Chapter XVI — Means of Acquiring Divine Wisdom: Third Means, a Universal Mortification

1. The Necessity of Mortification

194. "Non reperitur Sapientia in terra suaviter viventium, Job 28. Wisdom," says the Holy Spirit, "is not found among those who live at their ease, who give their passions and senses everything they desire. For those who walk according to the flesh cannot please God; and the wisdom of the flesh is the enemy of God: Qui in carne sunt, Deo placere non possunt. Sapientia carnis inimica est Deo. Rom 8. My spirit shall not remain in man, because he is flesh: Non permanebit spiritus meus in homine... quia caro est." [Gen 6:3]

All those who belong to Jesus Christ, Incarnate Wisdom, have crucified their flesh with its desires and concupiscences; they actually and always carry the mortification of Jesus in their bodies; they continually do themselves violence; they carry their crosses every day; and, finally, they are dead and even buried in Jesus Christ.

These are words of the Holy Spirit that show more clearly than the day that, to possess Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ, one must practice mortification, renunciation of the world, and self-denial.

195. Do not imagine that this Wisdom, purer than the rays of the sun, enters a soul and body defiled by the pleasures of the senses. Do not believe that she gives her rest and her ineffable peace to those who love the company and vanities of the world: "Vincenti," she says, "dabo manna absconditum: I give my hidden manna only to those who are victorious over the world and over themselves."

This lovable sovereign, although by her infinite light she knows and distinguishes all things in an instant, nevertheless seeks persons worthy of her: Quaerit dignos se. [Wis 6:17] She seeks, because their number is so small that she will scarcely find any sufficiently detached from the world, sufficiently interior and mortified, to be worthy of her, worthy of her person, her treasures, and her alliance.

2. Qualities Required of Mortification

196. Wisdom does not ask, in order to communicate herself, for a half-mortification, a mortification of a few days, but a universal and continual, courageous and prudent mortification.

To possess Wisdom:

197. [1] First, one must either actually leave the goods of the world, as did the Apostles, the disciples, the first Christians, and the religious: this is the quickest way, the best way, the surest means of possessing Wisdom; or, at least, one must detach one's heart from worldly goods, and possess them as though not possessing them, without being anxious to keep them, without complaining or losing patience when they are lost: which is very difficult to carry out.

198. 2. One must not conform to the outward fashions of the worldly, whether in clothing, furniture, houses, meals, or the other customs and actions of life: Nolite conformari huic saeculo, Rom 12.

This practice is more necessary than one thinks.

199. 3. One must not believe or follow the false maxims of the world; one must not think, speak, or act as worldlings do. Their doctrine is as contrary to that of Incarnate Wisdom as darkness is to light and death to life. Examine carefully their opinions and their thoughts: they think and speak badly of all the greatest truths. It is true that they do not lie openly, but they disguise their falsehoods under the appearance of truth; they do not believe they are lying, but they lie nonetheless. They do not ordinarily teach sin openly, but they treat it either as a virtue, or as respectability, or as something indifferent and of little consequence. It is in this subtlety, which the world has learned from the devil to cover the ugliness of sin and falsehood, that the malice of which St. John speaks consists: "Totus mundus in maligno positus est: The whole world is steeped in malice," and now more than ever.

200. [4] One must, as far as possible, flee the company of men, not only that of worldlings, which is pernicious or dangerous, but even that of devout persons when it is useless and leads to a waste of time. He who wishes to become wise and perfect must put into practice these three golden words that Eternal Wisdom said to St. Arsenius: "Fuge, late, tace: Flee, hide yourself, be silent!" Flee as much as you can the company of men, as the greatest saints did: Maximi sanctorum humana consortia quantum poterant vitabant. Imit. Let your life be hidden with Jesus Christ in God: Vita vestra est abscondita cum Christo in Deo, Col 3. [Col 3:3] Finally, keep silence toward men, to converse with Wisdom: A silent man is a wise man: Est tacens qui invenitur sapiens, Ecclus 20. [Sir 20:5].

201. [5] To possess Wisdom, one must mortify the body, not only by patiently enduring the illnesses of the body, the hardships of the seasons, and the injuries received in this life from creatures; but also by imposing upon oneself certain penances and mortifications, such as fasting, vigils, and other austerities of the holy penitents. Courage is needed for this, because the flesh is naturally an idolater of itself, and the world regards and rejects all bodily mortifications as useless. What does the world not say, what does it not do to turn people away from the practice of the austerities of the saints, of each of whom it is said, in proportion: "Corpus suum perpetuis vigiliis, jejuniis, flagellis, frigore, nuditate atque omni asperitatum genere in servitutem redegit, cum quo pactum inierat ne ullam in hoc saeculo ei requiem praeberet: The wise man, or the saint, reduced his body to servitude by vigils, fasting, disciplines, cold, nakedness, and every kind of austerity, and he had made a pact with it to give it no rest in this world." The Holy Spirit says of all the saints that they were enemies of the spotted garment of their flesh: odientes et eam quae carnalis est, maculatam tunicam, Jude 23.

202. [6] In order for this outward and voluntary mortification to be good, it must necessarily be joined with the mortification of the judgment and the will through holy obedience; because, without this obedience, all mortification is tainted by self-will and is often more pleasing to the devil than to God.

That is why no considerable mortification should be undertaken without counsel. The dwelling of Wisdom is in counsel: Ego Sapientia habito in consilio. [Prov 8:12] He who trusts in himself trusts in a fool: Qui confidit in corde suo stultus est, Prov 28. The wise man does all things with counsel: Astutus omnia agit cum consilio, Prov 18. Whoever wishes never to repent of what he has done should do nothing without first asking the counsel of a wise man. This is the great counsel that the Holy Spirit gives us: "Fili, sine consilio nihil facias, et post factum non paenitebis, Ecclus 30. Consilium semper a sapiente perquire," Tob 4. [Tob 4:19]

By means of this obedience, self-love, which spoils everything, is driven out; the smallest thing becomes most meritorious; one is sheltered from the illusions of the devil; one will be victorious over all one's enemies; and one will arrive safely, as if while sleeping, at the port of salvation: iter quasi dormiendo confectum.

All that I have just said is contained in this great counsel: Leave all things, and you will find all things, in finding Jesus Christ, Incarnate Wisdom: Dimitte omnia, et invenies omnia. [Imit. of Christ]