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Chapter 15Dil.1.15

De quatuor gradibus amoris, et felici statu patriae coelestis.

The Four Degrees of Love

Love begins in self-concern, rises to seeking God from need, then to loving God for God's own sake, and at last—rarely in this life—to loving oneself only for God.

But because we are fleshly, and born from the lust of the flesh, it is necessary that our desire or love begin from the flesh; yet if it is directed in right order, advancing by certain steps of its own under the guidance of grace, it will at last be perfected in the spirit — because what is spiritual does not come first, but what is natural, and then what is spiritual.✦12 And first we must bear the image of the earthly, then the heavenly.✦3 In the first place, then, a person loves himself for his own sake; he is, after all, flesh, and can know nothing beyond himself. And when he sees that he cannot stand on his own, he begins, through faith, to seek out and love God as one necessary to himself. In the second degree, then, he loves God — but for his own sake, not for God's sake. But when he has begun, out of the pressure of his own need, to worship and draw near to God — through meditation, reading, prayer, and obedience — by a certain familiarity of this kind, God gradually and gently becomes known, and in turn becomes sweet. And so, having tasted how sweet the Lord is, he passes to the third degree, so as to love God no longer for his own sake, but for God's own sake.✦4 Truly, one remains in this degree for a long time, and I do not know whether the fourth is ever perfectly attained by anyone in this life — that a person would love himself solely for the sake of God.5 Let those who have experienced this claim it — to me, I confess, it seems impossible.

Drunk with the Abundance of God

In the joy of the Lord the faithful servant forgets himself, passes wholly into God, and remembers only divine justice, stripped of all fleshly infirmity.

There is no doubt that when a good and faithful servant has been led into the joy of his Lord and made drunk from the abundance of God's house,✦✦ For in some wonderful way, having forgotten himself and, as it were, fading entirely out of himself, he will go forward wholly into God; and from then on, clinging to him, will be one spirit with him.✦6 I believe the prophet perceived this when he said: 'I will enter into the powers of the Lord; O Lord, I will remember your justice alone.'7 He surely knew that when he entered into the spiritual powers of the Lord, he would be stripped of all the infirmities of the flesh, so that he would no longer have any thought of the flesh at all, but wholly in spirit would remember the justice of the Lord alone.8

The Net of Love Drawn to Shore

In the age to come the carnal will cease, the net of love will cast out what causes suffering, and pastoral grief will have no object where sin and scandal are no more.

Then, with certainty, each of Christ's members will be able to say of themselves what Paul once said about the Head: "Although we once knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him that way."✦ No one there will know themselves according to the flesh, because flesh and blood will not possess the kingdom of God.✦ Not that the substance of flesh will cease to exist there, but that every carnal tie will end, and the love of flesh will be absorbed by the love of the spirit; and the weak, human affections that are now will be transformed into certain divine ones. Then the net of love, which is now dragged through this vast and spacious sea, gathering every kind of fish into the fold of its breadth without stopping, will, once brought to shore, cast the bad ones outside and keep only the good. For in this life the net of love encloses every kind of fish within the fold of its breadth, conforming itself to all people as the occasion requires, taking on the troubles and the prosperity of everyone, and in a way making their concerns its own — accustomed not only to rejoice with those who rejoice but also to weep with those who weep.✦ But when it arrives at shore, like bad fish it will cast outside everything that causes suffering, and will retain only those things that can be pleasing and delightful. Surely Paul will not then — to use him as an example — be weakened along with the weak, or be burned up on account of those who are scandalized, when scandals and weakness will be far away?✦ Or will he surely mourn for those who do not do penance, when it is certain that there will be neither sinner nor penitent?

Everlasting Joy, No Place for Tears

In the heavenly city there is no mourning, no mercy, and no compassion, for where all is joy and justice, misery has no foothold.

God forbid that in that city — the city made glad by the river's rush, whose gates the Lord loves more than all the tents of Jacob — anyone should mourn or weep for those destined to be assigned to eternal fires with the devil and his angels. For although in these earthly dwellings one may sometimes rejoice over a victory, yet one still toils in the fight, and very often one's life is in danger. But in that heavenly homeland, no adversity or sadness whatsoever is admitted — just as it is sung of that place: "The dwelling of all who rejoice is in you," and again, "Everlasting joy will be theirs."✦✦✦910 In the end, how will anyone remember mercy, where only the justice of God will be spoken of?11 Therefore, where there will no longer be any place for misery or any time for mercy, there surely cannot be any feeling of compassion.12

Read the original Latin

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 proficiens, spiritu tandem consummabitur: quia non prius quod spirituale, sed quod animale, deinde quod spirituale. 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: 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, et inebriatus ab ubertate domus Dei. 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. Arbitror hoc sensisse Prophetam cum diceret: Introibo in potentias Domini; Domine, memorabor justitiae tuae solius. 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.

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. 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 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. 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 consuevit. 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, ubi scandala et infirmitas procul erunt? Aut certe lugebit eos qui non agent poenitentiam, 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 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: et rursum, Laetitia sempiterna erit eis. 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.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩1Cor.15.46 — But the spiritual is not first; rather, the natural comes first, and then the spiritual.
  2. ↩1Cor.15.49 — And just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we will also bear the image of the heavenly one.
  3. ↩Ps.33.9;Ps.35.8 — For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. Ps.35.8 — Let ruin come upon him unawares, and let the net he has hidden catch him; let him fall into that very ruin.
  4. ↩Matt.25.21 — His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'
  5. ↩Ps.35.9 — Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD; it will exult in his salvation.
  6. ↩1Cor.6.17 — But the one who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
  7. ↩2Cor.5.16 — So then, from now on we know no one according to the flesh. Even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him that way.
  8. ↩1Cor.15.50 — Now I say this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.
  9. ↩Rom.12.15 — Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
  10. ↩1Cor.9.22 — To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.
  11. ↩Ps.86.2 — Guard my life, for I am faithful; save your servant who trusts in you — you are my God.
  12. ↩Ps.86.5 — For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
  13. ↩Isa.61.7 — Instead of your shame a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice over their lot; therefore in their land they will inherit a double portion; everlasting joy will be theirs.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩quae (token 19): the relative pronoun's antecedent is ambiguous — it could refer to cupiditas or amor; the translation takes it as referring to the whole preceding idea of desire/love.
  2. 2 ↩quia non prius quod spirituale, sed quod animale, deinde quod spirituale — echoes 1 Cor 15:46, but the allusion is not yet resolved by Moses.
  3. 3 ↩imaginem terrestris…coelestis — alludes to 1 Cor 15:49 ('portavimus imaginem terreni, portabimus et imaginem caelestis'), but not yet resolved by Moses.
  4. 4 ↩gustato (token 27): the syntax is ambiguous — it could be an ablative absolute ('having tasted') or a causal ablative. The translation treats it as temporal/causal: 'having tasted'.
  5. 5 ↩ut se scilicet diligat homo tantum propter Deum — the explanatory ut clause defines the fourth degree: loving oneself purely for God's sake, a paradoxical self-love wholly ordered to God.
  6. 6 ↩unus cum eo spiritus erit — 'one spirit with him' echoes 1 Cor. 6:17 ('who is joined to the Lord is one spirit'), but the Latin here describes a future eschatological union, not merely a present spiritual state.
  7. 7 ↩The quotation 'Introibo in potentias Domini; Domine, memorabor justitiae tuae solius' appears to be a loose composite or paraphrase rather than a direct Vulgate citation. It echoes themes from Psalm 70:16–17 (Vulg.) and possibly Psalm 39, but the exact wording does not match any single Vulgate verse precisely. Treating as candidate allusion pending Moses resolution.
  8. 8 ↩exutum se iri universis carnis infirmitatibus — the periphrastic passive infinitive (iri with exutum) conveys a future passive sense: 'he was going to be stripped.' The translation renders this as 'he would be stripped' to capture the prophet's foreknowledge of a future transformation.
  9. 9 ↩The quotation 'The dwelling of all who rejoice is in you' echoes Psalm 86:5 (Vulgate), and 'Everlasting joy will be theirs' echoes Isaiah 61:7 (Vulgate). Both are candidate allusions pending Moses resolution.
  10. 10 ↩The city 'whose gates the Lord loves more than all the tents of Jacob' draws on Psalm 86:2 (Vulgate), contrasting earthly pilgrimage (tents of Jacob) with the heavenly Jerusalem.
  11. 11 ↩The rhetorical question contrasts mercy and justice: in the heavenly homeland, where God's justice alone reigns, there will be no occasion to recall mercy as an earthly experience.
  12. 12 ↩The argument is inferential: since the heavenly state excludes all misery, the occasion for compassion (which presupposes suffering) is also excluded. This is a logical conclusion, not a diminishment of compassion's value.

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