Soliloquy on the Four Spiritual Exercises
SOLILOQUY ON THE FOUR SPIRITUAL
EXERCISES
Prologue OR this reason, l hend my knees to the Eph. 3:14-19 Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth receives its name, that He may grant you from His glorious riches to be strengthened with power through His Spirit unto the progress of the inner man;J and to have Christ dwelling through faith in your hearts: so that, being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know
Christ's love which surpasses knowledge, in order that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God. f The theme of the Soliloquy is a conversation within the human person between the soul, considered as the independent and freewilled personality, and the inner man, considered as the voice of God or the voice of conscience. If St. Bonaventure's vocabulary were to be maintained in the present quotation, we would have
"unto the progress of the soul," instead of "unto the progress of the inner man," since the term "inner man" refers throughout the Soliloquy to an interior sense of moral perfection that speaks in the words of God and of the Fathers, and therefore cannot pro gress. Cf. 1 4.
This same theme of an inner conversation had been developed earlier by Hugh of St. Victor in his Soliloquy "De arrha animae" and by Isidore in his "Libri synonymorum." It is often found in manuals of moral instruction.
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
cf. Acts 9:15 Paul the Apostle, vessel chosen from eternity, divinely sanctified temple, mirror and example of heavenly contem plation, reveals to us in these words the origin, purpose, and fruits of spiritual exercise.
In order to be good and salutary, a spiritual exercise must be endowed with supematurally strengthening power, guiding wisdom, and comforting mercy. Let the soul, then, inflamed with desire to contemplate God, bow in spirit before the throne of the Trinity most blessed and beyond understanding; let it knock humbly; let it request wisely the strengthening power of God the Father to keep it from being crushed by labor, the guiding wisdom of God the Son to keep it from the guiles of error that would sway it from truth, and the comforting love and mercy of God the Holy Spirit to keep it from the danger of being overcome by weariness.
Jas. 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights. And, as Augus tine writes, "every good we have is either God Himself or a gift from Him."1 So it is fitting at the outset of any good work to call upon Him from whom all goods proceed as from their source, by whom they are produced as by their exemplar, and to whom they return as to their end. This is the ineffable Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to Eph. 3:14-17 whom the Apostle refers in the text; For this reason .... until the words: so that....
2. Secondly, Paul shows us the object of this salutary spiritual activity, in which the devout soul must consider things within and without, below and above itself.
First of all, the devout soul must direct the beam of con templation upon what is within itself, and behold how it was formed in the state of nature, deformed in the state
SOLILOQUY
of sin, and reformed in the state of grace. Next, the soul must turn the beam of contemplation upon what is with out itself, and recognize the transiency of worldly riches, the inconstancy of worldly honors, and the poverty of worldly glory. Then, the soul must turn the beam of con templation upon what is below itself and understand the inevitability of death for man, the awful severity of the final judgment, and the intolerable cruelty of the pains of hell. Finally, the soul must turn the beam of contempla tion upon what is above itself, and know and taste the priceless worth of heavenly joys, their inexpressible delight fulness, and their everlasting duration.
This, indeed, is the blessed cross with its branches point ing in four directions. Upon this cross, through ceaseless meditation, you must hang, O devout soul, in the company of your most sweet Spouse Jesus Christ. This is the fiery chariot with its four wheels, in which, through constant contemplation, you must rise to the heavenly palace, fol lowing your most faithful Friend. This is the fourfold land, of East and West, of North and South where you should enter by daily pursuing your pilgrim's way, and in which,
4 Kgs. 2:11* through reflection, you should seek your most delightful Lover and search after Him, so that you may say with the bride: On my hed at night I sought Him whom my heart
Ct. 3:1 loves. The Apostle speaks of these four directions when he continues: So that. . . you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height
Eph.3:l7{. and depth.
3. Thirdly, he shows us the fruit of such good work. If properly and worthily pursued, this work brings forth a fruit: eternal happiness, the best and most beautiful fruit which is utterly satisfying in itself and needs no condiment.
ST. BONA VENTURE — OPUSCULA II
In this state, "we will see and love, we will rest, and sing praise"2 for ever and ever to the One who is eternally blessed. This is the fruit the Apostle promises when he
Eph. 3:19 concludes with these words: In order that you may he filled unto all the fullness of God. We shall discover this pleni tude when "God shall be immense peace to the will, full ness of light to the intellect, and everlasting duration to 1 Cot. 15:28 the memory.3 Then, indeed, will God be all in all, since
"all error will pass away from our intellect, all sorrow from our will, and all fear from our memory, f Then will come the wonderful serenity, the divine joy, the eternal security for which we long."4
4. It seemed good to me, for the sake of the less-in formed, to compile this work from the simpler sayings of the saints, making it into a dialogue wherein the devout soul mentally inquires, as a student of eternal truth, while the inner man mentally responds.
In order that, through this spiritual exercise, we may be led to price less contemplation, let us begin with the first step and humbly invoke the Father of Lights; let us kneel down in heart before the throne of the eternal Majesty. Weeping and clamoring incessantly before the seat of the undivided Trinity, let us implore God the t In Bonaventure's writings, the memory is the container of con sciousness: it both remembers and anticipates.
SOLILOQUY 39
Father that, through His blessed Son and in the Holy Spirit, He may grant us the grace of performing this work of the spirit in a way that will make us comprehend what Eph. 3:18 is the breadth and length and height and depth, and per mit us to reach Him who is the End and Fulfillment of all desire. Amen.
Chapter I — The Soul, by Spiritual Action, Must Turn the Beam of Contemplation on What Is Within Itself in Order to See How
It Was Formed by Nature, Deformed by Sin, and Reformed by Grace
(1) INTRODUCTION
1. The Soul: Tell me, my conscience, now that I have sung the Lord's glory and humbly called upon eternal
Wisdom; now that I have tearfully begged for kindness and mercy from above, tell me, shall I obtain the grace of applying my mind to this fourfold subject: length and breadth, height and depth? Where shall I begin so as not to lose the merit of this exercise by unknowingly following the wrong order? For, as blessed Ambrose writes, "igno rance of the fitting order mars the perfection of merit."1
The same Ambrose also writes: "Nor can we claim perfect understanding of any work if we know merely what to do, but not how to proceed."2
2. The Inner Man: O soul, as blessed Bernard said to Pope Eugene: "Begin by considering yourself, lest you seek other things in vain for having neglected yourself."3 Also, in his "Meditations": "Many people know a great deal but ignore their own selves; they scrutinize others but overlook their own soul; they search for God in the outside world, but forget their inner being where God abides. Let us turn from the external things to the internal; let us rise from the lower to the higher, so as to know whence we came and
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
where we go, how we were made and what we are. Then, in the full knowledge of ourselves, let us go up to the knowledge of God."4
John Chrysostom writes in his "Commentary on Mat thew": "Self-knowledge is an important part of philos ophy."5 And Ambrose, in his work "On the Six Days":
"Know how great you are; consider attentively what comes into your mind through reflection, and what goes out of it through speech."6
"Therefore, O soul, make a daily check of your way of life. Make a careful account of how far you have ad vanced and how much farther you have to go; of how well you behave and how wisely you love; of how like you are to God or how unlike Him, how close to God or how far removed from Him. Remember this always: it is much better and more praiseworthy to know yourself than to ignore yourself while knowing the course of the stars, the virtues of herbs, the structure of man, the nature of ani mals—in short, all other things of heaven and earth.
Turn to your inner self, if not permanently, at least from time to time. Master your affections, guide your actions, straighten your ways."7
O soul, hold to the counsel of the saints: direct the beam of contemplation first upon the land of the East, that is, upon your own condition. Consider with care how gen erously you were formed in your nature by the supreme
Maker; how viciously you were deformed through sin by your own ill will; how graciously you were again and again reformed through grace by divine goodness.
SOLILOQUY
(2) HOW GENEROUSLY THE SOUL WAS FORMED IN ITS
NATURE BY THE SUPREME MAKER
3. Consider first how generously you were formed in your nature. The bounty of your natural endowment appears to consist in this: that the image of the Most
Blessed Trinity is impressed in this nature for your adorn ment. Anselm writes in his "Prologue": "I confess You,
O Lord, and I give You thanks, for You have created me in Your image so that I should always remember You, think of You, and love You."8 And Bernard, in his "Medi tations": "I find three things in my inner self that make me think of God, look upon Him, and desire Him. These things are memory, intelligence, and will. Whenever I re member God, I rejoice in Him, for the thought of Him is more delightful. . . than wine. Whenever I look upon Him with my intellect, I consider how incomprehensible He is in Himself, for he is both the Beginning and the End; how desirable He is to His angels, for upon Him angels desire to look; how delectable He is to all His saints, for in Him is their eternal bliss; how wonderful He is in His creatures, for they are brought to being by His power, governed by His wisdom, and distributed by His munificence."9 When
I behold such things, I also desire Him. "When I love God with my will, I transform myself into Him,"10 as Bernard
Ct. 1:2
1 Pt. 1:12 also says.
Behold, O soul, what a wonderful and priceless honor it is to be not only a mere trace of the Creator, as all crea tures are, but even His likeness, which is the privilege of rational beings. Therefore, praise God, O soul, praise your
God, O Sion! "Awake and praise, exult and rejoice, for you are signed with God's image, and adorned with His
Ps. 147:12
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
likeness; you partake of His intellect, and are capable of enjoying eternal beatitude."11
4. If these gifts were to end with death, you would have reason to think that they are not so great. But rejoice and give praise, for God has also favored you with an immor tal nature, an incorruptible substance, a duration with out end, a perpetual life. "You could not be an image of the eternal Trinity if death were to be the end of you,"12 says Augustine, writing "On the Trinity." —"Remember,
O soul, that your Creator, after giving you existence, granted you the gift of existing in beauty, of existing for ever; He gave you life, sensitivity, and the power of judg ment; He adorned you with sense-faculties; He enlightened you with wisdom."13 Behold your own beauty, and un derstand what Beauty you must love. If you are unable to see yourself in truth, you may at least trust the opinion of others as to what you should think of yourself. You have a Spouse: if you doubt this beauty of yours, you should remember that the beautiful, the comely, the onlybegotten Son of God would never have been captivated by the sight of you if some exceptional beauty, surpassing that of other creatures on earth, had not attracted Him."14
5. Now, ungrateful soul, if such gifts still seem small to you, hear thirdly this marvelous favor: so simple is your spirit that nothing may inhabit the mansion of your mind, nothing may abide in it, except the eternal Trinity simple and pure. Listen to the words of the Spouse: "We (My jfn. 14:23 Father and I) will come to him and make our abode with Lk. 19:5 him.'' And elsewhere: "Make haste and come down; for 1 must stay in thy house today. No one can enter into the mind except God who created it. He is the One who is closer to you than you are to yourself, as Augustine says.15
SOLILOQUY
Rejoice, O happy soul, in your ability to play host to such a wondrous Guest!
Bernard tells us: "Happy the man who every day cleanses his heart and takes God to dwell therein: such a host lacks nothing, for the Maker of all good lives in him.''16 —"Oh, happy the soul in which God finds His rest, for it can say:
'He that made me rested in my tabernacle; God cannot deny Ecclus. 24:12* me the repose of heaven.' "17 That is, if the soul has given
Him shelter in this life.
O soul, you are too covetous if the presence of such a Guest is not enough for you. Know that in His generosity
He will lavish His gifts upon you; in His kindness, He will enrich you with His blessings. It would not befit such a King to let His host remain unsatisfied. "Adorn therefore your house, and receive Christ the King,''18 in whose pres ence you and your household will find joy and delight.
O truly wonderful and most amiable words! O King whose beauty the sun and moon admire, whose greatness heaven and earth revere, from whose splendor the celestial spirits receive their light, and of whose mercy the whole assembly of the blessed is filled to overflowing! Such is the King, O soul, who desires your hospitality, who longs and wishes to dwell in your heart more ardently than He de sires the heavenly mansions: the King who found delight in Prv. 8:31 the sons of men!
6. Now, if even this does not move you to praise your Creator, turn the beam of contemplation upon the fourth favor, and recognize that such is your capacity that no creature below God is able to fill your desire. As Hugh of St. Victor writes: "Every delight, sweetness, or beauty of a creature may please the human heart, but none can fill it.''19
And Anselm: "All abundance which is not God is poverty
ST. BONAVENTURE —OPUSCULA II
to me."20 And, Gregory, in his "Ethics": "The human soul is made to desire God. Anything below God that the soul may seek is less than its true goal. Naturally, therefore, anything other than God will leave it unsatisfied."21
7. O soul, I believe that now you have a clear vision of your own excellence, worthy of such high praise. Direct, then, the beam of contemplation upon the power you re ceived over all other creatures, for it is truly remarkable.
Hugh of St. Victor writes in "The Soul's Dowry": "O my soul, what did your Spouse give you? Consider this world: all natural beings direct their course to one end, that they may be useful to you, that they may faithfully con cur to your delight according to the pattern of seasons."22
Look again, my soul, and consider with care how your Creator and King, your Spouse and Friend, has set the whole fabric of the world to be of service to you.
Behold, the angels cleanse and inflame your love, en lighten and inform your intelligence, improve and guard your person. It is, indeed, a high honor to have such teachers, such comforters, such guardians. Bernard says:
"O my soul, if only you could see with what joy, with what exaltation the angels assist those who pray, and take care of those who meditate: with what attention they safe guard our virtue; with what eagerness they look forward to our coming and to our eternal salvation!"23
The heavens serve you by their motions, and the celes tial lights by their influence: the sun gives you daylight, and the moon brightens the night; fire tempers the cold of the air, and the air moderates the inner heat of fire; water washes you clean, quenches your thirst, and fosters earthly life; the earth supports you with its solidity, restores you with its fruitfulness, delights you with its charm.
SOLILOQUY
Behold, O soul: a brief survey of all these things has brought you up from the lower to the higher regions. You have discovered that, "by God's command, all natural be ings direct their course to one end: that they may be useful to you, that they may faithfully concur to your delight."24
"But beware, my soul, lest you be called adulteress in stead of bride, for having valued the gifts of the Giver above the love of the Lover!"25 As Augustine says in his
"Confessions": "Woe to you if you wander about His traces, if you love His signs instead of Him and seek tem poral gains, never understanding the message of that blessed light which is intelligence in the cleansed soul, and of which the splendor of all creatures is but a trace and symbol."26
If, then, you fail to know yourself, you will go forth, and follow after the steps of the flock — that is, of irrational creatures that show mere traces of your Creator, whereas you yourself are truly a mirror of the most blessed Trinity.
Hence, you are proved to be more worthy and excellent than any of these. Pasture the young ones near the shep herds' camp — that is, turn your thoughts to the choirs of angels, for in some way you resemble them by your nature, and you will be their companion in glory.
Ct. 1:7* ibid. 8
8. The Soul: Enough have I remained silent; long have I held my tongue. Now, with shame and blushes, I must say and confess that I have given little love to this dignity of mine. Oh, what pity, what unhappiness! Unworthily and irreverently have I wasted myself; uselessly and neglect fully have I lived. I truly admit with Bernard "that the more I consider my own dignity, the more I am ashamed and blush for having led such a depraved life."27 I am afraid that my sin is all the heavier as my nature is more noble and worthy; that my offense is all the graver as the
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
excellence of the Offended is higher. I tremble, for the injury is all the deeper as the favors received from the Offended are greater.
Alas, alas, O Lord my God, to the dignity of my sub stance I compare the vileness of my malice; from the beauty of my nature, I understand the deformity of sin; from the memory of the favors received, I know the ingratitude of my deeds. Woe to wretched me! I already see, I already know that "what I have received from the supreme Giver for the use of my temporal life, I have miserably squan dered through wickedness and sin. I converted the quiet of a peaceful life into a false sense of security; I preferred my pilgrimage on earth to my eternal home; I turned the soundness and health of my body into slaves of my per verse delights; I spent plentiful treasures not for the needs of my body but for luxurious and wretched greed. I even made the clear delight of the air to serve my love of earthly pleasures. Alas, I fear and tremble exceedingly lest all these things together, wickedly turned into servants of my vices, rise against me and punish me."28 Thus speaks Gregory in his "Homilies."
9. The Inner Man: O soul, I begin now to realize that you understand well. From your words I know that my warning has not been vain. It seems to me that you are enlightened to a certain degree by divine clarity, that you are somewhat moved by the light of truth since, as Gregory says in his "Ethics": "Any man enlightened with the touch of true light is made to know himself, so that where he learns what is justice, there also he learns what is sin that had made him blind. And so it is with holy men: the higher they rise through the loftiness of their virtues, the more clearly they see how unworthy they are, for when
SOLILOQUY
they reach light, they discover within themselves all the defects of which they had been unaware."29
(3) HOW VICIOUSLY THE SOUL IS DEFORMED THROUGH
WILLFUL SIN
10. O soul, now that in the light of truth you under stand your own value which you had ignored so far; now that you know the sin by which you have offended your
Creator; now that you know how generously you have been formed by nature: consider how viciously you are deformed by sin.
"Miserable and wretched soul, remember your enormous sin. Let your cries and your laments reach up to heaven.
O soul unfaithful to God, adulteress toward Christ, think of what you have done: you have abandoned your chaste
Lover in heaven, despised your own Maker, rejected your Spouse, offended your God, treated with irreverence the holy angel your guardian. You had been the temple of God, the bride of Christ, the altar of the Holy Spirit. What is this sudden reversal, this unexpected change? You have been changed from a virgin of God into a minion of Satan, from a bride of Christ into a detestable whore, from the dwelling of the Holy Spirit into the devil's den!"30 This from Anselm, in his "Lament on Virginity Lost."
Remember, O soul, for what price you sold your beauty, for what advantage you shattered your honor, for what purpose you disfigured your countenance! Such great goods you exchanged against a vile reward.
The Soul: I admit, O my conscience, that you speak the truth, and that you rightfully blame me for so great a crime.
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
11. The Inner Man: O soul, why did you strip your self of such a wealth of goods? Why is it that, without avail, you threw away such honors? Why did you so often fail in doing good? Why did you spend so many fruitless years and days and hours?
Bernard writes: "O Lord my God, how much fruitless time has drifted by, as I now realize! How do I dare to stand before Your face? How could I ever raise my eyes to You on that great and awesome judgment day when
You shall order me to account for all my days and show their fruit? O Lord my God, how could I at any time have forgotten to love You with my heart, to keep You in my mind, and to discover in Your sweetness my delight?
Where did my mind and feelings wander when they were not with You? For anything seemly, good, and sweet a creature may have, it has from You."31
12. The Soul: Alas, O Lord, now I understand, but it shames me to admit all this: my eyes were deceived by the figure and beauty of creatures, and I failed to see that You are more beautiful than all creation to which You imparted but a drop of Your priceless splendor. Who, indeed, adorned the skies with stars, the air with birds, the sea with fishes, the earth with plants and flowers? Was it not You, O kindest Father? The heavenly host of spirits You graced with many gifts: through You, the Seraphim are set aflame with love, the Cherubim are all aglow with knowledge; through Your gifts, the Thrones can sit in judgment; by Your appointment, the glorious Dominations rule; by Your dignity, the Principalities preside; by Your might, the Powers control evil spirits; by Your profound virtue, the Virtues perform marvels; by Your command.
Archangels bring great tidings to the great, and Angels
SOLILOQUY
lesser tidings to the lesser. And yet, what are all these wonders? A mere spark of Your eternal glory!
O good Jesus, fountainhead of all magnificence, forgive me in my misery for having come so late to knowing Your beauty, and so slowly to loving it!32 That is why I was wretched and lost.
13. The sweetness of creatures deceived my taste, and I failed to notice that You are sweeter than honey, for it is
You who imparted to honey and to every creature their sweetness, or rather Your own. For every good taste or flavor in the creatures is but a token of Thy sweetness.... which Thou hast hidden for them that fear Thee. Thus, to one who properly sees, the charm of all creatures is but a Ps. 30:20* sign that leads to Your eternal sweetness.
O Jesus from whom flows everything sweet and kind, forgive me for not having perceived in creatures Your taste beyond compare and the flowering honey of Your kind ness, and for not having savored them with delight in my heart! I roamed wretchedly; I filled my soul with the food of swine. Alas, I am afraid I never ate of the bread of Your sons! That is why I was always starving and hungry in the midst of worldly pleasures. "Because we have refused to taste the inner sweetness prepared for us," says Gregory,
"we are starving and hungry, and in our wretchedness we come to love our hunger!"33
O most sweet Jesus, I now admit that every pleasure that offended You was for me but pain and heavy sorrow. As Augustine writes in his "Confessions": "O most compas sionate God, even when I was sinning You remained close to me, kindly chastising me, mixing my worst pleasures and most flagrant iniquities with stinging bitterness; teach ing me with a whip that painless delight cannot be found
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
outside of You, O Lord!"34 Alas, I failed to understand this teaching, and went astray. Yet, in all my sinful joys,
I feared disclosure, accusation, and reproach. Oftentimes, I trembled before my own conscience; again and again, I was afraid of infamy; frequently, I shuddered at the thought of hell. And yet, oh, shame on me, in the midst of such torments, I would not bend my selfish will.
14. The perfume of creatures deceived my sense of smell, and I forgot, O good Jesus, the sweet smell of Thy oint ments, above all aromatical spices. O good Jesus, fountain of fragrance, whose sweetness makes me always run after Thee to the odor of Thy ointments!
Ct. 4:10* ibid. 1:3* 15. The fallacious voice of creatures, also, deceived my ears, and I forgot that Your words are sweet to the elect,
Your counsels delightful to the ears of Your friends, and Your commands light to the hands of Your saints. O
Jesus, Fountain of Justice, Author of Knowledge, Sower of Chaste Counsel, make me listen at last to Your voice: let
Thy voice sound in my ears. ibid. 2:14* With what bitter remorse I must admit that my wretched heart was lured by the call of those who were singing and saying: "Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are real, and use the freshness of creation avidly. Let us have our fill of costly wine and perfumes, and let no spring time blossom pass us by. Let us crown ourselves with rose buds ere they wither; let no meadow be free from our wan tonness. Everywhere let us leave tokens of our rejoicing."
Wis. 2:6-9 I heard this voice, but I did not mind nor heed that all things are vanity and deserve nothing but derision. For these things and all of their kind will pass away and van ish like shadows. What advantage did these trifles bring
Eccl. 1:2 to those who loved them? What did these baubles give
SOLILOQUY
to those who cherished them? What fruit had you then Rom. 6:21 from those things of which you are now ashamed?
16. Yet, all the time that I was wandering, You re mained with me, my loving God! Often have I heard your voice and failed to heed it; often have I sensed Your sav ing inspiration and failed to consent to it. Oh, how many times did you inspire me with this salutary advice: 'You have sinned: now sin no more! Desist and blush!" —In my unworthiness, I tarried and replied as did Augustine in his "Confessions": "O Lord, presently, soon, in a very short while, I will renounce vanity. Forthwith I will blush over my wickedness and abandon all worthless and worldly pleasure! — But 'presently' never came about, the 'soon' never changed to 'now,' and the 'short while' was everextended."35
Augustine also writes: "Many suffer eternal damnation and are irrevocably held by sin, who did not amend their ways when' the Lord spoke to them. They did hear the inner voice that prompted them, but failed to change their lives, merely saying: 'Tomorrow, tomorrow!' And suddenly the door is closed, and the sinner is left before it with the cawing ravens, outside the walls of the heavenly home, for having refused to mourn with the dove over his sins."36
And Gregory: "Alas, how many were further debased by finding pleasure in their sinful state; how many were dulled by their long-untroubled quiet! But the wicked enemy soon struck them all the harder as he found them becoming more careless."37 And again: "Those whom God has longer tolerated in the hope of their return. He will more heavily condemn if they do not come back."38
17. O my conscience, to make my miserable story more clear to you, I must confess that this was not the limit of
ST. BONAVENTURE —OPUSCULA II
my unhappiness. Alas, to consummate my doom, carnal softness has sadly beguiled my sense of touch, and I for got, O bountiful Jesus, that Your embrace is so sweet,
Your touch so pure, Your presence so highly delightful!
"Loving You, I am pure; touching You, I am chaste; re ceiving You, I remain a virgin.''39 O most sweet Jesus,
Your embrace sullies not, but purifies; Your touch defiles not, but sanctifies. O Jesus, fountain of all sweetness and delight, how delectable, how good, how joyful, to have cf. Ct. 2:6 Your left hand. Your eternal wisdom and knowledge, under my head, that is, my reason; and to have Your right arm.
Your divine mercy and love, embracing my will!
Alas, how unworthy I am! Who could ever experience anything as sweet, pleasing, and delightful as to rest be tween the arms of such a Spouse, and blissfully to repose in the embrace of such a King, of such a Friend? This is the sweetness the devout soul is longing for when she
Ct. 1:1 sighs: "Let Him kiss me with kisses of His mouth! — ibid. 8:1 Oh, that you were my brother, nursed at my mother's breasts! If I met you out of doors, I would kiss you and none would taunt me. 1 would lead you, bring you in to the home of my mother. There you would teach me the Lord's commands."
18. But, O Lord God, if these things are so sweet by anticipation, how good they must be when actually tasted!
If they are so pleasing to read about, how wonderful will be their actual possession! "O most sweet Jesus, let me taste inwardly through love that which I perceive out wardly through knowledge; make me feel in my heart what I know in my mind."40
O Jesus my delight, pierce with the most salutary wound of Your love the very center of my soul, so that it may
SOLILOQUY
truly burn, languish, melt, and swoon with the sole desire of You; that it may long to be dissolved, and to abide with You. May it always hunger for You alone, bread of celes tial life that came down from heaven; may it thirst for You, fountain of life, source of eternal brightness, torrent of true enjoyment; may it always desire You, search for You, and find You; and may it sweetly rest in You.
But what madness, what infernal fren2y held me so long away from so great and many spiritual consolations, from such divine joy, from such honeyed company? O my conscience, tell me; whence such evil, such danger, such damage?
19. The Inner Man: I see, O soul, that wearied as you are with many labors and tormented with remorse, you are in no condition to determine the origin of the evils you suffered. I beg you, listen carefully while I show you the cause of all this trouble, and explain to you how this damage came about.
O soul, you have within yourself an enemy, an intimate adversary, a kindred foe, who returns to you evil for good; an enemy all the more dangerous as he passes for a friend, while depriving you of the eternal good and of many others too. This, I venture to say, is your own poor and wretched flesh, so sweet and dear to you. Surrendering to it, you strengthened your worst enemy; exalting it, you armed against yourself your most cruel adversary; decking it with varied and costly ornaments, you stripped yourself of all interior jewels, forgetting what Gregory says in his "Homi lies": "Because the flesh has feasted for a time, the spirit shall suffer and moan forever."41 But on the contrary, "the more the flesh is tried, the more the spirit rejoices in the expectation of heaven."42
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
So great is the evil you inflicted upon us that I can no longer refrain from severely reproaching you for such iniquity, so long and dangerously concealed by silence.
"O soul," says Bernard, "I know someone who lived with you for many years, who sat at your table, received food from your hand, and slept on your bosom. He talked with you as often as he wished, although he was but your servant by birth. But because you went too far in feeding him rich food while sparing the rod, he raised his heel against you and made a slave of you."43 And Bernard con
Ps. 40:10 tinues: "O wretched and unhappy soul, who will free you from such a shameful yoke? Let God arise, and all weapons will fall. Crushed will be the enemy, the despiser of God, the lover of the world, the worshiper of the devil. And cf. Tb. 3:11 now, what do you think f of him? If you rightly think, you will say with me: He is liable to death.
Crucify him.~\ Do not hide these things; do not wait and endure them.
Crucify, crucify himlf But on what cross? On Mt. 26:66
Mk. 15:13 the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in which is our salvation, our life, and our resurrection."44
This from Bernard.
O soul, remember also what the same saint writes in his "Meditations" about your origin: Take heed for you are
| The practice of quoting scriptures entirely out of context pres ently unacceptable was current at the time.
SOLILOQUY
"signed with God's image, adorned with His likeness, en gaged by faith in Him, endowed with hope in Him, chosen by His love, redeemed by His blood, gifted with reason, and capable of eternal beatification. Why then such con cern for this flesh that causes so much suffering? Consider its nature: what flows from the nostrils and other openings of the body? What is filthier than a dungpit? Count the miseries of this flesh: it is loaded with sin, itching with concupiscence, replete with passions, evil thoughts, dis order, and shame. How else will you think of it but as horrid and vile?"451 This is what'Bernard has to say. And again: "O soul, image with a divine likeness, blush for having changed yourself into the likeness of a swine; blush for having dragged in the mire that which is from heav en."46 And once more, commenting on the "Canticle": "O soul, as long as you are in the flesh, you will live among thorns, and you will have to bear in sorrow the trials of many temptations and the spears of many assaults. That is why you were told in the 'Canticle': As a lily among Ct. 2:2 thorns, so is my beloved among women. O immaculate lily,
O tender and delicate flower, you are surrounded with un believers and corruptors, you dwell with scorpions. Be sure to walk cautiously among the thorns: the world and the flesh are full of them, and it takes more than mere human virtue, it takes the power of God, to help us live in con tact with them without being hurt."47
20. Now, there is still another enemy, powerful and cruel, who with wondrous cunning "analyses the habits of f Such exaggerations are characteristic of the early work of St.
Bernard, overstressing the opposition between body and soul. We should remember, however, that all this was addressed to cloistered monks.
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
all, studies their concerns, explores their affections, with the intent to harm at that very point where he sees a man more deeply engaged. For this ancient enemy, this enemy from the beginning of mankind, knows when to pour the temptation of gluttony, infect the poison of envy, offer the attractions of lust, promise the empty charms of pride.
He knows whom to crush under fear, whom to deceive with joy, whom to seduce through applause. He also has his minions whose minds and tongues he uses in order to deceive others."48 These are the words of Pope Leo.
O soul, fighting so weakly, falling so easily, rising again with such reluctance, how could you escape from the snares of so cruel an enemy, well known for his pro found astuteness?
21. The Soul: Now I see that ''sin is not readily ad mitted by the man who is under its sway. But when he begins to renounce it, he realizes at last the filth in which he had been wallowing."49 As I begin to free myself from sin, and come to know some more of my sin and of my self, I can no longer hold back my tears.
' O Father, my God, You impressed upon me Your loving image, and I superimposed the hateful likeness of the devil! Alas, alas, how wretched I am for having put the image of the devil on top of the likeness of God! Why did 1 not shrink from the image of one whose name I abhor? When he fell, it was spontaneously; but I will fully rushed to perdition. When he sinned, through pride, never had pride been punished before: but I, a witness to the penalty, sinned because I took it too lighdy. He was established only once in the state of innocence, but I was restored to it again and again. He rose against the One who made him, but I against the One who re-made me.
SOLILOQUY
He rejected God's promise, but I fled from God's pursuit.
He was fixed in his malice as God reproved him, but I ran to Satan at the very time God in His mercy was calling me back. Both he and I battled with God, but he with a God who sought him not, and I with a God who died for me!
Behold, I find myself worse in many ways than him whose image I abhor!"50
The Inner Man: "Begone, begone from me, O horrible creature: flee from yourself and be afraid of what you are.
How can you stand your own dreadful self without groan ing in your heart? For if you do not groan, you do not know yourself; you would then be blunt, not strong; ob durately malicious, not sound of mind."51
22. The Soul: "To see what I am means intolerable horror; not to see it means inevitable death! Oh, the horror of being loathsome to one's own eyes! But how much worse to be liable to eternal death!"52 This from Anselm who also writes in his "Prayers": "O most patient Father, most merciful King, I cannot hide from You, nor can I find any excuse: yet, I am loath to confess what I am. But now, at least, I see the reason for my iniquity, I see the evil that I had not seen before."53 And Bernard, in his "Medi tations": "My wretched heart had no concern for future happiness. Failing to seek divine counsel, it turned away from its own good and engaged, instead, in the love of earthly things. Unconcerned with eternity and involved in the world, my heart was fooled by vanity, tarnished by lust, led astray by curiosity, tortured by envy, twisted by anger, rent by greed, vexed by disgust for spiritual things; in short, my heart was flooded with every kind of vice for having lost that single Good which alone could have sufficed to fill it completely."54
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
O God most gentle, may all my ill-spent hours pass into oblivion before Your eyes; grant that all that is left of my time, short perhaps and fleeting, may be used for Your honor, for my profit, and for the edification of my neigh bor. O God most kind, because of the gravity of the con demnation which I, wretched and unhappy man, have unfortunately incurred, I now see and confess: never could
I weep enough over myself and my sin, if the loathing I now feel for my sin is to match the pleasure I sought in my depraved will.
23. The Inner Man: Admitting as you do that you cannot sufficiently deplore your iniquity by yourself, you must turn to the saints for help. Know you not that, as Bernard says, "you have a safe access to God, for the Mother stands for you before the Son, and the Son before the Father? Interceding for you, the Mother shows the Son her bosom and breasts, and the Son offers the Father
His side and wounds. Surely, no request will ever be denied when such tokens of love abound."55 — "Therefore, in all dangers, troubles, and doubts, think of Mary, call to Mary, let her love dwell in your heart and her name upon your lips. Follow her and, you will not stray; pray to her and you will not grieve, and let her support you and you will not fall, let her help you and you will not fear, let her lead you and you will not tire, beg her favors and you will obtain your pardon."56 These are the words of Bernard.
O soul, cry out, with great trust in her: "O Lady, if the Son born of you has become my Brother, through Him
Ps. 9A:3 are you not now my Mother? I will be glad and exult in you, for whatever my sentence is to be, it will be meted out by my Mother and my Brother."57 This from Anselm.
SOLILOQUY
24. The Soul: By sinning against the Son, I offended the Mother; how could I have offended the Mother without offending the Son? O my conscience, what shall 1 do? Who will reconcile me with the Son if the Mother is against me?
Who will appease the Mother if the Son is full of wrath?
25. The Inner Man: O soul, have no fear. Although both have been offended, both are most merciful and kind.
Let the sinner fly from God's just anger into the arms of the gentle Mother; guilty of having offended the Mother, let him find refuge in the kindness of the Son, and let him say: "O God, who, because of our wretchedness, did be come the Son of a woman; O Woman who, for the sake of mercy, did become the Mother of God: have pity on me a wretched sinner: otherwise, show me someone more mer ciful to whom I could fly in my distress."58 Thus writes
Anselm.
26. The Soul: O my conscience, how wise your advice, what a boon your words in my misery! When I look upon my sin in the proper light, I see and realize that, in my iniquity, I perverted the elements, befouled the skies, dark ened the heavenly bodies, tormented the reprobate in hell, offended the saints in heaven, spurned the angels in charge of my soul in such a way that I am afraid to ask them for help. And since the just are rightfully indignant against me, I feel unworthy of having recourse to them.
27. The Inner Man: O soul, your fear is excessive, but your humility is good. Know you not that many of the saints have sinned, and have also learned from their grievous misdeeds to have pity on us sinners? Remember
Moses the great prophet despairing of God's power, David the holy king violating divine law by adultery and murder,
Solomon the wise adoring vain and evil idols, and Manasses cf. Ex. 4:1 cf. 2 Kgs. 11:2 cf. 3 Kgs. 11:4
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
the wicked king who committed more sins than all the kings of Israel and who said: "My sins are more numerous than the grains of sand in the sea; because of the number of my iniquities, I have no right to behold the heights of heaven."f Remember always that they obtained pardon through their prayers. But why continue with the saints of the Old Testament? Behold Matthew sitting at the count ing table, a sinner and a tax collector, and yet chosen as a disciple; Paul stoning Stephen, and yet called to be an apostle; Peter denying Christ, and yet immediately par doned; the soldier crucifying Christ, and yet daring to rely on divine mercy; the robber hanging on the cross, and yet obtaining pardon. Finally, O soul, consider that most notorious and wicked sinner Mary Magdalen becoming so specially devoted to Christ. Indeed, as many as are now reigning with God, either did sin in their own days as we do, or could have fallen into sin had it not been for the protection of divine mercy: for if it is given to anyone cf. Mt. 9:9 cf. Acts 7:57 and 9:1 f. cf. Lk. 22:
56, 62 cf. ibid. 23:47 cf. ibid. 40ff. cf. ibid. 7:37ff. to be completely free from the danger of sin, this is a gift not of nature but of heavenly grace.
28. The Soul: Now I implore with confidence the prophets and the kings, now I dare to call upon the apos tles and the martyrs, now I appeal without ceasing to con fessors, virgins, widows and all saints. But with special reverence, and before all others, I invoke the most holy
Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. For I know that, as Bernard says: "Mary is so kind, sweet, and delightful, that she cannot be spoken of without the hearts of those who love her being set aflame, nor can she be thought of with out their love being stirred. Indeed, it is she who brought t From the "Prayer of Manasses," 9f., often quoted by the Fa thers, but not part of the Tridentine Canon.
SOLILOQUY
about salvation for all and obtained reparation for the whole world."59 And Anselm writes: "O Woman, wonder fully unique and uniquely wonderful, by whom the ele ments are refreshed, the sick restored, mankind rescued, and angelic ranks replenished; O Woman full of grace: every creature revives when showered with the abundance of your riches!"60 And Bernard again: "O blessed stem of grace, parent of life, mother of salvation, be our road to your Son, so that as through you He was given to us, so through you
He may receive us. Let your purity make up with Him for the wickedness of our corruption. O most holy one, may your humility so pleasing to God obtain mercy for our vanity. Blessed Virgin, by virtue of the grace that stems from you, of the dignity you merited, and of the Mercy to whom you gave birth: obtain that Christ, who through your motherhood came to share our weakness and misery, deign through your intercession to make us partake of His glory and beatitude."61
(4) HOW WELL THE SOUL IS REFORMED IN GRACE BY
THE DIVINE GOODNESS
29. The Inner Man: Now, O soul, I see that in some slight measure you have directed the beam of contempla tion so as to reveal how you were formed by nature and deformed by sin. Turn it now toward the understanding of how you were reformed by grace.
Know that the more perfectly all spiritual darkness is washed away by the cleansing of contrition, the more per fectly shall the boon of divine reparation be perceived.
For, as Augustine says, sin is ''a darkness that obscures the intellect and leaves the inner soul entirely without light."62
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
Thus, the more there is of sinful opacity before the beam of contemplation, the more there is need for remorseful tears to wash it away from our mental eyes. Therefore,
O soul, if your passions have been tempered, direct now the beam of contemplation on how you have been restored by grace through God's deep mercy, high wisdom, and wondrous power.
30. Consider first how He delivered you from original sin through the favor of redemption. Know you not that you had been shorn of both spiritual and natural goods by this original sin? That you were in the hands of the prince of darkness? That you had been expelled, estranged from your fatherland?
As Bernard writes: "This unique Majesty willed to die that we might live, to bow that we might reign, to be exiled that we might come home, to bear a most servile lot
Lk. 19:10 that we might be established over all His works."63 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
He came, that is, to humble you in your pride. Gregory writes: "The only-begotten Son of God assumed the form of our weakness: the Invisible made Himself not only vis ible, but the object of scornful eyes. He bore the pain of insults, the shame of mockery, the torments of the passion: all this in order to teach man not to be proud when God is so humble."64 And Augustine: "Christ despised worldly goods to show that they must be spumed and worldly pains to show that they must be borne, lest happiness be sought in the former or unhappiness dreaded in the latter."65
31. Secondly, Christ came in order to reconcile you with the Eternal Father. Augustine writes: "You were an enemy of the Father, and I reconciled you; you were far astray, and I came to bring you back; you were roaming over hills
SOLILOQUY
and forests, and I sought you and found you among the rocks and thickets: I carried you on my shoulders and brought you back to the Father; I labored and sweated, I exposed My head to the thorns, I offered My hands to the nails, I permitted My side to be opened with a spear, I shed
My blood for you. I was wounded for your sake by all these acts, not only insulting but physically cruel. And as for you, alas, you sin and cut yourself away from Me!"66
32. Thirdly, Christ came to redeem you from slavery.
Following Augustine, "let us be amazed, let us rejoice, love, praise, and adore: for through our Redeemer's death we have been called from death to life, from darkness to light, from exile to our fatherland, from decay to incorruptibility, from wretchedness to glory, from sorrow to joy."67 And let us exclaim with Gregory Nazianzen: "Oh, wonderful and rare combination: the Creator becomes creature, the Im mense is contained, the Rich towards all becomes poor, as Rom. 10:12 suming the form of our flesh in order to repair the form He had made in the likeness of Himself, and to endow this mortal flesh with immortality."68
33. And now, O soul, rouse yourself and look upon the face of your Christ; look, I mean, upon this face, once shining with unbearable splendor, but now because of you veiled and dark; once entrancingly beautiful, now swollen and ugly; once graciously sweet, now covered with spittle and graceless; once lovingly desirable, now abominable and repulsive. Behold the deeds of the Lord, the astounding cf. Ps. 83:10
Ps. 45:9 things He has wrought on earth! God is mocked that you may be honored, scourged that you may be consoled, cruci fied that you may be freed; the Immaculate Lamb is killed that you may be fed; water and blood are drawn from His side that you may drink.
ST. BONAVENTURE —OPUSCULA II
Consider the price of redemption, the marvel of God assuming our form; consider, O soul, and behold how
Christ, your Lord and Friend, is afflicted with every kind of pain, in every one of His senses, by men of all condi tions: a king derides Him, a judge sentences Him, a disciple betrays Him, the apostles abandon Him, priests, scribes, and pharisees deliver Him up, pagans scourge Him, a mob condemns Him, and soldiers crucify Him!
As Bernard writes, "this head, before which angelic spirits tremble, is pierced by a mass of thorns; this coun tenance, fairer in beauty .. . than the sons of men, is disfig ured by the spittle of the Jews; these eyes, brighter than the sun, are dimmed by death; these ears, accustomed to angelic praise, hear the insults of sinners; this mouth that teaches heavenly spirits is made to drink vinegar and gall: these feet, whose footstool is adored, for it is holy, are
Ps. 44:3
Sir. 23:19
Ps. 98:5* fixed by nails to the cross; these hands that formed the heavens are stretched out on the cross and attached with spikes; this body is beaten, this side opened with a spear!
Could He have suffered more? All He has left is His voice to pray for sinners, and to recommend His Mother to the disciple."69
O faithful soul, behold: none of our enemies' devices could deter our Saviour from His concern for our salvation.
But the more wonderful are the works of His love for us, the heavier will be our condemnation if we fail to respond to them.
34. The Soul: O my conscience, I remained silent so far because I was listening attentively, with both joy and tears, to what you were telling me. 1 will greatly rejoice in the Lord, for He loved me to such an extent that He spared not even His only-begotten Son.
Is. 61:10 cf. Rom. 8:32
SOLILOQUY
Gregory writes: "O priceless love of charity: to redeem a servant —unworthy even to be called by that name —
You have offered Your Son!"70 O Lord Jesus who, for my sake, spared not even Your own Self, wound my heart with Your wounds, inebriate my soul with Your blood, so that wherever I turn I may see You crucified for me; that what ever I look upon may appear to me tinged with Your blood.
Thus, tending to You with all my soul, may I find nothing but You, behold nothing but Your wounds. May I have no greater foy, my Lord, than to be crucified with You; no greater sorrow than to be concerned with anything but You.
And yet, alas, comparing my deep ingratitude with the many wonderful favors divine kindness bestows upon men,
I am deeply ashamed, and I blush. The more I recognize how great are these gifts of redemption, the more hideous do my sins of ingratitude look to me.
35. The Inner Man: Beware of ingratitude, O soul to whom so many wondrous gifts have been granted. Griev ous indeed is the sin of ingratitude. As Bernard puts it,
"ingratitude is like a burning wind that dries up the streams of divine mercy, the fountain of kindness, and the flow of grace."71 Be careful, O soul, to remember again and again the frightful condemnation of ingratitude that Bernard places on the Saviour's lips: "O soul, behold how much I bear for you! I call to you who die for you: behold the torments I endure, see the nails that pierce Me, hear the abuse that disgraces Me. And yet, great as the external pain may be, I suffer a greater internal torture at the sight of your ingratitude."72 There is another passage condemn ing the ungrateful: O My people, what have I done to thee, Mi. or in what have I molested thee? Answer thou Me! Why would you serve My enemy instead of Me?
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
Beware, O soul, and give thanks always; never cease to bless and extol the only-begotten Son of God for such great gifts.
36. "You owe your life to Him who laid down His life for you and suffered harsh torments in order to save you from eternal torture" — "Thus, were you to give Him all your being and powers, would that gift of yourself be any more to Him than a star is to the sun, a drop of water to the river, or a grain of dust to the mountain?"73 This from Bernard.
37. Now, O soul, that your spiritual vision is cleared and that you are aware of the grace of divine redemption by which your Spouse delivered you from original sin, I will show you how, through divine mercy, you were de livered from actual sin. Turn the beam of contemplation upon the favor of justification; behold the grace of your
Lord and God; consider in what fatherly manner He in spired you secretly, drawing you away from actual sin; how sweetly and amiably He often called you back and Ct. 6:12* said, as speaking within you; "Return, return, O Sulamitess,'' referring to your soul afflicted with sin.
38. Return to Me, for I am your Creator; return to Me, cf. Isa. 44:22 for I am your Redeemer; return to Me, for I am your Con soler. If this is not enough, return to Me, for I am your most generous Reward. Return to Me, for it was I who so splendidly created you; return to Me, for it was I who so mercifully delivered you through My cruel death from a death that would have lasted forever; return to Me, for it was I who enriched you with so many and so great gifts of the body and spirit. Lastly, O soul, return to Me for it is I who will reward you with an immense gift of hap piness that is even now prepared.
SOLILOQUY
Return, I mean, from every sinful thought and speech, every sinful deed and habit. Return to Me, O soul, for all the saints expect you with an eager hope; return, for the angels rejoice in your homecoming; return, for throughout heaven the hosts of paradise are awaiting you. O soul, return, for Jesus Christ is calling you with hands outstretched on the cross; return, for the whole abyss of the Trinity stands ready for your coming.
O soul, this is the voice of the Beloved in viting you.
39. See now how pa tiently He waited —oh, how long He waited for you! How long He bore with you while you strayed in sin!
How many great souls He reproved in their iniquity while you were still unconverted: and all the time you were sin ning, He was mercifully expecting your return! Return, O soul: Christ is waiting for you on the cross. His head is inclined for a kiss, His arms are spread out for an embrace, and His hands open in a gesture of giving. His body is stretched in a position of total offering; His feet are at tached so that He will remain with you; His side is open to let you in!
"Therefore, O soul, be like a dove in the clefts of the Ct. 2:14 rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff; fly to His hands and feet, for in Him there is safe repose and undisturbed peace."74 This from Bernard.
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
"O soul, if you could only realize how many other souls — and so much greater than you — were reproved, not being favored with the grace that is yours! Indeed, your
Spouse chose you and preferred you: He chose you among many, He took you up and out of the crowd. He loved you more than others."75 These are the words of Hugh.
40. The Soul: This I confess and admit: this I know from experience and understand full well: I have indeed received from God much more than others, while failing to return to Him a single offering that might be worthy of His gifts.
41. The Inner Man: O soul, you have seen with what patience God waited for you: it is time now to turn the beam of contemplation upon His kindness in justifying you. Be careful to remember and to consider how price less are the gifts your Spouse conferred upon you.
"He granted you through grace to share His table. His Ps.8S:2 kingship, and His home."76 —"The favors of the Lord 1 will sing forever, for I find in me seven gifts, evident proofs of His immeasurable kindness. First, He preserved me from many sins; second, when I fell He did not reprove me at once, but persevered in His love as I persisted in my sin; third, He changed my heart, so that things formerly bitter now became sweet; fourth, when I repented. He received me mercifully; fifth, He gave me the strength to abstain from sin and amend my ways; sixth, He bestowed upon me the grace of obtaining merit; seventh. He gave me the hope of reaching my reward."77
42. The Soul: O my Lord and God, "miserable and wretched as I may be, how greatly must I love God! I existed not, and He created me; I was lost, and He re deemed me and freed me from all danger; I went astray,
SOLILOQUY
and He led me home; I was ignorant, and He taught me; I lived in sin, and He chastised me; I sorrowed, and He consoled me; I almost despaired, and He comforted me; when I stood, He supported me, and He raised me when I fell; as long as I walked. He showed me the way, and when
I arrived, He let me in."78
"He is the Master of all things, He fills all things and is everywhere present; He takes care of all things providing for each one and for the whole universe; and yet I see Him so concerned with my welfare that He seems to have no thought for anything else, and to look after none but me!"79
43. My conscience, since you say that I must love God in return for such great favors, tell me now how much and in what way to love Him, and how to change myself in order to return His kindness.
The Inner Man: O soul, as Bernard writes, "the reason why we should love God is God Himself, and the way to love Him is to love without measure."80 From Sacred Scrip ture, we may gather some idea of this way. For the One who gave you the law of love showed you how to love when
He said: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your Dt. 6.5 heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
Hence, you should love with a personal affection God the Father who so wondrously created you out of nothing ness, God the Son who so pricelessly restored you by dying for you, and God the Holy Spirit who so frequently res cued you from sin by His consoling mercy while strength ening you in virtue. Love God the Father with fortitude, avoiding the danger of bowing to some other love; love
God the Son in wisdom, avoiding the danger of falling to some other love; love God the Holy Spirit with unction, avoiding the danger of dying from some other love.
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
Bernard writes: "O Christian soul, learn from Christ Himself how to love Christ. Love sweetly, prudently, and intensely. Love sweetly, so that, compared to His love, any other love may seem poor to you, and that Christ alone may be honey to your lips, music to your ears, and joy to your heart. Love prudently, so that your love may burn without cease for Him and for no one else. Love intensely, so that your weakness may joyfully endure for Him any hardship or pain and that you may say: 'My trials hardly lasted an hour, and were they to last very long, out of love I would feel them not.' This is how the Christian always strives toward Christ through love: in such a way that he willingly supports any adversity until he finally reaches Him."81 These are the words of Bernard.
44. The Soul: Tell me, my conscience—if I may ask you —not for the sake of curiosity but humility, not of presumption but devotion: what is it that I love when I love God?
The Inner Man: O soul, if you had asked out of pre sumption your question would have been most wicked, but since it was bom from devotion it deserves a faithful reply. Listen to what Augustine, this great lover of God, has to say in his "Confessions": "When I love God, it is not bodily beauty that I love, nor an attractive face, nor the brilliance of an eye-appealing light, nor sweet melo dies, nor fragrant perfumes, nor manna, nor honey, nor limbs of flesh delightful to embrace: it is none of these things that I love when I love God. But what do I love?
I love a light, a voice, a fragrance, a food, an embrace affecting my inner self. In my soul, there is light that space cannot contain; some sound is heard that time cannot still, some fragrance breathed that wind cannot dispel, some
SOLILOQUY
flavor tasted that leaves the hunger raw, some food ab sorbed that is never exhausted."82
45. The Soul: My conscience, tell me something about the virtue of charity, so that knowing it I may love God more ardently.
The Inner Man: In truth, O soul, love is a choice fruit, but one unseen, for, as Augustine writes, ''love is longsuffering in adversity, restrained in prosperity, powerful against passion, joyful in good works, secure in temptation, generously hospitable, happy among true brothers, patient among the false, undisturbed by abuse, doing good while bearing evil, remaining peaceful in the midst of anger and innocent among deceitful men, weeping over sin, and liv ing by truth."83
''O faithful love, the source of strong character, pure affection, penetrating thought, holy desire, noble work, rich virtue, lofty merit, great reward and honor!"84— "O sweetness of love and love of sweetness, let my heart abide at your table, let the depth of my soul be filled with your nectar!"85 This from Augustine. And from Jerome: ''With out charitable love, even the soul that has true faith cannot attain beatitude; and because charity is so great that even prophecy and martyrdom are held for naught in its absence, no prize compares with love. Indeed, charity is the queen of all virtues."86
Oh, the misery of the man whose spirit fondly embraces mere temporal goods, ''acquired through labor, possessed in fear, and lost with sorrow."87
46. But ''blessed the man who loves You, O Lord, and loves his enemy because of You and his friend in You. He alone does not forfeit loving any soul who loves all souls in You. No man is deprived of Your love except one who
ST. BONAVENTURE —OPUSCULA II
rejects You; and if he rejects You, where shall he go, ex cept from Your kindness to Your anger?"88 This from Augustine. And from the same: "He loves You less who loves something besides You, a thing loved not in Your name. O charity, always burning, never dying! O Love,
1 ]n. 2:16* my God, inflame me, protect me from the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life!"89 Gregory says in "Ethics": "Fruitful and blessed is the man fastened by love to the sole desire of eternity, who is neither exalted by success nor crushed by failure: for since he is attached to nothing in the world, there is noth ing in the world to make him fear."90 And Paul, in one
1 Cot. 13:4-6 of his epistles: "Charity is patient, is kind; charity does not envy, is not pretentious, is not puffed up, is not am bitious, is not self-seeking, is not provoked; thinks no evil, does not rejoice over wickedness, but rejoices with the truth. This is developed by Gregory in his "Ethics":
"Charity is patient for it bears adversity with an undis turbed spirit: it is kind, for it generously renders good for evil: it does not envy, for since it has no desire for the things of the world, it cannot be jealous of temporal suc cess: it is not puffed up,! for since it is absorbed in the desire for the eternal reward, it seeks not the pomp of external goods; it deals not perversely, f for since it is filled with the love of God and neighbor, it avoids doing any thing wrong: it is not ambitious, for since it is ardently concerned with its own inner goods, it desires no external benefit of any kind; it is not self-seeking, for it treats lightly as foreign things all its temporal possessions, knowing full well that nothing but what it holds forever truly belongs t This inversion is found in Bonaventure's quotations of the epistle and of Gregory's commentary.
SOLILOQUY
to it; it is not provoked to anger, for even when lashed with insults, it abstains from vengeful sentiments, expect ing for heavy trials in the present a greater reward to come; it thinks no evil, for it strengthens the mind with the love of purity, destroying all hatred down to the roots, and expelling from the soul anything vile; it does not rejoice over wickedness, for since it is filled with love toward all it finds no joy in the misfortunes that befall its opponents; it rejoices with the truth, for loving the neighbor, it sees the good things that exist in others and rejoices in them as if they were its own."91
Chapter II — How the Soul Should Turn the Beam of Contemplation upon Exterior Things by the Spiritual Exercise so as to Recognize the Instability of Worldly Wealth, the Insecurity of Worldly Success, and the Futility of Worldly Fame 1. The Inner Man: O soul, you should now direct the beam of contemplation upon the things that are around you, that is, upon the sensible world, in order that you may disdain it and everything in it, and thus burn with a more ardent love for the Spouse. For you love Him less if you love something besides Him, something you do not love because of Him and in Him. As Gregory writes, "the more a man seeks his delight in lesser love, the further re moved he is from heavenly love.''1 For the man who knows no cause of delight in the present world will all the sooner turn toward God. "May all creatures appear worthless to you, so that the Creator alone may gladden your heart."2
This from Augustine.
(1) ON THE THREEFOLD VANITY OF WORLDLY THINGS
2. Turn over and over in your mind the following thought —not only because you heard it mentioned, but because you actually experienced it; not only on the basis of words, but also of facts: how unstable is worldly wealth, how insecure worldly success, and how futile worldly fame.
"Whatever stands out in this world is fraught with more sadness than joy."3 And Bernard says: "Behold the men
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
who love this world: they roam about the market place, seeking wealth, success, and glory. What good is wealth?
It is acquired through labor, possessed in fear, lost with sorrow. What good is success? If you are in a high posi tion, will you not be criticized by all, tom apart by all?
Can anyone have honors without grief, dignities without vexation, a lofty place without vanity? And what of fame?
It is nothing but a senseless sound in the ears. And is not fame also open to criticism? Consider the less famous: to every one of them, you have offered the seed of envy."4
3. The Soul: O conscience, this being the case, what is it these unfortunate men are seeking when they desire the vanities of the world? Oh, how blind are those who crave this earthly glory!
The Inner Man: As Gregory writes, "some men, when they see the glory of others, believe it to be wonderful and wish to obtain it. But when they see these others die, they must sadly admit that all their glory was empty, and they say: 'Behold, the nothingness of man!' "5
O dearest soul, what are all the things of the world but empty dreams? What did our pride avail us? What have wealth and its boastfulness afforded us? All of them passed like a shadow and like a fleeting rumor; like a ship travers ing the heavy waters, of which, when it has passed, no trace can be found, no path of its keel in the waves.—
Even so we .. . were consumed in our wickedness. Alas, how many are those who left not a single trace of virtue!
Wis. 5:8-10 ibid. 13
Where are the princes of the nations, and they that rule over the beasts that are upon the earth?. . . that hoard up
Bar. 3:16-18* silver and gold? — they that built cities and fortresses, and destroyed kings and kingdoms in their wars? Where is the 1 Cor. 1:20
'wise man'? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputant
SOLILOQUY
of this world? Where are Solomon the wisest of all, and Alexander the most powerful? Where are Samson the strongest, and Absalom the most fair? Where are Assuerus the most exalted; where the mighty Caesars, the illustrious kings and princes?
"Of what profit were to them an empty glory, a passing pleasure, a worldly power, a large following, fleshly de lights, wealth so deceitful, passion so alluring? Where are now the laughing and rejoicing, the boasting and the arro gant life?"6 Where the noble blood, the handsome body, the elegant figure, the youthful charm? Where the immense estates and lofty palaces? Where the wisdom of the world?
All these things are of the world, for the world would love what is its own; but these things, and the world itself, do not last long, for the world with its lust is passing away.
Jn. 15:19
1 Jn. 2:17
"As for you, if you are wise, if your eyes see the light, refrain from coveting that which it is a pain to pursue, a burden to possess, a defilement to love, and a torture to lose."7— "Abandon all such things for the sake of the One who is above all things."8 This from Bernard, and again:
"Flee, O soul, flee for safety toward the city of refuge, which is the religious life, where you will be able to atone for the past, obtain graces for the present, and fruitfully await future glory. Allow not the memory of past sins to slow you down, for where the offense has abounded, grace has abounded yet more. Allow not the hardships of atone ment to frighten you, for the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the past sins that are remitted, the present peace that is infused, and the glory to come that is promised."9
Rom. 5:20 ibid. 8:18
4. The Soul: I admit the fallacy and frailty of the world, but what is this bond that holds my mind to it?
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
The Inner Man: Beyond doubt, O soul, if you care fully and prudently consider the dangers that threaten you in the world, you will keep your mind away from worldly vanities. To mingle with the world is to take a very serious and dangerous risk, for, as Bernard puts it, "chastity is threatened by pleasure, humility by wealth, religion by Gal. 1:4 material cares, veracity by loose speech, love by the wick edness of this present world."10
O weak and tottering soul, so easily deceived, so prone to fall, so slow to rise! As Chrysostom says, know you not that "as it is hard for a tree planted along the road to keep its fruits unspoiled until they ripen, so it is hard for a man who lives close to the world to safeguard his virtue until the end."11 And Augustine, in one of his letters: "The world's embrace is true distress and false delight, definite pain and doubtful joy, harsh labor and timid rest, a real state of woe and a vain hope of bliss."12 O soul, if only you could keep all this in mind, you would despise the world and all it contains.f And what is it you love, dearest soul, what is it you desire, what is it you seek in the world? While you seek high position, what do you do but bedevil your life? Know you not that "it is a monstrous thing to have both a high position and a degraded soul, a place of honor and a life of sin, a boastful tongue and idle hands, an abundance of words and a dearth of fruits, a respectable appearance and a foolish conduct, an extensive power and a faltering will?"13 These are the words of Bernard. And Gregory t This whole passage seems incompatible with the notion of social responsibility now being stressed by the Church. We should remember, however, that the "world" in the sense it has here, is not the human community groping its way to the Pleroma, but the abstract symbol of wealth, lust, and pride.
SOLILOQUY
writes in his "Pastoral Care'': "May those in command re alize that if they do wrong they deserve as many deaths as they have given examples of perdition to their subjects."14
Perhaps you will say: "I do want command, but I intend to live with it in a state of goodness and holiness." Praise worthy intention! But the facts will seldom call for praise.
I will always fear because, as Gregory explains in his "Register": "the conduct of rulers and subjects is so inter dependent that oftentimes the rulers' sins bring about a worsening of the life of their subjects, and the subjects' failings a perversion of that of their rulers."15
5. If you seek worldly wisdom, what great danger will be yours! Bernard writes: "Oh, how many great men were tripped by the accursed wisdom of the world! For it ex tinguished in them the spark of the divine spirit which the Lord had intended to kindle into a blazing fire. Know you not that the wisdom of the world is earthly, sensual, devil
]as. 3:15 ish, the enemy of salvation, the bane of life, the mother of greed?"16 And Augustine: "Whoever seeks salvation with out the Saviour and believes he can act prudently without possessing true Wisdom, is not sane but sick, not prudent but foolish, and labors constantly in a state of illness."17
And Algazel writes: "Whoever grows in knowledge but not in moral goodness is receding from God."18 Therefore, if you desire to be truly wise, follow Jerome's advice, and "learn on earth such wisdom as will remain with you for ever in heaven."19 Learn here on earth the way to the One, a single vision of whom procures the knowledge of all.
This is eternal truth, "besides which knowledge is igno rance, but the sight of which is perfect knowledge."20
6. O my soul, if you seek earthly wealth, worldly glory, and the pleasures of the flesh, and if, because of them, you
ST. BONAVENTURE —OPUSCULA II
are loath to renounce the world, take heed "how perishable and frail such things are. Tell me, where are the kings, where the princes, where the worshipers of all these
Bar. 3:19* things?''21 Many of them, I fear, are cut off and are gone cf. Wis. 5:8 down to hell. What did their pride avail them? What have wealth and its boastfulness afforded them? Whoever pre fers the creature to God, the world to the cloister, gluttony to abstinence, lust to continence, follows the devil and will go down with him to eternal torture.
Augustine writes: "Those who flourish in the world's delight shall perish through God's might: they flourish in false goods, and shall perish in true torments.''22 And again: "If earthly possessions appeal to us, why should we not rather try to possess God who owns all things: in Him we will obtain the object of every good and holy desire."23
7. O soul, you may disagree and say: "I do indeed despise the world, but I cannot leave my friends, my parents, my relatives. O soul, such a reasoning makes no sense, for as Bernard 1 Tm. 1:15 writes: "This saying is true and worthy of entire acceptance: abandoning father and mother is generally a sin against filial duty, but doing so for the sake of Christ is a great act of piety. How inhuman the father, how cruel the mother —not parents, indeed, but murderers —who
SOLILOQUY
would rather have you perish with them than reign without them?"24 And Jerome: ''Should your mother, disheveled and her robe torn open, display the breasts that fed you; should your father throw himself down across the thresh old: ignore your mother, step over your father with tear less eyes, and hurry to the standard of the cross. In such a case, the only way to love is to be ruthless."25J And Chrysostom asks: Know you not, O soul, "that whoever possesses Jesus also has father, mother, and friends? Why follow the dead? Follow the living, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."26
Mt. 8:22
(2) ON THE REASON WHY MANY IN THE WORLD ARE
BLINDED 8. The Soul: O conscience, I now understand from your words, and I confess out of my own experience, that "the world in itself is barren, and yet it flowers in many hearts that make of its bitterness something to love, pursue it in its flight, and embrace it in its fall."27 Tell me, why such blindness?
The Inner Man: O soul, know you not that you were created by your Spouse, the Master of all, in such a state of refinement and nobility that you cannot exist without love? As Jerome writes, "it is hard for the human soul not to love: there must always be something that appeals to our desire."28 And so, as Bernard explains, "we find pleasure either in the heights or in the depths."29 It follows that, as Gregory demonstrates in his "Ethics": "many waste their life, craving for the temporal, and failing to understand the | Two very doubtful statements. The way to Christ is through the neighbor, not over his dead body.
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
eternal, or spurning it deliberately; and although wounded, they feel no pain. And so, wretched as they are in fact, they deem themselves fortunate, they love their exile as if it were their homeland, and rejoice in their blindness as if it were brilliant light. On the other hand, the minds of those called to salvation, holding temporal goods for worthless, seek the goal for which they were created. And since nothing besides God is able to satisfy them, they find their repose in the sole contemplation of their Creator, they wish to dwell among the blessed, and while still living in the world they rise above it."30 This from Gregory.
The same author, commenting on Ezechiel, writes: ''To live in the midst of merely human delights seems sweet to those who have never tasted the sweetness of heav enly things, for the less the human mind understands of the things of eternity, the more easily does it rejoice in the things of time. But when a man has tasted with his spir itual senses this sweetness of the eternal rewards, to him the external world will seem all the more bitter as his inner vision has become more sweet."31
9. The Soul: Please, O conscience, hasten to teach me more about worldly and heavenly joy, that, through a better knowledge of the nature of both, I may more completely despise the one, and more zealously strive to attain the other. Indeed, as good is not loved without being known, so also evil cannot be avoided without being understood.
The Inner Man: I believe, O soul, that worldly joy— if it may be called a joy rather than a hidden scourge —is perfectly known only when perfectly despised. As ex plained by those who perfectly held the world in contempt, there are five main reasons why this worldly joy is worthy of nothing but scorn.
SOLILOQUY
First, worldly pleasure is vile in its object. What, in deed, is the joy of this world? Augustine answers: "Evil unpunished.''32 That is, indulgence in lust, drunkenness, and revelries, and the pursuit of vanities, all this remaining unpunished. The wicked believe they are safe in their pleasures, since they are not chastised on the spot for their sins. They do not realize that, as Augustine explains, "noth ing is unhappier than the sinner's happiness, which does nothing but feed sinful weakness and stiffen evil will."33
Second, it is impure in its subject, for the subject of worldly joy is the sin-distorted soul that delights in doing
Prv. 2:14 evil, rejoices in perversity. And so, Jerome was right when he said: "To laugh and rejoice with the world is not for the rational man, but for the fool."34 A pure heart, indeed, rejoices and is happy with God and in God, and not with the filth of the world.
Third, it is brief in itself: The joy of the impious is but for a moment. Augustine writes in his commentary on John: "The joy of worldly things is vanity: it is expected with great longing, but when it comes, it cannot be held."35
O soul, "how short, how fragile, how perishable is the joy of the world!"36 The days of man are short, as Job observes.
Jb. 20:5 ibid. 14:5* Fourth, it is sad in its outcome, for the unhappy souls spend their days in wealth . . . but in a moment, they go down to hell. — The end of joy may be sorrow. Indeed,
O soul, if you care to look, you will find sorrow even with in this joy, for a troubled conscience always forecasteth grievous things. ibid. 21:13
Prv. 14:13
Wis. 17:10
Fifth, it is most wretched in its effects, for it is an obstacle to spiritual joy. Be aware, O soul, of the world's misery and of the wretchedness of its devotees: for the joys of the world have always held men away from the life of
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
beatitude. Bernard writes: "Oh, how vile and useless is the consolation of the world. Even more: it is frighten ing, for it dispels true and holy consolation.... Renounce therefore, O soul, the pleasures of the world if you wish to be consoled by the thought of God."57 And Augustine:
"Let all creatures be of little worth to you, so that your Creator alone may be sweet to your heart."38
10. The Soul: Now I truly despise the world, now I see the fallacy of its joy and the actuality of its sadness: the fallacy of its sweetness and the actuality of its bitter ness. Hence, I will follow your advice and rightfully spurn this worldly joy. But, O conscience, you say that I cannot live without love. Tell me, then, what shall I do? Where shall I turn? Where shall I find an all-satisfying love?
The Inner Man: If only you could know yourself per fectly, O soul, you would have little esteem for the world and all it contains; if only you could realize your heavenly nature, you would certainly shun with horror any con solation of the world. "O soul who are from heaven, blush to wallow in the mire!"39 Blush to seek your joy in the lowest things, you whose true delight is found but in the highest. Your nature is verily from heaven, and I am sure you would naturally crave heavenly consolations if only you were not held back by the madness of the flesh. "Oh, how sweet and delightful it would be to live in harmony with our nature, and to add the spice of divine love! Alas, the folly of the flesh rules it out. Allay that folly, and nature is reconciled with men."40
11. The Soul: And what does it mean "to live in har mony with our nature"?
The Inner Man: In the truest sense, "to live in har mony with our nature" means to live on earth a life of
SOLILOQUY
heaven, "to turn from external things to the internal, to rise from the lower to the higher."41 It means "to act in all things according to the most noble and outstanding power in man: that is, according to the intellect,"42 as the Philos opher says in the tenth book of "Ethics."
12. The Soul: How shall a man be able to live a life of heaven on this earth, in this vale of tears?
Ps. 83:7* The Inner Man: O soul, if my words seem doubtful to you because they are spoken by a sinner, and if you are not convinced, listen to Augustine, listen to Paul. This is what Augustine has to say: "When, through knowledge and love, we take hold of something eternal, we are in spirit no longer on this earth."43 And the Apostle: But our citi
Phil. 3:20 zenship is in heaven. O soul, I would say that you exist more truly where you love than where you live, since "you are transformed into the likeness of whatever you love, through the power of this love itself."44 If you see and love the things of heaven, how could you fail to live there, for in your daily life you resemble the heavenly spirits.
(3) ON DIVINE CONSOLATION, AND ON THE DISPOSITIONS
REQUIRED TO OBTAIN IT
13. The Soul: Alas, alas, how long have I been miser ably blind, wretched, and unhappy! Up to the present time, I have strayed in the midst of temporal and earthly delights, tying myself with bonds of love to the lowliest things of the world; I have received from them little con solation but much bitter desolation, poor and slender joy but great and manifold sadness. O conscience, tell me, please, what is heavenly consolation, and how could I reach it in this valley of tears and misery?
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
The Inner Man: O soul, as Bernard writes, "this con solation is nothing but a certain grace of devotion that proceeds from the hope of forgiveness, a definite but subtle taste of goodness, a most sweet delight through which the bountiful God restores the afflicted soul, and by which the soul, invited to seek God, is inflamed with ardent love for Him."45 —"O soul, what do you think is as sweet and delightful as that which touches holy minds when they think upon their Beloved — this thing which fills them with such delight that they are lifted out of their own selves?
The senses rejoice, every pain is forgotten, the spirit exults, the mind is enlightened, the heart lifted up, and desire satisfied. Souls in that state no longer even know where they are: they intimately embrace something, but cannot tell what it is, and yet they desire to hold it with all their might and will. The spirit strives, but in a delightful way, to retain this good in which it has found the satisfaction of all desire."46 These are the words of Hugh. O soul, this indeed is divine consolation.
14. The Soul: O conscience, who will grant me the favor of obtaining such a sweet and rare consolation in my heart, that I may forget my sorrow, despise worldly pleas ure, and begin to rise above my lower self?
The Inner Man: O soul, great is the object of your desire, priceless the gift for which you sigh. Mere human effort cannot obtain it, nor can human merit earn it. The humble prayer of a well-disposed soul may suffice to bring it down from God, but only out of His divine and conWis. 7:9 descending kindness. For all gold, in view of it, is a little sand, and before it, silver is to be accounted mire.
15. The Soul: O conscience, tell me: how should the soul pray for such things?
SOLILOQUY
The Inner Man: Many explanations could be given here by men of experience. Knowing my own lack of it,
I hesitate to say even a few words. I am afraid that people answer: "Why do you speak of things you have not lived?
How could you, so unworthy, praise what you do not even know?''
The Soul: O conscience, be not afraid to expose with all reverence and humility what you have heard and read.
Many are those who can fruitfully explain to others great and difficult things of which they have no personal experi ence, but only a borrowed knowledge.
The Inner Man: I will dare to speak, for love supplies the strength I lack because of my ignorance. I will speak as best I can. I propose, subject to better judgment, that if you wish to get ready to taste this heavenly sweetness, you should first be cleansed, then trained, then lifted up.
At the first stage this heavenly sweetness is sensed, at the second tasted, and at the third absorbed, sometimes to the point of ebriety.
16. First, the soul must be cleansed of sin, inordinate affections, temporal consolations, and excessive love for creatures. As Bernard writes, "mistaken is the man who believes he can mix such heavenly sweetness with these cinders, such divine balm with this poisonous joy, such gifts of the Holy Spirit with the attractions of the world."47
But when the soul has been purified and cleansed of such things —purified by tears, cleansed by sorrowful groans — it will be consoled and restored by the perfume of heav enly sweetness.
Secondly, the soul must be trained in the habit of doing good and bearing pain. Those inflamed with the love of truth will never find virtuous acts and the suffering of pain
ST. BONAVENTURE —OPUSCULA II
an excessive burden. Thus, blessed Benedict writes: "Al though it is true that in the beginning close is the way that leads to life, as time flows on, this way becomes wider because of the sweetness of a joy beyond price."48 Oh, what blissful consolations are poured down from heaven upon those who labor for the sake of Christ!
Mt. 7:14
Thirdly —and at this point the soul is inebriated with sweetness — there is the lifting up of the soul in which the mind, joyfully withdrawn from earthly concerns, is wonderfully raised in a mysterious way above itself, above the world, and far above any creature, so that it is able to say: He brought me into the cellar of wine. This is the Cl. 2:4* cellar where the soul is led to drink of the spiced wine — the sweetness beyond compare of the Divinity—and of the whitest milk of humanity undefiled. Here, O soul, the friends drink, but the dearly beloved are inebriated. Oh, happy inebriation that follows upon such a chaste and holy sobriety of body and mind! Here, the soul is made cf. ibid. 8:2; 5:1* to rejoice as in wine, and to be full of happiness even in the face of misfortune, to be strong and safe amidst dan ger, prudent and moderate in prosperity, kind and forgiv ing when offended, and yet peaceful and quiet, abandoned to the divine embrace, as the left hand of the Spouse lov ingly supports the bride's head, and the right hand of the Lover holds the beloved closely. ibid. 2:6
17. The Soul: O conscience, I confess in all humility and deference that, at the beginning of my conversion, it was only very seldom and with the greatest effort that I managed to wrench my soul away from the world, and with much pain that I rose to the contemplation of heav enly things. I entered with fear, and looked around with embarrassment; I beheld the angelic choirs, the palaces of
SOLILOQUY
the rejoicing patriarchs and prophets, the dwellings of the apostles, the banquets of the martyrs, the rewarding of the confessors and virgins. I begged from every one the alms of at least some comfort. I desired merely the crumbs that fell from the table of the masters, but I received them not. Worse still, I was soon rejected by all as a wanderer and an intruder. What, then, did I gain by such toilsome ascent of the spirit if no consolation came from it? cf. Mt. 15:27
The Inner Man: O soul, there was reason enough for such a disturbing rejection. You wanted to share the joy before the pain, to receive the reward before practicing virtue. Strive, then, before all else, through purity and in nocence, to be the companion of angels: through humility and trusting faith, to join the patriarchs and prophets; through charity and patience, to be the offspring of the apostles: through piety and continence, to emulate the con fessors and virgins. Then, with the boldness of the Prodi gal Son, you may ask and obtain even in this exile a gift from the Father most merciful. cf. Lk. 15:22
18. The Soul: O conscience, I readily admit that all temporal goods are vain and tasteless, and for that reason
I despise the world; I loathe all passing consolation; I flee all human joy as deadly poison;f I weep over my past as if it were but death; with groans and tears, I wash and cleanse my wretched spirit. And although, at times, amid my weeping and wailing, I do perceive, ever so faintly, the odor of divine sweetness, how unhappy I am to thirst and hun ger, to remain without the bread of the sons and the wine of the beloved. As Bernard writes: "O Lord, my God, my heart has not yet entered the plenty of Your sweetness t!!!
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
Ps. 30:20 which You have in store for those who fear You. Though still outside, I am fully sustained by its mere fragrance, which is sweeter to me than the odor of balm or any other scent."49
O Lord, if Your fragrance is so excellent, how delectable must be the taste of Your sweetness! And if a mere taste has such power, what must be the delight of full inebria tion! Augustine writes: "Oh, who will grant me the favor of Your coming into my heart to inebriate it? Then shall
I embrace my only good, Your own Self, O my God!"50
The Inner Man: O devout soul, permit me to speak:
You are too greedy, perhaps even presumptuous. Care fully measure your powers, consider your merits, examine
Ct. 1:3* your virtues, and then, if you wish to, be content to run to the odor of the divine ointments, instead of presuming to ask for more than you deserve.
19. The Soul: O conscience, what harsh and painful consoler you are to me in my misery! What a parsimoni ous dispenser, if I may say so, of God's bounty! I will dare to speak, for I cannot remain silent. Fragrance alone is not enough for me; a slight taste gives me no satisfaction, but merely whets my appetite for more: my heart desires, nay, craves full inebriation. I know of someone who said: ibid. 5:1* Drink, friends, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved.
If the beggar's unworthiness dashes hope, the kindness of the One who made the promise lifts it up. O conscience, how could I ever think that He who did not refuse to bear my penalty might not be ready to grant His gifts to me!
O you who spoke of the kindness of God to so many, have you forgotten the teachings of blessed Augustine:
''Shame on man for his indifference! God's will to give is greater than man's courage to ask."51 And again, in his
SOLILOQUY
book "On True Religion": "God... hath given us the pledge of the Spirit; in return, we are to seek His sweetness, and to drink of the Fountain of Life in whom we are to be refreshed with sober inebriation, like a tree planted near running water."52 And Chrysostom writes: "There is no more certain proof of God's omnipotence than this: that He makes all-powerful those who place their trust in Him. For no deceit or allurement can ever make a soul that hopes in God either fall when it stands or yield when it wills."53
2 Cor. 5:5* Ps. 1:3
Shame on man's despair! Accursed be his faint-hearted fear! How could God, so generous and rich towards all who call upon Him, refuse His bounties to those who place their perfect hope in Him? Was it not a sign of immense generosity that the eternal Father, with whom there is no change, sent down His Son, in whom He gave us all He has and all He is? If His generosity could in any way deplete
His infinite perfection, perhaps we might have a reason to tremble in our weakness. But since "He is good in His own
Self, and not by any accidental gift,"54 He is not diminished when He shares His own goodness, nor could He be in creased by the addition of any external good.
Rom. 10:12
Jas. 1:17
20. The Inner Man: O soul, great is your faith! Your hope and confidence are strong, indeed! Yet, even though hope, founded both on our good deeds and on trust in divine mercy, is a meritorious, praiseworthy, and holy virtue, I advise you —before you ascend above yourself in search of this inebriation—to descend below yourself in salutary reflection. Look upon your Spouse with rev erent fear before you enter His secret chamber, for you must respect Him both in His anger and in His sweet endearments.
Chapter III — On How the Soul Should Turn the Beam of Contemplation upon the Lower
Things by the Spiritual Exercise so as to Recognize the Inevitable Necessity of Hu man Death, the Fearful Justice of the Final
Judgment, and the Unbearable Agony of the Pains of Hell 1. The Soul: O conscience, pray tell me briefly what are these lower things to which I should turn my attention?
I am eager to rise aloft, I seek the wine of divine consola tion, I do not wish to remain any longer in the lowlands.
I long, instead, to ascend at once into the Lord's enchant ing abode, I long with all my heart to live in the courts of cf. Ps. 83:2 the Lord.
The Inner Man: O soul, these lower things consist in turning yourself and in seeing the inevitable necessity of death which shall make you moan, the unspeakable jus tice of God's judgment which shall make you tremble, and the unbearable agony of the pains of hell which shall fill you with horror.
(1) ON THE INEVITABLE NECESSITY OF DEATH
2. Consider frequently, turn over and over in your mind, these truths: death is inescapable, the hour of death is un predictable, and the time preordained by God is unchange able. Isidore writes: "Of all that happens to man, what is more certain than death, and what less certain than its hour? Death has no pity for the poor and no regard for
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
those in power; it has no concern for high culture or noble birth; it spares neither youth nor old age: for the old, it stands ready at the door, and it lies in ambush for the young."1
The Soul: You say that our life is nothing but a pas sage toward death. Why, then, are worldly goods so deeply loved if they are to be held so briefly? ''Why do we wish to live so long when the longer we live the more we sin; when a longer life means nothing but a greater number of crimes? For evil increases with each day and good is less abundant. Who could count the sins we commit and the good deeds we fail to accomplish as time goes by?
Our sin is great indeed, for we do no good. We even think no good, but allow our mind to wander along a vain and aimless path."2
3. The Inner Man: Gregory writes in his "Ethics":
"O soul, carnal men love temporal things because they do not see how fleeting is the life of the flesh. If they real ized the speed of its flight, they would waste very little love on such brief delights."5 And again: "To me, life is like a sea-voyage: asleep or awake, I am ever hastening toward death."4 — "O passing life, how many are those you deceive! As you run out, you are nothing. All there is to see in you is a mere shadow, all there is to praise, but a wisp of smoke. You are sweet to the fool and bitter to the wise. Those who love you know you not, and those who flee from you are the only ones who understand you.
To some men, you promise length of years in order to deceive them; to others, very little time in order to make them lose hope."5
The author of the book "On the Spirit and the Soul" writes: "Let us exercise our mind through constant
SOLILOQUY
meditation, and consider our miseries: we came to this world in pain, we live in it through labor, and shall depart from it with fear."6 And Bernard: "If all of us who dwell in the region of the shadow of death, in the weakness of the body, in this place of strife and temptation, would only care to look, we would realize how wretchedly we labor under a triple woe: we are prone to fall, weak in resisting, and feeble in our good works."7
Is. 9:2* 4. The Soul: Now do I see how wasteful is life on earth if we do not hasten to acquire merits that assure us life eternal. A man may be given enough time to live well, but none certainly has the privilege of living indefinitely. Ber nard writes: Oh, how safe is life when the conscience is pure —when death is expected without terror, desired with joy, and accepted with a faithful heart!"8
The Inner Man: O soul, if you believe all this, listen to my advice: 'As long as you live, prepare for yourself a life that is to last forever. While you live the life of the flesh, be dead to the world so as to live in God after the flesh has died."9 This from Bernard. Understand that "no one greets approaching death with joy and gladness unless he has prepared himself for it by a life of virtue."10 Under stand also that, as Seneca explains it, when the fool dies — meaning when the sinner and criminal dies — he suffers death, whereas when the wise and virtuous man dies, he conquers it.
The Soul: O conscience, I see that the death of the just is a happy death, and that the death of the sinner is dread ful and wretched.
The Inner Man: O soul, as Bernard says, "the death of the just is good because of the repose, better because of the renewal, and best of all because of the security it brings
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
about. On the contrary, the death of the wicked is evil, and truly so: leaving the world makes it bad, losing the flesh makes it worse, suffering the double pain of worms and fire makes it dreadful,"11 but what makes it the worst of all is losing the beatific vision.
(2) ON THE INEFFABLE JUSTICE OF THE FINAL JUDG
MENT 5. The Soul: Enough about death! Tell me now about the final judgment.
The Inner Man: O soul, I will do as you ask, but please listen with patience. You should know that, fright ening as meditation on death may be, the thought of final judgment is no less terrifying: no one, at that time, shall elude wisdom, sway justice, force mercy, deflect the sen tence of wrath and just repayment. Tremble, O my soul, and imagine what shall happen on the last day when your conscience convicts you of sinful thoughts, when the ele ments accuse you of sinful deeds, when the cross is pro duced as a damaging witness, when the stripes cry out against you, the wounds point to you, the nails speak up, and the scars lament.
''Oh what distress! On the one side stand sins accusing us, and on the other, a frightful justice; within, conscience burning; below, the terrifying chaos of hell; above, a Judge irate but just in His sentence; outside, the world afire; in side, the dreadful justice of the judging God. And if at 1 Pt. 4:18 that time the just man scarcely will be saved, where will the impious and the sinner appear? In what comer will they huddle? To hide is impossible; to come forth, un bearable."12 This from Bernard.
SOLILOQUY
Anselm writes in his "Meditations": "O sinful soul, useless and barren tree cut down for the eternal fire, what cf. Lk. 3:9 cf. ibid. 21:18 shall you say when comes the time to account for every moment, even to the fluttering of an eye lid?"13 Woe to you on that day, O soul! What, then, of your vain and idle thoughts, of your frivolous jokes and jestings, of your empty and useless deeds? Ambrose says in his "Commentary on Luke": Woe to me if I do not weep over my sins! Woe to me if I do not rise at midnight to give You thanks,—for even now the axe is laid at the root of the Ps. 118:62
Lk. 3:9 trees. And anyone who can, let him give forth fruits of grace, and anyone who must, give forth fruits of penance!"14
O soul, "awake or asleep, let the frightful trumpets sound in your ears: 'Arise ye dead, and come to the judg ment!' "15 O soul, never let these words slip from your memory: "Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the ever lasting fire!—Come, blessed of my Father, take possession of the Kingdom! Could anything be said that would be more tragic and terrifying than this word "depart"? Could any sound be uttered that would be sweeter than "come"?
You will hear but two words: one the most ravishing, the other the most dreadful.
Mt. 25:41 ibid. 25:34
O soul, detach yourself now from the world, so that then you may abide with Christ; flee the world now, so that
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
then you may follow God; avoid now any contact or as sociation with the wicked, so that then you may join the host of the blessed.
(3) ON THE UNBEARABLE AGONY OF THE PAINS OF
HELL 6. Next, turn the beam of contemplation upon the tor ments of the reprobate: see how varied, cruel, horrible and intolerable these torments are. Bernard writes to Eugene:
"I hate the gnawing worm and the living death."16 — "How we should flee from you, O infernal region with your burning fire and freezing cold, undying worms and un bearable stench, pounding hammers and massive darkness; with the rabble of sinners, the torture of chains, and the loathsome faces of the demons."17 And Augustine: "Woe to those condemned to the pain of worms, the heat of Mt. 8:12 etc. flames, the thirst without quenching, the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth, and the tears flowing from the eyes:
Jb. 10:22 a place where death is desired but never granted,"18 the black, disordered land where darkness is the only light.
"Think how deep will be the affliction, how mournful the sorrow and the cries, when the sinners are separated from the just and delivered into the hands of the demons with whom they will go to their eternal torment. There, they will remain, with eternal cries and groans, far from the joys of paradise, never to be refreshed, but tormented for countless thousands of years, and, alas for them, never to be released. Here the torturer and executioner never tires, here the tortured never dies, for this fire bums in such a way that it never destroys life, and that old torments
SOLILOQUY
are suffered over and over as if they were ever new. So will the reprobate, without hope for pardon or pity, live forever and always die; and so will they die as to be never consumed."19
7. The Soul: O conscience, you say that in hell death is sought but never obtained. How can this be? And why is an evil committed in time punished throughout eternity?
The Inner Man: "Those who refused the life offered to them in time will seek death in hell, and yet never find it."20
Gregory writes: "The wicked had desired to live forever, so as to continue forever in their iniquity. Thus, it be hooves the justice of a fitting judgment that those who chose never to be without sin in this life should never be without pain in the other."21
8. The Soul: "O death, how sweet you would now be to those who had thought you so bitter! You are the sole desire of those who detested you with such intensity!"22
"O merciful Jesus, be tender to me for Your name's sake!
Forget that this prideful soul of mine insulted You, and look down upon it as it now humbly prays! In Your ex treme goodness, accept whatever is Yours, and wash out what is not! Have mercy, O Lord, while there is time for mercy, lest You condemn me on judgment day.... Verily,
I deserve damnation, and my repentance is not sufficient atonement: yet, verily also, Your mercy is greater than any offense."23 This from Anselm, in his "Meditations."
"Oh, if God so acted with the prideful angel, what shall He do to me who am but dust and ashes? Lucifer boasted in a heavenly palace: I did so on a dunghill! Who will deny that the pride of the rich is more readily excusable than that of the poor? Woe to me! If pride in the rich and mighty was punished with such severity although it
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
seems to flow naturally from wealth and power, how heav ily the same pride will be judged in me who am wretched and poor?"24
9. The Inner Man: O soul, if the punishment I have described so far seems dreadful to you, listen now to this which is much worse.
Chrysostom writes in his "Commentary on Matthew":
"If you were to threaten me with the pains of a thousand hells, this I would deem less dreadful than losing the de light of that glorious company, and becoming loathsome to God."25
O soul, hell is terrible, but much more so the face of the irate Judge. Yet, losing the vision of the most blessed and delightful Trinity is the most dreadful thing of all.
Chrysostom writes: "Loss of eternal happiness and es- ]as. 1:12 trangement from the glories which God has promised to those who love Him, result in such torment that this alone would be a more than sufficient punishment, even without bodily torture. Sustaining a thousand times a thousand flames would still be better than beholding the kindly face of Christ turned to anger: better than losing Him for ever."26 And Gregory, in his "Homilies": "Oh, how man
Mt. 25:6 would be amazed if only he could understand this: 'Behold, the Bridegroom is coming!' What sweetness in these words: ibid. 10 Those who were ready went in with Him to the marriage ibid, feast. And what bitterness in these: The door was shut."27
O soul, what more can I say? "Consider what a loss it is to be cast away from the face of Christ, to be excluded from the delight of the beatific vision, to be deprived of the blessed company of all the saints, to have died to eternal life and to live in eternal death, to drown in the depths of a stormy hell, to be torn eternally by voracious worms,
SOLILOQUY
to be tortured endlessly, to suffer the roar of raging flames, to be blinded with the acrid fumes of smoking abysses, and not to sense light but only pain."28 This from Prosper, in his "Contemplative Life."
10. The Soul: I tremble with fear, I faint with horror!
O conscience, I beg of you: tell me what is the purpose of such distressing thoughts?
The Inner Man: O soul, I believe that long and pious meditation upon such horrors as I have described are the best cure for sin, and a salutary preparation for doing good and sustaining hardships. Bernard writes in one of his let ters: "Sleeplessness and manual labor may be distasteful to you, yet such things seem easy to those who meditate on the eternal flames. Thinking of hell's darkness recon ciles with solitude; remembering the penalty for idle words makes silence a pleasure; constant recalling of the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth makes a pallet feel like a couch."29
Mt. 8:12 etc.
And Augustine says in one of hissermons: "The human mind, captured by the lures of worldly passion, avoids work and seeks pleasure, unwilling as it is to give up the vices of its earlier way of life. But as soon as this mind concentrates on the inevitability of the final judgment and the cruelty of the eternal pains, it declares war against all passions, using the full power of the will. Moved either by the hope of reward or by the fear of punishment, it strives against its former desires and vigorously attempts to conquer itself."30
11. The Soul: O conscience, enough have you terrified me as I stood in this valley of tears. Your lessons, how ever, did bear some fruit. Have pity on my misery, and keep now the promise you made a while ago. Tell me something of eternal happiness, for I may obtain some spiritual con solation from what you say. The contrast would be good,
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
for, as Augustine writes: "To blame or forgive, to deter or encourage are equally good acts if they serve to mend the ways of man."31 And Seneca: "The human spirit is gen erous: a man who would rebel under violent handling will more easily be coaxed than compelled."32 O conscience, see how generous the human spirit is: often, it is more easily persuaded by meekness and praise than by terror and compulsion: it is more effectively drawn by the promcf. Ct. 4:12 ise of consolation than by threat or by fear. Thus the sister and bride responded to the fragrance of heavenly ointments, to the taste of divine favors: she was willing to go with the Spouse and to follow the way of His comcf. Ps. 118:32 mands, not out of fear but out of delightful love.
12. The Inner Man: O soul, I know you speak the truth. Yet, alas, many refuse to conform to God in pros perity: hence, they must be frightened by adversities.
Many are blind and fail to see God's gifts, while others lose them through their careless indulgence in vanities.
As for me, I believe that God, in His immense and infinite goodness, is always ready to encourage with consolations rather than deter with trials, provided men were corre spondingly ready to receive His divine unction, which is so precious and exquisite that it cannot fittingly and prop erly be granted to all in equal measure.
As for you, if thus enlightened you seek these consola tions, see to it that your mind is cleansed and your heart well ordered. For, as Augustine says, "the supreme Good is not perceived except by the purest minds."33 And I would add that it is tasted even less, except by well dis posed hearts. Many in this life conceive it most clearly but taste it not at all. Augustine further says: "I pray
You, Lord: let me taste with my heart what I perceive
SOLILOQUY
with my mind; make me feel through love what I know through understanding."34
13. The Soul: O conscience, please let me know what are the dispositions that are first to be present in my heart and mind if I am to taste the joys of heaven through con templation—be it only through a modest amount of spirit ual inebriation. It is long since I have started training my spirit for this, but alas I have never until now received the slightest drop of heavenly sweetness. Much have I read on the lives of the saints; much on the nature, orders, and operations of the angels; much also on the unity of the in effable Godhead and its Trinity without compare; and a great deal on the boundless happiness of the blessed. Yet, with my mind full of all such things, I still fasted, alas, and starved, and cried out with blessed Augustine: "O most merciful Father, let me taste with my heart what I perceive with my mind!" But it was all in vain.
Often, also, tired of my lengthy studies and angry with myself, I exclaimed with the prophet: "How long, O Lord?
Will You utterly forget me? How long will You hide Your face from me?" I know that I am unworthy of the chil dren's bread, but with great desire I expect at least some tiny crumbs falling from their table. Yet, so often alas, panting with open mouth, I have labored in vain.
Ps. 12:2 cf. Mt. 15:26f.
Is. 49:4* 14. The Inner Man: O soul, these disappointments you so sadly bewail are due to either one of two reasons.
Sometimes it is a most kind and salutary purpose of providence, as Gregory explains in his "Ethics": "The Father most kind often leaves prayers unanswered for a while so as to intensify desire, and to give all the more now that these prayers are meritorious, after having ignored them while they were mere requests."35 And again, in his
ST. BONAVENTURE —OPUSCULA II
"Homilies": "Holy desires grow through waiting; and if waiting destroys them, they were not true desires."36 God, though most merciful in His loving kindness, may at times be holding back what He is so willing to grant lavishly: thus, we may learn to desire great favors often and ar dently, and to preserve them all the more carefully and gratefully once obtained.
At other times, God withholds a favor because of some disorder in the petitioner's heart. Bernard writes: "Com pletely mistaken is the man who believes he can mix such heavenly sweetness with these ashes, such divine balm with this poisonous joy, such gift of the Holy Spirit with the allurements of the world."37
Chapter IV — On How the Soul Should Turn the Beam of Contemplation upon Superior Things by the Spiritual Exercise so as to Behold the Twelve Joys of Heaven from the Consideration of Inferior, Exterior, Interior and Superior Things
(1) ON HEAVENLY JOY IN GENERAL
1. The Inner Man: O soul, I will not hold you any longer in suspense; no more will I sadden you by making you wait. Free your mind of vain and useless thoughts, of natural reasoning born of curiosity, of concern for ir relevant knowledge; cleanse your heart of all sin, of the effects of sin, and of the occasions of sin; lift up your spirit, broaden and expand your love, and enter into the joy of your Master which is such as in this world eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man.
Mt. 25:21
1 Cor. 2:9
"O soul, burn with love and desire for the heavenly life of the saints, in which there is action without labor, repose without idleness, life without death, and praise without end."1 This from Augustine. Rejoice, therefore, and exult.
Consider the reward of your labor, which is truly so mul tiple that it is beyond count, so great that it is beyond measure, so precious that it is beyond price, and so abun dant that it has no end.
2. The Soul: O conscience, you have spoken much in a general way. Please be more specific, for we understand details better than general terms.
ST. BONAVENTURE —OPUSCULA II
The Inner Man: O soul, what could I say? When I look upon this joy to come, I almost faint with wonder, for "there will be joy within and without, below and above, and all around."2 Indeed, you shall rejoice in all, you shall rejoice because of all. Your joy seems to have been pre figured in the Apocalypse by the blessed woman who was
Ap. 12:1 clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. This woman is the holy soul: daughter, bride, and queen of the eter nal King; daughter through the creation of nature, bride through the adoption of grace, queen through the bestowal of glory. This soul is properly said to be clothed with the sun, for she is adorned with the resplendence of divine light. She is crowned with the glory of eternal happiness in which, by reason of her particular beauty, twelve joys stand out, prefigured by the twelve stars that bejewel and adorn the crown.
3. O soul, every day you should devoutly recall these joys, seeking no consolation in your present wretched state, but, out of hope for these same joys, bearing peacefully and gladly every trial of the present life.
"O soul, be not disturbed if the wicked flourish in this world while you suffer, if they rejoice while you sorrow: for the wicked have no part of the heavenly joys. Be not concerned if you are destitute in this world: out of hope for that very joy you seek, let your heart sustain happily and peacefully whatever trouble you encounter on your way."3 This from Bede. O soul, "if at times you find de light in temporal pleasure, in the false glory of this world, in fleeting and fragile power, think of heaven and you will consider all such things as mere dung."4 Thus writes
Jerome in a letter. And Bernard: "Hasten, then, O soul,
SOLILOQUY
not with physical strides, but with your heart and desire: for you are expected, not only by the angels and the elect, but also by their very Lord and Master. God the Father awaits you as His dearest daughter, God the Son as His sweetest bride, God the Holy Spirit as His most pleasing beloved. God the Father awaits you to make you inherit all wealth; God the Son, to offer to God the Father your soul, the fruit of His nativity and the price of His precious blood; God the Holy Spirit, to make you partake of His eternal bounty and sweetness. The most blessed family of the heavenly King — the host of the heavenly spirits — looks forward to receiving you within its fold."5
4. Your greatest wish, therefore, should be to join them.
Deep, indeed, would be your shame if you were to come to such a place without having loved it from the depth of the valley of tears.
Whenever you find delight in the vain pursuits of this world, whenever its glory appears real to you, hasten to lift up your heart toward heaven, and begin to be what you are to become."6 O soul, I am sure that if you constantly remembered these heavenly joys, you would find the pres ent exile to be the outskirts of the kingdom of heaven —a place where every day you can have a foretaste of that eter nal sweetness. For "when we think upon some eternal object, we are no longer living in this world,"7 but actually in heaven. This from Augustine. And such is the power of your love, O soul, that, as Bernard writes, "you live more truly where you love than where you breathe."8 This, dearest soul, is the kingdom of God within us, the kingcf.Lk. 17:21 dom which, alas, we wretchedly forsake when we cleave to the emptiness and vanity of the material world. "We waste ourselves in external pursuits, and have no concern for
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
God's inner kingdom; we seek the external consolation of frivolities and dangerous follies, to the point that we lose our former religious fervor, retaining not even its outer form."9
As for you, O soul, daughter of the eternal King, listen cf. Vs. 44:11 with a devout mind; turn your ear to saintly and salutary counsels; behold the truth by contemplating the consolaPs. 44:11 tions of the heavenly kingdom; forget your people and your father's house, despise them and abhor them—de spise, that is, the world, the devil, and yourself.
(2) ON THE JOYS OF HEAVEN IN PARTICULAR, AND
FIRST ON THE JOY ARISING FROM THE CONTEMPLA
TION OF THINGS BELOW
5. The Inner Man: Behold, therefore, and consider with a pious mind the divine and heavenly spirits who escaped the dangers of our present life and misery. In separable as they are from the splendor of the eternal Sun, they direct the beam of their contemplation in turn upon things below, above, within, or without.
6. When these spirits consider things below, they re joice for a threefold reason. First, with the help of God's power, they have overcome their wicked, dreadful, and cruel enemies; second, with the help of God's wisdom, they have either absolutely avoided sin and imperfection, or atoned for the sins they did commit; third, with the help of God's mercy, they have escaped from the endless terror of eternal torment.
O soul, how great the relief they feel day after day as they see so many others overcome by the flesh, the world, and the devil; so many befouled by various sins that
SOLILOQUY
remain without pardon; so many condemned forever! To have passed from death to life makes life twice as sweet. cf. ]n. 5:24
7. O Lord God, if so great are the dangers of the present struggle, how immense will be the joy of triumph 'when, after the world will have been vanquished and conquered and the wicked Pharaoh drowned with his armies in the Red Sea, all the elect will take up their timbrels, singing psalms and canticles with Mary, praising and blessing the Lord, and repeating in unison: I will sing to the Lord for He is gloriously triumphant."10
Ex. 15:1
Then, two Seraphim will be appointed—the two choirs of the elect, the innocent and the repentant—and they will cry one to another: Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord, God of hosts! Holy is God the Father whose might saved us from the world, the flesh, and the devil; holy is God the Son whose wisdom led us toward justice and away from our sin and guilt; holy is God the Spirit whose mercy saved us from eternal punishment. All the earth is full of His glory, for God called us out of the miseries of this world to the joys of the heavenly kingdom.
Is. 6:3 ibid.
Oh, the wonder of this day when you, my soul, shall be taken up to join the happy choir; when all the pains you have patiently borne on earth shall be turned into eternal bliss! Then, with joy flowing from your lips, you will praise the Lord God for all His gifts and say: ''The favors of the Lord I will sing forever!"
Ps. 88:1
As Augustine writes in "The City of God": "Nothing will be more joyful in that city than this canticle, sung in praise of the glory of Christ by whose blood we were made free.''11 And nothing will be sweeter.
8. As for you, when you are tried by temptation, bat tered by persecution, or assailed by some misfortune of the
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
world, let your spirit soar sky-high, and remember that these pains are the materials of eternal joy. Then, as Gregory explains, the expectation of the reward will lessen the sting of the scourge. Furthermore, "if we consider what great rewards have been promised to us in heaven, all the goods we have on earth will seem worthless.''12
In fact, we will then give less attention not only to the worldly goods we now possess with so much pleasure, but also to the afflictions we must endure so often with Rom. 8:18 so much pain. "Indeed, the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to he compared with the remission of past sins, the grace presently infused, or the glory to come."15
O soul, you shall come to the full possession of this glory if you understand perfectly that, amidst the great dangers in which so many perish, you survived; that, amidst the lies and deceits of the devil by which many were led astray, you won the victory. Indeed, you escaped the eter nal torments to which countless souls are condemned.
The Soul: O conscience, how sound and good your consolation! When I consider your words, hope brings me great comfort. But how great shall be my delight, O Lord
God, when I finally reach the goal of my desires!
(3) WHEN THE BLESSED TURN THE BEAM OF CONTEM
PLATION TOWARD THINGS ON THEIR LEVEL, THEY
REJOICE FOR A THREEFOLD REASON
9. The Inner Man: O soul, what you have heard so far is little: in fact, what you have perceived in your mind is almost nothing. Raise your mental vision for a while; often and with great devotion turn over in your thought the joys that shall come from what is on your own level.
SOLILOQUY
Consider attentively that splendid dwelling God's wisdom built for you; think of the delicious food, the refined garments, the precious treasures prepared for you by the eternal Power; consider also the illustrious company in whose presence your spirit will eternally rejoice over God's loving-kindness.
10. O soul, behold how magnificent is "the heavenly city, the safe abode, the homeland containing every pleas ure."14 This from Bernard. See how brilliant and splendid is that heavenly city which has no need of the sun or the moon to shine upon it, since God Himself, the Sun of Jus tice—the refulgence of eternal light, is its illumination, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof. What glorious things are said of you, O city of God! — O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of His possession!
Ap. 21:23
Mai. 4:2* Wis. 7:26
Ap. 21:23
Ps. 86:3
Bar. 3:24* O soul, although your body lives on earth, let your mind dwell in heaven, "in which place are found repose without labor, life without death, youth without decay, light with out dusk,"15 and peace without end. And my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confi dence, and in wealthy rest.
Is. 32:18* 11. In this place, the most blessed Lamb Himself, the pure and spotless Jesus, Son of God the Father and of the Virgin Mary, shall be our food: the fully satisfying and noble fare of His purest humanity and supreme divinity will be served to the holy souls.
Oh, how blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! "Here, there will always be thirst and quenching, but, oh, marvel, the thirst will be painless and the quenching ever sweet."16 For the blessed shall have their
Ap. 19:9
Ps. 35:9 fill of the prime gifts of Your house; from Your delightful stream You give them to drink.
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
12. The Soul: And when is this to come about?
The Inner Man: No sooner, I believe, than when the Cupbearer of the supreme King, the brightness of God's glory, the refulgence of eternal light, the image of God's substance, the spotless mirror of His power, the One upon whom angels desire to look, will appear in glory; when
Christ so majestic will gird Himself and will make them recline at table, and will come and serve them in Person. cf. Heb. 1:3
Wis. 7:26 cf. Heb. 1:3
Wis. 7:26
1 Pt. 1:12
Lk. 12:37
O soul, devoutly consider these marvels in your mind.
How great a joy shall the blessed souls receive from being served by so lofty an Attendant, sharing in the utterly perfect charity of every guest, tasting the opulent courses, enjoying the multitude of servants, the sweet-sounding musical instruments, the psalms, canticles, and lauds hon oring the King of Glory, God the Son of God! In this heavenly, immense, stupendous gathering, you shall hear the angels exult, the apostles sing, the martyrs celebrate their victory, the confessors and virgins offer praise, the patriarchs and prophets voice their happiness, all the saints and elect of God exalt in unison Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, proclaiming with one voice: "Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God of Hosts, all the earth is full of His glory!'' —
"Oh, how glorious the kingdom in which all the saints, clothed in white robes, reign with Christ, and follow the Lamb wherever He goes.''17
Is. 6:3* Ap. 7:9 ibid. 14:4
O soul, how could any delight be missing in a place of such abundant joy?
13. Behold all around you the company of the saints, gathered by God's bounty as a crowning to your bliss.
"There is no happiness in the possession of a good that is not shared,"18 as Seneca writes. And Gregory: "What tongue could tell, what mind could grasp, how great are
SOLILOQUY
the joys of this heavenly city? Oh, to dwell amidst the choirs of angels who together with the blessed souls, stand in reverence before the Creator's glory."19 And this, with no fear of parting, but with the joy of sharing their joy forever!
Anselm writes: "Here, all are known by every one, and every one is known by all. To none is hidden the land, race, or tribe of any other."20 Here, indeed, the love of the just shall be so blessed and perfect that "every one shall love his neighbor as much as he loves himself"; and from this shall derive the boundless good that "every one shall rejoice in the other's joy as much as in his own."21
And since the number of the elect is beyond counting, who could encompass the blessed souls' delight?
14. "What a day that shall be for you when Mary the Mother of God will run to meet you, escorted by the choirs of virgins; when the Spouse Himself will come with all His saints and say: 'Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come! For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and Ct. 2.10/. gone.' Then the angels will marvel at your glory, asking:
'Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning upon her ibid. 8:5
Lover?' Then the daughters of Sion will see and praise you; then the one-hundred-and~forty-four thousand standing before the throne, and the elders, will take up their harps and sing a new canticle; then you will fly securely into the arms of your Spouse, and cry out with joy: 7 found Him whom my heart loves!' "22 Thus writes Jerome. cf. Ap. 14:1
Ct. 3:4
Then the great Job's seven sons, who dwell in this blessed land of the Rising Sun, will take turns giving feasts, cf. Jb. 1:2-4* and will invite their sister, meaning you, to be their com panion. And each one will say to you: "Drink now, and sit down and be merry; for thou hast found favor before Jdt. 12:17
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
the supreme King. And you will joyfully answer and say: ibid. 18 "I will drink ... and make merry, because my life is mag nified this day above all my days."
Oh, incredible glory, happy and delightful heights, the like of which was never seen on earth! Compared to it, all worldly glory would seem but a mere drop!
15. The Soul: O conscience, too long have I remained silent, too long have I held my peace while I listened in utter astonishment and delight to the marvels you described to me. Please, do not proceed before telling me more about this banquet of heavenly spirits, for what you have said of it is far too little.
The Inner Man: O soul, I would rather not comply with your request than permit any word from my impure lips to mar ever so slightly this heavenly mystery: hardly would I dare to think of it. Too often involved in worldli ness and vanities, as I was to this day, or even worse, still
Lk. 15:16 eating the pods of the swine in the company of other worldly men, I blush, and hesitate to speak of the godly spirits' life. But how could I not yield to your holy desire?
I will, then, briefly speak of what the Holy Spirit may pro pose to my mind, unworthy of such prompting.
In this heavenly court, the fullness of all good is given to all perfectly; and yet, because of differences in merit, it is given to some souls in a greater measure than to others.
Yet, as Gregory explains, divine kindness is so boundlessly immense that nothing in heaven is possessed exclusively by any one."23 All delights are common to all, because of Him
1 Cor. 15:28 who is all in all. There, the virgin shall find joy in the merit of blessed widows, and the widow, in the privilege of chaste virgins; the confessor shall exult in the martyrs' triumph, and the martyr, in the confessors' reward; the
SOLILOQUY
prophet shall extol the patriarchs' wisdom, and the patri arch, rejoice in the prophets' faith and foreknowledge; apostles and angels will find delight in the merits of souls of lower rank, and the lower, in the glory and crown of the higher. Thus, through the holy and perfect bond of love, every one will possess in the other whatever hap piness he may be lacking in himself.
16. The Soul: O conscience, even this is not enough to set my mind at peace. I beg you, tarry a while on this point: tell me more about that holy gathering: speak clearly and in full.
The Inner Man: O soul, you know well that "it is only with stammerings, as best we can, that we speak of God's marvels."24 And no wonder! When we are so little able to understand, how could we properly speak? The things of heaven we look upon with blurred eyes contain more truth than our mind could hold; and it is more diffi cult still to express these truths than to hold them in our mind. But I will not let you wait: listen to what the mind conceives, although the heart may hardly feel a thing.
The seven sons we mentioned point to the saints and elect, heirs and sons of the Father most high. They take Jb. turns giving feasts by feeding one another through an ex change of their heavenly joys. Hence, in the measure of the joy each one has been given, they offer to each other a delicious fare out of their personal merits.
The first day sees the banquet of the spirits first born, that is, the heavenly host of angels rightly called first born, for they were created first, and were first to choose God, and never fell away from Him through sin, but always cleaved to the Father with steady love, and were the first to gain heaven's kingdom as a blessed inheritance. O my
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
soul, the angels in their banquet offer you many rare and tasty viands, as each choir presents a special delight out of the choice reward it has received.
17. Consider first what food you receive from the high est spirits, the Seraphim's choir, "so close to the eternal
Father that none other stands in between,''25 for they con template Him with greater immediacy and enjoy His eternal treasures with greater intensity than any other choir. Imag ine the joy they pour forth from their essence so lofty; think of how clear their vision is, and how pure their love!
Speaking now of all the spirits: the Seraphim adorn heaven's banquet with the fire of divine love, the Cherubim with the light of eternal splendor, the Thrones with the justice of God's majesty, the Dominations with the author ity of superior command, the Principalities with the glory of ruling over subjects, the Powers with the faculty of con trolling malignant spirits, the Virtues with the gift of work ing wonders, the Archangels with the glory of announcing great things, the Angels with the swiftness to carry lesser secrets of God's wisdom. See how every choir sustains the hearts of the blessed with the food of heavenly joy accord ing to its own function in the supercelestial court. Why wonder, then, at the sight of these same spirits offering for our delight the marvels we described so far, and many other more deeply hidden joys? For we do know that they faithfully watch over us in this valley of tears, and desire with all their might to guide us to the door of this home land of everlasting happiness.
Bernard writes: "If only we could know how closely and attentively these blessed spirits stand with us as we sing, assist us as we pray, inspire us as we meditate, protect us as we sleep, and serve as our superior's guides!"26
SOLILOQUY
O fasting and starving soul, if only you could receive with eagerness at this banquet but a single crumb that falls Mt. 15:27 from the table of the masters, you would most certainly be able to bear with patience the present pilgrimage and all its trials; if only you could drink but a single drop of the wine of that table, you would most certainly weary of every worldly sweetness. Gregory writes in his "Ethics":
"Were the heart to dwell but once amidst the things of heaven," through tasting them, that is, "it would discover soon how lowly are many of the things that had seemed so high!"27
18. O beloved soul, what shall I say of the banquets offered by the patriarchs and prophets, the apostles and martyrs, the confessors and virgins so aptly prefigured by the other six sons? Each one offers at his particular feast as many courses as he has accomplished works of virtue in his life.
Who coitld properly tell how great a joy the soul de rives from the utter humility and simplicity of the holy patriarchs, the staunch faith and fidelity of the prophets, the burning love and zeal of the apostles, the unshaken patience of the martyrs, the gentle piety of the confessors, the chaste continence of the virgins? "Truly, our tongue and voice fail us, because our mind is unable to grasp what a great joy it is to dwell amidst the choir of angels, to stand with the blessed before the Creator's glory, to behold God face to face, to see Light uncontained, to have no fear of death, to enjoy the gift of eternal incorrupti bility."28 This from Gregory.
19. Oh, happy the day of your return to your Father's estate! Priceless the joy of your admission among the elect! Delightful your entrance into the supreme King's
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA H
cf. 3 Kgs. 10:1 chamber! Wake up, O soul, and with the famous queen go up to the heavenly Jerusalem, bearing the treasures of your good works, and the glittering jewels of your holy desires. Contemplate with care every happiness and see that reality is better than could be surmised, and glory greater than could be told. Then, in the joy of your heart,
Mt. 17:4 you will say with Peter: "Lord, it is good for us to be here!" Here is our father and mother, our brother and sis ter; here is our home! O Lord, let us stay here! Let us never leave this place!
Ambrose writes: "O soul, let us seek refuge in our home, for that is the abode for which we were created and where the Father who created us resides; that is the safe mansion,
Gal. 4:26 Jerusalem which is above,. .. which is our mother.''29 And Anselm: "O soul, while you live on earth, so burning should be your desire to reach this home for which you were made, and your sorrow for not having yet attained it, and your fear of never reaching it, that there should be for you no delight except in things that give you the hope and the means of winning the final prize."30
(4) THIRD, WHEN THE BLESSED TURN THE BEAM OF
CONTEMPLATION UPON THINGS WITHIN THEM, THEY
HAVE A THREEFOLD REASON TO REJOICE
20. The Inner Man: Our body, composed as it is of the four elements, must be rewarded with four gifts. Earth will be adorned with eternal immortality, water with com plete impassibility, air with supreme agility, and fire with dazzling brilliance.31 ''In their eternal home, the hearts of the blessed will be to one another both brightly luminous and purely transparent. There, every one's face will be
SOLILOQUY
seen, and his inner heart laid open; there, the screen of the body shall no longer hide the thoughts of a man from the eyes of another."32 — "And there," as Augustine writes,
"wherever the mind flies, the body shall be present in stantly."33— "As the spirit shall then perfectly obey its
Creator, so also shall the body promptly obey the orders of its own mover."34
There, the senses shall be active, each in its proper field: sight shall behold the most graceful visions, taste experi ence the sweetest flavors, odorate perceive the most suave perfumes, touch enfold the most delightful objects, and hearing enjoy the happiest sounds.
"O soul, let your love for the present life give place to love for the life to come: a life free of trouble and trial, of anguish and want, of vexations and hardships, but filled instead with overwhelming and eternal joy."35
Then, "our being shall be free of decay, our knowledge free of error, and our love free, of chains." — "In this place there shall be no deformity, weakness, ignorance, or cor ruption. This shall be the new heaven and the new earth;
Ap. 21:1 cf. Mt. 22:30
Lk. 20:36 there, we will be like the angels of God, if not in age, cer tainly in happiness."36 —"There shall be found life with out death, youth without aging, joy without sadness, peace without strife, desire without obstacle, light without dark ness: an eternal reign perfectly undisturbed."37 There,
"whatever you wish shall come about, whatever you do not shall not."38
21. Consider also the joy it shall be for the soul to be reunited with a body such as we have described, unlike the one you have sustained in such deep pain and over come in such fierce battles, and of which you have so often said with fear, impatience, and pitiful anger: "Who will
Rom. 7:24
ST. BONA VENTURE — OPUSCULA E
deliver me from the body of this death?" — Not that body, indeed, but another, perfectly obedient and spiritual; a body of such quality that it shall be for you a help in con templation and a cause of greater bliss. Certainly, the soul would never desire to be united to a new body, if this body, glorious as it may be, were to hinder divine contempla tion.39 But in fact, as Augustine holds and teaches, the blessed souls do seek reunion with the body and look for ward to this reunion; otherwise, their happiness could not be full nor their joy complete. Verily, so strong is this desire that, in a certain sense, it hinders them, and retards their contemplation.
Bernard writes: "O wretched flesh, foul and rotten, whence such glory that the blessed souls, stamped with God's very image and saved with His blood, desire you and look forward to you, and without you are unable to attain complete happiness and perfect joy?"40f And Augustine:
"Receiving this body — not animal any more, but spirit ual — the soul will possess in perfection the mode of being proper to its nature, which consists in the powers of obey ing and commanding, of receiving and giving life. Oh, ineffable happiness, the soul's former burden becomes its cause for joy!"41
22. O soul, imagine what glory to you this clothing in a bright and new garment adorned with every precious stone, the glorified body in which as many costly gems will shine as there are now virtues in the soul. Beyond words is the joyful, stupendous glory, beyond understanding,
Ecclus. 50:10* the praise that shall be yours for having so manfully vanquished your body with the weapons of chastity and t For the simple reason that man is by nature a body-and-soul complex, as St. Bernard has happily found out by now.
SOLILOQUY
continence; for having so effectively overcome the world by avoiding and scorning it; for having so prudently set the devil to flight through defensive warfare; for having fought so bravely every inordinate notion or love. Picture, if you can, how greatly honored you shall be by those you prompted toward a better life through your word and example. What more could be said? You shall receive special eternal acclaim for every virtuous word, thought, or deed.
(5) FOURTHLY, WHEN THE BLESSED TURN THE BEAM
OF CONTEMPLATION UPON THINGS ABOVE THEM,
THEY REJOICE IN THE SUPREME GOOD IN A PER
FECT MANNER, AND ACCORDING TO THEIR THREE
RATIONAL POWERS
23. The Inner Man: O soul, now that you have been disposed,, prompted, and invited by the counsels I have given you, turn to your Maker; behold what great joy the blessed receive from Him; understand "how delightful is that Good which contains the principle of the delightful ness of all other goods; a Good not such as we find in creatures, but differing from it as much as the Creator dif fers from the things He made. To enjoy such Good means that whatever you wish shall come about, and whatever you do not shall not."42 This from Anselm. "Hard as the life of beatitude is to attain, it is even harder to describe: for its duration is forever, its pleasure without sating, and its sustenance without food. Its ancient and eternal joys always hold new delights, and its happiness lasts forever without fear of loss."43 — "In this state of happiness there is no error in the mind, no pain in the will, no anguish in
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
the memory, f but a wonderful peace, a fullness of delight, and eternal possession of all goods without any weari ness."44 This from Bernard.
24. O soul, imagine the happiness and joy of souls for ever gazing upon the mirror of eternity where all things past, present, and future that constitute perfect beatitude are seen together most clearly. Augustine writes: "When we shall have come to the eternal brightness of the Father of Lights, we shall understand everything that can possibly exist in creatures."45 And Anselm: "Then the just shall know all that God made capable of being known."46 And again: "What could they lack, seeing as they do the One who knows all?"47 And Fulgentius: "As we see three things in a mirror, ourselves, the mirror, and the surrounding objects, so also in the mirror of divine radiance we shall see God, ourselves, and the other creatures."48
O soul who naturally strive to know, try now to see this mirror, desire to study and to read it, for to see it but once is to learn all things. Here, Plato's teachings, Aristotle's philosophy, Ptolemy's astronomy, all seem mere foolish ness, for whatever truth we may find in these is but a Is. 60:5 fragment compared to the truths we know not. Then shalt thou see and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged.
25. The Soul: And what shall I see? ibid. 33:17* The Inner Man: The King of Heaven in His beauty.
As Bede writes, "the splendor of eternal glory has such magnificence and sweetness that the angels themselves, in comparably brighter than the sun, must always be out shone by it."49 Then, you shall abound in delights because
| Memory, as used here, includes anticipation of the future.
SOLILOQUY
of the stupendous vision of God's radiance, your heart shall wonder at the pleasure of seeing yourself, and you shall be enlarged by your perfect grasp of all creatures.
Oh, the stunning and admirable contemplation! Oh, the delicious and delightful vision! Oh, the joyful and ineffable sight! Oh, how well has it been said of You, O
Lord my God: I had rather one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere—for a thousand years in Your sight are as yesterday, now that it is past. And Augustine adds:
Ps. 83:11 ibid. 89:4
"Such is the splendor of heavenly glory, so great the joy of eternal light, that if we could possess them but for a single hour, this alone would rightly make us scorn even countless days of an earthly life filled with pleasures and the plenty of every temporal good."50 For this glory is so tremendous and so sweet that once it is tasted, nothing else is worth possessing, for this one pleasure surpasses all sweetness and exceeds every possible desire.
26. The Soul: Is there anything else that is a joy to behold and a delight to contemplate?
The Inner Man: O soul, although these wonders would be enough even in the absence of anything else, there is yet another marvel. Not to mention the delightful sight of yet other almost countless wonders, there is this one that brings joy to the mind of every blessed spirit, and fills every holy creature with a happiness beyond words: the vision of the heavenly Queen's divine radiance, and of the glorified humanity of her most blessed Son.
O soul, who could ever conceive the joy of beholding the Mother of mercy, the Queen of all kindness and pity?
No longer does she repose alongside the manger where the Infant cries: all the choirs of angels now serve her as their
Lady. No longer does she tearfully seek the beloved Child cf. Lk. 2:7 cf. ibid. 43
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
lost for three days: she now gazes upon His face with eter nal joy. No longer does she flee with Him into Egypt, fearing Herod's wrath: He has now gone up to heaven, and Herod down to hell.j No longer is she tortured by all the cf. Mt. 2:l3ff. evil treatments inflicted by the Jews:}: upon her Son: now, all things are subject to Him. No longer is she wailing, weeping, and begging: "Would to God that I might die for Thee,... my Son'; no longer does she stand by her only Son dying and hanging on the gibbet of the cross; no longer does she tearfully weep while "a disciple is given to her in place of the Master, a servant in place of the Lord,"51 as if a stranger could replace her only and most
1 Cor. 15:27
2 Kgs. 18:33* sweet Son. This mother who once knew such deep misery and sorrow because of us, now stands exalted immeasurably higher than the choirs of angels and above every creature: she reigns with Christ her Son in the Trinity's mansion.
27. O soul, consider devoutly in your mind how fully satisfying it must be to see the Man, Creator of men, and the Woman, mother of the Creator; Jesus our Brother, once lost, abased, and despised, now found, restored, and reign ing, the Master of all! Oh, that you were my brother, nursed at my mother's breasts! If I met you out of doors,
Ct. 8:1
I would kiss you with the lips of my devotion, I would embrace you with the arms of my love, and none would taunt me when I lead you into my chamber with the great est, sweetest joy! This is what blessed Anselm wished to contemplate, as he wrote in his "Meditations": "O sweet est Child, when shall I behold You? When shall I appear before Your face? When shall I be sated with Your beauty? t Bonaventure has no right to judge the final destiny of any man. f There may be a tinge of anti-semitism in omitting the ill treat ments inflicted by Roman soldiers.
SOLILOQUY
When shall I look upon Your desirable countenance upon which angels desire to look? Woe to the soul that fails to 1 Pt. 1:12 love and seek You! For if it loves the world and remains a slave of sin, it shall never find peace and shall never be safe. I pray that nothing outside of You may be pleasing to me; that nothing may seem sweet or beautiful; that no treasure may give me joy that is not Your joy. May all else seem little compared to You; may all that hurts You hurt me too; may the fulfillment of Your will be my con stant aim; may I be loath to find contentment far from You, but with You let me both rejoice and weep! O good
Jesus, if it is sweet to weep over You, how delightful it will be to rejoice for You!"52 These are the words of Anselm.
The Soul; O conscience, how I yearn to see the Lord my Creator and God! How I faint with a burning hope to see Jesus my Brother and Redeemer! Wounded now with the craving to see the Virgin Mother, I weep. "Oh, when shall I possess this joy for which I long? When shall I see this glory for which I thirst? When shall He come, the Consoler I am waiting for? When shall I be filled with the abundance of His house for which I yearn?"53 Yes, it is a pain for me to look upon any creature, for immensely greater is God's beauty from which they all proceed. cf. Ps. 35:9
The Inner Man; O soul, be patient, and let your longing grow, for it is written: "A little while and you shall see Me no longer; and again a little while and you shall see Me."
Jn. 16:16
The Soul: O little while that is too long, much too long indeed! My merits may be small, but great are my desires!
The Inner Man; If your burning desire to see the divine light does indeed seem great and deep what must
ST. BONAVENTURE — OPUSCULA II
be your craving to love with perfect love the divine good ness, and to possess for evermore the divine majesty! If you do not love with all your might, how could you ex pect to behold God's delight? And if you do see and love
Him without possessing Him with full security, how could you be happy? Thus, "in this place, we shall rest and see, see and love, love and possess."54 —"He alone is the ful fillment of our desire who is forever seen, tirelessly loved, and eternally praised with joy ever-new and perfect."55
Listen to what blessed Anselm has to say in his "Pro logue" about the heavenly joys we mentioned: "How de lightful is this good that contains the joys of all goods! If created life is so pleasing, how much more so the Creating
Essence! If our salvation contains so much happiness, how much more shall we find in Salvation Himself, the Maker of all! If it is so good to know creatures, how much better shall it be to know the Uncreated!. .. Why, then, do you wander afar in search of created good? Love this one Good in which all others are contained. Is it beauty you desire?
Here, the just will shine forth like the sun. Is it freedom Mt. 13:43 or strength? Here the elect will be as angels of God in heaven. Is it long life and sound health? Here is eternal ibid. 22:30 soundness. Is it the joys of the table and the cup? Here, you shall be sated with the Lord's glory, and inebriated with the plenty of His house. Is it music? Here, the angels
Ps. 35:9* sing. Is it company and friendship? Here is the company of the blessed and the concerted will of all. Is it honors and wealth? Here, wealth and riches shall be in His house.
Is it safety and certainty? Here is eternal duration.
Ps. 111:3
O human heart, starving heart, O heart experienced or even steeped in hardships, how greatly you should rejoice if all this were yours in plenty! Ask your deepest self
SOLILOQUY
whether it could contain the joy that flows from such great blessedness. But if man is hardly able to contain the joy he plucks from his own happiness, how could he ever hold joys as great and many as the number of the elect? For in heaven everyone shall love his neighbor as much as him self, and rejoice in his neighbor's joy in the measure of his own love for him. Further still, everyone shall draw from God's happiness a joy immeasurably greater than his own and that of the elect. And while the blessed loves
God with his whole heart, and with his whole soul, and with his whole mind, even this whole heart, this whole soul, and this whole mind shall not suffice to contain the fullness of that joy. For the elect shall rejoice as much as they love, and love as much as they know: and verily the eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man how well the saints of God shall love and know you.
Mt. 22:37
1 Cor. 2:9
"O God, I pray that I may know You and love You so as eternally to rejoice in You. And if, in the present life, I cannot do so fully, grant that my love and knowl edge may at least grow on earth that my joy may he full in heaven: a joy expected here and there fulfilled.
Jn. 16:24
"O Lord our Father, You counseled, or rather com manded, through Your Son, that we ask for this fullness of joy: and You promised to grant it. I ask of You, O
Lord, that which, through Your Wonder-Counselor, You encouraged us to ask and promised to grant: that our joy may be full! Meanwhile, let my mind meditate on this joy,
Isa. 9:5 cf. Jn. 16:24 my tongue speak of it, my heart desire it, my words extol it, my soul hunger for it, my flesh thirst for it, my whole sub stance yearn for it, until I enter into the joy of my God who is Trine and One, blessed forever. Amen."56
Mt. 25:21
Rom. 1:25