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Difficulties keep coming to our mind, and thus we
cannot progress with the speed that we should desire.
For as they occur to us, we are obliged of necessity
to clear them up, so that the truth of this teaching
may ever be plain and carry its full force. But there
is always this advantage in these difficulties, that,
although they somewhat impede our progress, they
serve nevertheless to make our intention the clearer
and more explicit,[398] as will be the case with the
present one.2. In the previous chapter, we said
that it is not the will of God that souls should
desire to receive anything distinctly, by
supernatural means, through visions, locutions, etc.
Further, we saw in the same chapter, and deduced from
the testimonies which were there brought forward from
Scripture, that such communion with God was employed
in the Old Law and was lawful; and that not only was
it lawful, but God commanded it.
And when they used not this opportunity, God
reproved them, as is to be seen in Isaias, where God
reproves the children of Israel because they desired
to go down to Egypt without first enquiring of Him,
saying: Et os meum non interrogastis.[399] That is:
Ye asked not first at My own mouth what was fitting.
And likewise we read in Josue that, when the
children of Israel themselves are deceived by the
Gabaonites, the Holy Spirit reproves them for this
fault, saying: Susceperunt ergo de cibariis eorum, et
os Domini non interrogaverunt.[400] Which signifies:
They took of their victuals and they enquired not at
the mouth of God.
Furthermore, we see in the Divine Scripture that
Moses always enquired of God, as did King David and
all the kings of Israel with regard to their wars and
necessities, and the priests and prophets of old, and
God answered and spake with them and was not wroth,
and it was well done; and if they did it not it would
be ill done; and this is the truth. Why, then, in the
new law -- the law of grace -- may it not now be as
it was aforetime?
3. To this it must be replied that the principal
reason why in the law of Scripture the enquiries that
were made of God were lawful, and why it was fitting
that prophets and priests should seek visions and
revelations of God, was because at that time faith
had no firm foundation, neither was the law of the
Gospel established; and thus it was needful that men
should enquire of God and that He should speak,
whether by words or by visions and revelations or
whether by figures and similitudes or by many other
ways of expressing His meaning.
For all that He answered and spake and revealed
belonged to the mysteries of our faith and things
touching it or leading to it. And, since the things
of faith are not of man, but come from the mouth of
God Himself, God Himself reproved them because they
enquired not at His mouth in their affairs, so that
He might answer, and might direct their affairs and
happenings toward the faith, of which at that time
they had no knowledge, because it was not yet
founded.
But now that the faith is founded in Christ, and
in this era of grace, the law of the Gospel has been
made manifest, there is no reason to enquire of Him
in that manner, nor for Him to speak or to answer as
He did then. For, in giving us, as He did, His Son,
which is His Word -- and He has no other -- He spake
to us all together, once and for all, in this single
Word, and He has no occasion to speak further.
4. And this is the sense of that passage with
which Saint Paul begins, when he tries to persuade
the Hebrews that they should abandon those first
manners and ways of converse with God which are in
the law of Moses, and should set their eyes on Christ
alone, saying: Multifariam multisque modis olim Deus
loquens patribus in Prophetis: novissime autem diebus
istis Iocutus est nobis in Filio.[401] And this is as
though he had said: That which God spake of old in
the prophets to our fathers, in sundry ways and
divers manners, He has now, at last, in these days,
spoken to us once and for all in the Son. Herein the
Apostle declares that God has become, as it were,
dumb, and has no more to say, since that which He
spake aforetime, in part to the prophets, He has now
spoken altogether in Him, giving us the All, which is
His Son.
5. Wherefore he that would now enquire of God, or
seek any vision or revelation, would not only be
acting foolishly, but would be committing an offence
against God, by setting his eyes altogether upon
Christ, and seeking no new thing or aught beside.
And God might answer him after this manner,
saying: If I have spoken all things to thee in My
Word, Which is My Son, and I have no other word, what
answer can I now make to thee, or what can I reveal
to thee which is greater than this? Set thine eyes on
Him alone, for in Him I have spoken and revealed to
thee all things, and in Him thou shalt find yet more
than that which thou askest and desirest.
For thou askest locutions and revelations, which
are the part; but if thou set thine eyes upon Him,
thou shalt find the whole; for He is My complete
locution and answer, and He is all My vision and all
My revelation; so that I have spoken to thee,
answered thee, declared to thee and revealed to thee,
in giving Him to thee as thy brother, companion and
master, as ransom and prize.
For since that day when I descended upon Him with
My Spirit on Mount Tabor, saying: Hic est filius meus
dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui, ipsum
audite[402] (which is to say: This is My beloved Son,
in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him), I have left
off all these manners of teaching and answering, and
I have entrusted this to Him. Hear Him; for I have no
more faith to reveal, neither have I any more things
to declare.
For, if I spake aforetime, it was to promise
Christ; and, if they enquired of Me, their enquiries
were directed to petitions for Christ and expectancy
concerning Him, in Whom they should find every good
thing (as is now set forth in all the teaching of the
Evangelists and the Apostles); but now, any who would
enquire of Me after that manner, and desire Me to
speak to him or reveal aught to him, would in a sense
be asking Me for Christ again, and asking Me for more
faith, and be lacking in faith, which has already
been given in Christ; and therefore he would be
committing a great offence against My beloved Son,
for not only would he be lacking in faith, but he
would be obliging Him again first of all to become
incarnate and pass through life and death.
Thou shalt find naught to ask Me, or to desire of
Me, whether revelations or visions; consider this
well, for thou shalt find that all has been done for
thee and all has been given to thee -- yea, and much
more also -- in Him.
6. If thou desirest Me to answer thee with any
word of consolation, consider My Son, Who is subject
to Me, and bound by love of Me, and afflicted, and
thou shalt see how fully He answers thee. If thou
desirest Me to expound to thee secret things, or
happenings, set thine eyes on Him alone, and thou
shalt find the most secret mysteries, and the wisdom
and wondrous things of God, which are hidden in Him,
even as My Apostle says: In quo sunt omnes thesauri
sapientiae et scientiae Dei absconditi.[403] That is:
In this Son of God are hidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge of God.
These treasures of wisdom shall be very much more
sublime and delectable and profitable for thee than
the things that thou desiredst to know. Herein the
same Apostle gloried, saying: That he had not
declared to them that he knew anything, save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified.[404] And if thou shouldst
still desire other Divine or bodily revelations and
visions, look also at Him made man, and thou shalt
find therein more than thou thinkest, for the Apostle
says likewise: In ipso habitat omnis plenitudo
Divinitatis corporaliter.[405] Which signifies: In
Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily.
7. It is not fitting, then, to enquire of God by
supernatural means, nor is it necessary that He
should answer; since all the faith has been given us
in Christ, and there is therefore no more of it to be
revealed, nor will there ever be. And he that now
desires to receive anything in a supernatural manner,
as we have said, is, as it were, finding fault with
God for not having given us a complete sufficiency in
His Son.
For, although such a person may be assuming the
faith, and believing it, nevertheless he is showing a
curiosity which belongs to faithlessness. We must not
expect, then, to receive instruction, or aught else,
in a supernatural manner. For, at the moment when
Christ gave up the ghost upon the Cross, saying,
Consummatum est,[406] which signifies, 'It is
finished,' an end was made, not only of all these
forms, but also of all those other ceremonies and
rites of the Old Law.
And so we must now be guided in all things by the
law of Christ made man, and by that of His Church,
and of His ministers, in a human and a visible
manner, and by these means we must remedy our
spiritual weaknesses and ignorances, since in these
means we shall find abundant medicine for them all.
If we leave this path, we are guilty not only of
curiosity, but of great audacity: nothing is to be
believed in a supernatural way, save only that which
is the teaching of Christ made man, as I say, and of
His ministers, who are men.
So much so that Saint Paul says these words: Quod
si Angelus de coelo evengelizaverit, praterquam quod
evangelizavimus vobis, anathema sit.[407] That is to
say: If any angel from Heaven preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we men preach unto you, let
him be accursed and excommunicate.
8. Wherefore, since it is true that we must ever
be guided by that which Christ taught us, and that
all things else are as nothing, and are not to be
believed unless they are in conformity with it, he
who still desires to commune with God after the
manner of the Old Law acts vainly.
Furthermore, it was not lawful at that time for
everyone to enquire of God, neither did God answer
all men, but only the priests and prophets, from
whose mouths it was that the people had to learn law
and doctrine; and thus, if a man desire to know
anything of God, he enquired of Him through the
prophet or the priest and not of God Himself.
And, if David enquired of God at certain times
upon his own account, he did this because he was a
prophet, and yet, even so, he did it not without the
priestly vestment as it is clear was the case in the
First Book of the Kings, where he said to Abimelech
the priest: Applica ad me Ephod[408] -- which ephod
was one of the priestly vestments, having which he
then spake with God. But at other times he spake with
God through the prophet Nathan and other prophets.
And by the mouths of these prophets and of the
priests men were to believe that that which was said
to them came from God; they were not to believe it
because of their own opinions.
9. And thus, men were not authorized or empowered
at that time to give entire credence to what was said
by God, unless it were approved by the mouths of
priests and prophets. For God is so desirous that the
government and direction of every man should be
undertaken by another man like himself, and that
every man should be ruled and governed by natural
reason, that He earnestly desires us not to give
entire credence to the things that He communicates to
us supernaturally, nor to consider them as being
securely and completely confirmed until they pass
through this human aqueduct of the mouth of man.
And thus, whenever He says or reveals something to
a soul, He gives this same soul to whom He says it a
kind of inclination to tell it to the person to whom
it is fitting that it should be told. Until this has
been done, it is not wont to give entire
satisfaction, because the man has not taken it from
another man like himself.
We see in the Book of the Judges that the same
thing happened to the captain Gedeon, to whom God had
said many times that he should conquer the Madianites,
yet he was fearful and full of doubts (for God had
allowed him to retain that weakness) until he heard
from the mouth of men what God had said to him. And
it came to pass that, when God saw he was weak, He
said to him: 'Rise up and go down to the camp.' Et
cum audieris quid loquantur, tunc confortabuntur
manus tuae, et securior ad hostium castra descendes.[409]
That is: When thou shalt hear what men are saying
there, then shalt thou receive strength in that which
I have said to thee, and thou shalt go down with
greater security to the hosts of the enemy.
And so it came to pass that, having heard a dream
related by one of the Madianites to another, wherein
the Madianite had dreamed that Gedeon should conquer
them, he was greatly strengthened, and began to
prepare for the battle with great joy. From this it
can be seen that God desired not that he should feel
secure, since He gave him not the assurance by
supernatural means alone, but caused him first to be
strengthened by natural means.
10. And even more surprising is the thing that
happened in this connection to Moses, when God had
commanded him, and given him many instructions, which
He continued with the signs of the wand changed into
a serpent and of the leprous hand, enjoining him to
go and set free the children of Israel.
So weak was he and so uncertain[410] about this
going forward that, although God was angered, he had
not the courage to summon up the complete faith
necessary for going, until God encouraged him through
his brother Aaron, saying: Aaron frater tuus Levites,
scio quod eloquent sit: ecce ipse egredietur in
occursum tuum, vidensque te, laetabitur corde.
Loquere ad eum, en pone verba mea in ore ejus: et ego
ero in ore tuo, et in ore illius, etc.[411] Which is
as though He had said: I know that thy brother Aaron
is an eloquent man: behold, he will come forth to
meet thee, and, when he seeth thee, he will be glad
at heart; speak to him and tell him all My words, and
I will be in thy mouth and in his mouth, so that each
of you shall believe that which is in the mouth of
the other.
11. Having heard these words, Moses at once took
courage, in the hope of finding consolation in the
counsel which his brother was to give him; for this
is a characteristic of the humble soul, which dares
not converse alone with God, neither can be
completely satisfied without human counsel and
guidance. And that this should be given to it is the
will of God, for He draws near to those who come
together to converse of truth, in order to expound
and confirm it in them, upon a foundation of natural
reason, even as He said that He would do when Moses
and Aaron should come together -- namely, that He
would be in the mouth of the one and in the mouth of
the other.
Wherefore He said likewise in the Gospel that Ubi
fuerint duo vel tres congregati in nomine meo, ibi
sum ego in medio eorum.[412] That is: Where two or
three have come together, in order to consider that
which is for the greater honour and glory of My name,
there am I in the midst of them. That is to say, I
will make clear and confirm in their hearts the
truths of God. And it is to be observed that He said
not: Where there is one alone, there will I be; but:
Where there are at least two.
In this way He showed that God desires not that
any man by himself alone should believe his
experiences to be of God,[413] or should act in
conformity with them, or rely upon them, but rather
should believe the Church and[414] her ministers, for
God will not make clear and confirm the truth in the
heart of one who is alone, and thus such a one will
be weak and cold.
12. Hence comes that whereon the Preacher insists,
where he says: Vae soli, quia cum ceciderit, non
habet sublevantem se. Si dormierint duo, fovebuntur
mutuo; unus quomodo calefiet? et si quispiam
praevaluerit contra unum, duo resistent ei.[415]
Which signifies: Woe to the man that is alone, for
when he falleth he hath none to raise him up. If two
sleep together, the one shall give warmth to the
other (that is to say: with the warmth of God Who is
between them); but one alone, how shall he be warm?
That is to say: How shall he be other than cold as to
the things of God?
And if any man can fight and prevail against one
enemy (that is, the devil, who can fight and prevail
against those that are alone and desire to be alone
as regards the things of God), two men together will
resist him -- that is, the disciple and the
master[416] who come together to know and dost the
truth. And until this happens such a man is
habitually weak and feeble in the truth, however
often he may have heard it from God; so much so that,
despite the many occasions on which Saint Paul
preached the Gospel, which he said that he had heard,
not of men, but of God, he could not be satisfied
until he had gone to consult with Saint Peter and the
Apostles, saying: Ne forte in vacuum currerem, aut
cucurrissem.[417] Which signifies: Perchance he
should run, or had run, in vain, having no assurance
of himself, until man had given him assurance.
This seems a noteworthy thing, O Paul, that He Who
revealed to thee this Gospel could not likewise
reveal to thee the assurance of the fault which thou
mightest have committed in preaching the truth
concerning Him.
13. Herein it is clearly shown that a man must not
rely upon the things that God reveals, save in the
way that we are describing; for, even in cases where
a person is in possession of certainty, as Saint Paul
was certain of his Gospel (since he had already begun
to preach it), yet, although the revelation be of
God, man may still err with respect to it, or in
things relating to it.
For, although God reveals one thing, He reveals
not always the other; and oftentimes He reveals
something without revealing the way in which it is to
be done. For ordinarily He neither performs nor
reveals anything that can be accomplished by human
counsel and effort, although He may commune with the
soul for a long time, very lovingly.
Of this Saint Paul was very well aware, since, as
we say, although he knew that the Gospel was revealed
to him by God, he went to take counsel with Saint
Peter. And we see this clearly in the Book of Exodus,
where God had communed most familiarly with Moses,
yet had never given him that salutary counsel which
was given him by his father-in-law Jethro -- that is
to say, that he should choose other judges to assist
him, so that the people should not be waiting from
morning till night.[418]
This counsel God approved, though it was not He
Who had given it to him, for it was a thing that fell
within the limits of human judgment and reason. With
respect to Divine visions and revelations and
locutions, God is not wont to reveal them, for He is
ever desirous that men should make such use of their
own reason as is possible, and all such things have
to be governed by reason, save those that are of
faith, which transcend all judgment and reason,
although these are not contrary to faith.
14. Wherefore let none think that, because it may
be true that God and the saints commune with him
familiarly about many things, they will of necessity
explain to him the faults that he commits with regard
to anything, if it be possible for him to recognize
these faults by other means.
He can have no assurance about this; for, as we
read came to pass in the Acts of the Apostles, Saint
Peter, though a prince of the Church, who was taught
directly by God, went astray nevertheless with
respect to a certain ceremony that was in use among
the Gentiles, and God was silent.
So far did he stray that Saint Paul reproved him,
as he affirms, saying: Cum vidissem, quod non recte
ad veritatem Evangelii ambularent, dixi coram
omnibus: Si tu judaeus cum sis, gentiliter vivis,
quomodo Gentes cogis judaizare?[419] Which signifies:
When I saw (says Saint Paul) that the disciples
walked not uprightly according to the truth of the
Gospel, I said to Peter before them all: If thou,
being a Jew, as thou art, livest after the manner of
the Gentiles, how feignest thou to force the Gentiles
to live as do the Jews? And God reproved not Saint
Peter Himself for this fault, for that stimulation
was a thing that had to do with reason, and it was
possible for him to know it by rational means.
15. Wherefore on the day of judgment God will
punish for their many faults and sins many souls with
whom He may quite habitually have held converse here
below, and to whom He may have given much light and
virtue; for, as to those things that they have known
that they ought to do, they have been neglectful, and
have relied upon that converse that they have had
with God and upon the virtue that He has given them.
And thus, as Christ says in the Gospel, they will
marvel at that time, saying: Domine, Domine, nonne in
nomine tuo prophetavimus, et in nomine tuo daemonia
ejecimus, et in nomine tuo virtutes multas fecimus?[420]
That is: Lord, Lord, were the prophecies that Thou
spakest to us perchance not prophesied in Thy name?
And in Thy name cast we not out devils? And in Thy
name performed we not many miracles and mighty works?
And the Lord says that He will answer them in these
words: Et tunc confitebor illis, quia numquam novi
vos: discedite a me omnes qui operamini iniquitatem.[421]
That is to say: Depart from Me, ye workers of
iniquity, for I never knew you.
Of the number of these was the prophet Balaam and
others like to him, who, though God spake with them
and gave them thanks, were sinners. But the Lord will
likewise give their proportion of reproof to His
friends and chosen ones, with whom He communed
familiarly here below, as to the faults and sins of
neglect that they may have committed; whereof there
was no need that God should Himself warn them, since
He had already warned them through the natural reason
and law that He had given to them.
16. In concluding this part of my subject,
therefore, I say, and I infer from what has already
been said, that anything, of whatsoever kind,
received by the soul through supernatural means, must
clearly and plainly, fully and simply, be at once
communicated to the spiritual director.
For although there may seem no reason to speak of
it, or to spend time upon doing so, since the soul is
acting safely, as we have said, if it rejects it and
neither pays heed to it nor desires it -- especially
if it be a question of visions or revelations or
other supernatural communications, which are either
quite clear or very nearly so -- nevertheless, it is
very necessary to give an account of all these,
although it may seem to the soul that there is no
reason for so doing.
And this for three causes. First, because, as we
have said, God communicates many things, the effect,
power, light and certainty whereof He confirms not
wholly in the soul, until, as we have said, the soul
consults him whom God has given to it as a spiritual
judge, which is he that has the power to bind or to
loose, and to approve or to blame, as we have shown
by means of the passages quoted above; and we can
show it clearly by experience, for we see humble
souls to whom these things come to pass, and who,
after discussing them with the proper persons,
experience a new satisfaction, power, light and
certainty; so much so that to some it seems that they
have no effect upon them, nor do they even belong to
them, until they have communicated them to the
director, whereupon they are given to them anew.
17. The second cause is that the soul habitually
needs instruction upon the things that come to pass
within it, so that it may be led by that means to
spiritual poverty and detachment, which is the dark
night. For if it begins to relinquish this
instruction -- even when it desires not the things
referred to -- it will gradually, without realizing
it, become callous as it treads the spiritual road,
and draw near again to the road of sense; and it is
partly with respect to this that these distinct
things happen.
18. The third cause is that, for the sake of the
humility and submission and mortification of the
soul, it is well to relate everything to the
director, even though he make[422] no account of it
all and consider it of no importance.
There are some souls who greatly dislike speaking
of such things, because they think them to be
unimportant, and know not how the person to whom they
should relate them will receive them; but this is
lack of humility, and for that very reason it is
needful for them to submit themselves and relate
these things.
And there are others who are very timid in
relating them, because they see no reason why they
should have these experiences, which seem to belong
to saints, as well as other things which they are
sorry to have to describe; for which cause they think
there is no reason to speak of them because they make
no account of them; but for this very reason it is
well for them to mortify themselves and relate them,
until in time they come to speak of them humbly,
unaffectedly, submissively and readily, and after
this they will always find it easy to do so.
19. But, with respect to what has been said, it
must be pointed out that, although we have insisted
so much that such things should be set aside, and
that confessors should not encourage their penitents
to discuss them, it is not well that spiritual
fathers should show displeasure in regard to them, or
should seek to avoid speaking of them or despise
them, or make their penitents reserved and afraid to
mention them, for it would be the means of causing
them many inconveniences if the door were closed upon
their relating them.
For, since they are a means and manner whereby God
guides such souls, there is no reason for thinking
ill of them or for being alarmed or scandalized by
them; but rather there is a reason for proceeding
very quietly and kindly, for encouraging these souls
and giving them an opportunity to speak of these
things; if necessary, they must be exhorted to speak;
and, in view of the difficulty that some souls
experience in describing such matters, this is
sometimes quite essential.
Let confessors direct their penitents into
faith,[423] advising them frankly to turn away their
eyes from all such things, teaching them how to void
the desire and the spirit of them, so that they may
make progress, and giving them to understand how much
more precious in God's sight is one work or act of
the will performed in charity than are all the
visions and communications that they may receive from
Heaven, since these imply neither merit nor demerit.
Let them point out, too, that many souls who have
known nothing of such things have made incomparably
greater progress than others who have received many
of them. |