Chapter XII
THE MYSTICAL ARK
will come in to him, and I will eat with him" (Rev. 3:20). Surely we eat with the Lord in our midst when we gladly devote that to His service and zealously serve at His good pleasure in that by which we might increase His good pleasure toward us and also increase our trust in Him. On account of this accumulation of confidence it happens that the mind is suddenly enlivened beyond hope and above expectation, to long-craved and greatly-longed-for grace. Indeed, we pursue the Lord as He goes forth, when, while pressing foreward carefully to the divinely taught understanding, we marvel at recognizing the light of divinity by which we are raised above ourselves to contemplating higher things. And while clinging to the traces of revealing grace, we accompany the Lord who passes through. However, after we have gone out, to stand with the Lord who stands means to cling for a long time by means of contemplation to the light being shown in that state of loftiness. He who transcends all the unsteadiness of human mutability and the uncertainty of ambiguity by a higher raising up of the mind stands with the Lord who stands. And while fixed intently upon that light of eternity he draws into himself the similitude of that image which has been seen: "All of us," says the Apostle, "looking upon the glory of the Lord with uncovered face are transformed into the same image from splendor to splendor, as if by the Spirit of the Lord"
(2 Cor.
3:18). In this raising up of the mind human understanding often enters into that abyss of divine judgments and is even taught the foreknowledge of future things, as has already been said.
Chapter XII That some of those things which are accustomed to be seen by ecstasy of mindcan be brought down for the understanding ofall -while others can never be so treated It ought to be noted that at one time, when placed outside, we draw the vision of the Lord within; at other times, when placed within, we go out with the one who goes out. For this that is known concerning the Lord's brightness by means of ecstasy of mind is
RICHARD OF ST. VICTOR
comprehended tfter a while even by the mind in its ordinary state.
And we are often led into alienation of mind because of greatness of wonder on account of that which we examine within ourselves in our ordinary state. Again, it ought to be noted that when placed outside, at one time we bring the vision of the Lx)rd in, while at another time we do not bring it in. For we do not read that Abraham brought back the Lord on the occasion of his second going out.
For indeed, there are certain things of a sort that exceed human understanding and cannot be investigated by human reason. Yet, as has been already said above, they are not beyond reason. Therefore, when we learn any things of this sort by means of ecstasy of mind, we bring the vision perceived exteriorly back with us, as it were, if we understand afterwards by means of a suitable reason those things that we learned earlier by means of a showing. But when those things which seem to be above reason and beyond reason are learned in ecstasy by means of a showing, as it were, because we are incapable of assigning or comprehending the rational principle of these things by means of any human estimation after we return, we leave outside, as it were, the perceived vision of which we retain only a sort of memory. For what does Scripture say?
It says, "The Lord departed after he finished speaking with Abraham, and the latter returned to his place" (Gen.
18:33). The Lord goes away and Abraham returns when the sense of understanding is recalled to the ordinary state after the grace of a showing has been withdrawn. And so at the first going out, Abraham with great weariness compels that One whom he saw to come into his tent. However, at the second going out, after a lengthy vision and a long discoursing together, he did not bring Him back at all. We bring the exterior vision into ourselves when afterward we bring down a suddenly perceived theophany for the understanding of all by means of reasoning. The exterior vision is not brought in, in any way at all, when the more a contemplative showing is discussed according to human reason, the more it seems to be contrary to all human opinion. For in such a kind of speculation, before the soul returns to its usual state, the Lord departs and goes far away and shows the magnitude of His incomprehensibility by the remoteness of the vision. And so these two kinds of things that are known from the Lord's showing in this twin vision seem to refer to those two