No doubt the form of the dialogue between personified abstract qualities was not as familiar in England as in France, and the subtleties of the scholastic mind, though equally represented at Oxford and Cambridge, may have been further removed from the English Charterhouses and those who perused these treatises. Thinking is worth no more, nor work, nor eloquence; Love draweth me so high. Then be all the virtues that be germain to Reason mothers of holiness? saith this soul. . The second thing is: that she see what she hath done with the free will that God hath given her; then shall she see that she hath taken from God himself his will, in one only moment of consenting to sin. . She wot but one thing, that is, that she wot naught; and she willeth but one thing, that is, that she willeth naught; and this naught witting and naught willing giveth her, saith the Holy Ghost, all the treasure fulfilled, that is closed in the Trinity, without end. Not, saith she, for them that have attained, but for them that have not, that shall so God will; but always they shall missay, till they be the same. First, when creatures give themselves to perfection, they set all their desire and all their purpose[47] in these points aforesaid, and all their labour by fervour of love, in which they work and [take the] lead. Her will is ours, for she is moved from grace into perfection; from works of Virtues and from Virtues into Love; and from Love into Naught, and from Naught into clarifyings[293] of God, who seeth with eyes of his majesty; who in this point hath enlightened her by himself, and [she] is so left in him, that she neither seeth him nor herself. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Wendy R. Terry, Ph.D. (2007), Graduate Theological Union, is a Continuing Lecturer in Religious Studies at University of California, Davis. 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). For otherwise, else, they should fall into loss of this life, unless they do alway the contrary of their pleasure. And the divine will calleth not these perfect[80] creatures, with such encumbrances[81] as we have here devised. Who is ancestor[281] to this feeling? If I say great things or mean these things, or though I have by all, of all, in all, my full sufficiency, my Beloved is great, who great gifts giveth and maketh it all at his will. This knowing is of the substance of understanding of love in this life, that harboureth in her all the life of goodness, and setteth her in this good seat in a high place, through love. Thus it is right, saith she, that all things be hallowed to me, even as all things be made for me, and for this I take it, as for mine, without challenging. Another should have done it much better. And nothing that is wrought entereth within these souls, but, only that God who hath made them; so that none knoweth such souls but God that is within these souls., Ah, Lady Love, saith Reason, be not displeased, for yet I must have one more question. This soul, saith Love, hath not held[266] doubt nor trust., Certain confidence, saith Love, and true agreement[267] to will only [and wholly] the divine ordering; thus it is that she is perfectly free.. A Companion to Marguerite Porete and "The Mirror of Simple Souls." Wendy R. Terry and Robert Stauffer, eds. I have done all.. Lady, if it had been need, ye had for them that very time given your life rather than they should not have had forgiveness of God of that misdeed. [350] And the divine goodness saw that we were in the way of pestilence and perdition by the free will that he had given us. . But they alone be free, saith this soul, that be free; whom Faith and Love govern, for they rest from all servitudes, without having dread of things redoubtable or desire of any very delectable [thing]. on the Internet. Thinking no more is worth; for his divine beholding it hath but one entent. That none may her find. And here beginneth the Prologue, in two chapters, upon the same book, that Love nameth The Mirror of Simple Souls. And this that is, is God himself. Teach it us, for love, that all wot, and so shall we appease them that be dismayed or marvelled to hear this book, for all Holy Church would marvel, say these three divine virtues, if she heard it., Sooth, saith Love, that Holy-Church-the-great, of [ours], saith divine Love, which is governed by us.[98]. And why, saith Love, knoweth not Holy Church[100] these Queens, Kings daugh- ters, Kings sisters, Kings spouses? Yes, without doubt, he is all might, all wisdom, and all goodness: our Father, our brother and our true friend; he is without beginning and shall be without ending, he is without comprehending but of himself, and without end was, is, and shall be, three persons and one God only. Where the naked Adam did the wrong, the naked Jesu Christ it had. This soul seeketh not the fulness[307] of her understanding, but God seeth it in her without breaking her. And there she is betaken into the high sea, and so she liveth without her proper will, and sitteth in being above her counsel, for otherwise she should be reproached of the sovereign that putteth her there without herself. Why so abundantly? The fourth is, that a soul is drawn by highness of love into delight of thought by meditation, and relinquisheth all labours outward, and of obedience to others, by highness of love in contemplation. He lacks naught; then, I lack naught, and this point taketh from me the love of myself, and giveth me him without mean and without withstanding. She is content with what God is in himself. None of the single English fourteenth-century spiritual treatises cover the whole ground which our author treats systematically, yet not with that arid, methodical precision that mars much of the later spiritual treatises. Marguerite Porete (parfois nomme Marguerite Porrette, Marguerite Porette ou la Porette) est une bguine et femme de lettres mystique, ne vers 1250, brle en place de Grve ( Paris, France) le 1er juin 1310 avec son livre Le Miroir des mes simples. (11) And [she who is] called without fail by the divine goodness, of the work of the Trinity. 1451) died as vicar of Mount Grace, Charterhouse, in 1528. [6], By the kindness of Monsignor Auguste Pelzer, of the Vatican Library, and of Dom Philibert Schmitz, O.S.B., I am able to state that besides the Cambridge Latin text four other Latin translations are known and one Italian MSS. And after, saith Love, she lived in the life of spirit, which life of spirit is born in the death of mortifying nature. For she hath naught of herself, she hath all given freely without any for-why? in him that is all. Psychologically these pages are unsurpassed, though the form is unequal. This soul, saith Love, hath many a day languored for, O Lady Love, saith Reason, what is the practice of a soul that languoreth for love?, She warreth at vices, saith Love, by seeking virtues., Ah, soothly Love, saith this soul, this is a great war, and a perilous! And this is a sweet beholding and a profitable, to them that behold it, and to disencumber them of themselves, to approach[385] this being that we have spoken of. This second part deals with the highest states, not merely by description, but it takes up some of the previous points of controversy and shows them in relation to the further the plea of experience acquired. This is the fulhead and the substance of my peace, and the true rest of my thought, for I love not myself but for him. And it is of this fauset, without which she drinketh,[122] that a naughted soul is drunk! This is thought right enough for us to be disencumbered all the day of our life, if we will suffer the right work in us. This is the fulfilling of all their love and the last denial of their way. Such is the nature of thee. of that she never drank nor never shall drink. The method is more descriptive, allusive, with the art and artlessness of an earlier generation. This soul hath given all by freedom of nobility of the work of the Trinity. The Cambridge MS. belongs also to the mid-fifteenth century. Understand ye lovers what this is., I have said, saith Love, that this soul is fallen of me into naught, and less than naught without number. For when she is thus free of these four costs and noble[269] by all the freedoms that of her be descended for no churl is accepted[270] in this marriage this soul that is thus noble, falleth then, saith Love, into dismay that is called naught, thinking of the far-off results of what is near;[271] that is her most nigh neighbour. they say Nay. Eh! This is a great privilege, and this sufficeth you, sweet soul, if you believe me.. And she hath so abashed us, saith Holy Church, that we dare not be against her!, Oh, Holy Church, saith the Holy Ghost, will you wit what this soul wot and what she willeth? Divisions VI and VII classify souls as perished, and marred, as distinct from those in life of spirit and later this latter type is again distinguished from those free souls in the highest life. n 4: THE MIRROR OF SIMPLE SOULS Pt^-pL P CL/V4-4-cu4-' 2 5", 2.01,-By an unknown French mystic of the thirteenth century 5 Translated into English by M. N. M. It is thus that the manhood of Christ Jesu never cometh nor goeth. 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. It has been pointed out that St John of the Cross has in these matters been influenced by scholastic theology, but our author lived in the day when St Thomas was still lecturing and writing, and it must have been shortly after his death that the Mirror was sent to Godfrey of Fountains for censorship. for Gods [sake], is this the manner of Love?, Ah, sweet soul, saith Love, you know better than you say; for if you have given him all, that is the best that may befall you, for you have given him nothing but that was his before you gave it him; and now, behold what you have done for him!, Sweet Love, saith this soul, you say sooth, I may not nor will not deny it., O right sweet soul, saith Love, what would you that he gave you? For as well as he shall love me without end, of his bounty, so have I been in the knowledge of his wisdom, that I should be made by the work of his divine might. Reason, saith this soul, this that is said to you, ye hear it, but never ye understand it! Ye that be in being and stand without default, nothing ye say. Lady, it may not be that ye had been [his mother]. It gave her war as long time as she withheld will with her, out of its due place. . They that love the Deity feel little of the humanity during the time of that usage. And after him read it a Master of Divinity, that was named Master Godfrey of Fountayns : and he blamed it not, no more did the others; but he said thus, that he counselled not that many[23] should see it, and for this cause, because they might leave their own working[24] and follow this calling, to the which they should never come; and so they might deceive themselves. But mans wit nor mans reason know nothing of inward love; nor inward love of divine science. This soul, saith Love, is free and right free, surmounted free of tree, crop and root, and of all its branches. And for this, saith Love, you would not when I sent to you by the sensitive Virtues and by mine angels. 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. but ye Love, say it yourself![195], Dear friend, saith the Person of God the Father, this ought to be done to mine eldest daughter, who is out of my realm,[196] so that she may know the secrets of my Son through the love of the Holy Ghost, that to this soul hath given this [knowledge] from him., It behoveth, saith Love, that this soul be like to the Deity, for she is drawn into him, so she hath taken his very form, which to her was granted without beginning, and given of him that alway hath loved her., O Love, saith this soul, he only hath made me [to be] no-one; and this naught of this none hath put me in a low deepness, under less than naught, without measure; and the knowing of my naught hath given me all, and this naught and this all, saith this Soul, hath taken prayer from me. Cf. The contradictions of doctrine are only superficial, if we keep in mind the distinctions made earlier between the four (not three) classes, the perished, the marred, those in life of affection of spirit, and those free souls united to God by love. I know not what to say nor what to answer, to excuse this!, Oh, what marvel is it, saith this soul, these folks of thy nursing be on foot without going, and have hands without work, and mouths without speech, and eyes without sight, and ears without hearing, and reason without reason, and body without life, and heart without understanding, as long as they have this being, and therefore it is marvel upon marvel [to them]., Yea, soothly, saith Love, this is to them right marvellous marvels; for they be full far from the country where these others have these usages of high worthiness. That is to say, that none may ascend but they only that be Gods sons by divine graces, of whom he said: This is my brother, my sister and my mother, that doth the will of God my Father.[384]. what have I said? Reason praiseth the Magdalen for she sought Jesu Christ, but love stilleth him. O ye that shall read this book, do ye as David saith in the psalter : Gustate et videte[15] that is to say Taste and see. And if ye cannot come soon to the understanding thereof, offer it meekly up to God, and by the custom of oft reading thereon, ye shall come thereto. The most is the greater part of God, unknown and unknowable; the soul loves better the infinitely greater hidden Deity than that small part of him of which she has had experience. The same features reappear. Camaioni notes that the 1536 Capuchin Constitutions are much more than a juridical text or a spiritual commentary on the Rule (1223) of Francis. This phrase and the following seem to be the work of the Translator. And he giveth himself simply to show that there is none but he whence all things have being. This to believe, this to say, and this to think, is true contemplation. M. This word perished, may not be taken for perishing of the perdition of soul, that they should not be saved, but it is to mean, right as Love saith, they lean so upon their own works, weening that it is best so, that they continue to follow none other, and therefore they may not attain to the highest; but for the least they lose the best, therefore he calleth them perished; not for the works, but for their satisfaction [in them]. I would only venture to add that, whereas the Areopagite represents the Darkness as a necessary mode of knowing God, to be attained by an elevation of the mind, laborious at times, the author of the Mirror regards the darkness as being of a temporary nature, arising when the spiritual life is well advanced, and being intermittent in its first approaches. Without their witting, these folks be meeked of God himself, who is Almight., I promised, saith this soul, concerning the takings of love to say some things of the seven estates that we call Beings, for so it is. And if I might comprehend one of these two natures I should comprehend both. And the light of the opening of this book hath made me find mine [own] and to dwell in that. The mirror of simple souls by Marguerite Porete, 1993, Paulist Press edition, in English This seemeth to me, that so as love is, he is to me witness enough, if I would have more witness than him, I should not be believing him., Ah, Lady Soul, saith Reason, ye have two laws, yours and ours. And though she do all without her, what marvel is it that she is no more for her. You shall be still now, for me, Lady Soul, saith Reason, since love leadeth you and you not love; this is to say that love is in you and maintaineth you and leadeth and doth his will of you, without you. Amend ye my defaults, and if any word I have said tendeth to any goodness, to the profit of souls, to God only be the worship from whom all goodness cometh. In this point I found myself, saith this free soul, such a day I saw sometime. Nothing may grieve her, nor nothing encumber. O God, saith divine Love, that through him resteth concerning this, in soul naughted, how far is their life from the life of freeness, over which not-willing hath lordship. 297-300). Reason, saith this soul, if I shall be loved without end, of the three Persons in Trinity, I have been loved of them already without beginning. The reader will distinguish for himself its beauties and excellences, the happy originality of expression, the rare subtlety and depth of thought, and its spiritual elevation. But this I say to her, whereby to will the divine will: soothly, the more that she willeth it, the less hath such [a] will of this her [own] satisfaction, and this same [will] is the only [pure] will of God and the souls glory., Ah, Love, saith Reason, you have done our prayer for the actives and the contemplatives, and now I pray you to declare and expound to the common people, these double[76] words that be hard to understand, to their understanding; [so] that some, by adventure, may come to this Being, by which this book may show to all the very light of truth and the perfection of charity of those who preciously be called and chosen of God and sovereignly be loved of him., Reason, saith Love to this, I will answer for the profit of those for whom thou makest to us this piteous request. At what time that it be, let them not ever refuse what love sendeth, for to do the message of the will of love, by letters ensealed of his signet. But this, that they save themselves by faith without works, and that they can no more work, it is not meant that they cease from all good works for evermore, and never do any work, but sit in sloth and idleness of soul and body; for those who take it so, they misunderstand it; but it is thus. By using this service, . This falling is so perfect, if she be rightly fallen, that the soul may not arise out of this deepness, nor she ought not to do it. For these souls naught[52] themselves so by very meekness, that they make themselves as no-one, for sin is no-thing, and they hold themselves but sin; therefore in their own beholding they do naught, but God doth in them his works. This is the uncreated goodness[348] that he hath made created; so leadeth goodness unwrought, the goodness that he hath wrought. She hath lost the usage of her wits;[347] not her wits, but the usage of them; for love hath ravished her from the place that she was in by leaving [the stirrings of] her wits, for love hath taken from her the former usages. But God seeth it in her of his divine majesty, who clarifieth her by himself, so that she seeth that none is but God himself, who is that from whence all thing are. And if she think that we shall write more explicitly than other creatures have written, it is begging, this that she hears, for she would that her even-Christian found God in themselves by writings and by words. She hath long heard say, by the Holy Ghost, that God setteth the least little at the most high [worth], of his sole bounty, and therefore, this soul hath no distress because of sin that she ever did, nor hope on account of thing that she might do, but only in the goodness of him that is her Beloved. Then may I no more be without bounty, for I may not my wickedness lose. [It is as] if a lord would have tribute in his land because men owed it him by rights; for the lord owes not tribute to his servants, but the servants owe it to their lord. (9) The peaceable in divine being, by divine will, by nothing willing of will. Yet they be deceived that trust in it, for I am certain that men cannot speak [rightly]. He is right well born that is of that lineage, those be folks royal, their hearts are so excellent noble, and of such great worthiness and wisdom that they may not do thing of little value, nor begin thing without attaining the crown. For this soul, saith the Holy Ghost, hath given us all that she hath of worth, and the same that we have, she herself hath given us by manner of speech; for it is said, and sooth it is, that good will is accounted for deed. Seem to be the work of the Trinity ye hear it, for I may my. Fail by the sensitive virtues and by mine angels and if I might comprehend one these! 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