Book III, Chapter VII

If thou dost more rely upon thine own reason or industry, than upon that power which brings thee under the obedience of Jesus Christ, it will be j long before thou become illuminated. B. i. c. 14 119 !

(On these words) — “ If thou dost more rely upon thine own reason or industry, than upon that power which brings thee under the obedience of Jesus Christ, it will be long before I thou become illuminated.” B. i. c. 14.

Question. — What man is illuminated from above?

120 RELIANCE ON REASON AND LEARNING

Answer. — He who knows truth in its origin, and not by its effects alone. He who has the true light i in himself, differs widely from those who have it only ( by communication or reflection. For although the latter are neither ignorant nor misjudging, with regard I to the truth, yet they know it only through the instruction of such as are directly taught of God, and see things as they are, without obscurity, without clouds, without those false lights and human interpretations which illumine them on one side, and darken them on the other.

The purest light is that which God communicates to the humble spirit in prayer. And it has this advantage, that it bears in itself the testimony of what it is, and makes itself known; so that those who receive it, though they are not obstinate, but humble, docile, and obedient in all things to their Director, are yet so firm in their belief of the things thus discovered to them, that it is impossible for them to doubt, so fully have they the air and the character of truths emanating from above. By means of this Divine Light, which is a ray of the Eternal Wisdom, the soul knows all that concerns her salvation, and the practice of the Christian virtues, and sometimes even many things simply moral and natural. This light is also a great assistance to her in all her doubts, whether with regard to her own conduct or to that of others; and having this, we may say of that soul that she is truly illuminated.

Question. — What are the things which can render her unworthy of this heavenly light?

Answer. — In the first place, vice and sin, selflove, and all disorderly passions. But we are not now considering these things; we are considering only the hindrances to which even spiritual persons are subject. Our Author says, that the thing which

HINDERS FROM HEAVENLY LIGHT. 121 deprives them of the true light is, that they trust too much in their own weak reason.

There are some people of good intention and true virtue, who yet put much trust in knowledge acquired by great application and profound meditations on the mysteries of religion. God being pleased to illuminate their minds with regard to these things, because after all they desire His glory, they value this kind of learning so highly, that they think it impossible to imagine anything better. But it is certain, nevertheless, that the purest light of God is that which He communicates to His perfect servants; and this is not the fruit of study and speculation, good as they are at the beginning, it is an effect of Divine Grace and Illumination, received in prayer and in the other exercises of the inward life. The Book of the Imitation of Christ is full of this doctrine. It repeatedly points out the difference between the wisdom of one illuminated from Heaven, and the knowledge of a man of letters. It attributes the latter to the man himself, the former to God alone; and says, that in one instant God raises up the humble mind to understand more of eternal truth, than if one had studied ten years in the schools*.

Yet are there many people possessed of great learning, and in many respects deserving of praise, who are so fond of their own ideas, that all which does not agree with them appears to them doubtful or insignificant. In truth, the Saints were far better instructed in spiritual things by the light infused into them, than we can be by long and painful meditations. I do not deny that it is good to reason about the truths of the faith, nor that learning is very useful reasoning and reflection are most necessary to beginners, and in times of dryness. St. Theresa

122 LOVE OBTAINS DIV1NB LIGHT says still more she says that not only beginners, but those who have made some progress, and even the most perfect, have need of them.

Yet the masters of the spiritual life are agreed, and this Saint often says, that the supernatural light which comes by contemplation is preferable to that which comes by study and by discourse. Those, then, who value reasoning more highly than these illuminations with which God favours the greatest Saints, and which are of free grace, will never be perfectly enlightened; for, whatever advantage they may obtain from human reasonings, they should fix it firmly in their mind, that that which comes immediately from God is far better, proceeding simply from Grace, and that in truth it is by contemplation that we learn to know the Truth in itself.

Question. — How can we obtain this Divine Light which is so useful to the soul?

Answer. — By means of virtue, which brings the so ul into subjection to Christ, as our Author says, and as he expresses still better in another place, where he says that all our knowledge must pass through the fire of Divine Love, and be purified thereby. St. Paul, speaking of that love which unites us to Christ, declares that it passeth knowledge. Eph. iii. 19. By love, then, we must submit our understanding to our Divine Master, so that love may apply and sanctify our learning.

There are two ways to fill ourselves with supernatural light. The one is to learn by meditation, and by reading many things which remain impressed on the memory: the other to instruct the understanding through a will attached to God by humble and ardent love. The latter is neither natural nor common, and it is not by this way that man ordinarily and directly attains to the knowledge of

MORE THAN LEARNING. 123

Divine things; but when he has once entered it, the love with which he bums, which is all fire, illuminates his understanding, and fills him with sublime knowledge. It was thus that St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas became more learned at the foot of the Cross® than by the study of the Fathers.

What our Author means, then, is, that a man who trusts in the powers of his mind and of his reasoning, will never he illuminated from above, or that it will be long before he is so; and that the only means of being so quickly is to subject his reason to the grace of Christ, Who will bring it into the light of the Saints, according to these words “ Far more noble is that learning which flowetli from above, from the Divine influence, than that which is painfully gotten by the wit of man.” B. iii. c. 31.

Question. — Wherein consists the practice of this doctrine?

Answer. — In three things; 1st, We must be persuaded that, though study is useful, we profit far more by the Divine Illumination than by our own labour. This thought will produce in the soul a great contempt and extreme distrust of her own wisdom, — a matter in which those who think they know all offend greatly.

2nd. We must humble ourselves, whether in prayer or in study, and yield our own knowledge to that which comes from Heaven. By thus abasing itself before God, far from the mind being weakened and made less fit for learning, it becomes, on the contrary, more quick and more penetrating.

3rd. Whatever progress we make in learning, we must accustom ourselves to make all an offering to the Divine Wisdom, and believe that to It we owe the knowledge, not only of supernatural things, but m 2

TRUE LOVE OF CHRIST FALLS NOT of every truth whatsoever. Moreover, we must beware of ever giving too much liberty to our spirit, but keep it in continual dependance on Grace, that we may do those things on the principle of the love of God. Thus we shall become spiritual; we shall apply ourselves to the study of human learning, without losing the spirit of Grace, which must be ever preserved, after the example of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and of many great persons of these latter days, such as the Cardinals Baronius and Bellarmin, and innumerable others no less illustrious for sanctity than learning.