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Three principal evils, it seems to me, may come to
the soul when it sets its rejoicing upon supernatural
good. These are: that it may deceive and be deceived;
that it may fall away from the faith; and that it may
indulge in vainglory or some other such vanity.2.
As to the first of these, it is a very easy thing to
deceive others, and to deceive oneself, by rejoicing
in this kind of operation. And the reason is that, in
order to know which of these operations are false and
which are true, and how and at what time they should
be practised, much counsel and much light from God
are needful, both of which are greatly impeded by joy
in these operations and esteem for them.
And this for two reasons: first, because joy
blunts and obscures the judgment; second, because,
when a man has joy in these things, not only does he
the more quickly become eager for them, but he is
also the more impelled to practise them out of the
proper season. And even supposing the virtues and
operations which are practised to be genuine, these
two defects suffice for us to be frequently deceived
in them, either through not understanding them as
they should be understood, or through not profiting
by them and not using them at the times and in the
ways that are most meet.
For, although it is true that, when God gives
these gifts and graces, He gives light by which to
see them, and the impulse whereby a man may know at
what times and in what ways to use them; yet these
souls, through the attachment and imperfection which
they may have with regard to them, may greatly err,
by not using them with the perfection that God
desires of them therein, and in the way and at the
time that He wills.
We read that Balaam desired to do this, when,
against the will of God, he determined to go and
curse the people of Israel, for which reason God was
wroth and purposed to slay him.[636] And Saint James
and Saint John desired to call down fire from Heaven
upon the Samaritans because they gave not lodging to
Our Saviour, and for this He reproved them.[637]
3. Here it is evident that these persons were led
to determine to perform these works, when it was not
meet for them to do so, by a certain imperfect
passion, which was inherent in their joy in them and
esteem for them. For, when no such imperfection
exists, the soul is moved and determined to perform
these virtues only in the manner wherein God so moves
it, and at His time, and until then it is not right
that they should be performed.
It was for this reason that God complained of
certain prophets, through Jeremias, saying: 'I sent
not the prophets, and they ran; I spake not to them,
and they prophesied.'[638] And later He says: 'They
deceived My people by their lying and their miracles,
when I had not commanded them, neither had I sent
them.'[639] And in that place He says of them
likewise: 'They see the visions of their heart, and
speak of them'[640]; which would not happen if they
had not this abominable attachment to these works.
4. From these passages it is to be understood that
the evil of this rejoicing not only leads men to make
wicked and perverse use of these graces given by God,
as did Balaam and those of whom the prophet here says
that they worked miracles whereby they deceived the
people, but it even leads them to use these graces
without having been given them by God, like those who
prophesied their own fancies and published the
visions which they invented or which the devil
represented to them.
For, when the devil sees them affectioned to these
things, he opens a wide field to them, gives them
abundant material and interferes with them in many
ways; whereupon they spread their sails and become
shamelessly audacious in the freedom wherewith they
work these marvels.
5. Nor does the evil stop here. To such a point
does their joy in these works and their eagerness for
them extend that, if before they had a secret compact
with the devil (and many of them do in fact perform
these works by such secret compacts), it now makes
them bold enough to work with him by an explicit and
manifest compact, submitting themselves to him, by
agreement, as his disciples and allies.
Hence we have wizards, enchanters, magicians,
soothsayers and sorcerers. And so far does the joy of
these persons in their works carry them that, not
only do they seek to purchase gifts and graces with
money, as did Simon Magus, in order to serve the
devil, but they even strive to obtain sacred things,
and (which cannot be said without trembling) Divine
things, for even the very Body[641] of our Lord Jesus
Christ has been seen to be usurped for the use of
their wicked deeds and abominations. May God here
extend and show to them His great mercy!
6. Everyone will clearly understand how pernicious
are such persons to themselves and how prejudicial to
Christianity. It may be noted here that all those
magicians and soothsayers who lived among the
children of Israel, whom Saul destroyed out of the
land, because they desired to imitate the true
prophets of God, had fallen into such abominations
and deceits.
7. He, then, that has supernatural gifts and
graces ought to refrain from desiring to practise
them, and from rejoicing in so doing, nor ought he to
care to exercise them; for God, Who gives Himself to
such persons, by supernatural means, for the profit
of His Church and of its members, will move them
likewise supernaturally in such a manner and at such
time as He desires.
As He commanded His faithful ones to take no
thought as to what they were to say, or as to how
they were to say it, since this is the supernatural
business of faith, it will likewise be His will (as
these operations are no less a supernatural matter)
that a man should wait and allow God to work by
moving his heart, since it is in the virtue of this
working that there will be wrought all virtue. The
disciples (so we read in the Acts of the Apostles),
although these graces and gifts had been infused
within them, prayed to God, beseeching Him to be
pleased to stretch forth His hand in making signs and
performing works of healing through them, that they
might introduce the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ
into men's hearts.[642]
8. From this first evil may proceed the second,
which is a falling away from the faith; this can come
to pass after two manners. The first has respect to
others; for, when a man sets out, unseasonably and
needlessly, to perform a marvel or a mighty work,
apart from the fact that this is tempting God, which
is a great sin, it may be that he will not succeed,
and will engender in the hearts of men discredit and
contempt for the faith.
For, although at times such persons may succeed
because for other reasons and purposes God so wills
it, as in the case of Saul's witch[643] (if it be
true that it was indeed Samuel who appeared on that
occasion), they will not always so succeed; and, when
they do so, they go astray none the less and are
blameworthy for having used these graces when it was
not fitting.
The second manner in which we may fall away is in
ourselves and has respect to the merit of faith; for,
if a man make much account of these miracles, he
ceases to lean upon the substantial practice of
faith, which is an obscure habit; and thus, where
signs and witnesses abound, there is less merit in
believing. In this way Saint Gregory says that faith
has no merit when human reason provides
experience.[644] And thus these marvels are never
worked by God save when they are really necessary for
belief.
Therefore, to the end that His disciples should
not be without merit, though they had experience of
His resurrection, He did many things before He showed
Himself to them, so that they should believe Him
without seeing Him. To Mary Magdalene, first of all,
He showed the empty tomb, and afterwards bade the
angels speak to her[645] (for, as Saint Paul says,
faith comes by hearing);[646] so that, having heard,
she should believe before she saw. And, although she
saw Him, it was as an ordinary man,[647] that, by the
warmth of His presence, He might completely instruct
her in the belief which she lacked.
And He first sent to tell His disciples, with the
women, and afterwards they went to see the tomb. And,
as to those who went to Emmaus, He first of all
enkindled their hearts in faith so that they might
see Him, dissembling with them as He walked.[648] And
finally He reproved them all because they had not
believed those who had announced to them His
resurrection.[649] And He reproved Saint Thomas
because he desired to have the witness of His wounds,
by telling him that they who saw Him not and yet
believed Him were blessed.[650]
9. And thus it is not the will of God that
miracles should be wrought: when He works them, He
does so, as it were, because He cannot do otherwise.
And for this cause He reproved the Pharisees because
they believed not save through signs, saying: 'Unless
ye see marvels and signs, ye believe not.'[651]
Those, then, who love to rejoice in these
supernatural works lose much in the matter of faith.
10. The third evil is that, because of their joy
in these works, men commonly fall into vainglory or
some other vanity. For even their joy in these
wonders, when it is not, as we have said, purely in
God and for God, is vanity; which is evident in the
reproof given by Our Lord to the disciples because
they had rejoiced that devils were subject to
them;[652] for which joy, if it had not been vain, He
would not have reproved them. |