticae (3 vols., new ed., Brussels, 1874). Thomas de Vallgornera, O.P., reproduces almost integrally the doctrine of this work in his Theologia mystica S. Thomae.
Anthony of the Holy Ghost. Directorium mysticum (1877), a summary of the work of Philip of the Blessed Trinity.
Joseph of the Holy Ghost. Cursus theologiae mystico-scholasticae. Seville, 1710-40; new ed., Bruges: Beyaert, 1924-.
St. Theresa of the Child Jesus (1873-97). Lettres; Sœur Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower of Jesus; a new and complete translation of L’histoire dune dme (New York: Kenedy, 1924).
Theodore of St. Joseph. Essai sur Poraison selon Pécole carmeélitaine. Bruges, 1923.
Bruno of Jesus-Mary. St. John of the Cross (New York: Benziger, 1932); Vie damour de saint Jean de la Croix (Paris: Desclée de
Brouwer, 1934); Madame Acarie (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1936).
Gabriel of St. Magdalen. La Mistica Teresiana (Fiesole, 1934); S. Giovanm della Croce (Florence, 1936); Santa Teresa di Gesu, Maestra di vita spirituale (Milan, 1935); Dict. de spiritualité, art. “Carmes: Ecole mystique thérésienne.”
Since 1911 Les études carmélitaines has been publishing interesting works on mystical theology and religious psychology in order to make the teaching of St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross better understood. See especially the articles by Father Louis of the Trinity, Father Bruno, and Father Gabriel of St. Magdalen. See also those of Jacques Maritain on St. John of the Cross. These articles have been reproduced in his beautiful book, The Degrees of Knowledge (English translation by B. Wall and M. Adamson. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1938).
Carmelites of the Old Observance
John of St. Samson (d. 1636), a lay brother who was raised to lofty contemplation. Œuvres spirituelles (2 vols., 1658); cf. La vie spirituelle, 1925-26.
St. Magdalen de Pazzi (1566-1607). Estasi e lettere scelte. Critical ed., Florence, 1924.
Salesian School
St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). Œuvres published by the Visitation of Annecy, 1892. St. Francis de Sales shows that union wtih God is accessible in all states of life. The Introduction to a Devout Life (1608) describes the purgative way and the beginning of the illuminative. The Treatise on the Love of God (1616) deals particularly with the unitive way. His Spiritual Conferences, written for the Visitandines, are valuable to all religious souls. Letters.
St. Jane de Chantal. Sa vie et ses œuvres. Paris: Plon, 1877-93.
Mère de Chaugy. Mémoires sur la vie et les vertus de sainte Jeanne de Chantel. Paris: Plon, 1893.
St. Mary Mary. Œuvres, published by Msgr. Gauthey, Poussielgue.
P. Tissot. L’art d'utiliser ses fautes, daprès S. Francois de Sales (3d ed., 1918); La vie intérieure simplifiée (a work written by a Carthusian).
French School of the Seventeenth Century.
The spirituality of this school, founded by Cardinal Berulle, springs from the dogma of the Incarnation and of our incorporation in Christ, with whom, by abnegation and the virtues, we glorify God living in us. Cardinal Bérulle (1576-1629), founder of the Oratory in France.
Œuvres complètes (ed. 1657; ed. 1856); his principal work is the Discours de létat et des grandeurs de Jésus.
Charles de Condren (1588-1641). Œuvres complètes (1st ed., 1668; 2d ed., 1857). See especially L’idée du sacerdoce et du sacrifice, on the priesthood of Christ and His holy humiliation of self.
St. Vincent de Paul (1576-1660). Correspondance; Entretiens; Documents (edited, published, and annotated by Father Coste, 1920). Cf. Maynard, Vertus et doctrine spirituelle de saint Vincent de Paul. Paris, 1882.
J. J. Olier (1608-57), founder of the Society of St. Sulpice. Le catéchisme chrétien pour la vie intérieure, in which he shows how, by the practice of mortification and humility, one attains to intimate union with Jesus; L’introduction a la vie et aux vertus chrétiennes; La journée chrétienne; Le traité des saints ordres, on union with our Lord, Priest and Victim.
L. Tronson (1622-1700). Forma cleri; Examens particuliers.
H. J. Icard (1805-93). Vie intérieure de la T. Ste Vierge (taken from the works of M. Olier, 1875 and 1880); Doctrine de M. Olier (1889 and 1891).
M. J. Ribet. La mystique divine distinguée des contrefacons diaboliques et des analogies humaines. 1879.
Charles Sauvé. Dieu intime; Jésus intime.
St. John Eudes (1601-80), disciple of Bérulle and Condren. Œuvres (re-edited in 12 vols., 1905); La vie et le royaume de Jésus dans les ames chretiennes; Le cœur admirable de la Mère de Dieu; Le mémorial de la vie ecclésiastique.
P. Le Doré. La dévotion au Sacré-Cœur et le V. Jean Eudes. 1892.
E. Georges. Saint Jean Eudes, sa vie et sa doctrine. 1936.
P. E. Lamballe. La contemplation, or Principes de théologie mystique. 1012.
Blessed Louis Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716). Traité de la vraie dévotion a la Ste Vierge; Le secret de Marie; Lettre aux amis de la croix.
St. John Baptist de la Salle (1651-1719), founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Méditations pour les dimanches et fêtes; Méditations pour les temps de la retraite.
Ven. Francis Libermann (1803-52). Ecrits sur Poraison; Lettres.
Ven. Boudon (bishop of Evreux, 1624-1702). Le régne de Dieu en Poraison mentale; Les saintes voies de la croix (1926).
C. Gay (1816-92). De la vie et des vertus chrétiennes.
The Liguorian School
St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787). The Eternal Truths (New York: Kenedy, 1857); The Glories of Mary (New York: O'Shea, 1889).
The following works were published in New York by Benziger: The Way of Salvation and Perfection (1886); The Great Means of Salvation and Perfection: Prayer (1886); The Holy Eucharist (1889); Dignity and Duties of the Priest, or Selva (1888); The True Spouse of Christ (1888); The Holy Mass (1889); The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ (1892). See also the new edition of his ascetical works in the course of publication at Rome.
Achille Desurmont (d. 1898). La charité sacerdotale; Le Credo et la Providence; La vie vraiment chrétienne.
Joseph Schryvers. Les principes de la vie spirituelle (1922); The Gift of Oneself (English translation by a Carmelite. Bettendorf, Iowa,
F. Bouchage. Pratique des vertus; Introduction à la vie sacerdotale (1916).
Karl Keusch. Die Aszetik des HI. Alfons Maria von Liguori. Paderborn, 1926.
Congregation of the Passionists
St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775). Letters (ed. by Father Amedeo, 4 vols., Rome, 1924); cf. Florilegio spirituale (2 vols., 1914-16); Sa vie, by Blessed V. Strambi (1786); see also Oraison et ascension mystique de saint Paul de la Croix by Father Cajetan of the Holy Name of Mary (Louvain, 1930).
Blessed Vincent Strambi, disciple of St. Paul of the Cross (1745-1824). Dei tesoriche abbiamo in Gesu Cristo.
Father Seraphinus (d. 1879). Principes de théologie mystique. 1873.
A. Devine. A Manual of Ascetical Theology (1902); A Manual of Mystical Theology (1903).
Additional Writers of No Particular School
L. Scupoli (1530-1610). Le combat spirituel, a work esteemed by St. Francis de Sales.
Venerable Mother Marie of the Incarnation (1599-1672), an Ursuline whose life, drawn from her writings, was written by her son, Dom Claude Martin, 1677. Lettres (1681); new critical edition by Dom Jamet, Vols. I, Il, Ecrits spirituels (1929); Vol. II, Correspondance (1935). By the same author: Le témoignage de Marie de Incarnation, taken from the preceding work (1932).
Bossuet (1627-1704). Elévations sur les mystères; Méditations sur PEvangile; Traité de la concupiscence; Instruction sur les états d’oraison, second treatise, the common principles of Christian prayer (1897); Lettres de direction; Opuscules sur Pabandon et Poraison de simplicité, collected in La doctrine spirituelle de Bossuet, taken from his Œuvres (Teéqui, 1908).
Fénelon (1651-1715). Pious opuscula collected in Vol. XVIII of his works (ed. Lebel, 1823); Lettres de direction (Cagnac, 1902).
Benedict XIV (Cardinal Lambertini) (1675-1758). De servorum Dei beatificatione et beatorum canonizatione (1788). On questions of asceticism and mysticism this work often reproduces De oratione christiana (1687) of Brancati di Lauria.
J. H. Newman (1801-90). Meditations and Devotions; Difficulties of Anglicans.
H. E. Manning (1808-92). The Eternal Priesthood. Baltimore: Murphy, 1883.
F. W. Faber (1814-63). All for Jesus (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1853). The following works were published in Baltimore by Murphy: The Blessed Sacrament (1855); The Creator and the Creature (1857); Bethlehem (1860); The Foot of the Cross (1897); The Precious Blood; Growth in Holiness.
Cardinal Gibbons. The Ambassador of Christ. 18096.
L. Beaudenom (1840-1916). Pratique progressive de la confession et de la direction; Formation a l humilité.
A. Saudreau. Les degrés de la vie spirituelle (6th ed., 1935); La vie @union à Dieu (3d ed., 1921); L’état mystique, sa nature, ses phases, et les faits extraordinaires de la vie spirituelle (2d ed., 1921).
Msgr. Lejeune. Manuel de théologie mystique. 1897.
Cardinal Mercier. La vie intérieure, appel aux dmes sacerdotales. 19109.
A. Chevrier. Le prétre selon PEvangile. Lyons: Vitte, 1922.
Mser. A. Farges. Les phénomènes mystiques distingués de leurs contrefaçons hum:ines et diaboliques. 1920.
Robert de Langeac. Conseils aux dmes @oraison, an excellent book. Lethielleux, 1929.
A. Tanquerey. The Spiritual Life (English translation by Herman Brandeis, S.S. Philadelphia: Reilly, 1930). This work, which is excellent in certain respects, places the passive purification of the senses very late in the spiritual life, that is, after the entrance into the unitive way, whereas for St. John of the Cross it marks the entrance into the illuminative way.
Charles de Foucauld (hermit in the Sahara). Ecrits spirituels. Paris,
Index
MB EE E BE BEBE EE EE EB EB EE EB EB EE EB EB EB EB EB EB BE BE EE EE EEE EEEE EE EE EE BE EEE BE TE ED
Abnegation, 374-78; see also Mortification Acceleration of charity; see Virtues Acedia; see Sloth Activity, necessity of subordination of natural, 467 Acts, necessity of sanctifying all, 96 Acts, imperfect (remissi): definition of, 135; not proper to the perfect, 160; and problem of the increase of charity by, 135 f. Acts, meritorious: definition of, 133; problem of increase of charity by, 133 f. Acts, result of perfect, 136 ff. Ages of the spiritual life, three age of beginners: characteristics of, 243f., 270f.,; direction of, 258 ff.; generosity required in, 271-74; humility in, 274; imagination in mortification of, 342 ff.; intellect and personal judgment in, 353-64; love of God in, 268-71; magnanimity in, 273 f.; memory in, 345-52; prayer of, 444-53; self-knowledge and knowledge of God in, 267f.; the senses in, 275-84, 332-41; sensible consolations in, 269; spiritual pride of, 383 f.; state of, 240f. age of the perfect: characteristics of, 244 ff. age of proficients: characteristics of, 244; imperfections of, 241 characteristics of, 226 f., 243-46 comparison with ages of corporeal life, 238 f., 241 differences and transition between the, 239-46 distinction between: preserved by St. Thomas Aquinas, 237 f. division made by Scaramelli and his followers, 16, 227 problem of, 225, 228 reasons for divergence in divisions of, 227 f,
Ages of the spiritual life (continued) in spiritual life of the apostles, 229 f. synopsis of, 245 traditional division of, 14f., 225 ff.: testimony of Greek fathers to, 230- 35; testimony of Latin fathers and great spiritual writers to, 235-38 Aim of this work, 8 f. Ambition; see Pride Americanism, 275-77 Appetites, passions and the, 49; see also Mortification, Purification Aridity (sensible) in divine trials, 390 f. Arrogance; see Pride Attraction, law of universal, 131 f. Austerities, attitude of Church toward, 335 note Austerity of flagellants, Jansenists, Montanists, 280
Beatitude, 30-33, 156 Beatitudes of the active life of the Christian: of the merciful, 168f.; of those that hunger and thirst after justice, 168 of contemplation and union with God: of the clean of heart, 169 f.; of the peacemakers, 170f.; of those that suffer persecution, 177 ff. definition of, 172 of the deliverance from sin, 165: of the meek, 166f.; of the poor in spirit, 166; of those that mourn, 167 grandeur of Christian perfection shown by, 163-73 order of, 165 relations of: to gifts of the Holy Ghost and the three ages, 206-13 Beginners, see Ages of the spiritual life Blessed Trinity; see Trinity, Blessed Blessed Virgin; see Mary Boasting; see Pride
Casuistry, definition of, 10; see also Theology
Charity; see Theological
Christ exemplar of evangelical counsels, 210 f.
humanity of: instrument through which graces are communicated to souls, 109-12 influence on His mystical body, 109 ff. as man is Mediator, 120 f. necessity of imitating the crucified, 295 ff.; see also Mortification our Mediator and conversation with God, 47 our sanctity and progressive incorporation in, 117 f. principal Priest of the Sacrifice of the Mass, 407 ff. result of consideration of humanity of, 118 result of hypostatic union on humanity of, 210f. sanctifying influence of, 109-18: through the Eucharist, 112-17 Church, marks of sanctity of, 211 Communion: conditions of a fervent, 417-20; conditions of a good, 417; consummation of gift i self, 115; each Communion should be substantially more fervent, 143, 420 f.; effects of, 115-17; fruits of, 420; source of sanctification, 414 ff.; thanksgiving after, 421-27 Concupiscences, three, 209f., 301; see also Self-love Confession: contrition, 4oo ff.; fruits of, 402-5; how to make, 400 f., preparation for, 397 ff Conscience, examination of, 304-7: based on sins opposed to virtues, 321; based on virtues, 322; on selfabnegation, 377; time required for, 398 Consolations in prayer: in beginners, 269; detachment from, 375 f.; distinguished from divine lights, 259 note; and spiritual gluttony, 337 Contemplation, infused and the beatitudes, 169-73 desire for, 87 of God: in mirror of mysteries of salvation, 460; in mirror of sensible things, 460; in obscurity of faith, 460 morally necessary for full perfection, 194 in normal way of sanctity, 193 ff. pride removed by, 451 and superhuman mode of gifts, 226
Footnotes
Chapter 39 of 99