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We have seen that St. Thomas, when speaking of the three
ages of the spiritual life, remarks that "at first it is incumbent
on man to occupy himself chiefly with avoiding sin and resisting his
concupiscences, which move him in opposition to charity." (1)
The Christian in the state of grace, who begins to
give himself to the service of God and to tend toward the perfection
of charity according to the demands of the supreme precept, has a
mentality or state of soul which can be described by observing
particularly knowledge of self and of God, love of self and of God.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
Beginners have an initial knowledge of themselves;
little by little they discern the defects they have, the remains of
sins that have already been forgiven, and new failings that are more
or less deliberate and voluntary. If these beginners are generous,
they seek, not to excuse themselves, but to correct themselves, and
the Lord shows them their wretchedness and poverty, making them
understand, however, that they must consider it only in the light of
divine mercy, which exhorts them to advance. They must daily examine
their consciences and learn to overcome themselves that they may not
follow the unconsidered impulse of their passions.
However, they know themselves as yet only in a
superficial way. They have not discovered what a treasure baptism
placed in their souls, and they are ignorant of all the self-love and
the often unconscious egoism still continuing in them and revealing
itself from time to time under a sharp vexation or reproach. Often
they have a clearer perception of this self-love in others than in
themselves; they ought to remember Christ's words: "Why seest thou the
mote that is in thy brother's eye; and seest not the beam that is in
thy own eye?" (2) The beginner bears in himself a diamond embedded in
a mass of gross material, and he does not yet know the value of the
diamond or all the defects of the other material. God loves him far
more than he believes, but with a strong love that has its exigencies
and that demands abnegation if the soul is to reach true liberty of
spirit.
The beginner rises gradually to a certain knowledge of
God which is still very dependent on sensible things. He knows God in
the mirror of the natural world or in that of the parables: for
example, in those of the prodigal son, of the lost sheep, of the good
shepherd. This is the straight movement of elevation toward God,
taking its point of departure from a simple, sensible fact. It is not
yet the spiral movement rising toward God by the consideration of the
various mysteries of salvation, nor is it the circular movement of
contemplation that ever returns to the radiating divine goodness, as
the eagle likes to look at the sun while describing the same circle
several times in the air.(3)
The beginner is not yet familiar with the mysteries of
salvation, with those of the redeeming Incarnation, of the life of the
Church. He cannot yet feel habitually inclined to see therein the
radiation of the divine goodness. However, he sometimes has this view
while considering our Savior's passion, but he does not yet penetrate
the depths of the mystery of the redemption. His view of the things of
God is still superficial; he has not reached maturity of spirit.
THE LOVE OF GOD IN ITS EARLY STAGES
In this state there is a proportionate love of God.
Truly generous beginners love the Lord with a holy fear of sin which
makes them flee mortal sin, and even deliberate venial sins, by the
mortification of the senses and of the inordinate passions, or of the
threefold concupiscence of the flesh, the eyes, and pride. This sign
indicates that they have the beginning of a deep, voluntary love.
Nevertheless, a number practically neglect necessary
mortification, and resemble a man who would like to begin climbing a
mountain, not from the base of the mountain but halfway up the side.
When they do this, they ascend in their imagination only, not in
reality; they travel rapidly, and their first enthusiasm will die out
as quickly as burning straw. They will believe that they have a knowledge
of spiritual things and will abandon them after having barely examined
them superficially. This is, alas, frequently the case.
If, on the contrary, the beginner is generous and
seriously wishes to advance, though not wishing to go more quickly
than grace or to practice beyond the bounds of obedience an excessive
mortification inspired by secret pride, it is not unusual for him to
receive as recompense sensible consolations in prayer or in the study
of divine things. The Lord thus conquers his sensibility, since he
still lives chiefly by it. Sensible grace, so called because it reacts
on the sensibility, turns it from dangerous things and draws it toward
our Lord and His holy Mother. At these times, the generous beginner
already loves God with his whole heart, but not yet with his whole
soul, with all his strength, or with all his mind. Spiritual writers
often speak of this "milk of consolation" which is then given. St.
Paul himself says: "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as unto
spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto little ones in Christ. I gave
you milk to drink, not meat; for you are not able as yet." (4)
Then what generally happens? Almost all beginners, on
receiving these sensible consolations, take too much complacency in
them, as if they were an end, not a means. They then fall into a
certain spiritual gluttony accompanied by rash haste and curiosity in
the study of divine things, by unconscious pride that makes them wish
to talk about these things as if they were already masters of the
subject. Then, says St. John of the Cross,(5) the seven capital sins
reappear, no longer under their gross form but as they apply to
spiritual things.(6) They are so many obstacles to true and solid
piety.
What follows from this? According to the logic of the
spiritual life, it follows that a second conversion is necessary, that
described by St. John of the Cross under the name of the passive
purification of the senses "common to the greater number of beginners"
(7) in order to introduce them into "the illuminative way of
proficients, where God nourishes the soul by infused contemplation."
(8)
This purification is manifested by a prolonged
sensible aridity in which the beginner is stripped of the sensible
consolations wherein he delighted too greatly. If in this aridity
there is a keen desire for God, for His reign in us, and the fear of
offending Him, it is a sign that a divine purification is taking
place. And this is clearer still if to this keen desire for God is
added difficulty in prayer, in making multiple and reasoned
considerations, and the inclination to look simply at God.(9) This
inclination is the third sign, which indicates that the second
conversion is taking place and that the soul is raised toward a higher
form of life, which is that of the illuminative way of proficients.
If the soul bears this purification well, its
sensibility submits more and more to the spirit. Often it must then
generously repulse temptations against chastity and patience, virtues
that have their seat in the sensitive appetites and that are
strengthened by this struggle.
In this crisis the Lord tills the soul, so to speak;
He greatly deepens the furrow He traced at the moment of justification
or the first conversion. He extirpates the evil roots or remains of
sin. He shows the vanity of the things of the world, of the quest for
honors and dignities. Gradually a new life begins, as in the natural
order when the child becomes an adolescent.
This crisis is, however, more or less well borne; many
persons are not generous enough and may become retarded souls. Others
follow divine inspiration with docility and become proficients.
Such are the chief distinctive marks of the spiritual
age of beginners: a knowledge of self still superficial; an initial
knowledge of God as yet very dependent on sensible things; a love of
God manifesting itself by the struggle to flee sin. If this struggle
is generous, it is as a rule rewarded by sensible consolations, on
which one too often dwells. Then the Lord takes them away and by this
spoliation introduces one into a spiritual life that is more detached
from the senses. It is easy to see the logical and vital sequence of
the phases through which the soul must pass. It is not a mechanical
juxtaposition of successive states, but the organic development of the
interior life which thus becomes more and more an intimate
conversation of the soul, no longer only with itself but with God.
THE GENEROSITY REQUIRED IN BEGINNERS
Of great importance to note here is the generosity
necessary in the beginner from the very first moment if he is to reach
intimate union with God and the penetrating and sweet contemplation of
divine things.
On this subject we read in The Dialogue of St.
Catherine of Siena: "You were all invited, generally and in
particular, by My Truth, when He cried in the Temple, saying:
'Whosoever thirsteth, let him come to Me and drink, for I am the
fountain of the water of life.' . . . So that you are invited to the
fountain of living water of grace, and it is right for you, with
perseverance, to keep by Him who is made for you a bridge, not being
turned back by any contrary wind that may arise, either of prosperity
or adversity, and to persevere till you find Me, who am the giver of
the water of life, by means of this sweet and loving Word, My
only-begotten Son." (10)
St. Thomas speaks likewise when he comments on the
words: "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for
they shall have their fill" "The Lord," he says, "wishes us to thirst
after that justice which consists in rendering to every man and to God
first of all what is His due. He wishes us never to be satiated on
earth . . . but rather that our desire should grow always. . . .
Blessed are they that have this insatiable desire; they will receive
eternal life and here below an abundance of spiritual goods in the
accomplishment of the precepts, according to the words of the Master:
(11) 'My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, that I may
perfect His work.' " (12)
The Angelic Doctor says again in his commentary on St.
John, 7: 37 "All that thirst are invited when our Lord says: 'If any
man thirst, let him come to Me and drink.' Isaias had said: 'All you
that thirst, come to the (living) waters.' (13) He calls those who
thirst, for it is they who desire to serve God. God does not accept a
forced service, but He 'loveth a cheerful giver.' (14) He calls not
only some, but all who thirst; and He invites them to drink this
spiritual beverage which is divine wisdom, capable of satiating our
desires. And once we have found this divine wisdom, we shall wish to
give it to others.(15) This is why He says to us: 'He that believeth
in Me, as the Scripture saith: Out of his belly shall flow rivers of
living water.' " (16)
To reach this overflowing spring, one must thirst for
virtue and walk generously along the narrow way of abnegation, in the
spiritual way which is narrow for the senses, but which, for the
spirit, becomes immense like God Himself to whom it leads. The road to
perdition, on the other hand, while broad at first for the senses, in
turn becomes narrower and narrower for the spirit and leads to hell.
(17)
St. Teresa, recalling these same words of the Master:
"If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink," likewise writes:
"Remember, our Lord invited 'any man': He is truth itself; His word
cannot be doubted. If all had not been included, He would not have
addressed everybody, nor would He have said: 'Let all men come, for
they will lose nothing by it, and I will give to drink to those I
think fit for it.' But as He said unconditionally: 'If any man thirst,
let him come to Me,' I feel sure that, unless they stop halfway, none
will fail to drink of this living water. May our Lord, who has
promised to grant it us, give us grace to seek it as we ought, for His
own sake." (18) In the same chapter the saint says: "When God gives
you this water, sisters, this comparison will please you, and you will
understand, as those do who drink of it, how genuine love of God that
is powerful and freed from earthly dross rises above mortal things and
is sovereign over all the elements of this world. . . . Our souls are
so dear to Him that He prevents their running into danger while He is
bestowing this grace on them. He at once calls them to His side, and
in a single instant shows them more truths and gives them a clearer
knowledge of the nothingness of all things than we could gain for ourselves in many years." In chapter 21, the saint
adds: "Let us return to speak of those who wish to travel by this path
to the very end, and to the fount itself, where they will drink of the
water of life. Although there are books written on the subject, yet I
do not think it will be waste of time to speak of it here. How must
one begin? I maintain that this is the chief point; in fact, that
everything depends on people having a great and a most resolute
determination never to halt until they reach their journey's end,
happen what may, whatever the consequences are, cost what it will, let
who will blame them, whether they reach the goal or die on the road,
or lose heart to bear the trials they encounter, or the earth itself
goes to pieces beneath their feet."
St. John of the Cross expresses himself in like manner
in the prologue of The Ascent of Mount Carmel and in The
Living Flame of Love.(19)
The generosity of which all these great saints speak
in the quotations given is none other than the virtue of magnanimity;
but it is no longer only that described by Aristotle; it is infused
Christian magnanimity described by St. Thomas in IIa IIae, q. 129 of
the Summa.
The magnanimous man, says the saint, seeks great
things worthy of honor, but he considers that honors themselves are
practically nothing.(20) He does not let himself be exalted by
prosperity or cast down by difficulties. Is there anything greater on
earth than genuine Christian perfection? The magnanimous man dreads
neither obstacles nor critics nor scorn, if they must be borne for a
great cause. He does not allow himself to be at all intimidated by
freethinkers, and pays no attention to their utterances. He pays far
more attention to truth than to the opinions of men which are often
false. If this generosity is not always understood by those who wish
an easier life, it has, nevertheless, a true value in itself. And if
it is united to humility, it pleases God and cannot fail of a reward.
St. Francis de Sales, in his Fifth Conference, speaks
admirably of generosity in its relations with humility, which ought
always to accompany it. He says:
Humility believes it can do nothing, considering the
knowledge of our poverty and weakness. . . ; and, on the contrary,
generosity makes us say with St. Paul: "I can do all things in Him who
strengtheneth me." Humility makes us distrust ourselves, and
generosity makes us trust in God. . . . There are people who amuse
themselves with a false and silly humility, which hinders them from
seeing in themselves the good that God has given them. They are very
wrong in this; for the goods that God has placed in us should be
recognized. . . that we may glorify the divine goodness which bestowed
them on us. . . . Humility which does not produce generosity is
indubitably false. . . . Generosity relies on trust in God and
courageously undertakes to do all that is commanded . . . no matter
how difficult it may be. . . . What can hinder me from succeeding, it
says, since the Scriptures declare that "He, who hath begun a good
work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus"? (21)
Such ought to be the generosity of beginners. All the saints hold the
same doctrine. Christ Himself declared: "No man putting his hand to
the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God." (22) One
must belong to those of whom He said: "Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill"; here on
earth they will taste, as it were, the prelude of eternal life and by
working for the salvation of others will inspire in them a holy desire
for this life.
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