Chapter XXXVII
THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS
extirpated vain disquiet when he admonished his hearers, saying:
"Do not fear those who kill the body, for they are not able to kill the soul" (Matt.
10:28). We rise above one of these by abstaining. We trample the other by being patient. And so by means of Gad false delight is extirpated; by means of Asher, vain disquiet. These are
Gad and Asher who exclude false joy and introduce true joy. Now I think, following this there will be no question why this particular son is called Issachar if Issachar is certainly interpreted "reward."
For what else do we seek with so many and so great labors? What, I say, other than true joy do we await with such persevering forbearance? We receive as it were a kind of pledge, like a kind of first fruits of this reward, as often as we enter into that inner joy of our
Lord and taste it partially.
Chapter XXXVII The comparison of interior and exterior sweetness Sacred Scripture calls this tasting of inner sweetness now a tasting, now intoxication, so that whether it appears small or great, it is certainly small in comparison to future fullness but great in comparison to any earthly enjoyment. In fact, the present delight of spiritual men, however much it grows, is found small when compared to the joys of future life; nevertheless in comparison with it the pleasantness of all outer delights is nothing. O marvelous sweetness, sweetness so great, sweetness so small! In what way are you not great? You exceed all earthly sweetness. In what way are you not small? You enjoy scarcely a modest drop from that fullness.
You instill in minds a certain small portion from so great a sea of happiness. Yet you fully intoxicate the mind that you fill. Certainly so little from so much is deservedly called a taste. That which alienates the mind from itself is no less deservedly called intoxication. Therefore it can rightly be called both a taste and intoxication.
"Taste," says the Prophet, "and see that the Lord is sweet"
(Ps.
33:9). And the Apostle Peter: "If nevertheless you taste that the Lord is sweet"
(1 Pet.
2:3). And concerning intoxication, the Prophet again: "You have visited the earth, and you have intox-
RICHARD OF ST. VICTOR
icated it" (Ps. 64:10). Listen to a man overflowing with this intoxication and ignorant of everything that is happening around him:
"Whether in the body or outside the body, I do not know; God knows" (2 Cor.
12:3). In what way do you think he became intoxicated; in what way did he forget the world—he who did not know himself?
Chapter XXXVHI What is accustomed to impede that inner joy In any case, those who until now are disturbed by the fluctuations of carnal desires do not deserve to be intoxicated by this sweetness. "You have visited the earth, and you have intoxicated it"
(Ps. 64:10). What do you think is the reason that the Lord is said to have intoxicated the earth only? Why not also the sea? But we know that the mind that fluctuates through various desires, which the tumult of worldly cares still disturbs, is not admitted to that inner joy and is not drinking from that torrent of pleasure. How much less is it intoxicated? We know that the sea always fluctuates while the earth is immovable forever. Thus the other elements are always in motion; the earth alone is immovable; the others do not know how to be immovable. Therefore what should we understand by "earth" except fixed stability of the heart? Therefore he who desires or believes he is to be intoxicated by that cup of true sobriety ought to restrain the fluctuation of the heart and to gather together the movement of the affections and thoughts with a view to the longing for one true joy. This truly is that blessed earth, viz., tranquil stability of mind, when the mind is totally gathered within itself and is unalterably fixed on the one longing for eternity. This is that earth which Truth promised when he said: "Blessed are the gentle for they themselves shall possess the earth" (Matt.
5:4). This is that land of which the Psalmist reminded when he promised and promised when he reminded: "Inhabit the land, and you will feed on its riches" (Ps. 36:3). This is that land which Issachar himself, a strong ass, saw and craved, and he was marvelously inflamed with a craving for it. "Issachar, a strong ass, living between boundaries; he saw