THE JOURNEY OF THE MIND[1]
INTO[2] GOD
PROLOGUE
1. In the beginning
I call upon the First Beginning,
from whom
all enlightenmentdescends
as from the Father of Lights,
from whom
every good and every perfect giftcomes.(Jas 1:17)[3]
I call upon the Eternal Father
through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
that through the intercession of the most holy Virgin Mary,
the mother of the same God and Lord Jesus Christ,
and through the intercession of blessed Francis,
our leader and father,
He wouldgrant thatthe eyes of our mindbeenlightened(Eph 1:17)
to guide our feet
in the way of that peace(Lk 1:79)
which surpasses all understanding.(Phil 4:7; cf. Jn 14:27)
This is the peace
proclaimed and given to us
by our Lord Jesus Christ
the repeater of whose preaching was our father Francis
announcing peace at the beginning and end of every sermon,
wishing peacein every greeting,
sighing for a ecstatic peacein every contemplation,[4]
like a citizen of that Jerusalem
of which that Man of Peace,
peace-loving among those hating peace,[5]says:
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.[6]
For he knew that in only peace would the throne of Solomon be,
for it is written:
In peace is his place and his abode in Sion.[7]
- SinceI was seeking this peace with panting spirit after the example of our most blessed father Francis,—I a sinner who, after our blessed father's death, had become, thoroughly unworthy as I am, the seventh Minister General of the brothers. At about the time of the thirty-third anniversary of the saint's passing,it happened that, under a divine impulse, I withdrew to Mount La Verna as to a place of serenityseeking in love peace of spirit. While I was staying there, I wasmulling overcertain ascentsof the mind into God,among themthat miracle which had occurred to blessed Francis himselfin that very place: the vision of a winged Seraph in the form of the Crucified.In this consideration, I immediately saw that this vision pointed to the uplifting of that father in contemplating and the pathby which one may arrive at it.
- The six wings of the Seraph can rightly be understood as the six upliftingof the illuminations by which, as if by steps or journeys, the soul can pass over to peace through the ecstatic ecstacies[8] of Christian wisdom. There is no other path but through the burning love of the Crucified, a love which so transformed Paul into Christ when he was carried up to the third heaven (2 Cor 12:2) that he could say: With Christ I am nailed to the cross. I live,now not I, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20). This love also so absorbed the soul of Francis that his spirit shone through his flesh when for two years before his death he carried in his body the sacred stigmata of the passion. The six wings of the Seraph, therefore, symbolize the six steps of illumination that begin from creatures and lead up to God, whom no one rightly enters except through the Crucified. Forwhoever does not enterthrough the door, but climbs up another way is a thief and a robber. Whoeverdoes enter through this door, however, will go in and out and will find pastures (Jn 10:1, 9). Therefore John says in the Apocalypse: Blessed are they who wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb that they may have a right to the tree of life and may enter the city through the gates (Rv 22:14). It is as if John were saying that no one can enter the heavenly Jerusalem by contemplation unless he enters through the blood of the Lamb as through a door. For no one is disposed in any way for the divine contemplations that lead to mental ecstasies[9] unless he be,with Daniel, a man of desires (Dn 9:2 3). Desires, however, are enkindled in us in two ways:[10] by an outcry of prayer that makes us call aloud in the groaning of our heart (Ps 37:9) and by a lightning-flash of speculation[11] by which the mind turns most directly and intently toward the rays of light.
4. First, therefore, I invite the reader
to the groan of prayer
through Christ crucified,
through whose blood
we are cleansed from the filth of vice—
so that he not believethat
reading is sufficient without unction,
speculation without devotion,[12]
inspection without admiration,[13]
circumspectionwithout exultation,
diligencewithout piety,
knowledge without charity,
understanding without humility,
endeavor without divine grace,
the mirror without divinely inspired wisdom.
To those, therefore, predisposed by divine grace,
the humble and the pious,
the contrite and the devout,
those anointed with the oil of gladness,
the lovers of divine wisdom, and
those inflamed with a desire for it,
to those wishing to find leisure[14] for
magnifying,[15]admiring, and even savoring God,
I propose the following speculations,
suggesting that the externally positionedmirror
is of little or no value
unless the mirror of our mind
has been cleaned and polished.[16]
Therefore, man of God,
first awaken yourself in a stinging prod of [your]conscience
before you raise your eyes
to the rays of Wisdom reflected in its mirrors,
otherwise from that speculation on the rays
you mightfall into a deeper pit of darkness.
5. It seemed good to divide this work into seven chapters, giving each a title for a better understanding of the contents.I ask you, then,to weigh the writer's intention rather than his work,the meaning of his words rather than his uncultivated style,truth rather than beauty,the exercise of affection rather than erudition of the intellect.That this might be done,it is important the development of these speculationsnot be run through perfunctorily,but ratherruminated uponvery slowly.
HERE ENDS THE PROLOGUE
CHAPTER HEADINGS
CHAPTER ONE
On the Stages of the Ascent into God and on the Speculation of Him through His Vestiges in the Universe
CHAPTER TWO
On the Speculation of God in His Vestiges in the Sense World
CHAPTER THREE
On the Speculation of God through His Image Stamped upon our Natural Powers
CHAPTER FOUR
On the Speculation of God in His Image Reformed by the Gifts of Grace
CHAPTER FIVE
On the Speculation of the Divine Unity through Its Primary Name Which Is Being
CHAPTER SIX
On the Speculation of the Most Blessed Trinity in Its Name Which Is Good
CHAPTER SEVEN
On Mental and Mystical Flights in Which Rest Is Given to the Intellect [and]through FlightPasses with Affection Entirely into God
HERE BEGINS
THE SPECULATIONOF THE POOR ONE
INTHE DESERT
CHAPTER ONE
ON
THE STAGES OF THE ASCENTINTO GOD
AND
ON THE SPECULATION[17] OF HIM
THROUGH HIS VESTIGES
IN THE UNIVERSE[18]
- Blessed is the one,
whose help is from You:
in his heart he has set upstepping-stones,
in a valley of tears,
in thelocale he has ordained.[19]
Since happiness is nothing other than
the enjoyment of the highest good
and since the highest good is above,
no one can be made happy unless he rise above himself,
not by an ascent of the body,
but of the heart.
But we cannot rise above ourselves
unless a higher power liftshim up.
No matter how much our interior progress is ordered,
nothing will come of it
unless accompanied by divine aid.
Divine aid is available
to those who seek it humbly and devoutly
from their heart;
and this means to sigh for it
in this valley of tears, through fervent prayer.[20]
Prayer, then, is the mother and source
of the lifting-up.[21]
Dionysius, therefore, in his book Mystical Theology,
wishing to instruct us for mentalecstasy,
places prayer at thebeginning.[22]
Let us pray,therefore and say to the Lord our God:
Lead me, Lord, in your path,
and I will enter in your truth.
Let my heart rejoice
that it may fear your name.[23]
- By praying in this way, we receive light to discern the steps of the ascent into God.
In relation to our position in creation, the universe itself is a ladder by which we can ascend into God. Some created things are vestiges, others images; some are material, others spiritual; some are temporal, others everlasting; some are outside us, others within us. In order to contemplate the First Principle, who is most spiritual, eternal and above us, we must pass through his vestiges, which are material, temporal and outside us. This means to be led in the path of God.
We must also enter into our soul, which is God's image, everlasting, spiritual and within us. This means to enter in the truth of God.
We must go beyond to what is eternal, most spiritual and above us, by gazing upon the First Principle. This means to rejoice in the knowledge of God and in reverent fear of his majesty.[24]
- This is, therefore, the path ofthree days into solitude (Ex 3:18);[25]this is the threefold illumination of a single day: the first is like evening, the second like morning, the third like noon.[26]
This division looks backat the three-fold existence of things: in matter, in understanding, and in the eternal Art, according to which it was said: Let it be made; he made it; and it was made (Gn1:3ff.). It also reflects the threefold substance in Christ, who is our ladder: bodily, spiritual and divine.[27]
4.According to this threefoldprogression, our mind has three principal ways of looking at[things].[28]One is [by looking at] exterior material objectsaccording to what it designated as animal or sensual;another[by looking at what is] within itself and into itself, [i.e.]according to what isdesignated as spirit;the third [by looking at what is] above itself, [i.e.]according to what is designated as mind.[29]
In the ascent into God all three must be employed so that He may be lovedwith our whole mind, with our whole heart and with our whole soul (Mk 12:30; Mt 22:37; Lk 10:27). In this consists the perfect observance of the Law and, at the same time with this, Christian wisdom.
- Any one of these ways can be doubled, according to whether we consider God as the Alpha and the Omega (Rv 1:8). Or in each of these ways we can see him through a mirror or in a mirror.[30] Or we can consider each way independently or as joined to another.
Therefore it is necessary that these three principal stages increase to a set of six, just as God completed the entire world in six days and rested on the seventh.In this way the lesser world of a human being is led in a most orderly fashion in six successive stages of enlightenment to the rest of contemplation.[31]The same number was used for the six steps to ascend to the throne of Solomon (1 Kgs 10:19);[32] the Seraphim which Isaiah saw had six wings;[33] after six days the Lord called Moses from the midst of the cloud;[34] and after six days, as is said in Matthew, Christ led his disciples up a mountain and was transfigured before them.[35]
6.Corresponding to six stages in the ascent into God, therefore, are six steps of the powers of the soul, through which we ascend from the lowest to the highest, from the exterior to the interior, from the temporal to the eternal.[36]These are the senses, image-making,[37] reason, understanding, intelligence, and the summit of the mind or the spark of synderesis.[38] We have these stages implanted in us by nature, deformed by sin, and reformed by grace. They must be cleansed by justice, exercised by knowledge, and perfected by wisdom.[39]
7.According to the initial arrangement of creation, the human person was fit for the quiet of contemplation and, therefore,God placed him in a paradise of delights (Gn2:15). But turning from the true light to changeable good, that person was bent over by his own fault, and the entire human race by original sin, which infected human nature in two ways: the mind with ignorance and the flesh with concupiscence. As a result, the human person, blinded and bent over, sits in darkness and does not see the light of heaven unless grace with justice come to his aid against concupiscence and unless knowledge with wisdom come to his aid against ignorance.[40]
All this is done through Jesus Christ,
whom God made for us
wisdom, justice, sanctification and redemption.[41]
Since He is the power of God and the wisdom of God,[42]
the incarnate Word full of grace and truth,[43]
he made grace and truth.
That is, he pours out the grace of charity,
which, since it flows
from a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned,[44]
rectifies the entire soul
in the threefold orientation mentioned above.
He has taught the knowledge of truth
according to the threefold methodof theology:
symbolic, literal and mystical,
so that
through the symbolicwe may rightly use sensible things,
through the literalwe may rightly use intelligible things,
and through the mystical
we may be snatched up toasuper-mentalecstasy.[45]
8.For whoever wishes to ascend to God, therefore,after avoiding a fault that deforms nature,to exercise his natural powers mentionedearlierinaccord with a restoring grace and this through prayer; for purifying justice through prayerand thisin [his] manner of living; in accord withenlightening knowledgeand this in meditation; and in accord with perfecting wisdomand thisin contemplation. Just as no one comes to wisdom except through grace, justice and knowledge; so no one comes to contemplation except by penetrating meditation, a holy way oflife and devoted prayer. Just as grace is, therefore, the foundation of the rectitude of the will and of the penetrating light of reason, so it is first necessary for us to pray, then to live in a holy way, and thirdly concentrate on displays of truth, and, by concentrating, ascend step-by-step, that until we reach the height of the mountain where the God of gods is seen in Sion (Ps 83:8).
9.Since we must ascend Jacob's ladder
before we descend it,
let us place our first step in the ascent at the bottom,
presenting to ourselves this whole material world
as a mirror through which we may pass over to God,
the supreme Craftsman.
Thus we shall be true Hebrews
passing-over from Egypt
to the land promised to their fathers;[46]
we shall also be Christians
passing-over with Christ from this world to the Father;[47]
we shall be lovers of the wisdom
that calls to us and says:
Pass over to me all who long for me
and be filled with my fruits.[48]
For from the greatness and beauty of created things,
their Creator can be seen and known.[49]
~~~
10.The supreme power, wisdom and benevolence of the Creatorshimmer in created things,[50] as the sense of the flesh announces this to the interior sense in three ways. For the sense of the flesh devoutly serves[51] the intellect when it rationally investigates, faithfully believes, or intellectually contemplates. Contemplating, [the intellect] considers the actual existence of things; believing, the habitual downward flow of things; and reasoning, the potential excellence of things.
11.In the first way, the aspect of one contemplating, considering things in themselves, sees in their weight, number, and measure; weight as tosite, where they areleaning;number, by which they are distinguished; and measure, by which they are delineated.And through thisit sees in them a way of measurement,[52]appearance,[53] and order, as well as substance, virtue, and activity. From these it can arise together, as from a footprint, to understand the immense power, wisdom and goodness of the Creator.
12.In the second way, the aspect of one keeping faith,considering this world extends toits origin, downward flow, and end. For by faith we believe that the ageswere fashioned by the Word of life (Heb. 11:3). By faith we believe that the seasons of the three laws—of nature, Scripture and grace—succeeded each other and flowed down in a most orderly way;by faith we believe that the world must come to an end by the final judgment, noticing power in the first, toprovidence in the second, and justice in the third.
13.In the third way, the aspect of one investigating rationally sees that some things merely are, others are and live, while others are, live and discern; and the first are lesser; the second, in the middle; and the third,better. Likewise it sees some things to beonly corporal, others partly corporal and partly spiritual;from this itnotices others to bethe merely spiritual asthe better and worthier. It sees, nevertheless, some things as changeable and corruptible, as are earthly things; someas changeable and incorruptible, as are heavenly things;from this it notices some as unchangeable and incorruptible, as are super-celestial realities.From these visible things, therefore, it rises to consider the power, wisdom and goodness of God as being, living, understanding, merely spiritual and incorruptible and unchangeable.
14. This considerationmay be expanded according to the sevenfold condition of creatures—which is a sevenfold witness to the divine power, wisdom and goodness—if the origin, the magnitude, the multitude, the beauty, the fullness, the activity, and the order of all things are considered.