The Cell of Self-Knowledge
Seven Early English Mystical Treatises
Printed by Henry Pepwell
MDXXI
Edited with an introduction and notes by
Edmund G. Gardner M.A.
Published 1966 by Cooper Square Publishers, Inc.
59 Fourth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10003
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 66-25702
Printed in the United States of America
by Noble Offset Printers, Inc., New York, N. Y. 10003
The Frontispiece is taken from B.M. MS. Faustina, B.
VI.
"Stiamo nella cella del cognoscimento di noi; cognoscendo, noi
per noi non essere, e la bontà di Dio in noi; ricognoscendo
l'essere, e ogni grazia che è posta sopra l'essere, da
lui."--St. Catherine of Siena.
"Tergat ergo speculum suum, mundet spiritum suum, quisquis sitit
videre Deum suum. Exterso autem speculo et diu diligenter inspecto,
incipit ei quaedam divini luminis claritas interlucere, et immensus
quidam insolitae visionis radius oculis ejus apparere. Hoc lumen
oculos ejus irradiaverat, qui dicebat: Signatum est super nos
lumen vultus tui, Domine; dedisti laetitiam in corde meo. Ex
hujus igitur luminis visione quam admiratur in se, mirum in modum
accenditur animus, et animatur ad videndum lumen, quod est supra
se."--Richard of St. Victor.
INTRODUCTION
FROM the end of the thirteenth to the beginning of the fifteenth
century may be called the golden age of mystical literature in the
vernacular. In Germany, we find Mechthild of Magdeburg (d.
1277), Meister Eckhart (d. 1327), Johannes Tauler (d.
1361), and Heinrich Suso (d. 1365); in Flanders, Jan
Ruysbroek (d. 1381); in Italy, Dante Alighieri himself
(d. 1321), Jacopone da Todi (d. 1306), St. Catherine
of Siena (d. 1380), and many lesser writers who strove, in
prose or in poetry, to express the hidden things of the spirit, the
secret intercourse of the human soul with the Divine, no longer in
the official Latin of the Church, but in the language of their own
people, "a man's own vernacular," which "is nearest to him,
inasmuch as it is most closely united to him."
Dante, convivio, i. 12.
In England, the great names of
Richard Rolle, the Hermit of Hampole (d. 1349), of Walter
Hilton (d. 1396), and of Mother Juliana of Norwich, whose
Revelation of Divine Love professedly date from 1373, speak for
themselves.
The seven tracts or treatises before
us were published in 1521 in a little quarto volume: "Imprynted at
London in Poules chyrchyarde at the sygne of the Trynyte, by Henry
Pepwell. In the yere of our lorde God, M.CCCCC.XXI., the xvi. daye
of Nouembre." They may, somewhat loosely speaking, be regarded as
belonging to the fourteenth century, though the first and longest
of them professes to be but a translation of the work of the great
Augustinian mystic of an earlier age.
St. Bernard, Richard of St. Victor,
and St. Bonaventura--all three very familiar figures to students of
Dante's Paradiso--are the chief influences in the story of
English mysticism. And, through the writings of his latter-day
followers, Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, and the anonymous author
of the Divine Cloud of Unknowing, Richard of St. Victor is,
perhaps, the most important of the three.
Himself either a Scot or an Irishman
by birth, Richard entered the famous abbey of St. Victor, a house
of Augustinian canons near Paris, some time before 1140, where he
became the chief pupil of the great mystical doctor and theologian
whom the later Middle Ages regarded as a second Augustine, Hugh of
St. Victor. After Hugh's death (1141), Richard succeeded to his
influence as a teacher, and completed his work in creating the
mystical theology of the Church. His masterpiece, De Gratia
Contemplationis, known also as Benjamin
Major, in five books, is a work of marvellous
spiritual insight, unction, and eloquence, upon which Dante
afterwards based the whole mystical psychology of the
Paradiso.Cf. the Letter to Can Grande (Epist. x. 28), where Dante, like St. Thomas Aquinas before him, refers to the Benjamin Major as "Richardus de Sancto Victore in libro De Contemplatione."
In it Richard shows how the soul
passes upward through the six steps of contemplation--in
imagination, in reason, in understanding--gradually discarding all
sensible objects of thought; until, in the sixth stage, it
contemplates what is above reason, and seems to be beside reason,
or even contrary to reason. He teaches that there are three
qualities of contemplation, according to its intensity: mentis
dilatatio, an enlargement of the soul's vision without
exceeding the bounds of human activity; mentis sublevatio,
elevation of mind, in which the intellect, divinely illumined,
transcends the measure of humanity, and beholds the things above
itself, but does not entirely lose self-consciousness; and
mentis alienatio, or ecstasy, in which all memory of the
present leaves the mind, and it passes into a state of divine
transfiguration, in which the soul gazes upon truth without any
veils of creatures, not in a mirror darkly, but in its pure
simplicity. This master of the spiritual life died in 1173. Amongst
the glowing souls of the great doctors and theologians in the
fourth heaven, St. Thomas Aquinas
bids Dante mark the ardent spirit of "Richard who in
contemplation was more than man."Par. x. 131, 132.
Benjamin, for Richard, is the type of
contemplation, in accordance with the Vulgate version of Psalm
lxvii.: Ibi Benjamin adolescentulus in mentis excessu:
"There is Benjamin, a youth, in ecstasy of mind"--where the English
Bible reads: "Little Benjamin their ruler." Ps. lxviii. 27.
At the birth of Benjamin, his mother Rachel dies:
"For, when the mind of man is rapt above itself, it surpasseth all
the limits of human reasoning. Elevated above itself and rapt in
ecstasy, it beholdeth things in the divine light at which all human
reason succumbs. What, then, is the death of Rachel, save the
failing of reason?" Benjamin Minor, cap. 73.
The treatise here printed under the
title Benjamin is based upon a smaller work of Richard's, a
kind of introduction to the Benjamin Major, entitled:
Benjamin Minor; or: De Praeparatione animi ad
Contemplationem. It is a paraphrase of certain portions of this
work, with a few additions, and large omissions. Among the portions
omitted are the two passages that, almost alone among Richard's
writings, are known to the general reader--or, at least, to people
who do not claim to be specialists in mediaeval theology. In the
one, he speaks of knowledge of self as the Holy Hill, the Mountain
of the Lord:--
"If the mind would fain ascend to the
height of science, let its first and principal study be to know
itself. Full knowledge of the rational spirit is a great and high
mountain. This mountain transcends all the peaks of all mundane
sciences, and looks down upon all the philosophy and all the
science of the world from on high. Could Aristotle, could Plato,
could the great band of philosophers ever attain to it?" Benjamin Minor, cap. 75. Cf. Shelley, The Triumph of Life: Their lore taught them not this: to know themselves." This passage of Richard is curiously misquoted and its meaning perverted in Hauréau, Histoire de la Philosophie Scolastique, i. pp. 513, 514, in the Dictionary of National Biography, vol. xvi., and elsewhere.
In the other, still adhering to his
image of the mountain of self-knowledge, he makes his famous appeal
to the Bible, as the supreme test of truth, the only sure guard
that the mystic has against being deluded in his lofty
speculations:--
"Even if you think that you have been
taken up into that high mountain apart, even if you think that you
see Christ transfigured, do not be too ready to believe anything
you see in Him or hear from Him, unless Moses and Elias run to meet
Him. I hold all truth in suspicion which the authority of the
Scriptures does not confirm, nor do I receive Christ in His
clarification unless Moses and Elias are talking with Him." Benjamin Minor, cap. 81.
On the other hand, the beautiful
passage with which the version closes, so typical of the burning
love of Christ, shown in devotion to the name of Jesus, which glows
through all the writings of the school of the Hermit of Hampole, is
an addition of the translator:--
"And therefore, what so thou be that
covetest to come to contemplation of God, that is to say, to bring
forth such a child that men clepen in the story Benjamin (that is
to say, sight of God), then shalt thou use thee in this manner.
Thou shalt call together thy thoughts and thy desires, and make
thee of them a church, and learn thee therein for to love only this
good word Jesu, so that all thy desires and all thy thoughts
are only set for to love Jesu, and that unceasingly as it may be
here; so that thou fulfil that is said in the psalm: 'Lord, I shall
bless Thee in churches'; that is, in thoughts and desires of the
love of Jesu. And then, in this church of thoughts and desires, and
in this onehead of studies and of wills, look that all thy
thoughts, and all thy desires, and all thy studies, and all thy
wills be only set in the love and the praising of this Lord Jesu,
without forgetting, as far forth as thou mayst by grace, and as thy
frailty will suffer; evermore meeking thee to prayer and to
counsel, patiently abiding the will of our Lord, unto the time that
thy mind be ravished above itself, to be fed with the fair food of
angels in the beholding of God and ghostly things; so that it be
fulfilled in thee that is written in the psalm: Ibi
Benjamin adolescentulus in mentis excessu; that
is: 'There is Benjamin, the young child, in ravishing of
mind."' Cf. below, pp. 32, 33.
The text printed by Pepwell differs
slightly from that of the manuscripts, of which a large number have
been preserved. Among others, it is found in the Arundel MS. 286,
and the Harleian MSS. 674, 1022, and 2373. It has been published
from the Harl. MS. 1022 by Professor C. Horstman, who observes that
"it is very old, and certainly prior to Walter Hilton." Richard Rolle of Hampole and his Followers, edited by C. Horstman, vol. i. pp. 162-172.
It is evidently by one of the followers
of Richard Rolle, dating from about the middle of the fourteenth
century. External and internal evidence seems to point to its being
the work of the anonymous author of the Divine Cloud of
Unknowing.
This is not the place to tell again
the wonderful story of St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), one of
the noblest and most truly heroic women that the world has ever
seen. Her life and manifold activities only touched England
indirectly. The famous English captain of mercenaries, Sir John
Hawkwood, was among the men of the world who, at least for a while,
were won to nobler ideals by her letters and exhortations. Two of
her principal disciples, Giovanni Tantucci and William Flete, both
Augustinian hermits, were graduates of Cambridge;
the latter, an Englishman by birth, was appointed by
her on her deathbed to preside over the continuance of her work in
her native city, and a vision of his, concerning the legitimacy of
the claims of Urban the Sixth to the papal throne, was brought
forward as one of the arguments that induced England, on the
outbreak of the Great Schism in the Church (1378), to adhere to the
Roman obedience for which Catherine was battling to the death. A
letter which she herself addressed on the same subject to King
Richard the Second has not been preserved.
About 1493, Wynkyn de Worde printed
The Lyf of saint Katherin of Senis the blessid virgin,
edited by Caxton; which is a free translation, by an anonymous
Dominican, with many omissions and the addition of certain
reflections, of the Legenda, the great Latin biography of
St. Catherine by her third confessor, Friar Raymond of Capua, the
famous master-general and reformer of the order of St. Dominic
(d. 1399). He followed this up, in 1519, by an English
rendering by Brother Dane James of the Saint's mystical treatise
the Dialogo: "Here begynneth the Orcharde of Syon; in the
whiche is conteyned the reuelacyons of seynt Katheryne of Sene,
with ghostly fruytes and precyous plantes for the helthe of mannes
soule." Sene, Senis, or Seenes, "Siena," from the Latin Senae (Catharina de Senis).
This was not translated
from St. Catherine's own vernacular, but from
Friar Raymond's Latin version of the latter, first
printed at Brescia in 1496. From the first of these two works, the
Lyf, are selected the passages--the Divers Doctrines
devout and fruitful--which Pepwell here presents to us; but it
seems probable that he was not borrowing directly from Caxton, as
an almost verbally identical selection, with an identical title, is
found in the British Museum, MS. Reg. 17 D.V., where it follows the
Divine Cloud of Unknowing.
Margery Kempe is a much more
mysterious personage. She has come down to us only in a tiny quarto
of eight pages printed by Wynkyn de Worde:--
"Here begynneth a shorte treatyse of
contemplacyon taught by our lorde Jhesu cryste, or taken out of the
boke of Margerie kempe of Lynn."
And at the end:--
"Here endeth a shorte treatyse called
Margerie kempe de Lynn. Enprynted in Fletestrete by Wynkyn de
worde."
The only known copy is preserved in
the University of Cambridge. It is undated, but appears to have
been printed in 1501. Cf. E. Gordon Duff, Hand-Lists of English Printers, 1501-1556, i. p. 24.
With a few
insignificant variations, it is the same as was printed twenty
years later by Pepwell, who merely inserts a few words like "Our
Lord Jesus said unto her," or "she said," and adds that she was
a
devout ancress. Tanner, not very accurately, writes:
"This book contains various discourses of Christ (as it is
pretended) to certain holy women; and, written in the style of
modern Quietists and Quakers, speaks of the inner love of God, of
perfection, et cetera." Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica p. 452.
No
manuscript of the work is known to exist, and absolutely no traces
can be discovered of the "Book of Margery Kempe," out of which it
is implied by the Printer that these beautiful thoughts and sayings
are taken.
There is nothing in the treatise
itself to enable us to fix its date. It is, perhaps, possible that
the writer or recipient of these revelations is the "Margeria filia
Johannis Kempe," who, between 1284 and 1298, gave up to the prior
and convent of Christ Church, Canterbury, all her rights in a piece
of land with buildings and appurtenances, "which falls to me after
the decease of my brother John, and lies in the parish of Blessed
Mary of Northgate outside the walls of the city of
Canterbury." Quietaclacmium Margerie filie Johannis Kempe de domibus in parochia de Northgate. Brit. Mus., Add MS. 25,109.
The revelations
show that she was (or had been) a woman of some wealth and social
position, who had abandoned the world to become an ancress,
following the life prescribed in that gem of early English
devotional literature, the Ancren Riwle. She was, however, apparently less strictly enclosed than was usual for an ancress.
It is
clearly only a fragment of her
complete book (whatever that may have been); but it is
enough to show that she was a worthy precursor of that other great
woman mystic of East Anglia: Juliana of Norwich. For Margery, as
for Juliana, Love is the interpretation of revelation, and the key
to the universal mystery: Cf. G. Tyrrell, Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love shewed to Mother Juliana of Norwich, Preface, p. v.
--
"Daughter, thou mayst no better
please God, than to think continually in His love."
"If thou wear the habergeon or the
hair, fasting bread and water, and if thou saidest every day a
thousand Pater Nosters, thou shalt not please Me so well as thou
dost when thou art in silence, and suffrest Me to speak in thy
soul."
"Daughter, if thou knew how sweet thy
love is to Me, thou wouldest never do other thing but love Me with
all thine heart."
"In nothing that thou dost or sayest,
daughter, thou mayst no better please God than believe that He
loveth thee. For, if it were possible that I might weep with thee,
I would weep with thee for the compassion that I have of thee."
And, from the midst of her celestial
contemplations, rises up the simple, poignant cry of human
suffering: "Lord, for Thy great pain have mercy on my little
pain."
We are on surer ground with the
treatise that follows,
the Song of Angels. In the British Museum copy of Pepwell's volume, ff. 1-2 of the Epistle of Prayer and f. 1 of the Song of Angels are transposed.
Walter
Hilton--who died on March 24, 1396--holds a position in the
religious life and spiritual literature of England in the latter
part of the fourteenth century somewhat similar to that occupied by
Richard Rolle in its earlier years. Like the Hermit of Hampole, he
was the founder of a school, and the works of his followers cannot
always be distinguished with certainty from his own. Like his great
master in the mystical way, Richard of St. Victor, Hilton was an
Augustinian, the head of a house of canons at Thurgarton, near
Newark. His great work, the Scala Perfectionis, or Ladder
of Perfection, "which expoundeth many notable doctrines in
Contemplation," was first printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1494, and
is still widely used for devotional reading. A shorter treatise,
the Epistle to a Devout Man in Temporal Estate, first
printed by Pynson in 1506, gives practical guidance to a religious
layman of wealth and social position, for the fulfilling of the
duties of his state without hindrance to his making profit in the
spiritual life. These, with the Song of Angels, are the only
printed works that can be assigned to him with certainty, though
many others, undoubtedly from his pen, are to be found in
manuscripts, and a complete and critical edition of Walter Hilton
seems still in
the far future. Cf. C. T. Martin, in Dictionary of National Biography, vol. ix. For Hilton's alleged authorship of the De Imitatione Christi, see J. E. G. de Montmorency, Thomas à Kempis, his Age and Book, pp. 141-169.
The Song of Angels has been twice printed since the edition of
Pepwell. Edited by G. G. Perry, under the title The Anehede of Godd with mannis saule, as the work of Richard Rolle, in English Prose Treatises of Richard Rolle de Hampole (Early English Text Society, 1866), pp. 14-19; and, in two texts, by C. Horstman, op. cit., vol. i. pp. 175-182.
In profoundly
mystical language, tinged with the philosophy of that mysterious
Neo-Platonist whom we call the pseudo-Dionysius, it tells of the
wonderful "onehead," the union of the soul with God in perfect
charity:--
"This onehead is verily made when the
mights of the soul are reformed by grace to the dignity and the
state of the first condition; that is, when the mind is firmly
established, without changing and wandering, in God and ghostly
things, and when the reason is cleared from all worldly and fleshly
beholdings, and from all bodily imaginations, figures, and
fantasies of creatures, and is illumined by grace to behold God and
ghostly things, and when the will and the affection is purified and
cleansed from all fleshly, kindly, and worldly love, and is
inflamed with burning love of the Holy Ghost."
But to this blessed condition none
may attain perfectly here on earth. The writer goes on to speak of
the mystical consolations and visitations granted to the
loving soul in this life, distinguishing the feelings
and sensations that are mere delusions, from those that truly
proceed from the fire of love in the affection and the light of
knowing in the reason, and are a very anticipation of that
ineffable "onehead" in heaven.
The three remaining treatises--the
Epistle of Prayer, the Epistle of Discretion in Stirrings
of the Soul, and the Treatise of Discerning of
Spirits In the MSS. this is called: A pystyll of discrecion in knowenge of spirites; or: A tretis of discrescyon of spirites.
--are associated in
the manuscripts with four other works: the Divine Cloud of
Unknowing, the Epistle of Privy Counsel, a paraphrase of
the Mystical Theology of Dionysius entitled Dionise Hid
Divinity, and the similar translation or paraphrase of the
Benjamin Minor of Richard of St. Victor already
considered. All in Harl. MS. 674, and other MSS. The Divine Cloud of Unknowing, and portions of the Epistle, Book, or Treatise, of Privy Counsel have been printed, in a very unsatisfactory manner, in The Divine Cloud with notes and a Preface by Father Augustine Baker, O.S.B. Edited by Henry Collins. London, 1871.
These seven
treatises are all apparently by the same hand. The Divine Cloud
of Unknowing has been credited to Walter Hilton, as likewise to
William Exmew, or to Maurice Chauncy, Carthusians of the sixteenth
century, whereas the manuscripts are at least a hundred years
earlier than their time; but it seems safer to attribute the whole
series to an unknown writer of the second part of the fourteenth
century, who
"marks a middle point between Rolle and Hilton." D. M. M'Intyre, The Cloud of Unknowing, in the Expositor, series vii. vol. 4 (1907). Dr. Rufus M. Jones, Studies in Mystical Religion, p. 336, regards these treatises as the work of "a school of mystics gathered about the writer of the Hid Divinity." Neither of these authors includes the translation of the Benjamin Minor, which, however, appears to me undoubtedly from the same hand as that of the Divine Cloud.
The spiritual beauty of the three
here reprinted--and, more particularly, of the Epistle of
Prayer, with its glowing exposition of the doctrine of Pure
Love--speaks for itself. They show us mysticism brought down, if I
may say so, from the clouds for the practical guidance of the
beginner along this difficult way. And, in the Epistle of
Discretion, we find even a rare touch of humour; where the
counsellor "conceives suspiciously" of his correspondent's
spiritual stirrings, lest "they should be conceived on the ape's
manner." Like St. Catherine of Siena, though in a less degree, he
has the gift of vision and the faculty of intuition combined with a
homely common sense, and can illustrate his "simple meaning" with a
smile.
I have borrowed a phrase from St.
Catherine, "The Cell of Self-Knowledge," la cella del
cognoscimento di noi, as the title of this little volume.
Knowledge of self and purity of heart, the mystics teach, are the
indispensable conditions for the highest mystical elevation.
Knowledge of self, for Richard of St. Victor, is the high
mountain apart upon which Christ is transfigured; for
Catherine of Siena, it is the stable in which the pilgrim through
time to eternity must be born again. "Wouldest thou behold Christ
transfigured?" asks Richard; "ascend this mountain; learn to know
thyself." Benjamin Minor, cap. 78.
"Thou dost see,"
writes Catherine, speaking in the person of the eternal Father,
"this sweet and loving Word born in a stable, while Mary was
journeying; to show to you, who are travellers, that you must ever
be born again in the stable of knowledge of yourselves, where you
will find Him born by grace within your souls." Dialogo cap. 151.
The soul is a mirror that reflects the
invisible things of God, and it is by purity of heart alone that
this mirror is made clear. "Therefore," writes Richard of St.
Victor, "let whoso thirsts to see his God, wipe his mirror, purify
his spirit. After he hath thus cleared his mirror and long
diligently gazed into it, a certain clarity of divine light begins
to shine through upon him, and a certain immense ray of unwonted
vision to appear before his eyes. This light irradiated the eyes of
him who said: Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon
us; Thou hast put gladness in my heart. From the vision of this
light which it sees with wonder in itself, the mind is wondrously
inflamed and inspired to behold the light which is above
itself." Benjamin Minor, cap. 72.
Pepwell's volume has been made the
basis of the present edition of these seven treatises; but, in each
case, the text has been completely revised. The text of the
Benjamin, the Epistle of Prayer, the Epistle of
Discretion, and the Treatise of Discerning of Spirits,
has been collated with that given by the Harleian MSS. 674 and
2373; and, in most cases, the readings of the manuscripts have been
adopted in preference to those of the printed version. The
Katherin has been collated with Caxton's Lyf; the
Margery Kempe with Wynkyn de Worde's precious little volume
in the University Library of Cambridge; and the Song of
Angels with the text published by Professor Horstman from the
Camb. MS Dd. v. 55. As the object of this book is not to offer a
Middle English text to students, but a small contribution to
mystical literature, the orthography has been completely
modernised, while I have attempted to retain enough of the original
language to preserve the flavour of mediaeval devotion.
EDMUND G. GARDNER.
I. A very Devout Treatise, named Benjamin, of the Mights
and Virtues of Man's Soul, and of the Way to True Contemplation,
compiled by a Noble and Famous Doctor, a man of great holiness and
devotion, named Richard of Saint Victor
THE PROLOGUE
A GREAT clerk that men call
The MSS. have: "men clepen."
Richard of Saint Victor, in a
book that he maketh of the study of wisdom, witnesseth and saith
that two mights are in a man's soul, given of the Father of Heaven
of whom all good cometh. The one is reason, the other is affection;
through reason we know, and through affection we feel or love.
Of reason springeth right counsel and
ghostly wits; and of affection springeth holy desires and
ordained So the MSS., which agrees with the Latin, ordinati affectus (Benjamin Minor, cap. 3); Pepwell has "ardent feelings."
feelings. And right
as Rachel and Leah were both wives unto Jacob, right so man's soul
through light of knowing in the reason, and sweetness of love in
the affection, is spoused unto God. By Jacob is understanden God,
by Rachel is understanden reason, by Leah is understanden
affection. Each of these wives, Rachel and Leah, took
to them a maiden; Rachel took Bilhah, and Leah took
Zilpah. Bilhah was a great jangler, and Zilpah was ever drunken and
thirsty. By Bilhah is understanden imagination, the which is
servant unto reason, as Bilhah was to Rachel; by Zilpah is
understanden sensuality, the which is servant unto affection, as
Zilpah was to Leah. And so much are these maidens needful to their
ladies, that without them all this world might serve them of
nought. For why, without imagination reason may not know, and
without sensuality affection may not feel. And yet imagination
cryeth so inconveniently So Pepwell, which accords with the Latin: cum tante importunitate. The MSS. read: "unconningly," i.e. ignorantly.
in
the ears of our heart that, for ought that reason her lady may do,
yet she may not still her. And therefore it is that oft times when
we should pray, so many divers fantasies of idle and evil thoughts
cry in our hearts, that on no wise we may by our own mights drive
them away. And thus it is well proved that Bilhah is a foul
jangler. And also the sensuality is evermore so thirsty, that all
that affection her lady may feel, So Harl. MS. 674 and Pepwell; Harl. MS. 1022, ed. Horstman, reads: "forthe," i.e. offer. The Latin is: "Et Zelphae quidem sitim dominae suae copia tanta omnino extinguere non potest" (Benjamin Minor, cap. 6).
may not yet slake her thirst. The drink that she
desireth is the lust of fleshly, kindly, and worldly
delights, The Latin has simply: "vinum quod Zelpha sitit, gaudium est voluptatis" (ibid.).
of the which the
more that she drinketh
the more she thirsteth; for why, for to fill the appetite
of the sensuality, all this world may not suffice; and therefore it
is that oft times when we pray or think on God and ghostly things,
we would fain feel sweetness of love in our affection, Harl. MS. 1022, ed. Horstman, reads: "in our soul."
and yet we may not, for are we so
busy to feed the concupiscence of our sensuality; for evermore it
is greedily asking, and we have a fleshly compassion thereof. And
thus it is well proved that Zilpah is evermore drunken and thirsty.
And right as Leah conceived of Jacob and brought forth seven
children, and Rachel conceived of Jacob and brought forth two
children, and Bilhah conceived of Jacob and brought forth two
children, and Zilpah conceived of Jacob and brought forth two
children; right so the affection conceiveth through the grace of
God, and bringeth forth seven virtues; and also the sensuality
conceiveth through the grace of God, and bringeth forth two
virtues; and also the reason conceiveth through the grace of God,
and bringeth forth two virtues; and also the imagination conceiveth
through the grace of God, and bringeth forth two virtues, or two
beholdings. And the names of their children and of their virtues
shall be known by this figure that followeth:
Husband: Jacob temporally, God
spiritually. Wives to Jacob: Leah, that is to say, Affection;
Rachel, that is to say, Reason. Maid to Leah is Zilpah, that is to
understand,
Sensuality; and Bilhah maiden to Rachel, that is to
understand, Imagination.
The sons of Jacob and Leah are these
seven that followeth: Reuben signifieth dread of pain; Simeon,
sorrow of sins; Levi, hope of forgiveness; Judah, love of
righteousness; Issachar, joy in inward sweetness; Zebulun, hatred
of sin; Dinah, ordained shame.
The sons of Jacob and Zilpah, servant
of Leah, are these: Gad, abstinence; Asher, patience.
The sons of Jacob and of Rachel are
these: Joseph, discretion; Benjamin, contemplation.
The sons of Jacob and Bilhah, servant
to Rachel, are these: Dan, sight of pain to come; and Naphtali,
sight of joy to come.
In this figure it is shewed apertly
of Jacob and of his wives, and their maidens, and all their
children. Here it is to shew on what manner they were gotten, and
in what order:--
First, it is to say of the children
of Leah; for why, it is read that she first conceived. The children
of Leah are nought else to understand but ordained affections or
feelings in a man's soul; for why, if they were unordained, then
were they not the sons of Jacob. Also the seven children of Leah
are seven virtues, for virtue is nought else but an ordained and a
measured feeling in a man's soul. For then is man's feeling in soul
ordained when it is of that thing that it should be; then it is
measured when it is so much as it should be. These
feelings in a man's soul may be now ordained and measured, and now
unordained and unmeasured; but when they are ordained and measured,
then are they accounted among the sons of Jacob. Pepwell gives the modern equivalent, "ordinate" and "inordinate," for "ordained" and "unordained," throughout.
CAPITULUM I
HOW THE VIRTUE OF DREAD RISETH IN THE
AFFECTION
THE first child that Leah conceived of Jacob was Reuben, that
is, dread; and therefore it is written in the psalm: "The beginning
of wisdom is the dread of our Lord God." Ps. cxi. 10 (Vulgate cx.).
This is the first felt virtue in a man's
affection, without the which none other may be had. And, therefore,
whoso desireth to have such a son, him behoveth busily and oft also
behold the evil that he hath done. And he shall, on the one party,
think on the greatness of his trespass, and, on another party, the
power of the Doomsman. Pepwell adds: "and high Judge."
Of such
a consideration springeth dread, that is to say Reuben, that
through right is cleped "the son of sight." Filius visionis.
For utterly is he blind that seeth not the pains
that are to come, and dreadeth not to sin. And
well is Reuben cleped the son of sight; for when he was
born, his mother cried and said: "God hath seen my
meekness." Gen. xxix. 32 (Vidit Dominus humilitatem meam, Vulgate).
And man's soul, in
such a consideration of his old sins and of the power of the
Doomsman, beginneth then truly to see God by feeling of dread, and
also to be seen of God by rewarding of pity.
CAPITULUM II
HOW SORROW RISETH IN THE AFFECTION
WHILE Reuben waxeth, Simeon is born; for after dread it needeth
greatly that sorrow come soon. For ever the more that a man
dreadeth the pain that he hath deserved, the bitterlier he
sorroweth the sins that he hath done. Leah in the birth of Simeon
cried and said: "Our Lord hath heard me be had in despite." Gen. xxix. 33.
And therefore is Simeon cleped
"hearing"; Exauditio.
for when a man
bitterly sorroweth and despiseth his old sins, then beginneth he to
be heard of God, and also for to hear the blessed sentence of God's
own mouth: "Blessed be they that sorrow, for they shall be
comforted." Matt. v. 4.
For in what hour
the sinner sorroweth and turneth from his sin, he shall be
safe. Ezek. xxxiii. 14.
Thus witnesseth holy
Scripture. And
also by Reuben he is meeked, Made humble.
and by Simeon he is contrite and hath compunction
of tears; but, as witnesseth David in the psalm: "Heart contrite
and meeked God shall not despise"; Ps. li. 17 (Vulgate l.).
and without doubt such sorrow bringeth in true
comfort of heart.
CAPITULUM III
HOW HOPE RISETH IN THE AFFECTION
BUT, I pray thee, what comfort may be to them that truly dread
and bitterly sorrow for their old sins, ought but a true hope of
forgiveness? the which is the third son of Jacob, that is Levi, the
which is cleped in the story "a doing to." Additus, vel Additio.
For when the other two children, dread and sorrow,
are given of God to a man's soul, without doubt he this third, that
is hope, shall not be delayed, but he shall be lone to; Added. Cf. Gen. xxix. 34.
as the story witnesseth of Levi,
that, when his two brethren, Reuben and Simeon, were given to their
mother Leah, he, this Levi, was done to. Take heed of this word,
that he was "done to" and not given. And therefore it is said that
a man shall not presume of hope of forgiveness before the time that
his heart be peeked in dread and contrite in sorrow; without these
two, hope is presumption, and where these two
are, hope is done to; and thus after sorrow cometh soon
comfort, as David telleth in the psalm that "after the muchness of
my sorrow in my heart," he saith to our Lord, "Thy comforts have
gladded my soul." Ps. xciv. 19 (Vulgate xciii.).
And
therefore it is that the Holy Ghost is called Paracletus, that is,
comforter, for oft times he vouchethsafe to comfort a sorrowful
soul.
CAPITULUM IV
HOW LOVE RISETH IN THE AFFECTION
FROM now forth beginneth a manner of homeliness for to grow
between God and a man's soul; and also on a manner a kindling of
love, in so much that oft times he feeleth him not only be visited
of God and comforted in His coming, but oft times also he feeleth
him filled with an unspeakable joy. This homeliness and this
kindling of love first felt Leah, when, after that Levi was born,
she cried with a great voice and said: "Now shall my husband be
coupled to me." Gen. xxix. 34.
The true
spouse of our soul is God, and then are we truly coupled unto Him,
when we draw near Him by hope and soothfast love. And right as
after hope cometh love, so after Levi was Judah born, the fourth
son of Leah. Leah in his birth cried and said:
"Now shall I shrive to our Lord." Gen. xxix. 35 (Vulgate): Modo confitebor Domino.
And therefore in the story is Judah cleped
"Shrift." Confitens.
Also man's soul in
this degree of love offereth it clearly to God, and saith thus:
"Now shall I shrive to our Lord." For before this feeling of love
in a man's soul, all that he doth is done more for dread than for
love; but in this state a man's soul feeleth God so sweet, so
merciful, so good, so courteous, so true, and so kind, so faithful,
so lovely and so homely, that he leaveth nothing in him--might,
wit, conning, Learning.
or will--that he
offereth not it clearly, freely, and homely unto Him. This shrift
is not only of sin, but of the goodness of God. Great token of love
it is when a man telleth to God that He is good. Of this shrift
speaketh David full oft times in the psalter, when he saith: "Make
it known to God, for He is good." Ps. cvi. 1, cvii. 1 (cv., cvi., Vulgate).
Lo, now have we said of four sons of
Leah. And after this she left bearing of children till another
time; and so man's soul weeneth that it sufficeth to it when it
feeleth that it loveth the true goods. Pepwell reads: "the true goodness of God."
And so it is enough to salvation, but not to
perfection. For it falleth to a perfect soul both to be inflamed
with the fire of love in the affection, and also to be illumined
with the light of knowing in the reason.
CAPITULUM V
HOW THE DOUBLE SIGHT OF PAIN AND JOY RISETH IN THE
IMAGINATION
THEN when Judah waxeth, that is to say, when love and desire of
unseen true goods is rising and waxing in a man's affection; then
coveteth Rachel for to bear some children; that is to say, then
coveteth reason to know these things that affection feeleth; for as
it falleth to the affection for to love, so it falleth to the
reason for to know. Of affection springeth ordained and measured
feelings; and of reason springeth right knowings Pepwell reads: "conning."
and clear understandings. And ever the more
that Judah waxeth, that is to say love, so much the more desireth
Rachel bearing of children, that is to say, reason studieth after
knowing. But who is he that woteth not how hard it is, and nearhand
impossible to a fleshly soul the which is yet rude in ghostly
studies, for to rise in knowing of unseeable Latin Invisibilium: Pepwell has "unseasable."
things, and for to set the eye of contemplation in
ghostly things? For why, a soul that is yet rude and fleshly,
knoweth nought but bodily things, and nothing cometh yet to the
mind but only seeable Pepwell has "feble."
things.
And, nevertheless, yet it looketh inward as it may; and
that that it may not see yet clearly by ghostly knowing, it
thinketh by imagination.
And this is the cause why Rachel had
first children of her maiden than of herself. And so it is that,
though all a man's soul may not yet get the light of ghostly
knowing in the reason, yet it thinketh it sweet to hold the mind on
God and ghostly things in the imagination. As by Rachel we
understand reason, so by her maiden Bilhah we understand
imagination. And, therefore, reason sheweth that it is more
profitable for to think on ghostly things, in what manner so it be;
yea, if it be in kindling of our desire with some fair imagination;
than it is for to think on vanities and deceivable things of this
world. And, therefore, of Bilhah were born these two: Dan and
Naphtali. Dan is to say sight of pains to come; and Naphtali, sight
of joys to come. These two children are full needful and full
speedful unto a working soul; the one for to put down evil
suggestions of sins; and the other for to raise up our wills in
working of good and in kindling of our desires. For as it falleth
to Dan to put down evil suggestions of sin by sight of pains to
come, so it falleth to the other brother Naphtali to raise up our
wills in working of good, and in kindling of holy desires by sight
of joys to come. And therefore holy men, when they are stirred to
any unlawful thing, by inrising of any foul thought, as oft they
set before their mind the pains
that are to come; and so they slaken their temptation in
the beginning, ere it rise to any foul delight in their soul. And
as oft as their devotion and their liking in God and ghostly things
cease and wax cold (as oft times it befalleth in this life, for
corruption of the flesh and many other skills), Reasons.
so oft they set before their mind the joy
that is to come. And so they kindle their will with holy desires,
and destroy their temptation in the beginning, ere it come to any
weariness or heaviness of sloth. And for that Because.
with Dan we damn unlawful thoughts, therefore he
is well cleped in the story "Doom." Judicium (Pepwell adds: "or judgment").
And also his father Jacob said of him thus: "Dan
shall deem his folk." Gen. xlix. 16: "Dan shall judge his people."
And also
it is said in the story that, when Bilhah brought forth Dan, Rachel
said thus: "Our Lord hath deemed me"; Gen. xxx. 6.
that is to say: "Our Lord hath evened me unto my
sister Leah." And thus saith reason, when the imagination hath
gotten the sight of pains to come, that our Lord hath evened her
with her sister affection; and she saith thus, for she hath the
sight of pains to come in her imagination, of the which she had
dread and sorrow in her feeling. And then after came Naphtali, that
is to say, the sight of joys to come. And in his birth spake Rachel
and said: "I am made like to
my sister Leah"; Gen. xxx. 8: "Comparavit me Deus cum sorore mea, et invalui" (Vulgate).
and
therefore is Naphtali cleped in the story "Likeness." In the Latin, "Comparalio vel conversio."
And thus saith reason that she is
made like to her sister affection. For there as she had gotten hope
and love of joy to come in her feeling, she hath now gotten sight
of joy to come in her imagination. Jacob said of Naphtali that he
was "a hart sent out, giving speeches of fairhead." Gen. xlix. 21: "Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words" (Nephthali cervus emissus at dams eloquia pulchritudinis, Vulgate).
So it is that, when we imagine of the joys of
heaven, we say that it is fair in heaven. For Harl. MS. 1022, ed. Horstman, reads: "full."
wonderfully kindleth Naphtali our souls with holy
desires, as oft as we imagine of the worthiness and the fairhead of
the joys of heaven.
CAPITULUM VI
HOW THE VIRTUES OF ABSTINENCE AND PATIENCE RISE IN
THE SENSUALITY
WHEN Leah saw that Rachel her sister made great joy of these two
bastards born of Bilhah her maiden, she called forth her maiden
Zilpah, to put to her husband Jacob; that she might make joy with
her sister, having
other two bastards gotten of her maiden Zilpah. And thus
it is seemly in man's soul for to be, that from the time that
reason hath refrained the great jangling of imagination, and hath
put her to be underlout Underloute, participle of Underluten (O.E. Underlutan), "to stoop beneath," or "submit to." Cf. Wycliffe's Bible, Gen. xxxvii. 8: Whether thow shalt be oure kyng, oither we shal be undirloute to thi bidding?"
to
God, and maketh her to bear some fruit in helping of her knowing,
that right so the affection refrain the lust and the thirst of the
sensuality, and make her to be underlout to God, and so to bear
some fruit in helping of her feeling. But what fruit may she bear,
ought but that she learn to live temperately in easy things, and
patiently in uneasy things? These are they, the children of Zilpah,
Gad and Asher: Gad is abstinence, and Asher is patience. Gad is the
sooner born child, and Asher the latter; for first it needeth that
we be attempered in ourself with discreet abstinence, and after
that we bear outward disease Discomfort.
in strength of patience. These are the children that Zilpah brought
forth in sorrow; for in abstinence and patience the sensuality is
punished in the flesh; but that that is sorrow to the sensuality
turneth to much comfort and bliss to the affection. And therefore
it is that, when Gad was born, Leah cried and said:
"Happily" Dixit: Feliciter. Gen. xxx. 11 (Vulgate).
; and therefore Gad
is cleped in the story "Happiness,"
or "Seeliness." Felicitas. Harl. MS. 674 adds: "whether thou wilt."
And
so it is well said that abstinence in the sensuality is
happiness The MSS. have: "selyness."
in the affection.
For why, ever the less that the sensuality is delighted in her
lust, the more sweetness feeleth the affection in her love. Also
after when Asher was born, Leah said: "This shall be for my
bliss"; Gen. xxx. 13 (Vulgate): Hoc pro beatitudine mea.
and therefore was
Asher called in the story "Blessed." Beatus.
And so it is well said that patience in the
sensuality is bliss in the affection. For why, ever the more
disease that the sensuality suffereth, the more blessed is the soul
in the affection. And thus by abstinence and patience we shall not
only understand a temperance in meat and drink, and suffering of
outward tribulation, but also [in] all manner of fleshly,
kindly, Natural.
and worldly delights,
and all manner of disease, bodily and ghostly, within or without,
reasonable or unreasonable, that by any of our five wits torment or
delight the sensuality. On this wise beareth the sensuality fruit
in help of affection, her lady. Much peace and rest is in that soul
that neither is drunken in the lust of the sensuality, nor
grutcheth Murmurs, complains. Cf. Chaucer, The Persones Tale, ed. Skeat SS 30: "After bakbyting cometh grucching or murmuracion; and somtyme it springeth of impacience agayns God, and somtyme agayns man. Agayns God it is, whan a man gruccheth agayn the peynes of helle, or agayns poverte, or los of catel or agayn reyn or tempest; or elles gruccheth that shrewes han prosperitee, or elles for that goode men han adversitee.
in the pain thereof.
The first of
these is gotten by Gad and the latter by Asher. Here it
is to wete that first was Rachel's maiden put to the husband or the
maiden of Leah; and this is the skill why. For truly, but if the
jangling of the imagination, that is to say, the in-running of vain
thoughts, be first refrained, without doubt the lust of the
sensuality may not be attempered. And therefore who so will abstain
him from fleshly and worldly lusts, him behoveth first seldom or
never think any vain thoughts. Pepwell adds: at the least willingly.
And also never in this life may a man perfectly despise the ease of
the flesh, and not dread the disease, but if he have before busily
beholden the meeds and the torments that are to come. But here it
is to wete how that, with these four sons of these two maidens, the
city of our conscience is kept wonderfully from all temptations.
For all temptation either it riseth within by thought, or else
without by some of our five wits. But within shall Dan deem and
damn evil thoughts by sight of pain; and without shall Gad put
against Pepwell reads: "put down."
false delights by use
of abstinence. Dan waketh Watches.
within, and Gad without; and also their other two brethren helpen
them full much: Naphtali maketh peace within with Dan, and Asher
biddeth Gad have no dread of his enemies. Dan feareth the heart
with ugsomeness of hell, and Naphtali cherisheth it with
behighting Promises. Latin: fovet promissis.
of heavenly bliss.
Also Asher helpeth his brother without, so that, through them both,
the wall of the city is not broken. Gad holdeth out ease, and Asher
pursueth disease. Asher soon deceiveth his enemy, when he bringeth
to mind the patience of his father A curious mistranslation: "Sed Aser hosti suo facile illudit dum partem quam tuetur, alta patientiae rupe munitam conspicit" (Benjamin Minor, cap. 33).
and the behighting of Naphtali, and thus oft times
ever the more enemies he hath, the more matter he hath of
overcoming. And therefore it is that, when he hath overcome his
enemies (that is to say, the adversities of this world), soon he
turneth him to his brother Gad to help to destroy his enemies. And
without fail, from that he be come, soon they turn the back, and
flee. The enemies of Gad are fleshly delights; but truly, from the
time that a man have patience in the pain of his abstinence, false
delights find no woning stead Dwelling-place.
in him.
CAPITULUM VII
HOW JOY OF INWARD SWEETNESS RISETH IN THE
AFFECTION
THUS when the enemy fleeth and the city is peased, Pacified. Harl. MS. 1022, ed. Horstman, reads: "the cite of conscience is made pesebule."
then beginneth a man to prove what
the high peace of God is
that passeth man's wit. And therefore it is that Leah
left bearing of children unto this time that Gad and Asher were
born of Zilpah, her maiden. For truly, but if it be so that a man
have refrained the lust and the pain of his five wits in his
sensuality by abstinence and patience, he shall never feel inward
sweetness and true joy in God and ghostly things in the affection.
This is that Issachar, the fifth son of Leah, the which in the
story is cleped "Meed." Merces.
[And
well is this joy of inward sweetness cleped "meed"]; So Harl. MS. 674; omitted in Harl, MS. 1022 and by Pepwell.
for this joy is the taste of heavenly bliss,
the which is the endless meed of a devout soul, beginning here.
Leah, in the birth of this child, said: "God hath given me meed,
for that I have given my maiden to my husband in bearing of
children." Gen. xxx. 18.
And so it is good
that we make our sensuality bear fruit in abstaining it from all
manner of fleshly, kindly, and worldly delight, and in fruitful
suffering of all fleshly and worldly disease; therefore our Lord of
His great mercy giveth us joy unspeakable and inward sweetness in
our affection, in earnest The MSS. read: "erles."
of
the sovereign joy and meed of the kingdom of heaven. Jacob said of
Issachar that he was "a strong ass dwelling between the
terms." Gen. xlix, 14: "Issachar asinus fortis accubans interterminos" (Vulgate).
And so it is that a man in this state, and that feeleth
the earnest of everlasting joy in his affection, is as "an ass,
strong and dwelling between the terms"; because that, be he never
so filled in soul of ghostly gladness and joy in God, yet, for
corruption of the flesh in this deadly life, him behoveth bear the
charge of the deadly body, as hunger, thirst, and cold, sleep, and
many other diseases; for the which he is likened to an ass as in
body; but as in soul he is strong for to destroy all the passions
and the lusts of the flesh by patience and abstinence in the
sensuality, and by abundance of ghostly joy and sweetness in the
affection. And also a soul in this state is dwelling between the
terms of deadly life and undeadly life. He that dwelleth between
the terms hath nearhand forsaken deadliness, but not fully, and
hath nearhand gotten undeadliness, but not fully; for whiles that
him needeth the goods of this world, as meat and drink and
clothing, as it falleth to each man that liveth, yet his one foot
is in this deadly life; and for great abundance of ghostly joy and
sweetness that he feeleth in God, not seldom but oft, he hath his
other foot in the undeadly life. Thus I trow that saint Paul felt,
when he said this word of great desire: "Who shall deliver me from
this deadly body?" Rom. vii. 24.
And when he
said thus: "I covet to be loosed and to be with Christ." Phil. i. 23.
And thus doth the soul that feeleth
Issachar in his affection, that is to say, the joy of inward
sweetness, the which is understanden by Issachar. It
enforceth it to forsake this wretched life, but it may not; it
coveteth to enter the blessed life, but it may not; it doth that it
may, and yet it dwelleth between the terms.
CAPITULUM VIII
HOW PERFECT HATRED OF SIN RISETH IN THE
AFFECTION
AND therefore it is that after Issachar Zebulun is born, that is
to say, hatred of sin. And here it is to wete why that hatred of
sin is never perfectly felt in a man's affection, ere the time that
ghostly joy of inward sweetness be felt in the affection, and this
is the skill: for ere this time was never the true cause of hatred
felt in the affection. For the feeling of ghostly joy teacheth a
man what sin harmeth the soul. And all after that the harm in the
soul is felt much or little, thereafter is the hatred measured,
more or less, unto the harming. But when a soul, by the grace of
God and long travail, is come to feeling of ghostly joy in God,
then it feeleth that sin hath been the cause of the delaying
thereof. And also when he feeleth that he may not alway last in the
feeling of that ghostly joy, for the corruption of the flesh, of
the which corruption sin is the cause; then he riseth with a strong
feeling of hatred against all sin and all kind of sin.
This feeling taught David us to have, where he saith in
the psalm: "Be ye wroth and will ye not sin"; Ps iv. 5. Harl. MS. 674 has: "Wraththes and willeth not synne, or thus: Beeth wrothe and synnith not."
that is thus to mean: Be ye wroth with the sin,
but not with the kind. Human nature in our fellow-man.
For
kind stirreth to the deed, but not to sin. And here it is to wete
that this wrath and this hatred is not contrary to charity, but
charity teacheth how it shall be had both in a man's self and in
his even Christian; Fellow-Christian. The words in square brackets are omitted in Harl. MS. 674.
for a man
should [not] hate sin [so that he destroy his kind, but so that he
destroy the sin and the appetite of sin] in his kind. And, as
against our even Christian, we ought to hate sin in him, and to
love him; and of this hatred speaketh David in the psalm, where he
saith thus: "With perfect hatred I hated them." Ps. cxxxix. (Vulgate cxxxviii. ) 21.
And in another psalm he saith that "he had in
hatred all wicked ways." Ps. cxix. (Vulgate cxviii.) 104.
Thus
it is well proved that, ere Zebulun was born, Judah and Issachar
were both born. For but if a man have had charity and ghostly joy
in his feeling first, he may in no wise feel this perfect hatred of
sin in his affection. For Judah, that is to say, charity, teacheth
us how we shall hate sin in ourself and in our brethren; and
Issachar, that is to say, ghostly feeling of joy in God, teacheth
us
why we shall hate sin in ourself and in our brethren.
Judah biddeth us hate sin and love the kind; and Issachar biddeth
us destroy the sin and save the kind; and thus it falleth for to be
that the kind may be made strong in God and in ghostly things by
perfect hatred and destroying of sin. And therefore is Zebulun
cleped in the story "a dwelling stead of strength." Habitaculum fortitudinis.
And Leah said in his birth: "My husband shall
now dwell with me"; Gen. xxx. 20.
and so it
is that God, that is the true husband of our soul, is dwelling in
that soul, strengthening it in the affection with ghostly joy and
sweetness in His love, that travaileth busily to destroy sin in
himself and in others by perfect hatred of the sin and all the kind
of sin. And thus it is said how Zebulun is born.
CAPITULUM IX
HOW ORDAINED SHAME RISETH AND GROWETH IN THE
AFFECTION
BUT though all that a soul through grace feel in it perfect
hatred of sin, whether it may yet live without sin? Nay,
sikerly; Assuredly. Pepwell sometimes modernises this word, but not invariably.
and therefore let no
man presume of himself, when the Apostle saith thus: "If we say
that we
have no sin, we deceive ourself, and soothfastness is not
in us." 1 John i. 8.
And also saint Austin
saith that he dare well say that there is no man living without
sin. Cf. St. Augustine's various writings against the Pelagians, e.g. Epist. clvii. (Opera, ed. Migne, tom. ii. coll. 374 et seq.), Ad Hilarium.
And I pray thee, who is
he that sinneth not in ignorance? Yea, and oft times it falleth
that God suffereth those men to fall full grievously by the which
He hath ordained other men's errors to be righted, that they may
learn by their own falling how merciful they shall be in amending
of others. And for that oft times men fall grievously in those same
sins that they most hate, therefore, after hatred of sin, springeth
ordained shame in a man's soul; and so it is that after Zebulun was
Dinah born. As by Zebulun hatred of sin, so by Dinah is
understanden ordained shame of sin. But wete thou well: he that
felt never Zebulun, felt never yet Dinah. Evil men have a manner of
shame, but it is not this ordained shame. For why, if they had
perfect shame of sin, they should not so customably do it with will
and advisement; Deliberate intention.
but they shame
more with a foul cloth on their body, than with a foul thought in
their soul. But what so thou be that weenest that thou hast gotten
Dinah, think whether thee would shame as much if a foul thought
were in thine heart, as thee would if thou
were made to stand naked before the king and all his
royalme; and sikerly else wete it thou right well that thou hast
not yet gotten ordained shame in thy feeling, if so be that thou
have less shame with thy foul heart than with thy foul body, and if
thou think more shame with thy foul body in the sight of men than
with thy foul heart in the sight of the King of heaven and of all
His angels and holy saints in heaven.
Lo, it is now said of the seven
children of Leah, by the which are understanden seven manner of
affections in a man's soul, the which may be now ordained and now
unordained, now measured and now unmeasured; but when they are
ordained and measured, then are they virtues; and when they are
unordained and unmeasured, then are they vices. Thus behoveth a man
have children Warnes in the MSS.
that they be not
only ordained, but also measured. Then are they ordained when they
are of that thing that they should be, and then are they unordained
when they are of that thing that they should not be; and then are
they measured when they are as much as they should be, and then are
they unmeasured when they are more than they should be. For why,
overmuch dread bringeth in despair, and overmuch sorrow casteth a
man in to bitterness and heaviness of kind, Disposition.
for the which he is unable to receive ghostly
comfort. And overmuch hope is presumption, and outrageous love is
but flattering and
faging, Coaxing, beguiling. Harl. MS. 674 reads: "glosing."
and
outrageous gladness is dissolution and wantonness, and untempered
hatred of sin is woodness. Madness.
And on this manner, they are unordained and unmeasured, and thus
are they turned in to vices, and then lose they the name of
virtues, and may not be accounted amongst the sons of Jacob, that
is to say, God: for by Jacob is understanden God, as it is shewed
in the figure before.
CAPITULUM X
HOW DISCRETION AND CONTEMPLATION RISE IN THE
REASON
Thus it seemeth that the virtue of discretion needeth to be had,
with the which all others may be governed; for without it all
virtues are turned in to vices. This is Joseph, that is the late
born child, but yet his father loveth him more than them all. For
why, without discretion may neither goodness be gotten nor kept,
and therefore no wonder though that virtue be singularly loved,
without which no virtue may be had nor governed. But what wonder
though this virtue be late gotten, when we may not win to the
perfection of discretion without much custom and many travails of
these other affections coming before? For first behoveth us to be
used in each
virtue by itself, and get the proof of them all
serely, In particular. Pepwell has: "surely."
ere we may have full
knowing of them all, or else can deem sufficiently of them all. And
when we use us busily in these feelings and beholdings before said,
oft times we fall and oft times we rise. Then, by our oft falling,
may we learn how much wariness us behoveth have in the getting and
keeping of these virtues. And thus sometime, by long use, a soul is
led into full discretion, and then it may joy in the birth of
Joseph. And before this virtue be conceived in a man's soul, all
that these other virtues do, it is without discretion. And
therefore, in as much as a man presumeth and enforceth him in any
of these feelings beforesaid, over his might and out of measure, in
so much the fouler he falleth and faileth of his purpose. And
therefore it is that, after them all and last, is Dinah born; for
often, after a foul fall and a failing, cometh soon shame. And thus
after many failings and failings, and shames following, a man
learneth by the proof that there is nothing better than to be ruled
after counsel, the which is the readiest getting of discretion. For
why, he that doth all things with counsel, he shall never
forthink Regret.
it; for better is a
sly man than a strong man; yea, and better is list than lither
strength, Better is art than evil strength. A proverbial expression. Cf. Layamons Brut, 17210 (ed Madden, ii. p. 297); Ancren Riwle (ed. Morton), p. 268 (where it is rendered: "Skilful prudence is better than rude force"). Cf. Prov. xxi. 22.
and a
sly man speaketh of victories. And here is the open skill
why that neither Leah nor Zilpah nor Bilhah might bear such a
child, but only Rachel; for, as it is said before, that of reason
springeth right counsel, the which is very discretion, understanden
by Joseph, the first son of Rachel; and then at the first bring we
forth Joseph in our reason when all that we are stirred to do, we
do it with counsel. This Joseph shall not only know what sins we
are most stirred unto, but also he shall know the weakness of our
kind, and after that either asketh, so shall he do remedy, and seek
counsel at wiser than he, and do after them, or else he is not
Joseph, Jacob's son born of Rachel. And also by this
foresaid The MSS. have: "ilke."
Joseph a man is
not only learned to eschew the deceits of his enemies, but also oft
a man is led by him to the perfect knowing of himself; and all
after that a man knoweth himself, thereafter he profiteth in the
knowing of God, of whom he is the image and the likeness. And
therefore it is that after Joseph is Benjamin born. For as by
Joseph discretion, so by Benjamin we understand contemplation. And
both are they born of one mother, and gotten of one father. For
through the grace of God lightening our reason, come we to the
perfect knowing of ourself and of God, that is to say, after that
it may be in this life. But long after Joseph is Benjamin born. For
why, truly but if it so be that we use us busily and long in
ghostly travails, with
the which we are learned to know ourself, we may not be
raised in to the knowing and contemplation of God. He doth for
nought that lifteth up his eye to the sight of God, that is not yet
able to see himself. For first I would that a man learned him to
know the unseeable Invisibilia.
things
of his own spirit, ere he presume to know the unseeable things of
the spirit of God; and he that knoweth not yet himself and weeneth
that he hath gotten somedeal knowing of the unseeable things of
God, I doubt it not but that he is deceived; and therefore I rede
that a man seek first busily for to know himself, the which is made
to the image and the likeness of God as in soul. And wete thou well
that he that desireth for to see God, him behoveth to cleanse his
soul, the which is as a mirror in the which all things are clearly
seen, when it is clean; and when the mirror is foul, then mayst
thou see nothing clearly therein; and right so it is of thy soul,
when it is foul, neither thou knowest thyself nor God. As when the
candle brenneth, thou mayst then see the self candle So Pepwell and Harl. MS. 674. Harl. MS. 1022, ed. Horstman, reads: "see thiself and the candell."
by the light thereof, and other
things also; right so, when thy soul brenneth in the love of God,
that is, when thou feelest continually thine heart desire after the
love of God, then, by the light of His grace that He sendeth in thy
reason, thou mayst see both thine own unworthiness
and His great goodness. And therefore cleanse thy mirror
and proffer thy candle to the fire; and then, when thy mirror is
cleansed and thy candle brenning, and it so be that thou wittily
behold thereto, then beginneth there a manner of clarity of the
light of God for to shine in thy soul, and a manner of sunbeam that
is ghostly to appear before thy ghostly sight, through the which
the eye of thy soul is opened to behold God and godly things,
heaven and heavenly things, and all manner of ghostly things. But
this sight is but by times, when God will vouchsafe for to give it
to a working Pepwell reads: "waking."
soul, the
whiles it is in the battle of this deadly life; but after this life
it shall be everlasting. This light shone in the soul of David,
when he said thus in the psalm: "Lord, the light of Thy face is
marked upon us; Thou hast given gladness within mine
heart." Ps. iv. 6-7.
The light of God's
face is the shining of His grace, that reformeth in us His image
that hath been disfigured with the darkness of sin; and therefore a
soul that brenneth in desire of His sight, Harl. MS. 674 reads: "light."
if it hope for to have that that it desireth,
wete it well it hath conceived Benjamin. And, therefore, what is
more healfull Salutary.
than the
sweetness of this sight, or what softer thing may be felt? Sikerly,
none; and that woteth Rachel full well. For why, reason saith that,
in comparison of this sweetness, all other sweetness is sorrow,
and bitter as gall before honey. Nevertheless, yet may a
man never come to such a grace by his own slight. Skill.
For why, it is the gift of God without
desert of man. But without doubt, though it be not the desert of
man, yet no man may take such grace without great study and
brenning desires coming before; and that woteth Rachel full well,
and therefore she multiplieth her study, and whetteth her desires,
seeking desire upon desire; So Pepwell. Harl. MS. 674 reads: "each desire on desire." Harl. MS. 1022, ed. Horstman, has: "hekand desire unto desire."
so that at the last, in great abundance of brenning desires and
sorrow of the delaying of her desire, Benjamin is born, and his
mother Rachel dieth; Gen. xxxv. 18.
for
why, in what time that a soul is ravished above itself by abundance
of desires and a great multitude of love, so that it is inflamed
with the light of the Godhead, sikerly then dieth all man's
reason.
And therefore, what so thou be that
covetest to come to contemplation of God, that is to say, to bring
forth such a child that men clepen in the story Benjamin (that is
to say, sight of God), then shalt thou use thee in this manner.
Thou shalt call together thy thoughts and thy desires, and make
thee of them a church, and learn thee therein for to love only this
good word Jesu, so that all thy desires and all thy thoughts
are only set for to love Jesu, and that unceasingly as it may be
here; so
that thou fulfill that is said in the psalm: "Lord, I
shall bless Thee in churches"; Ps. xxvi. (Vulgate xxv.) 12.
that is, in thoughts and desires of the love of
Jesu. And then, in this church of thoughts and desires, and in this
onehead of studies and of wills, look that all thy thoughts, and
all thy desires, and all thy studies, and all thy wills be only set
in the love and the praising of this Lord Jesu, without forgetting,
as far forth as thou mayst by grace, and as thy frailty will
suffer; evermore meeking thee to prayer and to counsel, patiently
abiding the will of our Lord, unto the time that thy mind be
ravished above itself, to be fed with the fair food of angels in
the beholding of God and ghostly things: So Harl. MSS. 1022 and 2373; Pepwell and harl. MS. 674 read: "godly."
so that it be fulfilled in thee that is written
in the psalm: Ibi Benjamin adolesentulus in mentis
excessu; Ps. lxviii. 27 (Vulgate lxvii. 28).
that is:
"There is Benjamin, the young child, in ravishing of mind." The
grace of Jesu keep thee evermore. So Harl. MS. 2373; omitted in Harl. MS. 674. Pepwell has instead: "To the which us bring our blessed Benjamin, Christ Jesu, Amen." Harl. MS. 1022 ends: "Jesus Jesu, Mercy, Jesu, grant Mercy, Jesu." The whole of this concluding paragraph, which is an addition of the translator, differs considerably in Pepwell.
Amen
DEO GRATIAS
II. DOCTRINES OF ST. KATHERIN OF
SEENES
HERE FOLLOWETH DIVERS DOCTRINES DEVOUT AND
FRUITFUL, TAKEN OUT OF THE LIFE OF THAT GLORIOUS VIRGIN AND SPOUSE
OF OUR LORD, SAINT KATHERIN OF SEENES. AND FIRST THOSE WHICH OUR
LORD TAUGHT AND SHEWED TO HERSELF, AND SITH THOSE WHICH SHE TAUGHT
AND SHEWED UNTO OTHERS
THE first doctrine of our Lord is this:
"Knowest thou not, daughter, who thou
art and who I am? If thou know well these two words, thou art and
shalt be blessed. Thou art she that art nought; and I am He that am
ought.So Pepwell and MS. Reg. 17 D.V.; Caxton has: "Thou art she that art not, and I am he that am"; which is nearer to the Latin.
If thou have the
very knowledge of these two things in thy soul, thy ghostly enemy
shall never deceive thee, but thou shalt eschew graciously all his
malice;Caxton reads: I escape gracyously all his snares."
and thou shalt
never consent to any thing that is against My commandments and
precepts, but all grace, all truth, and all charity thou shalt win
without any hardness."
The second doctrine of our Lord is
this:
"Think on Me, and I shall think on
thee."
In declaring of which doctrine she
was wont to say that:
"A soul which is verily united to God
perceiveth not, seeth not, nor loveth not herself, nor none other
soul, nor hath no mind of no creature but only on God."
And these words she expoundeth more
expressly, and saith thus:
"Such a soul seeth herself, that she
is very nought of herself, and knoweth perfectly that all the
goodness, with all the mights of the soul, is her Maker's. She
forsaketh utterly herself and all creatures, and hideth herself
fully in her Maker, our Lord Jesu; in so much that she sendeth
fully and principally all her ghostly and bodily workings in to
Him; in whom she perceiveth that she may find all goodness, and all
perfection of blessedness. And, therefore, she shall have no will
to go out from such inward knowledge of Him for nothing.Cf. Dante, Par. xxxiii. 100-105:-- " A quella luce cotal si diventa, Che volgersi da lei per altro aspetto, È impossibil che mai si consenta; Però che il ben, ch'è del volere obbietto, Tutto s'accoglie in lei, e fuor di quella È difettivo ciò che lì è perfetto." " Such at that light does one become, that it were impossible ever to consent to turn from it for sight of ought else, For the good, that is the object of the will, is wholly gathered therein, and outside it that is defective which there is perfect."
And of this unity of love, that is
increased every day in such a soul, she is transformed in a manner
in to our Lord, that she may
neither think, nor understand, nor love, nor have no mind
but God, or else in God. For she may not see herself, nor none
other creature, but only in God; nor she may not love herself, nor
none other, but only in God; nor she may have no mind of herself
nor of none other, but only in God, nor she may have no mind but
only of her Maker. And therefore," she said, "we shall have none
other business but only to think how we may please Him, unto whom
we have committed all our governance both in body and soul."
The third doctrine of our Lord is
this; in obtaining of virtue and ghostly strength:
"Daughter, if thou wilt get unto thee
virtue and also ghostly strength,So Pepwell: Caxton has: "yf thou wilt gete the vertu of ghostely strength."
thou must follow Me. Albeit that I might by My
godly virtue have overcome all the power of the fiends by many
manner ways of overcoming, yet, for to give you ensample by My
manhood, I would not overcome him but only by taking of death upon
the Cross, that ye might be taught thereby, if ye will overcome
your ghostly enemies, for to take the Cross as I did; the which
Cross shall be to you a great refreshing in all your temptations,
if ye have mind of the pains that I suffered thereon.Pepwell and the MS. add: "and temptations" (Caxton: "of temptacyons"); which is clearly out of place. Cf. Legenda, SS 104 (Acta Sanctorum, Aprilis, tom. iii.).
And certainly the pains of the
Cross
may well be called refreshing of temptations, for the
more pain ye suffer for My love, the more like ye be to Me. And if
ye be so like to Me in passion, needs ye must be like to Me in
joy.2 Cor. i. 7.
Therefore for My love,
daughter, suffer patiently bitter things, and not sweet things; and
doubt in no wise, for thou shalt be strong enough for to suffer all
things patiently."
The first doctrine of this glorious
virgin is this:
"A soul which is verily meteMated. Caxton has: "vertuously y-mette." Cf. Legenda, SS 101: "Talis anima sic Deo conjuncta."
to God, as much as it hath of the
love of God, so much it hath of the hate of her own sensuality. For
of the love of God naturally cometh hate of sin, the which is done
against God. The soul, therefore, considering that the root and
beginning of sin reigneth in the sensuality, and there principally
is rooted, she is moved and stirred highly and holily with all her
mights against her own sensuality; not utterly to destroy the root,
for that may not be, as long as the soul dwelleth in the body
living in this life, but ever there shall be left a root, namely of
small venial sins. And because she may not utterly destroy the root
of sin thus in her sensuality, she conceiveth a great displeasaunce
against her sensuality, of the which displeasaunce springeth an
holy hate and a despising of the sensuality, by the which the soul
is ever well kept from her ghostly enemies. There is nothing that
keepeth the soul so
strong and so sure as doth such an holy hate. And that
felt well the Apostle, when he said: Cum infirmor, tonc fortior
sum et potens;2 Cor. xii. 10.
that is:
When I am sick and feeble in my sensuality by hate of sin, then am
I stronger and mightier in my soul. Lo, of such hate cometh virtue,
of such feebleness cometh strength, and of such displeasaunce
cometh pleasaunce. This holy hate maketh a man meek, and to feel
meek things of himself. It maketh him patient in adversity,
temperate in prosperity, and setteth him in all honesty of virtue,
and maketh him to be loved both of God and man. And where this holy
hate is not, there is inordinate love, which is the stinking canal
of all sin, and root"And the cause and the rote" (Caxton).
of all
evil concupiscence. Do therefore," she saith, "your business to put
away such inordinate love of your own self, out of your hearts, and
plant therein holy hate of sin. For certain that is the right way
to perfection, and amendment of all sin."
Here is a common answer which she
used to say to the fiends:
"I trust in my Lord Jesu Christ, and
not in myself."
Here is a rule how we shall behave us
in time of temptation:
"When temptation," she saith,
"ariseth in us, we should never dispute nor make questions; for
that is," she saith, "that the fiend most seeketh of us for to fall
in
questions with him. He trusteth so highly in the great
subtlety of his malice, that he should overcome us with his
sophistical reasons. Therefore a soul should never make questions,
nor answer to the questions of the fiend, but rather turn her to
devout prayer, and commend her to our Lord that she consent not to
his subtle demands; for by virtue of devout prayer, and steadfast
faith, we may overcome all the subtle temptations of the
fiend."
Here is a good conceit of this holy
maid to eschew the temptations of the fiend:
"It happeneth," she said, "that
otherwhileSometimes.
the devout
fervour of a soul loving our Lord Jesu, either by some certain sin,
or else by some new subtle temptations of the fiend, waxeth dull
and slow, and otherwhile it is brought to very coldness;Caxton has: "It happed she sayde that other whyle deuoute feruour of a sowle leuyng oure lorde Jhesu other by somme certeyne synne, or ellys by newe sotyll temptacyons of the fende wexyth dull and slowe, and other whyle it is y-brought to veray coldenesse." Pepwell and the MS. are entirely corrupt: "It happeneth (she sayth) that otherwhyle a synner whiche is leuynge our Lord Jhesu by some certeyn synne, or ellys by some certeyn temptacyons of the fende," &c. The original of the passage runs thus: "Frequenter enim (ut inquiebat) contingit animae Deum amanti quod fervor mentalis, vel ex divina providentia, vel ex aliquali culpa, vel ex haustis adinventionibus inimici, tepescit, et quandoque quasi ad frigiditatem usque deducitur" (Legenda SS 107).
in so much that some unwitty
folks, considering that they be destitute from the ghostly
comfort the which they were wont to have, leaveSo Caxton; Pepwell has: "leaving."
therefore the ghostly exercise
that they were wont to use of prayer, of meditations, of reading,
of holy communications, and of penance doing; whereby they be made
more ready to be overcome of the fiend. For he desireth nothing
else of Christ's knights, but that they should put away their
armour by the which they were wont to overcome their enemies. A
wise knight of our Lord Jesu should not do so. But thus, the more
he feelethCaxton has: "seeth"; the Latin text: quantumcumque videat seu sentiat.
himself dull and
slow, or cold in devotion, the rather he should continue in his
ghostly exercise, and not for to make them less, but rather
increase them."
Here is another doctrine of this holy
maid, the which she used to say to herself in edifying of
others:
"Thou vile and wretched creature, art
thou worthy any manner of comfort in this life? Why hast thou not
mind of thy sins? What supposest thou of thyself, wretched sinner?
Is it not enough to thee, trowest thou not, that thou art escaped
by the mercy of our Lord from everlasting damnation? Therefore thou
shouldest be well apaid,Requited.
wretch, though thou suffer all the pains and darkness of thy soul
all the days of thy life. Why art thou, then, heavy and sorrowful
to suffer such pains, sith by God's grace thou shalt escape endless
pains
with Christ Jesu without any doubt, and be comforted
endlessly, if thou bear these pains patiently. Whether hast thou
chosen to serve our Lord only for the comfort that thou mayst have
of Him in this life? Nay, but for the comfort that thou shalt have
of Him in the bliss of heaven. Therefore arise up now, and cease
never of thy ghostly exercise that thou hast used, but rather
increase to them more."
Here is an answer by the which she
had a final victory of the fiend, after long threats of intolerable
pains:
"I have chosen pain for my
refreshing, and therefore it is not hard to me to suffer them, but
rather delectable for the love of my Saviour, as long as it
pleaseth His Majesty that I shall suffer them."
Here is a doctrine of the said
virgin, how we should use the grace of our Lord:
"Who so could use the grace of our
Lord, he should ever have the victory of all things that falleth to
him. For as often," she said, "as any new thing falleth to a man,
be it of prosperity or adversity, he should think in himself thus:
Of this will I win somewhat. For he that can do so, shall soon be
rich in virtue."
Here followeth notable doctrines of
this holy maid, taken of her sermon which she made to her disciples
before her passing, and the first was this:
"What so ever he be that cometh to
the service of God, if he will have God truly, it is needful to him
that
he make his heart naked from all sensible love, not only
of certain persons but of every creature what that ever he be, and
then he should stretch up his soul to our Lord and our Maker,
simply, with all the desire of his heart. For an heart may not
wholly be given to God, but if it be free from all other love, open
and simple without doubleness." And so she affirmed of herself,
that it was her principal labour and business from her young age
unto that time, ever for to come to that perfection. Also she said
that she knew well that to such a state of perfection, in the which
all the heart is given to God, a soul may not come perfectly
without meditation of devout prayer, and that the prayer be
grounded in meekness, and that it come not forth and proceed by any
trust of any manner of virtue of him that prayeth, but alway he
should know himself to be right nought. For she said that that was
ever her business, to give herself to the exercise of prayer, so
for to win the continual habit of prayer; for she did see well that
by prayer all virtues are increased, and made mighty and strong;
and, without prayer, they wax feeble and defail.So the MS.; Pepwell reads: "were feble and fayle"; and Caxton: "wexed feble and defayled."
Wherefore she induced her disciples that
they should busy them to prayer perseverauntly; and therefore she
told them of two manner of prayers:Caxton reads: "prayng" (praying).
Vocal and Mental. Vocal
prayers, she said, should be kept certain hours in the
night and in the day ordained by holy Church; but mental prayer
should ever be had, in act or in habit of the soul. Also she said
that, by the light of quick faith, she saw clearly and conceived in
her soul that what that ever befell to her, or to any others, all
cometh from God, not for hate but for great love that He hath to
His creatures; and bySo Caxton: Pepwell and MS. have: "in."
this
quick faith she conceived in herself a love and a readiness to obey
as well to the precepts of her sovereigns,Latin, Praelatorum suorum (i.e. of her ecclesiastical superiors), Legenda, SS 361.
as to the commandments of God, ever thinking
that their precepts should come from God, either for need of
herself, or else for increase of virtue in her soul. Also she said,
for to get and purchase purity of soul, it were right necessary
that a man kept himself from all manner of judgments of his
[neighbour, and from all idle speaking of his]Omitted in Pepwell and in MS.
neighbour's deeds; for in every creature we
should behold only the will of God. And therefore she said that in
no wise men should deemJudge. Cf. above, p. 14.
creatures; that is, neither despise them by their doomJudgment.
nor condemn them, all be it that
they see them do open sin before them; but rather they should have
compassion on them and pray for them, and despise them not, nor
condemn
them. Also she said that she had great hope and trust in
God's providence; for, she said, she knew well"Also she sayd that she hadde alwaye grete hope and truste in Goddes prouydence, and to this same truste she endured her dysciples seyng unto theym that she founde and knewe" (Caxton).
by experience that the Divine providence
was and is a passing great thing, for it wanteth never to them that
hopeth in it.
DEO GRATIS
III. TREATISE OF CONTEMPLATION
HERE BEGINNETH A SHORT TREATISE OF CONTEMPLATION
TAUGHT BY OUR LORD JESU CHRIST, OR TAKEN OUT OF THE BOOK OF MARGERY
KEMPE, ANCRESS OF LYNN
SHE desired many times that her head might be smitten off with
an axe upon a block for the love of our Lord Jesu. Then said our
Lord Jesu in her mind: "I thank thee, daughter, that thou wouldest
die for My love; for as often as thou thinkest so, thou shalt have
the same meed in heaven, as if thou suffredest the same death, and
yet there shall no man slay thee.
"I assure thee in thy mind, if it
were possible for Me to suffer pain again, as I have done before,
Me were lever to suffer as much pain as ever I did for thy soul
alone, rather than thou shouldest depart from Me everlastingly.
"Daughter, thou mayst no better
please God, than to think continually in His love."
Then she asked our Lord Jesu Christ,
how she should best love Him. And our Lord said: "Have mind of thy
wickedness, and think on My goodness.
"Daughter, if thou wear the habergeon
or the hair,The habergeon or the hair-shirt, the former term being applied to an instrument of penance as well as to a piece of armour. Cf. Chaucer, The Persones Tale (ed. Skeat, SS 97): "Thanne shaltow understonde, that bodily peyne stant in disciplyne or techinge, by word or by wrytinge, or in ensample. Also in weringe of heyres or of stamin, or of haubergeons on hir naked flesh, for Cristes sake, and swiche manere penances. But war thee wel that swiche manere penances on thy flesh ne make nat thyn herte bitter or angry or anoyed of thy-self; for bettre is to caste awey thyn heyre, than for to caste away the sikernesse of Jesu Crist. And therfore seith seint Paul: 'Clothe yow, as they that been chosen of God, in herte of misericorde, debonairetee, suffraunce, and swich manere of clothinge'; of whiche Jesu Crist is more apayed than of heyres, or haubergeons, or hauberkes."
fasting bread
and water, and if thou saidest every day a thousand Pater Nosters,
thou shaltWynkyn de Worde has: "sholde."
not please Me so
well as thou dost when thou art in silence, and suffrest Me to
speak in thy soul.
"Daughter, for to bid many beads, it
is good to them that can not better do, and yet it is not
perfect.Wynkyn de Worde has: "profyte."
But it is a good
way toward perfection. For I tell thee, daughter, they that be
great fasters, and great doers of penance, they would that it
should be holden the best life.Cf. St. Catherine of Siena, Letter to William Flete (ed. Gigli, 124): "There are some who give themselves perfectly to chastising their body, doing very great and bitter penance, in order that the sensuality may not rebel against the reason. They have set all their desire more in mortifying the body than in slaying their own will. These are fed at the table of penance, and are good and perfect, but unless they have great humility, and compel themselves to consider the will of God and not that of men, they oft times mar their perfection by making themselves judges of those who are not going by the same way that they are going."
And they that give them unto many devotions,
they would have that the best life. And those that give
much almesse, they would that it were holden the best life. And I
have often told thee, daughter, that thinking, weeping, and high
contemplation is the best life in earth, and thou shalt have more
merit in heaven for one year thinking in thy mind than for an
hundred year of praying with thy mouth; and yet thou wilt not
believe Me, for thou wilt bid many beads.Perhaps, simply, "say many prayers"--without any special reference to the rosary.
"Daughter, if thou knew how sweet thy
love is to Me, thou wouldest never do other thing but love Me with
all thine heart.
"Daughter, if thou wilt be high with
Me in heaven, keep Me alway in thy mind as much as thou mayst, and
forget not Me at thy meat; but think alway that I sit in thine
heart and know every thought that is therein, both good and
bad.
"Daughter, I have suffered many pains
for thy love; therefore thou hast great cause to love Me right
well, for I have bought thy love full dear."
"Dear Lord," she said, "I pray Thee,
let me never have other joy in earth, but mourning and weeping
for
Thy love; for me thinketh, Lord, though I were in hell,
if I might weep there and mourn for Thy love as I do here, hell
should not noyeAnnoy.
me, but it
should be a manner of heaven. For Thy love putteth away all manner
of dread of our ghostly enemy; for I had lever be there, as long as
Thou wouldest, and please Thee, than to be in this world and
displease Thee; therefore, good Lord, as Thou wilt, so mayWynkyn de Worde has: "mote."
it be."
She had great wonder that our Lord
would become man, and suffer so grievous pains, for her that was so
unkind a creature to Him. And then, with great weeping, she asked
our Lord Jesu how she might best please Him; and He answered to her
soul, saying: "Daughter, have mind of thy wickedness, and think on
My goodness." Then she prayed many times and often these words:
"Lord, for Thy great goodness, have mercy on my great wickedness,
as certainly as I was never so wicked as Thou art good, nor never
may be though I would; for Thou art so good, that Thou mayst no
better be; and, therefore, it is great wonder that ever any man
should be departed from Thee without end."
When she saw the Crucifix, or if she
saw a man had a wound, or a beast, or if a man beat a child before
her, or smote a horse or another beast with a whip, if she might
see it or hear it, she thought she saw our Lord beaten or wounded,
like as she saw in the man or in the beast.
The more she increased in love and in
devotion, the more she increased in sorrow and contrition, in
lowlinessWynkyn de Worde has: "lownesse."
and meekness, and
in holy dread of our Lord Jesu, and in knowledge of her own
frailty. So that if she saw any creature be punished or sharply
chastised, she would think that she had been more worthy to be
chastised than that creature was, for her unkindness against God.
Then would she weep for her own sin, and for compassion of that
creature.
Our Lord said to her: "In nothing
that thou dost or sayest, daughter, thou mayst no better please God
than believe that He loveth thee. For, if it were possible that I
might weep with thee, I would weep with thee for the compassion
that I have of thee."
Our merciful Lord Jesu Christ drew
this creature unto His love, and to the mind of His passion, that
she might not endure to behold a leper, or another sick man,
specially if he had any wounds appearing on him. So she wept as if
she had seen our Lord Jesu with His wounds bleeding; and so she
did, in the sight of the soul; for, through the beholding of the
sick man, her mind was all ravished in to our Lord Jesu, that she
had great mourning and sorrowing that she might not kiss the leper
when she met them in the way, for the love of our Lord: which was
all contrary to her disposition in the years of her youth and
prosperity, for then she abhorred them most.
Our Lord said: "Daughter, thou hast
desired in thy mind to have many priests in the town of Lynn, that
might sing and read night and day for to serve Me, worship Me, and
praise Me, and thank Me for the goodness that I have done to thee
in earth; and therefore, daughter, I promise thee that thou shalt
have meed and reward in heaven for the good wills and good desires,
as if thou haddest done them in deed.
"Daughter, thou shalt have as great
meed and as great reward with Me in heaven, for thy good service
and thy good deeds that thou hast done in thy mind, as if thou
haddest done the same with thy bodily wits withoutforth.With-out-forth=outwardly. Cf. Chaucer, The Persones Tale, (ed. Skeat, SS 10): "And with-inne the hertes of folk shal be the bytinge conscience, and with-oute-forth shal be the world al brenninge."
"And, daughter, I thank thee for the
charity that thou hast to all lecherous men and women; for thou
prayest for them and weepest for them many a tear, desiring that I
should deliver them out of sin, and be as gracious to them as I was
to Mary Magdalene, that they might have as much grace to love Me as
Mary Magdalene had; and with this condition thou wouldest that
everichEveryche=each one.
of them should have
twenty pounds a year to love and praise Me; and, daughter, this
great charity which thou hast to them in thy prayer pleaseth Me
right well. And,
daughter, also I thank thee for the charity which thou
hast in thy prayer, when thou prayest for all Jews and Saracens,
and all heathen people that they should come to Christian faith,
that My name might be magnified in them. Furthermore, daughter, I
thank thee for the general charity that thou hast to all people
that be now in this world, and to all those that are to come unto
the world's end; that thou wouldest be hacked as small as flesh to
the pot for their love, so that I would by thy death save them all
from damnation, if it pleased Me. And, therefore, daughter, for all
these good wills and desires, thou shalt have full meed and reward
in heaven, believe it right well and doubt never a deal."
She said: "Good Lord, I would be laid
naked upon an hurdle for Thy love, all men to wonder on me and to
cast filth and dirt on me, and be drawen from town to town every
day my life time, if Thou were pleased thereby, and no man's soul
hindered. Thy will be fulfilled and not mine."
"Daughter," He said, "as oftentimes
as thou sayest or thinkest: Worshipped be all the holy places in
Jerusalem, where Christ suffered bitter pain and passion in:
thou shalt have the same pardon as if thou were there with thy
bodily presence, both to thyself and to all those that thou wilt
give to.According to the legend, certain "indulgences," to be gained by all who visited the Holy Places at Jerusalem, were first granted by Pope St. Sylvester at the petition of Constantine and St. Helena. There seems no evidence as to the real date at which these special indulgences were instituted. Cf. Amort, De origine, progressu, valore, ac frauctu Indulgentiarum, Augsburg, 1735, pars i. pp. 217 et seq.
"The same pardon that was granted
thee aforetime, it was confirmed on Saint Nicholas day, that is to
say, playnePlenary.
remission; and
it is not only granted to thee, but also to all those that believe,
and to all those that shall believe unto the world's end, that God
loveth thee, and shall thank God for thee. If they will forsake
their sin, and be in full will no more to turn again thereto, but
be sorry and heavy for that they have done, and will do due penance
therefore, they shall have the same pardon that is granted to
thyself; and that is all the pardon that is in Jerusalem,All the indulgences attached to the Holy Places.
as was granted thee when thou were
at Rafnys."Probably Racheness in the parish of South Acre, where "there was a leper hospital, with church or chapel dedicated to St. Bartholomew, of early foundation" (Victoria History of the County of Norfolk, ii. p. 450).
That day that she suffered no
tribulation for our Lord's sake, she was not merry nor glad, as
that day when she suffered tribulation.
Our Lord Jesus said unto her:
"Patience is more worth than miracles doing. Daughter, it is more
pleasure to Me that thou suffer despites, scorns, shames,
reproofs,
wrongs, and diseases, than if thine head were stricken
off three times a day every day in seven year."
"Lord," she said, "for Thy great pain
have mercy on my little pain."
When she was in great trouble, our
Lord said: "Daughter, I must needs comfort thee, for now thou hast
the right way to heaven. By this way came I and all My disciples;
for now thou shalt know the better what sorrow and shame I suffered
for thy love, and thou shalt have the more compassion when thou
thinkest on My passion."
"O my dear worthy Lord," said she,
"these graces Thou shouldest shew to religious men and to
priests."
Our Lord said to her again: "Nay,
nay, daughter, for that I love best that they love not, and that is
shames, reproofs, scorns, and despites of the people; and therefore
they shall not have this grace; for, daughter, he that dreadeth the
shames of this world may not perfectly love God."
Here endeth a short treatise of a devout ancress
called Margery Kempe of
Lynn
IV. OF THE SONG OF ANGELS
HERE FOLLOWETH A DEVOUT TREATISE COMPILED BY MASTER
WALTER HYLTON OF THE SONG OF ANGELS
DEAR brother in Christ, I have understanding by thine own
speech, and also by telling of another man, that thou yearnest and
desirest greatly for to have more knowledge and understanding than
thou hast of angel's song and heavenly sound; what it is, and on
what wise it is perceived and felt in a man's soul, and how a man
may be siker that it is true and not feigned; and how it is made by
the presence of the good angel, and not by the inputting of the
evil angel. These things thou wouldest wete of me; but, soothly, I
cannot tell thee for a surety the soothfastness of this matter;
nevertheless somewhat, as me thinketh, I shall shew thee in a short
word.
Wete thou well that the end and the
sovereignty of perfection standeth in very oneheadIn true union.
of God and of a man's soul by perfect
charity. This onehead, then, is verily made when the mights of the
soul are reformed by grace to the dignity and the state of the
first condition; that is, when the mind is stabled sadly,Established firmly.
without changing
and vagation,Wandering.
in
God and ghostly things, and when the reason is cleared from all
worldly and fleshly beholdings, and from all bodily imaginations,
figures, and fantasies of creatures, and is illumined by grace to
behold God and ghostly things, and when the will and the affection
is purified and cleansed from all fleshly, kindly, and worldly
love, and is inflamed with brenning love of the Holy Ghost. This
wonderful onehead may not be fulfilledSo Horstman. Pepwell reads: "With this wonderful onehede ne may none be fuifilled."
perfectly, continually, and wholly in this life,
for the corruption of the flesh, but only in the bliss of heaven.
Nevertheless, the nearer that a soul in this present life may come
to this onehead, the more perfect it is. For the more that it is
reformed by grace to the image and the likeness of its Creator here
on this wise; the more joy and bliss shall it have in heaven. Our
Lord God is an endless being without changing, almighty without
failing, sovereign wisdom, light, soothness without error or
darkness; sovereign goodness, love, peace, and sweetness. Then the
more that a soul is united, fastened, conformed, and joined to our
Lord, the more stable and mighty it is, the more wise and clear,
good and peaceable, loving and more virtuous it is, and so it is
more perfect. For a soul that hath by the grace of Jesu, and long
travail of bodily and ghostly exercise, overcome and destroyed
concupiscences, and passions, and unskilful
stirringsUnreasonable impulses.
within itself,
and without in the sensuality, and is clothed all in virtues, as in
meekness and mildness, in patience and softness, in ghostly
strength and righteousness, in continence, in wisdom, in truth,
hope and charity; then it is made perfect, as it may be in this
life. Much comfort it receiveth of our Lord, not only inwardly in
its own privy substance,Secret nature. Cf. Mother Juliana, Revelations of Divine Love, xiv. cap. 46: "And our kindly substance is now blessedfully in God."
by
virtue of the onehead to our Lord that lieth in knowing and loving
of God, in light and ghostly brenning of Him, in transforming of
the soul in to the Godhead; but also many other comforts, savours,
sweetnesses, and wonderful feelings on sereDivers.
or sundry manners, after that our Lord
vouchethsafe to visit His creatures here in earth, and after that
the soul profiteth and waxeth in charity. Some soul, by virtue of
charity that God giveth it, is so cleansed, that all creatures, and
all that he heareth, or seeth, or feeleth by any of his wits,
turneth him to comfort and gladness; and the sensuality receiveth
new savour and sweetness in all creatures.Cf. De Imitatione Christi, ii. 4: "If thine heart were right, then every creature would be a mirror of life, and a book of holy doctrine. There is no creature so small and vile, as not to represent the goodness of God."
And right as beforetime the likings in the
sensuality were
fleshly, vain, and vicious, for the pain of the original
sin; right so now they are made ghostly and clean, without
bitterness and biting of conscience. And this is the goodness of
our Lord, that sith the soul is punished in the sensuality, and the
flesh is partner of the pain, that afterward the soul be comforted
in the sensuality, and the flesh be fellow of joy and comfort with
the soul, not fleshly, but ghostly, as he was fellow in tribulation
and pain. This is the freedom and the lordship, the dignity, and
the worship that a manHorstman reads: "a mans saule."
hath
over all creatures, the which dignity he may so recover by grace
here, that every creature savour to him as it is. And that is, when
by grace he seeth, he heareth, he feeleth only God in all
creatures. On this manner of wise a soul is made ghostly in the
sensuality by abundance of charity, that is, in the substance of
the soul. Also, our Lord comforteth a soul by angel's song. What
that song is, it may not be described by no bodily likeness, for it
is ghostly, and above all manner of imagination and reason. It may
be felt and perceived in a soul, but it may not be shewed.
Nevertheless, I shall speak thereof to thee as me thinketh. When a
soul is purified by the love of God, illumined by wisdom, stabled
by the might of God, then is the eye of the soul opened to behold
ghostly things, as virtues and angels and holy souls, and heavenly
things.So Horstman: Pepwell reads: "as virtues in angels and in holy souls and in heavenly things."
Then is
the soul able because of cleanness to feel the touching,
the speaking of good angels. This touching and speaking, it is
ghostly and not bodily.Pepwell omits the "not."
For
when the soul is lifted and ravished out of the sensuality, and out
of mind of any earthly things, then in great fervour of love and
light (if our Lord vouchsafe) the soul may hear and feel heavenly
sound, made by the presence of angels in loving of God. Not that
this song of angels is the sovereign joy of the soul; but for the
difference that is between a man's soul in flesh and an angel,
because of uncleanness, a soul may not hear it, but by ravishing in
love, and needeth for to be purified well clean, and fulfilled of
much charity, orBefore.
it were
able for to hear heavenly sound. For the sovereign and the
essential joy is in the love of God by Himself and for Himself, and
the secondary is in communing and beholding of angels and ghostly
creatures. For right as a soul, in understanding of ghostly things,
is often times touched and moved through bodily imagination by
working of angels; as Ezekiel the prophet did see in bodily
imagination the soothfastness of God's privities;The truth of God's hidden mysteries.
right so, in the love of God, a soul by the
presence of angels is ravished out of mind of all earthly and
fleshly things in to an heavenly joy, to hear angel's song and
heavenly sound, after that the charity is more
or less.According to the measure of its love.
Now,
then, me thinketh that there may no soul feel verily angel's song
nor heavenly sound, but he be in perfect charity; though all that
are in perfect charity have not felt it, but only that soul that is
so purified in the fire of love that all earthly savour is brent
out of it, and all mean lettingAll intervening hindrance.
between the soul and the cleanness of angels is
broken and put away from it. Then soothly may he sing a new song,
and soothly he may hear a blessed heavenly sound, and angel's song
without deceit or feigning. Our Lord woteth there that soul is
that, for abundance of brenning love, is worthy to hear angel's
song. Who so then will hear angel's song, and not be deceived by
feigning of himself, nor by imagination, nor by the illusion of the
enemy, him behoveth for to have perfect charity; and that is when
all vain love and dread, vain joy and sorrow, is cast out of the
heart, so that it love nothing but God, nor dread nothing but God,
nor joyeth, nor sorroweth nothing but in God, or for God. Who so
might by the grace of God go this way, he should not err.
Nevertheless, some men are deceived by their own imagination, or by
the illusion of the enemy in this manner.Horstman reads: "matter."
Some man, when he hath long travailed bodily and
ghostily in destroying of sins and getting of virtues, and
peradventure hath gotten by
grace a somedealA little.
rest, and a clarity in conscience, anon he leaveth prayers,
readings of holy scriptures, and meditations of the passion of
Christ, and the mind of his wretchedness; and, orBefore.
he be called of God, he gathereth his own
visits by violence to seek and to behold heavenly things, or his
eye be made ghostly by grace, and overtravaileth by imaginations
his wits, and by indiscreet travailing turneth the brains in his
head, and forbreakethOvertaxes.
the
mights and the wits of the soul and of the body. And then, for
feebleness of the brain, him thinketh that he heareth wonderful
sounds and songs; and that is nothing else but a fantasy, caused of
troubling of the brain; as a man that is in a frenzy him thinketh
that he heareth and seeth that none other man doth; and all is but
vanity and fantasies of the head, or else it is by working of the
wicked enemy that feigneth such sounds in his hearing.
For if a man have any presumption in
his fantasies and in his workings, and thereby falleth in to
indiscreet imagination, as it were in a frenzy, and is not ordered
nor ruled of grace, nor comforted by ghostly strength, the devil
entereth in, and by his false illuminations, and by his false
sounds, and by his false sweetnesses, he deceiveth a man's
soul.
And of this false ground springeth
errors, and heresies,
false prophecies, presumptions, and false reasonings,
blasphemings, and slanderings, and many other mischiefs. And,
therefore, if thou see any man ghostly occupied fall in any of
these sins and these deceits, or in frenzies, wete thou well that
he never heard nor felt angel's song nor heavenly sound. For,
soothly, he that heareth verily angel's song, he is made so wise
that he shall never err by fantasy, nor by indiscretion, nor by no
slightCraft.
of working of the
devil.
Also, some men feel in their hearts
as it were a ghostly sound, and sweet songs in divers manners; and
this is commonly good, and sometime it may turn to deceit. This
sound is felt on this wise. Some man setteth the thought of his
heart only in the name of Jesu, and steadfastly holdeth it thereto,
and in short time him thinketh that that name turneth him to great
comfort and sweetness, and him thinketh that the name soundeth in
his heart delectably, as it were a song; and the virtue of this
liking is so mighty, that it draweth in all the wits of the soul
thereto. Who so may feel this sound and this sweetness verily in
his heart, wete thou well that it is of God,Horstman reads: "wete he wele."
and, as long as he is meek, he shall not be
deceived. But this is not angel's song; but it is a song of the
soul by virtue of the name and by touching of the good
angel.This passage is defective in Pepwell.
For when a soul offereth him to Jesu truly and meekly,
putting all his trust and his desire in Him, and busily keepeth Him
in his mind, our Lord Jesu, when He will, purethMS. Dd. v. 55, ed. Horstman, has: "purges."
the affection of the soul, and filleth it,
and feedeth it with sweetness of Himself, and maketh His name in
the feeling of the soulPepwell has: "in feeling of the sound."
as
honey, and as song, and as any thing that is delectable; so that it
liketh the soul evermore for to cry Jesu, Jesu. And not only he
hath comfort in this, but also in psalms and hymns, and anthems of
holy Church, that the heart singeth them sweetly, devoutly, and
freely, without any travail of the soul, or bitterness in the same
time,MS. Dd. v. 55, ed. Horstman, reads: "toune" (i.e. tone).
and notes that holy
Church useth. This is good, and of the gift of God, for the
substance of this feeling lies in the love of Jesu, which is fed
and lightenedIllumined.
by such
manner of songs. Nevertheless, in this manner of feeling, a soul
may be deceived by vain glory; not in that time that the affection
singeth to Jesu, and loveth Jesu in sweetness of Him, but
afterward, when it ceaseth and the heart keelethCools down grows cold. Also construed with "from." Cf. Richard Rolle Psalter (ed. H. R. Bramley, p. 156): "He gars sa many kele fra godis luf."
of the love of Jesu, then entereth in vain
glory. Also some man is deceived on this wise: he heareth well
say
that it is good to have Jesu in his mind, or any other
good word of God; then he straineth his heart mightily to that
name, and by a custom he hath it nearhand alway in his mind; and,
nevertheless, he feeleth not thereby in his affection sweetness,
nor light of knowing in his reason, but only a naked mind of
God,A mere abstract thought of God.
or of Jesu, or of
Mary, or of any other good word. Here may be deceit, not for it is
evil for to have Jesu in mind on this wish but if he this feeling
and this mind, that is only his own working by custom, hold it a
special visitation of our Lord,Construe: "But if he hold this feeling and this mind (that is only his own working by custom) to be a special visitation."
and think it more than it is. For wete thou well
that a naked mind or a naked imagination of Jesu, or of any ghostly
thing, without sweetness of love in the affection, or without light
of knowing in reason, it is but a blindness, and a way to deceit,
if a man hold it in his own sight more than it is. Therefore I hold
it sikerSurer, safer.
that he be meek in
his own feeling, and hold this mind in regard nought, till he may,
by custom and using of this mind, feel the fire of love in his
affection, and the light of knowing in his reason. Lo, I have told
thee in this matter a little, as me thinketh; not affirming that
this sufficeth, nor that this is the soothfastness in this matter.
But if
thou think it otherwise, or else any other man savour by
grace the contrary hereto, I leave this saying, and give stead to
him; it sufficeth to me for to live in truthPepwell adds "and in faith."
principally, and not in feeling.
EXPLICIT
V. AN EPISTLE OF PRAYER
HERE AFTER FOLLOWETH A DEVOUT TREATISE
CALLED THE EPISTLE OF PRAYER
GHOSTLY friend in God, as touching thine asking of me, how thou
shalt rule thine heart in the time of thy prayer, I answer unto
thee thus feebly as I can. And I say that me thinketh that it
should be full speedful unto thee at the first beginning of thy
prayer, what prayer so ever it be, long or short, for to make it
full known unto thine heart, without any feigning, that thou shalt
die at the end of thy prayer.The MSS. add: "And bot if thou spede thee the rather or thou come to the ende of thy prayer."
And wete thou well that this is no feigned
thought that I tell thee, and see why; for truly there is no man
living in this life that dare take upon him to say the contrary:
that is to say, that thou shalt live longer than thy prayer is in
doing. And, therefore, thou mayst think it safely, and I counsel
thee to do it. For, if thou do it, thou shalt see that, what for
the general sight that thou hast of thy wretchedness, and this
special sight of the shortness of time of amendment, it shall bring
in to thine heart a very working of dread.
And this working shalt thou
feelPepwell reads: "find."
verily folden in thine
heart, but if it so be (the which God forbid) that thou flatter and
fageCoax, beguile.
thy false fleshly
blind heart with leasingsFalsehoods.
and feigned behightings, that thou shalt longer live.The MSS. read: "behetynges of lenger leuyng."
For though it may be sooth in thee
in deed that thou shalt live longer, yet it is ever in thee a false
leasing for to think it before, and for to behightPromise.
it to thine heart. For why, the
soothfastness of this thing is only in God, and in thee is but a
blind abiding of His will, without certainty of one moment, the
which is as little or less than a twinkling of an eye. And,
therefore, if thou wilt pray wisely as the prophet biddeth when he
saith in the psalm: Psallite sapienter;Ps. xlvi. 8 (Vulgate), xlvii. 7 (A.V.): "Sing ye praises with understanding."
look
that thou get thee in the beginning this very working of dread.
For, as the same prophet saith in another psalm: Initium
sapientiae timor Domini;Ps. cxi. 10 (cx. 10 Vulgate).
that is: "The beginning
of wisdom is the dread of our Lord God." But for that there is no
full sikerness standingSo Pepwell; Harl. MS. 674 reads: "Bot forthi that there is no sekir stonding."
upon dread only, for fear of sinking in to over much heaviness,
therefore shalt thou knit to thy first thought this other thought
that followeth.
Thou shalt think steadfastly that if thou may, through
the grace of God, distinctly pronounce the words of that prayer,
and win to the end thereof, or if thou die before thou come to the
end, so that thou do that in thee is, that then it shall be
accepted of thee unto God, as a full aseethPepwell adds in explanation: "or amends"; i.e. satisfaction. Cf. Langland, Piers the Plowman, B. xvii. 237: "And if it suffice noughte for assetz"; and Wyclif, Pistil on Cristemasse Day (Select English Works, ed. T. Arnold, ii. p. 237): "And thus, sith aseeth muste be maad for Adams synne."
of all thy recklessness from the beginning of
thy life unto that moment. I mean thus: standing that thou hast
before time, after thy conning and thy conscience, lawfully amended
thee after the common ordinance of holy Church in confession; this
short prayer, so little as it is, shall be accepted of thee unto
God for thy full salvation, if thou then didst die, and to the
great increase of thy perfection, if thou didst live longer. This
is the goodness of God, the which, as the prophet saith, forsaketh
none that truly trusteth in Him with will of amendment;Ps. xxxiv. 22 (Vulgate xxxiii. 23).
and sith that all amendment
standeth in two--that is, in leaving of evil and doing of
good--means to get these two are none readier than the ghostly
working of these two thoughts touched before. For what reaveth from
a soulThe MSS. read: "fro a lyf."
more readily the
affection of sinning, than doth a true working of dread of death?
And what moveth a
soulThe MSS. read: "a lyf."
more
fervently to working of good, than doth a certain hope in the mercy
and the goodness of God, the which is brought in by this second
thought? For why, the ghostly feeling of this second thought, when
it is thus truly joined to the first, shall be to thee a sure staff
of hope to hold thee by in all thy good doings. And by this staff
thou mayst sikerly climb in to the high mount of perfection, that
is to say, to the perfect love of God; though all this beginning be
imperfect, as thou shalt hear after. For, what for the general
sight that thou hast of the mercy and of the goodness of God, and
this special experience that thou feelest of His mercy and His
goodness in this acceptation of this little short service for so
long recklessness, as it were in a full aseeth of so much
recklessness (as it is said before), it may not be but that thou
shalt feel a great stirring of love unto Him that is so good and so
merciful unto thee--as the steps of thy staff, hope, plainly
sheweth unto thee in the time of thy prayer, if thou do it duly as
I have told thee before.So Harl. MS. 674. Pepwell reads: "Also the steps of thy staff Hope plainly will shew unto thee if thou do it duly, as I have told thee before, or not."
The ghostly experience of the proof of this working standeth all in
a reverent affection that a man hath to God in the time of his
prayer, caused of this dread in the ground of this work, and of
this stirring of love, the
which is brought in by the ghostly steps of this staff
hope, touched before. For why, reverence is nought else but dread
and love medled together with a staff of certain hope,
Me thinketh that the proof of this
working is devotion; for devotion is nought else, as saint Thomas
the doctor saith, but a readiness of man's will to do those things
that longeth to the service of God.Summa Theologica, II.-ii. Q. 82, A. I: "Devotio nihil aliud esse videtur, quam voluntas quaedam prompte tradendi se ad ea, quae pertinent ad Dei famulatum."
Each man prove in himself, for he that doth
God's service in this manner, he feeleth how ready that his will is
thereto. Me thinketh that saint Bernard accordeth to this working,
where he saith that all things should be done swiftly and gladly.
And see why: swiftly for dread, and gladly for hope, and lovely
trust in His mercy. [And what more? Sikerly, I had lever have his
meed that lasteth in such doing, though all he never did bodily
penance in this life, but only that that is enjoined to him of holy
Church, than of all the penance-doers that have been in this life
from the beginning of the world unto this day without this manner
of doing. I say not that the naked thinking of these two thoughts
is so meedful; but that reverent affection, to the which bringing
in these two thoughts are sovereign means on man's party, that is
it that is so meedful as I say.The whole passage included in square brackets is omitted in Pepwell, but is identical in the two MSS.
] And this is only it by itself, without any
other
manner of doing (as is fasting, waking, sharp wearing,
and all these other), the which only by itself pleaseth almighty
God, and deserveth to have meed of Him. And it were impossible any
soul to have meed of God without this, and all after the quantity
of this shall stand the quantity of meed; for whoso hath much of
this, much meed shall he have, and whoso hath less of this, less
meed shall he have. And all these other things, as is fasting,
waking, sharp wearing, and all these other, they are
needfulSo Harl. MS. 2373; Harl. MS. 674 reads: "medeful."
in as much as they
are helply to get this, so that without this they are nought. And
this without them is sometime sufficient at the full by itself, and
it is often times full worthily had and come to of full many
without any of the others. All this I say for that I would by this
knowing that thou charged and commended each thing after that it
is: the more, "the more," and the less, "the less"; for oft times
unknowing is cause of much error. And oft times unknowing maketh
men to charge more and commend more bodily exercise (as is fasting,
waking, sharp wearing, and all these others) than they do ghostly
exercise in virtues or in this reverent affection touched before.
And, therefore, in more declaration of the meed and the worthiness
of this reverent affection, I shall say a little more than I yet
have said, so that, by such declaring, thou mayst be better learned
in this working than thou yet art.
All this manner of working beforesaid
of this reverent affection, when it is brought in by these two
thoughts of dread and of hope coming before, may well be likened to
a tree that were full of fruit; of the which tree, dread is that
party that is within in the earth, that is, the root. And hope is
that party that is above the earth, that is, the bodyThe trunk.
with the boughs. In that that hope
is certain and stable, it is the body; in that it stirreth men to
works of love, it is the boughs; but this reverent affection is
evermore the fruit, and then, evermore as long as the fruit is
fastened to the tree,Pepwell inserts: "it is but churl's meat, for."
it
hath in party a green smell of the tree; but when it hath been a
certain time departed from the tree and is full ripe, then it hath
lost all the taste of the tree, and is king's meat [that was before
but knave's meat].Not in Pepwell.
In this
time it is that this reverent affection is so meedful as I said.
And, therefore, shape thee for to depart this fruit from the tree,
and for to offer it up by itself to the high King of heaven; and
then shalt thou be cleped God's own child, loving Him with a chaste
love for Himself, and not for His goods.Pepwell reads: "and for nothing else."
I mean thus: though all that the innumerable
good deeds, the which almighty God of His gracious goodness hath
shewed to each soul in this life, be sufficient causes
at the full and more, to each soul to love Him for, with
all his mind, with all his wit, and with all his will; yet if it
might be, that may no wise be, that a soul were as mighty, as
worthy, and as witty as all the saints and angels that are in
heaven gathered in one, and had never taken this worthiness of
God,Had never received it from Him.
or to whom that God
had never shewed kindness in this life; yet this soul, seeing the
loveliness of God in Himself, and the abundance thereof, should be
ravished over his might for to love God, till the heart brast; so
lovely and so liking, so good and so glorious He is in Himself.
O how wonderful a thing and how high
a thing is the love of God for to speak of, of the which no man may
speak perfectly to the understanding of the least party thereof,
but by impossible ensamples, and passing the understanding of man!
And thus it is that I mean when I say loving Him with a chaste love
for Himself, and not for His goods;Pure Love, or Charity, which "attains to God Himself, that it may abide in Him, not that any advantage may accrue to us from Him" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II.-ii. Q. 23, A. 6). For the whole doctrine of "Pure Love or Disinterested Religion," cf. F. von Hügel, The Mystical Element of Religion, ii. pp. 152-181.
not as if I said (though all I well said) much
for His goods, but without comparison more for Himself. For, if I
shall more highly speak in declaring of my meaning of the
perfection and of the meed of this
reverent affection, I say that a soul touched in
affection by the sensible presence of Gods as He is in Himself, and
in a perfect soul illumined in the reason, by the clear beam of
everlasting light, the which is God, for to see and for to feel the
lovelinessSo both MSS.; Pepwell reads: "blessedness."
of God in
Himself, hath for that time and for that moment lost all the mind
of any good deed or of any kindness that ever God did to him in
this life--so that cause for to love God for feeleth he or seeth he
none in that time, other than is God Himself. So that though all it
may be said in speaking of the common perfection, that the great
goodness and the great kindness that God hath shewed to us in this
life are high and worthy causes for to love God for; yet having
beholding to the point and the prick of perfection (to the which I
purpose to draw thee in my meaning, and in the manner of this
writing), a perfect lover of God, for dread of lettingHindering or marring.
of his perfection, seeketh now,
that is to say, in the point of perfection, none other cause for to
love God for, but God Himself; so that by this meaning I say, that
chaste love is to love God for Himself and not for His goods. And
therefore, following the rule of mine ensample, shape thee to
depart the fruit from the tree, and for to offer it up by itself
unto the King of heaven, that thy love be chaste; for evermore as
long as thou offrest Him this fruit green and hanging on the
tree, thou mayst well be likened to a woman that is not
chaste, for she loveth a man more for his goods than for himself.
And see why that I liken thee thus; for it seemeth that dread of
thy death and shortness of time, with hope of forgiveness of all
thy recklessness, maketh thee to be in God's service so reverent as
thou art. And if it so be, soothly then hath thy fruit a green
smell of the tree; and though all it pleaseth God in party,
nevertheless, yet it pleaseth Him not perfectly, and that is for
thy love is not yet chaste.
Chaste love is that when thou askest
of God neither releasing of pain, nor increasing of meed, nor yet
sweetness in His love in this life; but if it be any certain time
that thou covetest sweetness as for a refreshing of thy ghostly
mights, that they fail not in the way; but thou askest of God
nought but Himself, and neither thou reckest nor lookest after
whether thou shalt be in pain or in bliss, so that thou have Him
that thou lovest--this is chaste love, this is perfect
love.Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II.-ii. Q. 27, A. 3; and F. von Hügel, op. cit., ii. p. 167.
And therefore shape
thee for to depart the fruit from the tree; that is to say, this
reverent affection from the thoughts of dread and of hope coming
before; so that thou mayst offer it ripe and chaste unto God by
itself, not caused of any thing beneath Him, or medled with
HimIn the Divine Essence.
(yea, though all it
be the chief),So Harl. MS. 674, I take "it" as the beatitude of man which is God Himself.
but only of Him, by Himself; and then it is so meedful as I say
that it is. For it is plainly known without any doubt unto all
those that are expert in the science of divinity and of God's love,
that as often as a man's affection is stirred unto God without mean
(that is, without messenger of any thought in special causing that
stirring), as oft it deserveth everlasting life. And for that that
a soul that is thus disposed (that is to say, that offreth the
fruit ripe, and departed from the tree) may innumerable times in
one hour be raised in to God suddenly without mean, therefore more
than I can say it deserveth, through the grace of God, the which is
the chief worker, to be raised in to joy. And therefore shape thee
for to offer the fruit ripe and departed from the tree.
Nevertheless, the fruit upon the tree, continually offered as man's
frailty will suffer, deserveth salvation; but the fruit ripe and
departed from the tree, suddenly offered unto God without mean,
that is perfection. And here mayst thou see that the tree is good,
though all that I bid thee depart the fruit therefrom, for more
perfection; and therefore I set it in thy garden; for I would that
thou should gather the fruit thereof, and keep it to thy Lord. And
for that that I would that thou knew what manner of working it is
that knitteth man's soul to God, and that maketh it one with Him
in
love and accordance of will,Cf. Dante, Par. xxxiii, 143-145:--"Ma già volgeva il mio disiro e il velle, Sì come rota ch' egualmente è mossa, L'Amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle." "But already my desire and will, even as a wheel that is equally moved, were being turned by the Love that moves the sun and the other stars."
after the word of saint Paul saying thus: Qui
adhaeret Duo unus spiritus est cum illo;1 Cor. vi. 17.
that is
to say: "Who so draweth near to God," as it is by such a reverent
affection touched before, "he is one spirit with God." That is,
though all that God and he be two and serePepwell adds: "or sundry."
in kind, nevertheless yet in grace they are so
knit together that they are but one in spirit;So Pepwell and Harl. MS. 2373; Harl. MS, 674 reads: "they ben one spirit."
and all this is for onehead of love and
accordance of will; and in this onehead is the marriage made
between God and the soul, the which shall never be broken, though
all that the heat and the fervour of this work cease for a time,
but by a deadly sin.
In the ghostly feeling of this
onehead may a loving soul both say and sing (if it list) this holy
word that is written in the book of songs in the Bible: Dilectus
meus mihi et ego illi;Cant. ii. 16.
that is: "My loved unto me
and I unto Him"; understanden that God shall be knitted with the
ghostly glue of grace on His party, and the lovely consent in
gladness of spirit on thy party.
And therefore climb up by this tree,
as I said in the beginning; and when thou comest to the fruit (that
is, to the reverent affection, the which ever will be in thee if
thou think heartily the other two thoughts before, and fageHarl. MS. 674 reads: "glose." Pepwell adds: "or flatter."
not thyself with no lie, as I
said), then shalt thou take good keepHeed.
of that working that is made in thy soul that
time, and shape thee, in as much as thou mayst through grace, for
to meek thee under the height of thy God, so that thou mayst use
thee in that working other times by itself, without any climbing
thereto by any thought. And, sikerly, this is it the which is so
meedful as I said, and ever the longer that it is kept from the
tree (that is to say, from any thought), and ever the ofter that it
is done suddenly, lustily, and likingly, without mean, the sweeter
it smelleth, and the better it pleaseth the high King of heaven.
And ever when thou feelest sweetness and comfort in thy doing, then
He breaketh this fruit and giveth thee part of thine own present.
And that that thou feelest is so hard, and so straitly stressing
thine heart without comfort in the first beginning, that
bemeanethPepwell adds: "or betokeneth." Cf. Langland, Piers the Plowman, A. i. 1: "What this mountein bemeneth."
that the
greenness of the fruit hanging on the tree, or else newly pulled,
setteth thy teeth on edge. Nevertheless yet it is speedful to thee.
For it is no
reason that thou eat the sweet kernel, but if thou crack
first the hard shell and bite of the bitter bark.
Nevertheless, if it so be that thy
teeth be weak (that is to say, thy ghostly mights), then it is my
counsel that thou seek slights, for better is list than lither
strength.Cf. above, p. 28 note.
Another skill there is why that I set
this tree in thy garden, for to climb up thereby. For though all it
be so that God may do what He will, yet, to mine understanding, it
is impossible any man to attain to the perfection of this working
without these two means, or else other two that are according to
them coming before. And yet is the perfection of this work sudden,
without any mean. And, therefore, I redePepwell adds: "or counsel."
thee that these be thine, not thine in
propriety, for that is nought but sin,Of thyself thou hast nought but sin.
but thine given graciously of God, and sent by
me as a messenger though I be unworthy; for wete thou right well
that every thought that stirreth thee to the good,So the MSS.: Pepwell has: "to God."
whether it come from within by thine angel
messenger, or from without by any man messenger, it is but an
instrument of grace given, sent and chosen of God Himself for to
work within in thy soul. And this is the skill why that I counsel
thee to take these two thoughts before all others. For as man is a
mingled thing of two substances,
a bodily and a ghostly, so it needeth for to have two
serePepwell changes to "divers."
means to come by to
perfection;Cf. Dante, De Monarchia, iii. 16: "Man alone of beings holds a mid-place between corruptible and incorruptible; wherefore he is rightly likened by the philosophers to the horizon which is between two hemispheres. For man, if considered after either essential part, to wit soul and body is corruptible if considered only after the one, to wit the body, but if after the other, to wit the soul, he is incorruptible. . . . If man then, is a kind of mean between corruptible and incorruptible things, since every mean savours of the nature of the extremes, it is necessary that man should savour of either nature. And since every nature is ordained to a certain end, it follows that there must be a twofold end of man, so that like as he alone amongst all beings partakes of corruptibility and incorruptibilty, so he alone amongst all beings should be ordained for two final goals of which the one should be his goal as a corruptible being, and the other as an incorruptible" (P. H. Wicksteed's translation).
sith it so is
that both these substances shall be oned in undeadliness at the
uprising in the last day; so that either substance be raised to
perfection in this life, by a mean accordant thereto. And that is
dread to bodily substance, and hope to the ghostly. And thus it is
full seemly and according to be, as me thinketh; for as there is
nothing that so soon will ravish the body from all affection of
earthly things, as will a sensible dread of the death; so there is
nothing that so soon nor so fervently will raise the affection of a
sinner's soul, unto the love of God, as will a certain hope of
forgiveness of all his recklessness. And therefore have I ordained
thy climbing by these
two thoughts; but if it so be that thy good angel teach
thee within thy ghostly conceit, or any other man, any other two
that are more according to thy disposition than thee thinketh these
two be, thou mayst take them, and leave these safely without any
blame. Nevertheless to my conceit (till I wete more) me thinketh
that these should be full helply unto thee, and not much
unaccording to thy disposition, after that I feel in thee. And
therefore, if thou think that they do thee good, then thank God
heartily, and for God's love pray for me. Do then so, for I am a
wretch, and thou wotest not how it standeth with me.
No more at this time, but God's
blessing have thou and mine.
Read often, and forget it not; set
thee sharply to the proof; and flee all letting and occasion of
letting, in the name of our Lord Jesu Christ. AMEN.
FINIS
VI. AN EPISTLE OF DISCRETION
HERE FOLLOWETH ALSO A VERY NECESSARY EPISTLE OF
DISCRETION IN STIRRINGS OF THE SOUL
GHOSTLY friend in God, that same grace and joy that I will to
myself, will I to thee at God's will. Thou askest me counsel of
silence and of speaking, of common dieting and of singular fasting,
of dwelling in company and only woningPepwell modernises this throughout to "dwelling alone."
by thyself. And thou sayest thou art in great
werePepwell substitutes "doubt." Cf. Chaucer, Legend of Good Women, 2686: "Thryes doun she fil in swiche a were."
what thou shalt do;
for, as thou sayest, on the one party thou art greatly tarried with
speaking, with common eating, as other folk do, and with common
woning in company. And, on the other party, thou dreadest to be
straitly still,Pepwell adds: "in keeping of silence."
singular in
fasting, and only in woning, for deeming of more holiness in thee
than thou hast,Harl. MS. 674 reads: "more holiness than thou art worthy."
and for
many other perils; for oft times now these days they are deemed for
most holy, and fall in to many perils, that most are in silence, in
singular fasting,
and in only woning. And sooth it is that they are most
holy, if grace only be the cause of that silence, of that singular
fasting, and of that only woning, the kindNature.
but suffering and only consenting; and if it be
otherwise, then that is but peril on all sides, for it is full
perilous to strain the kind to any such work of devotion, as is
silence or speaking, common dieting or singular fasting, woning in
company or in onliness.Solitude.
I
mean, passing the course and the common custom of kind and degree,
but if it be led thereto by grace; and, namely, to such works the
which in themself are indifferent, that is to say, now good, and
now evil, now with thee, now against thee, now helping, and now
letting. For it might befall that, if thou followed thy singular
stirring, straitly straining thee to silence, to singular fasting,
or to only woning, that thou shouldest oft times be still when time
were to speak, oft times fast when time were to eat, oft times be
only when time were to be in company. Or if thou give thee to
speaking always when thee list, to common eating, or to companious
woning,Pepwell has: "company."
then peradventure
thou shouldest sometime speak when timePepwell reads: "better."
were to be still, sometime eat when time were to
fast, sometime be in company when time were to be only; and thus
mightest thou lightly fall in to error, in great confusion, not
only of thine own soul but also of others. And, therefore, in
eschewing of such errors, thou askest of me (as I have
perceived by thy letters) two things: the first is my conceit of
thee, and thy stirring; and the other is my counsel in this case,
and in all such others when they come.
As to the first, I answer and I say
that I dread full much in this matter and such others to put forth
my rude conceit, such as it is, for two skills.Causes.
And one is this: I dare not lean to my
conceit, affirming it for fast and true. The other is thine inward
disposition, and thine ableness that thou hast unto all these
things that thou speakest of in thy letter, which be not yet so
fully known unto me, as it were speedful that they were, if I
should give full counsel in this case. For it is said of the
Apostle: Nemo novit quae sunt hominis, nisi spiritus hominis qui
in ipso est; "No man knoweth which are the privy dispositions
of man, but the spirit of the same man, the which is in
himself";1 Cor. ii. 11.
and,
peradventure, thou knowest not yet thine own inward disposition
thyself, so fully as thou shalt do hereafter, when God will let
thee feel it by the proof, among many failings and risings. For I
knew never yet no sinner that might come to the perfect knowing of
himself and of his inward disposition, but if he were learned of it
before in the school of God, by experience of many temptations, and
by many failings and risings; for right as among the waves and the
floods and the
storms of the sea, on the one party, and the peaceable
wind and the calms and the soft weathers of the air on the other
party, the selySimple.
ship at the
last attains to the land and the haven; right so, among the
diversity of temptations and tribulations that falleth to a soul in
this ebbing and flowing life (the which are ensampled by the storms
and the floods of the sea) on the one party, and among the grace
and the goodness of the Holy Ghost, the manyfold visitation,
sweetness and comfort of spirit (the which are ensampled by the
peaceable wind and the soft weathers of the air) on the other
party, the sely soul, at the likeness of a ship, attaineth at the
last to the land of stableness, and to the haven of health; the
which is the clear and the soothfast knowing of himself, and of all
his inward dispositions, through the which knowing he sitteth
quietly in himself, as a king crowned in his royalme, mightily,
wisely, and goodly governing himself and all his thoughts and
stirrings, both in body and in soul. Of such a man it is that the
wise man saith thus: Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem, quoniam
cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitae, quam repromisit Deus
diligentibus se: "He is a blissful man that sufferingly beareth
temptation; for, from he have been proved, he shall take the crown
of life, the which God hath hight to all those that love
Him."Jas. i. 12.
The crown of life may
be said on two manners. One for ghostly wisdom, for full
discretion,
and for perfection of virtue: these three knitted
together may be clepedThe MSS. usually read "cleped" for "called."
a
crown of life, the which by grace may be come to here in this life.
On another manner the crown of life may be said, that it is the
endless joy that each true soul shall have, after this life, in the
bliss of heaven, and, sikerly, neither of these two crowns may a
man take, but if he before have been well proved in suffering of
noyePepwell modernizes to "trouble."
and of temptation, as
this text saith: Quoniam cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam
vitae; that is: "From that he have been proved, then shall he
take the crown of life";Jas. i. 12.
as
who saith (according to mine understanding touched before): But if
a sinner have been proved before in divers temptations, now rising,
now falling, falling by frailty, rising by grace, he shall never
else take of God in this life ghostly wisdom in clear knowing of
himself and of his inward dispositions, nor full discretion in
counselling and teaching of others, nor yet the third, the which is
the perfection of virtue in loving of his God and of his brethren.
All these three--wisdom, discretion, and perfection of virtue-are
but one, and they may be cleped the crown of life.
In a crown are three things: gold is
the first; precious stones are the second; and the turrets of the
flower-de-luce, raised up above the head, those are the third. By
gold, wisdom; by the precious stones, discretion; and
by the turrets of the flower-de-luce I understand the
perfection of virtue. Gold environeth the head, and by wisdom we
govern our ghostly work on every side; precious stones giveth light
in beholding of men, and by discretion we teach and counsel our
brethren; the turrets of the flower-de-luce giveth two side
branches spreading one to the right side and another to the left,
and one even up above the head, and by perfection of virtues (the
which is charity) we give two side branches of love, the which are
spreading, one to the right side to our friends, and one to the
left side to our enemies, and one even up unto God, above man's
understanding, the which is the head of the soul. This is the crown
of life the which by grace may be gotten here in this life; and,
therefore, bear thee low in thy battle, and suffer meekly thy
temptations till thou have been proved. For then shalt thou take
either the one crown, or the other, or both, this here, and the
other there; for who so hath this here, he may be full siker of the
other there; and full many there are that are full graciously
proved here, and yet come never to this that may be had here in
this life. The which (if they meekly continue and patiently abide
the will of our Lord) shall full worthily and abundantly receive
the other there, in the high bliss of heaven. Thee thinketh this
crown fair that may be had here; yea, bear thee as meekly as thou
mayst by grace, for in comparison of the other there, it is but as
one noble to a
world full of gold. All this I say to give thee comfort
and evidence of strength in thy ghostly battle, the which thou hast
taken on hand in the trust of our Lord, and all this I say to let
thee see how far thou art yet from the true knowing of thine inward
disposition, and thereafter to give thee warning, not over soon to
give steadTo give place to.
nor to follow
the singular stirrings of thy young heart, for dread of deceit.
All this I say for to show unto thee
my conceit that I have of thee and of thy stirrings, as thou hast
asked of me; for I conceive of thee that thou art full able and
full greatly disposed to such sudden stirrings of singular
doings,Such impulses to exceptional practices.
and full fast to
cleave unto them when they be received; and that is full perilous.
I say not that this ableness and this greedy disposition in thee,
or in any other that is disposed as thou art, though all it be
perilous, that it is therefore evil in itself; nay, so say I not,
God forbid that thou take it so; but I say that it is full good in
itself, and a full great ableness to full great perfection, yea,
and to the greatest perfection that may be in this life; I mean, if
that a soul that is so disposed will busily, night and day, meek
itHumble itself.
to God and to good
counsel, and strongly rise and martyr itself, with casting down of
the own wit and the own will in all such sudden and singular
stirrings, and say sharply that it will not follow such
stirrings, seem they never so liking,Pleasant.
so high nor so holy, but if it have thereto the
witnessPepwell reads: "wits."
and the consents of
some ghostly teachers--I mean such as have been of long time expert
in singular living. Such a soul, for ghostly continuance thus in
this meekness, may deserve, through grace and the experience of
this ghostly battle thus with itself, for to take the crown of life
touched before. And as great an ableness to good as is this manner
of disposition in a soul that is thus meeked as I say, as perilous
it is in another soul, such one that will suddenly, without
advisement of counsel, follow the stirrings of the greedy heart, by
the own wit and the own will; and therefore, for God's love, beware
with this ableness and with this manner of disposition (that I
speak of), if it be in thee as I say. And meek thee continually to
prayer and to counsel. Break down thine own wit and thy will in all
such sudden and singular stirrings, and follow them not over
lightly, till thou wete whence they come, and whether they be
according for thee or not.
And as touching these stirrings of
the which thou askest my conceit and my counsel, I say to thee that
I conceive of them suspiciously, that is, thatLest.
they should be conceived on the ape's
manner. Men say commonly that the ape doth as he seeth others do;
forgive me if I err in my suspicion, I pray thee. Nevertheless, the
love that
I have to thy soul stirreth me by evidence that I have
of a ghostly brother of thine and of mine, touched with those same
stirrings of full greatPepwell reads: "strait."
silence, of full singular fasting, and of full only woning, on
ape's manner, as he granted unto me after long communing with me,
and when he had proved himself and his stirrings. For, as he said,
he had seen a man in your country, the which man, as it is well
known, is evermore in great silence, in singular fasting, and in
only dwelling; and certes, as I suppose fully, they are full true
stirrings those that that man hath, caused all only of grace, that
he feeleth by experience within, and not of any sight or heard say
that he hath of any other man's silence without-the which cause if
it were, it should be cleped apely, as I say in my simple meaning.
And therefore beware, and prove well thy stirrings, and whence they
come; for how so thou art stirred, whether from within by grace, or
from without on ape's manner, God wote, and I not. Nevertheless
this may I say thee in eschewing of perils like unto this: look
that thou be no ape, that is to say, look that thy stirrings to
silence or to speaking, to fasting or to eating, to onliness or to
company, whether they be come from within of abundance of love and
of devotion in the spirit and not from without by the windows of
thy bodily wits, as thine ears, and thine eyes. For, as Jeremiah
saith plainly, by such windows cometh in death: Mors
intrat
per fenestras.Jer. ix. 21: "Quia ascendit mors per fenestras nostras" (Vulgate). Pepwell reads: "as saint Jerome saith"! Cf. Walter Hilton, The Ladder of Perfection, I. pt. iii. cap 9: "Lift up thy lanthorn, and thou shalt see in this image five windows, by which sin cometh into thy soul, as the Prophet saith: Death cometh in by our windows. These are the five senses by which thy soul goeth out of herself, and fetcheth her delight and seeketh her feeding in earthly things, contrary to the nobility of her own nature. As by the eye to see curious and fair things and so of the other senses. By the unskilful using of these senses willingly to vanities, thy soul is much letted from the sweetness of the spiritual senses within; and therefore it behoveth thee to stop these windows, and shut them, but only when need requireth to open them" (ed. Dalgairns, p. 115).
And this sufficeth,
as little as it is, for answer to the first, where thou askest of
me, what is my conceit of thee, and of these stirrings that thou
speakest of to me in thy letter.
And touching the second thing, where
thou askest of me my counsel in this case, and in such other when
they fall, I beseech almighty Jesu (as He is cleped the angel of
great counsel) that He of His mercy be thy counsellor and thy
comforter in all thy noye and thy nede, and order me with His
wisdom to fulfil in party by my teaching, so simple as it is, the
trust of thine heart, the which thou hast unto me before many
others--a simple lewdIgnorant.
wretch as I am, unworthy to teach thee or any other, for littleness
of grace and for lacking of conning. Nevertheless, though I be
lewd, yet shall I somewhat say, answering to
thy desire at my simple conning, with a trust in God
that His grace shall be learner and leader when conning of kind and
of clergy defaileth.Where natural and acquired knowledge alike fall shorts.
Thou
wotest right well thyself that silence in itself nor speaking, also
singular fasting nor common dieting, onliness nor company, all
these nor yet any of them be not the true end of our desire; but to
some men (and not to all) they are means helping to the end, if
they be done lawfully and with discretion, and else are they more
letting than furthering. And therefore plainlyFully.
to speak, nor plainly to be still, plainly
to eat, nor plainly to fast, plainly to be in company, or plainly
to be only, think I not to counsel thee at this time; for why,
perfection standeth not in them. But this counsel may I give thee
generally, to hold thee by in these stirrings, and in all other
like unto these; evermore where thou findest two contraries, as are
these--silence and speaking, fasting and eating, onliness and
company, common clothing of Christian religion and singular habits
of divers and devised brotherhoods, with all such other what so
they be, the which in themself are but works of kindNature.
and of men. For thou hast it by
kind and by statute of thine outer man now for to speak and now for
to be still, now for to eat and now for to fast, now for to be in
company and now to be only, now to be common in clothing and now to
be in singular habit,
ever when thee list, and when thou seestPepwell has: "when thou dost feel."
that any of them should be speedful and
helply to thee in nourishing of the heavenly grace working within
in thy soul; but if it be so (which God forbid), that thou or any
other be so lewd and so blinded in the sorrowful temptations of the
midday devil, that ye bind you by any crooked avow to any such
singularities, as it were under colour of holiness feigned under
such an holy thraldom,Pepwell inserts: "I mean except the solemn vows of holy religion."
in
full and final destroying of the freedom of Christ, the which is
the ghostly habit of the sovereign holiness that may be in this
life, or in the other, by the witness of saint Paul saying thus:
Ubi spiritus Domini, ibi libertas: "There where the spirit of God
is, there is freedom."2 Cor. iii. 17.
And
thereto when thou seest that all such works in their use may be
both good and evil; I pray thee leave them both, for that is the
most ease for thee for to do, if thou wilt be meek, and leave the
curious beholding and seeking in thy wits to look whether is
better. But do thou thus: set the one on the one hand, and the
other on the other, and choose thee a thing the which is hid
between them; the which thing, when it is had, giveth thee leave in
freedom of spirit to begin and to cease in holding any of the
others at thine own full list, without any blame.
But now thou askest me, what is that
thing. I shall
tell thee what I mean that it is: It is God; for
whom thou shouldest be still, if thou shouldest be still; and for
whom thou shouldest speak if thou shouldest speak; and for whom
thou shouldest fast, if thou shouldest fast; and for whom thou
shouldest eat, if thou shouldest eat; and for whom thou shouldest
be only, if thou shouldest be only; and for whom thou shouldest be
in company, if thou shouldest be in company. And so forth of all
the remenant, what so they be. For silence is not God, nor speaking
is not God; fasting is not God, nor eating is not God; onliness is
not God, nor company is not God; nor yet any of all the other such
two contraries. He is hid between them, and may not be found by any
work of thy soul, but all only by love of thine heart. He may not
be known by reason, He may not be gotten by thought, nor concluded
by understanding; but He may be loved and chosen with the true
lovely will of thine heart.Cf. St. Catherine of Siena, Letter 308 (ed. Gigli): "Love harmonises the three powers of our soul, and binds them together. The will moves the understanding to see, when it wishes to love; when the understanding perceives that the will would fain love, if it is a rational will, it places before it as object the ineffable love of the eternal Father, who has given us the Word, His own son, and the obedience and humility of the son, who endured torments, inuries, mockeries, and insults with meekness and with such great love. And thus the will, with ineffable love, follows what the eye of the understanding has beheld; and with its strong hand, it stores up in the memory the treasure that it draws from this love."
Choose thee Him, and thou art silently speaking,
and speakingly silent, fastingly eating, and eatingly
fasting, and so forth of all the remenant. Such a lovely choosing
of God, thus wisely lesingeLosing.
and seeking Him out with the true will of a clean heart, between
all such two leaving them both, when they come and proffer them to
be the point and the prick of our ghostly beholding, is the
worthiest tracing and seeking of God that may be gotten or learned
in this life. I mean for a soul that will be contemplative; yea,
though all that a soul that thus seeketh see nothing that may be
conceived with the ghostly eye of reason; for if God be thy love
and thy meaning, the choice and the point of thine heart, it
sufficeth to thee in this life (though all thou see never more of
Him with the eyes of thy reason all thy life time). Such a blind
shot with the sharp dart of longing love may never fail of the
prick, the which is God, as Himself saith in the book of love,
where He speaketh to a languishing soul and a loving, saying thus:
Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, amica mea, et sponsa mea,
vulnerasti cor meum, in uno oculorum tuorum: "Thou hast wounded
mine heart, my sister, my leman, and my spouse, thou hast wounded
mine heart in one of thine eyes."Cant. iv. 9.
Eyes of the soul they are two: Reason and Love.
By reason we may trace how mighty, how wise, and how good He is in
His creatures, but not in Himself; but ever when reason defaileth,
then list, love, live and learn, to play,To exercise love.
for by love we may feel Him, find Him, and hit Him, even
in Himself. It is a wonderful eye, this love, for of a loving soul
it is only said of our Lord: "Thou hast wounded mine heart in one
of thine eyes"; that is to say, in love that is blind to many
things, and seeth but that one thing that it seeketh, and therefore
it findeth and feeleth, hitteth and woundeth the point and the
prick that it shooteth at, well sooner than it should if the sight
were sundry in beholding of many things, as it is when the reason
ransacketh and seeketh among all such sereDivers.
things as are these: silence and speaking,
singular fasting and common eating, onliness or company, and all
such other; to look whether is better.
Let be this manner of doing, I pray
thee, and let as thou wist not that there were any such means (I
mean ordained for to get God by); for truly no more there is, if
thou wilt be very contemplative and soon sped of thy purpose. And,
therefore, I pray thee and other like unto thee, with the Apostle
saying thus: Videte vocationem vestram, et in ea vocatione qua
vocati estis state:1 Cor. i. 26, vii. 20; Eph. iv. 1.
"See your calling, and, in
that calling that ye be called, stand stiffly and abide in the name
of Jesu." Thy calling is to be very contemplative, ensampled by
Mary Magdalene. Do then as Mary did, set the point of thine heart
upon one thing: Porro unum est necessarium: "For
one thing is necessary,"Luke x. 42.
the which is God. Him wouldest thou have, Him
seekest thou, Him list thee to love, Him list thee to feel,Pepwell inserts "Him list thee to see, and."
Him list thee hold thee by, and
neither by silence nor by speaking, by singular fasting nor by
common eating, by onliness nor by companious woning, by hard
wearing nor by easy; for sometime silence is good, but that same
time speaking were better; and againward sometime speaking is good,
but that same time silence were better; and so forth of all the
remenant, as is fasting, eating, onliness, and company; for
sometime the one is good, but the other is better, but neither of
them is at any time the best. And, therefore, let be good all that
is good, and better all that is better,Pepwell reads: "Let be good and all that is good, and better with all that is better."
for both they will defail and have an end; and
choose thee the best with Mary, thy mirror, that never will defail:
Maria (inquit optimam) optimam partem elegit, quae non auferetur
ab ea.Luke x. 42.
The best is almighty Jesu, and He said
that Mary, in ensample of all contemplatives, had chosen the best,
the which should never be taken from her; and therefore, I pray
thee, with Mary leave the good and the better, and choose thee the
best.
Let them be, all such things as are
these: silence and speaking, fasting and eating, onliness and
company, and
all such other, and take no keep to them; thou wotest
not what they mean, and, I pray thee, covet not to wit; and if thou
shall at any time think or speak of them, think then and say that
they are so high and so worthy things of perfection, for to
conneTo know how to speak, etc.
speak, or for to
conne be still, for to conne fast, and for to conne eat, for to
conne be only, and to conne be in company, that it were but a folly
and a foul presumption to such a frail wretch as thou art, for to
meddle thee of so great perfection. For why, for to speak, and for
to be still, for to eat, and for to fast, for to be only, and for
to be in company, ever when we will, may we have by kind; but for
to conne do all these, we may not but by grace. And, without doubt,
such grace is never gotten by any mean of such strait silence, of
such singular fasting, or of such only dwelling that thou speakest
of, the which is caused from without by occasion of hearing and of
seeing of any other man's such singular doings. But if ever this
grace shall be gotten, it behoveth to be learned of God from
within, unto whom thou hast listily leaned many a day before with
all the love of thine heart, utterly voiding from thy ghostly
beholdingBanishing from thy soul's vision.
all manner of
sight of any thing beneath Him; though all that some of those
things that I bid thee thus void, should seem in the sight of some
men a full worthy mean to get God by. Yea, say what
men say will, but do thou as I say thee, and let the
proof witness. For to him that will be soon sped of his purpose
ghostly, it sufficeth to him for a mean, and him needeth no more,
but the actual mind of good God only, with a reverent stirring of
lasting love; so that mean unto God gettest thou none but God. If
thou keep whole thy stirring of love that thou mayst feel by grace
in thine heart, and scatter not thy ghostly beholding therefrom
then that same that thou feelest shall well conneBe able to.
tell thee when thou shalt speak and when
thou shalt be still, and it shall govern thee discreetly in all thy
living without any error, and teach thee mistilyPepwell reads: "privily." Cf. Wyclif (Select English Works, ed. cit., i. p. 149): "And after seith Crist to his apostles, that thes thingis he seide bifore to hem in proverbis and mystily."
how thou shalt begin and cease in all such
doing of kind with a great and sovereign discretion. For if thou
mayst by grace keep it in custom and in continual working, then, if
it be needful or speedful to thee for to speak, for to commonly
eat, or for to bide in company, or for to do any such other thing
that longeth to the common true custom of Christian men, and of
kind, it shall first stir thee full softly to speak or to do that
other common thing of kind, what so it be. And then, if thou do it
not, it shall strike as sore as a prick on thine heart and pain
thee full sore, and let thee have no peacePepwell reads: "rest."
but if thou do it. And, on the same
manner, if thou be in speaking, or in any such other
work that is common to the course of kind, if it be needful and
speedful to thee to be still, and for to set thee to the contrary,
as is onliness to company, fasting to eating, and all such other
the which are works of singular holiness, it will stir thee to
them; so that thus, by experience of such a blind stirring of love
unto God, a contemplative soul cometh sooner to that grace of
discretion for to conne speak, and for to conne be still, for to
conne eat, and for to conne fast, for to conne be in company, and
for to conne be only,Pepwell modernises "conne" to "learn to" throughout this passage.
and
all such other, than by any such singularities as thou speakest of,
taken by the stirrings of man's own wit and his will within in
himself, or yet by the ensample of any other man's doing without,
what so it be. For why, such strained doings under the stirrings of
kind, without touchingHarl. MS. 674 reads: "stirring"; the other MS, as Pepwell.
of
grace, is a passing pain without any profit; but if it be to them
that are religious, or that have them by enjoining of penance,
where profit riseth only because of obedience, and not by any such
straitness of doing without; the which is painful to all that it
proveth. But lovely and listily to will to loveHarl. MS. 674 reads: "have."
God is great and passing ease, true ghostly
peace, and
earnest of the endless rest. And, therefore, speak when
thee list, and leave when thee list, eat when thee list, and fast
when thee list, be in company when thee list, and be by thyself
when thee list, so thatPepwell reads: "else."
God
and grace be thy leader. Let fast who fast will, and be only who
will, and let hold silence who so will, but hold thee by God that
doth beguile no man; for silence and speaking, onliness and
company, fasting and eating, all may beguile thee. And if thou hear
of any man that speaketh, or of any that is still, of any that
eateth or of any that fasteth, or of any that is in company or else
by himself, think thou, and say, if thee list, that they conne do
as they should do, but if the contrary shew in apert.Manifestly, i.e. unless they clearly show that they do not know how to act as they should. Pepwell has: "in a part."
But look that thou do not as they
do (I mean for that they do so) on ape's manner; for neither thou
canst, nor peradventure thou art not disposed as they are. And,
therefore, leave to work after other men's dispositions and work
after thine own, if thou mayst know what it is. And unto the time
that thou mayst know what it is, work after those men's counsel
that know their own disposition, but not after their
disposition;i.e. take their advice, but do not simply imitate them. I follow the MSS. in preference to Pepwell, who reads: "Work after no men's counsel, but sith that know well their own disposition; for such men should," etc.
for such men
should
give counsel in such cases, and else none. And this
sufficeth for an answer to all thy letter, as me thinketh; the
grace of God be ever more with thee, in the name of Jesu. AMEN.
FINIT EPISTOLA
VII. OF DISCERNING OF SPIRITS
HERE FOLLOWETH A DEVOUT TREATISE OF
DISCERNING OF SPIRITS, VERY NECESSARY FOR GHOSTLY
LIVERS
FOR because that there be divers kinds of spirits, therefore it
is needful to us discreet knowing of them; sith it so is that we be
taught of the apostle saint John not to believe to all
spirits.1 John iv. 1-6.
For it might seem
to some that are but little in conning, and namely of ghostly
things, that each thought that soundeth in man's heart should be
the speech of none other spirit but only of man's own spirit. And
that it is not so, both belief and witness of holy scripture
proveth apertly; for "I shall hear," saith the prophet David, "not
what I speak myself, but what my Lord God speaketh in me";Ps. lxxxv. 8 (Vulgate lxxxiv. 9).
and another prophet saith, that an
angel spake in him.Zech. i. 9-19.
And
also we be taught in the psalm that the wicked spirits sendeth evil
thoughts in to men; and over this, that there is a spirit of the
flesh not good, the apostle Paul sheweth apertly, where he saith,
that some men are full blown or inflate with the spirit of their
flesh.Col. ii. 18.
And also that there
is the spirit
of the world, he declareth plainly, where he maketh joy
in God, not only for himself, but also for his disciples, that they
had not taken that spirit of the world, but that that is sent of
God, the which is the Holy Ghost.1 Thess. i. 2-9.
And these two spirits of the flesh and also of
the world are, as it were, servants or sergeants of that cursed
spirit, the foul fiend of hell; so that the spirit of wickedness is
lord of the spirit of the flesh, and also of the spirit of the
world. And which of these three spirits that speaketh to our
spirit, we should not believe them. For why, they speak never but
that anon, by their speaking, they lead to the loss both of body
and of soul. And which spirit it is that speaketh to our spirit,
the speech of that same spirit that speaketh shall fully declare;
for ever more the spirit of the flesh speaketh soft things and easy
to the body; the spirit of the world vain things and
covetisePepwell adds: "or ambition." Cf. Chaucer, The Persones Tale, ed. Skeat, SS 18: "and coveitise of hynesse by pryde of herte."
of worship; and
the spirit of malice of the fiend speaketh fell things and
bitter.
Wherefore, as oft times as any
thought smiteth on our hearts of meat, of drink, and of sleep, of
soft clothing, of lechery, and of all other such things the which
longeth to the business of the flesh, and maketh our heart for to
brenneBurns.
as it were in a
longing desire after all such things;
be we full siker that it is the spirit of the flesh that
speaketh it. And therefore put we him away, in as much as we goodly
may by grace, for he is our adversary. As oft times as any thought
smiteth on our hearts of vain joy of this world, kindling in us a
desire to be holden fair, and to be favoured, to be holden of great
kin and of great conning, to be holden wise and worthy, or else to
have great degree and high office in this life--such thoughts and
all other the which would make a man to seem high and worshipful,
not only in the sight of others, but also in the sight of
himself--no doubt but it is the spirit of the world that speaketh
all these, a far more perilous enemy than is the spirit of the
flesh, and with much more business he should be put off. And oft
times it befalleth that these two servants and sergeants of the
foul fiend, the spirit and prince of wrathSo Harl. MS. 674; Pepwell has: "war."
and of wickedness, are either by grace and by
ghostly slight of a soul stiffly put down and trodden down under
foot; or else, by quaintiseCrafty device.
of their malicious master, the foul fiend of hell, they are
quaintly withdrawn, for he thinketh himself for to rise with great
malice and wrath, as a lion running felly to assail the sickness of
our sely souls; and this befalleth as oft as the thought of our
heart stirreth us, not to the lust of our flesh, nor yet to the
vain joy of this world, but it stirreth us to murmuring, to
grutching,Cf. above, p. 17 note.
to grievance,
and
to bitterness of soul, to pain and to impatience, to
wrath, to melancholy, and to evil will, to hate, to envy, and to
all such sorrows. It maketh us to bear us heavily, if ought be done
or said unto us, not so lovely, nor so wiselyPepwell has: "gladly."
as we would it were; it raiseth in us all evil
suspicion, if ought be shewed in sign, in countenance, in word, or
in work, that might by any manner be turned to malice or to
heaviness of heart; it maketh us as fastPepwell reads "ever ready."
to take it to us.
To these thoughts, and to all such
that would put us out of peace and restfulness of heart, we should
none otherwise againstand,Withstand, resist.
but as we would the self fiend of hell, and as much we should flee
therefrom as from the loss of our soul. No doubt but both the other
two thoughts, of the spirit of the flesh and also of the spirit of
the world, work and travail in all that they can to the loss of our
soul, but most perilously the spirit of malice; for why, he is by
himself, but they not without him. For if a man's soul be never so
clean of fleshly lust, and of vain joy of this world, and if it be
defouled with this spirit of malice, of wrath, and of wickedness,
not againstanding all the other cleanness before, yet it is
losable. And if a soul be never so much defouled with the lust of
the flesh, and vain joy of the world, and it may by grace keep it
in peace and in restfulness of heart unto the
even Christian,Cf. Mother Juliana, Revelations of Divine Love, i. cap. 9: "In general I am, I hope, in onehead of charity with all my even Christian, for in this onehead standeth the life of all mankind that shall be saved."
though all it be full hard for to do (lasting the custom of the
other two),If it is still guilty of the other two.
yet it is less
losable, not againstanding all the other filth of the flesh and of
the world touched before. And, therefore, though all that our
lustyPepwell adds: "and voluptuous."
thoughts of our flesh
be evil, for they reave from the soul the life of devotion, and
though all that the vain joy of the world be worse, for it reaveth
us from the true joy that we should have in contemplation of
heavenly things, ministered and taught to us by the angels of
heaven. For who so lustily desireth to be worshipped, favoured, and
served of men here in earth, they deserve to forego the worship,
the favour, and service of angel in ghostly contemplation of heaven
and of heavenly things, all their lifetime; the which contemplation
is better and more worthy in itself than is the lust and the liking
of devotion. And for this bitterness I clepe the spirit of malice,
of wrath, and of wickedness the worst spirit of them all; and why?
Certes, for it reaveth us the best thing of all, and that is
charity, the which is God. For who so lacketh peace and restfulness
of heart, him lacketh the lively presence of the lovely sight of
the high peace of heaven, good gracious God His own dear self. This
witnesseth David in the psalm,
where he saith, that the place of God is made in peace,
and His dwelling place in Sion.Ps. cxxxii. (Vulgate cxxxi. ) 13.
Sion is as much to say as the sight of peace;
the sight of the soul is the thought of that same soul; and,
certes, in that soul that most is occupied in thoughts of peace
hath God made His dwelling place.Cf. Walter Hilton, The Ladder of Perfection, II. pt. ii. cap. 3: "Jerusalem is, as much as to say, a sight of peace, and betokeneth contemplation in perfect love of God; for contemplation is nothing else but a sight of God, which is very peace."
And thus saith Himself by the prophet, when he
saith: "Upon whom shall my spirit rest, but upon the meek and the
restful."Probably Isa. lvii. 15.
And, therefore,
who so will have God continually dwelling in him, and live in love
and in sight of the high peace of the Godhead, the which is the
highest and the best party of contemplation that may be had in this
life, be he busy night and day to put down, when they come, the
spirit of the flesh and the spirit of the world, but most busily
the spirit of malice, of wrath, and of wickedness, for he is the
foulest and the worst filthPepwell reads: "most folly."
of all. And it is full needful and speedful to know his quaintise,
and not for to unknow his doleful deceits. For sometime he will,
that wicked cursed wight, change his likeness in to an angel of
light, that he may under colour of virtue do more dere;Pepwell adds: "or harm." Cf. The Chronicle of Robert of Brunne, 8905-6: "Now may ye lyghtly bere the stones to schip wythouten dere.'
but
yet then, if we look more redely,Advisedly.
it is but seed of bitterness and of discord that
that he sheweth, seem it never so holy nor never so fair at the
first shewing. Full many he stirreth unto singular holiness passing
the common statute and custom of their degree, as is fasting, sharp
wearing, and many other devout observances and outward doings, in
open reproving of other men's defaults, the which they have not of
office for to do. All such and many other he stirreth them for to
do, and all under colour of devotion and of charity; not for he is
delighted in any deed of devotion and of charity, but for he loveth
dissension and slander, the which is evermore caused by such
unseemly singularities; for where so ever that any one or two are
in any devout congregation, the which any one or two useth any such
outward singularities, then in the sight of fools all the remenant
are slandered by them; but, in the sight of the wise man, they
slander themselves. But for because that fools are more than wise
men, therefore for favour of fools such singular doers ween that
they be wise, when (if it were wisely determined) they and all
their fautorsPartisans, abettors.
should be
seen apert fools, and darts shot of the devil, to slay true simple
souls under colour of holiness and charity. And thus many deceits
can the fiend bring in on this manner.
Who so will not consent, but meeketh
him truly to prayer and to counsel, shall graciously be delivered
of all
these deceits.The MSS. read: "doles."
But it is sorrow for to say, and more for to feel, that
sometimePepwell reads: "But it is more sorrow to feel of our own spirit's deceits. For sometime our own spirit."
our own spirit is
so overcome peradventure with each of these three spirits, of the
flesh, of the world, and of the fiend, and so brought into danger,
bounden in bondage, in thraldom and in service of them all, that
sorrow it is to wit. In great confusion and loss of itself, it doth
now the office of each one of them itself in itself. And this
befalleth when, after long use, and customable consenting unto them
when they come, at the last it is made so fleshly, so worldly, and
so malicious, so wicked, and so froward, that now plainly of
itself, without suggestion of any other spirit, it gendereth and
bringeth forth in itself, not only lusty thoughts of the flesh, and
vain thoughts of the world, but that worst of all these, as are
bitter thoughts and wicked, in backbiting and deeming, and evil
suspicion of others. And when it is thus with our spirit, then, I
trow, it may not lightly be known when it is our own spirit that
speaketh, or when it heareth any of the other three spirits
speaking in it as it is touched before. But what maketh it
matterThe MSS. read: "Bot what thar reche"; what need to care.
who speaketh, when
it is all one and the same thing that is spoken? What helpeth to
know the person of him that speaketh, when it is siker and certain
that all is evil
and perilous that is spoken? If it be thine enemy,
consent not to him, but meek thee to prayer and to counsel, and so
mayst thou mightily withstand thine enemy. If it be thine own
spirit, reprove him bitterly, and sighingly sorrow that ever thou
fell inPepwell reads: "didst feel in there."
so great
wretchedness, bondage, and thraldom of the devil. Shrive thee of
thy customed consents, and of thine old sins, and so mayst thou
come (by grace) to recover thy freedom again; and by the gracious
freedom mayst thou soon come to, wisely for to know, and
soothfastly for to feel by the proof, when it is thine own spirit
that speaketh these evils, or it be these other evil spirits that
speaketh them in thee. And so may this knowing be a sovereign mean
and help of againstanding, for often times unknowing is cause of
much error, and, againward, knowing is cause of much truth; and to
this manner of knowing mayst thou win thus as I say to thee.
If thou be in doubt or in
wereCf. above, p. 95, note.
of these evil thoughts
when they come, whether that they be the speech of thine own
spirit, or of any of the others of thine enemies; look then busily
by the witness of thy counsel and thy conscience, if thou have been
shriven and lawfully amended after the doomPepwell adds: "and judgment."
of thy confessor, of all the consents that ever
thou consented to that kind of sin, that thy
thought is aware of. And if thou have not been shriven
shrive thee then, as truly as thou mayst, by grace and by counsel;
and then wete thou right well that all the thoughts that come to
thee after thy shrift, stirring thee oft times to the same sins,
they are the words of other spirits than thine own (I mean some of
the three touched before). And thou for none such thoughts, be they
never so thick, so foul, nor so many (I mean for their first coming
in), but if it be for recklessness of againstanding,Unless because of carelessness in resisting them when they first come.
art no blame worthy. And not only
releasing of purgatory that thou hast deserved for the same sins
done before, what so they be, thou mayst deserve, if thou stiffly
againstand them, but also much grace in this life, and much meed in
the bliss of heaven. But all those evil thoughts coming in to thee,
stirring thee to any sin, after that thou hast consented to that
same sin, and before that thou hast sorrow for that consent, and
art in will to be shriven thereof, it is no peril to thee to take
them to thyself,To regard thyself as responsible.
and for to
shrive thee of them, as of thoughts of thine own spirit; but for to
take to thyself all other thoughts, the which thou hast by very
proof, as it is shewed before, by the speeches of other spirits
than of thyself, therein lieth great peril, for so mightest thou
lightly misrule thy conscience, charging a thing
for sin the which is none; and this were great error,
and a mean to the greatest peril. For if it were so that each evil
thought and stirring to sin were the work and the speech of none
other spirit, but only of man's own spirit; then it would follow by
that that a man's own spirit were a very fiend, the which is
apertly false and a damnable woodness;Madness.
for though all it be so that a soul may, by
frailty and custom of sinning, fall in to so much wretchedness,
that it taketh on itself by bondage of sin the office of the devil,
stirring itself to sin ever more and more, without any suggestion
of any other spirit (as it is said before), yet it is not therefore
a devil in kind, but it is a devil in office, and may be cleped
devilish, for it is in the doing like to the devil, [that is to
say, a stirrer of itself unto sin, the which is the office of the
devil].Not in Harl. MS. 674.
Nevertheless yet,
for all this thraldom to sin and devilishness in office, it may by
grace of contrition, of shrift, and of amending, recover the
freedom again, and be made saveable--yea, and a full special God's
saint in this life, that before was full damnable and full cursed
in the living.Pepwell reads: "a full damnable and a full cursed fiend in his living."
And,
therefore, as great a peril as it is a soul that is fallen in sin,
not for to charge his conscience therewith, nor for to amend him
thereof, as great a peril it is, and, if it may
be said, a greater, a man for to charge his conscience
with each thought and stirring of sin that will come in him; for,
by such nice charging of conscience, might he lightly run in to
error of conscience, and so be led in to despair all his life time.
And the cause of all this is lacking of knowing of discretion of
spirits, the which knowing may be gotten by very experience; who so
redely will look soon after that a soul have been truly cleansed by
confession as it is said before. For fast after confession a soul
is, as it were, a clean paper leaf, for ableness that it hath to
receive what that men will write thereupon. Both they do
pressPepwell adds: "and desire much."
for to write on the
soul, when it is clean in itself made by confession: God and His
angel on the one party, and the fiend and his angel on the other
party; but it is in the free choice of the soul to receive which
that it will. The receipt of the soul is the consent of the same
soul. A new thought and a stirring to any sin, the which thou hast
forsaken before in thy shrift, what is it else but the speech of
one of the three spirits the which are thine enemies (touched
before), proffering to write on thy soul the same sin again? The
speech of thyself, is it not; for why, there is no such thing
written in thy soul, for all it is wasted away before in thy
shrift, and thy soul left naked and bare; nothing left thereupon,
but a frail and a free consent, more inclining to the evil, for
custom therein, than it is to the good, but more able to the
good
than to the evil, for cleanness of the soul and virtue
of the sacrament of shrift; but, of itself, it hath nought then,
where through it may think or stir itself to good or to evil; and,
therefore, it followeth that what thought that cometh then in it,
whether that it be good or evil, it is not of itself, but the
consent to the good or to the evil, whether that it be, that is
ever more the work of the same soul.
And all after the worthiness and the
wretchedness of this consent, thereafter it deserveth pain or
bliss. If this consent be to evil, then as fast it hath, by
cumbrance of sin, the office of that same spirit that first made
him suggestion of that same sin; and if it be to the good, then as
fast it hath, by grace, the office of that same spirit that first
made him stirringPepwell reads: "suggestion."
to that
same good. For as oft as any healful thought cometh in our mind, as
of chastity, of soberness, of despising of the world, of wilful
poverty, of patience, of meekness, and of charity, without doubt it
is the spirit of God that speaketh, either by Himself or else by
some of His angels--that is to say, either His angels of this life,
the which are true teachers, or else His angels of His bliss, the
which are true stirrers and inspirers of good. And as it is said of
the other three evil spirits, that a soul, for long use and
customable consenting unto them, may be made so fleshly, so
worldly, and so malicious, that it taketh upon it the office of
them
all; right so it is againwardOn the other hand.
that a soul, for long use and custom in
goodness, may be made so ghostly by cleanness of living and
devotion of spirit against the spirit of the flesh, and so heavenly
against the spirit of the world, and so godly by peace and by
charity, and by restfulness of heart, against the spirit of malice,
of wrath, and of wickedness, that it hath them now of office all
such good thoughts to think when him list, without forgetting, in
as great perfection as the frailty of this life will suffer. And
thus it may be seen how that each thought that smiteth on our
hearts, whether that it be good or evil, it is not evermore the
speech of our own spirit, but the consent to the thought, what so
ever it be, that is ever of our own spirit. Jesu grant us His
grace, to consent to the good and againstand the evil. Amen.
FINIS. DEO GRATIAS
INDEX OF NAMES
Ancren Riwle, The, xx, 28 n
Aquinas, St. Thomas, xiii, 81, 84 n, 86 n
Asher, symbolism of, 6, 16-19
Augustine, St., xii, 25
Benjamin, symbolism of, xvi, xvii, 6, 29-33
Bernard, St., xii, 81
Bilhah, symbolism of, 4-6, 13-16
Bonaventura, St., xii
Catherine of Siena, St., xi, xvii-xix, xxv-xxvii, 35-47, 52 n,
107 n
Caxton, xviii, xix
Chaucer, 17 n, 52 n, 56 n, 95 n, 120 n
Chauncy, Maurice, xxiv
Dan, symbolism of, 6, 13, 14, 18
Dante, xi, xii, xiii, xiv, 38 n, 88 n, 91 n
Dinah, symbolism of, 6, 25
Dionysius, xxiii, xxiv
Divine Cloud of Unknowing, The, Author of, xii, xvii,
xxiv, xxv, xxvii, 3, 32, 33, 77-132
Eckhart, Meister, xi
Exmew, William, xxiv
Flete, William, xvii, xviii, 52 n
Gad, symbolism of, 6, 16-19
Genesis, 8-11, 14-17, 20, 24, 32
Hawkwood, John, xvii
Hilton (Hylton), Walter, xi, xii, xxii-xxv, 61-73, 104 n, 124
n
Hügel, F. von, 84 n, 86 n
Hugh of St. Victor, xii
Imitatione Christi, De, xxiii n, 65 n
Isaiah, 124
Issachar, symbolism of, 6, 20-24
Jacob, symbolism of, 3-7, 10, 27, 29
Jacopone da Todi, xi
James, Dane, xviii
James, Epistle of, 98, 99
Jeremiah, 103, 104
John, St., Epistles of, 25, 119
Joseph, symbolism of, 6, 27-30
Judah, symbolism of, 6, 10-12
Juliana of Norwich, xi, xxi, 65 n, 123 n
Kempe, Margery, xix-xxi, 49-59
Langland, Piers the Plowman, 79 n, 89 n
Layamons Brut, 28 n
Leah, symbolism of, 3-11, 14, 15-20, 24, 26, 29
Levi, symbolism of, 6, 9, 10
Luke, St., 110
Margery, see Kempe
Matthew, St., 8
Mechthild of Magdeburg, xi
Naphtali, symbolism of, 6, 13-15, 18, 19
Paul, St., Epistles, 21, 40, 41, 88, 97, 106, 109, 119,
120
Pepwell, xiv, xix
Proverbs, 28 n
Psalms, The, xiv, xvi, xxvi, 9, 10, 11, 23, 31, 33, 78,
79, 119, 124
Pynson, xxii
Rachel, symbolism of, 3-6, 12-15, 18, 27, 32
Raymund of Capua, xviii, xix
Reuben, symbolism of, 6, 7-9
Richard of St. Victor, xii-xv, xxii, xxv, xxvi, 3, 4 n, 19 n
Richard Rolle of Hampole, xi, xii, xvi, xvii, xxiii n, xxv, 71
n
Robert of Brunne, Chronicle of, 124 n
Ruysbroeck, Jan, xi
Shelley, xv n
Simeon, symbolism of, 6, 8, 9
Song of Solomon, 88, 108
Suso, Heinrich, xi
Tantucci, Giovanni, xvii
Tyrrell, George, xxi n
Wyclif, 16 n, 79 n, 112 n
Wynkyn de Worde, xviii, xix, xx, xxi, xxvii
Zebulun, symbolism of, 6, 22-25
Zechariah, 119
Zilpah, symbolism of, 4-6, 15-17, 20
Indexes
Index of Scripture References
Index of Pages of the Print Edition