CAPUT LXXII. Quomodo per plenam cognitionem sui, sublevetur animus ad contemplationem Dei
Wiping the Mirror of the Soul
The rational soul is the mirror for seeing God, and whoever thirsts for that vision must purify it, as Joseph does by holding, wiping, and looking into it.
Without a doubt, the rational soul finds itself to be the foremost and principal mirror for seeing God. For if the invisible things of God are clearly seen when understood through the things that have been made, where, I ask, are the traces of knowledge found more clearly impressed than in his image?✦ We both read and believe that the human being, as regards the soul, was made in the likeness of God; and so, as long as we walk by faith and not by sight, as long as we still see through a mirror and in a riddle, we cannot find a more fitting mirror for his, so to speak, imaginal vision than the rational spirit.1 So let whoever thirsts to see his God wipe his mirror clean and purify his spirit. And so the true Joseph never stops holding this mirror, wiping it clean, and looking into it without ceasing. He holds it so that, falling downward, he does not cling to the earth through love; he wipes it so that it does not grow dirty with the dust of empty thoughts; he looks into it so that he does not turn the eye of his attention back to empty pursuits.
Radiance in the Cleansed Mirror
Once the mirror is cleansed, a brightness of divine light begins to shine through, as the Psalmist testifies of the joy inscribed by God's face.
But once the mirror has been wiped clean and carefully looked into for a long time, a certain brightness of divine light begins to shine through for him, and a kind of immense ray of unaccustomed vision begins to appear to his eyes. This light had shone upon the eyes of the one who said: "The light of your face is signed upon us, O Lord; you have given joy in my heart."✦
Conceiving Benjamin in Longing
From the inner vision of light the soul is kindled to seek the higher light, and by hoping and longing it conceives and labors toward the birth of Benjamin.
Then, from this vision of the light it marvels at within itself, the mind is kindled in a wonderful way and stirred to see the light above it. From this vision of seeing God, I say, it catches sight of the flame of longing and takes confidence. So the mind that already burns with longing for this vision, if it already hopes for what it longs for, should know that it has already conceived Benjamin.2 For by hoping it conceives, by longing it is in labor, and the more the longing grows, the nearer it comes to birth.
Read the original Latin
Praecipuum et principale speculum ad videndum Deum, animus rationalis, absque dubio invenit seipsum. Si enim invisibilia Dei per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta conspiciuntur, ubi, quaeso, quam in ejus imagine cognitionis vestigia expressius impressa, reperiuntur? Hominem secundum animam ad Dei similitudinem factum et legimus, et credimus, et idcirco quandiu per fidem, et non per speciem ambulamus, quandiu adhuc per speculum et in aenigmate videmus, ad ejus, ut ita dixerim, imaginariam visionem aptius speculum, quam spiritum rationalem invenire non possumus. Tergat ergo speculum suum, mundet spiritum suum, quisquis sitit videre Deum suum. Hoc itaque speculum non desinit verus Joseph tenere, tergere, indesinenter inspicere. Tenere, ne deorsum, corruens terrae per amorem inhaereat; tergere, ne in inanium cogitationum pulvere sordescat; inspicere, ne ad inania studia intentionis suae oculum reflectat. Exterso autem speculo et diu diligenter inspecto, incipit ei quaedam divini luminis claritas interlucere, et immensus quidam insolitae visionis radius, oculis ejus apparere. Hoc lumen oculos ejus irradiaverat, qui dicebat: Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine, dedisti laetitiam in corde meo.
Ex hujus igitur luminis visione quam admiratur in se, mirum in modum accenditur animus, et animatur ad videndum lumen, quod est supra se. Ex hac, inquam, visione videndi Deum flammam desiderii conspicit et fiduciam sumit. Mens itaque, quae jam visionis hujus desiderio flagrat, si jam sperat, quod desiderat, jam se Benjamin concepisse cognoscat. Sperando enim concipit, desiderando parturit, et quanto amplius crescit desiderium, tanto appropinquat ad partum.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Rom.1.20 — For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes have been clearly perceived, being understood through the things that have been made: both his eternal power and divine nature. So they are without excuse.
- ↩Ps.4.7 — Many are saying, "Who will show us good?" Lift upon us the light of your face, O LORD.
Notes
- 1 ↩imaginariam visionem rendered as 'imaginal vision'—vision of God mediated through the image/likeness, not fantasy or imagination in the modern sense.
- 2 ↩Benjamin is Richard's allegory for the contemplative fruit of reason (Rachel): conception here means hope has taken hold of the mind as pregnancy takes hold of the body.
Benjamin Minor (The Twelve Patriarchs / Preparation of the Mind for Contemplation) companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent