The Ascent of Mount Carmel

• I Cor. ii. 14. and so fall into error. This is exemplified in the prophecy of David concerning Christ: 'Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter's vessel.'* Here God speaks of that supreme and perfect dominion, which is eternal and now accomplished; not of a dominion which is less perfect, which is temporal, and which was not fulfilled in the earthly life of Christ 15fAgain : let us suppose a man longing for martyrdom, to whom God shall say, 1 Thou shalt be a martyr.' Upon this such an one feels great interior consolation, and hopes of being a martyr. Still he does not die a martyr's death, and yet the promise is fulfilled. But why is the promise not literally performed ? Because God keeps it in the highest and substantial sense, bestowing on that soul the essential love and reward of a martyr, making it a martyr of love, granting to it a prolonged martyrdom of suffering, the continuance of which is more painful than death. Thus He bestows really on that soul what that soul desired, and He had promised. For the substance of that desire was, not any particular kind of death, but rather the oblation to God of the obedience of a martyr, and a martyr's act of love. Martyrdom itself is nothing worth without the friendship of God, Who by other means gives the love, obedience, and reward of a martyr perfectly; and the soul is satisfied as to its desires, though the death of a martyr is withheld fromlt)

16. These desires, and others like them, when they spring from true love, though not fulfilled as men under- * Pi. ii. 9» stand them, are nevertheless fulfilled in another and better way, and more for the honour of God than men know how to ask. 'The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor and ' to the just their desire shall be given.'t Many saints have desired many things for God in this life, and their desires have not been granted ; but it is certain that, as their desires were just and good, they will be perfectly fulfilled in the world to come. And as this is true, so also is it true, that God in this life performs His promise of granting their desires, though not in the way they thought. 17. In this and in many other ways the words and visions of God are true and certain, and yet we may be deceived because we do not rise to the heights of God's purpose and meaning. Thus, the safest course, which directors can take, is to lead souls into a prudent avoidance of these supernatural visitations, accustoming them to pureness of spirit in the obscurity of faith, which is the means of the divine union.

Proofs from Scripture that the divine locutions, though always It necessary for me now to show the second reason why divine visions and locutions, though always true in themselves, are not always so with regard to us. This depends on the motive on which they are founded; and it is to be understood that they are always truet

true, are not always certain in their causes. • lb. u. 17. ■f Prov. x. 24. while the cause remains, which determines God — so to speak — to inflict chastisement. God perhaps says, 1 Within a year such a kingdom shall be visited with pestilence.' The ground of this denunciation is a certain offence against God committed in that kingdom. Now if that offence ceases or is changed, the punishment will not be inflicted, or it will come in another form. The denunciation was true, because grounded upon actual sin, and would have been verified if the sin had been persisted in. This is a threatening or conditional revelation. 2. We have an instance of this in the story of Ninive. God sent Jonas to it to prophesy its ruin: 'Yet forty days and Ninive shall be destroyed.'* The prophecy was not fulfilled, because the reason of it had ceased. The people did penance for their sins ; but if they had not done so, the prophecy would have been accomplished. King Achab, as we read in the third book ot the Kings, committed a great sin, and God sent our father Elias to threaten him and his house and his kingdom with a most grievous chastisement. But when Achab rent his garments, and put haircloth on his flesh, and fasted and slept in sackcloth, and walked with his head cast down,' and was humbled, God said to the same prophet, ' Because he hath humbled himself for My sake, I will not bring the evil in his days ; but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.' t Thus we see that, because of the change in Achab, there was a change also of the threatening and sentence of God.

3. It follows, then, from this that God, having onoe • Joo. ill. 4. t 3 King* *«• 37-*9- revealed distinctly to anyone, that he was about to bless or punish either that person or any other, may still change His purpose more or less, or cease from it altogether, according to the change in the disposition of those to whom the revelation referred, or the cessation of the cause in view of which the revelation was made. And this being so, the word that He spoke will not be fulfilled according to the expectation of those to whom it was known, and that very often without its being known, why, save to God only. God is wont to speak, teach and promise, many things at different times, not to be understood, or accomplished then ; but that they may be understood afterwards, when the time is come, or when they are effectually fulfilled. It was in this way our Lord conversed with His disciples. He spoke to them in parables and dark sayings, the meaning of which they perceived not till the time came when they were to preach them to others. This time arrived when the Holy Ghost descended upon them, of Whom our Saviour had said : ' He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you.'* St. John, speaking of our Lord's entry into Jerusalem, says: ' These things His disciples did not know at the first ; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him.' t Thus, then, many divine communications, most distinctly made, may be received by us without being understood before the proper time, either by ourselves or by our spiritual directors. 4. God was angry with Heli, the high priest of Israel,

* St. John xiT. 36. t lb. xii. |fc because he knew that his 'sons did wickedly, and he did not chastise them.' * He sent a prophet to him to admonish him. ' I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should minister in My sight for ever. But now saith the Lord, Far be this from Me : but whosoever shall glorify Me, him I will glorify : but they that despise Me shall be despised.' t Now the priesthood was instituted for the honour and glory of God, and for that end it had been promised by God for ever to the father of Heli on the due fulfilment of his functions. But when Heli ceased to be zealous for God's honour— as God Himself complains— preferring his children above Him, conniving at their sins that he might not be compelled to punish them— the promise also ceased to be observed ; though it would have abided for ever, had they to whom it belonged persevered zealously in the true service of God. We are, therefore, not to imagine that the words or revelations of God, though most true, will be infallibly verified in their obvious meaning ; for they are, by the disposition of God Himself, bound up with human causes, which are liable to fluctuation and change. All this is known unto God, but He declares it not. He sends forth His word, and at times makes no mention of the condition ; as in the case of Ninive, when He declared distinctly that after forty days the city would be destroyed. At other times He declares the condition} as in the case of Jeroboam, saying, 4 If then thou . . . wilt walk in My ways . . . keeping My commandments and My precepts, as David My servant did ; I will be

* i Kings Ui iii t lb. ii. J* with thee and will build thee up a faithful house as I built up a house for David.'* 5. But after all, whether God declares the conditions or not, we must not trust to our understanding of His words; for we cannot comprehend the hidden truths of God, and the manifold meaning of His words. He is high above the heavens, speaking in the ways of eternity ; we are blind upon earth, and cannot penetrate His secrets. This is the meaning of Solomon when he said : € God is in heaven, and thou upon earth ; therefore let thy words be few.' t 6. Here, perhaps, an objection may be made: If then we cannot understand the revelations of God, nor enter into their meaning, why does He send them? I have already met this difficulty. Everything will be understood in the time appointed by Him who hath spoken, and he whom He hath determined beforehand shall understand : and then all will see that it was right and fitting it should be so : for God doeth nothing but in truth and equity. It is, therefore, most certain that we cannot perfectly understand nor grasp the full meaning of His words, nor determine the sense of them to be what it seems to be, without falling into shameful delusions. This truth was well known to the prophets to whom the word of the Lord was sent. To prophesy to the people was to them a grievous affliction ; for, as I have said, much of what they said was not fulfilled in the letter, and this proved an excuse to the multitude to ridicule and mock the prophets. 'I am,' saith the prophet, 'made a derision all the day, all do scorn me/

because now long ago I speak crying out iniquity, and I often proclaim wasting; and the word of the Lord is made a reproach to me, and a derision all the day. And I said : I will not remember Him, nor speak any more in His name.'* 7. Here the holy prophet, though he speaks with resignation and like a frail man, unable to endure the ways and secrets of God, teaches us clearly the difference between the true fulfilment and the apparent meaning of the word of God. The people treated the heavenly messengers as deceivers, whose afflictions, on account of thJlr prophecies, were so great that Jeremias cried out: 1 Prophecy is made unto us fear, and snare and destruction.' t Jonas fled when God sent him to preach the destruction of Ninive, because he did not perceive the truth, nor wholly comprehend the meaning, of the words of God. He fled, that he might not become an object of derision to the people when they saw the prophecy not fulfilled. He further stayed outside the city for forty days waiting for the accomplishment of his prophecy, and when he saw that it remained unfulfilled, he was greatly affected, and complained, saying: 'I beseech Thee, O Lord, is not this what I said, when I was yet in my own country ? Therefore, I went before to flee unto Tharsis.'J In his vexation, therefore, he prayed God to take his life from him.

8. Is it, then, surprising that the revelations are not fulfilled in our sense? For if God makes known to anyone good or evil, relating to him or to others, and if the revelation thereof be founded on the obedience or # Jerem. xx. 7-9. t Lam iii. 47. t Jon. It. disobedience of that person or the others, and if the facts continue the same, no doubt the prophecy will be fulfilled. But it is not, however, certain that it will be fulfilled in the letter, because the reasons of it may change. And therefore we must not trust to our own understanding of these revelations, but to faith. God is at times displeased with certain prayers, though He ^ answers them. Illustrations of His anger with such prayers. Some spiritual persons, as I have said,* persuade themselves— not reflecting on the great curiosity which they often display when they seek knowledge from God in supernatural ways — because their prayers are sometimes answered, that their conduct in the matter is good and pleasing unto God. Nevertheless the truth is, notwithstanding the answers they receive, that God is offended, and not pleased. And more than this, they provoke Him to anger, and displease Him greatly. The reason is this— no creature may transgress the limits which God hath appointed in the order of its being for its rule and guidance. He has ordained for man's governance certain natural and reasonable laws, the transgression of which is therefore not right: now, to seek anything by supernatural ways is to transgress these laws, and therefore an unholy and unbecoming thing, and displeasing unto God.

2. You will object, and say, Why then does God, if He i$ displeased, answer such prayers at all f I reply, the

• Ch. xyiii., Sm/r. answer occasionally comes from the devil. But when God answers, it is out of condescension to the human weakness of him who will walk in that way, that he may not become disconsolate, and go back ; or that he may not think that God is angry with him, or that he may not be tempted overmuch : or it may be for other ends known to God, founded on his weakness, in consideration of which God is pleased to answer him, and condescend to him in that way. He deals in the same way with many weak and delicate souls, giving them a sensible sweetness in their converse with Himself, not because He delights in this, or because this way is according to His will ; but because He deals with everyone according to his capacity. 3. God is as a well from which everyone may draw water according to the measure of his vessel, and He sometimes permits us to draw it through extraordinary channels, but it is not therefore necessarily right to make use of them. It belongs to God alone to determine this, Who gives how, when, to whom, and why He wills, without respect of persons. He sometimes inclines His ear to the prayer of those who cry to Him, and because of their goodness and simplicity succours them, that they may not be made sad, and not because He is pleased with their prayer. The following illustration will make this more clear. A father covers his table with divers meats, some better than others. One of his children asks for one kind, not the best, but the first that presents itself to him : he asks for it because he likes it better than any other. His father seeing that he will not take of the best, even if he offered it, and that he

would not have any satisfaction in it, gives him that he asked for. He gives it to him that he might not be left without food and disconsolate, but he gives it sorrowfully. Such was God's dealing with the people of Israel when they demanded a king. He gave them a king unwillingly, for that was not for their good. ' Hearken to the voice of the people/ saith He to Samuel : * they have not rejected thee but Me, that I should not reign over them/* He condescends in the same way to certain souls, giving them that which is not for their greater good, either because they will not, or because they cannot, walk with Him in the better way. And if at times these souls have a tenderness and sweetness, spiritual or sensible, He gives it them because they are not disposed to feed on the strong and substantial meat, the sufferings of the cross of His Son. It is His will that we should cleave thereto rather than to aught else. It is, in my opinion, much worse to seek for the knowledge of events through supernatural ways, than to seek spiritual sweetness in those of srag^

4. I do not see how I can excuse from sin, at least venial, those persons who do this, however good their intentions and great their progress in perfection. I say the same of those who bid them persevere in this way, or who consent to it. There is no necessity for their acting thus, because natural reason, the law and teaching of the Gospel are sufficient for our guidance, and there are neither wants nor difficulties which cannot be supplied or remedied by them, and that more in accordance with the will of God, and more to the profit of souls. Such is our # I Kings viii 7. obligation to make use of our reason and of the teaching of the gospel, that, whether with or without our concur- may receive that only which is consistent with reason and the evangelical law. And we are bound to examine such things much more carefully than we should do, if no revelation had been made ; for the devil, in order to deceive us, utters many things which are true and in conformity with reason. (JL-There is no better or safer remedy for all our necessities and troubles than prayer and hope, by which God is moved to provide for us by such mfeans as are pleasing unto Him. This is the counsel which the Holy Scriptures furnish us. When King Josaphat was in deepest affliction, hemmed in by his enemies on every side, he betook himself to prayer, and said, 'As we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to Thee/* When everything fails us, when reason is powerless to suggest relief, we can then lift up our eyes to Thee only, that Thou mayest provide for us, as it shall seem best to Theel

6. God too, though He sends answers to prayers thus offered, is angry. But, notwithstanding the certainty of this, I think it will be well to show it from certain passages of Holy Writ. When Saul desired to consult the prophet Samuel, then dead, the prophet came at his request; God, however, was angry with Saul, for the prophet rebuked him, saying, 4 Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I should be brought up ft \tye know, too, that God was angry, with the people of Israel when they * a Paral. xx. 12. t I Kings xxviii. 15. rence, if anything be revealed to us supernaturally, we asked Him for meat. He gave them meat, but He also sent fire from Heaven to chastise them : ' As yet the upon He was angry also with Balaam, when, at the bidding of Balac, he went to the Madianites, though God had said, * Arise and go/ Balaam was bent on going, and had asked permission of God ; but an angel stood before him in the way with a drawn sword in his hand, and sought to kill him, and said, *Thy way is perverse and contrary to Me.'t In this, and in many other ways, God condescends, but in anger, to our desires. And the Holy Writings furnish us many other instances of this truth, but on which we have no need to enlarge in a matter so plain.

7. I have only to add that it is a most perilous thing, and much more so than I can tell, to converse with God by these supernatural ways, and that whosoever is thus disposed cannot but fall into many shameful delusions. He who shall apply himself to these ways will learn by experience the truth of the matter. For over and above the difficulty of not being deceived by the divine visions and locutions, there is usually the further danger of the devil thrusting himself in among them. Satan, in general, comes to the soul in the ways and methods of God, suggesting to it communications so much resembling those of God, insinuating himself as a wolf in sheep's clothing among the flock, so that he can scarcely be detected. For as the evil spirit announces many things that are true, conformable with reason, and certain, men may be most easily deluded, thinking that, as the prophecy * Num. xi. 4, 3J ; Ps. Izxvii. 30, 31. t Num. xxii. 2a 32. meat was in their mouth) and the wrath of God came corresponded with the event, it could be none other than God Who had spoken. They do not reflect how very easy it is for one, endowed with clear natural light, to understand in their causes many matters, which have been or may be done. Such an one will accurately guess at many things to come. And as the devil is endowed with so clear a light, he is able to infer such results from such causes; though they are not always such as he describes them, because all things depend on the will of God. ^

8. Let us make this clear by an illustration devil knows that the condition of the earth and the atmosphere, and the position of the sun are such, that at a given time, the combination of the elements must, of necessity, occasion a pestilence. He will also know where the pestilence will be most violent and where least so. He perceives the pestilence in its causes. Is it a great matter for the devil, in this case, to reveal to a particular person that within a year or six months a plague will come, which does come ? Yet the prediction is diabolic. He may also foretell earthquakes in the same way. When he sees the caverns of the earth filled with air, he may say an earthquake will come at such a time. This knowledge is natural. Extraordinary events in the providence of God may also be detected in their sources. Seeing that He is most just in His dealings with men, we may be able to see, in the ordinary way, that a given individual, city, or place is come to such a state or difficulty that God, in His providence and justice, must deal therewith as the cause demands : either in the way of punishment or of reward, according to the nature of

178 THE ASCENT [BOOK n] the case. Under these circumstances, we may say, at such a time, God will visit, or such things will happen, most certainly. We have an instance of this in holy Judith, who, when she would persuade Holofernes that the people of Israel must certainly perish, told him of their many sins and the calamities they suffered, and added, 'therefore because they do these things, it is certain they will be given to destruction '*~^ 9. Here Judith saw the punishment in its cause. It is as if she had said, it is certain that such sins will draw down the chastisements of God, Who is most just. The same principle is taught in the book of Wisdom where it is written, 'By what things a man sinneth, by the same also he is tormented.' t The devil may perceive this not only naturally, but also by his experience of the like dealings of God. He may also announce it certainly beforehand. 10. Holy Tobias also knew in its causes the chastisement about to fall upon Ninive, for he warned his son thereof, saying, 'Now, children, hear me, and do not stay here; but as soon as you shall bury your mother by me in one sepulchre, without delay direct your steps to depart hence. For I see that its iniquity will bring it to destruction.'? It is as if he had said, I see clearly that its iniquity must bring on punishment, and that its punishment will be its utter ruin. This might have been foreseen by the devil and Tobias, not only because of the evil deeds of Ninive, but also from their experience of the past, knowing that God had destroyed the old world, cm account of the sins of men, by the deluge, and the

* Judith xi. 12. f Wisd. xi 17. $ ToU xiv. 12, 1J. (CHAP. XXI. j Ofr MOUNf CARMEL. people of Sodom by fire. But Tobias knew also the ruin of Ninive by the Holy Ghost. 11. The evil spirit may know that a given individual will die within a certain time in the course of nature, and may announce the fact beforehand. He may also know many other events in divers ways, which I am unable to describe, because they are exceedingly intricate and subtle. There is no escape here, therefore, but in fleeing revelations, visions, and locutions, because God is most justly offended with him who seeks them. He sees that it is rashness to expose oneself to so great a risk, and that to seek these things is presumption, curiosity, the fruit of pride, the source and root of vain-glory, contempt of the things of God, and many other evils into which so many have fallen. Such persons have so offended God that He has deliberately abandoned them to errors and delusions and mental blindness ; and has suffered them to go astray from the ordinary course of a well-regulated life, giving way to vanity and imaginations, as the prophet saith: 'The Lord hath mingled in the midst thereof the spirit of giddiness/* that is, in common speech, the spirit of understanding things the wrong way. The words of the prophet are to the point, for he is speaking of those who attempted to know future events by supernatural ways. He says, therefore, that God had mingled in the midst of them the spirit of understanding things the wrong way ; not that God willed or sent, in fact, this spirit of delusion, but that they thrust themselves into those things, the knowledge of which is naturally a secret. God, therefore, in His anger, allowed

• Is. xix. 14. them to utter foolish things, giving them no light where it was not His will they should enter. It is therefore said that He mingled, permissively, the spirit of giddiness in the midst of them. 12. This is the way in which God is the cause of this evil, namely, as the privative cause, which is the withdrawal of His light and grace, the result of which is inevitable error. It is in this way, too, that He permits the devil to blind and deceive many, whose sins and whose frowardness deserve it. The devil is then able to deceive them, and does deceive them ; men believing and accounting him a good spirit, and this to such a degree, that, though convinced that they are under the influence of the evil one, they cannot get rid of their delusions ; because, by the permission of God, the spirit of contradiction is so strong within them. This was the case with the prophets of Achab, who, by the permission of God, was deceived by them ; for He had allowed the evil spirit to do so, saying, 1 Thou shalt deceive him and shalt prevail ; go forth and do so.' * So strong was the delusion of the king and the prophets, that they refused to believe Micheas, who prophesied truly in opposition to the lying words of those prophets. They were all deceived, God having permitted their blindness because they were bent on what they liked themselves, desiring that the event and the answer of God should correspond with their own wishes and desires. This disposition of mind is the most certain road towards being abandoned of God to error and delusions. Ezechiel in the name of God prophesies to the same effect ; for speaking against

# 3 Kings xxii. 22. such as seek knowledge, in the way of God, out of vanity of mind and curiosity, he says: 'If he . . . come to the prophet to enquire of Me by him, I the Lord will answer him by Myself, and I will set my face against that man. . . . And when the prophet shall err ... I the Lord have deceived him.'* We are to understand this of the non-concurrence of God's grace, so that delusion follows. God says, ' I will answer him by Myself/ in My anger, that is, I withdraw My grace and protection ; then man falls infallibly into delusions, because God has abandoned him. Then, too, the devil comes forward and makes answer according to that man's wishes and desires, who, taking pleasure therein — the answers and suggestions of the evil one being in unison with his will— falls into many delusions. 13. I seem to have strayed in some measure from the subject, as I described it in the beginning of this chapter. I undertook to show that God was offended, even though He answered our prayers. Yet, if what I have said be carefully considered, it will be found to prove what I intended : it being clear throughout, that God is not pleased that men should seek after such visions, because they are in so many ways occasions of delusions.

It is not lawful, under the new law, as it was under the old, to enquire of God by supernatural ways. This doctrine profitable for the understanding of the mysteries of our holy faith. Proofs from St. Paul. Doubts spring up before us, and hinder us from advancing as rapidly as I wish. For as they rise, it is necessary to remove them, that the truth of this doctrine may remain clear and in its full force. These doubts bring with them this advantage, that, notwithstanding the delays they occasion, they subserve my teaching, and make my purpose clear* Such is the present doubt. 2. I said in the former chapter, it is not the will of God that men should seek for clear knowledge in visions and locutions by supernatural ways. On the other hand, We know that this method was practised under the old law, and that it was then lawful ; further still, that it was not only lawful but commanded, and that God rebuked men for not having recourse to it. He rebuked the children of Israel, because they had resolved to go down into Egypt before enquiring of Him, saying to them, 'Woe to you . . . who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth.' * When the people of Israel were deceived by the Gabaonites, the Holy Ghost rebuked them for a like fault, for it is written that ' they took of their victuals and consulted not the mouth of the Lord.'t In the Holy Writings we see that God was consulted continually by Moses, by David, by all the kings of Israel in their wars and necessities, by the

• It, xxx. I, a. t Jot. ix. 14. priests and prophets of old, and that He answered them, and was not provoked to anger, and that in this all was well done. Yea, moreover, if they had not consulted Him, they would have done amiss : which is true. Why then, may we not, under the new law and in the state of grace, do what was done under the old ? 3. To this I reply, the chief reason why the prayers in question were lawful under the old dispensation, and why it was necessary for prophets and priests to seek visions and revelations from God was, that the faith was not then revealed, that the evangelical law was not established ; and therefore that it was necessary for men to enquire of God in this way, and that He should answer them at one time by visions, revelations and locutions, at another by figures and similitudes, and again by other and different ways of communication. For all the answers, locutions, and revelations of old were mysteries of the faith, or matters pertaining or tending thereto ; inasmuch as the objects of faith proceed not from man, but from the mouth of God Himself, Who, by His own mouth has revealed them. He therefore rebuked them when they did not consult Him ; for it was His will they should do so, that He might answer them, directing all things towards the faith, of which they had then no knowledge. But now that the faith of Christ is established, and the evangelical law promulgated in this day of grace, there is no necessity to consult Him as before, nor that He should answer and speak. For in giving to us, as He hath done, His Son, Who is His only Word, He has spoken unto us once for all by His own and only Word, and has nothing further to reveal.

4. This is the meaning of St. Paul in those words, by which he endeavoured to persuade the Jews to abandon the ancient ways of conversing with God, according to the law of Moses, and to fix their eyes on Christ alone. 1 God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke, in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all, in these days hath spoken to us by His Son.'* God hath now so spoken, that nothing remains unspoken ; for that which He partially revealed to the prophets He hath now revealed wholly in Him, giving unto us all, that is, His Son. And, therefore, he who should now enquire of God in the ancient way, seeking visions or revelations, would offend Him ; because he does not fix his eyes upon Christ alone, disregarding all besides. To such an one the answer of God is : * This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him.'t I have spoken all by My Word, my Son ; fix thine eyes upon Him, for in Him I have spoken and revealed all, and thou wilt find in Him more than thou desirest or askest. For if thou desirest partial visions, revelations, or words, fix thine eyes upon Him, and thou shalt find all. He is My whole voice and answer, My whole vision and revelation, which I spoke, answered, made, and revealed, when I gave Him to be thy brother, master, companion, ransom and reward. I descended upon Him with My Spirit on Mount Tabor, and said, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him.' It is not for thee to seek new oracles and responses; for when I spoke in former times it was to promise Christ : and the prayers of those who then enquired of Me were prayers

• Heb. Li, f St. Matth. xvii. 5. for Christ and expectations of His coming, in Whom all good is comprehended, according to the teaching of the Evangelists and Apostles. But, now, he who shall enquire of Me in the ancient way, or hope for an answer at My mouth, or that I should make to him any revelation, shows that he is not content with Christ, and therefore grievously wrongs My beloved Son. While thou hast Christ thou hast nothing to ask of Me, nothing to desire in the way of visions or revelations. Look well unto Him, and thou wilt find that I have given all this and much more in Christ. If thou desirest a word of consolation from My mouth, behold My Son obedient to Me and afflicted for My love, and thou wilt see how great is the answer I give thee. If thou desirest to learn of God secret things, fix thine eyes upon Christ, and thou wilt find the profoundest mysteries, the wisdom and marvels of God, hidden in Him : 1 In Whom,' saith the Apostle, 1 are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.'* These treasures will be sweeter and more profitable to thee than all those things thou desirest to know. It was in these that the Apostle gloried when he said, ' I judged not myself to know anything among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.f If thou desirest other visions and revelations, divine or bodily, look upon His Sacred Humanity, and thou wilt find there more than can ever enter into thy thoughts, 'for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporally .'J

5. It is, therefore, unbecoming to enquire of God by supernatural ways, and there is no necessity that He should reply, for as He has spoken by Christ, we ought to • Colon, ii. 3. t 1 C9. ii a. X Goloss ii. 9. desire nothing more. He who shall now desire to know anything by extraordinary supernatural ways, implies a defect in God, as if He had not given us enough when He gave us His only Son. For though we should enquire of Him, admitting the faith and believing it, we should be guilty of curiosity showing but little faith. If we are thus curious we cannot expect to be taught, nor receive any other help in the supernatural way. For at that moment when Christ, dying on the cross cried out, ' it is consummated,'* not these forms of prayer only, but all the rites and ceremonies also of the old law were done away with?! 6. We must, therefore, be guided in everything by the teaching of Christ, of His Church and ministers, and through it seek the remedy for all our spiritual ignorance and infirmities. It is in this way that we shall obtain an abundant relief; all that goes beyond this, or neglects it, is not curiosity only, but great rashness ; and we are to rely upon nothing supernatural which does not rest on the teaching of Christ, God and man, and of His ministers.

So great is the obligation to do this, that St. Paul said : * Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach to you a gospel, beside that which you have received, let him be anathema.1 1 Seeing, then, that it is true that we must abide in the teaching of Christ, that all beside is nothing and not to be believed, unless it be in harmony therewith, he laboureth in vain who attempts' to converse with God according to the way of the ancient dispensation. Moreover, it was not lawful in those days for everyone to enquire of God— neither

#SL John* xix. Jtk did God answer everyone— but only for the priests and the prophets, for it was at their mouth that men were to seek for the law and knowledge. Whenever, therefore, anyone enquired of God, he did so through a prophet or a priest, and not by himself. And if David from time to time enquired of God, it was because he was himself a prophet, and even then he did not do so without assuming the priestly robe ; as we learn from his words to Abiathar, ' bring me hither the ephod,'* which was one of the chief sacerdotal vestments. When the ephod was brought, then it was he enquired of God. But at other times he made use of the servicq£f of Nathan and other prophets. Men were to believe that what the priests said to them came from God, because it was spoken by the mouth of prophets and of priests, and not because they themselves judged it safe. The words of God in those days were not meant by Him to be fully relied on, unless uttered by the mouth of priests and prophets ; for it is the will of God that man should be governed and directed by another man like himself, and that we should not give entire belief to His own supernatural communications, nor rely securely upon them, until they shall have passed through the human channel of another man's mouth. And so it is, whenever He reveals anything to the human soul, He does so by inclining that soul, and him to whom it should be made known, to the matter of His revelation. Until then, the soul will be destitute of entire satisfaction therein, in order that man may obtain it through another like himself, and whom God has appointed to stand in HU place.

• I Kings xxiii. 9» 7. We read in the book of the Judges that so it was with Gedeon, to whom God had more than once promised victory over the Madianites. He continued, nevertheless, to hesitate and fear, God having left him in his weakness, until he heard from the mouth of men that which God had announced Himself. So when God saw him hesitate, He said unto him, 'Arise, and go down into the camp .... and when thou shalt hear what they are saying, then shall thy hands be strengthened, and thou shalt go down more secure into the enemies camp.'* So when he had penetrated within the camp of the Madianites, he heard one of them tell another how he dreamed that Gedeon conquered them. Upon this he took courage, and with great joy made his preparations for battle. It appears from this, that God's will was that he should not feel secure till he heard from another, what God had revealed himself. 8. A like event in the life of Moses is more wonderful still. God sent him with many instructions, confirming them by miracles— the rod he had was changed into a serpent, and his hand became leprous— to be the deliverer of the people of Israel. But Moses was so weak, hesitating, and doubtful of his course, that, notwithstanding God's being angry with him, he could not resolve to undertake his work until God encouraged him by the mouth of Aaron his brother : € Aaron the Levite is thy brother ; I know that he is eloquent; behold, he cometh forth to meet thee, and, seeing thee, shall be glad at heart. Speak to him, and put my words in his mouth, and I will be in thy mouth and in his mouth.' t

• Judfi. vii. 9, 11. f Ex. ir. 14, 15. ftHAP. XXII.] OF MOUNT CARMEL. When Moses heard this he took courage, in the hope of that comfort which he was to receive from the counsels of his brother Aaron. 9. Such, too, is the conduct of the humble soul: it will not presume to converse with God by itself, neither can it satisfy itself without human counsel and direction. Such, also, is the will of God, for He draws near to those who come together in the way of truth, to make it clear, and to strengthen them in it, as He promised to do in the case of Moses and Aaron— namely, to be in the mouth of them both. He has promised us in His gospel to help us in the same way, saying, c Where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.' • Where two or three meei together, to consider what is for the greater glory and honour of My name, there am I in the midst of them, enlightening them, and confirming the truths of God in their hearts. Remember, He does not say : Where one is, but where two are, at the least. He would have us know that it is not His will that anyone should, trusting to himself, rely on the divine communications ; and that He will not establish us therein without the authority and direction of the Church or His ministers. God will not enlighten him who is alone, nor confirm the truth in his heart : such an one will be weak and cold.

10. This truth is insisted on by the preacher, saying, ' Woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up. And if two lie together, they shall warm one another: how shall one alone be warmed ? And if a man prevail against one, two shall withstand him.'t • St. Matt, xviii. 20. f Ecclcs. iv. 10, II, 12. They shall 1 warm one another ' in the fire of God ; and he that is alone cannot be but cold in the things of God. If the evil one prevail against those who are alone in their spiritual affairs, two, that is the penitent and his director, shall resist him when they come together to learn and practise the truth. And in general, until this be done, he who is alone is weak and lukewarm in it, though he may have heard it of God more than once. St. Paul himself, having preached the gospel for some time, and having received it, not from man, but from God, would not proceed further without conferring with St. Peter and the other Apostles, lest he should ' run, or had ruij in yam.' •

11. It is clear from these words of the Apostle, that it is not safe to rely on that which seems to be a revelation from God, except under the conditions I have described. For even if a person were certain that a particular revelation is from God, as St. Paul was of the gospel — for he had begun to preach it — still such an one might err in the execution of his work and in matters pertaining to it. For God does not always reveal the one, while He reveals the other; frequently He reveals a matter without revealing how it is to be brought about — because, in general, all that is within the province of human sagacity and skill He does not Himself perform nor declare, though He may have conversed familiarly for a long time with him to wj^om the revelation is made. St. Paul understood this well, for though he knew that the gospel he preached was a divine revelation, he conferred ' with St. Peter. • Gal. ii. a. [CHAP. XXII.] OF MOUNT CARMEL. l9l X2. We Lave a most clear illustration of this truth in the life of Moses. Though God conversed so familiarly with him, He never gave him the salutary counsel which Jethro suggested, that he should appoint other judges to assist him, that the people might not ' wait from morning till night/ 'Provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, in whom there is truth . . . who may judge the people at the times.' • God approved of the counsel of Jethro, but He gave it not, because the matter was within the limits of human prudence and discretion.

13. In the same way, too, all things relating to visions and divine locutions, which are within the compass ot human prudence and discretion, are not made known to us by God: it being always His will, that we should make use of our natural endowments, so far as possible ; except in matters of faith, which transcend the province of judgment and reason, though they are. not contrary to them. Let no man, therefore, imagine, although God and His Saints converse familiarly with him about many things, that they will also reveal to him the faults he commits with respect to the matter of the revelation ; for he may ascertain these in another way. We must not be too confident in this matter ; for St. Peter himself, the prince of the Church, and immediately taught of God, fell into error in his intercourse with the Gentiles. God was silent, and St. Paul rebuked him, as he tells us himself: 'When I saw that they walked not uprightly unto the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas, before them all : If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner pf the Gentiles, and not as the Jews do, how dost thou

# Ex. xviii. 21, 22, compel the Gentiles to live as do the Jews God did not warn Peter of his fault, because he might have known it in the ordinary way. In the day of judgment God will punish many for sins and errors, with whom He holds familiar intercourse now, and to whom He gives much light and strength ; because they are negligent in what they know they ought to do —relying on their converse with Him, and disregarding all besides. Such persons will then be astonished, as our Lord tells us; and they will cry, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name, and cast out devils in Thy name, and done many miracles in Thy name ? ' The answer ot the Judge will be, ' I never knew you ; depart from Me, you that work iniquity.' t Of the number of these was Balaam, and others like him, who were sinners, even though God held converse with them. God will also rebuke the elect, His own friends, with whom He conversed familiarly in this life, for the faults and negligences of which they are guilty. It is not necessary for Him to warn them now directly, because He has given them reason and the natural law to remind them of their errors.

14. In conclusion, then, I say— and I gather it from the foregoing principle— that all communications made to the soul, of whatever kind and in whatever form, ought to be clearly, distinctly, and simply revealed to our spiritual director forthwith, and in all truthfulness. Though such communications seem to us of no moment, and not worth the time they take up in recounting them — seeing that the soul, by rejecting them and making no account of • Gal. ii 14. t St. Matt. vii. 22, aj. [CHAP. XXtl.J OF MOUNT CARMEL. 'them, remains secure, as I have said ; and more especially if they are visions or revelations or other supernatural visitations, whether clear or not, or whether it be of little importance or none — still it is absolutely necessary to reveal them, though we may think otherwise ourselves. There are three reasons why it should be done : 15. God reveals many things, the fruit, meaning, and certainty of which He does not establish in the soul until he, whom God has constituted the spiritual judge of that soul, has had them before him ; for it is he who has the power to bind and to loose, to approve and reject, those communications, as I have shown by the illustrations I have given. Daily experience teaches us the same truth ; for those humble souls, to whom these visitations are made, attain to renewed satisfaction, strength, enlightenment, and security, as soon as they have revealed them to the rightful person. Yea, such is the fruit of this submission, that some who, until they had revealed them, thought they had received them not, and that they were not theirs, after revealing them receive them as it were anew.

16. In general the soul to whom these communications are made needs instruction therein, that it may be directed in that way to poverty of spirit and detachment, which is the dark night. For if the necessary instructions fail — even when the soul does not seek these things — the result will be an unconscious rudeness in the spiritual way, and a going back into the way of sense. 17. An unreserved communication is necessary for humbling and mortifying the soul, though we make no account of these visions, and regard them not. For there are some souls who have a great repugnance to reveal these matters, because they think them to be of no importance, and do not know how their spiritual director tnay deal with them. This is a want of humility, and therefore such persons must submit to reveal them. On the other hand, there are some who are ashamed to make known these things, lest they should seem to be like the saints, or for other reasons which fill them with pain when they speak. These, therefore, think themselves dispensed from manifesting their state, because they attribute no importance to it. But this is the very reason why they should mortify themselves, and reveal what has passed within them, until they become humble, gentle, and ready in this, and ever afterwards reveal with facility their interior state.

18. But remember, though I say that these communications are to be set aside, and that confessors should be careful not to discuss them with their penitents, it is not right for spiritual directors to show themselves severe in the matter, or betray any contempt or aversion ; lest their penitents should shrink within themselves, and be afraid to reveal their condition, and so fall into many inconveniences, which would be the case if the door were thus shut against them. For, as I said before, these supernatural visitations are means in the hands of God for guiding souls, and, being such, they must not be lightly regarded by spiritual directors, who are not to be surprised nor scandalised at them ; yea, rather, they must treat them with gentleness and calmness, encouraging their penitents, and giving them every opportunity [CHA*. XXIII.] OF MOUNT CAkMEL. 186 to explain them. And, if it be necessary, they must enjoin upon them this manifestation, for at times, everything is necessary in the difficulty, which penitents experience when they have to reveal their state. Let them direct them by faith, carefully instructing them to turn away from these supernatural visitations, showing them how to be detached therefrom in mind and desire, so that they may advance, and understand that one good work, or act of the will, wrought in charity is more precious in the eyes of God, than that which all the visions and revelations of heaven might effect ; and that many souls, to whom visions have never come, are incomparably mote advanced in the way of perfection, than others to whom many have been given.

Of the purely spiritual apprehensions of the understanding. I HAVE been somewhat concise in the discussion of those intellectual apprehensions which are derived from the senses, if we regard the abundance of the matter, and I am unwilling to pursue it at greater length ; because, so far as my purpose is concerned — which is the extrication of the understanding from them, and the direction % of it into the night of faith — I think I have said more than enough. I shall, now, therefore, enter on the discussion of the other four apprehensions of the understanding, which, in the tenth chapter, I said were purely spiritual — namely, visions, revelations, locutions, and spiritual impressions. I call these purely spiritual, because they do not, like those which are bodily and imaginary, reach the understanding by the way of the senses of the body; but because they reach it independently of every bodily sense, interior or exterior, clearly and distinctly in a supernatural way, and passively ; that is, irrespectively of, at least, any active operation on the part of the soul itself. 2. Speaking generally, we may say that these four apprehensions may be called visions of the soul ; for we say that the soul sees when it understands. And inasmuch as all these apprehensions are intelligible to the understanding, we say that they are spiritually visible ; and therefore the particular intelligence of them, formed in the understanding, may be called intellectual vision.

And as all the objects of the senses— of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching— in so far as they are true or false, are objects of the understanding, it follows that, as all that is bodily visible is an occasion of corporeal visions to the bodily eyes , so all that is intelligible is an occasion of spiritual vision to the spiritual eye of the soul, which is the understanding ; for, as I have said, to understand is to see. And thus, speaking generally, these four apprehensions may be called visions. The other senses, however, cannot be thus applied, for not one of them is capable of receiving, as such, the subjectmatter of another.

3. But as these apprehensions are represented to the soul in the same manner as to all the senses, it follows, to use the proper and specific terms, that all which the understanding receives by the way of seeing— for it can see spiritually, as the eyes see bodily— may be called vision; that which it receives by apprehending and perceiving new things, revelation ; that which it receives by the way of hearing, locution ; and that which it receives in the way of the other senses, such as spiritual odour, taste, and delectation, of which the soul is supernaturally conscious, may be called spiritual impressions. From all this the understanding elicits an act of intelligence or spiritual vision, as I have said, without perceiving any form, image, or figure whatever of the natural imagination or fancy, which could furnish any foundation for it : for these things are communicated directly to the soul by a supernatural operation and by supernatural means. 4. The understanding, therefore, must be withdrawn from them — precisely as from the corporeal and imaginary apprehensions— by being guided and directed in the spiritual night of faith to the divine and substantial union of the love of God, that it may not be embarrassed and made stupid by them, and thereby be hindered on the road of solitude, and detachment necessary for that end. It it be granted that these apprehensions are of a higher kind, more profitable and much more safe than those which are corporeal and imaginary, because they are interior, purely spiritual, and less liable to the intrusions of satan, and because they are communications of God to the soul, in the greatest pureness and subtilty, independent of, at least, any active operations of the soul or of the imagination ; still the understanding may be not only embarrassed by them, but, because of its incautiousness, greatly deluded.

5. I might now finish with these four apprehensions together, by giving advice common to them all, as I have already done with the others— namely : let no man seek them or desire them : still, inasmuch as a different course will enlighten us how to do so, and as there is something still to be said with reference to them, I think it well to treat of each one of them in particular. With this view I now proceed to speak of the first of them— spiritual or intellectual visions. Of the two kinds of spiritual visions which come by the super- I SAY, then, speaking directly of the spiritual visions, independent of any bodily sense, that there are two kinds to which the understanding is liable : one of corporeal substances, another of disembodied or unembodied substances. The corporeal visions are visions of all material things in heaven and earth, visible to the soul in a certain light emanating from God, in which the distant things of heaven and earth may be seen. The other visions of incorporeal things require a higher light : thus visions of incorporeal substances, as of angels and ot souls, are neither frequent nor natural in this life ; and still less so is the vision of the divine essence, which is peculiar to the blessed, unless it be communicated transiently by a dispensation of God, or by conservation of our natural life and condition, and the abstraction of the spirit; as was perhaps the case of St. Paul when he heard the unutterable secrets in the third heaven, 4 Whether in the body', saith he, ' I know not, or out of

the body, I know not ; God knoweth/* It is clear fron* the words of the Apostle that he was carried out of himself, by the act of God, as to his natural existence, 2. It is also believed that God showed His own essence to Moses, for He said unto him that He would set him in a hole of the rock, and protect him with His right hand, that he might not die when His glory passed by.t This passing by was a transient vision, God upholding with His right hand the natural life of Moses. But thesQ essential visions, such as those of St. Paul, Moses, and our father Elias, when, at the whistling of a gentle air, he ' covered his face with his mantle,' J are transient and of most rare occurrence, and scarcely ever granted, and to very few; lor God shows them only to those who, like these, are the mighty ones of His Church and law. 3. Now, though, in the ordinary course, these visions cannot be clearly and distinctly seen in this life, the effect of them may be felt in the very substance of the soul, through the instrumentality of a loving knowledge, in the most sweet touch and union pertaining to the spiritual impressions, of which, by the grace of God, I shall speak hereafter. The end I have in view is the divince embracing, the union of the soul with the divine substance. I shall speajc of it when I treat of the mystical, confused, or obscure intelligence, and explain how, in this loving and obscure knowledge, God unites Himself, with the soul, eminently and divinely. For this loving obscure knowledge, which is faith, serves in a manner, in this life as means of the divine union*

• S Cor. xii. a. t Ex. xxxiii 22. I 3 Kings xix. 13. as the light of glory hereafter serves for the beatific vision. 4. Let me now, then, speak of visions of corporeal substances, spiritually presented to the soul, after the manner of bodily visions. As the eyes behold bodily things in natural light, so the understanding, in light supernaturally derived, beholds interiorly the same natural things, and others also such as God wills ; the vision, however, is different in kind and form, for spiritual or intellectual visions are much more clear and subtile than bodily visions. When God grants this favour to any one, He communicates to him that supernatural light, of which I have spoken, wherein he beholds what God wills, most easily and most distinctly, whether they be things of heaven or of earth ; neither is their presence nor their absence any impediment to the vision. 5. When these visions occur, it is as if a door were opened into a most marvellous light, whereby the soul sees, as men do when the lightning suddenly flashes in a dark night. The lightning makes surrounding objects visible for an instant, and then leaves them in darkness, though the forms of them remain in the fancy. But in the case of the soul the vision is much more perfect ; for those things it saw in spirit in that light are so impressed upon it, that whenever God enlightens it again, it beholds them as distinctly as it did at first, precisely as in a mirror, in which we see objects reflected whenever we look upon it. These visions once granted to the soul never afterward leave it altogether ; for the forms remain, though they become somewhat indistinct in the course of time.

6. The effects of these visions in the soul are quietness, enlightenment, joy like glory, sweetness, pureness, love, humility, inclination, or elevation of the mind to God, • sometimes more, sometimes less, sometimes more of one, sometimes more of another, according to the disposition of the soul and the will of God. 7. The devil, too, can produce or mimic these visions by means of a certain natural light. He employs therein the fancy, in which, by spiritual insinuations, he presents clearly before the mind either present or distant things, And some doctors, commenting on that place in the Gospel where it is written that the devil ' showed ' our Lord ' all the kingdoms of the world,' * say that he did so by a spiritual insinuation, because it was impossible to see at once ' all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them ' with the bodily eyes. But there is a great difference between the visions of God and those of the evil one. For the effect of the latter is not like that of the former : those of satan result in dryness of spirit, in a tendency to self-esteem, to accept and make much of visions : and in no degree whatever do they produce the gentleness of humility, and love of God. Again, the forms of the diabolic visions do not remain impressed on the soul with the sweet clearness of the others, neither do they endure, yea, rather, are immediately effaced, except when the soul attaches itself to them : in that case the importance attached to them causes them to be remembered naturally, but with great dryness of spirit, and without the fruit of humility and love, which issue

• S. Matt iv. 8 ; vide S. Thorn, p. 3, q. 41, a. 2, 3 ; Abulcnscm in Matt out of the good visions, whenever they recur to the memory. 8. These visions, inasmuch as they are visions of created things, between which and God there is no congruity or proportion, cannot subserve the understanding as proximate means of the divine union. It is, therefore, necessary for the soul to be negatively disposed with respect to them, as well as to the others, if it is to advance by the proximate means, which is faith. And therefore the forms which these visions show, and which remain impressed on the soul, must not be treasured up nor preserved, neither must we trust to them ; for this would be to embarrass ourselves by dwelling on forms, images, and persons, which relate to the interior life, and not to advance in the denial of all things onwards unto God. For supposing that these forms are continually present, that would be no great hindrance, if we make no account of them. Though it be true that the recollection of them excites the soul to a certain love of God, and to contemplation, yet pure faith and detachment in darkness excites it much more, without the soul's knowing how or whence it cometh. The end of this will be that the soul goes forward, on fire with the anxieties of the most pure love of God, without knowing whence they come or on what foundations they rest. In short, as faith is rooted and infused more and more into the soul, in this emptiness and darkness, in detachment from all things, in poverty of spirit— these are different expressions of one and the same thing—so also the charity of God is the more rooted and infused into the soul. And therefore the more the soul strives to become blind and annihilated

as to all interior and exterior things, the more it will be filled with faith and love and hope. But this love at times is neither comprehended nor felt, because it does * not establish itself in the senses with tenderness, but in the soul with fortitude, with greater courage and resolution than before ; though it sometimes overflows into the senses, and shows itself tender and gentle. 9. In order, then, to attain to this love, joy, and delight which visions effect, it is necessary that the soul should have fortitude, and be mortified ; so as to abide willingly in emptiness and darkness, and to lay the foundation of its love and delight on what it neither sees nor feels, on what it cannot see nor feel— namely, on God incomprehensible and supreme. Our way to Him, is therefore, of necessity, in self-denial. Even if a soul were so wise, strong, and humble that the devil could not delude it by visions, nor make it presumptuous, as he generally does, it will make no progress, because it puts obstacles in the way of spiritual detachment and poverty of spirit, and emptiness in faith, the essential conditions of the divine union.

10. As the principles established in the nineteenth and the twentieth chapters, concerning the visions and supernatural apprehensions of the senses, are applicable to these visions also, I shall not spend further time now in treating of them at greater length*

Of revelations : their nature and division. I have now to speak, in the order laid down, of the spiritual apprehensions, which I have called revelations. Of these, some properly belong to the spirit of prophecy. In the first place, a revelation is nothing else but the disclosure of some hidden truth, or the manifestation of some secret or mystery. For instance, God permits a certain soul to understand a particular matter, by declaring the truth of it to the understanding, or makes known certain things that He hath done, is doing, or intends to do. This being so, we may say that that there are two kinds of revelations ; one, the disclosure of truths to the understanding, properly called intellectual knowledge or intelligence ; the other, a manifestation of secrets, and this is called revelation with more propriety than the former. The first kind, strictly speaking, cannot be called revelation, because it consists in God's making the soul to understand pure truths, which regard not only temporal but also spiritual things, showing them openly and distinctly. I have resolved to treat of them under the term revelations— first, because of their mutual connection and proximity, and, secondly, because I would not multiply distinctions.

2. I distinguish revelations therefore into two kinds of apprehensions—intellectual knowledge, and the manifes- . tation of the secrets and hidden mysteries of God. I shall conclude the subject, with the utmost brevity, in two chapters ; and, first, of intellectual knowledge. [CHAP. XXVI-l OF MOUNT CAltttfcL.

The knowledge of pure truths. Two kinds thereot The conduct This knowledge of pure truths requires, for its proper explanation, that God should hold the hand and wield the pen of the writer. Keep in mind, my dear reader, that these matters are beyond all words. But as my purpose is not to discuss them, but to teach and direct the soul through them to the divine union, it will be enough if I speak of them concisely within certain limits, so far as my subject requires it. 2. This kind of visions, or rather knowledge of pure truths, is very different from that described in the iwenty-second chapter, for it is not the same with the tntellectual visions of bodily things. It consists in comprehending or seeing with the understanding the truths of God, or of things, or concerning things which are, have been, or will be. It is most like to the spirit of prophecy, as I shall perhaps hereafter explain. This kind of knowledge is twofold : one relates to the Creator, the other to creatures. And though both kinds are most full of sweetness, the delight produced by that which relates to God is not to be compared with aught beside ; and there are neither words nor language to describe it, for it is the knowledge of God Himself and his delights ; •as the Psalmist saith, « There is no one like to Thee.'*

3. This knowledge relates directly unto God, in the deepest sense of some of His attributes ; now of His of the soul therein • Pf. xxxix. 6. omnipotence, now of His might, and again of His goodness and sweetness ; and whenever the soul feels it, it is penetrated by it. In so far as this becomes pure contemplation, the soul sees clearly that it cannot describe it otherwise than in general terms, which the abundance of delight and happiness forces from it; but still those are not adequate expressions of what it feels within. Thus David, having had experience of this state, makes use of ordinary words, saying, 'The judgments of the Lord,' that is, what we judge and feel about God, His might and His attributes, ' are true, justified in themselves, more to be desired than gold and many precious stones, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.'* 4. When God gave Moses the knowledge of Himself, while passing by, all that Moses could say was uttered in ordinary words. For when the Lord passed before him he fell prostrate on his face, and said, * O the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, patient and of much compassion and true, Who keepest mercy unto thousands !'f It is evident from this that Moses was unable to describe what he learned of God in that particular knowledge, and so gave utterance to these words. And though at times, when this knowledge is vouchsafed to the soul, words are uttered, yet the soul knows full well that it has in nowise expressed what it felt, because it is conscious that there are no words of adequate signification. Thus St. Paul, admitted to this knowledge of God, did not attempt to express it, only saying that he had * heard secret words which it was not granted to man to utter.'J

* Ps. xviii. II. t Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7. X 2 Cor. xli 4. [CftAP. XXVt] O* MOUNt CARMEL. 207 5. This divine knowledge concerning God never relates to particular things, because it is conversant with the Highest, and therefore cannot be explained unless when it is extended to some truth less than God, which is capable of being described ; but this general knowledge is ineffable. It is only a soul in union with God that is capable of this profound loving knowledge, for it is itself that union. This knowledge consists in a certain contact of the soul with the Divinity, and it is God Himself Who is then felt and tasted, though not manifestly and distinctly, as it will be in glory. JT^But this touch of knowledge and of sweetness is so strong and so profound that it penetrates into the inmost substance of the soul,(and the devil cannot interfere with it, nor produce anything like it— because there is nothing else comparable with it— nor infuse any sweetness or delight which shall at all resemble it.) This knowledge savours, in some measure, of the divine essence and of everlasting life, V and the devil has no power to simulate anything so great. )

6. Nevertheless the devil is able to produce certain ) pretended imitations of it, by representing to the soul a certain grandeur and sensible fulness, striving to persuade that this is God ; but he cannot so do this as that his influence shall penetrate into the interior part of the soul, renew it, and fill it with love profoundly, as the knowledge of God does. For there are some acts of knowledge and touches of God, wrought by Him in the substance of the soul, which so enrich it that one of them is sufficient, not only to purge away at once certain imperfections, which had hitherto resisted the efforts of a $dS m Ascfeirr tB00fe ttl whole life, but also to fill the soul with virtues and divine gifts. Such is the sweetness and deep delight of these touches of God, that one of them is more than a recompense for all the sufferings of this life, however great their number They render the soul so generous and so courageous in the endurance of afflictions for God, tnat it becomes a special pain to see its tribulations diminished. 7. Now the soul can never ascend to the height of this knowledge by any reflections or imagination, because it transcends all these, and so God effects it without the co-operation of the soul. Sometimes, when the soul least thinks of it, ailtl when it least desires it, God touches it divinely, causing certain recollections of Himself. Sometimes, too, the divine touches are sudden, occurring even while the soul is occupied with something else, and that occasionally of trifling moment. They are also so sensible and efficacious, that at times they make not only the soul, but the body also, to tremble. At other times they come gently, without any agitation whatever, accompanied by a deep sense of delight and spiritual refreshing.

8. On other occasions, they come at the hearing or utterance of a word, whether taken from the Holy Scripture or elsewhere. But they are not always equally sensible and efficacious, for they are very often exceedingly slight ; but however slight they may be, one of these recollections and touches of God is more profitable to the soul than any other knowledge of, or meditation on, the creatures and works of God. And as this knowledge is communicated suddenly, and independently of the [CHAP. XXVl.] OF MOUNT CARMEL. 209 will, the soul must not strive to receive it, nor strive not to receive it, but be humble and resigned ; for God will do His own work, how and when He will. I do not say that the soul is to conduct itself negatively here, as in the case of the other apprehensions ; because the divine touches are a part of the union, to which I would direct the soul, and for attaining unto which I teach it to withdraw and detach itself from all besides. The means by which God effects this great work must be humility and patient suffering for love of Him, with resignation, and indifference as to all reward. These graces are not bestowed on the soul which cleaves to anything of its own, inasmuch as they are wrought by an especial love of God towards the soul, which also loves Him in perfect detachment and pure disinterestedness. This is the meaning of those words of our Lord, 1 He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father : and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.' * These words refer to this knowledge and these touches, of which I am Speaking, and which God manifests to the soul that truly loves him.

9. The second kind of knowledge, or of visions of interior truths, is very different from this, being of things greatly lower than God. It includes the perception of the truth of things in themselves, of actions and events in the world. Such is the nature of this knowledge, whenever it is given, that it compels assent, without regard to any assertion on the part of others ; even if the matter be told otherwise, the soul is unable to assent interiorly to that account, though it may do violence to itself for that • St. John xiv. 21. end. The mind perceives something else in that which had been spiritually presented to it, and sees it, as it were, clearly. This may belong to the spirit of prophecy, or to that gift which St. Paul calls ' the discerning of spirits/ * Still, though the soul may hold what it perceives to be certain and true, it must not on that account refuse belief and obedience to its spiritual director, though his counsels plainly contradict the impressions received. This must be done in order that the soul may be directed in faith to the divine union, towards which it should journey by believing rather than by understanding.

10. The Holy Scriptures furnish clear evidence of both the one and the other. The particular knowledge of things is thus spoken of by the wise man : * He hath given me the true knowledge of the things that are : to know the disposition of the whole world and the virtues of the elements. The beginning and ending, and midst of the times; the alterations of their courses, and the changes of seasons ; the revolutions of the year, and the dispositions of the stars ; the natures of living creatures and the rage of wild beasts; the force of winds, and reasonings of men ; the diversities of plants, and the virtues of roots ; and all such things as are hid and not foreseen, I have learned : for wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me.' f And though this knowledge of all things, which the wise man says he had received from God, was infused and general, the passage before us is sufficient evidence for all the particular knowledge which God infuses into souls supernaturally, according to • i Cor. xiL ia t Wisd, vil 17, 21. His good pleasure : not that He gives a general habit of knowledge, as He gave to Solomon, but that He reveals occasionally certain truths concerning those matters of which the wise man is speaking here.

11. Though our Lord, it is true, infuses into many souls habits of knowledge relating to many things, still He does not infuse them so generally as in the case of Solomon. There is a difference like that between the gifts, mentioned by St. Paul, which God distributes; among these are wisdom, knowledge, faith, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers kinds of tongues, and interpretation of speeches : « To one indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom . . . and to another the word of knowledge, ... to another faith, ... to another prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits, to another divers kinds of tongues, to another interpretation of speeches/* All these kinds of knowledge are infused graces gratis date, gratuitously given of God to whom ' He will, as He gave them to the holy prophets and the Apostles, and to other saints. 12. But over and above these gifts, or graces gratis date, perfect persons, or those who are advancing to perfection, very frequently receive the knowledge of things present or distant, in a certain illumination of their purified and enlightened mind. The following words in the book of Proverbs are applicable in this sense : 1 As the faces of them that look therein, shine in the water, so the hearts of men are laid open to the prudent.' t This is to be understood of those who have attained to the science of

* 1 Cor* xii. 8, ia t Prov. xxfii. 19. the saints, in Holy Scripture called prudence.* In the same way, too, spiritual persons understand other things, though not always when they will : for this gift is theirs only who have the habit of this knowledge, and even they sometimes are at fault, because all this depends on the good pleasure of God, 13. Those persons, whose minds are purified, ascertain with great facility, some better than others, what is passing in the hearts of men, their inclinations and their capacities ; and this from certain outward signs, however slight they may be, such as expressions, motions, or gestures. As the devil, being a spirit, can do this, so also the spiritual man, according to the words of the Apostle: 'The spiritual man judgeth all things,'t and * the Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God.'J Therefore, though spiritual men cannot, in the order of nature, know the thoughts and intentions of others, yet by supernatural enlightenment, through certain signs, they may well do so. And though they may be often deceived in their interpretation of these signs, yet for the most part they will be correct. But we are not to rely on any of these mean**, for the devil may insinuate herein with exceeding cunning, as we shall presently see, and in consequence of this, we must renounce this method and form of knowledge.

14. Spiritual persons are able to see, though far away, what other men are doing. We have an instance of this in our holy father Eliseus, who saw his servant Giezi hide the gifts he had received from Naaman. * lb. ix. io, Scientia sanctorum prudentia. f I Cor. ii. 15. t Ib> 10. Was not my heart present,' saith the prophet, 'when the man turned back from his chariot to meet thee ?'* Eliseus saw in spirit the act, as if he had been present on the spot. The same prophet saw also what passed in the council of the king of Syria, and revealed it to the king of Israel, thereby frustrating the devices of the former. So when the king of Syria saw that his plans became known to his enemy, he complained to his people, saying : € Why do you not tell me who it is that betrays me to the king of Israel ? And one of his servants said, No one, my lord O king ; but Eliseus the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel all the words that thou speakest in thy privy chamber.'t 15. Both the one and the other kind of this knowledge of events are granted to the soul passive, without effort on its part. For it sometimes occurs that a person, while not thinking at all of the matter, receives in spirit a vivid preception of what he hears or reads, and that with greater distinctness than the words involve; and sometimes, too, even when he knows not the language to which the words belong, the knowledge of the matter is conveyed to him without his being able to explain the terms that imply it.

16. As to the delusions which the devil is able tc effect, and does effect, with reference to this knowledge, I have much to say. Those delusions are very great and very difficult of detection ; for the devil, by way of suggestion, is able to represent much intellectual knowledge to the soul, by the use of the bodily senses, and is able to * 4 Kings v. 36 t lb. vi n, ia. establish that knowledge so firmly as to make it appear true ; and if that soul be not humble and cautious, he will no doubt cause it to believe an infinity of lies. For the suggestions of the devil offer great violence to the soul at times, especially because the senses are weak ; and he plays on that weakness with such force, persuasiveness, and determination, that much prayer and repeated efforts become necessary on the part of the soul, in order to shake off his influence. 17. He is wont occasionally to reveal, falsely, but with great distinctness, the sins of others, evil consciences, and corrupt souls, with a view to detraction, and to induce him, to whom the revelation is made, to publish the sins in question, so that other sins may be added to them. He stirs a false zeal, deluding him, in whom he stirs it, into the belief that these revelations are intended to lead him to pray for the souls of those whom he thus traduces.

It is indeed true that God sometimes represents to holy souls the necessities of their neighbours, that they may pray for them, or relieve them. He revealed to Jeremias the weakness of Baruch, that he might advise him therein.* But most frequently it is the devil that doeth this, and that falsely, in order that persons may be accused of sin, and afflicted ; of this we have many proofs. At other times, he communicates with much certainty other kinds of knowledge, and induces men to believe them.

18. All such knowledge as this, whether it comes from God or not, can be but of little profit to the soul in the way of perfection, if it trusts to it : yea, rather, if it is not careful to reject it, it will not only hinder it on its road, but will bring upon it great evil, and cause it to fall into many delusions ; for all the dangers and inconveniences of the supernatural apprehensions, and many more, are to be found here. I shall, therefore, not enlarge further on this point ; seeing that I have already given sufficient instruction on this matter, and shall say but this, that the penitent must be .careful to reject this knowledge, walking with God in the way of knowing nothing, and to give account to his director of it all, and abide constantly by his advice. 19. Let the director guide his penitent quickly past this, and not suffer him to dwell upon it, because it is of no help to him on the road to the divine union. For as I have said of those things which are passively wrought in the soul, the fruit which God wills, remains. I do not, therefore, think it requisite to describe the effects of this knowledge, whether true or false, for my task in such a case would be wearisome and endless. The effects in question cannot be described within reasonable limits, for as the knowledge is manifold, so are the effects of it. The true knowledge brings forth good issues, tending to good; and the false knowledge evil, tending to evil. When I say that this knowledge is to be rejected, and how it is to be done, I have said enough.

Of the second kind of revelations, the disclosure of secrets and hidden mysteries. How they may subserve and hinder the divipe union. Of the many delusions of the devil incident to them. I explained the second kind of revelations to be the manifestation of secrets and hidden mysteries. This again is twofold. One relates to God Himself, and includes the revelation of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity and the divine unity. The second relates to God in His operations, and includes all the other articles of the holy catholic faith, and the truths explicitly resulting therefrom. It includes also a great number of prophetic revelations, promises, and threatenings of God, and other matters which have already been accomplished, and which shall hereafter occur. We may also refer to this second kind of revelations, many other particular events which God ordinarily reveals, as well concerning the world in general, as also concerning particular kingdoms, provinces, states, families, and persons. We have abundant evidence of all this in the Holy Scriptures, especially in the books of the prophets, where we meet with revelations of all kinds. 2. But as this matter is perfectly plain and clear, I will not spend my time in adducing the proofs ; but content myself with saying, that these revelations are not always expressed irr words, for God makes them in many and divers ways. Sometimes He makes them by words alone, and sometimes by signs alone, figures, images, and resemblances, and at other times by both signs and

words together ; as we see in the prophets, particularly in the Apocalypse, where we find not only the kinds of revelations here spoken of, but also the divers modes by which they are made. 3. God still in our day makes revelations of the second kind. He reveals to some individuals how long they shall live, what trials they have to endure, or what will befall such and such a person, such or such a kingdom. And even with regard to the mysteries of our faith, He is wont to reveal the truths thereof by a special light and meaning. This, however, is not properly a revelation, because the matter has been already revealed, but rather a manifestation and explanation of it. 4. In those things, therefore, which we call revelations —I am not now using the word as relating to the revelation of the mysteries of the faith—the devil may interfere on a great scale. For as these revelations are generally expressed by words, figures, and similitudes, the devil may also imitate the same most easily. If, however, in the first and second kind, in that which touches the faitH, any new or different revelation be made, we are in no wise to give heed to it ; no, not even if we learned it from an angel from heaven. * Though we or an angel from heaven/ saith the apostle, * preach a gospel to you beside that which you have received, let him be anathema.' * No new revelations are to be admitted in the matter of that once made, beyond what may be consistent with it, lest we should go astray by admitting contradictions, and stain the soul, which should keep the feith. We must bring the understanding into captivity,

* Galat. L & and cleave in simplicity to the faith and teaching of the Church, 'for faith/ saith S. Paul, 'cometh by hearing/* No man will give heed or credit easily to new revelations, unless he has a mind to be deceived. 5. The devil with a view to deceive mankind, and propagate delusions in the world, begins by publishing truth, and what is likely to be true, in order to gain our confidence. He resembles herein a cobbler, who with the sharp bristle at the end of his thread penetrates the leather, and then draws after it the soft and waxened part, which never could have penetrated the leather by itself, without being preceded by the hard bristle. Great circumspection is necessary here ; for though it were true that the soul ran no risk of delusion, yet is it more becoming that it should not desire clear knowledge, so that it may preserve the merit of its faith iii its purity and integrity, and come in this night of the understanding to the divine light of union 6. It is of the utmost moment for us, when a new revelation is brought to us, to close the eyes of our understanding, and rest on the ancient prophecies. The Apostle himself, though he had seen the glories of Tabor, writes, 'We have the more firm prophetical word, whereunto you do well to attend.' t Though the vision which we saw on the mount was true, yet the more certain and more firm is the word of revealed prophecy, on which you do well to rest your souls.

7. If it be true, for these reasons, that we ought not to regard with curiosity any new revelations on the subjectmatter of the faith ; how much more ought we also, not • Rom. x. 17. 1 3 S. Pet. L 19. to admit, or heed, other revelations relating to other matters ? It is in these that the devil in general is so strong, that I think it impossible to escape his delusions in many of them, if we do not strive to repel themf such appearance of truth and certainty does the devil throw around them. He unites together so many probabilities, and all so consistently arranged, in order to gain credit, and roots them so firmly in the senses and the imagination, that the subject of them believes them without any hesitation whatever. He makes the soul trust to them so completely, that if it were not humble, it could scarcely be persuaded of their falsehood and disentangled from his delusions. 8. For this cause, therefore, the pure, simple, cautious, and humble soul ought to resist and reject these revelations and other visions , for it is not necessary to seek them, yea rather it is necessary to reject them, if we are to attain to the union of love. This is the meaning of Solomon when he said, ' What needeth a man to seek things that are above him?'* That is, it is not necessary for perfection, by supernatural and extraordinary ways, to seek supernatural things which are beyond our reach.

9. Having, in the nineteenth and twentieth chapters, replied to the objections that may be brought forward, I now refer the reader thereto, and conclude the discussion of revelations of this sort: it being sufficient to have said that the soul ought to be very prudent in the matter, that it may walk in pureness, without illusions in the night of faith, to the divine union. • Eccies. ?iL !•

Of the interior locutions which occur supernaturally. Their It is necessary for the reader to keep in mind continually the end and object which I have in view— namely, the direction of the soul, through all its natural and supernatural apprehensions, without illusion or perplexity, in pureness of faith to the divine union with God — that he may perceive that I am not too concise; though I do not enter into divisions and subdivisions of the subject, while treating of the apprehensions of the soul, as, perhaps, the understanding might require. On the whole, I think I have furnished sufficient advice, information, and warning, to enable the soul, by a prudent behaviour, in all these interior and exterior matters, to make progress onwards. This is the reason why I have so soon dismissed the subject of prophecy like the rest, having at the same time much to say of each kind, according to their distinctive characteristics, which are so many that I should never accomplish my task. I am satisfied that I have said enough about them, and that I have given the true doctrine and the requisite cautions with reference to them, and to every other matter of a like nature that may pass within the soul.

2. I shall pursue the same course with the third kind ot apprehensions, the supernatural locutions of spiritual men, which are effected without the instrumentality or the bodily senses. These locutions, notwithstanding their variety, may be comprised under three designations; successive, formal, and substantial words. By successive words I mean certain words and considerations which the mind, self-recollected, forms and fashions within itself. By formal, I mean certain distinct and definite words, which the mind receives not from itself but from a third person, sometimes while in a state of self-recollection, and at other times while not. By substantial, I mean other words which are also formally in the mind, sometimes while it is recollected, and sometimes while it is not. These words produce an effect in the innermost soul that substance and power of which they are the expression. I shall speak of these in the order I have named them. Of the first kind of words formed by the mind self-recollected The causes of them. The advantages and disadvantages of them. At all times when successive words take place, it is when the mind is collected and absorbed by some particular subject; and while attentively considering the matter which occupies its thoughts, it proceeds from one part of it to another, puts words and reasonings together so much to the purpose, and with such facility and clearness discovers by reflection things it knew not before, that it seems to itself as if it was not itself which did so, but some third person which addressed if interiorly, reasoning, answering, and informing. And in truth there is good ground for such a notion ; the mind then reasons with itself as one man does with another, and to a certain

extent it is so. For though it be the mind itself that thus reasons, yet the Holy Ghost very often assists it in the formation of these conceptions, words, and reasonings. Thus the mind addresses itself to itself as if to some other person. 2. For as the understanding is then united, and intently occupied, with the truth of that whereof it thinks, and as the Holy Spirit is also united with it; the understanding in this communion with the Divine Spirit, through the channel of that particular truth, forms successively within itself those other truths which relate to the matter before it ; the Holy Ghost, the Teacher, opening the way and giving light. This is one way in which the Holy Ghost teaches us. The understanding, being thus enlightened and instructed by the great Teacher, while perceiving these truths, forms at the same time the words in question about those truths which it receives from another source. We may apply to this the saying of Isaac, ' The voice, indeed, is the voice of Jacob ; but the hands are the hands of Esau.' * He who is in this state cannot believe that the words and expressions do not proceed from some third person, not knowing how easily the understanding can form words about conceptions and truths which it derives from another person.

3. Now, though it is true that there can be no illusion in this communication, and in the enlightenment of the understanding; still illusions may, and do, frequently occur in the formal words and reasonings which the understanding forms about them. Inasmuch as the light • Genes, xxvii. 22. then bestowed is most subtile and spiritual, so much so that it is beyond the capacity of the understanding, the result is that the understanding in its own strength forms these reasonings which in consequence are often false, apparently true, or imperfect. When a man has the clue of a true principle and then deals with it by his own abilities, or in the ignorance of his weak understanding, it is an easy thing for such an one to fall into delusions, and that too, in this way, as if a third person were addressing him. I have known one who had these successive locutions, but who, on the subject of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, amid some most true, had others full of error. 4» I am terrified by what passes among us in these days. Anyone, who has barely begun to meditate, if he becomes conscious of these locutions during his selfrecollection, pronounces them forthwith to be the work of God, and, considering them to be so, says, God has spoken to me, or, I have had an answer from God. But it is not true :

such an one has been only speaking to himself. Besides, the affection and desire for these locutions, which men encourage, caus.e them to reply to themselves, and then to imagine that God has spoken. The consequence is that they fall into great disorders, if they do not restrain themselves, and if their spiritual director does not command them to abstain from these interior discourses ; for the fruit of them is foolishness and impureness of soul, and not the spirit of humility and mortification. They think that these locutions are great things, that God has been speaking to them, when in truth all was little more than nothing, or nothing, or

less than nothing. For what is that worth which does not beget humility and charity, mortification, and holy simplicity and silence ? These locutions, then, may prove a great hindrance to the divine union, because they lead astray the soul, that thinks much of them, from the abyss of faith, where the understanding ought to abide in obscurity, and in obscurity advance by faith in love, and not by much reasoning 5 You will object, and say, Why must the understanding deny itself in these truths, seeing that the Spirit of God enlightens it in them, and that they cannot for that reason proceed from the evil one ? I answer, the Holy Ghost enlightens the recollected understanding, and in proportion to its recollection ; and, as there can be no greater recollection of the understanding than in faith, the Holy Ghost will not enlighten it in any other way more than in that of faith. For the more pure and clean the soul in the perfection of a living faith the greater is the infusion of charity, and the greater the charity the greater the illumination, and the more abundant the graces Though it be true that in this illumination some light is given to the soul, yet the light of faith, wherein nothing is clearly seen, is in kind as different from it as refined gold from base metal, and in quantity as the sea exceeds a drop of water. In one way the soul r* ceives the knowledge of one, two, or three truths ; but in the other the Wisdom of God generally, which is His Son, in one simple universal knowledge communicated to the soul by faith.

6- If, again, you object and say that this is all good; and that it hinders not the other ; my answer is, that it hinders very much if the soul makes any account of it ; for by doing so the soul occupies itself with evident matters and of little moment, which hinder the communication of the abyss of faith, wherein God supernaturally and secretly teaches the soul, and trains it up, in a way it knows not, in virtues and in graces. We shall never profit by these successive locutions if we deliberately contemplate them with the understanding, for if we do this we shall lose all the good of them, as it is written, * Turn away thy eyes from me, for they havQ made me flee away.' * We must therefore, simply and sincerely, without applying the understanding to the matter of these supernatural communications, direct the > will lovingly to God, because it is by love that these / blessings are bestowed, and that in greater abundance than before. If the powers of the understanding, or of our other faculties, be actively applied to these things which are supernaturally and passively received, we shall find that our incapacity and ignorance will not reach them. They will therefore be modified and changed, and so we shall of necessity incur the hazard of delusions while forming these reasonings within ourselves. This will be neither supernatural itself, nor in any respect resemble it, but it will be something most natural and common.

7. There are some r**n whose understanding is so quick and penetrating that their conceptions, when they are self-recollected, naturally proceed with great facility, and form themselves into these locutions and reasonings so clearly as to make them think that God is speaking. • Cant vi. 4. But it is not so. All this is the work of the understanding, somewhat disengaged from the operations of sense; for it may do this and even more without any supernatural help whatever, by its own natural light This is a state of things of frequent occurrence, and many delude themselves into the belief that they have acquired the gift of prayer, and that God converses with them; they write down, or cause others to write for them, what they have experienced. And after all it is nothing : without the substance of virtue, and serving to no other end than to minister food to vanity. 8. Let such persons learn to disregard these locutions, and to ground the will in humble love ; let them practise good works, and suffer patiently, imitating the Son of God, and mortifying themselves in all things : this, and not the abundance of interior discourses, is the road unto spiritual good.

9. These interior successive locutions furnish occasions to the evil spirit, especially when persons have an inclination or affection for them. For when they begin to recollect themselves, the devil offers to them materials for discursive reflections, suggesting thoughts and expressions to the understanding; and then, having deceived them by things that appear to be true, casts them down to the ground. Such is his dealing with those, who have entered into a compact with him, tacit or expressed. Thus he converses with some heretics, especially with heresiarchs; he informs their understanding with most subtle thoughts and reasonings, false, however, and erroneous. 10. It appears, then, that these successive words may proceed from three sources : from the Holy Spirit, moving and enlightening ; from the natural light of the understanding ; and from the evil spirit suggesting. It will be rather a difficult matter to describe the signs and tokens, by which it may be known from which of these sources particular locutions proceed, but some general notions may be given. When the soul loves, and at the same time is humbly and reverently conscious of that love, it is a sign that these locutions come from the Holy Ghost, Who, whenever He grants us these graces, grants them through love. When they come from the vivacity and light of the understanding only, it is that which affects them without any operation of virtue— though the will may love naturally in the knowledge and light of those truths— and, when the meditation is over, the will remains cold, though not inclined to vatiity or evil, unless the devil shall have tempted us anew.

The locutions of the Holy Ghost cannot issue in this, fof when they are over, the will is usually affectionately disposed towards (rod, and inclined to good, though sometimes, certainly, the will may be dry, even after the communications of the Holy Spirit, God thus ordering it for the profit of particular souls. At other times, too, the soul will not be very sensible of the operations or motions of these virtues, and yet what passes within will have been good. This is why I have said that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish one from another, because of the various effects which they sometimes have. The effects I have mentioned are the most common, though sometimes more, and Sometimes fe*s abundant.

11. The evil locutions are occasionally hard to distinguish, for, though they dry up the love of God in the will, and incline men to vanity, self-esteem, or complacency ; Still they beget ^t times a certain false humility and fervent affection of the will founded on self-love, which requires for its detection great spirituality of mind. This the devil brings about, the better to conceal his presence. He is able perfectly well to produce tears by the impressions he makes, and he does so that he may inspire the soul with those affections, which he desires to excite. But he always labours to move the will so that men sliall esteem these interior communications, and make much account of them, in order to induce them to give themselves up to them, and occupy themselves with what is not virtue, but rather an occasion of losing what virtue they may have. 112. Let us, therefore, abide by this necessary caution, in order to escape all perplexity and delusions ; never to make any account of these locutions, from whatever source they may come, but learn how to direct our will courageously to God in the perfect fulfilment of His law and holy counsels, which is the wisdom of the saints, content with the knowledge of those truths and mysteries, in simplicity and sincerity, as the Church sets them forth, for these are sufficient to inflame our will ; without thrusting ourselves into deep and curious investigations, where the absence of danger is a miracle. It was with reference to this that St. Paul exhorts us c not to be more wise than it behoveth to be wise.'* Let this suffice on the subject of successive words.

* Rom. xii. 3. [CilAP. XXX. J OF MOUNT CARMEL.

Of interior words formally wrought in a supernatural way. Of the dangers incident thereto; and a necessary caution against delusions. The second kind of interior locutions are formal words, uttered in the mind sometimes supernaturally, without the intervention of the senses, whether in a state of recollection or not. I call these formal words, because the mind formally perceives they are spoken by a third person, independently of its own operations. For this reason they are very different from those of which I have just spoken. They differ from them, not only because they take place without any effort of the mind, but sometimes even when the mind is not recollected, and far from thinking of what is uttered within it. This is not so in the case of successive words, for these always relate to the matter which then occupies the mind, The locutions of which I am now speaking are sometimes perfectly formed, sometimes not, being very often, as it were, conceptions, by which something is said, at one time in the way of an answer, at another by another mode of speaking. Sometimes it is one word, at another two or more, and occasionally successive words, as in the former case : for they continue in the way of instruction to the soul, or of discussion with it. Still all takes plaqe without the active participation of the mind, for it is as if another person were then speaking, as we read in Daniel, who says that an angel instructed him and spoke. This was formal successive reasoning and in-

struction : the angel says, ' I am now come forth to teach thee.'* 2. When these locutions are no more than formal, the effect on the mind is not great. They are in general sent only to instruct and enlighten us on a particular subject ; and it is not necessary for this purpose, that they should have another effect different from that, for which they are sent. And so whenever they come from God, they effect their object in the soul ; for they render it ready to accomplish what is commanded, and enlighten it so that it understands what it hears. They do not always remove the repugnance which the soul feels, but rather increase it ; and this is the operation of God, the end of which is the more perfect instruction, humiliation, and profit of the soul. This repugnance is in general the result, when great and noble deeds are commanded ; and there is greater promptitude and facility, when vile and humiliating things are enjoined. Thus when Moses was commanded to go unto Pharao, and deliver the people of Israel, he felt so great a repugnance for his task, that God was obliged to command him three times, and show him signs. And after all, this was not sufficient until God gave him Aaron, as his partner in the work, and a partaker of his dignity.

3. On the other hand, when these locutions are from the evil spirit, great things are readily undertaken, buthumble occupations become repugnant. God hates to see men inclined to greatness and honour ; for when He bids them accept dignities, and when He bestows them Himself, He wills not that they should be accepted with readiness * Dan ix. 22. and willingness. Formal words differ, as to that readiness which God communicates, from the other successive words : these do not influence the mind so much, neither do they communicate to it so much readiness ; that is an effect of the former, by reason of their greater formality, and because the understanding has less to do with them. Still this does not prevent successive locutions from having occasionally a greater influence, because of the great intercourse, that takes place at times, between the human spirit and the divine. But there is a great difference in the manner. In the formal locutions the soul has no doubt about them, whether they come from itself or not — especially when it was not thinking of the subject to which they relate ; and even when that subject occupies its thoughts, it sees most clearly and distinctly, that the locutions proceed from another.

4. We must not make much of these formal locutions anymore than of the successive. For over and above the occupation of the mind with that, which is not the legitimate and proximate means of union with God, namely faith, there is also the too certain risk of diabolical delusions. We can scarcely distinguish at times what locutions come from a good, and what from an evil, spirit. And as the effects of them are not great we can hardly distinguish them by that test ; for sometimes the diabolic locutions have a more sensible influence on the imperfect, than the divine locutions on spiritual persons. We must, also, not obey them at once, whether they come from a good or evil spirit. But we must not neglect to manifest them to a prudent confessor, or to some discreet and learned person, who shall teach us, and decide for us, what we ought to do; and when we have had his decision, we must be resigned and indifferent in the matter. If we cannot find such a person, a man of experience, it is better in that case, accepting the substance of them, and what is safe, to disregard the rest, and to reveal the matter to no one ; for it is easy to find persons who destroy souls instead of edifying them. It is not everyone who is fitted for the direction of souls, it being a matter of the last importance to give right or wrong advice in so serious an affair as that.

5. Remember, too, that we must never do of our own head, or accept, anything told us in these locutions, without great deliberation and reflection. So subtle and so singular are the illusions incidental to them that, in my opinion, no soul, who does not deal with them, as with an enemy, can possibly escape delusions in a greater, or less degree, in many of them. Having in the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth chapters of this book, deliberately discussed these illusions and dangers, and the cautions to be observed, I shall not enlarge upon them here. I content myself with saying, that the real and secure teaching on the subject is, not to give heed to them, however plausible they may be, but to be governed in all by reason, and by what the Church has taught and teaches us every day*

Of the interior substantial locutions : the difference between them and the formal. The profitableness of them. The resignation and reverence of the soul in respect of them. The third kind of interior locutions are the substantial words. Though these are also formal, inasmuch as they are formally impressed on the soul, they differ from them in this; the substantial locutions. produce a vivid and substantial effect in the soul, while those locutions which are only formal do not, though it be true that every substantial locution is also formal, yet every formal locution is not substantial ; but only that which really impresses on the soul what it signifies. Thus, if our Lord were to say formally to a particular soul, Be thou good ; that soul would immediately be good. Or, Love thou Me ; that soul would at once have and feel in itself the substance of love, that is, a true love of God. Or, again, if He were to say to a timid soul, Be not afraid ; that soul would on the instant become courageous and calm. For 'The Word of God ' saith the wise man, 'is full of power/* Thus, what the locution meaneth is substantially accomplished in the soul. This is the meaning of those words of David : ' He will give to His voice the voice of power.' t Thus, also, dealt He with Abraham, .when He said unto him, 'Walk before Me, and be perfect.' t Abraham was then perfect, and ever walked reverently before God.

2. This is the power of His word in the gospel, by which He healed the sick and raised the dead, by a word only. * Eccles. viii. 4. t Ps. lxvii. 34. t Genes, xviu 1. Such, too, are His substantial locutions; they are of such price and moment, as to be the life and strength and the incomparable good of souls ; for one locution of God does for the soul far more at once, than that soul has done for itself in its whole past life. 3. The soul is not called upon to do or attempt anything with regard to these locutions, but to be resigned and humble. It is not called upon to undervalue or fear them, nor to labour in doing what they enjoined it. For God by means of these substantial locutions works in and by the soul Himself. And herein they differ from the formal and successive locutions. The soul need not reject these locutions, for the effect ot them remains substantially in the soul, and full of blessing ; and therefore the action of the soul is useless, because it has received them passively. Neither need the soul be afraid of illusions here, for these locutions are beyond the reach of the understanding or the evil spirit. The devil cannot passively produce this substantial effect in any soul whatever, so as to impress upon it the effect and habit of his locution ; though he may, by his suggestions, lead those souls in whom he dwells as their lord, in virtue of their voluntary compact with him, to perform deeds of exceeding malignity. For he is able to influence them easily, because they are united to him voluntarily in the bonds of iniquity. We see, by experience, that even good men suffer violence from his suggestions, which are exceeding strong; but if men are evilly disposed, his suggestions then are more efficacious.

1. But the devil cannot produce any effects resembling [CHAP, xx^cii.] of mount carmel. those of the divine locutions, for there is no comparison possible between his locutions and those of God. All his are as if they were not, in the presence of the divine, and their effects as nothing compared with the effects of God's locutions. This is the meaning of those words of the prophet : ' What hath the chaff to do with the wheat ? • • • Are not My words as a fire, and as a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?'* Thus the substantial locutions conduce greatly to the union of the soul with God; and the more interior they are, the more substantial are they and the more profitable. Blessed then is that soul to which God sends His locutions : * Speak Lord, for Thy servant heareth.' t Of intellectual apprehensions resulting from the interior impressions supernaturally effected. The sources of them. The conduct to be observed by the soul, so that these apprehensions shall not hinder it on the way of union. _ It remains for me now to discuss the fourth and last kind of apprehensions, which those spiritual impressions, frequently effected supernaturally in spiritual men, produce in the understanding. Those impressions I have reckoned among the distinct apprehensions of the understanding +

2. There are two kinds of these distinct spiritual impressions. The first kind is in the affection of the will, die second, though also in the will, yet because it is most intense, high, profound, and secret, seems • Jcrem. xxiii. 28, 29. t 1 Kings iii. 10. t Bk. ii. c. 10.

not to touch the will, but to have been wrought in the very substance of the soul. Both the one and the other are extremely diversified. The first, when from God, is very high ; but the second is the highest, of great profit and advantage. But neither the soul that receives them, nor its director, can ever know their sources, or why God effects them ; they do not depend in any way upon good works or meditation, though these dispose us for them. God sends them to whom, and why, He wills. 3. Sometimes a person who has done many good works will never have these touches, and another of less merit, will have them most profoundly and most abundantly. It is not necessary, therefore, for the soul to be actually occupied with spiritual things — though that is the better state — in order to be the object of the divine touches, of which these impressions are the result, for they frequently occur when the soul is heedless of them. Some of these touches are distinct, and pass rapidly away ; others less so, but of longer continuance. 4. These impressions — so far as they come under this description of them— do not appertain to the understanding, but to the will. I shall, therefore, not discuss them now, but reserve them for the treatise on the night, or purgation of the will in its affections, which will form the third book. As in general, and even very frequently, a more express and perceptible apprehension, knowledge, and intelligence, flow from these impressions into the understanding, it is necessary to mention it here for that purpose only.

5. We must, therefore, remember that, from all these impressions, whether the divine touches which cause them, be rapid, or continuous and successive, there flows frequently into the understanding the apprehension of knowledge or intelligence ; which is usually a most profound and sweet sense of God, to which, as well as to the impression from which it flows, no name can be given. This knowledge comes, sometimes in one way, sometimes in another, now most deep and clear, again less so, according to the nature of the divine touches, which occasion the impressions, and according to the nature of the impressions, of which it is the result. 6. It is not necessary to waste words here in cautioning and directing the understanding, amid this knowledge, in faith to the divine union. For as these impressions are passively wrought in the soul, without any cooperation on its part; so also the knowledge which results from them, is passively received in the understanding^philosophers apply the term passible to the understanding — independently of its own exertions. In order, therefore, to escape delusions here, and not to hinder the benefits of these impressions, the understanding ought not to meddle with them, but remain passive, inclining the will to consent freely and gratefully, and not interfering itself. For, as in the case ot successive locutions, the activity of the understanding can very easily disturb and destroy this delicate knowledge, which is a sweet supernatural intelligence, which no natural faculty can reach or comprehend otherwise than by the way of recipient, and never by that of agent. No effort, therefore, should be made, lest the understanding should fashion something of itself, and

the devil at the same time effect an entrance into the soul with false and strange knowledge. He is well able to do this, through the channel of these impressions, by taking advantage of the bodily senses. Let the soul be resigned, humble, and passive, for as it receives passively from God this knowledge ; so will He communicate it, of His own good pleasure, when He sees it humble and detached. By so living, the soul will put no obstacles in the way of the profitableness of this knowledge for the divine union : and that profitableness is great. All these touches are touches of union, which is passively effected in the soul. 7. The whole teaching of this book on the subject of total abstraction and passive contemplation, whereby we abandon ourselves into the hands of God— in the forgetfulness of all created things, in detachment from images and figures, and dwelling on the supreme truth in pure contemplation — is applicable, not only to the act of most perfect contemplation— the profound and altogether supernatural repose of which is disturbed by 'the daughters of Jerusalem,'* namely, good meditations and reflections, if we then attempt them— but also to the whole of that time, in which our Lord communicates the simple, general, and loving attention, of which I have made mention before, or when the soul, assisted by grace, is established in that state. For then we must contrive to have the understanding in repose, undisturbed by the intrusion of forms, figures, or particular knowledge, unless it were slightly and for an instant, and that

• Cant iii. 5. See Spiritual Canticle^ ttania 29, Introd., and Flame of Lore, stanza 3, | xi. [CHAP. XXXHl] OF MOUNT CARMEL. with sweetness of love, to enkindle our souls the more. At other times, however, in all our acts of devotion and of good works, we must make use of good recollections and meditations, so that we may feel an increase of profit and devotion ; most especially applying ourselves to the life, passion, and death of Jesus Christ our Lord, that our life and conduct may be an imitation of His. 8. Let this suffice for the supernatural apprehensions of the understanding, so far as the guiding thereof, through them, in faith, to the divine union, is concerned. I think I have said enough on the subject : for the instructions and cautions already given will be found ample with regard to all that may occur in the understanding. And if anything should be met with of a different nature and not comprised in the distinctions laid down — though I do not imagine that there can be anything which cannot be referred to one of the four kinds of distinct knowledge—what I have said of those that resemble them will suffice.

9. I now proceed to the third book ; where, by the help of God, I shall speak of the interior spiritual purgation of the will fjpm its interior affections. This is the active night. I therefore entreat the discerning reader to consider what I write in simplicity and candour : for when these qualities are wanting, however perfect and profound the teaching may be, he will not profit by it, neither will he value it as it deserves. And much more will this be the case in the present instance, because of* the deficiencies of my way of writing.

THE PURGATION AND ACTIVE NIGHT OF THE MEMORY AND T1IK WILL. The understanding, which is the first power of the soul, being now instructed, with regard to all its apprehensions, in the first theological virtue, namely faith, so that the soul, according to this power, may be united to God in pureness of faith ; it remains for me now to do the same with respect to the two other powers, memory and will, showing how they too are to be purified in all their acts, so that the soul, according to them also, may be united to God in perfect hope and charity. I shall do this briefly in this third book. For having concluded that which relates to the understanding, the receptacle of all objects that pass through the memory and the will — and that goes a great way towards the full execution of my purpose— it is not so necessary to enlarge on the subject of these two powers; because, in general, the spiritual man who shall have well directed his understanding in faith, according to my teaching, will also, by the way, have done as much for the memory and the will in the matter of hope and charity : for the operations of these virtues are mutually dependent the one on the other. But, as it is necessary — that I may observe the same order, and be the better understood— to speak of

[CHAP. I.J OF MOUNT CARMEL. 24l the proper and determinate matter, I shall treat of the acts of each of these two faculties, distinguishing between them according to the method of my subject. That distinction arises out of the distinction between their objects, which are three, natural, supernatural imaginary, and spiritual. The knowledge of the memory, following these distinctions, is also threefold : natural, supernatural imaginary, and spiritual. I shall treat of these here, by the grace of God, beginning with natural knowledge, which is conversant with the most exterior objects ; and I shall afterwards speak of the affections of the will, and then conclude this third book, the subject of which is the active spiritual night.

Of the natural apprehensions of the memory : which is to be emptied of them, that the soul,* according to that faculty, may be united with God. IT is necessary to keep in mind the special object of each of these books ; for otherwise the reader will be perplexed by what he reads, as he may have been by what I said about the understanding, and as he may be now by what I say of the memory, and what I have to say hereafter of the will. For when he observes, that I teach the annihilation of these powers in the matter of their operations ; he will perhaps imagine, that I am destroying, and not building up, the spiritual edifice. This objection would be valid, if my purpose here was to instruct only beginners, who are to be led onwards by means of these discursive and tangible apprehensions. But as I am teaching how to advance by contemplation to the divine union — for which end all these means, and the sensible exertion of the powers of the soul must cease and be silent, in order that God in His own way may bring that union to pass— it is necessary to release the faculties and to empty them, and to make them renounce ' their natural jurisdiction and operations, in order that the supernatural may fill and enlighten them ; seeing that their powers cannot compass so great a matter, but rather, unless suppressed, prove a difficulty in the way.

And as it is most true that the soul knoweth God, rather by what He is not, than by what He is ; it follows of necessity that if we are to draw near unto Him, it must be by denying and renouncing to the uttermost all that may be denied, of our apprehensions, natural and supernatural alike. We shall, therefore, apply this process to the memory : driving it away out of its natural position and raising it above itself, that is, above all distinct knowledge and conscious comprehension, to the highest hope of God Who is incomprehensible,

2. I begin with natural knowledge. The natural knowledge of the memory is all tftat knowledge it can form about the objects of the five bodily senses: hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching, and all else of the like kind. The memory must be stripped and emptied of all this knowledge and of these forms ; it must labour to destroy all sense of them, so that no impression whatever of them shall be left behind ; it must forget them, and withdraw itself from them, and that as completely as if they had never entered into it. Nothing less than [chap, l] ©f mount carmel. 94$ the annihilation of the memory as to all these forms will serve, if it is to be united with God. For that union can never take place without a total separation from these forms which are not God, for God is without form ; neither is He the object of any distinct knowledge whatever, as I have said while treating of the night of the understanding.* 3. 'No man,' saith our Redeemer, 'can serve two masters,' t so the memory cannot be perfectly united with God, and at the same time with forms and distinct knowledge. And as God is without form or image, on which the memory may dwell, so when the memory is united with God — as we see by daily experience — it remains without torm or figure, with the imagination suppressed, and itself absorbed in supreme felicity, in profound oblivion, remembering nothing.

The divine union expels every fancy, and shuts out all forms and knowledge ; it raises the memory to that which is supernatural, leaving it in such deep forgetfulness that it must do violence to itself, if it will remember anything at all. Such at times is this forgetfulness of the memory, and suspension of the imaginative powers, because of the union ofthe memory with God, that time passes by unheeded, and what took place in the interval cannot be known. When the imaginative powers are held in suspense, there is no sense of pain even when pain is inflicted ; for without imagination there is no sense, not even in thought, because it exists not. If God is to bring about this perfect union, memory must be severed from all acts of knowledge of which it is capable. But it is to be observed, that this

* Bk. ii.Ch.viii. t St. Matt vi. 24. suspension never occurs thus in those who are perfect, because they have attained already to the perfect union, and this suspension relates to the commencement of that state. 4. You will, perhaps, object and say : All this is ver/ well, but the principle involves the destruction of the natural use and course of our faculties, and reduces man to the level of a brute beast, forgetful of all things, and what is worse, without reflection or recollection of his natural wants and functions. Surely God does not destroy nature, but rather perfects it ; but its destruction is the natural issue of this doctrine, for man forgets all moral and rational motives, and all natural acts ; he remembers nothing, because he regards not the forms and knowledge in question, which are means of remembering. 5. To this I reply: the more the memory is united to (rod the more it loses all distinct knowledge, and at last all such fades utterly away, when the state of perfection is reached. In the beginning, when this is going on, great forgetfulness ensues, for these forms and knowledge fall into oblivion^ men neglect themselves in outward things, forgetting to eat or drink ; they do not remember whether they have done or left undone a particular work, whether they have seen sucL things or not, or whether such and such things have been mentioned to them ; and all this because the memory is lost in God. But he who has attained to the habit of union does not forget, in this way, that which relates to moral and natural reason ; he performs in much greater perfection all necessary and befitting actions, though by the ministry of forms and knowledge, in the memory, supplied in a special manner

by God. In the state of union, which is a supernatural state, the memory and the other faculties fail as to their natural functions, and rise beyond their natural objects upwards unto God, Who is supernatural. 6. And thus, then, when the memory is transformed in God, no permanent forms or knowledge can be impressed upon it ; the operations of the memory, therefore, and ot the other powers in this state are, as it were, divine; God has entered into possession, by this transformation, as their alsolute Lord ; guides and governs them Himself divinely by His own spirit and will, as it is written, 1 He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit ; '* and therefore the operations of the soul in the state of union are the operations of the Holy Ghost, and, consequently, divine. 7. Now, the actions of such souls only are what thej ought to be, and reasonable, and not what they ought not to be : because under the influence of the Holy Ghost they know what they ought to know, are ignorant ot what they ought to be ignorant, remember what Ihey ought to remember, forget what they ought to forget, love what they ought to love, and love not that which is not God. Thus in general the first motions of the faculties of these souls are, as it were, divine. There is nothing wonderful in this, seeing that they are transformed in the divine nature.