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Title: On Cleaving to God
Creator(s): Albert, the Great, Saint (1193?-1280)
Rights: Public Domain
CCEL Subjects: All; Mysticism;
LC Call no: BX2349 .A613
LC Subjects:
Christian Denominations
Roman Catholic Church
Practical religion. Christian life
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Image of Albertus Magnus
On Cleaving to God
attributed to
Albert the Great
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On Cleaving to God
attributed to
Albertus Magnus
Translator’s Introduction
This famous and much loved little treatise, On Cleaving to God, (De
Adhaerendo Deo) has always been attributed to Saint Albert the Great, who
lived from about 1200 to 1280, and was one of the most respected theologians
of his time. He was moreover a voluminous writer in the scholastic
tradition, and, amongst other things, Bishop of Ratisbonne and one of the
teachers of Eckhart at Paris University. The Latin text of which this is a
translation is found in volume 37 of his Opera Omnia published in Paris in
1898.
However almost all modern scholars are agreed that the work could not have
been written by him, at least certainly not in its present form. It contains
many implicit references and quotations from writers who lived well after
Albert the Great. It is quite clear from the opening words of the treatise
that it is in essence the private anthology of a contemplative or would-be
contemplative, culled from many different sources, and including thoughts of
his own. From the references included, it would seem to belong, at least in
its present form to an unknown writer of the fifteenth century.
However, it has often been pointed out that the first nine chapters seem to
be of a somewhat different character to the remaining seven. Indeed most of
the directly contemplative and mystical material in the work is contained in
this first half, while the second section is concerned largely with more
general matters of ordinary Christian piety. It has therefore been suggested
that it is perhaps possible that a later hand has to some extent reworked
and extended an original, shorter text, that could perhaps even go back to
Albert the Great. Albert, we know, wrote a commentary on the teachings of
the famous St. Dionysius, and this work, particularly in the first nine
chapters is full of “Dionysian” themes. This could indicate that these
chapters at least may belong to Albert the Great, or, alternatively, it
could explain how it came to be attributed to him. The fact remains,
whichever way round, that the work stands on its own merits as a classic of
Western contemplative mysticism in the Via Negativa tradition. It has indeed
been frequently called a supplement to the Imitation of Christ.
In view of all these considerations, and in view of the fact that the work
has always been attributed to Albert the Great (and all libraries and
catalogues include it under his name), I have felt it best to leave it
attached to his name, though with the above reservations. After all,
Anonymous has dozens of works attributed to him that were actually written
by someone else, so perhaps for once it is only fair to attribute an
anonymous work to an actual person. Anyone who has ever tried to look for a
work by Anonymous in a big library catalogue will, I feel confident, be
grateful to me!
Like Anonymous, I lay no claims to copyright on this translation. I commit
it, and a copy of the Latin original, to the deep in sure and certain hope
that it will do its own work.
John Richards
[1]jhr@universalist.worldonline.co.uk
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Chapter 1
On the highest and supreme perfection of man, in so far as it is possible
in this life
I have had the idea of writing something for myself on and about the state
of complete and full abstraction from everything and of cleaving freely,
confidently, nakedly and firmly to God alone, so as to describe it fully (in
so far as it is possible in this abode of exile and pilgrimage), especially
since the goal of Christian perfection is the love by which we cleave to
God. In fact everyone is obligated, to this loving cleaving to God as
necessary for salvation, in the form of observing the commandments and
conforming to the divine will, and the observation of the commandments
excludes everything that is contrary to the nature and habit of love,
including mortal sin. Members of religious orders have committed themselves
in addition to evangelical perfection, and to the things that constitute a
voluntary and counselled perfection by means of which one may arrive more
quickly to the supreme goal which is God. The observation of these
additional commitments excludes as well the things that hinder the working
and fervour of love, and without which one can come to God, and these
include the renunciation of all things, of both body and mind, exactly as
one’s vow of profession entails. Since indeed the Lord God is Spirit, and
those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth, in other words,
by knowledge and love, that is, understanding and desire, stripped of all
images. This is what is referred to in Matthew 6.6, ‘When you pray, enter
into your inner chamber,’ that is, your inner heart, ‘and having closed the
door,’ that is of your senses, and there with a pure heart and a clear
conscience, and with faith unfeigned, ‘pray to your Father,’ in spirit and
in truth, ‘in secret.’ This can be done best when a man is disengaged and
removed from everything else, and completely recollected within himself.
There, in the presence of Jesus Christ, with everything, in general and
individually, excluded and wiped out, the mind alone turns in security
confidently to the Lord its God with its desire. In this way it pours itself
forth into him in full sincerity with its whole heart and the yearning of
its love, in the most inward part of all its faculties, and is plunged,
enlarged, set on fire and dissolved into him.
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Chapter 2
How one can cling to and seek Christ alone, disdaining everything else
Certainly, anyone who desires and aims to arrive at and remain in such a
state must needs above all have eyes and senses closed and not be inwardly
involved or worried about anything, nor concerned or occupied with anything,
but should completely reject all such things as irrelevant, harmful and
dangerous. Then he should withdraw himself totally within himself and not
pay any attention to any object entering the mind except Jesus Christ, the
wounded one, alone, and so he should turn his attention with care and
determination through him into him - that is, though the man into God,
through the wounds of his humanity into the inmost reality of his divinity.
Here he can commit himself and all that he has, individually and as a whole,
promptly, securely and without discussion, to God’s unwearying providence,
in accordance with the words of Peter, cast all your care upon him (1 Peter
5.7), who can do everything. And again, In nothing be anxious (Philippians
4.6), or what is more, Cast your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain
you. (Psalm 55.22) Or again, It is good for me to hold fast to God, (Ps.
73.28) and I have always set up God before me. (Psalm 16.8) The bride too in
the Song of Songs says, I have found him whom my soul loves, (Canticle 3.4)
and again, All good things came to me along with her. (Wisdom 7.11) This,
after all, is the hidden heavenly treasure, none other than the pearl of
great price, which must be sought with resolution, esteeming it in humble
faithfulness, eager diligence, and calm silence before all things, and
preferring it even above physical comfort, or honour and renown. For what
good does it do a religious if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss
of his soul? Or what is the benefit of his state of life, the holiness of
his profession, the virtue of his habit and tonsure, or the outer
circumstances of his way of life if he is without a life of spiritual
humility and truth in which Christ abides through a faith created by love.
This is what Luke means by, the Kingdom of God (that is, Jesus Christ) is
within you. (Luke 17.21)
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Chapter 3
What the perfection of man consist of in this life
Now the more the mind is concerned about thinking and dealing with what is
merely lower and human, the more it is separated from the experience in the
intimacy of devotion of what is higher and heavenly, while the more
fervently the memory, desire and intellect is withdrawn from what is below
to what is above, the more perfect will be our prayer, and the purer our
contemplation, since the two directions of our interest cannot both be
perfect at the same time, being as different as light and darkness. He who
cleaves to God is indeed translated into the light, while he who clings to
the world is in the dark. So the supreme perfection of man in this life is
to be so united to God that all his soul with all its faculties and powers
are so gathered into the Lord God that he becomes one spirit with him, and
remembers nothing except God, is aware of and recognises nothing but God,
but with all his desires unified by the joy of love, he rests contentedly in
the enjoyment of his Maker alone. Now the image of God as found in the soul
consists of these three faculties, namely reason, memory and will, and so
long as they are not completely stamped with God, the soul is not yet
deiform in accordance with the initial creation of the soul. For the true
pattern of the soul is God, with whom it must be imprinted, like wax with a
seal, and carry the mark of his impress. But this can never be complete
until the intellect is perfectly illuminated, according to its capacity,
with the knowledge of God, who is perfect truth, until the will is perfectly
focused on the love of the perfect good, and until the memory is fully
absorbed in turning to and enjoying eternal happiness, and in gladly and
contentedly resting in it. And since the glory of the beatitude which is
achieved in our heavenly homeland consists in the complete fulfilment of
these three faculties, it follows that perfect initiation of them is
perfection in this life.
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Chapter 4
How man’s activity should be purely in the intellect and not in the senses
Happy therefore is the person who by continual removal of fantasies and
images, by turning within, and raising the mind to God, finally manages to
dispense with the products of the imagination, and by so doing works within,
nakedly and simply, and with a pure understanding and will, on the the
simplest of all objects, God. So eliminate from your mind all fantasies,
objects, images and shapes of all things other than God, so that, with just
naked understanding, intent and will, your practice will be concerned with
God himself within you. For this is the end of all spiritual exercises - to
turn the mind to the Lord God and rest in him with a completely pure
understanding and a completely devoted will, without the entanglements and
fantasies of the imagination. This sort of exercise is not practised by
fleshly organs nor by the exterior senses, but by that by which one is
indeed a man. For a man is precisely understanding and will. For that
reason, in so far as a man is still playing with the products of the
imagination and the senses, and holds to them, it is obvious that he has not
yet emerged from the motivation and limitations of his animal nature, that
is of that which he shares in common with the animals. For these know and
feel objects by means of recognised shapes and sense impressions and no
more, since they do not possess the higher powers of the soul. But it is
different with man, who is created in the image and likeness of God with
understanding, will, and free choice, through which he should be directly,
purely and nakedly impressed and united with God, and firmly adhere to him.
For this reason the Devil tries eagerly and with all his power to hinder
this practice so far as he can, being envious of this in man, since it is a
sort of prelude and initiation of eternal life. So he is always trying to
draw man’s mind away from the Lord God, now by temptations or passions, now
by superfluous worries and pointless cares, now by restlessness and
distracting conversation and senseless curiosity, now by the study of subtle
books, irrelevant discussion, gossip and news, now by hardships, now by
opposition, etc. Such matters may seem trivial enough and hardly sinful, but
they are a great hindrance to this holy exercise and practice. Therefore,
even if they may appear useful and necessary, they should be rejected,
whether great or small, as harmful and dangerous, and put out of our minds.
Above all therefore it is necessary that things heard, seen, done and said,
and other such things, must be received without adding things from the
imagination, without mental associations and without emotional involvement,
and one should not let past or future associations, implications or
constructs of the imagination form and grow. For when constructs of the
imagination are not allowed to enter the memory and mind, a man is not
hindered, whether he be engaged in prayer, meditation, or reciting psalms,
or in any other practice or spiritual exercise, nor will they recur again.
So commit yourself confidently and without hesitation, all that you are, and
everything else, individually and in general, to the unfailing and totally
reliable providence of God, in silence and in peace, and he will fight for
you. He will liberate you and comfort you more fully, more effectively and
more satisfactorily than if you were to dream about it all the time, day and
night, and were to cast around frantically all over the place with the
futile and confused thoughts of your mind in bondage, nor will you wear out
your mind and body, wasting your time, and stupidly and pointlessly
exhausting your strength. So accept everything, separately and in general,
wherever it comes from and whatever its origin, in silence and peace, and
with an equal mind, as coming to you from a father’s hand and his divine
providence. So render your imagination bare of the images of all physical
things as is appropriate to your state and profession, so that you can cling
to him with a bare and undivided mind, as you have so often and so
completely vowed to do, without anything whatever being able to come between
your soul and him, so that you can pass purely and unwaveringly from the
wounds of his humanity into the light of his divinity.
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Chapter 5
On purity of heart which is to be sought above all things
If your desire and aim is to reach the destination of the path and home of
true happiness, of grace and glory, by a straight and safe way then
earnestly apply your mind to seek constant purity of heart, clarity of mind
and calm of the senses. Gather up your heart’s desire and fix it continually
on the Lord God above. To do so you must withdraw yourself so far as you can
from friends and from everyone else, and from the activities that hinder you
from such a purpose. Grasp every opportunity when you can find the place,
time and means to devote yourself to silence and contemplation, and
gathering the secret fruits of silence, so that you can escape the shipwreck
of this present age and avoid the restless agitation of the noisy world. For
this reason apply yourself at all times to purity, clarity and peace of
heart above all things, so that, so far as possible, you can keep the doors
of your heart resolutely barred to the forms and images of the physical
senses and worldly imaginations by shutting off the doors of the physical
senses and turning within yourself. After all, purity of heart is recognised
as the most important thing among all spiritual practices, as its final aim,
and the reward for all the labours that a spiritual-minded person and true
religious may undertake in this life. For this reason you should with all
care, intelligence and effort free your heart, senses and desires from
everything that can hinder their liberty, and above all from everything in
the world that could possibly bind and overcome you. So struggle in this way
to draw together all the distractions of your heart and desires of your mind
into one true, simple and supreme good, to keep them gathered within
yourself in one place, and by this means to remain always joined to things
divine and to God in your mind, to abandon the unreliable things of earth,
and be able to translate your mind continually to the things above within
yourself in Jesus Christ. To which end, if you have begun to strip and
purify yourself of images and imaginations and to simplify and still your
heart and mind in the Lord God so that you can draw and taste the well of
divine grace in everything within yourself, and so that you are united to
God in your mind by a good will, then this itself is enough for you in place
of all study and reading of holy scripture, and as demonstration of love of
God and neighbour, as devotion itself testifies. So simplify your heart with
all care, diligence and effort so that still and at peace from the products
of the imagination you can turn round and remain always in the Lord within
yourself, as if your mind were already in the now of eternity, that is of
the godhead. In this way you will be able to renounce yourself through love
of Jesus Christ, with a pure heart, clean conscience and unfeigned faith,
and commit yourself completely and fully to God in all difficulties and
eventualities, and be willing to submit yourself patiently to his will and
good pleasure at all times. For this to come about you must repeatedly
retreat into your heart and remain there, keeping yourself free from
everything, so far as is possible. You must always keep the eye of your mind
clear and still. You must guard your understanding from daydreams and
thoughts of earthly things. You must completely free the inclination of your
will from worldly cares and cling with all your being to the supreme true
good with fervent love. You must keep your memory always lifted up and
firmly anchored in that same true supreme good and only uncreated reality.
In just this way your whole mind gathered up with all its powers and
faculties in God, may become one spirit with him, in whom the supreme
perfection of life is known to consist. This is the true union of spirit and
love by which a man is made compliant to all the impulses of the supreme and
eternal will, so that he becomes by grace what God is by nature. At the same
time it should be noted that in the very moment in which one is able, by
God’s help, to overcome one’s own will, that is to cast away from oneself
inordinate love or strong feeling, in other words so as to dare simply to
trust God completely in all one’s needs, by this very fact one becomes so
pleasing to God that his grace is imparted to one, and through that very
grace one experiences that true love and devotion which drives out all
uncertainty and fear and has full confidence in God. What is more, there can
be no greater happiness than to place one’s all in him who lacks nothing. So
why do you still remain in yourself where you cannot stay. Cast yourself,
all of yourself, with confidence into God and he will sustain you, heal you
and make you safe. If you dwell on these things faithfully within, they will
do more to confer a happy life on you than all riches, pleasures and
honours, and above all the wisdom and knowledge of this present deceitful
world and its life, even if you were to excel in them all that ever lived.
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Chapter 6
That the devout man should cleave to God with naked understanding and will
The more you strip yourself of the products of the imagination and
involvement in external, worldly things and the objects of the senses, the
more your soul will recover its strength and its inner senses so that it can
appreciate the things which are above. So learn to withdraw from
imaginations and the images of physical things, since what pleases God above
everything is a mind bare of those sorts of forms and objects, for it is his
delight to be with the sons of men, that is those who, at peace from such
activities, distractions and passions, seek him with a pure and simple mind,
empty themselves for him, and cleave to him. Otherwise, if your memory,
imagination and thought is often involved with such things, you must needs
be filled with the thought of new things or memories of old ones, or
identified with other changing objects. As a result, the Holy Spirit
withholds itself from thoughts bereft of understanding. So the true lover of
Jesus Christ should be so united through good will in his understanding with
the divine will and goodness, and be so bare of all imaginations and
passions that he does not even notice whether he is being mocked or loved,
or something is being done to him. For a good will turns everything to good
and is above everything. So if the will is good and is obedient and united
to God with pure understanding, he is not hurt even if the flesh and the
senses and the outer man is moved to evil, and is slow to good, or even if
the inner man is slow to feel devotion, but should simply cleave to God with
faith and good will in naked understanding. He is doing this if he is
conscious of all his own imperfection and nothingness, recognises his good
to consist in his Creator alone, abandons himself with all his faculties and
powers, and all creatures, and immerses himself wholly and completely in the
Creator, so that he directs all his actions purely and entirely in his Lord
God, and seeks nothing apart from him, in whom he recognises all good and
all joy of perfection to be found. And he is so transformed in a certain
sense into God that he cannot think, understand, love or remember anything
but God himself and the things of God. Other creatures however and even
himself he does not see, except in God, nor does he love anything except God
alone, nor remember anything about them or himself except in God. This
knowledge of the truth always makes the soul humble, ready to judge itself
and not others, while on the contrary worldly wisdom makes the soul proud,
futile, inflated and puffed up with wind. So let this be the fundamental
spiritual doctrine leading to the knowledge of God, his service and
familiarity with him, that if you want to truly possess God, you must strip
your heart of all love of things of the senses, not just of certain
creatures, so that you can turn to the Lord your God with a simple and whole
heart and with all your power, freely and without any double-mindedness,
care or anxiety, but with full confidence in his providence alone about
everything.
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Chapter 7
How the heart should be gathered within itself
What is more, as is said in the book On the Spirit and the Soul (of St.
Augustine), to ascend to God means to enter into oneself. He who entering
within and penetrating his inmost nature, goes beyond himself, he is truly
ascending to God. So let us withdraw our hearts from the distractions of
this world, and recall them to the inner joys, so that we can establish them
to some degree in the light of divine contemplation. For this is the life
and peace of our hearts - to be established by intent in the love of God,
and to be sweetly remade by his comforting. But the reason why we are in so
many ways hindered in the practical enjoyment of this matter and are unable
to get into it is clearly because the human mind is so distracted by worries
that it cannot bring its memory to turn within, is so clouded by its
imaginations that it cannot return to itself with its understanding, and is
so drawn away by its desires that it is quite unable to come back to itself
by desire for inner sweetness and spiritual joy. Thus it is so prostrate
among the sense objects presented to it that it cannot enter into itself as
the image of God. It is therefore right and necessary for the mind to raise
itself above itself and everything created by the abandonment of everything,
with humble reverence and great trust, and to say within itself, He whom I
seek, love, thirst for and desire from everything and more than anything is
not a thing of the senses or the imagination, but is above everything that
can be experienced by the senses and the intellect. He cannot be experienced
by any of the senses, but is completely desirable to my will. He is moreover
not discernable, but is perfectly desirable to my inner affections. He
cannot be comprehended, but can be loved in his fullness with a pure heart,
for he is above all lovable and desirable, and of infinite goodness and
perfection. And then a darkness comes over the mind and it is raised up into
itself and penetrates even deeper. And the more inward-looking the desire
for it, the more powerful this means of ascent to the mysterious
contemplation of the holy Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity in Jesus
Christ is, and the more interior the yearning, the more productive it is.
Certainly in matters spiritual the more inward they are the greater they are
as spiritual experiences. For this reason, never give up, never stop until
you have tasted some pledge, as I might say, or foretaste of the future full
experience, and until you have obtained the satisfaction of however small a
first fruits of the divine joy. And do not give up pursuing it and following
its scent until you have seen the God of gods in Sion. Do not stop or turn
back in your spiritual journey and your union and adherence to God within
you until you have achieved what you have been seeking. Take as a pattern of
this the example of those climbing an ordinary mountain. If our mind is
involved by its desires in the things which are going on below, it is
immediately carried away by endless distractions and side tracks, and being
to some extent divided against itself, is weakened and as it were scattered
amongst the things which it seeks with its desires. The result is ceaseless
movement, travel without an arrival, and labour without rest. If on the
other hand our heart and mind can withdraw itself by its desire and love
from the infinite distraction below of the things beneath it, can learn to
be with itself, abandoning these lower things and gathering itself within
itself into the one unchanging and satisfying good, and can hold to it
inseparably with its will, it is correspondingly more and more gathered
together in one and strengthened, as it is raised up by knowledge and
desire. In this way it will become accustomed to the true supreme good
within itself until it will be made completely immovable and arrive securely
at that true life which is the Lord God himself, so that it can now rest in
him within and in peace without any changeability or vicissitude of time,
perfectly gathered within itself in the secret divine abode in Christ Jesus
who is the way for those who come to him, the truth and life.
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Chapter 8
How a religious man should commit himself to God in all circumstances
whatsoever
I am now completely convinced that you will recognise from these arguments
that the more you strip yourself of the products of your imagination and all
worldly and created things, and are united to God with your intellect by a
good will, the closer you will approach the state of innocence and
perfection. What could be better? And what could be more happy and joyful?
Above all it is important for you to keep your mind bare - without
imaginations and images and free of any sort of entanglement, so that you
are not concerned about either the world, friends, prosperity or adversity,
or anything present, past or future, whether in yourself or in others - not
even your own sins. But consider yourself with a certain pure simplicity to
be alone with God outside the world, and as if your mind were already in
eternity and separated from the body so that it will certainly not bother
about worldly things or be concerned about the state of the world, about
peace or war, about good weather or rain, or about anything at all in this
world, but with complete docility will turn to God alone, be empty for him
and cleave to him. So now in this way ignore your body and all created
things, present or future, and direct the high point of your mind and spirit
directly, as best you can, naked and unencumbered on the uncreated light.
And let your spirit be cleansed in this way from all imaginations, coverings
and things obscuring its vision, like an angel (not) tied to a body, who is
not hindered by the works of the flesh nor tangled in vain and wandering
thoughts. Let your spirit therefore arm itself against all temptations,
vexations, and injuries so that it can persevere steadily in God when
attacked by either face of fortune. So that when some inner disturbance or
boredom or mental confusion come you will not be indignant or dejected
because of it, nor run back to vocal prayers or other forms of consolation,
but only to lift yourself up in your intellect by a good will to hold on to
God with your mind whether the natural inclination of the body wills it or
not. The religious-minded soul should be so united to God and should have or
render its will so conformed to the divine will that it is not occupied with
any created thing or cling to it any more than before it was created, and as
if nothing existed except God and the soul itself. And in this way it should
accept everything confidently and equally, in general and in particular,
from the hand of divine providence, agreeing in everything with the Lord in
patience, peace and silence. The thing is that the most important thing of
all for a spiritual life is to strip the mind of all imaginations so that
one can be united in one’s intellect to God by a good will, and conformed to
him. Besides, nothing will then be intermediary between you and God. This
obvious, since nothing external will stand between you when by the vow of
voluntary poverty you will have removed the possession of anything
whatsoever, and by the vow of chastity you will have abandoned your body,
and by obedience you will have given up your will and your soul itself. And
in this way nothing will be left to stand between you and God. That you are
a religious person is indicated by your profession, your state, and now your
habit and tonsure and such like, but whether you are only a religious in
appearance or a real one, you will find out. Bear in mind therefore how
greatly you have fallen away and sin against the Lord your God and all his
justice if you behave otherwise and cling with your will and love to what is
created rather than to the Creator himself, putting the created before the
Creator.
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Chapter 9
How much the contemplation of God is to be preferred to all other exercises
Now since all things other than God are the effect and work of the Creator
himself, their having ability and being is a limited power and existence,
and being as they are created out of nothing, they are circumscribed by the
effects of their nothingness, while their tendency of themselves towards
nothingness means that we receive our existence, preservation and activity
moment by moment from the Creator himself, along with whatever other
qualities created things may have, just as we receive their insufficiency to
any action of themselves, both with regard to themselves and to others, in
relation to him whose operation they are, they remain as a nothing before
something which exists, and as something finite before what is infinite. For
this reason let all our actual contemplation, life and activity take place
in him alone, about him, for him and towards him who is able and capable to
produce with a single nod of his will things infinitely more perfect than
any that exist now. No contemplation and fruition of love, whether
intellectual or affective, is more useful, more perfect and more satisfying
than that which is of God himself, the Creator, our supreme and true Good,
from whom, through whom and to whom are all things. He is infinitely
satisfying both to himself and to all others, who contains within himself in
absolute simplicity and from all eternity the perfection of all things, in
whom there is nothing which is not himself, before whom and through whom
remain the causes of all things impermanent, and in whom dwell the
unchanging origins of all changing things, while even the eternal reasons of
all temporal things, rational and irrational, abide in him. He brings
everything to completion, and fills all things, in general and in
particular, completely and essentially with himself. He is more intimately
and more really present to everything by his being than each thing is to
itself, for in him all things are united together, and live in him
eternally. What is more, if someone, out of weakness or from lack of
intellectual practice, is detained longer in the contemplation of created
things, this supreme, true and fruitful contemplation may still be seen as
possible for mortal man, so that there may take place an upward leap in all
his contemplations and meditations, whether about created things or the
Creator, and the appreciation of God the Creator himself, the One and Three,
may surge up within so that he come to burn with the fire of divine love and
the true life in himself and in others, in such a way as to make him
deserving of the joy of eternal life. Even in this one should bear in mind
the difference between the contemplation of faithful Catholics and that of
pagan philosophers, for the contemplation of the philosophers is for the
perfection of the contemplator himself, and consequently it is confined to
the intellect and their aim in it is intellectual knowledge. But the
contemplation of the Saints, and of Catholics, is for the love of him, that
is of the God they are contemplating. As a result it is not confined in the
final analysis to the intellect in knowledge, but crosses over into the will
through love. That is why the Saints in their contemplation have the love of
God as their principal aim, since it is more satisfying to know and possess
even the Lord Jesus Christ spiritually through grace than physically or even
really but without grace. Furthermore, while the soul is withdrawn from
everything and is turned within, the eye of contemplation is opened and sets
itself up a ladder by which it can pass to the contemplation of God. By this
contemplation the soul is set on fire for eternal things by the heavenly and
divine good things it experiences, and views all the things of time from a
distance and as if they were nothing. Hence when we approach God by the way
of negation, we first deny him everything that can be experienced by the
body, the senses and the imagination, secondly even things experienceable by
the intellect, and finally even being itself in so far as it is found in
created things. This, so far as the nature of the way is concerned, is the
best means of union with God, according to Dionysius. And this is the cloud
in which God is said to dwell, which Moses entered, and through this came to
the inaccessible light. Certainly, it is not the spiritual which comes
first, but the natural, (1 Corinthians 15.46) so one must proceed by the
usual order of things, from active work to the quiet of contemplation, and
from moral virtues to spiritual and contemplative realities. Finally, my
soul, why are you uselessly preoccupied with so many things, and always busy
with them? Seek out and love the one supreme good, in which is all that is
worth seeking, and that will be enough for you. Unhappy therefore is he who
knows and possesses everything other than this, and does not know this.
While if he knows everything as well as this, it is not from knowing them
that he is better off but because of This. That is why John says, This is
eternal life, to know Thee, etc. (John 17.3) and the prophet says, I will be
satisfied when your glory becomes manifest. (Psalm 17.15)
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Chapter 10
That one should not be concerned about feeling tangible devotion so much as
about cleaving to God with one’s will
Furthermore you should not be much concerned about tangible devotion, the
experience of sweetness or tears, but rather that you should be mentally
united with God within yourself by a good will in your intellect. For what
pleases God above everything is a mind free from imaginations, that is
images, ideas and the representations of created things. It befits a monk to
be indifferent to everything created so that he can turn easily and barely
to God alone within himself, be empty for him and cleave to him. For this
reason deny yourself so that you can follow Christ, the Lord your God, in
nakedness, who was himself poor, obedient, chaste, humble and suffering, and
in whose life and death many were scandalised, as is clear from the Gospel
accounts. After all, a soul which is separated from the body pays no
attention to what is done to its abandoned body - whether it is burned,
hanged, or reviled, and is in no way saddened by the afflictions imposed on
the body, but thinks only of the Now of eternity and the One Thing which the
Lord calls necessary in the Gospel. So you too should treat your body as if
you were no longer in the body, but think always of the eternity of your
soul in God, and direct your thoughts carefully to that One Thing of which
Christ said, For one thing is necessary. (Luke 10.42) You will experience
because of it great grace, helping you towards the acquisition of nakedness
of mind and simplicity of heart. Indeed this One Thing is very much present
with you if you have made yourself bare of imaginations and all other
entanglements, and you will soon experience that this is so - namely when
you can be empty and cleave to God with a naked and resolute mind. In this
way you will remain unconquered in whatever may be inflicted on you, like
the holy martyrs, fathers, the elect, and indeed all the saints who despised
everything and only thought of their souls’ security and eternity in God.
Armed in this way within, and united to God through a good will, they
spurned everything of the world as if their souls were already separated
from their bodies. Consider from this how much a good will united with God
is capable of, when by means of its pressing towards God the soul is
effectively separated the body in spirit and looks on its outward man as it
were from a distance, and as not belonging to it. In this way it despises
everything that is inflicted on itself or on its flesh as if they were
happening to someone else, or not to a human being at all. For He that is
united with the Lord is one Spirit, (1 Corinthians 6.17) that is with him.
So you should never dare to think or imagine anything before the Lord your
God that you would blush to be heard or seen in before men, since your
respect for God should be even greater than for them. It is a matter of
justice in fact that all your thoughts and thinking should be raised to God
alone, and the highest point of your mind should only be directed to him as
if nothing existed but him, and holding to him may enjoy the perfect
beginning of the life to come.
_________________________________________________________________
Chapter 11
How one should resist temptations and bear trials
Now there is no one who approaches God with a true and upright heart who is
not tested by hardships and temptations. So in all these temptations see to
it that even if you feel them, you do not consent to them, but bear them
patiently and calmly with humility and long suffering. Even if they are
blasphemies and sordid, hold firmly on to this fact in everything, that you
can do nothing better or more effective against them than to consider all
this sort of fantasy as a nothing. Even if they are the most vile, sordid
and horrible blasphemies, simply take no notice of them, count them as
nothing and despise them. Don’t look on them as yours or allow yourself to
make them a matter of conscience. The enemy will certainly take flight if
you treat him and his company with contempt in this way. He is very proud
and cannot bear to be despised and spurned. So the best remedy is to
completely ignore all such temptations, like flies flying around in front of
your eyes against your will. The servant of Jesus Christ must see to it that
he is not so easily forced to withdraw from the face of the Lord and to be
annoyed, murmur and complain over the nuisance of a single fly, that is, a
trivial temptation, suspicion, sadness, distraction, need or any such
adversity, when they can all be put to flight with no more than the hand of
a good will directed up to God. After all, through a good will a man has God
as his defender, and the holy angels as his guardians and protectors. What
is more, any temptation can be overcome by a good will too, like a fly
driven away from a bald head by one’s hand. So peace is for men of good
will. Indeed we can offer God nothing more valuable than a good will, since
a good will in the soul is the source of all good things, and the mother of
all virtues. If any one is beginning to possess that good will, he
undoubtedly has what is necessary for leading a good life. For if you want
what is good, but cannot do it, God will make good the deed. For it is in
accordance with this eternal law that God has established with irrevocable
firmness that deserts should be a matter of the will, whether in bliss or
torment, reward or punishment. Love itself is a great will to serve God, a
sweet desire to please God, and a fervent wish to experience God. What is
more, to be tempted is not a sin, but the opportunity for exercising virtue,
so that temptation can be greatly to a man’s benefit, since it is held that
the whole of a man’s life on earth is a testing. (Job 7.1)
_________________________________________________________________
Chapter 12
How powerful the love of God is
All that is said above and whatever is necessary for salvation cannot be
better, more immediately and more securely achieved than by love, through
which whatever is lacking of what is necessary for salvation can be made
good. In love we possess the fullness of all good and the realisation of our
highest longing is not denied us. After all it is love alone by which we
turn back to God, are changed into God, cleave to God, and are united to God
in such a way that we become one spirit with him, and are by him and through
him made blessed here by grace and hereafter in glory. Now love is such that
it cannot rest except in the beloved, but it does when it wins the beloved
in full and peaceful possession. For love, which itself is charity, is the
way of God to men and the way of man to God. God cannot house where there is
no love. So if we have love, we have God, for God is love. Furthermore
nothing is sharper than love, nothing is more subtle, nothing more
penetrating. It will not rest until it has by its very nature penetrated the
whole power, the depth and the totality of the loved one. It wants to make
itself one with the beloved, and itself, if it were possible, to be what the
beloved is too. Thus it cannot bear that anything should stand between
itself and the beloved object, which is God, but presses eagerly towards
him. As a result it never rests until it has left everything else behind and
come to him alone. For the nature of love is of a unitive and transforming
power which transforms the lover into what he loves, or alternatively, makes
the lover one with the other, and vice versa, in so far as is possible. This
is manifest in the first place with regard to the mental powers, depending
on how much the beloved is in the lover, in other words depending on how
sweetly and delightfully the beloved is recalled in the mind of the lover,
and in direct proportion, that is, with how much the lover strives to grasp
all the things that relate to the beloved not just superficially but
intimately, and to enter, as it were, into his innermost secrets. It is also
manifest with regard to the emotional and affective powers when the beloved
is said to be in the lover, in other words when the desire to please the
beloved is found in the will and established within by the happy enjoyment
of him. Alternatively, the lover is in the beloved when he is united with
him by all his desire and compliance in agreement with the beloved’s willing
and not willing, and finds his own pleasure and pain in that of the beloved.
For love draws the lover out of himself (since love is strong as death), and
establishes him in the beloved, causing him to cleave closely to him. For
the soul is more where it loves than where it lives, since it is in what it
loves in accordance with its very nature, understanding and will, while it
is in where it lives only with regard to form, which is even true for
animals as well. There is nothing therefore which draws us away from the
exterior senses to within ourselves, and from there to Jesus Christ and
things divine, more than the love of Christ and the desire for the sweetness
of Christ, for the experience, awareness and enjoyment of the presence of
Christ’s divinity. For there is nothing but the power of love which can lead
the soul from the things of earth to the lofty summit of heaven. Nor can
anyone attain the supreme beatitude unless summoned to it by love and
yearning. Love after all is the life of the soul, the wedding garment and
the soul’s perfection, containing all the law and the prophets and our
Lord’s teaching. That is why Paul says to the Romans, Love is the fulfilling
of the law, (Rom. 13.8) and in the first letter to Timothy, The end of the
commandment is love. (1 Timothy 1.5)
_________________________________________________________________
Chapter 13
The nature and value of prayer, and how the heart should be recollected
within itself
Besides this, since we are incapable of ourselves for this and for any other
good action whatsoever, and since we can of ourselves offer nothing to the
Lord God (from whom all good things come) which is not his already, with
this one exception, as he has deigned to show us both by his own blessed
mouth as well as by his example, that we should turn to him in all
circumstances and occasions as guilty, wretched, poor, beggarly, weak,
helpless, subject servants and sons. And that we should beseech him and lay
before him with complete confidence the dangers that are besetting us on all
sides, completely grief-stricken in ourselves, in humble prostration of
mind, in fear and love, and with recollected, composed, mature, true and
naked, shamefaced affection, with great yearning and determination, and in
groaning of heart and sincerity of mind. Thus we commit and offer ourselves
up to him freely, securely and nakedly, fully and in everything that is
ours, holding nothing back to ourselves, in such a complete and final way,
that the same is fulfilled in us as in our blessed father Isaac, who speaks
of this very type of prayer, saying, Then we shall be one in God, and the
Lord God will be all in all and alone in us when his own perfect love, with
which he first loved us, will have become the disposition of our own hearts
too. This will come about when all our love, all our desire, all our
concern, all our efforts, in fact everything we think, everything we see,
speak and even hope will be God, and that unity which now is of the Father
with the Son, and of the Son with the Father, will be poured into our own
heart and mind as well, in such a way that just as he loves us with sincere
and indissoluble love we too will be joined to him with eternal and
inseparable affection. In other words we shall be united with him in such a
way that whatever we hope, and whatever we say or pray will be God. This
therefore should be the aim, this the concern and goal of a spiritual man -
to be worthy to possess the image of future bliss in this corruptible body,
and in a certain measure experience in advance how the foretaste of that
heavenly bliss, eternal life and glory begins in this world. This, as I say,
is the goal of all perfection, that his purified mind should be daily raised
up from all bodily objects to spiritual things until all his mental activity
and all his heart’s desire become one unbroken prayer. So the mind must
abandon the dregs of earth and press on towards to God, on whom alone should
be fixed the desire of a spiritual man, for whom the least separation from
that summum bonum is to be considered a living death and dreadful loss.
Then, when the requisite peace has been established in his mind, when it is
free from attachment to any carnal passion, and clings firmly in intention
to that one supreme good, the Apostle’s sayings are fulfilled, Pray without
ceasing, (1 Thessalonians 5.17) and, Pray in every place lifting up pure
hands without anger or dispute. (1 Timothy 2.8) For when the power of the
mind is absorbed in this purity, so to speak, and is transformed from an
earthly nature into the spiritual or angelic likeness, whatever it receives
into itself, whatever it is occupied with, whatever it is doing, it will be
pure and sincere prayer. In this way, if you continue all the time in the
way we have described from the beginning, it will become as easy and clear
for you to remain in contemplation in your inward and recollected state, as
to live in the natural state.
_________________________________________________________________
Chapter 14
That we should seek the verdict of our conscience in every decision
While we should strive for spiritual perfection of mind, purity and peace in
God, it will be found to be not a little beneficial to this that we should
return quietly into the inner secret place of the mind in the face of
everything said, thought or done to us. There, withdrawn from everything
else and completely recollected within ourselves, we can place ourselves in
the knowledge of the truth before us and undoubtedly discover and understand
that it does us absolutely no good, and rather the contrary, when we are
praised or honoured by others while we recognise by the knowledge of the
truth about ourselves within that we are blameworthy and guilty. And just as
nothing is any help if externally people praise someone if his conscience
internally accuses him, in the same way on the contrary it does a man no
harm to be despised, maligned and persecuted when he remains internally just
as innocent, blameless and without fault. On the contrary he has all the
more good reason to rejoice in the Lord with patience, in peace and silence.
After all no adversity can do any harm where evil is not in control, and
just as no evil goes unpunished, so no good goes unrewarded. Nor should we
wish a reward with hypocrites or expect and receive profit from men, but
from the Lord God alone, not in the present, but in the future, and not in
fleeting time, but in eternity. It is clear therefore that nothing is
greater, and nothing better than to enter into the inner secret place of the
mind always and in every tribulation and occurrence, and there to call upon
the Lord Jesus Christ himself, our helper in temptations and tribulations,
and to humble ourselves there by confession of sin, and praise God and
Father himself, the giver of correction and the giver of consolation. Above
all one should accept everything, in general and individually, in oneself or
in others, agreeable or disagreeable, with a prompt and confident spirit, as
coming from the hand of his infallible Providence or the order he has
arranged. This attitude will lead to the forgiveness of our sins, the
deliverance from bitterness, the enjoyment of joy and security, the
outpouring of grace and mercy, introduction and establishment into a close
relationship with God, abundant enjoyment of his presence, and firm cleaving
and union with him. But let us not copy those who from hypocrisy and
Pharisaism want to appear better and different from what they are, and to
make a better impression and appearance before men of being something
special, than they know in truth inside to be so. For it is absolute madness
to seek, hunger for and aspire to human praise or renown, from oneself or
others, when one is in spite of it all inwardly full of cravings and serious
faults. And certainly the good things we have talked about above will flee
him who chases such vanities, and he will merely bring disgrace on himself.
So always keep your faults and your own incapacity before your eyes, and
know yourself, so that you can be humbled and not try to avoid being held as
the lowest, vilest and most abject scum by everyone when you are aware of
the grave sins and serious faults in yourself. For which reason consider
yourself compared to others as dross to gold, weeds to the wheat, chaff to
the grain, a wolf to the sheep, Satan to the children of God. And do not
seek to be respected by others and given precedence before others, but
rather flee with all your heart and soul the poison of this disease, the
venom of praise, the concern for boasting and vanity, lest, as the prophet
says, The wicked is praised in his own heart’s desires, (Psalm 10.4) and
Isaiah, They who speak good of you, deceive you and destroy the way of your
feet, (Isaiah 3.12) and the Lord in Luke, Woe to you when men speak well of
you! (Luke 6.26).
_________________________________________________________________
Chapter 15
How contempt of himself can be produced in a man, and how useful it is
Furthermore the more a man recognises his own insignificance, the more he
fully and the more clearly he becomes aware to the divine majesty, and the
more a man is low in his own eyes for the sake of God, the truth and
justice, the more precious he is in the eyes of God. For this reason let us
strive with the whole strength of our desire to consider ourselves the
lowest of all and to consider ourselves unworthy of any favour. We should
strive to be displeasing to ourselves and pleasing only to God, while
regarded as low and unworthy of consideration by others. Above all not to be
moved by difficulties, afflictions and insults, and not to be upset by those
who inflict such things on us, or entertain evil thoughts against them or be
indignant, but to believe steadfastly and with equanimity in all insults,
slights, blows and dereliction that it is only appropriate. For in truth he
who is really penitent and grieving before God hates to be honoured and
loved by all, and does not try to manipulate things so as to avoid being to
some degree hated, neglected and despised right to the end, so that he can
be truly humbled and sincerely cleave to God alone with a pure heart.
Indeed, for loving God alone and hating oneself more than anything, and
desiring to be despised by others we do not require external work or
physical strength, but rather physical solitude, the labour of the heart,
and peace of mind so that, as it were, by labour of the heart and the
disposition of the inmost mind, one may rise up, casting off from oneself
lower and physical things, and so soar up, ascending to things heavenly and
divine. For indeed in so doing we changed into God, and this will especially
take place when without judgement, condemnation or contempt of our
neighbour, we choose rather to be considered as scum and a disgrace by
everyone and to be despised as unclean filth by everyone than to experience
all sorts of different delicacies or to be honoured and exalted by men, or
enjoy all sorts of transitory physical forms of well-being and comfort. We
should not desire any pleasure of this present, mortal and physical life but
rather to mourn, bewail and lament our offences, faults and sins without
ceasing, and to perfectly despise and annihilate ourselves, and from day to
day to be considered more and more abject by others, while in all our
insignificance we become worthless even in our own eyes, so that we can be
pleasing to God alone, love him alone, and cleave to him alone. We should
not wish to be concerned about anything except the Lord Jesus Christ himself
who alone should reside in our affections, and we should not be concerned or
anxious about anything except him on whose dominion and providence
everything in general and individually depends. So from now on it should not
be your aim to seek enjoyment but to truly mourn with all your heart. For
that reason, if you do not mourn, mourn for that, while if you do mourn,
mourn especially that you have brought the cause of your pain on yourself by
your own great offences and infinite sins. For just as a condemned man on
receiving his sentence does not concern himself about the seating of the
spectators, so he who laments and is genuinely mourning is not interested in
pleasures, resentment, fame or wrongs or things of that sort. And just as
townsfolk and contemned criminals have different accommodation, the state
and position of those who are mourning and have committed offences deserving
punishment ought to be completely different from those who are innocent and
under no obligation. Otherwise there would be no difference between the
guilty and the innocent in matters of punishment and reward. The result
would be great dereliction of duty, and evil behaviour would have more
freedom than goodness. So everything must be renounced, everything despised,
everything rejected and avoided, so that we can lay a firm foundation of
penitent grieving. Then, loving Jesus Christ in reality, yearning for him,
and holding him in one’s heart, in reality experiencing pain for one’s sins
and faults, in reality seeking to know the coming Kingdom, while with true
faith bearing in mind the reality of the torments and eternal judgement, and
firmly and fully taking up the recollection and fear of one’s own death, we
should be aware of nothing else, and not care or be worried about anything
else. For that reason, he who hurries towards the blessed state of
impassibility and towards God should reckon himself to have experienced
great loss every day that he is not insulted and despised. Impassibility
after all is freedom from vices and passions and purity of heart and the
adornment of all virtues. So consider yourself as already dead since there
is no doubt that you have got to die. And as a final thought let this be the
test for you of whether any thought, word or action of yours is of God,
whether you are made more humble because of it, more inward and more
recollected and established in God. If you find it is otherwise in yourself,
you should be suspicious about it, whether it be not according to God,
unacceptable to you and not to your benefit.
_________________________________________________________________
Chapter 16
How God’s Providence includes everything
Certainly if we are to come directly, safely and nakedly to our Lord God
without hindrance, freely and peacefully, as explained above, and be
securely joined to him with even mind in prosperity or adversity, whether in
life or in death, then our job is to commit everything unhesitatingly and
resolutely, in general and individually, to his unquestionable and
infallible providence. This is hardly surprising since it is he alone who
gives to all things their being, their capacity and their action - that is,
their strength, operation, nature, manner and order in number, weight and
measure. Especially since just as a work of art presupposes a prior
operation of nature, in the same way the operation of nature presupposes the
work of God, creating, sustaining, ordering and administering it, for to him
alone belong infinite power, wisdom, goodness and inherent mercy, justice,
truth, love, and unchanging timelessness and omnipresence. So nothing can
exist or act by its own power unless it acts in the power of God himself,
who is the prime mover and the first principle, who is the cause of every
action, and the actor in every agent. For so far as the nature of the order
of things is concerned, God provides for everything without intermediary
right down to the last detail. So nothing, from the greatest to the smallest
things, can escape God’s eternal providence, or fall away from it, whether
in matters of the will, of causal events, or even of accidental
circumstances outside of one’s control. But God cannot do anything which
does not fall under the order of his own providence, just as he cannot do
anything which is not subject to its operation. Divine providence therefore
extends to everything, in general and in particular, even including a man’s
thoughts. On which subject Scripture has this to say, Cast all your worries
upon him, for he takes care of you. (1 Peter 5.7) And again the prophet
says, Cast your care upon the Lord, and he will feed you. (Psalm 55.22) And,
Look at the nations of men, my son, and see that no one ever put his trust
in the Lord, and was disappointed. For who has been faithful to his
commandments and been abandoned? (Sirach 2.22) And our Lord himself said, Do
not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? (Matthew 6.25) So whatever and
however much we can hope from God, we shall undoubtedly receive, as
Deuteronomy says, Every place where you feet tread shall be yours.
(Deuteronomy 11.24) For a man shall receive all that he is able to desire,
and so far as he can reach with his foot of faith, even so much shall he
possess. That is why Bernard says, “God, the maker of everything is so
abounding in mercy that whatever size grace cup of faith we are able to hold
out to him, we shall undoubtedly have it filled.” And so Mark has it, All
that you ask in prayer believing that you will receive it, will be given
you. (Mark 11.24) So the stronger and the more vehement our faith in God is,
and the more reverently and persistently it is offered up to God, the more
surely, the more abundantly and the quicker what we hoped for will be
accomplished and obtained. Indeed if in doing this our faith in God is weak
and slow to rise to God on account of the multitude and magnitude of our
sins, we should remember this, that everything is possible with God, and
that what he wishes is bound to take place, while what he does not wish
cannot possibly happen, and that it is as easy for him to forgive and cancel
countless sins, however enormous, as to do it with a single sin. While a
sinner cannot, of himself, rise from innumerable sins, and free and absolve
himself from them, and not even from just one sin. For we are unable not
only to do, but even to think anything good, of ourselves, but this is from
God. Nonetheless it is much more dangerous, other things being equal, to be
ensnared in many sins than in a single one, since no sin is left unpunished,
and every mortal sin deserves infinite punishment, and this by the rigour of
justice since any such sin is against God who is indeed worthy of infinite
reverence, dignity and honour. What is more, according to the Apostle Paul,
God knows his own (2 Timothy 2.19), and it is impossible for any of them to
perish by the whirlwinds and floods of any error, scandal, schism,
persecution, heresy, tribulation, adversity or temptation, for he has
foreseen from eternity and unchangeably the number of his elect and the
extent of their merits in such a way that everything good and bad, what is
theirs and not theirs, prosperity and adversity, all work together for them
for good, except indeed that they appear even more glorious and commendable
in adversity. So let us commit everything with full assurance, in general
and in particular, confidently and unhesitatingly to divine providence, by
which God permits however much and whatever sort of evil to happen to us.
For it is good and will lead to good, since he permits it to exist, and it
would not exist unless he permitted it to exist. Nor could it exist
otherwise or more than he permits it to, because he knows how to, has the
power to, and wills to change and convert it into something better. For just
as it is by operation of providence that all good things exist, so it is by
its permission that all bad things are changed into good. In this way in
fact God’s power, wisdom and mercy are shown forth through Christ our
redeemer - his mercy and his justice, the power of grace and the weakness of
nature, the beauty of everything in the association of opposites, the
approval of the good, and the malice and punishment of the wicked. Similarly
the contrition of the converted sinner, his confession, and penitence, the
kindness of God, piety, charity and his praise and goodness (all show forth
God’s power and wisdom). Yet it does not always lead to good in those who do
ill, but, as is usually the case, to great danger and extreme evil, in the
loss, that is, of grace and their place in glory, and in the incurring of
guilt and punishment, sometimes even eternal punishment, from which may
Jesus Christ defend us. Amen.
_________________________________________________________________
Indexes
_________________________________________________________________
Index of Scripture References
Deuteronomy
[2]11:24
Job
[3]7:1
Psalms
[4]10:4 [5]16:8 [6]17:15 [7]55:22 [8]55:22 [9]73:28
Song of Solomon
[10]3:4
Isaiah
[11]3:12
Matthew
[12]6:6 [13]6:25
Mark
[14]11:24
Luke
[15]6:26 [16]10:42 [17]17:21
John
[18]17:3
Romans
[19]13:8
1 Corinthians
[20]6:17 [21]15:46
Philippians
[22]4:6
1 Thessalonians
[23]5:17
1 Timothy
[24]1:5 [25]2:8
2 Timothy
[26]2:19
1 Peter
[27]5:7 [28]5:7
Wisdom of Solomon
[29]7:11
Sirach
[30]2:22
_________________________________________________________________
This document is from the Christian Classics Ethereal
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generated on demand from ThML source.
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5. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#iv-p1.5
6. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xi-p1.3
7. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#iv-p1.3
8. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xviii-p1.2
9. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#iv-p1.4
10. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#iv-p1.6
11. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xvi-p1.2
12. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#iii-p1.1
13. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xviii-p1.4
14. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xviii-p1.6
15. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xvi-p1.3
16. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xii-p1.1
17. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#iv-p1.8
18. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xi-p1.2
19. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xiv-p1.1
20. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xii-p1.2
21. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xi-p1.1
22. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#iv-p1.2
23. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xv-p1.1
24. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xiv-p1.2
25. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xv-p1.2
26. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xviii-p1.7
27. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#iv-p1.1
28. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xviii-p1.1
29. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#iv-p1.7
30. file://localhost/ccel/a/albert/cleaving/cache/cleaving.html3#xviii-p1.3