Ch. 8. Of the first degree of love, wherein man loves God for self’s sake   

CAPUT VIII. De primo gradu amoris, quo diligit homo se propter se.

Ch. 9. Of the second and third degrees of love

CAPUT IX. De secundo et tertio gradu amoris.

Ch. 10. Of the fourth degree of love, wherein man does not even love self, save for God’s sake  (theosis)

CAPUT X. De quarto gradu amoris cum nec seipsum diligit homo nisi propter Deum.

Ch. 11. Of the attainment of this perfection of love only at the resurrection

CAPUT XI. Haec amoris perfectio non competit etiam solutis animabus beatorum, ante resurrectionem.

Ch. 12. Of love: out of a letter to the Carthusians

CAPUT XII. De charitate ex epistola ad Cartusianos scripta.

Ch. 13. Of the law of self-will and desire, of slaves and hirelings

CAPUT XIII. De lege propriae voluntatis et cupiditatis, servorum et mercenariorum.

Ch. 14. Of the law of the love of sons

CAPUT XIV. De lege charitatis filiorum.

Ch. 15. Of the four degrees of love, and of the blessed state of the heavenly fatherland

CAPUT XV. De quatuor gradibus amoris, et felici statu patriae coelestis.

CHAPTER VIII. OF THE FIRST DEGREE OF LOVE: WHEREIN MAN LOVES GOD FOR SELF’S SAKE

CAPUT VIII. De primo gradu amoris, quo diligit homo se propter se.

Love is one of the four natural affections, which it is needless to name since everyone knows them. And because love is natural, it is only right to love the Author of nature first of all. Hence comes the first and great commandment, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.’ But nature is so frail and weak that necessity compels her to love herself first; and this is carnal love, wherewith man loves himself first and selfishly, as it is written, ‘That was not first which is spiritual but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual’ (I Cor. 15.46). This is not as the precept ordains but as nature directs: ‘No man ever yet hated his own flesh’ (Eph. 5.29). But if, as is likely, this same love should grow excessive and, refusing to be contained within the restraining banks of necessity, should overflow into the fields of voluptuousness, then a command checks the flood, as if by a dike: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’. And this is right: for he who shares our nature should share our love, itself the fruit of nature. Wherefore if a man find it a burden, I will not say only to relieve his brother’s needs, but to minister to his brother’s pleasures, let him mortify those same affections in himself, lest he become a transgressor. He may cherish himself as tenderly as he chooses, if only he remembers to show the same indulgence to his neighbor. This is the curb of temperance imposed on thee, O man, by the law of life and conscience, lest thou shouldest follow thine own lusts to destruction, or become enslaved by those passions which are the enemies of thy true welfare. Far better divide thine enjoyments with thy neighbor than with these enemies. And if, after the counsel of the son of Sirach, thou goest not after thy desires but refrainest thyself from thine appetites (Ecclus. 18.30); if according to the apostolic precept having food and raiment thou art therewith content (I Tim. 6.8), then thou wilt find it easy to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, and to divide with thy neighbors what thou hast refused to thine own desires. That is a temperate and righteous love which practices self-denial in order to minister to a brother’s necessity. So our selfish love grows truly social, when it includes our neighbors in its circle.

23. Amor est affectio naturalis una de quatuor Notae sunt: non opus est nominare. Quod ergo naturale est, justum quidem foret primo omnium auctori deservire naturae. Unde et dictum est primum et maximum mandatum: Diliges Dominum ^[0988A] Deum tuum (Matth. XXII, 37), etc. Sed quoniam natura fragilior atque infirmior est, ipsi primum imperante necessitate compellitur inservire. Et est amor carnalis, quo ante omnia homo diligit se ipsum propter se ipsum, sicut scriptum est: Prius quod animale, deinde quod spirituale (I Cor. XV, 46). Nec praecepto indicitur, sed naturae inseritur: quis nempe carnem suam odio habuit? (Ephes. V, 29.) At vero si coeperit amor idem, ut assolet, proclivior esse, sive profusior, et necessitatis alveo minime contentus, campos etiam voluptatis 594 exundans latius visus fuerit occupare; statim superfluitas obviante mandato cohibetur, cum dicitur: Diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum (Matth. XXII, 39). Justissime quidem, ut consors naturae non sit exsors et gratiae, ^[0988B] illius praesertim gratiae, quae naturae insita est. Quod si gravatur homo fraternis, non dico necessitatibus subvenire, sed voluptatibus deservire; castiget ipse suas, si non vult esse transgressor. Quantum vult, sibi indulgeat; dum aeque et proximo tantumdem meminerit exhibendum. Frenum tibi temperantiae imponitur, o homo, ex lege vitae et disciplinae, ne post concupiscentias tuas eas, et pereas, ne de bonis naturae hosti servias animae, hoc est libidini. Quam justius atque honestius communicas illa consorti, id est proximo, quam hosti? Et quidem si ex Sapientis consilio a voluptatibus tuis averteris (Eccli. XVIII, 30), et juxta doctrinam Apostoli victu vestituque contentus (I Tim. VI, 8), paulisper suspendere non gravaris amorem tuum a carnalibus desideriis, quae ^[0988C] militant adversus animam (I Petr. II, 11); sane quod subtrahis hosti animae tuae, consorti naturae puto non gravaberis impertiri. Tunc amor tuus et temperans erit, et justus, si quod propriis subtrahitur voluptatibus, fratris necessitatibus non negetur. Sic amor carnalis efficitur et socialis, cum in commune protrahitur.

But if thou art reduced to want by such benevolence, what then? What indeed, except to pray with all confidence unto Him who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not (James 1.5), who openeth His hand and filleth all things living with plenteousness (Ps. 145.16). For doubtless He that giveth to most men more than they need will not fail thee as to the necessaries of life, even as He hath promised: ‘Seek ye the Kingdom of God, and all those things shall be added unto you’ (Luke 12.31). God freely promises all things needful to those who deny themselves for love of their neighbors; and to bear the yoke of modesty and sobriety, rather than to let sin reign in our mortal body (Rom. 6.12), that is indeed to seek the Kingdom of God and to implore His aid against the tyranny of sin. It is surely justice to share our natural gifts with those who share our nature.

24. Si autem dum communicas proximo, forte tibi defuerint etiam necessaria, quid facies? Quid enim, nisi ut cum omni fiducia postules ab eo qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat (Jacobi I, 5); qui aperit manum suam, et implet omne animal benedictione? (Psal. CXLIV, 16.) Dubium siquidem non est, quod adsit libenter in necessariis, qui plerisque ^[0988D] et in superfluis non deest. Denique ait: Primum quaerite regnum Dei et justitiam ejus, et haec omnia adjicientur vobis (Luc. XII, 31). Sponte daturum se pollicetur necessaria, superflua restringenti, et proximum diligenti. Hoc quippe est primum quaerere regnum Dei, et adversus peccati implorare tyrannidem, pudicitiae potius ac sobrietatis subire jugum, quam regnare peccatum in tuo mortali corpore patiaris. Porro autem et hoc justitiae est, cum quo tibi est natura communis, naturae quoque cum eo munus non habere divisum.

But if we are to love our neighbors as we ought, we must have regard to God also: for it is only in God that we can pay that debt of love aright. Now a man cannot love his neighbor in God, except he love God Himself; wherefore we must love God first, in order to love our neighbors in Him. This too, like all good things, is the Lord’s doing, that we should love Him, for He hath endowed us with the possibility of love. He who created nature sustains it; nature is so constituted that its Maker is its protector for ever. Without Him nature could not have begun to be; without Him it could not subsist at all. That we might not be ignorant of this, or vainly attribute to ourselves the beneficence of our Creator, God has determined in the depths of His wise counsel that we should be subject to tribulations. So when man’s strength fails and God comes to his aid, it is meet and right that man, rescued by God’s hand, should glorify Him, as it is written, ‘Call upon Me in the time of trouble; so will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise Me’ (Ps. 50.15). In such wise man, animal and carnal by nature, and loving only himself, begins to love God by reason of that very self-love; since he learns that in God he can accomplish all things that are good, and that without God he can do nothing.

25. Ut tamen perfecta justitia sit diligere proximum, ^[0989A] Deum in causa haberi necesse est. Alioquin proximum pure diligere quomodo potest, qui in Deo non diligit? Porro in Deo diligere non potest, qui Deum non diligit. Oportet ergo Deum diligi prius, ut in Deo diligi possit et proximus. Facit ergo etiam se diligi Deus, qui et caetera bona facit. Facit autem sic. Qui naturam condidit, ipse et protegit. Nam et ita condita fuit, ut habeat jugiter necessarium protectorem, quem habuit et conditorem: ut quae nisi per ipsum non valuit esse, nec sine ipso valeat omnino subsistere. Quod ne sane de se creatura ignoret, ac proinde sibi (quod absit) superbe arroget beneficia creatoris, vult hominem idem conditor alto quidem salubrique consilio tribulationibus exerceri: ut cum defecerit homo, et subvenerit Deus, ^[0989B] dum homo liberatur a Deo, Deus ab homine, ut dignum est, honoretur. Hoc enim dicit: Invoca me in die tribulationis, eruam te, et honorificabis me (Psal. XLIX, 15). Fit itaque hoc tali modo, ut homo animalis et carnalis, qui praeter se neminem diligere noverat, etiam Deum vel propter se amare incipiat, quod in ipso nimirum, ut saepe expertus est, omnia possit, quae posse tamen prosit; et sine ipso possit nihil.

CHAPTER IX. OF THE SECOND AND THIRD DEGREES OF LOVE

CAPUT IX. De secundo et tertio gradu amoris.

So then in the beginning man loves God, not for God’s sake, but for his own. It is something for him to know how little he can do by himself and how much by God’s help, and in that knowledge to order himself rightly towards God, his sure support. But when tribulations, recurring again and again, constrain him to turn to God for unfailing help, would not even a heart as hard as iron, as cold as marble, be softened by the goodness of such a Savior, so that he would love God not altogether selfishly, but because He is God? Let frequent troubles drive us to frequent supplications; and surely, tasting, we must see how gracious the Lord is (Ps. 34.8). Thereupon His goodness once realized draws us to love Him unselfishly, yet more than our own needs impel us to love Him selfishly: even as the Samaritans told the woman who announced that it was Christ who was at the well: ‘Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the savior of the world’ (John 4.42). We likewise bear the same witness to our own fleshly nature, saying, ‘No longer do we love God because of our necessity, but because we have tasted and seen how gracious the Lord is’. Our temporal wants have a speech of their own, proclaiming the benefits they have received from God’s favor. Once this is recognized it will not be hard to fulfill the commandment touching love to our neighbors; for whosoever loves God aright loves all God’s creatures. Such love is pure, and finds no burden in the precept bidding us purify our souls, in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren (I Peter 1.22). Loving as he ought, he counts that command only just. Such love is thankworthy, since it is spontaneous; pure, since it is shown not in word nor tongue, but in deed and truth (I John 3.18); just, since it repays what it has received. Whoso loves in this fashion, loves even as he is loved, and seeks no more his own but the things which are Christ’s, even as Jesus sought not His own welfare, but ours, or rather ourselves. Such was the psalmist’s love when he sang: ‘O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious’ (PS. 118.1). Whosoever praises God for His essential goodness, and not merely because of the benefits He has bestowed, does really love God for God’s sake, and not selfishly. The psalmist was not speaking of such love when he said: ‘So long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee’(Ps. 49.18). The third degree of love, we have now seen, is to love God on His own account, solely because He is God.

26. Amat ergo jam Deum, sed propter se interim adhuc, non propter ipsum. Est tamen quaedam prudentia scire quid ex te, quid ex Dei adjutorio possis, ^[0989C] et ipsi servare te infensum [id est inoffensum], qui te tibi servat illaesum. At si frequens ingruerit tribulatio, ob quam et frequens ad Deum conversio fiat, et a Deo aeque frequens liberatio consequatur; nonne, etsi 595 fuerit ferreum pectus, vel cor lapideum toties liberati, emolliri necesse est ad gratiam liberantis, quatenus Deum homo diligat, non propter se tantum, sed et propter ipsum? Ex occasione quippe frequentium necessitatum crebris necesse est interpellationibus Deum ab homine frequentari, frequentando gustari, gustando probari quam suavis est Dominus. Ita fit ut ad diligendum pure Deum plus jam ipsius gustata alliciat suavitas, quam urgeat nostra necessitas; ita ut exemplo Samaritanorum, dicentium mulieri quae adesse Dominum ^[0989D] nuntiaverat, Jam non propter tuam loquelam credimus; ipsi enim audivimus, et scimus quia ipse est vere Salvator mundi (Joan. IV, 42); ita, inquam, et nos illorum exemplo carnem nostram alloquentes, dicamus merito: Jam non propter tuam necessitatem Deum diligimus; ipsi enim gustavimus et scimus quoniam suavis est Dominus. Est enim carnis quaedam loquela necessitas, et beneficia quae experiendo probat, gestiendo [al. gustando] renuntiat. Itaque sic affecto, jam de diligendo proximo implere mandatum, non erit difficile. Amat quippe veraciter Deum, ac per hoc quae Dei sunt. Amat caste, et casto non gravatur obedire mandato, castificans magis cor suum, ut scriptum est, in obedientia charitatis (I Petr. I, 22). Amat juste, et mandatum justum ^[0990A] libenter amplectitur. Amor iste merito gratus, quia gratuitus. Castus est, quia non impenditur verbo, neque lingua, sed opere et veritate. Justus est, quoniam qualis suscipitur, talis et redditur. Qui enim sic amat, haud secus profecto, quam amatus est, amat; quaerens et ipse vicissim, non quae sua sunt, sed quae Jesu Christi, quemadmodum ille nostra, vel potius nos, et non sua quaesivit. Sic amat qui dicit: Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus (Psal. CXVII, 1). Qui Domino confitetur, non quoniam sibi bonus est, sed quoniam bonus est; hic vere diligit Deum propter Deum, et non propter seipsum. Non sic amat de quo dicitur: Confitebitur tibi cum benefeceris ei (Psal. XLVIII, 19). Iste est tertius amoris gradus, quo jam propter se ipsum Deus diligitur.

CHAPTER X. OF THE FOURTH DEGREE OF LOVE: WHEREIN MAN DOES NOT EVEN LOVE SELF SAVE FOR GOD S SAKE

CAPUT X. De quarto gradu amoris cum nec seipsum diligit homo nisi propter Deum.

How blessed is he who reaches the fourth degree of love, wherein one loves himself only in God! Thy righteousness standeth like the strong mountains, O God. Such love as this is God’s hill, in the which it pleaseth Him to dwell. ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?’ ‘O that I had wings like a dove; for then would I flee away and be at rest.’ ‘At Salem is His tabernacle; and His dwelling in Sion.’ ‘Woe is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech! ‘ (Ps. 24.3; 55.6; 76.2; 120.5). When shall this flesh and blood, this earthen vessel which is my soul’s tabernacle, attain thereto? When shall my soul, rapt with divine love and altogether self-forgetting, yea, become like a broken vessel, yearn wholly for God, and, joined unto the Lord, be one spirit with Him? When shall she exclaim, ‘My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever’ (Ps. 73.26).I would count him blessed and holy to whom such rapture has been vouchsafed in this mortal life, for even an instant to lose thyself, as if thou wert emptied and lost and swallowed up in God, is no human love; it is celestial. But if sometimes a poor mortal feels that heavenly joy for a rapturous moment, then this wretched life envies his happiness, the malice of daily trifles disturbs him, this body of death weighs him down, the needs of the flesh are imperative, the weakness of corruption fails him, and above all brotherly love calls him back to duty. Alas! that voice summons him to re-enter his own round of existence; and he must ever cry out lamentably, ‘O Lord, I am oppressed: undertake for me’ (Isa. 38.14); and again, ‘O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’ (Rom. 7.24).

^[0990B] 27. Felix qui meruit ad quartum usque pertingere, quatenus nec seipsum diligat homo nisi propter Deum. Justitia tua, Deus, sicut montes Dei (Psal. XXXV, 7). Amor iste mons est, et mons Dei excelsus. Revera mons coagulatus, mons pinguis (Psal. LXVII, 16). Quis ascendet in montem Domini? (Psal. XXIII, 3.) Quis dabit mihi pennas sicut columbae, et volabo et requiescam? (Psal. LIV, 7.) Factus est in pace locus iste, et habitatio haec in Sion (Psal. LXXV, 3). Heu mihi quia incolatus meus prolongatus est! (Psal. CXIX, 5.) Caro et sanguis, vas luteum, terrena inhabitatio quando capit hoc? quando ^[0990C] hujuscemodi experitur affectum, ut divino debriatus amore animus, oblitus sui, factusque sibi ipsi tanquam vas perditum, totus pergat in Deum, et adhaerens Deo unus cum eo spiritus fiat (I Cor. VI, 17). et dicat: Defecit caro mea et cor meum, Deus cordis mei, et pars mea Deus in aeternum? (Psal. LXXII, 26.) Beatum dixerim et sanctum, cui tale aliquid in hac mortali vita raro interdum, aut vel semel, et hoc ipsum raptim, atque unius vix momenti spatio experiri donatum est. Te enim quodammodo perdere, tanquam qui non sis, et omnino non sentire teipsum, et a teipso exinaniri, et pene annullari, coelestis est conversationis, non humanae affectionis. Et si quidem e mortalibus quispiam ad illud raptim ^[0990D] interdum (ut dictum est) et ad momentum admittitur, subito invidet saeculum nequam, perturbat diei malitia, corpus mortis aggravat, sollicitat carnis necessitas, defectus corruptionis non sustinet, quodque his violentius est, fraterna revocat charitas. Heu! redire in se, recidere in sua compellitur, et miserabiliter exclamare, Domine, vim patior, responde pro me (Isa. XXXVIII, 14): et illud, Infelix ego homo, quis 596 me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? (Rom. VII, 24.)

SEEING that the Scripture says, God has made all for His own glory (Isa. 43.7), surely His creatures ought to conform themselves, as much as they can, to His will. In Him should all our affections center, so that in all things we should seek only to do His will, not to please ourselves. And real happiness will come, not in gratifying our desires or in gaining transient pleasures, but in accomplishing God’s will for us: even as we pray every day: ‘Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt. 6.10).

28. Quoniam tamen Scriptura loquitur, Deum omnia fecisse propter semetipsum; erit profecto ut factura sese quandoque conformet et concordet Auctori. Oportet proinde in eumdem nos affectum quandocunque transire: ut quomodo Deus omnia ^[0991A] esse voluit propter semetipsum, sic nos quoque nec nosipsos, nec aliud aliquid fuisse, vel esse velimus, nisi aeque propter ipsum, ob solam videlicet ipsius voluntatem, non nostram voluptatem. Delectabit sane non tam nostra, vel sopita necessitas, vel sortita felicitas, quam quod ejus in nobis, et de nobis voluntas adimpleta videbitur: quod et quotidie postulamus in oratione cum dicimus, Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in coelo, et in terra (Matth. VI, 10).

O love [both] chaste and holy ! O sweet and gracious affection! O pure and cleansed purpose, thoroughly washed and purged from any admixture of selfishness, and sweetened by contact with the divine will!

O amor sanctus et castus! o dulcis et suavis affectio! o pura et defaecata intentio voluntatis! eo certe defaecatior et purior, quo in ea de proprio nil jam admistum relinquitur: eo suavior et dulcior, quo totum divinum est quod sentitur.

When will that be? Who will see, who possess it? ‘When shall I come to appear before the presence of God?’ (Ps. 42.2). ‘My heart hath talked of Thee, Seek ye My face: Thy face, Lord, will I seek’ (Ps. 27.8). Lord, thinkest Thou that I even I shall see Thy holy temple?

  Quando hoc erit? quis hoc videbit? quis possidebit? Quando veniam, et apparebo ^[0991C] ante faciem Dei? (Psal. XLI, 3.) Domine Deus ^[0992A] meus, tibi dixit cor meum, exquisivit te facies mea; faciem tuam, Domine, requiram (Psal. XXVI, 8). Putas, videbo templum sanctum tuum?

In this life, I think, we cannot fully and perfectly obey that precept, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind’ (Luke 10.27). For here the heart must take thought for the body; and the soul must energize the flesh; and the strength must guard itself from impairment. And by God’s favor, must seek to increase. It is therefore impossible to offer up all our being to God, to yearn altogether for His face, so long as we must accommodate our purposes and aspirations to these fragile, sickly bodies of ours. Wherefore the soul may hope to possess the fourth degree of love, or rather to be possessed by it, only when it has been clothed upon with that spiritual and immortal body, which will be perfect, peaceful, lovely, and in everything wholly subjected to the spirit. And to this degree no human effort can attain: it is in God’s power to give it to whom He wills. Then the soul will easily reach that highest stage, because no lusts of the flesh will retard its eager entrance into the joy of its Lord, and no troubles will disturb its peace. May we not think that the holy martyrs enjoyed this grace, in some degree at least, before they laid down their victorious bodies? Surely that was immeasurable strength of love which enraptured their souls, enabling them to laugh at fleshly torments and to yield their lives gladly. But even though the frightful pain could not destroy their peace of mind, it must have impaired somewhat its perfection.

29. Ego puto non ante sane perfecte impletum iri, Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota virtute tua (Matth. XXII, 37); quousque ipsum cor cogitare jam non cogatur de corpore, et anima eidem in hoc statu vivificando et sensificando intendere desinat, et virtus ejusdem relevata molestiis, in Dei potentia roboretur. Impossibile namque est tota haec ex toto ad Deum colligere, et divino infigere vultui, quandiu ea huic fragili et aerumnoso corpori intenta et distenta necesse est subservire Itaque in corpore spirituali et immortali, in corpore integro, placido, placitoque, ^[0992B] et per omnia subjecto spiritui, speret se anima quartum apprehendere amoris gradum, vel potius in ipso apprehendi: quippe quod Dei potentiae est dare cui vult, non humanae industriae assequi. Tunc, inquam, summum obtinebit facile gradum, cum in gaudium Domini sui promptissime et avidissime festinantem nulla jam retardabit carnis illecebra, nulla molestia conturbabit. Putamusne tamen hanc gratiam vel ex parte sanctos martyres assecutos, in illis victoriosis corporibus adhuc constitutos? Magna vis prorsus amoris illas animas introrsum rapuerat, qua ita sua corpora foris exponere, et tormenta contemnere valuerunt. At profecto doloris acerrimi sensus non potuit non turbare serenum, ^[0992C] etsi non perturbare.

CHAPTER XI. OF THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS PERFECTION OF LOVE ONLY AT THE RESURRECTION

CAPUT XI. Haec amoris perfectio non competit etiam solutis animabus beatorum, ante resurrectionem.

What of the souls already released from their bodies? We believe that they are overwhelmed in that vast sea of eternal light and of luminous eternity. But no one denies that they still hope and desire to receive their bodies again: whence it is plain that they are not yet wholly transformed, and that something of self remains yet unsurrendered. Not until death is swallowed up in victory, and perennial light overflows the uttermost bounds of darkness, not until celestial glory clothes our bodies, can our souls be freed entirely from self and give themselves up to God. For until then souls are bound to bodies, if not by a vital connection of sense, still by natural affection; so that without their bodies they cannot attain to their perfect consummation, nor would they if they could. And although there is no defect in the soul itself before the restoration of its body, since it has already attained to the highest state of which it is by itself capable, yet the spirit would not yearn for reunion with the flesh if without the flesh it could be consummated.

^[0993A] 30. Quid autem jam solutas corporibus? Immersas ex toto credimus immenso illi pelago aeterni luminis, et luminosae aeternitatis. Sed si (quod non negatur) velint sua corpora recepisse, aut certe recipere desiderent et sperent; liquet procul dubio necdum a seipsis penitus immutatas, quibus constat 597 necdum penitus deesse de proprio, quo vel modice intentio reflectatur. Donec ergo absorpta sit mors in victoria, et noctis undique terminos lux perennis invadat et occupet usquequaque, quatenus et in corporibus gloria coelestis effulgeat; non possunt ex toto animae seipsas exponere, et transire in Deum, ^[0993B] nimirum ligatae corporibus etiam tunc, etsi non vita vel sensu, certe affectu naturali, ita ut absque his nec velint, nec valeant consummari. Itaque ante restaurationem corporum non erit ille defectus animorum, qui perfectus et summus est ipsorum status: nec carnis jam sane consortium spiritus requireret, si absque illa consummaretur.

And finally, ‘Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints’ (Ps. 116.15). But if their death is precious, what must such a life as theirs be! No wonder that the body shall seem to add fresh glory to the spirit; for though it is weak and mortal, it has availed not a little for mutual help. How truly he spake who said, ‘All things work together for good to them that love God’ (Rom. 8.28). The body is a help to the soul that loves God, even when it is ill, even when it is dead, and all the more when it is raised again from the dead: for illness is an aid to penitence; death is the gate of rest; and the resurrection will bring consummation. So, rightly, the soul would not be perfected without the body, since she recognizes that in every condition it has been needful to her good.

Enim vero absque profectu animae nec ponitur corpus, nec resumitur. Denique pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum ejus (Psal. CXV, 15). Quod si mors pretiosa, quid vita, et illa vita? Nec mirum, si corpus jam gloriae conferre videtur spiritui, quod et infirmum et mortale constat ipsi non mediocriter valuisse. O quam verum locutus est qui dixit, diligentibus Deum omnia cooperari in bonum (Rom. VIII, 28). Valet ^[0993C] Deum diligenti animae corpus suum infirmum, valet et mortuum, valet et resuscitatum: primo quidem ad fructum poenitentiae, secundo ad requiem, postremo ad consummationem. Merito sine illo perfici non vult, quod in omni statu in bonum sibi subservire persentit.

The flesh then is a good and faithful comrade for a good soul: since even when it is a burden it assists; when the help ceases, the burden ceases too; and when once more the assistance begins, there is no longer a burden. The first state is toilsome, but fruitful; the second is idle, but not monotonous: the third is glorious. Hear how the Bridegroom in Canticles bids us to this threefold progress: ‘Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved’ (Cant. 5.1). He offers food to those who are laboring with bodily toil; then He calls the resting souls whose bodies are laid aside, to drink; and finally He urges those who have resumed their bodies to drink abundantly. Surely those He styles ‘beloved’ must overflow with charity; and that is the difference between them and the others, whom He calls not ‘beloved’ but ‘friends’. Those who yet groan in the body are dear to Him, according to the love that they have; those released from the bonds of flesh are dearer because they have become readier and abler to love than hitherto. But beyond either of these classes are those whom He calls ‘beloved’: for they have received the second garment, that is, their glorified bodies, so that now nothing of self remains to hinder or disturb them, and they yield themselves eagerly and entirely to loving God. This cannot be so with the others; for the first have the weight of the body to bear, and the second desires the body again with something of selfish expectation.

31. Bonus plane fidusque comes caro spiritui bono, quae ipsum aut si onerat, juvat; aut si non juvat, exonerat; aut certe juvat, et minime onerat. Primus status laboriosus, sed fructuosus: secundus otiosus, sed minime fastidiosus: tertius et gloriosus. Audi et sponsum in Canticis ad profectum hunc trimodum invitantem. Comedite, inquit, amici, et bibite; et inebriamini, charissimi (Cantic. V, 1). Laborantes in ^[0993D] corpore vocat ad cibum: jam posito corpore quiescentes ad potum invitat: resumentes corpora, etiam ut inebrientur impellit: quos et vocat charissimos, nimirum charitate plenissimos. Nam et in caeteris, quos non charissimos, sed amicos appellat, differentia est: ut hi quidem qui in carne adhuc gravati gemunt, chari habeantur pro charitate quam habent: qui vero jam soluti carnis compede sunt, eo sint chariores, quo et promptiores atque expeditiores facti ad amandum. Porro prae utrisque merito nominantur et sunt charissimi, qui recepta jam secunda stola, in corporibus utique cum gloria resumptis, tanto in Dei feruntur amorem liberiores et alacriores, quanto et de proprio nil jam residuum est, quod eos aliquatenus sollicitet vel retardet. Quod ^[0994A] quidem neuter sibi reliquorum statuum vindicat; cum et in priori corpus cum labore portetur, et in secundo quoque non sine proprietate aliqua desiderii exspectetur.

At first then the faithful soul eats her bread, but alas! in the sweat of her face. Dwelling in the flesh, she walks as yet by faith, which must work through love. As faith without words is dead, so work itself is food for her; even as our Lord saith, ‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me’ (John 4.34). When the flesh is laid aside, she eats no more the bread of carefulness, but is allowed to drink deeply of the wine of love, as if after a repast. But the wine is not yet unmingled; even as the Bridegroom saith in another place, ‘I have drunk My wine with My milk’ (Cant. 5.1). For the soul mixes with the wine of God’s love the milk of natural affection, that is, the desire for her body and its glorification. She glows with the wine of holy love which she has drunk; but she is not yet all on fire, for she has tempered the potency of that wine with milk. The unmingled wine would enrapture the soul and make her wholly unconscious of self; but here is no such transport for she is still desirous of her body. When that desire is appeased, when the one lack is supplied, what should hinder her then from yielding herself utterly to God, losing her own likeness and being made like unto Him? At last she attains to that chalice of the heavenly wisdom, of which it is written, ‘My cup shall be full.’ Now indeed she is refreshed with the abundance of the house of God, where all selfish, carking care is done away, and where, for ever safe, she drinks the fruit of the vine, new and pure, with Christ in the Kingdom of His Father (Matt. 26.29).

32. Primo ergo fidelis anima comedit panem suum, sed heu! in sudore vultus sui. In carne quippe manens adhuc ambulat per fidem, quam sane operari per dilectionem necesse est: quia si non operatur, mortua est. Porro ipsum opus cibus est, dicente Domino: Meus cibus est, ut faciam voluntatem Patris mei (Joan. IV, 34). Dehinc carne exuta jam pane doloris non cibatur; sed vinum amoris, tanquam post cibum, plenius haurire permittitur, non purum tamen, sed quomodo sub sponsi nomine in Canticis dictum legitur: bibi vinum meum cum lacte meo ^[0994B] (Cantic. V, 1). Vino enim divini amoris etiam tunc anima suavitatem naturalis immiscet affectionis, qua resumere corpus suum, ipsumque glorificatum desiderat. Aestuat ergo jam tunc sanctae charitatis potata vino, sed plane nondum usque ad ebrietatem: quoniam temperat interim ardorem illum hujus lactis permistio. Ebrietas denique solet evertere mentes, atque omnino reddere immemores sui. At non ex toto sui oblita est, quae adhuc de proprio corpore cogitat suscitando. Caeterum hoc adepto, quod solum utique deerat, quid jam impedit a se ipsa quodammodo abire, et ire totam in Deum, eoque sibi penitus dissimillimam fieri, quo Deo simillimam effici donatur? Tum demum ad crateram admissa sapientiae, illam de qua legitur, Et calix meus 598 inebrians ^[0994C] quam praeclarus est! (Psal. XXII, 5.) quid mirum jam si inebriatur ab ubertate domus Dei, cum nulla mordente cura de proprio, secura bibit purum et novum illud cum Christo in regno Patris ejus?

It is Wisdom who spreads this threefold supper where all the repast is love; Wisdom who feeds the toilers, who gives drink to those who rest, who floods with rapture those that reign with Christ. Even as at an earthly banquet custom and nature serve meat first and then wine, so here. Before death, while we are still in mortal flesh, we eat the labors of our hands, we swallow with an effort the food so gained; but after death, we shall begin eagerly to drink in the spiritual life and finally, reunited to our bodies, and rejoicing in fullness of delight, we shall be refreshed with immortality. This is what the Bridegroom means when He saith: ‘Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.’ Eat before death; begin to drink after death; drink abundantly after the resurrection. Rightly are they called beloved who have drunk abundantly of love; rightly do they drink abundantly who are worthy to be brought to the marriage supper of the Lamb, eating and drinking at His table in His Kingdom (Rev. 19.9; Luke 22.30). At that supper, He shall present to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing (Eph. 5.27). Then truly shall He refresh His beloved; then He shall give them drink of His pleasures, as out of the river (Ps. 36.8). While the Bridegroom clasps the Bride in tender, pure embrace, then the rivers of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God (PS. 46.4). And this refers to the Son of God Himself, who will come forth and serve them, even as He hath promised; so that in that day the righteous shall be glad and rejoice before God: they shall also be merry and joyful (Ps. 68.3). Here indeed is appeasement without weariness: here never-quenched thirst for knowledge, without distress; here eternal and infinite desire which knows no want; here, finally, is that sober inebriation which comes not from drinking new wine but from enjoying God (Acts 2.13). The fourth degree of love is attained for ever when we love God only and supremely, when we do not even love ourselves except for God’s sake; so that He Himself is the reward of them that love Him, the everlasting reward of an everlasting love.

33. Hoc vero convivium triplex celebrat Sapientia, et ex una complet charitate, ipsa cibans laborantes, ipsa potans quiescentes, ipsa regnantes inebrians. Quomodo autem in convivio corporali ante cibus quam potus apponitur, quoniam et tali ordine natura requirit; ita et hic. Primo quidem ante mortem in carne mortali labores manuum nostrarum manducamus, cum labore quod glutiendum est masticantes: post mortem vero in vita spirituali ^[0994D] jam bibimus, suavissima quadam facilitate quod percipitur colantes: tandem redivivis corporibus in vita immortali inebriamur, mira plenitudine exuberantes. Haec pro eo quod sponsus in Canticis dicit: Comedite, amici, et bibite; et inebriamini, charissimi. Comedite ante mortem, bibite post mortem, inebriamini post resurrectionem. Merito jam charissimi, qui charitate inebriantur: et merito inebriati, qui ad nuptias Agni introduci merentur, edentes et bibentes super mensam illius in regno suo, quando sibi jam exhibet gloriosam Ecclesiam, non habentem maculam, neque rugam, aut aliquid hujusmodi (Ephes. V, 27). Tunc prorsus inebriat charissimos suos, tunc torrente voluptatis suae potat (Psal. XXXV, 9): quoniam quidem in complexu illo ^[0995A] arctissimo et castissimo sponsi et sponsae, fluminis impetus laetificat civitatem Dei (Psal. XLV, 5). Quod non aliud esse arbitror quam Dei Filium, qui transiens ministrat, quemadmodum ipse promisit (Luc. XII, 37): ut ex hoc jam justi epulentur et exsultent in conspectu Dei, et delectentur in laetitia (Psal. LXVII, 4). Hinc illa satietas sine fastidio: hinc insatiabilis illa sine inquietudine curiositas: hinc aeternum illud atque inexplicabile desiderium, nesciens egestatem: hinc denique sobria illa ebrietas, vero, non mero ingurgitans, non madens vino, sed ardens Deo. Ex hoc jam quartus ille amoris gradus perpetuo possidetur, cum summe, et solus diligitur Deus: quia nec nos ipsos jam nisi propter ipsum diligimus, ut sit ipse praemium amantium se, praemium aeternum ^[0995B] amantium in aeternum.

CHAPTER XII. OF LOVE: OUT OF A LETTER TO THE CARTHUSIANS

CAPUT XII. De charitate ex epistola ad Cartusianos scripta.

I remember writing a letter to the holy Carthusian brethren, wherein I discussed these degrees of love, and spoke of charity in other words, although not in another sense, than here. It may be well to repeat a portion of that letter, since it is easier to copy than to dictate anew.

34. Memini me dudum ad sanctos fratres Cartusienses scripsisse epistolam, ac de his ipsis in ea gradibus inter caetera disseruisse (Epist. 11). Forte autem alia ibi, etsi non aliena, de charitate locutus sum; et ob hoc quaedam illorum huic [al. hujus] quoque sermoni subjungere non inutile duco: praesertim cum facilius ad manum habeam transcribere jam dictata, quam nova iterum dictare.

To love our neighbor’s welfare as much as our own: that is true and sincere charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned (I Tim. 1.5). Whosoever loves his own prosperity only is proved thereby not to love good for its own sake, since he loves it on his own account. And so he cannot sing with the psalmist, ‘O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious’ (Ps. 118.1). Such a man would praise God, not because He is goodness, but because He has been good to him: he could take to himself the reproach of the same writer, ‘So long as Thou doest well unto him, he will speak good of Thee’ (Ps. 49.18, Vulg.). One praises God because He is mighty, another because He is gracious, yet another solely because He is essential goodness. The first is a slave and fears for himself; the second is greedy, desiring further benefits; but the third is a son who honors his Father. He who fears, he who profits, are both concerned about self-interest. Only in the son is that charity which seeketh not her own (I Cor. 13.5). Wherefore I take this saying, ‘The law of the Lord is an undefiled law, converting the soul’ (Ps. 19.7) to be of charity; because charity alone is able to turn the soul away from love of self and of the world to pure love of God. Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. They may change the appearance, perhaps even the conduct, but never the object of supreme desire. Sometimes a slave may do God’s work; but because he does not toil voluntarily, he remains in bondage. So a mercenary may serve God, but because he puts a price on his service, he is enchained by his own greediness. For where there is self-interest there is isolation; and such isolation is like the dark corner of a room where dust and rust befoul. Fear is the motive which constrains the slave; greed binds the selfish man, by which he is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1.14). But neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul freeing it from unworthy motives.

Illa, inquam, vera et sincera est charitas, et omnino de corde puro, et conscientia bona, et fide non ficta fatenda est procedere, qua proximi bonum, aeque ut nostrum, ^[0995C] diligimus. Nam qui magis, aut certe solum diligit suum, convincitur non caste diligere bonum, quod utique propter se diligit, non propter ipsum. Et hic talis non potest obedire prophetae, qui ait: Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus (Psal. CXVII, 1). Confitetur quidem, quia fortasse bonus est sibi, non autem quoniam bonus est in se. Quapropter noverit in se dirigi illud ab eodem propheta opprobrium: Confitebitur tibi, cum benefeceris ei (Psal. XLVIII, 19). Est qui confitetur Domino quoniam potens est, et est qui confitetur quoniam sibi bonus est, et item qui confitetur quoniam simpliciter bonus est. Primus servus est, et timet sibi; secundus, mercenarius, et cupit sibi; tertius, filius, et defert patri. Itaque et qui timet, et cupit, utrique pro se agunt. Sola quae ^[0995D] in filio est charitas, non quaerit quae sua sunt (I Cor. XIII, 5). Quamobrem puto de illa dictum, Lex Domini immaculata, convertens animas (Psal. XVIII, 8): quod sola videlicet sit, quae ab amore sui et mundi convertere possit animum, et in Deum dirigere. Nec timor quippe, nec amor privatus convertunt animam. Mutant interdum vultum, vel actum; affectum nunquam. Facit quidem nonnunquam 599 etiam servus opus Dei: sed quia non sponte, in sua adhuc duritia permanere cognoscitur. Facit et mercenarius: sed quia non gratis, propria trahi cupiditate convincitur. Porro ubi proprietas, ibi singularitas, ibi angulus: ubi vero angulus, ibi sine dubio sordes sive rubigo. Sit itaque servo sua lex, timor ipse quo constringitur; sit sua mercenario cupiditas, qua et ^[0996A] ipse arctatur, quando tentatur abstractus et illectus. Sed harum nulla, aut sine macula est, aut animas convertere potest. Charitas vero convertit animas, quas facit et voluntarias.

Next, I call it undefined because it never keeps back anything of its own for itself. When a man boasts of nothing as his very own, surely all that he has is God’s; and what is God’s cannot be unclean. The undefiled law of the Lord is that love which bids men seek not their own, but every man another’s wealth. It is called the law of the Lord as much because He lives in accordance with it as because no man has it except by gift from Him. Nor is it improper to say that even God lives by law, when that law is the law of love. For what preserves the glorious and ineffable Unity of the blessed Trinity, except love? Charity, the law of the Lord, joins the Three Persons into the unity of the Godhead and unites the holy Trinity in the bond of peace. Do not suppose me to imply that charity exists as an accidental quality of Deity; for whatever could be conceived of as wanting in the divine Nature is not God. No, it is the very substance of the Godhead; and my assertion is neither novel nor extraordinary, since St John says, ‘God is love’ (I John 4.8). One may therefore say with truth that love is at once God and the gift of God, essential love imparting the quality of love. Where the word refers to the Giver, it is the name of His very being; where the gift is meant, it is the name of a quality. Love is the eternal law whereby the universe was created and is ruled. Since all things are ordered in measure and number and weight, and nothing is left outside the realm of law, that universal law cannot itself be without a law, which is itself. So love though it did not create itself, does surely govern itself by its own decree.

35. Porro in eo eam dixerim immaculatam, quod nil sibi de suo retinere consuevit. Cui nempe de proprio nihil est, totum profecto quod habet, Dei est: quod autem Dei est, immundum esse non potest. Lex ergo Domini immaculata, charitas est: quae non quod sibi utile est, quaerit, sed quod multis. Lex autem Domini, dicitur, sive quod ipse ex ea vivat, sive quod eam nullus, nisi ejus dono possideat. Nec absurdum videatur, quod dixi etiam Deum vivere ex lege: cum non alia quam charitate dixerim. Quid vero in summa et beata illa Trinitate ^[0996B] summam et ineffabilem illam conservat unitatem, nisi charitas? Lex est ergo, et lex Domini, charitas, quae Trinitatem in unitate quodammodo cohibet, et colligat in vinculo pacis. Nemo tamen me aestimet charitatem hic accipere qualitatem, vel aliquod accidens (alioquin in Deo dicerem, quod absit, esse aliquid quod Deus non est), sed substantiam illam divinam: quod utique nec novum, nec insolitum est, dicente Joanne, Deus charitas est (Joan. IV, 8). Dicitur ergo recte et charitas, et Deus, et Dei donum. Itaque charitas dat charitatem, substantiva accidentalem. Ubi dantem significat, nomen substantiae est: ubi donum, qualitatis. Haec est lex aeterna, creatrix et gubernatrix universitatis. Siquidem in pondere, ^[0996C] et mensura, et numero per eam facta sunt universa, et nihil sine lege relinquitur, cum ipsa quoque lex omnium sine lege non sit, non tamen alia quam se ipsa: qua et seipsam etsi non creavit, regit tamen.

CHAPTER XIII. OF THE LAW OF SELF-WILL AND DESIRE, OF SLAVES AND HIRELINGS

CAPUT XIII. De lege propriae voluntatis et cupiditatis, servorum et mercenariorum.

Furthermore, the slave and the hireling have a law, not from the Lord, but of their own contriving; the one does not love God, the other loves something else more than God. They have a law of their own, not of God, I say; yet it is subject to the law of the Lord. For though they can make laws for themselves, they cannot supplant the changeless order of the eternal law. Each man is a law unto himself, when he sets up his will against the universal law, perversely striving to rival his Creator, to be wholly independent, making his will his only law. What a heavy and burdensome yoke upon all the sons of Adam, bowing down our necks, so that our life draweth nigh unto hell. ‘O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’ (Rom. 7.24). I am weighed down, I am almost overwhelmed, so that ‘If the Lord had not helped me, it had not failed but my soul had been put to silence’ (Ps. 94.17). Job was groaning under this load when he lamented: ‘Why hast Thou set me as a mark against Thee, so that I am a burden to myself?’ (Job 7.20). He was a burden to himself through the law which was of his own devising: yet he could not escape God’s law, for he was set as a mark against God. The eternal law of righteousness ordains that he who will not submit to God’s sweet rule shall suffer the bitter tyranny of self: but he who wears the easy yoke and light burden of love (Matt. 11.30) Will escape the intolerable weight of his own self-will. Wondrously and justly does that eternal law retain rebels in subjection, so that they are unable to escape. They are subject to God’s power, yet deprived of happiness with Him, unable to dwell with God in light and rest and glory everlasting. O Lord my God, ‘why dost Thou not pardon my transgression and take away mine iniquity?’ (Job 7.21). Then freed from the weight of my own will, I can breathe easily under the light burden of love. I shall not be coerced by fear, nor allured by mercenary desires; for I shall be led by the Spirit of God, that free Spirit whereby Thy sons are led, which beareth witness with my spirit that I am among the children of God (Rom. 8.16). So shall I be under that law which is Thine; and as Thou art, so shall I be in the world. Whosoever do what the apostle bids, ‘Owe no man anything, but to love one another’ (Rom. 13.8), are doubtless even in this life conformed to God’s likeness: they are neither slaves nor hirelings but sons.

36. Caeterum servus et mercenarius habent legem, non a Domino, sed quam ipsi sibi fecerunt: ille Deum non amando, iste plus aliud amando. Habent, inquam, legem non Domini, sed suam; illi tamen, quae Domini est, subjectam. Et quidem suam sibi quisque legem facere potuerunt: non tamen eam incommutabili aeternae legis ordini subducere potuerunt. Tunc ^[0996D] autem dixerim quemque sibi fecisse suam legem, quando communi et aeternae legi propriam praetulit voluntatem, perverse utique volens suum imitari Creatorem: ut sicut ipse sibi lex, suique juris est, ita is quoque se ipsum regeret, et legem sibi suam faceret voluntatem. Grave utique et importabile jugum super omnes filios Adam, heu! inclinans et incurvans cervices nostras, adeo ut vita nostra inferno appropinquarit (Psal. LXXXVII, 4). Infelix ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? (Rom. VII, 24.) quo utique premor, et pene opprimor, ita ut nisi quia Dominus adjuvit me, paulo minus habitasset in inferno anima mea (Psal. XCIII, 17). Sub hoc onere gravatus gemebat qui dicebat: Quare me posuisti contrarium tibi, et factus sum mihimet ipsi ^[0997A] gravis? Ubi dixit, Factus sum mihimet ipsi gravis, ostendit quod lex ipse sibi esset, nec alius hoc quam sibi ipse fecisset. Quod autem loquens Deo, praemisit, Posuisti me contrarium tibi; Dei se tamen non effugisse legem indicavit. Hoc quippe ad aeternam justamque Dei legem pertinuit, ut qui a Deo noluit suaviter regi, poenaliter a seipso regeretur: quique sponte jugum suave et onus leve charitatis abjecit, propriae voluntatis onus importabile sustineret invitus. Miro itaque et justo modo aeterna lex fugitivum suum et posuit sibi [al. eidem ipsi] contrarium, et retinuit subjectum: dum videlicet nec justitiae 600 pro meritis legem evasit; nec tamen cum Deo in sua luce, in sua requie, in sua gloria remansit, subjectus potestati, et submotus felicitati. Domine ^[0997B] Deus meus, cur non tollis peccatum meum, et quare non aufers iniquitatem meam? (Job VII, 20, 21.) ut abjecta gravi sarcina propriae voluntatis, sub levi onere charitatis respirem; nec jam servili timore coercear, nec mercenaria cupiditate illiciar: sed agar spiritu tuo, spiritu libertatis, quo aguntur filii tui, qui testimonium reddat spiritui meo, quod et ego sim unus ex filiis (Rom. VIII, 14-16), dum eadem mihi lex fuerit quae et tibi; et sicut tu es, ita et ipse sim in hoc mundo. Hi siquidem, qui hoc faciunt quod ait Apostolus, Nemini quidquam debeatis, nisi ut invicem diligatis (Rom. XIII, 8); procul dubio sicut Deus est, et ipsi sunt in hoc mundo: nec servi aut mercenarii sunt, sed filii.

CHAPTER XIV. OF THE LAW OF THE LOVE OF SONS

CAPUT XIV. De lege charitatis filiorum.

Now the children have their law, even though it is written, ‘The law is not made for a righteous man’ (I Tim. 1.9). For it must be remembered that there is one law having to do with the spirit of servitude, given to fear, and another with the spirit of liberty, given in tenderness. The children are not constrained by the first, yet they could not exist without the second: even as St Paul writes, ‘Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father’ (Rom. 8.15). And again to show that that same righteous man was not under the law, he says: ‘To them that are under the law, I became as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ)’ (I Cor. 9.20f). So it is rightly said, not that the righteous do not have a law, but, ‘The law is not made for a righteous man’, that is, it is not imposed on rebels but freely given to those willingly obedient, by Him whose goodness established it. Wherefore the Lord saith meekly: ‘Take My yoke upon you’, which may be paraphrased thus: ‘I do not force it on you, if you are reluctant; but if you will you may bear it. Otherwise it will be weariness, not rest, that you shall find for your souls.’

^[0997C] 37. Itaque nec filii sunt sine lege, nisi forte aliquis aliter sentiat propter hoc quod scriptum est: Justis non est lex posita (I Tim. I, 9). Sed sciendum, quod alia est lex promulgata a spiritu servitutis in timore; alia a spiritu libertatis data in suavitate. Nec sub illa coguntur esse filii; nec sine ista esse patiuntur. Vis audire quia justis non est lex posita? Non accepistis, ait, spiritum servitutis iterum in timore. Vis audire quod tamen sine lege charitatis non sint? Sed accepistis, inquit, spiritum adoptionis filiorum (Rom. VIII, 15). Denique audi justum utrumque de se fatentem, et quod non sit sub lege, nec ^[0997D] tamen sit sine lege. Factus sum, inquit, his qui sub lege erant, quasi sub lege essem; cum ipse non essem sub lege: his qui sine lege erant, tanquam sine lege essem; cum sine lege Dei non essem, sed in lege essem Christi (I Cor. IX, 21). Unde apte non dicitur, Justi non habent legem, aut, Justi sunt sine lege: sed, Justis non est lex posita; hoc est, non tanquam invitis imposita, sed voluntariis eo liberaliter data, quo suaviter inspirata. Unde et pulchre Dominus, Tollite, ait, jugum meum super vos (Matth. XI, 29): ac si diceret, Non impono invitis, sed vos tollite si vultis; alioquin non requiem, sed laborem invenietis animabus vestris.

Love is a good and pleasant law; it is not only easy to bear, but it makes the laws of slaves and hirelings tolerable; not destroying but completing them; as the Lord saith: ‘I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill’ (Matt. 5.17). It tempers the fear of the slave, it regulates the desires of the hireling, it mitigates the severity of each. Love is never without fear, but it is godly fear. Love is never without desire, but it is lawful desire. So love perfects the law of service by infusing devotion; it perfects the law of wages by restraining covetousness. Devotion mixed with fear does not destroy it, but purges it. Then the burden of fear which was intolerable while it was only servile, becomes tolerable; and the fear itself remains ever pure and filial. For though we read: ‘Perfect love casteth out fear’ (I John 4.18), we understand by that the suffering which is never absent from servile fear, the cause being put for the effect, as often elsewhere. So, too, self-interest is restrained within due bounds when love supervenes; for then it rejects evil things altogether, prefers better things to those merely good, and cares for the good only on account of the better. In like manner, by God’s grace, it will come about that man will love his body and all things pertaining to his body, for the sake of his soul. He will love his soul for God’s sake; and he will love God for Himself alone.

38. Bona itaque lex charitas, et suavis: quae non solum leviter suaviterque portatur, sed etiam servorum ^[0998A] et mercenariorum leges portabiles ac leves reddit, quas utique non destruit, sed facit ut impleantur, dicente Domino: Non veni legem solvere, sed adimplere (Matth. V, 17). Illam temperat, istam ornat, utramque levigat. Nunquam erit charitas sine timore, sed casto: nunquam sine cupiditate, sed ordinata. Implet ergo charitas legem servi, cum infundit devotionem: implet et mercenarii, cum ordinat cupiditatem. Porro timori permista devotio ipsum non annullat, sed castificat. Poena tantum tollitur, sine qua esse non potuit dum fuit servilis; et timor manet in saeculum saeculi castus et filialis. Nam quod legitur, Perfecta charitas foras mittit timorem (I Joan. IV, 18); poena intelligenda est, quae servili, ut diximus, nunquam deest timori, illo scilicet genere locutionis, ^[0998B] quo saepe causa ponitur pro effectu. Deinde cupiditas tunc recte a superveniente charitate ordinatur, cum mala quidem penitus respuuntur, bonis vero meliora praeferuntur, nec bona nisi propter meliora appetuntur. Quod cum plene per Dei gratiam assecutum fuerit, diligetur corpus, et universa corporis bona tantum propter animam, anima propter Deum, Deus autem propter seipsum.

CHAPTER XV. OF THE FOUR DEGREES OF LOVE, AND OF THE BLESSED STATE OF THE HEAVENLY HOMELAND

CAPUT XV. De quatuor gradibus amoris, et felici statu patriae coelestis.

Nevertheless, since we are carnal and are born of the lust of the flesh, it must be that our desire and our love shall have its beginning in the flesh. But rightly guided by the grace of God through these degrees, it will have its consummation in the spirit: for that was not first which is spiritual but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual (I Cor. 15.46). And we must bear the image of the earthy first, before we can bear the image of the heavenly. At first, man loves himself for his own sake. That is the flesh, which can appreciate nothing beyond itself. Next, he perceives that he cannot exist by himself, and so begins by faith to seek after God, and to love Him as something necessary to his own welfare. That is the second degree, to love God, not for God’s sake, but selfishly. But when he has learned to worship God and to seek Him aright, meditating on God, reading God’s Word, praying and obeying His commandments, he comes gradually to know what God is, and finds Him altogether lovely. So, having tasted and seen how gracious the Lord is (PS. 34.8), he advances to the third degree, when he loves God, not merely as his benefactor but as God. Surely he must remain long in this state; and I know not whether it would be possible to make further progress in this life to that fourth degree and perfect condition wherein man loves himself solely for God’s sake. Let any who have attained so far bear record; I confess it seems beyond my powers. Doubtless it will be reached when the good and faithful servant shall have entered into the joy of his Lord (Matt. 25.21), and been satisfied with the plenteousness of God’s house (Ps. 36.8). For then in wondrous wise he will forget himself and as if delivered from self, he will grow wholly God’s. Joined unto the Lord, he will then be one spirit with Him (I Cor. 6.17). This was what the prophet meant, I think, when he said: ‘ I will go forth in the strength of the Lord God: and will make mention of Thy righteousness only’ (PS. 71.16). Surely he knew that when he should go forth in the spiritual strength of the Lord, he would have been freed from the infirmities of the flesh, and would have nothing carnal to think of, but would be wholly filled in his spirit with the righteousness of the Lord.

39. Verumtamen quia carnales sumus, et de carnis concupiscentia nascimur, necesse est ut cupiditas vel amor noster a carne incipiat; quae si recto ordine dirigitur, quibusdam suis gradibus duce gratia ^[0998C] proficiens, spiritu tandem consummabitur: quia non prius quod spirituale, sed quod animale, deinde quod 601 spirituale (I Cor. XV, 46). Et prius necesse est portemus imaginem terrestris, deinde coelestis. In primis ergo diligit seipsum homo propter se; caro quippe est, et nil sapere valet praeter se. Cumque se videt per se non posse subsistere, Deum quasi sibi necessarium incipit per fidem inquirere, et diligere. Diligit itaque in secundo gradu Deum, sed propter se, non propter ipsum. At vero cum ipsum coeperit occasione propriae necessitatis colere et frequentare, cogitando, legendo, orando, obediendo, quadam hujuscemodi familiaritate paulatim sensimque Deus innotescit, consequenter et dulcescit: ^[0998D] et sic gustato quam suavis est Dominus, transit ad tertium gradum, ut diligat Deum, non jam propter se, sed propter ipsum. Sane in hoc gradu diu statur: et nescio si a quoquam hominum quartus in hac vita perfecte apprehenditur, ut se scilicet diligat homo tantum propter Deum. Asserant hoc si qui experti sunt: mihi, fateor, impossibile videtur. Erit autem procul dubio, cum introductus fuerit servus bonus et fidelis in gaudium Domini sui (Matth. XXV, 21), et inebriatus ab ubertate domus Dei (Psal. XXXV, 9). Quasi enim miro quodam modo oblitus sui, et a se penitus velut deficiens, totus perget in Deum: et deinceps adhaerens ei, unus cum eo spiritus erit (I Cor. VI, 17). Arbitror hoc sensisse Prophetam cum diceret: Introibo in potentias Domini; ^[0999A] Domine, memorabor justitiae tuae solius (Psal. LXX, 16). Sciebat profecto cum introiret in spirituales potentias Domini, exutum se iri universis carnis infirmitatibus: ut jam nil de carne haberet cogitare, sed totus in spiritu memoraretur justitiae Domini solius.

In that day the members of Christ can say of themselves what St Paul testified concerning their Head: ‘Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more’ (II Cor. 5.16). None shall thereafter know himself after the flesh; for ‘flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God’ (I Cor. 15.50). Not that there will be no true substance of the flesh, but all carnal needs will be taken away, and the love of the flesh will be swallowed up in the love of the spirit, so that our weak human affections will be made divinely strong. Then the net of charity which as it is drawn through the great and wide sea doth not cease to gather every kind of fish, will be drawn to the shore; and the bad will be cast away, while only the good will be kept (Matt. 13.48). In this life the net of all-including love gathers every kind of fish into its wide folds, becoming all things to all men, sharing adversity or prosperity, rejoicing with them that do rejoice, and weeping with them that weep (Rom. 12.15). But when the net is drawn to shore, whatever causes pain will be rejected, like the bad fish, while only what is pleasant and joyous will be kept. Do you not recall how St Paul said: ‘Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended and I burn not?’ And yet weakness and offense were far from him. So too he bewailed many which had sinned already and had not repented, though he was neither the sinner nor the penitent. But there is a city made glad by the rivers of the flood of grace (Ps. 46.4), and whose gates the Lord loveth more than all the dwellings of Jacob (Ps. 87.2). In it is no place for lamentation over those condemned to everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25.41). In these earthly dwellings, though men may rejoice, yet they have still other battles to fight, other mortal perils to undergo. But in the heavenly Fatherland no sorrow nor sadness can enter: as it is written, ‘The habitation of all rejoicing ones is in Thee’ (Ps. 87. 7, Vulg.); and again, ‘Everlasting joy shall be unto them’ (Isa. 61.7). Nor could they recall things piteous, for then they will make mention of God’s righteousness only. Accordingly, there will be no need for the exercise of compassion, for no misery will be there to inspire pity.

40. Tunc pro certo singula Christi membra dicere poterunt de se, quod Paulus aiebat de capite: Etsi cognovimus secundum carnem Christum, sed nunc jam non novimus (II Cor. V, 16). Nemo ibi se cognoscet secundum carnem: quia caro et sanguis regnum Dei non possidebunt. Non quod carnis illic substantia futura non sit; sed quod carnalis omnis necessitudo sit defutura, carnisque amor amore spiritus absorbendus; et infirmae, quae nunc sunt, humanae affectiones in divinas quasdam habeant commutari. Tunc ^[0999B] sagena charitatis, quae nunc tracta per hoc mare magnum et spatiosum ex omni genere piscium congregare non desinit, cum perducta ad littus fuerit, malos foras mittens, bonos solummodo retinebit (Matth. XIII, 47, 48). Siquidem in hac vita ex omni genere piscium intra sinum suae latitudinis charitatis rete concludit: ubi se pro tempore omnibus conformans, omniumque in se sive adversa, sive prospera trajiciens, ac sua quodammodo faciens, non solum gaudere cum gaudentibus, sed etiam flere cum flentibus ^[1000A] consuevit (Rom. XII, 15). Sed cum pervenerit ad littus, velut malos pisces omne quod triste patitur, foras mittens, sola quae placere et jucunda esse poterunt, retinebit. Nunquid enim tunc, verbi gratia, Paulus aut infirmabitur cum infirmis, aut uretur pro scandalizatis (II Cor. XI, 29), ubi scandala et infirmitas procul erunt? Aut certe lugebit eos qui non agent [al. habent] poenitentiam (II Cor. XII, 21), ubi certum est nec peccantem fore, nec poenitentem? Absit autem ut vel eos qui ignibus aeternis cum diabolo et angelis ejus deputandi sunt, plangat et defleat in illa civitate, quam fluminis impetus laetificat, cujus et diligit Dominus portas super omnia tabernacula Jacob: quod videlicet in tabernaculis, etsi quandoque gaudetur de victoria, laboratur tamen in ^[1000B] pugna, et plerumque periclitatur de vita: in illa autem patria nulla prorsus admittatur adversitas sive tristitia, quemadmodum de illa canitur, Sicut laetantium omnium habitatio est in te (Psal. LXXXVI, 2, 7): et rursum, Laetitia sempiterna erit eis (Isai. LXI, 7). Denique quomodo misericordiae recordabitur, ubi memorabitur justitiae Dei solius? Proinde ubi jam non erit miseriae locus, aut misericordiae tempus; nullus profecto esse poterit miserationis affectus.