But that is without their witting, for they ween they be, and for that weening they are content with their state., They have so much pleasure in their doings, saith this soul, that they ween[188] there be no better, and that deceiveth them from coming to better; thus they stand, within,[189] in their good wills., Such folk, saith Love, be never fulfilled.. That is, saith Love, that such a soul that is naughted, hath so great inward knowing, by the virtue of faith, that she is thus called in her inwardness to sustain that which faith hath ministered to her of the might of the Father, of the wisdom of the Son, and of the goodness of the Holy Ghost. But when a soul is drawn into herself from all outward things, so that love worketh in the soul by which the soul is for a time departed from all sin, and is oned to God by union then is the soul free, for that time of union, full little time [though] it is. If this naughted lady willeth the will of God, the more that she willeth it, the more she would will it; and that may she not, on account of the littleness of [the] creature, for God withholdeth the greatness of his divine righteousness. To him only, saith this soul, that is so strong that he may never die, whose doctrine may not be written, nor by works of ensamples showed, nor by doctrine sounded. And bounty is what God is. So am I of him fed, fulfilled, and sufficed. Reason, saith Love, is that men may give her naught. Give, saith Love, what might they give her? Ah, Lord, certainly you; for your plenteous goodness,[260] that is swimming and flowing full of courtesy, may not suffer but that I be quit by you, God of love, for you have my debts paid in a moment!. Now these natures are joined and knit together by nature and by justice, in corruption. Moreover, the originality of the book lies in the fact that the author dismisses in a few pages the whole subject of ascetic discipline, which as a rule forms the main part of the spiritual treatises of the epoch. She is so fulfilled in God that neither world nor flesh nor enemy may grieve her, for they may not find her in her works. In England the translation must have fallen between Rolles work and that of Julian of Norwich, and have been contemporary with the Cloud and Hilton. O right sweet Love, saith this soul, for Gods [sake] suffer me, for I am all abashed for him! Why take we him not without seeking? And if you may not perfectly come to knowing your naught, that is, [the] truth as far as you are able, then it behoveth you to do something in truth, according to the best that you may do, or you shall destroy, saith Love, that same thing which you have conceived in your spirit. The soul, fulfilled of God, breaks out into rapturous praise and aspirations of love (indeed all the latter part of the book is characterised by the triumphal emergence of the affective powers), and is led by Truth, first through a short series of contemplations, given as a means for the liberation of the marred souls from their self-centredness. And all that men have need for, is needful, and no more. She recketh no more of the war that she was wont to have, for the will of her is nakedly laid in the place whence it was first taken, where it ought by rights to be. No, soothly ye say nothing, but sit in peace, where Reason hath no lordship. And then, saith this soul to her caitiff wretched nature, that so many a day hath made her in servitude to dwell: Dame Nature, saith she, I take leave of you, love is me nigh that holdeth me free of him, against all, without dread., Then, saith Love, she feareth[109] not for tribulation, nor ceaseth[110] for consolation, nor groweth less for what is taken from her. I dare not hear it. For until then is not the soul wholly refined, until she do that which pleaseth her and that she be grudging of doing the contrary of her pleasaunces. Soothly, she findeth the deed that she willeth and that she herself doeth. Herself she withholdeth not, and oft promiseth thing that she hath not, for the great largesse of herself, in hope that he, that most giveth, most with him dwelleth. Now I have said, saith this soul, that God would not be God, if my will were taken from me against my will. She hath nothing with holden. Therefore the ardours of intellectual speculation at the Sorbonne at the end of the thirteenth century are known to our author; he has assimilated speculations that we find hard to grasp, and he relates them to his subject, not for a display of learning, but simply because certain problems of the spiritual life do naturally evoke questions that have been handled in the schools, and the synthesis of the intellectual problems is frequently to be found in a spiritual law. Between these themes is fitly set the plea of Fine Love, that she is above the Law but not against the Law. Then is she of that place whence she is. And God gave me will for to follow this will of his goodness, for to win him himself; and I have robbed him of it in doing of my own[340] will. This soul saith thus: However well God loveth me as he hath showed by his divine work and the suffering of his manhood, he loveth me not, saith this soul, against himself. And then I said this, that if it might be that he might love another more than me? And the more that she seeth, in this knowing by truth, that she may not know her wickedness, of the least point into which she is fallen by wickedness. This masterpiece of Christian apophatic mysticism is notable for also containing a high degree of affective content. And God the Holy Ghost hath in him this same nature divine. in sooth they would say, Nothing!. And I say to him, As much care have ye for me as I for you, though I gave you as much as you have, for such is the largesse of your divine nature. So willeth he, so saith this gentle Far Night, that is my counsel. And therefore, they dwellin works., Alas, how they be deceived, who of this think them to suffice! It is the Trinity himself, that showeth the same movings of the Trinity itself. The support[334] of the love of his bounty hath given me this nobility by love; then may not the strength of evil take from me the freedom of my will, if I will not; thus ye may see how freely he hath given me my will. And in hope, I here them salute, by the love of peace of charity, in the High Trinity, that will warrant it,[21] seeing in them the witness of their living by record of clerks that have read this book. And they have so great pleasure in their works, that they have no knowing that there is any better being than the being of works of virtue and deaths of martyrdom, and they desire to persevere in this by help of meditations fulfilled with prayers, in multiplied means of good will, alway. It includes elements of Boethian allegory and draws on the literary tradition of courtly love, while describing the annihilation and apotheosis of the Soul . For of the love of her Beloved hath she no doubt, that he doth that which is best. Michael of Northbrook had visited Flanders as a young clerk, before his active career in the service of Edward III brought him there as a statesman; and the early documents and charters of the London Charterhouse make it clear that there was communication between the houses in Flanders and the new foundation, in the establishment of which the Bishop had a larger share than is commonly known. I have, by my far night, sent letters to you; but none asketh, What is this far night? When he showeth his glory to the soul, his works may not be told! And thus it behoveth her to lead, in breaking herself, for to enlarge the place where Love would have his being; and to encumber herself with many beings, so as to [dis]encumber herself to attain her being.. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. Richard Methley, writing a century later, states that the English translator was unknown to him, and treats his work with scant consideration and sympathy. Now have ye heard something of these three deaths by the which these souls come to these three lives. You said to me that in the company of Beloved and l over, there is no lordship nor sovereignty but there is! Thus think the free naughted [souls] and arrayed with delights, that see by themselves, the servitude of the others; for the very sun shineth in the light of them, so they see the motes within the sunbeam, by the brightness of the sun and of the beam. Or, that it is to all the world a humiliation, as it is to her inmost being.. After this she relinqu[ish]eth these works in which she hath this delight and putteth to death the will that she hath of this life and obligeth herself to do the martyrdom of her will, by obedience to the will of others, in abstaining the works of her will, in fulfilling the will of others, her will for to destroy. they say Nay. Eh! what might they rob her of? Why should I not do thus? All thing that is of him, it is of him verily fulfilled and thus it is that nothing is, unless it be of him, and this I say hath me of all things consumed.. Now be the debts well returned:[160] this is right, saith the soul, for the great nobility and courtesy of my spouse willeth not to leave me in your service; neither in yours nor others [leaveth he] his spouse, who has learned of him; for he is the Spouse most free., This is sooth, sweet soul, saith Love, I grant it you., Ah, for God, Lady Soul, saith Reason, think, say and do what you will, for Love granteth it you!. And that men [should] remain in dread of all manner of loves whatever they be, on account of perils that might happen; and that men [should] desire Paradise sovereignly, and also that men should fear of going to hell, and that they refuse all manner of worships[78] and temporal things, and all kinds of ease, taking away from nature all that she asketh, save only that without which they might not live, after the ensample of suffering that our Lord Jesu Christ suffered. The mystical life is the fruit of these, and our author is careful to show that he addresses himself only to those souls who are called to the higher life. And that she is less than naught under them, without any comparison, as between herself and them, so much evil is of her [nature] and of her works. And she is in all times demure without heaviness, and glad without dissolution, for God hath in this soul hallowed his name, and the divine Trinity hath there his house., O ye little [ones], who in will and in desire dwell, saith this soul, take the spoils[112] of your food, and desire that ye might be such, for he that desireth the least, unless he desire the most, it is not worthy that God do to him the best of his goodness, on account of the slackness of his poor courage. And the second staff, on the right side, is the upraised knowledge of the Deity that this soul receiveth and keepeth firmly. It gave her war as long time as she withheld will with her, out of its due place. Now seeth the soul this inclination and this perdition of naught of her nature and of her own will, and seeth this by illumination, that will ought to will the divine will without her willing. And for this reason, the free soul hath no will to will nor not-to-will, but only to will the will of God, and suffer in peace his divine ordinance., Yet Love, saith Reason, stand by my question, for this book saith, that this soul hath all and she hath naught., It is sooth, saith Love, for this soul hath God in her by divine grace, and whoso hath God, hath all. For this, that I am the greatness and the sum of all evils. I give thee an ensample. Now, Reason, saith Love, understand thy question. And in this more to all fulfilling, is enclosed, saith she, the sovereign [im]mortality of the love of my spirit. An obscure passage. These, saith Love, be much more courteous than be the other foresaid, and nevertheless, saith Love, yet be they little; so little that none can see it, as compared with the greatness of them that be dead of life of spirit, and be in the life of glory. And God may not from his goodness depart, that it should not dwell in him. These souls do not allow themselves to be anxious concerning that which they lack, nor go out of their way to supply their own needs unless it be a real necessity of Nature. Venerabilis Godfridus de Fontanis, Master of Theology at the Sorbonne, who flourished c. 1286-1303, and who appears to have died in 1306, when Ruysbroeck was a child of thirteen. Him so high and me so low that I might no more from thence rise, nor help of myself have, and that was best. This is the established state that later writers call Spiritual Marriage. On these two staffs she is strong against her enemies, as is a castle upon a hill, or is surrounded with water, which may wash away.[114]. Pelzer, of the Vatican Library; Miss Hope Allen; Mr. J.A. [296] Now work in us, by you, of you, for us, without us, thus Lord as it pleaseth you. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. She marvelleth, saith Love, at the work of the far night. These be they that have in earth neither shame nor worship, nor dread for thing that befalleth. Therefore to these souls that be disposed to these feelings, Love hath of himself made this book in fulfilling of their desire, and often he layeth the nut and the kernel within the shell unbroken; that is to say, love in this book layeth to souls the touches of his divine works privily hid under dark speech, so that they should taste the deeper draughts of his love and drink [thereof]. It is right, saith Love, that the most has made her drunk;[121] not indeed that she hath drunken of the most, as it is said before; but she hath it, for as much as her love hath it; for there is between him and her no disseverance nor contrariety of nature whatsoever, through any discord of love. No, though men knew as much as men shall know in heaven, or that might, passing that, be compared by the comparison of a part; so that all this that men shall know, were naught in regard of the whole to which men compared it. I encumber myself with writing these words, but thus I take my recourse to come to my strength and succour and to my last crowning crown, of the being of which we have spoken of; which sitteth all in freedom, that is, when a soul resteth in pure naught without thought; for till then she may not be free., Ah God, saith Reason, what do they that be in being, above their thoughts?, They marvel themselves,[318] saith Love, of him that is in the mount of their mountain, and they abash themselves of the same, that is, of the deepness of their valley, by a naught thinking, which is shut and ensealed in the most pure and secret closet of this excellent soul. She comprehendeth much when she beholdeth God, how worthy and glorious he is, and how powerful he is in all his works. Such physician hath Fervour-of-spirit.[289], I have said, saith Love, that they do the asking of their inwardness, if it be asked, for otherwise I command it them not; and if they leave all the will of their outwardness, This is sooth, saith Love, whoso that doubteth in this, if he had assayed,[290] he should wit the sooth., Now I shall tell you, saith Love, of the soul in freeness, and also of them of the life which we have spoken of, that we call life of spirit, it may have no peace unless the body do always the contrary of its will. In view of this no further analysis is needed. The bondman must have the four precious costs before he is fit to be freed. ], Therefore I say, saith Reason, that I may not understand it; but meseemeth that this which this soul doth, is so well done, saith Reason, that I will serve her in all as her poor servant. A few words more I say in this book, to bring you into the way, notwithstanding that I was purposed before to have glossed no more. There are passages in the MS. which may be construed in this sense, and these have been fully annotated in their place. [202] This soul, saith Love, liveth in the sweet country of passing peace, there is nothing that may help nor grieve them that live there, neither creature wrought, nor thing given, nor nothing that God commandeth., This, that never was, nor is, nor shall be given, that none here maketh, saith Love, this hath put her at naught. How ofttimes I have taken from God his will! She hath no shame before anyone but him against whom she had sinned, for she was so upraised and drawn, that she had naught in her other than what was of him. These passages should be compared with Fnelons writings on Disinterested Love. And this may she not will [in] her [own strength], but it is the will of God that willeth in her, so that this soul hath no will but the will of God, [which] maketh her will all that she ought to will.. And then I said to him, that if it might be that I had of me as much of worthiness as he hath of himself, so that it might not be taken from me nor diminished, but if I alone willed it myself, I should lay all this in him and go to naught, ere than I might anything withhold, that came not to me from him; and though it might be that I might have all this beforesaid, I might not do it to hold anything that came not to me from him. I have no life.. [303] Where lieth the gloss of these words, I ask you? 297-300). And these pains and passions be not only in the exercise of the spirit, by putting away vices in getting of virtues, but they be also of bodily exercise by commandments of virtues and by counsel of reason; to fast and wake, and to do penance in many sundry wises, and forsake all her own pleasures and all lusts and likings; and in the beginning of all this, it is ofttimes full sharp and full hard. No doubt the mentality of the northern race found the stilling of the intellect less trying than did the Latin races. We are told There she prayeth not, all work is forbidden her, and she is in the simple being of the Deity. This is glossed as follows: If the soul never did any work she would not have written this book for our edification; but it is to be understood, as I have said before, as being for a short time (i.e., when the soul is at prayer). Divisions I-V contain the chief doctrines set forth in all their vigorous originality, and the method is chiefly descriptive. This is an high, heavenly ravishing, which is a swift opening and an hasty shutting. in good understanding! Now Truth, saith this soul, tell to none, whatever I say of God, but to him. This soul rejoiceth herself sometimes in the supreme part of him, without her feeling, willing nothing of other[s] than of [him who is] her nearest. But this lady was so far from this great lord, in whom she had laid her love, that she might neither have him nor see him. It is possible that the French MS. reached England through the agency of a group of persons who accompanied Queen Philippa of Hainault to England in 1327. And also to make them have the more clear insight in divine understanding of divine love and declare themselves. The first is the death of sin, as it is before said. [242] And if she had, saith Love, she would be for herself and with herself, and not for me nor with me at all. In these three words is fulfilled all the perfection of this clear life. Well, I wot, I laid all mine heart in you, so long I have endured great servitude in which I have suffered many grievous torments, and many pains endured. Therefore they think that neither they nor others can nor may speak [thereof]; but all is gabbing, for as much as they may not reach to a point of the fullhead of soothfastness. So that Reason and the other virtues were ladies and mistresses over the soul. And those who thus address themselves wot if I say the truth. Then came Mercy, and asked me what help would I have of him. This edition of The Mirror of the Simple Soul was originally published in 1927. Then it seemeth her by righteousness of truth that she loveth not but works of goodness, for she wot not what to give to love unless she makes sacrifice of this; for no death might be to her so great martyrdom as the abstinence of these foresaid works that she loveth, for this is the delight of her pleasure and the life of the will that she nourisheth in her of him. Love hath me so wholly in his keeping that I have not wit nor will nor reason to do anything; wit it forsooth, but purely for him. [368] But mercy hath made peace with justice, firm and stable. Therefore it is said in such terms as alway, thus, in this wise. Many such other words in this book must be taken [thus]. Now, since I am all evils, and he is all goodness, it behoveth me to have all his goodness before all mine evil be stanched, nor with less may not my poverty be sufficed. This seemeth to this soul labour enough for her, of all that she can do though she lived a thousand year; to keep well the commandments according to her might. And of three things that causeth this soul that she hath no dread, CHAPTER II: Of the worthiness of the bounty of God and of the union that maketh between God and this soul. Now have I never aught, nor naught may I will, as of myself; nor none may give me anything wherewith to pay my debts. For St Paul saith: it is not two spirits, God and the soul, that is thus oned to him, but it is all one spirit in time of this union. Such a soul is so clear in knowing, that she seeth herself not in God, nor God in herself.. We may surmise, moreover, that the English translators fears were not ungrounded, and that, if plain Englishmen found the Frenchmans treatise beyond their grasp in the first version he produced, the second may have met with similar fate. Ye have sat at my table, so I have given you my mess, and so have ye right well learned, and right well my mess savoured, and my vines of fulness, of which ye be the cutting. There be works of virtues, counselled of reason, ended by discretion; but they alone that be updrawn of love and led by love, they owe nothing but love; they are therefore as much quit as love hath quitted them., I call, saith Love, this soul perfectly wise, among my chosen but little folk cannot praise nor know of worthy value., Ah, Lady Love, saith Reason, whom call ye wise?. The mirror of simple souls pdf Wendy R. Terry, Ph.D. (2007), Graduate Theological Union, is a Continuing Lecturer in Religious Studies at University of California, Davis. In sooth, saith Love, but the Trinity hath in him no dis- ease for such displeasing, no more hath this soul that in him is set and by him led. Ah, Lady Love, saith this soul, you have given me the knowing, and behold it here! Therefore his eye beholdeth me: that he loveth none more than me. But the Espoused of me may not be with herself, for though she had done as much sin as all the creatures of the world have done, and has as many gifts of grace as all those of paradise have, and that all this good and all this evil were shown before all this people, this lady should have neither shame nor worship in her thereof nor will to justify herself. Then, the soul ought to die entirely, so that there dwell not in her neither colour, nor savour, nor smell of nothing that God forbiddeth in the Law. [370] All is of his own proper being and this proper self-being is the sixth being of which we have promised the auditors to speak in the takings of Love. This is to be understood, that these folks do the contrary of that which delighteth them. For this art is human and cometh of nature, [namely], to attain the fullness of its takings, but this other is without more, the sole work of God. ] suffer me, for I am all abashed for him,,. 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