The Life of Holy Mother
Teresa of Jesus
The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus,
of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel.
CHAPTER 22
In which she shows
- that the safest way for contemplatives is
not to lift up the spirit to high things
but to wait for God to lift it up.
- How the Sacred Humanity of Christ
is the medium for the most exalted contemplation.
She mentions
- an error
under which she laboured for some time.
This Chapter is most profitable.
___________________
- The security of contemplatives lies in
their not ascending to high things
if Our Lord does not raise them.
- The Sacred Humanity must be the road
to the highest contemplation.
- A delusion in which the saint was once entangled.
____________________________
Topics / Questions
to keep in mind
as we read along:
1 ). What was prayer instruction
that St. Teresa once followed
but later said was a "delusion"?
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 1, 2 ]
2). Why, When, and How did she follow
the prayer instruction from books?
But while doing so, why did she
"not dare to lift up her soul?
[ Life: Ch. 22: #2,3,4,5 ]
3 ). What reasons did she supply
to oppose this prayer method?
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 1, 2, 4, 7,8,9,
10,12, 13, 14, 15,16, 17, 18 ]
4 ). What did St. Teresa say about her
experience with this prayer method
that she learned from books?
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 2,3,4,5,8,9 ]
5). What does St. Teresa recommend now
in regard to prayer method?
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 8, 9, 11, 20, 21]
6). To further illustrate the importance of
never abandoning the devotion
to the Sacred Humanity of Christ,
St. Teresa refered to many saints
who always kept this devotion.
Who were the saints that she mentioned?
[ Life: Ch. 22: #1o]
7). In Paragraph #22, St. Teresa asked
"when our Lord begins to bestow
...the grace...of perfect contemplation,
upon a soul", why does this soul
not become "perfect at once"?
What does she later say about this?
[ Life: Ch. 22: #22, 23, 25 ]
_____________________
Chapter 22
1. There is one thing I should like to say.
I think it important:
and if you, my father, approve,
it will serve for a lesson
that possibly may be necessary;
for in some books on prayer,
the writers say that
the soul,
though it cannot
in its own strength
attain to this state,
because it is altogether
a supernatural work
wrought in it by our Lord,
may nevertheless succeed, by
lifting up the spirit
above all created things, and
raising it upwards in humility,
after some years spent in a purgative life,
and advancing in the illuminative.
I do not very well know
what they mean by "illuminative";
I understand it to mean
- the life of those who are making progress.
And they advise us much to
- withdraw
from all bodily imagination, and
- draw near
to the contemplation of the Divinity;
for they say that those
who have advanced so far
would be embarrassed or hindered
in their way to the highest contemplation,
if they regarded
even the Sacred Humanity itself. [306]
They defend their opinion [307]
by bringing forward the words [308]
of our Lord to the Apostles,
concerning the coming of the Holy Ghost;
[ "But I tell you the truth:
it is expedient to you that I go:
for if I go not,
the Paraclete will not come to you;
but if I go,
I will send him to you". - John 16;7 ]
I will send him to you". - John 16;7 ]
I mean that Coming
which was after the Ascension.
If the Apostles had believed,
as they believed
after the Coming of the Holy Ghost,
that He is both God and Man,
His bodily Presence would,
in my opinion,
have been no hindrance;
for those words were not said
to the Mother of God,
though she loved Him more than all. [309]
They think that,
as this work of contemplation
is wholly spiritual,
any bodily object whatever
can disturb or hinder it.
They say that
the contemplative should regard
- himself as being within a definite space,
- God everywhere around, and
- himself absorbed in Him.
This is what we should aim at.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 1 ]
2. This seems to me right enough
now and then;
but
to withdraw altogether from Christ, and
to compare His divine Body
with our miseries or
with any created thing whatever,
is what I cannot endure.
May God help me to explain myself!
I am not contradicting them on this point,
for they are learned and spiritual persons,
understanding what they say:
God, too, is guiding souls
by many ways and methods,
as He has guided mine.
I wish to speak now
- of my own soul that
I do not intermeddle with others, and
- of the danger I was in
because I would comply
with the directions I was reading.
I can well believe
that he who has
attained to union, and
advances no further,
that is, to raptures, visions,
and other graces of God given to souls,
will consider that opinion to be best,
as I did myself:
and if I had continued in it,
I believe I should never have reached
the state I am in now.
I hold it to be a delusion:
still, it may be that it is I who am deluded.
But I will tell you what happened to me.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 2 ]
3. As I had no director,
I used to read these books,
where, by little and little,
I thought I might understand something.
I found out afterwards that,
if our Lord had not shown me the way,
I should have learned
but little from books;
for I understood really nothing
till His Majesty made me learn
by experience:
neither did I know what I was doing.
So, in the beginning,
when I attained to some degree
of supernatural prayer,
I speak of the prayer of quiet,
- I laboured to remove from myself
every thought of bodily objects;
- but I did not dare to lift up my soul,
for that I saw would be presumption in me,
who was always so wicked.
I thought, however, that
I had a sense of the presence of God:
this was true, and
I contrived to be in a state of recollection
before Him.
This method of prayer is full of sweetness,
if God helps us in it,
and the joy of it is great.
And so, because I was conscious
of the profit and delight
which this way (had) furnished me,
no one could have brought me back
to the contemplation
of the Sacred Humanity;
for that seemed to me
to be a real hindrance to prayer.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 3 ]
4. O Lord of my soul, and my Good!
Jesus Christ crucified!
I never think of this opinion,
which I then held,
without pain;
I believe it was an act of high treason,
though done in ignorance.
Hitherto, I had been all my life long
so devout to the Sacred Humanity
for this happened but lately;
I mean by lately,
that it was before our Lord gave me
the grace of raptures and visions.
I did not continue long of this opinion, [310]
and so I returned to my habit
of delighting in our Lord,
particularly at Communion.
I wish I could have His picture and image
always before my eyes,
since I cannot have Him graven in my soul
as deeply as I wish.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 4 ]
5. Is it possible, O my Lord,
that I could have had the thought,
if only for an hour,
that Thou couldst be a hindrance
to my greatest good?
Whence are all my blessings?
Are they not from Thee?
I will not think that I was blamable,
for I was very sorry for it,
and it was certainly done in ignorance.
And so it pleased Thee, in Thy goodness,
to succour me,
by sending me one who has delivered me
from this delusion;
and afterwards
by showing Thyself to me so many times,
as I shall relate hereafter, [311]
that I might clearly perceive
how great my delusion was,
and also tell it to many persons;
which I have done,
as well as describe it
as I am doing now.
I believe myself that
this is the reason why
so many souls,
after advancing to the prayer of union,
make no further progress, and
do not attain to
very great liberty of spirit.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 5]
6. It seems to me,
that there are two considerations
on which I may ground this opinion.
Perhaps I am saying nothing to the purpose,
yet what I say is the result of experience;
for my soul was in a very evil plight,
till our Lord enlightened it:
all its joys were but sips;
and when it had come forth therefrom,
it never found itself in that company
which afterwards it had
in trials and temptations.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 6 ]
7. The first consideration is this:
there is a little absence of humility
so secret and so hidden,
that we do not observe it.
Who is there so proud and wretched as I,
that, even after labouring all his life
in penances and prayers and persecutions,
can possibly imagine himself
not to be exceedingly rich,
most abundantly rewarded,
when our Lord permits him to stand
with St. John at the foot of the cross?
I know not into whose head
it could have entered
to be not satisfied with this,
unless it be mine,
which has gone wrong in every way
where it should have gone right onwards.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 7 ]
8. Then, if our constitution or perhaps sicknesses
will not permit us always
to think of His Passion,
because it is so painful,
who is to hinder us
from thinking of Him
risen from the grave,
seeing that we have Him so near us
in the Sacrament,
where he is glorified, and
where we shall not see Him
in His great weariness
scourged, streaming with blood,
faint by the way, persecuted
by those to whom He had done good,
and not believed in by the Apostles?
Certainly it is not always that
one can bear to meditate on sufferings
so great as were those He underwent.
Behold Him here,
before His ascension into heaven,
without pain, all-glorious, giving
strength to some and
courage to others.
In the most Holy Sacrament,
He is our companion,
as if it was not in His power
to withdraw Himself for a moment from us.
And yet it was in my power
to withdraw from Thee,
O my Lord, that I might serve Thee better!
It may be that
I knew Thee not
when I sinned against Thee;
but how could I,
having once known Thee,
ever think I should gain more in this way?
O Lord, what an evil way I took!
and I was going out of the way,
if Thou hadst not brought me back to it.
When I see Thee near me,
I see all good things together.
No trial befalls me
that is not easy to bear,
when I think of Thee
standing before those who judged Thee.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 8 ]
9. With so good a Friend
and Captain ever present,
Himself the first to suffer,
everything can be borne.
He helps,
He strengthens,
He never fails,
He is the true Friend.
I see clearly, and
since then
have always seen, that
if we are to please God, and
if He is to give us His great graces,
everything must pass through the hands
of His most Sacred Humanity,
in whom His Majesty said
that He is well pleased. [312]
I know this by repeated experience:
our Lord has told it me.
I have seen clearly
that this is the door [313]
by which we are to enter,
if we would have His supreme Majesty
reveal to us His great secrets.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 9 ]
10. So, then, I would have your reverence
seek no other way,
even if you were arrived
at the highest contemplation.
This way is safe.
Our Lord is He
by whom all good things come to us;
He will teach you.
Consider His life;
that is the best example.
What more can we want
than so good a Friend at our side,
who will not forsake us
when we are in trouble and distress,
as they do
who belong to this world!
Blessed is he
who truly loves Him, and
who always has Him near him!
Let us consider the glorious St. Paul,
who seems
as if Jesus was never absent from his lips,
as if he had Him deep down in his heart.
After I had heard this
of some great Saints given to contemplation,
I considered the matter carefully; and
I see that they walked in no other way.
St. Francis with the stigmata proves it,
St. Antony of Padua with the Infant Jesus;
St. Bernard rejoiced in the Sacred Humanity;
so did St. Catherine of Siena,
and many others,
as your reverence knows better than I do.
[ Life: Ch. 22: #10 ]
11. This withdrawing from bodily objects
must no doubt be good,
seeing that it is recommended by persons
who are so spiritual;
but, in my opinion,
it ought to be done only
when the soul has made very great progress;
for until then it is clear
that the Creator must be sought for
through His creatures.
All this depends on the grace
which our Lord distributes to every soul.
I do not intermeddle here.
What I would say is,
that the most Sacred Humanity of Christ
is not to be counted among the objects
from which we have to withdraw.
Let this be clearly understood.
I wish I knew how to explain it. [314]
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 11 ]
12. When God suspends
all the powers of the soul,
as we see He does
in the states of prayer already described,
”it is clear that,
whether we wish it or not,
this presence is withdrawn.
Be it so, then.
The loss is a blessed one,
because it takes place in order
that we may have a deeper fruition
of what we seem to have lost;
for at that moment
the whole soul
is occupied in loving Him
the understanding
has toiled to know;
and it loves
what it has not comprehended, and
rejoices in
what it could not have rejoiced in so well,
if it had not lost itself, in order,
as I am saying,
to gain itself the more.
But that we should carefully and laboriously
accustom ourselves
not to strive with all our might
to have always
the most Sacred Humanity before our eyes,
and Please God it be always!
this, I say, is
what seems to me not to be right:
it is making the soul,
as they say,
to walk in the air;
for it has nothing to rest on,
how full soever of God
it may think itself to be.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 12 ]
13. It is a great matter for us
to have our Lord before us as Man
while we are living and in the flesh.
This is that other inconvenience
which I say must be met with.
The first I have already begun to describe
it is a little failure in humility,
in that the soul desires to rise of itself
before our Lord raises it,
and is not satisfied with meditation
on so excellent a subject,
seeking to be Mary
before it has laboured with Martha.
If our Lord will have a soul to be Mary,
even on the first day,
there is nothing to be afraid of;
but we must not be self-invited guests,
as I think I said on another occasion. [315]
This little mote of want of humility,
though in appearance a mere nothing,
does a great deal of harm
to those who wish
to advance in contemplation.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 13 ]
14. I now come back
to the second consideration.
We are not angels,
for we have a body;
to seek to make ourselves angels
while we are on the earth, and
so much on the earth as I was,
is an act of folly.
In general,
our thoughts
must have something to rest on,
though the soul
- may go forth out of itself
now and then, or it
- may be very often so full of God
as to be in need of no created thing
by the help of which
it may recollect itself.
But this is not so common a case;
for when we have many things to do,
when we are persecuted and in trouble,
when we cannot have much rest, and
when we have our seasons of dryness,
Christ is our best Friend;
for we regard Him as Man, and
behold Him faint and in trouble,
and He is our Companion; and
when we shall have accustomed ourselves
in this way,
it is very easy to find Him near us,
although there will be occasions
from time to time
when we can do neither the one
nor the other.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 14 ]
15. For this end, that is useful
which I spoke of before: [316]
we must not show ourselves
as labouring after spiritual consolations;
come what may,
to embrace the cross is the great thing.
The Lord of all consolation
was Himself forsaken:
they left Him alone in His sorrows.
Do not let us forsake Him;
for His hand will help us to rise
more than any efforts we can make;
and He will withdraw Himself
when He sees it be expedient for us,
and when He pleaseth will also
draw the soul forth out of itself,
as I said before. [317]
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 15 ]
16. God is greatly pleased when He beholds
a soul in its humility
- making His Son a Mediator
between itself and Him,
- and yet loving Him so much
as to confess its own unworthiness,
even when He would raise it up
to the highest contemplation,
- and saying with St. Peter: [318]
"Go Thou away from me, O
Lord, for I am a sinful man."
I know this by experience:
it was thus that God directed my soul.
Others may walk,
as I said before, [319]
by another and a shorter road.
What I have understood of the matter is this:
- that the whole foundation of prayer
must be laid in humility, and
- that the more a soul humbles itself in prayer,
the more God lifts it up.
I do not remember
that He ever showed me
any of those marvellous mercies,
of which I shall speak hereafter, [320]
at any other time
than when I was
as one brought to nothing,
by seeing how wicked I was. [321]
Moreover, His Majesty contrived
to make me understand matters
that helped me to know myself,
but which I could never
have even imagined of myself.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 16 ]
17. I believe myself that
if a soul makes any efforts of its own
to further itself
in the way of the prayer of union,
and though it may seem
to make immediate progress,
it will quickly fall back,
because the foundations were not duly laid.
I fear, too, that such a soul
will never attain to true poverty of spirit,
which consists in seeking
consolation or sweetness,
not in prayer,
the consolations of the earth
are already abandoned,
but rather in sorrows,
for the love of Him
who always lived in sorrows Himself; [322]
and in being calm in the midst
of sorrows and aridities.
Though the soul may feel it
in some measure,
there is
no disquiet,
nor any of that pain
which some persons suffer,
who,
if they are not always labouring
with the understanding and
with a sense of devotion,
think everything lost,
as if their efforts merited
so great a blessing!
[ Life: Ch. 22: #17 ]
Blog's attempt for a clearer translation of paragraph #17: I believe myself that if a soul attempts to advance to the prayer of union, by its own efforts it will quickly fall back, because the foundations were not duly laid, (although at first, it may seem to make progress.) I fear, too, that such a soul will never attain to true poverty of spirit. [ True poverty of spirit consists of - seeking comfort in their work / trials consolación en los trabajos for the love of God who always lived in sorrows Himself - abandoning the consolations of the world and in - being calm in the midst of sorrows and aridities. - rather than seeking consolation or pleasure in prayer no buscar consuelo ni gusto en la oración ] Though the soul may feel it (sorrows) in some measure, there is no disquiet or pain which some persons suffer, who...think everything (is) lost or useless or of no value if they are not always -labouring with the understanding (actively meditating/ reflecting) and with a sense of devotion, (feeling devout ) as if their efforts merited so great a blessing! |
Peers translation version: Indeed, I fear it will never attain to true poverty of spirit, which consists in seeking, - not comfort or pleasure in prayer (for it has already abandoned earthly comforts and pleasures), - but consolation in trials for the love of Him Who suffered trials all His life long; - and we must endure these trials, and be calm amidst aridities, though we may feel some regret at having to suffer them. They should not cause us the unrest and distress which they cause some people who think that, if they are not for ever - labouring with the understanding and - striving after feelings of devotion, they are going completely astray, as if by so labouring they were meriting some great blessing. [ Life Ch 22 #11] |
18. I am
- not saying that
men should not seek to be devout,
- nor that they should not stand
with great reverence in the presence of God,
- but only that they are not to vex themselves
if they cannot find even one good thought,
as I said in another place; [323]
for we are unprofitable servants. [324]
What do we think we can do?
Our Lord grant
that we understand this, and
that we may be those little asses
who drive the windlass
I spoke of: [325]
these,
though their eyes are bandaged, and
they do not understand
what they are doing,
yet draw up more water
than the gardener can draw
with all his efforts.
We must
- walk in liberty on this road,
- committing ourselves
into the hands of God.
If it be His Majesty's good pleasure to
raise us and
place us among
His chamberlains and secret councillors,
- we must go willingly;
if not, we must
- serve Him in the lower offices
of His house, and
- not sit down on the upper seats. [326]
As I have sometimes said, [327]
God is
- more careful of us
than we are ourselves, and
- knows what each one of us is fit for.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 18 ]
19. What use is there
in governing oneself
by oneself,
when the whole Will
has been given up to God?
I think this less endurable now
than in the first state of prayer, and
it does much greater harm;
for these blessings are supernatural.
If a man has a bad voice,
let him force himself
ever so much
to sing,
he will never improve it;
but if God gives him a good voice,
he has no need to try it twice.
Let us, then,
pray (to) Him always
to show His mercy upon us,
with a submissive spirit,
yet trusting in the goodness of God.
And now that the soul is permitted
to sit at the feet of Christ,
- let it contrive
-- not to quit its place,
-- but keep it anyhow.
- Let it follow
the example of the Magdalene;
and when it shall be strong enough,
God will lead it into the wilderness. [328]
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 19 ]
20. You, then, my father,
must be content with this
until you meet with some one
of more experience and better knowledge
than I am.
If you see people
who are beginning to taste of God,
do not trust them
if they think that they
- advance more, and
- have a deeper fruition of God,
when they make efforts
of their own.
Oh, when God wills it,
how He discovers Himself
without these little efforts of ours!
We may do what we like,
but He throws the spirit
into a trance
as easily as a giant takes up a straw;
no resistance is possible.
What a thing to believe,
that God will wait
till the toad shall fly of itself,
when He has already willed it should do so!
Well, it seems to me
still more difficult and hard
for our spirit to rise upwards,
if God does not raise it,
seeing that it is burdened with earth,
and hindered in a thousand ways.
Its willingness to rise
is of no service to it;
for, though an aptness for flying
be more natural to it
than to a toad,
yet is it so sunk in the mire
as to have lost it by its own fault.
[ Life: Ch. 22: #20 ]
21. I come, then, to this conclusion:
Whenever we think of Christ,
we should remind ourselves
- of the love that made Him
bestow so many graces
upon us and also
- how great that love is
which our Lord God has shown us,
in giving us such a pledge
of the love He bears us;
for love draws forth love.
And though we are
only at the very beginning, and
exceedingly wicked,
yet let us always labour to
- keep this in view, and
- stir ourselves up to love;
for if once our Lord grants us this grace,
of having this love imprinted
in our hearts,
everything will be easy, and
we shall do great things
in a very short time, and
with very little labour.
May His Majesty give us that love,
He knows the great need we have of it,
for the sake
of that love which He bore us, and
of His glorious Son,
to whom it cost so much
to make it known to us!
Amen.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 21 ]
22. There is one thing
I should like to ask you, my father.
How is it that,
when our Lord begins to bestow
upon a soul
a grace so great as this
of perfect contemplation,
it is not, as it ought to be,
perfect at once?
Certainly, it seems it should be so;
for he who receives a grace so great
ought never more to seek consolations on earth.
How is it, I ask,
that a soul which
- has ecstasies and
- so far is more accustomed
to receive graces,
should yet seem to bring forth fruits
still higher and higher,
and the more so,
the more it is detached,
when our Lord might have sanctified it
at once,
the moment He came near it?
How is it, I ask again,
that the same Lord brings it
to the perfection of virtue
only in the course of time?
I should be glad to learn the reason,
for I know it not.
I do know, however,
that in the beginning,
when a trance
- lasts only the twinkling of an eye, and
- is almost imperceptible
but for the effects it produces,
the degree of strength
which God then gives
is very different from that
which He gives
when this grace is a trance
of longer duration.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 22 ]
23. Very often, when thinking of this,
have I imagined
the reason might be,
that the soul does not despise itself
all at once,
till our Lord
- instructs it by degrees, and
- makes it resolute, and
- gives it the strength of manhood,
so that it may trample
utterly upon everything.
He gave this strength to the Magdalene
in a moment.
He gives the same grace to others,
according to the measure
of their abandonment of themselves
into the hands of His Majesty,
that He may do with them as He will.
We never thoroughly believe
that God rewards a hundredfold
even in this life. [329]
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 23 ]
24. I also thought of this comparison:
Supposing grace
given to those who are far advanced
to be the same with that
given to those who are but beginners,
we may then liken it to a certain food
of which many persons partake:
they who eat a little
retain the savour of it for a moment,
they who eat more
are nourished by it,
but those who eat much
receive life and strength.
Now, the soul may eat
so frequently and
so abundantly
of this food of life
as to have no pleasure
in eating any other food,
because it sees how much good
it derives from it.
Its taste is now so formed upon it,
that it would
rather not live
than have to eat any other food;
for all food
but this
has no other effect
than to take away the sweet savour
which this good food leaves behind.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 24 ]
25. Further, the conversation of good people
does not profit us in one day
as much as it does in many;
and we may converse with them
long enough to become like them,
by the grace of God.
In short, the whole matter
is as His Majesty wills.
He gives His grace
to whom He pleases;
But much depends on this:
- He who begins to receive this grace must
-- make a firm resolution
to detach himself from all things
and
-- esteem this grace according to reason.
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 25 ]
26. It seems also to me
as if His Majesty were going about
to try those who love Him,
now one,
now another,
revealing Himself in supreme joy,
so as to quicken our belief,
if it should be dead,
in what He will give us, saying,
Behold! this is but a drop
of the immense sea of blessings;
for He leaves nothing undone
for those He loves;
and as He sees them receive it,
so He gives,
and He gives Himself.
He loves those
who love Him.
Oh, how dear He is!
how good a Friend!
O my soul's Lord,
who can find words to describe
what Thou givest to those
who trust in Thee, and
what they lose who come to this state,
and yet dwell in themselves!
Oh, let not this be so, O my Lord!
for Thou doest more than this
when Thou comest to a lodging
so mean as mine.
Blessed be Thou for ever and ever!
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 22 ]
27. I now humbly ask you, my father,
if you mean to discuss
what I have written on prayer
with spiritual persons,
to see that they are so really;
for if they be persons
who know only one way, or
who have stood still midway,
they will not be able
to understand the matter.
There are also some
whom God leads
at once
by the highest way;
these think that others might advance
in the same manner
quiet the understanding, and
make bodily objects
none of their means;
but these people will remain dry as a stick.
Others, also, there are
who, having for a moment
attained to the prayer of quiet,
think forthwith that,
as they have had the one,
so they may have the other.
These instead of advancing,
go back,
as I said before. [330]
So, throughout,
experience and discretion are necessary.
May our Lord, of His goodness,
bestow them on us!
[ Life: Ch. 22: # 4 ]
______________________________
[306] See Inner Fortress, vi. 7, § 4.
[307] This opinion is supposed to be justified
by the words of St. Thomas,
3 Sent. dist. 22, qu. 3, art. 1,
ad quintum.
"Corporalis præsentia Christi in duobus
poterat esse nociva.
Primo, quantum ad fidem, quia videntes
Eum in forma in qua erat minor Patre,
non ita de facili crederent Eum æqualem
Patri, ut dicit glossa super Joannem.
Secundo, quantum ad dilectionem,
quia Eum non solum spiritualiter,
sed etiam carnaliter diligeremus,
conversantes cum Ipso corporaliter,
et hoc est de imperfectione dilectionis."
[308] St. John xvi. 7:
"Expedit vobis ut Ego vadam;
si enim non abiero,
Paracletus non veniet ad vos."
[309] This sentence is in the margin
of the original MS.,
not in the text,
but in the handwriting of the Saint
(De la Fuente).
[310] "I mean by lately . . . and visions"
is in the margin of the MS.,
but in the handwriting of the Saint
(De la Fuente).
[311] [263] Ch. xxviii. § 4.
[312] St. Matt. iii. 17:
"Hic est Filius Meus dilectus,
in quo Mihi complacui."
[313] St. John x. 7, 9:
"Ego sum ostium."
[314] See St. John of the Cross, [264]
Mount Carmel, bk. iii. ch. i. p. 212.
[315] [265]Ch. xii. §§ 5, [266] 7.
[316] [267]Ch. xv. § 21.
[317] [268]Ch. xx. § 2.
[318] St. Luke v. 8:
"Exi a me, quia homo peccator sum,
Domine."
[319] [269]Ch. xii. § 6.
[320] [270]Ch. xxviii.
[321] Psalm lxxii. 22:
"Et ego ad nihilum redactus sum,
et nescivi."
[322] Isaias liii 3:
"Virum dolorum,
et scientem infirmitatem."
[323] [271]Ch. xi. § 15.
[324] St. Luke xvii. 10:
"Servi inutiles sumus."
[325] [272]Ch. xi. § 11.
[326] St. Luke xiv. 8:
"Non discumbas in primo loco."
See Way of Perfection,
ch. xxvi. § 1;
but [273]ch. xvii. of the old editions.
[327] [274]Ch. xi. § 23, [275]ch. xviii. § 6.
[328] Os. ii. 14:
"Ducam eam in solitudinem."
[329] St. Matt. xix. 29:
"Qui reliquerit domum,
. . . centuplum accipiet."
[330] [276]Ch. xii. § 5.
_____________________
