Jean de La Fontaine - "The Tales and Novels, v20: Neighbor Peter's Mare &c."

George Gissing - "In the Year of Jubilee"

Constant - "Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, V10"

James Boswell - "The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D."

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Books: Light, Life, and Love

W >> W. R. Inge >> Light, Life, and Love




Another unity exists in us naturally--that of the supreme forces, in
so far as they actively take their natural origin in the unity of
the spirit or of the thoughts. This is the same unity as that which
is immanent in God, but it is taken here actively and there
essentially. Nevertheless the spirit is entirely in each unity
according to the integrity of its substance. We possess this unity
in ourselves, above the sensitive part of us; and thence are born
memory, intelligence, and will, and all the power of spiritual
works. In this unity the soul is called spirit.

The third unity which is in us naturally is the foundation of bodily
forces in the unity of the heart, the source and origin of bodily
life. The soul possesses this unity in the lively centre of the
heart, and from it flow all the material works and the five senses,
and the soul draws from thence its name of soul (anima); for it is
the source of life, and animates the body--that is to say, it makes
it living and preserves it in life. These three unities are in man
naturally, as a life and a kingdom. In the inferior unity we are
sensible and animal, in the intermediate unity we are rational and
spiritual; and in the superior unity we are preserved according to
our essence. And this exists in all men, naturally.

Now these three unities are adorned and cultivated naturally, like a
kingdom and an eternal abode, by the virtues, in charity and in the
active life. And they are adorned still better and more gloriously
cultivated by the internal exercises of a spiritual life. But most
gloriously and blessedly of all by a supernatural contemplative
life.

The inferior unity, which is corporeal, is adorned and cultivated
supernaturally by external practices, by perfect conduct, by the
example of Christ and the saints, by carrying the cross with Christ,
by submitting our nature to the command of Holy Church and the
teachings of the saints, according to the forces of nature and
prudence.

The other unity which resides in the spirit and which is absolutely
spiritual, is adorned and cultivated supernaturally by the three
Divine gifts, Faith, Hope, and Charity, and by the influx of grace
and Divine gifts, and by good will directed to all the virtues, and
the desire to follow the example of Christ and of holy Christendom.

The third and supreme unity is above our intelligence and yet
essentially in us. We cultivate it supernaturally when in all our
works of virtue we have in view only the glory of God, without any
other desire but to repose in Him, above thought, above ourselves,
and above everything. And this is the unity from which we flowed out
when we were created, and where we abide according to our essence,
and towards which we endeavour to return by love. These are the
virtues which adorn this triple unity in the active life.

Now we proceed to say how this triple unity is adorned more
sublimely and cultivated more nobly by interior exercises joined to
the active life. When a man, by love and right intention, elevates
himself in all his works and in all his life towards the honour and
glory of God, and seeks rest in God above all things, he will wait
in humility and patience and abandonment of self and in the hope of
new riches and new gifts, and he will not be troubled or anxious
whether it pleases God to grant His gifts or to refuse them. So men
prepare themselves for receiving an internal life of desires; even
as a vessel is fitted and prepared, into which a precious liquid is
to be poured. There is no vessel more noble than the loving soul,
and no drink more necessary than the grace of God. Man will thus
offer to God all his works and all his life, in a simple and right
intention, and in a zest above his intention, above himself, and
above everything, in the sublime unity in which God and the loving
spirit are united without intermediary.

ON THE FIRST MODE OR DEGREE OF THE FIRST SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST

THE first coming of Christ to those who are engaged in the exercises
of desire is an internal and sensible current from the Holy Spirit,
which impels and attracts us to all the virtues. We shall compare
this coming to the splendour and power of the sun, which, so soon as
it is risen, enlightens and warms the whole world in the twinkling
of an eye. In the same way Christ, the eternal sun, burns and
shines, dwelling at the highest point of the spirit, and enlightens
and fires the lower part of man--that is to say, his physical heart
and sense-faculties, and this is accomplished in less time than the
twinkling of an eye, for the work of God is prompt; but the man in
whom it takes place ought to be internally seeing by means of his
spiritual eyes.

The sun burns in the East, in the middle of the world, on the
mountains; there it hastens in the summer, and creates good fruits
and strong wines, filling the earth with joy. The same sun shines in
the West, at the end of the world; the country there is colder and
the force of the heat less; nevertheless, it there produces a great
number of good fruits, but not much wine. The men who dwell in the
West part of themselves, abide in their external senses, and by
their good intentions, their virtues, and their outer practices, by
the grace of God produce abundant harvests of virtues of divers
kinds, but they but rarely taste the wine of inward joy and
spiritual consolation.

The man who wishes to experience the rays of the eternal sun, which
is Christ Himself, will be seeing; and will dwell on the mountains
of the East, by concentrating all his faculties, and lifting up his
heart to God, free, and indifferent to joy and pain and all the
creatures. There shines Christ, the sun of righteousness, on the
free and exalted heart, and this is what I mean by the mountains.
Christ, the glorious sun and divine effulgence, shines through and
fires by his internal coming, and by the power of His Spirit, the
free heart and all the powers of the soul. This is the first work of
the internal coming in the exercises of desire. Just as fire
inflames things which are thrown into it, so Christ inflames the
hearts offered to Him in freedom and exultation at His internal
coming, and He says in this coming: "Go forth by the exercises
appropriate to this life."

ON UNITY OF HEART

FROM this heat is born unity of heart, for we cannot obtain true
unity, unless the Spirit of God lights His flame in our heart. For
this fire makes one and like unto itself all that it can overtop and
transform. Unity gives a man the feeling of being concentrated with
all his faculties on one point. It gives internal peace and repose
of heart. Unity of heart is a bond which draws and binds together
the body and the soul, and all exterior and interior forces, in the
unity of love.

HOW THE VIRTUES PROCEED FROM UNITY

FROM this unity of heart is born inwardness or the internal life,
for none can have inwardness unless he is one and united in himself;
fervour or inwardness is the introversion of a man into his own
heart, to comprehend and experience the internal operation or speech
of God. Inwardness is a sensible flame of love, which the Spirit of
God lights and kindles in a man, and a man knows not whence it
comes, nor what has happened to him.

ON SENSIBLE LOVE

FROM inwardness is born a sensible love which penetrates the heart
of man and the highest faculties of the soul. This love and delight
none can experience who has not inwardness. Sensible love is the
desire and appetite for God as for an eternal good in which all is
contained. Sensible love renounces all the creatures, not as needs
but as pleasures. Interior love feels itself touched from above by
the eternal love which it must practise eternally Interior love
willingly renounces and despises everything, in order to obtain that
which it loves.

ON DEVOTION

FROM this sensible love is born devotion to God and His glory. For
none can have a hungry devotion in his heart, unless he possesses
the sensible love of God. Devotion excites and stimulates a man
internally and externally to the service of God. It makes the body
and soul abound in glory and merit in the eyes of God and men. God
exacts devotion in all that we do. It purges the body and soul from
all that might hold us back; it shows us the true path to
blessedness.

ON GRATITUDE

FROM fervent devotion is born gratitude, for none can thank or
praise God perfectly if he is not fervent and pious. We should thank
God for everything here below, that we may be able to thank Him
eternally above. Those who praise not God here, will be mute
eternally. To praise God is the most joyous and delicious employment
of the loving heart. There is no limit to the praises of God, for
therein is our salvation, and we shall praise Him eternally.

Now hear a comparison, by which you may understand the exercise of
gratitude. When the summer approaches and the sun mounts, it
attracts the moisture of the earth along the stems and branches of
the trees, whence come green leaves, flowers, and fruit. Even so
when Christ, the eternal sun, rises in our hearts, He sends His
light and heat upon our desires, and draws the heart away from all
the manifold things of earth, creating unity and inwardness, and
makes the heart grow and become green by interior love, and makes
loving devotion flourish, and makes us bear the fruits of gratitude
and love, and preserves these fruits eternally in the humble pain of
our inability to praise and serve Him enough.

Here ends the first of the four chief kinds ot interior exercises,
which adorn the lower part of a man.

HOW TO INCREASE INWARDNESS BY HUMILITY

BUT in thus comparing to the splendour and power of the sun the
modes in which Jesus Christ comes, we shall find in the sun another
virtue or influence which makes the fruit more early ripe and more
abundant.

When the sun rises to a very great height, and enters the sign of
the Twins--that is to say, into a double thing, but of the same
nature, in the middle of the month of May, the sun has a double
power over the flowers, herbs, and all that grows upon the earth. If
at that time the planets which rule nature are well ordered
according to the season of the year, the sun shines brightly on the
earth, and attracts the moisture in the atmosphere. Hence are born
dew and rain, and the fruits of the ground increase and multiply.

Even so when Christ, that bright sun, rises in our heart above all
other things, and when the requirements of material nature, which
are contrary to the spirit, are well regulated according to reason,
when we possess the virtues as I have said above, and when, lastly,
we offer and restore to God, by the ardour of charity, and with
gratitude and love, the delight and peace which we find in the
virtues, from all these are born, at times, a gentle rain of new
internal consolations, and a celestial dew of divine sweetness. This
dew and rain make all the virtues increase and multiply day by day,
if we put no hindrance in their way. This is a new and special
operation, and a new coming of Christ into the loving heart.

ON PURE SATISFACTION OF THE HEART

FROM this sweetness is born satisfaction of heart, and of all the
bodily faculties, so that a man imagines that he is inwardly
embraced in the divine bands of love. This pleasure and consolation
is greater and more delicious to body and soul than all the
pleasures granted on earth, even if a man could enjoy them to the
full. In this pleasure God sinks into the heart by means of His
gifts with such a profusion of delights, consolations, and joys,
that the heart overflows internally.

ON THE OBSTACLES WHICH WE ENCOUNTER IN THIS STATE

THIS coming, or kind of coming, is granted to beginners, when they
turn from the world, when their conversion is complete, and they
abandon all the consolations of earth to live for God only;
nevertheless they are still weak, and need milk and not strong meat,
such as great temptations and the hiding of God's face. At this
season frost and fog often injure them, for they are in the middle
of the May of the interior life. The frost is to wish to be
something, or to imagine that we are something, or to be somewhat
attached to ourselves, or to believe that we have deserved
consolations and are worthy of them. The fog is the wish to rest
upon internal consolations and pains. This obscures the atmosphere
of reason, and the ilowers, which were about to unfold and bloom and
bear fruits, shut up again. This is why we lose the knowledge of
truth, and nevertheless we sometimes keep certain false sweetnesses
granted by the enemy, which at the last lead men astray.

HOW ONE OUGHT TO BEHAVE IN THIS CASE

I WISH to give you here a brief comparison, that you may not go
astray, and that you may be able to behave wisely in this case.
Observe the wise bee, and imitate her. She dwells in unity, in the
midst of the assembly of her kind, and she goes forth, not during a
storm, but when the weather is calm and bright, and the sun shines;
and she flies towards every flower where she may find sweetness. She
rests not on any flower, neither for its beauty nor for its
sweetness, but draws out from the cups of the flowers their
sweetness and clearness--that is to say, the honey and wax, and she
brings them back to the unity which is formed of the assembly of all
the bees, that the honey and wax may be put to good use.

The expanded heart on which Christ, the eternal sun, shines, grows
and blooms under His rays, and from it flow all the interior forces
in joy and sweetness.

Now the wise man will act like the bee, and will try to settle, with
affection, intelligence, and prudence, on all the gifts and all the
sweetness that he has experienced, and on all the good that God has
done to him. He will not rest on any flower of the gifts, but laden
with gratitude and praise he will fly back towards the unity where
he wishes to dwell, and to rest with God eternally.

ON THE THIRD MODE OF THE SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST

WHEN the sun in heaven reaches its highest point, in the sign of the
Crab--that is to say, when it can go no higher, but must begin to go
backwards, then the greatest heat of the year begins. The sun
attracts the moisture, the earth dries, and the fruits ripen. In the
same way, when Christ, the divine sun, arises above the highest
summit of our heart--that is to say, above all His gifts,
consolations and sweetnesses, and if we do not rest in any of these,
however sweet, but return always with humble praises to the source
from which these gifts flow, Christ stops and remains lifted up
above the summit of our heart, and desires to attract all our powers
to Himself.

This invitation is an irradiation of Christ, the eternal sun, and
causes in the heart a joy and pleasure so great that the heart
cannot close again after such an expansion, without pain. A man is
wounded internally and feels the smart of love. To be wounded by
love is the sweetest sensation and the most grievous pain that can
be experienced. To be wounded by love is a sure sign that we shall
be cured. This spiritual wound does us good and harm at the same
time.

ON THE FOURTH KIND OF THE SPIRITUAL COMING OF CHRIST

NOW I wish to speak of the fourth kind of coming of Jesus Christ,
which exalts and perfects the man in his interior exercises,
according to the lower part of his being. But having compared all
the interior comings to the shining of the sun, we will continue to
speak, while following the course of the seasons, of the other
effects and works of the sun.

When the sun begins to descend the sky, it enters the sign of the
Virgin, so called because this period of the year becomes barren
like a virgin. The glorious virgin Mary, mother of Christ, full of
joys and rich in all the virtues, ascended to heaven at this season.
The heat begins then to diminish, and men gather, for use during the
whole year, the ripe fruits which can be used long after, such as
corn and the grape. And they sow part of the corn, that it may be
multiplied for the use of men. At this season all the solar work of
the year is finished. In the same way, when Christ, the glorious
sun, has risen to the zenith in the heart of men, and begins to
descend, so as to hide the splendour of His divine beams and to
leave a man alone, the heat and impatience of love diminish. Now
this occultation of Christ and the withdrawal of His light and heat
are the first work and the new coming of this mode. Now Christ says
spiritually in a man: "Go forth in the manner that I now show thee";
and the man goes forth, and finds himself poor, miserable, and
desolate. Here all the storm, all the passion and eagerness of love
grow cold; summer becomes autumn, and all his wealth is changed into
great poverty. And the man begins to complain by reason of his
misery; what is become of his ardent love, his inwardness, his
gratitude, the interior consolations, the heartfelt joys? Where has
it all gone? How comes it that all is dead within him? He is like
a scholar who has lost his knowledge and his work; and nature is
often troubled by such losses. Sometimes these unhappy ones are
deprived of the good things of earth, of their friends and
relations, and are deserted by all the creatures; their holiness is
mistrusted and despised, men put a bad construction upon all the
works of their life, and they are rejected and disdained by all
those who surround them; and sometimes they are afflicted with
diverse diseases; and some of them fall into bodily temptations, or
into spiritual temptations, the most dangerous of all. From this
misery are born the fear of falling, and a sort of half-doubt, and
this is the extreme point where we can stop without despair. Let
such men seek out the good, complain to them, show them their
distress, and ask their help, and implore the aid of Holy
Church, and of all just men.

WHAT A MAN OUGHT TO DO WHEN HE IS ABANDONED

A MAN will here observe humbly that he has nothing but his distress,
and he will say in his resignation and self-abnegation the words of
holy Job: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; He hath done
what seemed good to Him; blessed be the name of the Lord." And he
will leave himself in everything, and will say and think in his
heart: "Lord, I am as willing to be poor, lacking all that Thou hast
taken from me, as I should be to be rich, if such were Thy will, and
if it were for Thine honour. It is not my will according to nature
which must be accomplished, but Thy will, and my will according to
my spirit, O Lord; for I belong to Thee, and I should love as well
to be Thine in hell as in heaven, if that could serve Thy glory; and
therefore, O Lord, accomplish in me the excellence of Thy will."
From all these pains and acts of resignation, a man will derive an
inward joy, and he will offer himself into the hands of God, and
will rejoice to be able to suffer in His honour. And if he so
perseveres, he will taste inward pleasures such as he has never had
before; for nothing so rejoices the lover of God as to feel that he
is His beloved. And if he is truly exalted as far as this mode, in
the path of virtue, it is not necessary for him to have passed
through all the states which we have described above; for he feels
within himself in action, in humble obedience, in patience, and in
resignation, the source of all the virtues. It is thus that this
mode is eternally sure.

At this season the sun in the sky enters the sign of the Scales, for
the day and night are equal, and the sun balances the light and the
darkness. In the same way Jesus Christ is in the sign of the Scales
for the resigned man; and whether He grants sweetness or
bitterness, darkness or light, whatever He chooses to send him, the
man keeps his balance, all things are equal to him except sin, which
has been driven away once for all. When every consolation has been
thus withdrawn from these resigned men, when they believe that they
have lost all their virtues and that they are abandoned by God and
all the creatures, if they then know how to reap the divers fruits,
their corn and wine are ready and ripe. That is to say, that all
that the bodily virtues can suffer will be offered by them to God
with joy, without resistance to His supreme will. All the exterior
and interior virtues, which they formerly practised with joy in the
light of love, they will now practise courageously and laboriously,
and will offer them to God, and never will they have so much merit
in His eyes. Never will they have been more noble or more beautiful.
All the consolations which God formerly granted, they will allow to
be stripped from them with joy, since it is for the glory of God. It
is thus that the virtues become perfect, and that sadness is
transformed into an eternal vintage. These men--their life and their
patience--improve and teach all who know and live near them, and
thus it is that the wheat of their virtues is sown and multiplied
for the good of all just men.

This is the fourth kind of coming which, according to the bodily
faculties and the lower part of his being, adorns and perfects a man
in interior exercises.

HOW THESE FOUR MODES ARE FOUND IN JESUS CHRIST

WE must needs walk in the light if we wish not to lose our way, and
we must observe Jesus Christ, who has taught us these four modes,
and has preceded us in them. Christ, the bright sun, rises in the
heaven of the sublime Trinity and in the dawn of His glorious mother
the virgin Mary, who was and is the dawn of all the graces. Now
observe. Christ had and still has the first mode, for He was unique
and united. In Him were and are collected and united all the virtues
which have ever been practised, and which ever will be, and besides
this, all the creatures who will cultivate these virtues. He was
thus in an unique sense the Son of the Father, and united to human
nature. And He was equally full of inwardness, for it was He who
brought upon earth the fire which has consumed all the saints and
all good men. And He had a sensible and faithful love for His
Father, and for all who will have joy in Him eternally, and His
pitiful and loving heart sighed and glowed with love for all men,
before His Father. All His life and all His actions, within and
without, and all His words, were praises of His Father. This is the
first mode.

Christ, the sun of love, blazed and shone yet more brightly and
warmly, for in Him was and is the fullness of all gifts. This is why
the heart of Christ, and His character, and His habits and His
service, overflowed with pity, sweetness, humility, and generosity.
So gracious was He and so loving, that His manners and His
personality attracted all whose nature was good. He was the pure
lily in the midst of the flowers of the field, from which the good
were to draw the honey of eternal sweetness and eternal
consolations. According to His humanity He thanked His eternal
Father for all the gifts which were ever granted to humanity, and
praised Him, for His Father is the Father of all gifts, and He
rested on Him, according to the highest faculties of His soul, above
all gifts, in the sublime unity of God from which all the gifts flow;
thus He had the second mode.

Christ, the glorious sun, blazed and shone yet higher, and more
brightly and warmly; for during all His days on earth, all His
bodily faculties were invited and pressed to the sublime glory and
bliss which He now experiences in His senses and body. And He was
inclined thereto Himself, according to His desires; and nevertheless
He willed to remain in this exile, till the time which the Father
had foreseen and fixed from all eternity. Thus He had the third
mode. When the time came at which Christ was to reap and carry away
to the eternal kingdom the fruits of all the virtues which ever have
been and ever will be practised, the eternal sun began to descend;
for Christ humbled Himself, and gave up His bodily life into the
hands of His enemies. And he was misunderstood and deserted by His
friends in so great a distress; and all consolation, within and
without, was withdrawn from His nature; and it was overwhelmed with
misery, pain, and contempt, and paid all the debt which our sins
justly incurred. All this He suffered in humble patience, and He
accomplished the greatest works of love in this resignation, whereby
He received and purchased our eternal inheritance. It is thus that
the lower part of His noble humanity was adorned, for it was in it
that He suffered this pain for our sins. It is on this account that
He is called the Saviour of the world, and that He is glorified and
raised up and seated on the right hand of His Father, and that He
reigns in power. And every creature, on the earth, above the earth,
and under the earth, bends the knee for ever before His glorious
name.

HOW A MAN SHOULD LIVE IF HE DESIRES TO BE ENLIGHTENED

THE man who, in true obedience to the commandments of God, lives in
the moral virtues, and moreover exercises himself in the interior
virtues, after the direction and impulse of the Holy Spirit, acting
and speaking according to righteousness, and who seeks not his own
interests in time or in eternity, and who supports with true
patience obscurity and affliction and every kind of misery, and who
thanks God for everything, and offers himself in humble resignation,
has received the first coming of Jesus Christ according to interior
exercises. When this man is purified and pacified, and turns back
upon himself according to his lower nature, he may be internally
enlightened, if he asks it, and if God judges that the right time
has come. It may also happen that he is enlightened from the
beginning of his conversion, so that he may offer himself entirely
to the will of God and give up all possession of himself, which is
the supreme end. But if he is to follow any further the road which I
have shown, in the exterior and at the same time in the interior
life, it will be much easier for him than for the man who has been
raised straight from the bottom, for the former will have more light
than the latter.