Saint Bonaventure

The Enkindling of Love

(The Triple Way)

translated by Regis J. Armstrong, O.F.M. Cap.

 

Prologue

Behold, I have described it for you in a threefold way

Since all knowledge, especially that taught by Sacred Scripture, reveals a sign of the Trinity, it must express a footprint of the Trinity. This is due to what the Wise One says about this holy doctrine as he describes it in a threefold way because of its threefold spiritual understanding, which is moral, allegorical and anagogical.

This threefold understanding, moreover, corresponds to a threefold hierarchical activity, which is purgative, illuminative, and perfective. Purgation, in fact, leads to peace, illumination to truth, perfection to love.

 

Once it has perfectly mastered these [activities], the soul becomes blessed and, as it behaves in these ways, grows in merit. The entire knowledge of Sacred Scripture as well the reward of eternal life depends upon knowing these three activities.We must know, then, that the manner of exercising this triple way is threefold, that is, by reading and meditating, by praying, and by contemplating.

I. I. Meditation, which purifies, enlightens, and perfects the soul

2. Now, at the outset we must take into consideration the way of meditating. We must recognize, then, that there are three things within us according to whose use we must proceed on this threefold path: the goad of our conscience, the beam of our understanding, and the small fire of wisdom. If you wish, then, to be purified, turn to the goad of your conscience, to be enlightened, to the beam of your understanding, to be perfected, to the little fire of wisdom. In this way you will be following the counsel of the blessed Dionysius to Timothy in which he encourages him: “Turn yourself to the beam”

A. A. Purgation: Sting of Conscience - when clean, is joyful and glad

1. 1. Arouse: remember sin

3. To goad our conscience we must conduct ourselves in this way: we must first sharpen the goad, then bring it to a point, and, finally, direct it. We sharpen it by remembering sin, bring it to a point by being aware of ourselves, and direct it by considering good.

a. a. Negligence

1). 1) Guard heart / good use of time / right purpose
2). 2) Prayer / reading / good works
3). 3) Penance / resisting evil / making progress

4. We must remember sin in this way: the heart must accuse itself of a manifold negligence, inordinate desire and maliciousness. All our sins and evil deeds, whether contracted or acted, can be reduced to these three. We must pay attention, then, to negligence for we must recognize, in the first place, if we have been negligent in guarding our heart, using our time properly, and focusing on the goal.We must observe these three things most diligently especially by safeguarding our heart, using our time properly, and keeping the goal before us in every deed.We must recognize, in the second place, if we have been negligent in prayer, reading, doing good.For whoever wants to bring forth good fruit in his time, must be most diligent in exercising and cultivating these three things as one of these does not suffice without the others. We must recognize, in the third place, if we have been negligent in doing penance, resisting temptation, progressing in virtue. For each of us, with the greatest diligence, must express sorrow over evils committed, resist the devil’s temptations, progress from one virtue to another that we might arrive at the promised land.

b. b. Concupiscence

1). 1) Uncontrolled desire for: sweetness / softness / carnality
2). 2) Curiosity: occult knowledge / pleases eye / costly treasure
3). 3) Vanity: favor / praise / honor

5. We must recognize inordinate desire and if we live with all that is the root of every evil: an inordinate desire of pleasure, an inordinate desire of curiosity, an inordinate desire of vanity. First of all, we must recognize the inordinate desire of pleasure which lives in us if there is in us one who hungers for sweetness, for softness, for sensuality, that is, if we are someone who seeks refined food, rich clothing, lustful satisfaction. It is not only reprehensible to hunger after all these things willingly; we must also reject their first sensation. Then we must recognize the inordinate desire of curiosity which lives in or afflicts us. This surprises someone who hungers to know the occult, to see the beautiful, to possess the costly. The vice of greed and curiosity is very reprehensible in all these things. Finally, we must recognize the inordinate desire of vanity which lives in and afflicts us if there is in us a hunger for favor, for praise, for honor. All these things are vain and make us so and must be fled as the inordinate desire of the flesh. The conscience accuses the human heart of everything of this sort.

c. c. Malice

1). 1) Anger: thought / sign / word
2). 2) Envy: grieve over success / rejoice at misfortune / indifferent at misery
3). 3) Acrimony: suspicion / blasphemy / detractions

6. Concerning maliciousness we must recognize whether there flourishes or has ever flourished in us that which make the soul malicious: anger, or envy, or greed. First we must recognize the maliciousness of anger which consists in intention, in gesture, or in word, or in heart, in glance, or in outcry, or in affections, in attitudes, or in actions. Then we must recognize the maliciousness of envy which grieves over another’s prosperity, rejoices over another’s adversity, shuns another’s need. Finally we must recognize the maliciousness of greed which gives rise to evil suspicions, blasphemous thoughts, spiteful detractions. From this threefold remembrance we must sharpen the threefold goad of conscience and embitter the soul.

2. 2. Sharpen: consider human condition

a. a. Hour of death: unpredictable / inevitable / final

b. b. Blood of the Cross: quicken / cleanse / soften;

1). 1) remove uncleanliness / change death to life / bestow fruitfulness

c. c. Face of the Judge: infallible / inexorable / inescapable

7. After seeing how we should sharpen the goad of our inordinate desire by the remembrance of sin, we must see how it is brought to a point by self awareness. We must be circumspect about three things: the imminent day of death, the recently shed blood of the cross, the ever-present face of the judge. We bring the goad of the conscience to a point against every evil in these things. Initially we bring it to a point when we consider the day of death because it is undetermined, inevitable, irrevocable. If we diligently consider this we will most diligently work that, while there is still time, we might purge ourselves of every negligence, inordinate desire, maliciousness. For who would dare remain at fault if uncertain of the morrow? Then we bring it to a point when we consider the blood of the cross shed for exciting the human heart, cleansing it, and, in the last resort, softening it; or shed for cleansing human slovenliness, giving life to the deceased, giving seed to the barren. Who would, then, be so sluggish to allow a fault of negligence or inordinate desire or maliciousness to reign within knowing they have been bathed with that most precious blood? Finally we bring it to a point when we consider the face of the judge for it is infallible, inflexible, inescapable. For no one is capable of eluding his wisdom, bending his justice, escaping his vengeance. While there is “no good that goes without a reward, no evil that goes unpunished, who is there who is not sharpened against all evil when thinking of this?

3. 3. Direct: meditate on the good.

a. a. Alacrity: against negligence

1). 1) spiritual vigor, promtness: watchful / trustful / careful godly action

b. b. Austerity: against concupiscence

1). 1) spiritual rigor, love of: hardship / poverty / lowliness

c. c. Benignity: against malice.

1). 1) spiritual taste: kindness / tolerance / internal joy

8. After this we must see in what way and to what degree we might point the goad of the conscience to a consideration of good.

 There are three goods upon which we should meditate in advance for in acquiring them we correct the goad of the conscience: strenuous activity against negligence, severity against inordinate desire, kindness against maliciousness. For after we have these three things, we have a good and upright conscience. This what the Prophet teaches: I will indicate to you, mortal, what is good and what the Lord asks of you: especially to do judgment, to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with your God. He touches upon these three things in this passage. The Lord spoke in a similar way in Luke: Let your loins be girt about you

9. We must begin, then, with strenuous exercise which opens the way to the others. Let us describe it in this way: Strenuous exercise is a certain vigor of the spirit scattering every negligence and disposing the soul to every divine act with vigilance, confidence, and elegance. It is this which shows the way to all the following goods. Severity then follows. This is a certain discipline of the mind restraining every inordinate desire and spending all one’s time for love of hardship, poverty and repudiation. Kindness follows in the last place. This is a certain sweetness of the soul [which] deters every vice and dwells within that soul for benevolence, tolerance and interior joy. This is the end of purgation according to the way of meditation for every clean conscience is joyful and rejoicing. Let those who wish to purify themselves turn to the goad of conscience in the manner described. Nevertheless in such an examination our meditation can begin at any of the aforementioned points. We should pass from one to another and dwell upon them as long as we reap tranquillity and serenity and give rise to a spiritual joy which once acquired prompts the spirit to rise. That path begins, therefore, with the goad of conscience and ends in a state of spiritual joy. It is pursued in sorrow but ends in joy.

B. B. Illumination: Beam of Intelligence

1. 1. Hold it aloft: guilt remitted. Thankfulness.

2. 2. Broaden its scope: favors received

a. a. Perfection of nature: body / senses / soul

11. Then we must see how that beam must be broadened to look upon benefits received. These are threefold in kind: those looking upon the fulfillment of nature, the assistance of grace, the gift of superabundance. That which looks upon the fulfillment of nature is what God gave us by way of our body; the integrity of members the health of temperament the nobility of sex; what God gave us by way of our senses; sharp eyesight keen hearing and clear speech; what God gave us by way of our soul; clear understanding upright judgment a good spirit.

b. b. Assistence of grace: baptism / repentence / priesthood

12. That which looks at the assistance of grace is what God gave us in baptismal grace with which God washed away guilt, restored innocence, conferred justice; what God gave us, then, in penitential grace for the time of opportunity, the soul’s will, the sublime quality of religion; what God gave us, finally, in sacerdotal grace through which God made you a dispenser of doctrine, a dispenser of indulgence, a dispenser of the Eucharist. The words of life are dispensed in all of these things as each one more or less deserves.

c. c. Superabundance: universe / the Son / the Holy Spirit

13. That which looks at the gift of superabundance is first of all what God gave in the whole universe: lesser beings to serve us peers to gain merit superior beings to protect us; then God gave us His Son and in Him a brother and a friend: He gave Him as a ransom He gives Him daily as food first in the incarnation, secondly in the passion thirdly in the consecration; finally God gave us the Holy Spirit as a seal of acceptance as a privilege of adoption as a ring of espousal. For God made the Christian soul His friend His daughter His spouse. These are all wonderful and priceless and the soul must be grateful in its meditation upon such things.

3. 3. Turn it back: promised rewards: removal of evil / company of St.s / fulfillment of desires

10. In the second place the illuminative way follows the purgative. In this way we must apply the beam of understanding in this way: that beam must initially be projected on evils forgiven, then broadened to favors received, and, finally, turned toward rewards promised. The beam of understanding is projected when we diligently consider the evils which the Lord has allowed for our growth which are as many as the sins we have committed and are as great as the evils with which we were bound and as the goods which we deserved to lose. This meditation should appear obvious from what has preceded. We must pay attention not only to this but also consider how great are the evils into which we might have fallen had God permitted. We diligently consider these points through the beam of understanding which gives light to our darkness. Such enlightenment must be accompanied by a sense of gratitude, otherwise it would not be the heavenly enlightenment to whose brilliance we see warmth following. There is thanksgiving at this point for the remission of evils committed or of those possibly committed out of necessity, weakness or the will’s perversion.

14. Finally we must see in the illuminative way how, through meditation, that beam of understanding is turned toward the font of all good by recognizing the rewards promised. We must, therefore, eagerly consider and frequently reflect that God, Who does not lie, promises to those who believe and love the removal of all evils, the company of all the saints, the fulfillment of all desires in His very self Who is the font and goal of all good, Who is such a good exceeding every request every desire every price, Who deems us worthy of such good if we love and hunger for him above everything else and because of him. Therefore we must strain with every desire, affection and good will toward Him.

C. C. Union: Flame of Wisdom

1. 1. Concentrated: turned from love of creatures

15. Afterward it follows how we must conduct ourselves before the little flame of wisdom. We must do this, however, in this order because it is a little flame we must first gather it together, then kindle it, then lift it up. We gather it together by reducing our affection for every creature for we must call our affection away from every creature since the love of a creature is not profitable and if it were profitable, it does not satisfy, and if it does satisfy, it does not last. Therefore we must in every way keep such love from our affections.

2. 2. Fed: love in ref. to us, heaven, the Spouse; through love is given: what we lack / all good to the blessed / the presence of the Spouse

16. Then we must kindle [the little flame of wisdom] by turning our affection toward the Spouse’s love. We do this by comparing that love to itself, to the affection of the heavenly kingdom, and to the Spouse Himself. We do this when we consider that love supplies every need, through love, there is an abundance of every good in the saints, through love, we achieve the Spouse’s highest desirable presence. These are the things that kindle our affections.

3. 3. Raised aloft - above perceptions, imagination, conceptions- He is all delight.

17. Finally, we must lift [the little flame of wisdom] above everything sensible, imaginable, and understandable [and do so] in this order that: by first meditating, we might immediately say of him whom we desire to love perfectly that he is not sensible because he is not visible, audible, detectable, delectable, touchable and, therefore, that he is not sensible but totally desirable. Then we might consider that he is not imaginable because he is not terminable, figurative, numerical, circumscribable, verifiable, and, therefore, that he is not imaginable but totally desirable. Finally we might consider that he is not understandable because he is not demonstrable, definable, judicable, estimable, investigable, and, therefore, that he is not understandable but totally desirable.

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D. D. Corollary

18. From these points it clearly appears how we arrive at the wisdom of Sacred Scripture by meditating about the purgative, illuminative and perfective way. Every meditation must ponder not only the contents of Sacred Scripture but these points. For every meditation of a wise person concerns either human deeds by meditating especially on what we might have done, what we should do, what are our motives; or divine deeds by meditating on especially how much God entrusts to us for he has done everything for us, how much God forgives us, and how much God has promised us and in this on [His] encompassing deeds of creation, reparation, and glorification; or on both principles, God and the soul, and how they might be joined to one another. All of our mediation must rest here because this is the goal of all knowledge and of all activity. This is the true wisdom in which knowledge comes through authentic experience.

 

19. In a meditation of this kind the entire soul must be intent. This must be according to all its energies, that is, according to reason, synderisis, conscience, and will. For in a meditation of this kind the reason brings out a proposition by investigating, the synderisis brings forth a definition by perceiving, the conscience brings about a conclusion by witnessing, the will brings a solution by deciding. For example, if we want to meditate on the purgative way, reason must seek what should be done about those who violates God’s temple; synderisis responds that they must be destroyed or purified by cries of penance; conscience adds: æYou are the violator, therefore you must either be condemned or afflicted by the stimulants of penitence!’ the will then chooses, that is, it willingly adds cries of penance because it rejects eternal damnation.In this way we should understand the other ways.

II. II. Prayer

A. A. Purgation: Deplore our misery: guilt incurred / grace wasted / glory lost

1. 1. Sorrow for damage - recall of past: omit justice / commit forbidden / loss of grace

2. 2. Shame for disgrace - consider present: in the abyss / in mire / slave

3. 3. Fear for guilt - anticipate future: headed to netherworld / what it due / what it will receive

1. After we have spoken of how we arrive at true wisdom by reading and meditating, we must speak of how we arrive at it by praying. We must know, however, that there are three levels or parts in prayer. The first is the deploring of misery, the second is the imploring of mercy, the third is the offering of adoration. For we cannot offer the splendor of our adoration unless we win grace from him; we cannot bend God’s mercy to give [this] grace except through grieving over and exposing our misery and need. For all perfect prayer must have these three parts. One is not sufficient without the others, and one alone does not lead to the perfect goal. Therefore, these three are always joined.

2. Deploring misery, whatever misery it may be incurring guilt, losing grace, losing glory must have these three qualities: sorrow, shame and fear: sorrow because of damage or inconvenience, shame because of disgrace or infamy, fear because of danger or guilt. Sorrow arises from recalling things of the past by remembering what was omitted because of the laws of justice; committed because of the prohibitions of guilt; remitted because of the gifts of life. Shame arises from understanding the present by paying attention to where we might be because while once at the summit we are now deep in the abyss; how we are because while we were once a beautiful image we are now filthy in mud; what we are because while we were free we are now slaves. Fear arises from anticipating the future by foreseeing where we are headed because our steps hasten to the nether world; what we encounter because, although just, judgment is inevitable; what we would receive because it is the penalty of eternal death.

B. B. Illumination: Implore God's mercy - three conditions must be fulfilled:

1. 1. Desire - generated by the Holy Spirit

2. 2. Hope - given by Christ who died for us, and appears before the Father on our behalf

3. 3. Search for help - we expect from the Saints, angels and the just

3. Imploring mercy regardless of the grace we seek must be accompanied by an overflow of the desire which we have from the Holy Spirit which pleads for us with unutterable groans; with a confidence of the hope which we have from Christ who died for all of us; with the eagerness of begging for the help we ask from the saints and the just because through it by the Father in the Son we have been eternally predestined, spiritually reborn in baptism, harmoniously brought together in the Church. We have the second from Christ Who on earth offered Himself on the cross, in heaven appears in glory before the face of God the Father, in the Sacrament is offered by Mother Church. The third from the Communion of the Saints: from the patronage of the ministering angels, from the prayers of the triumphant saints and from the merits of the militant just. When these three are present, then we effectively implore the divine mercy.

C. C. Union: Worship God

4. An offering of adoration, from which grace we worship God, must possess three things. In the first place, because we are imploring grace, our heart must bow in reverence and adoration of God; then [our heart] must be expanded to benevolence and thanksgiving; finally, it must rise in delight and in the mutual conversation belonging to the Spouse and his bride, as the Holy Spirit teaches in the Canticle. If we maintain a proper order in this, such exultation and rejoicing is marvelous and it will lead the soul into ecstasy and make it say: It is good for us to be here. And our prayer must finish here. It must not cease until it enters the place of the admirable tabernacle even in the house of God where there is the sound of one feasting in a voice of exultation.

1. 1.Reverence and adoration - heart must bow before God

5. To bow in reverence, admire the divine immensity and gaze upon your limited state. To be open to goodness, pay attention to the divine kindness and see your unworthiness. To rise in delight, recognize the divine love and consider your tepidity that out of a comparison of this sort you might reach a state of ecstasy.

a. a. Father: formed / reformed / informed us

b. b. Lord: rescued us from the enemy / redeemed us from hell / led us to His vineyard

c. c. Judge before whom we are: accused by conscience / convicted by our life / exposed by light of divine wisdom

1). 1)bow: subjection - little/ genuflection: dejection - least / prostration: abjection - nothing

6. You must know, however, that we must reverence God in a threefold way: first, to the Father by whom we have been formed, reformed, informed. Then, to the Lord, by whom we have been delivered from the enemy’s mouth, delivered from hell’s prison, led into the Lord’s vineyard; Finally, to the Judge, before whom we have been accused, convicted, revealed: the voice of conscience accuses, the evidence of life convicts, the glance of divine wisdom reveals so that a sentence of justice must be leveled against us. In the first place, reverence must be great, then greater, finally greater still. The first is according to the way of inclination the second, according to genuflection, the third, prostration. In the first we subject ourselves, in the second, we cast ourselves down, in the third, we abject ourselves. In the first we consider ourselves little, in the second lesser still, in the third nothing at all.

2. 2. Love and gratitude - heart must open up - consider God's bounty and your unworthiness

a. a. Strongly: our unworthiness / more strongly: abundance of God's grace / most strongly: immensity of God's mercy

b. b. Sins committed / sins remitted / what is promised

c. c. Perfecting of nature / clothing of grace / superabundance

d. d. Heart expanded / opened up / poured out

7. We must offer benevolence to God in a similar threefold way, one that is great, greater, greater still: great, considering our unworthiness, greater, considering the greatness of grace, greater still, considering the immensity of [God’s] mercy; or great because of what has been committed, greater because of what has been forgiven, greater still by what has been promised; or great because of the perfecting of nature, greater because of the clothing of grace, greater still because of the gifts of superabundance. The first expands or stretches the heart, the second opens it, the third pours it out, as we read in the second chapter of Lamentations: Pour out your heart like water.

3. 3. Mutual delight and converse - heart rises aloft - contemplate God's charity and your lukewarmness

a. a. Happy to find delight in God alone - gratuitous - the world is crucified to man

b. b. Happy to please none but God - man is crucified to the world

c. d. Happy for others to share this joy with us - man is crucified on behalf of the world

1). Gratuitous love / love that is due / both combined

8. We must express delight in God in a threefold manner: first, to adapt our delight to God, as it pleases each one, that God alone might please us; secondly, that we might be pleased that we please God alone; thirdly, that we might be pleased that in this delight we share with others. The first is great, the second greater, the third greater still. In the first, love is gratuitous, in the second, it is owed, in the third, it is a mixture of both. In the first, the world is crucified to us, in the second, we to the world, in the third, we are crucified for the world that we choose to die for everyone that they might please God as well. This is the state and level of perfect love. Before we reach it, we must not consider ourselves perfect. We only achieve perfection when we always find our heart not only willing but also longing intensely to die for the salvation of our neighbors, as Paul taught: I will most willingly spend and will be spent over and beyond for your souls. We do not reach this perfect love of neighbor unless we first reach that perfect love of God because we love our neighbor who would not be lovable were it not for God.

D. D. The Six Steps of the Love of God

1. 1. Sweetness

9. In order to understand how to progress in loving God, therefore, we must know that there are six steps by which we proceed slowly yet orderly to reach perfection. The first is sweetness, when we learn to taste how sweet the Lord is. We do this by vacationing and resting with Him through holy meditations for, as the psalmist sings, the remainders of his thought keep holiday for you. We do this when meditations about the love of God give birth to sweetness in our hearts.

2. 2. Hunger & Thirst

The second step is hunger, when the soul begins to become accustomed to that sweetness that such a thirst is born in it that nothing can refresh it except Him whom it loves, that it might possess Him perfectly. Since it cannot possess Him in this present life because He is far away, the soul continually stretches itself and goes beyond itself through ecstatic love crying and echoing blessed Job: My soul chose choking and my bones death because, as the deer yearns for fountains of water, so my soul desires you, O God.

3. 3. Fullness

10. The third step is the fullness which springs from hunger. Because the soul desires God most eagerly to be taken above, anything that might keep it down becomes distasteful to it. Thus, as if filled, it cannot discover nourishment in anything beyond that beloved. If those filled eat more, they will become nauseous rather than nourished at the food they have consumed. In a similar way, the soul on this level of love reacts to every earthly good.

4. 4. Inebriation

The fourth step is the inebriation which springs from being filled. Inebriation, however, consists in those who love God with such love that they not only find solace burdensome, but even take delight in and seek suffering instead of solace and, out of love of him whom they love, delight in pain, abuse, and scourging as did the Apostle. Thus, as a drunk strips himself naked without any shame and endures blows without any pain we must recognize it to be such in this case.

5. 5. Security

11. The fifth step is the security, which springs from drunkenness. For out of drunkenness the soul senses that it loves God so much that it freely endures every condemnation and abuse because of Him. Fear is driven out and the soul conceives such hope in the divine assistance that it can in no way imagine being separated from God. The Apostle was at this point when he said: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? For I am certain thatneither death nor lifewill be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

6. 6. Tranquillity

The sixth step is true and full tranquillity in which there is such peace and rest that the soul is, in some way, in silence and in sleep as if in Noah’s ark where nothing can disturb it. For who can disturb the mind which no stimulus of desire upsets nor sting of fear excites! There is peace, the final goal, and rest in such a mind and the true Solomon rests there because he made that place in peace. Therefore these stages are appropriately signified by those six steps which lead to the throne of Solomon. For this reason we read in the Canticle: He made the ascent purple, the midst of love, because it is impossible to reach that tranquillity except through love. After this has been acquired, however, it is very easy for us to do everything of perfection whether it be to act or endure, to live or die. Therefore we must strive to make progress in love for its progress leads to the perfection of every good. May He deign to grant this to us Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

E. E. Summary

That all of the differences we have discussed may be practical, remember that those who wish to progress to this perfection must turn to the goad of their conscience by sharpening it, bringing it to a point, correcting it; that beam of understanding by extending it, focusing it, reflecting it; the little flame of wisdom by concentrating it, inflaming it, lifting it up. In this way, through prayer, they initially deplore misery with sorrow for damage, with shame for disgrace, with fear for danger; implore mercy with an eager desire through the Holy Spirit, with the trust of faith through Christ crucified, with the assistance of defense through the help of the saints; offer adoration by showing God reverence, by showing goodwill, by showing delight. Thus on God’s part, divine admiration flows as if a major proposition; on our part, consideration follows as if an assumption and, in this way, a full offering of worship will be made as if by conclusion. Those who continually and assiduously stir themselves in this way will grow in love according to the six steps we have discussed by which they will arrive at the perfection of tranquillity where there is a multitude of peace and, as it were, the goal of rest which the Lord left with the apostles. Note, therefore, that the Apostle in each of his greetings wished for grace and peace: grace as the first gift, peace as its complement. In greeting Timothy, however, he added mercy the principle of both.

III. III. Contemplation: The Path to True Wisdom

Preamble

1. After speaking about how we should prepare ourselves for wisdom by meditation and prayer, let us now briefly touch on how we arrive at true wisdom by contemplation. For through contemplation our mind journeys into the heavenly Jerusalem upon which the Church has been modeled as we read in Exodus: See that you make it according to the model which was shown to you on the mountain. For it is necessary that the Church Militant be conformed to the Church Triumphant, the merit to the rewards, the wayfarers to the blessed as is possible. In glory, there is a threefold gift consisting in the perfection of rewards: the eternal possession of the highest peace, the clear vision of the highest truth, the full enjoyment of the highest good or love. Correspondingly there is a threefold distinction among the highest hierarchies of heaven: the Thrones, the Cherubim, and the Seraphim. Therefore, for those who wish to reach that beatitude through their merits, it is necessary on their journey to become like those three, in as much as is possible, by possessing the sleep of peace, the splendor of truth, the sweetness of love, for God Himself rests in these three things and dwells there as in His own abode. It is necessary, therefore, to ascend to each of the three goals we have discussed by three steps according to the triple way: the purgative way, which consists in the expulsion of sin the illuminative way which consists in imitation of Christ, the unitive, which consists in union with the Spouse. Thus each has its steps from which we begin from the bottom and climb to the top.

A. A. Purgation - Tranquility of Peace

1. 1. Shame: sins committed - gravity / no. / baseness / ingratitude

2. These are the seven steps for arriving at the repose of peace: Shame occurs in the first place in a remembering offenses, according to its fourfold qualities: gravity, number, depravity, ingratitude.

2. 2. Fear: judgement - dissipation of grace / blinding of reason / hardening of will / final condemnation

Fear in the second place in being aware of judgment in a fourfold way: by squandering deeds by blinding reason by hardness of will by final condemnation.

3. 3. Sorrow: damage - reject God's friendship / loss of innocence / wounding of nature / waste of past life

Sorrow in the third place in considering damage in a fourfold way: the loss of the divine friendship, the loss of innocence, the wounding of nature, the dissipation of the past life.

4. 4. Insistence: cry for help - Father / Christ redeemer / Virgin Mother / Church Triumphant

A Cry of Fear in the fourth place in pleading for the fourfold help: of God the Father, of Christ the Redeemer, of the Virgin Mother, of the Church Triumphant.

5. 5. Resoluteness: extinguish vice - aridity+sloth / perversity+malice / pleasure+concupiscence / vanity+ pride

Inflexibility in the fifth place in extinguishing the fourfold fires or incentives: dryness, which is lack of devotion perversity, which is malice, pleasure, which is inordinate desire vanity, which is pride.

6. 6. Ardor: desire for martyrdom - perfect: remission of sin / cleansing of blemishes / fulfillment of penalty /sanctification in grace

Eagerness in the sixth place in desiring martyrdom for a fourfold reason: perfection for the remission of offenses perfection of the cleansing of blemishes perfection of the satisfaction of punishment perfection of the holiness of grace.

7. 7. Quiet: repose in the shade of Christ

Repose in the Shadow of Christ follows in the seventh place where there is a way of standing and resting when we feel protected by the shadow of the divine wings so that we are not burned by the fire of inordinate desire nor the fear of punishment. We cannot reach this except by the desire for martyrdom. We cannot reach the desire for martyrdom unless we have extinguished the incentive; We cannot reach this unless we have cried for help; We cannot reach this unless we have deplore our damage; We cannot reach this unless we fear the divine judgment; We cannot reach this unless we recall and are ashamed of offense. Those who wish to possess the repose of peace, therefore, should proceed according to the order described.

B. B. Illumination - Splendor of Truth

3. These are the seven steps for arriving at the splendor of truth which we reach through imitation of Christ: the assent of reason, the sentiment of compassion, the gaze of admiration, the ardor of devotion, the investing of likeness, the embrace of the cross, the intuition of the truth. We must proceed in order in them.

1. 1. Assent of reason: Who is suffering / submit / believe in Him

In the first place, consider who it is who is suffering and submit yourself to Him through the assent of reason that you might more firmly believe that Christ is truly the Son of God the Principle of all things, the Savior of all the Bestower of all merit.

2. 2.Movement of Compassion: how good He is / unite yourself to Him / share His pains

In the second place, consider what sort of person suffers and unite yourself to Him through the sentiment of compassion that you might suffer with the most innocent, the most meek, the most noble, and the most loving.

3. 3. Gaze of admiration: how great He is - power / beauty / happiness / infinity

In the third place, [consider] how much he suffers and go out to him through a gaze of admiration and pay attention to how immense He is with power, beauty, happiness, eternity. Admire, therefore, that immense power is reduced to nothing, beauty is drained of its color, happiness is tormented, eternity is brought to death.

4. 4. Rapture of devotion: why He is suffering - for your redemption / illumination / sanctification / glorification

In the fourth place, [consider] the cause for which he suffers and forget yourself through the ardor of devotion because he is suffering for your redemption, enlightenment, sanctification, glorification.

5. 5. Put on Christ: how He is suffering - be kind to neighbor / severe to yourself / humble before God / shrewd against the Devil

In the fifth place, in what way he suffers and put on Christ through an effort of assimilation. For He suffered most willingly out of consideration of his neighbor, most severely out of consideration of himself, most obediently out of consideration of God most prudently out of consideration of the enemy. Strive, therefore, to possess, after the image of the imitation of Christ, the habit of kindness toward your neighbor, severity toward yourself, humility toward God, self-awareness against the devil

6. 6. Embrace the Cross: how much He is suffering - desire suffering: abasement / insult / derision / pain

In the sixth place, pay attention to how many things he suffers, and embrace the cross though a desire for suffering that, as he suffered chains as the all-powerful powerless reproach as vile goodness mocking as foolish wisdom punishment as wicked justice, so you may desire the suffering of the cross, a suffering full of injuries in things, reproaches in words, mocking in gestures, punishment in torments.

7. 7. Behold the Light of Truth - scroll of 7 seals opened:

1). 1) Admirable God: Wisdom of the Cross

4. In the first place, the cross reveals the admirable God of the highest and most inscrutable wisdom, of the highest and most irreprehensible justice, of the highest and most ineffable mercy. For His highest wisdom has deceived the devil, his highest justice sought the reward of redemption, his highest mercy handed over his Son for us. These attributes, if considered diligently, most clearly reveal God to us.

2). 2) Rational Spirit: benevolence of angels / worth of man / cruelty of demons

In the second place, the cross reveals the understanding spirit according to a threefold difference: how great is his kindness in angels, how great is his dignity in humans, how great is its cruelty in demons. For the angels permitted their Lord to be crucified, the Son of God was crucified for the human race, and this at the suggestion of the demons.

3). 3) Sensible world - place where reigns: blindess / sterility / evil

In the third place, the cross reveals the sensible world because it is the place in which blindness rules because it does not know the true and highest light, sterility rules because it regarded Christ as fruitless, evil rules because it condemned and put to death its God and Lord, a friend and innocent one.

4). 4) Delightful heaven: God reverses our fate, taking our place - summit of glory / expression of joy / treasury of wealth

In the fourth place, the cross reveals the desired paradise in which there is the convergence of all glory, the spectacle of all joy, the treasury of all wealth, because God when restoring that dwelling for us became a vile, miserable and poor man in whom loftiness accepted lowliness, justice submitted to punishment, richness embraced want. For the most high Ruler accepted abject servility that we might be raised in glory; the most just Judge endured the most severe punishment that we might be acquitted of guilt; the most rich Lord embraced extreme want that we might abound in plenty.

5). 5) Frightful hell: want / vileness /shame / disaster / misery

In the fifth place, the cross reveals that hell is a horrible place full of want, evil, shame, disaster, and misery. If, indeed, it was necessary for Christ to suffer for the forgiveness and satisfaction of sin, it will be more fortuitous for the damned to suffer this for the just retribution and recompense of their merits.

6). 6) Praiseworthiness of virture: precious, Christ's sacrifice / beautiful, virtue shining in Christ's disgrace / fruitful, Christ's act of virtue despoiled hell, opened heaven, and renewed the earth

In the sixth place, the cross reveals praiseworthy virtue, especially that it is: precious, beautiful, and fruitful Precious, because Christ gave his life on it that he might restore virtue; beautiful, because it shines brightly in those insults; fruitful, because one perfect use of virtue despoiled hell, opened heaven, restored earth.

7). 7) Guilt of sin: its price / compensation / painful cure

In the seventh place, the cross reveals culpable sin, how detestable it is, since it requires for its remission such a large price, such a great compensation, such a difficult cure, that it demanded God in the union of a person in the most noble man to satisfy for an arrogance, than which nothing was more presumptuous, by the most abject humiliation; for an inordinate desire, than which nothing was more greedy, by the most needy poverty; for a lust, than which nothing was more corrupt, through the most bitter harshness.

5. This is how, then, the cross reveals all things. For it reduces everything to these seven. Thus that cross is the key, the door, the way, and the splendor of truth. Whoever takes up the cross and follows it predestined way does not walk in darkness but has the light of life.

In the seventh place, consider that it led to this, that he suffers and gaze on the ray of truth through the eye of contemplation: because from what the Lamb suffered, the seven seals of the book were opened, as we read in the fifth chapter of Revelation. That book is the universal knowledge of things in which there were seven things hidden from us which are now revealed through the suffering of Christ: the admirable God, the understanding spirit, the sensible world, the desirable paradise, the horror-filled hell, the praiseworthy virtue, the culpable sin.

C. C. Perfective Union - Sweetness of Love

1. 1. Watchfulness: since the Spouse is at hand

6. These are the seven steps for coming to the sweetness of love through receiving the Holy Spirit: a caring watchfulness, a comforting trust, a burning desire, an uplifting rapture, a resting delight, a delighting joy, a cementing union. You who wish to achieve the perfection of love and the love of the Holy Spirit, must progress in these steps in this order. For it is necessary that watchfulness care for you to the point of saying due to the Spirit’s prompting: God, my God, I watch for you at dawn, and what we read in the Canticle: I am sleeping, and my heart kept vigil; and the words of the prophet: My soul desired you during the night, but I will keep vigil for you with my spirit in the morning.

2. 2. Trust: must be your comfort, since the Spouse is faithful

In the second place, that trust comfort you to then point of saying due to the Spouse’s certitude: I have hoped in you, O Lord, and will not ever be confounded; and the words of Job: Even if He might kill me, I will hope in him.

3. 3. Desire: must inflame you, since the Spouse is sweet

In the third place, that desire inflame you to the point of saying due to the Spouse’s sweetness: As a hind longs for running waters, my soul desires you, my God; and the words of the Canticle: Love is as strong as death; and, I am faint with love.

4. 4. Rapture: must uplift you, since the Spouse is lofty

In the fourth place, that rapture lift you up to the point of saying due to the Spouse’s loftiness: How lovely are your tabernacles, Lord of hosts, and the words of the Bride: Draw me after you and the words of Job: My soul has chosen hanging itself.

5. 5. Peace: which delight brings, since the Spouse is beautiful

In the fifth place, that delight give you rest, to the point of saying the words of the Bride due to the Spouse’s beauty: My Lover belongs to me, and I to Him; and: My Beloved is radiant and ruddy, chosen out of thousands.

6. 6. Happiness: be filled, since the Spouse is rich

In the sixth place, that joy may delight you, to the point of saying the words of the Bride due to the Spouse’s fullness: Because of the number of sorrows in my heart your consolations have given joy to my soul; and: How great is your sweetness, Lord! and the words of the Apostle: I am filled with consolation, I overflow with joy.

7. 7. Intimacy: must weld you to Him, since the love of the Spouse is strong

In the seventh place, that union may cement you to the point of saying due to Spouse’s love: It is good for me to cling to God; and, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 7. There is an order in these steps, there is no stopping before the last one and we do not reach the last one except through the intermediate and mutually related steps. In the first step, consideration is active, in the remaining steps the affection dominates. For watchfulness considers how fitting, how enriching, how delightful it is to love God. Trust, as if born from this, brings forth desire, and that to rapture, until we arrive at a state of union, a kiss and an embrace. May God lead us to these Amen.

Summary

8. We can reduced the steps described in this way In the first place, we can distinguish the steps of purgation as follows: blushing because of offense, trembling because of judgment, crying because of damage, imploring help for a remedy, fighting the incentives of the enemy, desiring the reward of the martyrs, drawing close to Christ for shelter. We distinguish the steps pertaining to enlightenment in this way. Consider: who it is who suffers and to surrender in faith, what kind of person it is who is suffering and to irritate with compassion; how great is he who suffers and to admire with awe, why he is suffering and to be thankful with confidence, how he is suffering, and to imitate following him, how much he is suffering and to embrace with ardor, what are the consequences and to contemplate with understanding. We distinguish the steps of the unitive way in this way: watchfulness rouses you because of the Spouse’s readiness, confidence strengthens you because of His certitude, desire inflames you because of His sweetness, rapture lifts you up because of His loftiness, delight brings you peace because of His beauty, joy inebriates you because of the fullness of His love, embrace unites you because of the strength of His love. Thus the devout soul might always speak to the Lord in its heart: I seek you, I hope in you, I desire you, I rise in you, I receive you, I rejoice in you, and, finally, I cling to you.

D. D. Nine progressive steps

1. 1. Sorrow:

a. a. Weighing the evils we have deserved

b. b. Recalling Christ's pains

c. c. Trying to secure remedy for sufferings we inflicted on neighbors

2. 2. Gratitude:

a. a. Admiration for the gift of creation /

b. b. Disregard for our own merits in being redeemed /

c. c. Thankfulness for deliverance from hell

3. 3. Likeness:

a. a. Awareness rising to a hymn of thanksgiving for graces /

b. b. Joy rising to jubilation for the value of the gifts

c. c. Willingness that draws near in embrace

9. Note that we can distinguish the steps of progress in another way according to a different threefold triad corresponding to the threefold hierarchy. For, after the fall, there are three things necessary: bitterness, gratitude, likeness. If we had not sinned, two things would have been sufficient: gratitude and likeness, gratitude because of grace, likeness because of justice.

But now bitterness is also necessary because of healing. For the sins we have committed because of pleasure cannot be erased except by a vexing contrition. Bitterness must consists in: weighing evil because of our own malice, remembering sorrow because of Christ’s suffering, begging for healing because of our neighbor’s misery.

Gratitude must consist in: admiration of benefits because of creation from nothing, eager pursuit of merit because of reparation from sin, thanksgiving because of deliverance from hell, for creation was for the image, redemption through His own blood, deliverance even for the heights of heaven.

Likeness must consist in: the glance of truth lifted up to what is above, the movement of love broadened to what is exterior, the act of virility directed to what is interior. Thus we become upright to what is above us by a gaze of truth : by contemplating things divine through understanding, by being aware of things universal through knowledge, by subjecting judgments by an informed faith. We must likewise stretch ourselves eagerly towards what surrounds us by a movement of love: by hungering for heavenly delights by wisdom, by embracing what is reasonable by friendship, by despising the desires of the flesh by modesty. We must likewise deal with what is within us by an act of courage, by attacking difficulties by strength, by accomplishing praiseworthy deeds by generosity, by embracing humiliations by humility.

10. Purgation in bitterness, which consists in contrition for oneself, must be sorrowful through sadness because of the evils which crushes yourself, Christ and your neighbor. Compassion for Christ must be fearful through reverence because of hidden judgments, yet true, although uncertain, as is the time, the day, the hour. Condolence for a neighbor must be expressive through confidence because of help that is always at hand through God, Christ, the intercession of the saints. Enlightenment in likeness, which consists in gazing upon the First Truth elevated toward what is incomprehensible, stretched toward what is understandable emptied by what is believable. It also consists in the movement of love elevated toward God, stretched toward neighbor, emptied toward the world, and in the act of virility, elevated by what is commendable, stretched by what is communicable, emptied by what is contemptible. Perfection in gratitude, which consists in a watchfulness that rises in song because of the use of benefits; a joyfulness that rejoices in jubilation because of the precious value of gifts; a willingness that draws near in embrace because of the largesse of the giver.

IV. IV. The Twofold Contemplation of What is Divine

11. Note that the gaze of truth must be lifted up to what is incomprehensible, the mysteries of the most high Trinity which lift us up by contemplating in a twofold way either by affirmation (or position) or by negation (or denial). Augustine proposes the first, Dionysius the second.

A. A. Affirmative - Augustine

1. 1. Common to the Three Persons:

a. a. essence / perfect nature / beatific life

b. b. ever-present eternity / plenteous simplicity / motive stability

c. c. inaccessible light / unchanging mind / uncontained peace

In the first place, by affirmation we understand in things divine some things as common, others as proper, still others as appropriated which are clearly intermediate between the two. Understand and contemplate, if you can, what is common in God and see that God is the First Essence, the Perfect Nature, the Blessed Life which have a necessary sequence. Again, pay attention and see, if you can, that God is the Ever-present Eternity, the Ever-full Simplicity, the Ever-moving Stability which likewise possess a natural sequence and interrelation. Finally pay attention because God is Inaccessible Light, Unchanging Mind, Incomprehensible Peace which embraces not only a unity of essence but also the most perfect Trinity.

2. 2. Proper: Light as the parent generates brightness, heat proceeds from both

a. a. Father:                light       mind       first principle

b. b. Son:     brightness             word       image

c. c. Spirit:   heat        love        bond

Light as a source clearly generates brightness. Brightness and light, however, produce heat, so that heat proceeds from both, although it is not by means of an offspring. If, therefore, God is truly light inaccessible, where brightness and heat is substance and hypostasis, truly in God there are truly Father and Son and Holy Spirit which are the properties of the divine persons. The mind as well, as the principle, conceives and expresses from itself the word from which the gift of love emanates and this appears in every perfect mind. If God, therefore, is an unchanging mind, it is evident that there is in the divine being the First Principle, the Eternal Word, the Perfect Gift. These are the properties of the divine persons. Peace also includes a union of many items. They cannot be perfectly joined, however, unless they are similar. They are not similar, however, unless made a pair by a third or one by another. But in the divine persons they cannot be made a pair by a third in that way. It is necessary, therefore, that if there is true peace in the divine persons there is the First Origin, Its Image, the Bond of both.

3. 3. Appropriated:

a. a. Father:                unity       power     loftiness

b. b. Son:     truth       wisdom  beauty

c. c. Spirit:   goodness               will         sweetness

12. Then there are appropriations in the divine persons according to a threefold distinction. The first appropriations are Unity, Truth, Goodness. Unity is attributed to the Father because He is the Origin, Truth to the Son because He is the Image Goodness to the Holy Spirit because It is the Bond. The second appropriations are Power, Wisdom, and Will. Power is attributed to the Father because He is the Principle, Wisdom to the Son for He is the Word Will to the Holy Spirit because It is the Gift. The third appropriations are Loftiness, Beauty, and Sweetness. Loftiness is attributed to the Father because of unity and power. For loftiness is nothing other than singular and unique power. Beauty is attributed to the Son because of truth and wisdom. For wisdom includes a multitude of ideas, whereas truth an equality. “Beauty is nothing other than numerical equality. Sweetness is attributed to the Holy Spirit because of will and goodness. Where the highest good is joined with the will, there is the highest love and the highest sweetness. There is in God, therefore, an Awesome Loftiness, a Wonderful Beauty, a Desirable Sweetness. Here we rest. This is, therefore, the elevation by the way of affirmation.

4. 4. In God: awesome loftiness / wonderful beauty / desireable sweetness

B. B. Negative - the higher way of Denis

13. But the other is the more eminent way, that is, according to the way of negation. For, as Dionysius maintains, “affirmations are inadequate, negations are true,for although they seem to say less, they say more. This manner of elevation is by denying everything so that in that denial there might an order beginning with the lesser to the greater but there might also be the inclusion of a super eminent affirmation. Thus when we say: God is not what is sensible, but what is above the senses; He is not imaginable nor understandable nor existing, but He is above all these things. Then the gaze of truth brought into the darkness of the mind rises higher and enters more profoundly in that it exceeds the mind itself and every creature. This is the noblest manner of elevation yet that it might be perfect, it prefers the other, as perfection prefers illumination, as negation prefers affirmation. This manner of ascending is also more vigorous as the ascending force is more intimate and more fruitful as the affection is closer. Therefore it is very useful to practice it.

14. Note that in the first hierarchy Truth is invoked by crying and prayer and this belongs to the Angels; heard by study and reading and this belongs to the Archangels; proclaimed by example and preaching and this belongs to the Principalities. In the second hierarchy Truth is approached as a refuge and a place of abandon, and this belongs to the Powers; grasped by zeal and emulation, and this belongs to the Virtues; joined by self-contempt and mortification and this belongs to the Dominations. In the third hierarchy Truth is adored by sacrifice and praise which belongs to the Thrones; admired by ecstasy and contemplation which belongs to the Cherubim; embraced by a kiss and love, and this belongs to the Seraphim. Note diligently what has been described because there is in it a fountain of life.


Saint Bonaventure

The Enkindling of Love

(The Triple Way)

I. I. Meditation, which purifies, enlightens, and perfects the soul

A. A. Purgation: Sting of Conscience - when clean, is joyful and glad

1. 1. Arouse: remember sin

a. a. Negligence

1). 1) Guard heart / good use of time / right purpose
2). 2) Prayer / reading / good works
3). 3) Penance / resisting evil / making progress

b. b. Concupiscence

1). 1) Uncontrolled desire for: sweetness / softness / carnality
2). 2) Curiosity: occult knowledge / pleases eye / costly treasure
3). 3) Vanity: favor / praise / honor

c. c. Malice

1). 1) Anger: thought / sign / word
2). 2) Envy: grieve over success / rejoice at misfortune / indifferent at misery
3). 3) Acrimony: suspicion / blasphemy / detractions

2. 2. Sharpen: consider human condition

a. a. Hour of death: unpredictable / inevitable / final

b. b. Blood of the Cross: quicken / cleanse / soften;

1). 1) remove uncleanliness / change death to life / bestow fruitfulness

c. c. Face of the Judge: infallible / inexorable / inescapable

3. 3. Direct: meditate on the good.

a. a. Alacrity: against negligence

1). 1) spiritual vigor, promtness: watchful / trustful / careful godly action

b. b. Austerity: against concupiscence

1). 1) spiritual rigor, love of: hardship / poverty / lowliness

c. c. Benignity: against malice.

1). 1) spiritual taste: kindness / tolerance / internal joy

B. B. Illumination: Beam of Intelligence

1. 1. Hold it aloft: guilt remitted. Thankfulness.

2. 2. Broaden its scope: favors received

a. a. Perfection of nature: body / senses / soul

b. b. Assistence of grace: baptism / repentence / priesthood

c. c. Superabundance: universe / the Son / the Holy Spirit

3. 3. Turn it back: promised rewards: removal of evil / company of St.s / fulfillment of desires

C. C. Union: Flame of Wisdom

1. 1. Concentrated: turned from love of creatures

2. 2. Fed: love in ref. to us, heaven, the Spouse; through love is given: what we lack / all good to the blessed / the presence of the Spouse

3. 3. Raised aloft - above perceptions, imagination, conceptions- He is all delight.

D. D. Corollary

II. II. Prayer

A. A. Purgation: Deplore our misery: guilt incurred / grace wasted / glory lost

1. 1. Sorrow for damage - recall of past: omit justice / commit forbidden / loss of grace

2. 2. Shame for disgrace - consider present: in the abyss / in mire / slave

3. 3. Fear for guilt - anticipate future: headed to netherworld / what it due / what it will receive

B. B. Illumination: Implore God's mercy - three conditions must be fulfilled:

1. 1. Desire - generated by the Holy Spirit

2. 2. Hope - given by Christ who died for us, and appears before the Father on our behalf

3. 3. Search for help - we expect from the Saints, angels and the just

C. C. Union: Worship God

1. 1.Reverence and adoration - heart must bow before God

a. a. Father: formed / reformed / informed us

b. b. Lord: rescued us from the enemy / redeemed us from hell / led us to His vineyard

c. c. Judge before whom we are: accused by conscience / convicted by our life / exposed by light of divine wisdom

1). 1)bow: subjection - little/ genuflection: dejection - least / prostration: abjection - nothing

2. 2. Love and gratitude - heart must open up - consider God's bounty and your unworthiness

a. a. Strongly: our unworthiness / more strongly: abundance of God's grace / most strongly: immensity of God's mercy

b. b. Sins committed / sins remitted / what is promised

c. c. Perfecting of nature / clothing of grace / superabundance

d. d. Heart expanded / opened up / poured out

3. 3. Mutual delight and converse - heart rises aloft - contemplate God's charity and your lukewarmness

a. a. Happy to find delight in God alone - gratuitous - the world is crucified to man

b. b. Happy to please none but God - man is crucified to the world

c. d. Happy for others to share this joy with us - man is crucified on behalf of the world

1). Gratuitous love / love that is due / both combined

D. D. The Six Steps of the Love of God

1. 1. Sweetness

2. 2. Hunger & Thirst

3. 3. Fullness

4. 4. Inebriation

5. 5. Security

6. 6. Tranquillity

E. E. Summary

III. III. Contemplation: The Path to True Wisdom

A. A. Purgation - Tranquility of Peace

1. 1. Shame: sins committed - gravity / no. / baseness / ingratitude

2. 2. Fear: judgement - dissipation of grace / blinding of reason / hardening of will / final condemnation

3. 3. Sorrow: damage - reject God's friendship / loss of innocence / wounding of nature / waste of past life

4. 4. Insistence: cry for help - Father / Christ redeemer / Virgin Mother / Church Triumphant

5. 5. Resoluteness: extinguish vice - aridity+sloth / perversity+malice / pleasure+concupiscence / vanity+ pride

6. 6. Ardor: desire for martyrdom - perfect: remission of sin / cleansing of blemishes / fulfillment of penalty /sanctification in grace

7. 7. Quiet: repose in the shade of Christ

B. B. Illumination - Splendor of Truth

1. 1. Assent of reason: Who is suffering / submit / believe in Him

2. 2.Movement of Compassion: how good He is / unite yourself to Him / share His pains

3. 3. Gaze of admiration: how great He is - power / beauty / happiness / infinity

4. 4. Rapture of devotion: why He is suffering - for your redemption / illumination / sanctification / glorification

5. 5. Put on Christ: how He is suffering - be kind to neighbor / severe to yourself / humble before God / shrewd against the Devil

6. 6. Embrace the Cross: how much He is suffering - desire suffering: abasement / insult / derision / pain

7. 7. Behold the Light of Truth - scroll of 7 seals opened:

1). 1) Admirable God: Wisdom of the Cross
2). 2) Rational Spirit: benevolence of angels / worth of man / cruelty of demons
3). 3) Sensible world - place where reigns: blindess / sterility / evil
4). 4) Delightful heaven: God reverses our fate, taking our place - summit of glory / expression of joy / treasury of wealth
5). 5) Frightful hell: want / vileness /shame / disaster / misery
6). 6) Praiseworthiness of virture: precious, Christ's sacrifice / beautiful, virtue shining in Christ's disgrace / fruitful, Christ's act of virtue despoiled hell, opened heaven, and renewed the earth
7). 7) Guilt of sin: its price / compensation / painful cure

C. C. Perfective Union - Sweetness of Love

1. 1. Watchfulness: since the Spouse is at hand

2. 2. Trust: must be your comfort, since the Spouse is faithful

3. 3. Desire: must inflame you, since the Spouse is sweet

4. 4. Rapture: must uplift you, since the Spouse is lofty

5. 5. Peace: which delight brings, since the Spouse is beautiful

6. 6. Happiness: be filled, since the Spouse is rich

7. 7. Intimacy: must weld you to Him, since the love of the Spouse is strong

D. D. Nine progressive steps

1. 1. Sorrow:

a. a. Weighing the evils we have deserved

b. b. Recalling Christ's pains

c. c. Trying to secure remedy for sufferings we inflicted on neighbors

2. 2. Gratitude:

a. a. Admiration for the gift of creation /

b. b. Disregard for our own merits in being redeemed /

c. c. Thankfulness for deliverance from hell

3. 3. Likeness:

a. a. Awareness rising to a hymn of thanksgiving for graces /

b. b. Joy rising to jubilation for the value of the gifts

c. c. Willingness that draws near in embrace

IV. IV. The Twofold Contemplation of What is Divine

A. A. Affirmative - Augustine

1. 1. Common to the Three Persons:

a. a. essence / perfect nature / beatific life

b. b. ever-present eternity / plenteous simplicity / motive stability

c. c. inaccessible light / unchanging mind / uncontained peace

2. 2. Proper: Light as the parent generates brightness, heat proceeds from both

a. a. Father:                light       mind       first principle

b. b. Son:     brightness             word       image

c. c. Spirit:   heat        love        bond

3. 3. Appropriated:

a. a. Father:                unity       power     loftiness

b. b. Son:     truth       wisdom  beauty

c. c. Spirit:   goodness               will         sweetness

4. 4. In God: awesome loftiness / wonderful beauty / desireable sweetness

B. B. Negative - the higher way of Denis