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Chapter 7SubidaCarmelo.1.7

CAPÍTULO 7. En que se trata cómo los apetitos atormentan al alma. Pruebalo tambien por comparaciones y autoridades.

The Torment of Unbridled Appetites

The soul is afflicted and wounded by its own desires, much like one bound by cords or lying upon thorns.

1. The second kind of positive harm the appetites cause the soul is that they torment and afflict it like someone under the torture of cords, bound tight in some part of the body, who finds no rest until he is freed.1 David speaks of this in the Psalms: “Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me”: The cords of my sins—which are my appetites—have tightened around me. Just as someone lying naked on thorns and sharp points is tormented and afflicted, so the soul is tormented and afflicted when it rests upon its appetites. Like thorns, they wound, hurt, snag, and leave behind pain. David also says of them: “Circumdederunt me sicut apes, et exarserunt sicut ignis in spinis.” This means: They surrounded me like bees, stinging me, and they blazed up against me like fire among thorns; for the fire of anguish and torment grows within the appetites, which are the thorns.✦2 And just as the plowman afflicts and torments the ox under the plow out of greed for the harvest he expects, so concupiscence afflicts the soul under the appetite in order to get what it wants. This is clearly seen in the appetite Delilah had to discover the source of Samson's great strength, as Holy Scripture says (Judg. 16:16) that it wore her out and tormented her so much that she nearly collapsed to the point of death, saying: Her soul failed, and she was worn out even to death.✦34

The Slavery of Desire

Intense appetites act as enemies that blind and enslave the soul, forcing it to labor in the mill of concupiscence.

2. The more intense the appetite, the greater the torment for the soul. So there is as much torment as there is appetite, and the more appetites possess the soul, the more torments it has; because even in this life, what is said in the Apocalypse (18:7) of Babylon is fulfilled in such a soul in these words: Quantum glorificavit se, et in deliciis fuit, tantum date illi tormentum et luctum; that is: As much as she wanted to exalt herself and satisfy her appetites, give her that much torment and anguish.✦ Just as someone who falls into the hands of enemies is tormented and afflicted, so the soul that lets itself be carried away by its appetites is tormented and afflicted. There is a picture of this in the Book of Judges (16:21), where we read that the strong Samson—who was once powerful, free, and a judge of Israel—fell into the power of his enemies. They took away his strength, put out his eyes, and bound him to grind at a mill, where they tormented and afflicted him greatly.✦ The same happens to the soul in which these enemies—the appetites—live and conquer. The first thing they do is weaken and blind the soul. Then, as we will discuss later, they afflict and torment it, binding it to the mill of concupiscence; the bonds that hold it fast are its own appetites.

The Invitation to Divine Rest

God invites the soul to abandon the unsatisfying labor of worldly desires and find true refreshment and rest in Him.

3. For this reason, since God has pity on those who, with so much toil and at such cost to themselves, go about trying to satisfy the thirst and hunger of appetite in created things, he says to them through Isaiah (55:1–2): All you who thirst, come to the waters; and you who have no money, hurry, buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money. Why do you spend your money on what isn't bread, and your labor on what doesn't satisfy?✦ It is as if He were saying: All of you who thirst with appetites, come to the waters; and all of you who have no silver of your own will and appetites, hurry; buy from me and eat; come and buy from me wine and milk—which is spiritual peace and sweetness—without the silver of your own will, and without giving me any interest or exchange of labor, as you do for your appetites.5 Why do you give the silver of your will for what isn't bread—that is, for what isn't of the divine Spirit—and pour the labor of your appetites into what cannot fill you?6 Come, listen to me, and you will eat the good you desire, and your soul will delight in rich abundance.7 4. This coming into that richness means leaving behind every creaturely pleasure, because the creature torments, and the Spirit of God refreshes.✦8 And so He calls to us in Saint Matthew (11:28–29), saying: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you, and you will find rest for your souls." It is as if He were saying: "All of you who go about tormented, afflicted, and weighed down by the load of your cares and appetites, leave them behind by coming to me. I will refresh you, and you will find for your souls the rest that your appetites have taken from you."✦9 These appetites are a heavy burden, and because of them, David says (Ps. 37:5): "Like a heavy burden they have weighed down upon me."10

Read the original Latin

1. La segunda manera de mal positivo que causan al alma los apetitos es que la atormentan y afligen a manera del que está en tormento de cordeles, abarcado a alguna parte, de lo cual hasta que se libre no descansa. Y de estos dice David (Sal. 118, 61): Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me: Los cordeles de mis pecados, que son mis apetitos, en derredor me han apretado. Y de la misma manera que se atormenta y aflige al que desnudo se acuesta sobre espinas y puntas, así se atormenta el alma y aflige cuando sobre sus apetitos se recuesta. Porque, a manera de espinas, hieren y lastiman y asen y dejan dolor. Y de ellos tambien dice David (Sal. 117, 12): Circumdederunt me sicut apes, et exarserunt sicut ignis in spinis; que quiere decir: Rodeáronse de mí como abejas, punzándome con sus aguijones, y encendieronse contra mí como el fuego en espinas; por que en los apetitos, que son las espinas, crece el fuego de la angustia y del tormento.

Y así como aflige y atormenta el gañán al buey debajo del arado con codicia de la mies que espera, así la concupiscencia aflige al alma debajo del apetito por conseguir lo que quiere. Lo cual se echa bien de ver en aquel apetito que tenía Dalila de saber en que tenía tanta fuerza Sansón, que dice la Sagrada Escritura (Jue. 16, 163) que la fatigaba y atormentaba tanto, que la hizo desfallecer casi hasta morir, diciendo: Defecit anima eius, et ad mortem usque lassata est.

2. El apetito tanto más tormento es para el alma cuanto el es más intenso. De manera que tanto hay de tormento cuanto hay de apetito, y tanto más tormentos tiene cuantos más apetitos la poseen; porque se cumple en la tal alma, aun en esta vida, lo que se dice en el Apocalipsis (18, 7) de Babilonia por estas palabras: Quantum glorificavit se, et in deliciis fuit, tantum date illi tormentum et luctum; esto es: Tanto cuanto se quiso ensalzar y cumplir sus apetitos, le dad de tormento y angustia. Y de la manera que es atormentado y afligido el que cae en manos de sus enemigos, así es atormentada y afligida el alma que se deja llevar de sus apetitos. De lo cual hay figura en el libro de los Jueces (16, 21), donde se lee que aquel fuerte Sansón, que antes era fuerte y libre y juez de Israel, cayendo en poder de sus enemigos, le quitaron la fortaleza, y le sacaron los ojos, y le ataron a moler en una muela, adonde le atormentaron y afligieron mucho. Y así acaece al alma donde estos enemigos de apetitos viven y vencen, que lo primero que hacen es enflaquecer al alma y cegarla; y, como abajo diremos, luego la afligen y atormentan, atándola a la muela de la concupiscencia; y los lazos con que está asida son sus mismos apetitos.

3. Por lo cual, habiendo Dios lástima a estos que con tanto trabajo y tan a costa suya andan a satisfacer la sed y hambre del apetito en las criaturas, les dice por Isaías (55, 1-2): Omnes sitientes venite ad aquas; et qui non habetis argentum, properate, emite et comedite: venite, emite absque argento vinum et lac. Quare appenditis argentum non in panibus, et laborem vestrum non in saturitate? ; como si dijera: Todos los que teneis sed de apetitos, venid a las aguas, y todos los que no teneis plata de propia voluntad y apetitos, daos priesa; comprad de mí y comed; venid y comprad de mi vino y leche, que es paz y dulzura espiritual, sin plata de propia voluntad, y sin darme por ello (interes o) trueque alguno del trabajo, como dais por vuestros apetitos. ¿Por que dais la plata de vuestra voluntad por lo que no es pan, esto es, del espíritu divino, y poneis el trabajo de vuestros apetitos en lo que no os puede hartar? Venid, oyendome a mí, y comereis el bien que deseáis, y deleitarse ha en grosura vuestra alma.

4. Este venir a la grosura es salirse de todos los gustos de criatura, porque la criatura atormenta, y el espíritu de Dios recrea. Y así, nos llama el por san Mateo (11, 28-29), diciendo: Venite ad me, omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos, et invenietis requiem animabus vestris; como si dijera: Todos los que andáis atormentados, afligidos y cargados con la carga de vuestros cuidados y apetitos, salid de ellos, viniendo a mí, y yo os recreare, y hallareis para vuestras almas el descanso que os quitan vuestros apetitos. Y así, son pesada carga, porque de ellos dice David (Sal. 37, 5): Sicut onus grave gravatae sunt super me.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Ps.118.12;Ps.119.12 — They surrounded me like bees; they were extinguished like a fire of thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off. Ps.119.12 — Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes.
  2. ↩Judg.16.16 — And it came to pass, when she pressed him with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed unto death.
  3. ↩Rev.18.7 — As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her that much torment and grief. For in her heart she says, 'I sit as a queen, and I am not a widow, and I will never see grief.'
  4. ↩Judg.16.21 — And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes, and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he became a grinder in the prison house.
  5. ↩Isa.55.2 — Why do you weigh out silver for what is not bread, and your labor for what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in rich fare.
  6. ↩Isa.55.1-Isa.55.2 — Come, all who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Isa.55.2 — Why do you weigh out silver for what is not bread, and your labor for what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in rich fare.
  7. ↩Matt.11.28-Matt.11.29 — Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Matt.11.29 — Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩"mal positivo" is the scholastic positive harm (inflicted pain/wound), as distinct from privative harm (loss of a good).
  2. 2 ↩Source "por que" is read as causal "porque" (because), not interrogative "por qué".
  3. 3 ↩Source reads "16, 163)"; the intended citation is almost certainly Judges 16:16 (Vulgate: Defecit anima eius, et ad mortem usque lassata est). Rendered as 16:16 and flagged for review.
  4. 4 ↩The Spanish applies the feminine object (la) to Delilah as worn out by her own appetite, whereas the Vulgate verse in context describes Samson. Translation follows the Spanish surface sense.
  5. 5 ↩'Plata de propia voluntad' is San Juan’s spiritual reading of Isaiah’s 'money': the 'silver' paid out is self-will and appetites, not literal coin.
  6. 6 ↩'Esto es, del espíritu divino' glosses true bread as belonging to the divine Spirit; the sentence rebukes spending will and appetitive effort on what is not that bread.
  7. 7 ↩'Grosura' is biblical 'fatness'/rich food (cf. Isaiah 55:2); rendered as 'rich abundance' for modern clarity while preserving the next section’s 'venir a la grosura' continuity.
  8. 8 ↩grosura: biblical/Isaianic ‘fatness’ or rich abundance of spiritual good (cf. previous section’s Isaiah paraphrase); rendered here as ‘richness’.
  9. 9 ↩Source ‘nos llama el’ is read as ‘Él’ (He/Christ); Latin gospel lemma retained in sense, not surface: Venite ad me… reficiam vos… requiem animabus vestris.
  10. 10 ↩Source cites Sal. 37:5 (Vulgate numbering); commonly Ps 38:4 in Hebrew/modern numbering.

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