Parte prima. Come si debba usare l'anima

Parte prima. Come si debba usare l'anima

First, you ask how you should care for your soul, which is no longer yours but God's, even though it dwells within you and has been entrusted to your care. My answer is: wait, examine, receive, and put it to use. And these four short chapters contain the first part of my purpose. First, I say you should learn from the Psalmist, who says, “I waited for the one who saved me from faintheartedness and the storm.” The reason for this teaching is that no creature can place any good in the soul except the Creator. It seems to me that only the body joined to it, an evil spirit, a good angel, and God can act upon a rational soul united with the body. This doesn't deny the activity the soul has within itself through its natural desire for perfection, just as every other creature has within itself the principle of its own natural movement. The prophet speaks of this when he says, “My soul is troubled because of my own self.”¹² In this way, the soul of a little child who dies unbaptized is troubled.³ But I am speaking of accidental operations through which the soul receives, or can receive, its perfection. The soul is given to us imperfect so that we may perfect it through the contemplative and practical virtues.⁴⁵ Likewise, I am not saying that other creatures don't move the soul indirectly.⁶ I acknowledge that the heavens influence the body, and that under this influence the body inclines the soul toward a particular passion.⁷ In the same way, an object moves a particular sense; this sense affects the common sense, which then works upon the memory that gives rise to an act of understanding; and this act illuminates, directs, and moves the will.⁸⁹ And so it is clear that the soul moves itself after being moved by something external; but it cannot initiate this movement simply as an essence, since in itself it is pure potentiality and gives actuality to the body—or rather, is the actuality of its own organized body. David comes close to saying this when he laments, “My soul is like dry land before you, without water.” Even though the earth contains seeds by nature, unless water soaks into it, it lies still and produces nothing; it cracks open and wastes away until it's reduced to nothing but worthless dust. If the flesh, through contact with its foul water, pours into the soul, desires arise within it—or rather, acts of consent to those desires—and sensual appetites full of venial but not mortal sins. For the flesh and its waters cannot rise as far as the higher part of the soul; only when that part consents is it filled with malice and the whole person given over to such evil. That is why Paul said, "If you live according to the flesh, you will die." The flesh can only bind itself to the soul in its sensory part, inclining it toward pleasure but not toward consent, since the law of the higher, rational mind resists it. Regarding this impulse, Paul said, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is human." The evil spirit, as much as he can, pours into the soul hatred that opposes love, and error and falsehood that oppose truth.¹⁰ From these two foundations of deprivation, every mortal sin is produced and every dangerous deception is carried out.¹¹ This is the judgment of the First Truth, who says: “He was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, because he is a liar and the father of lies.” Through hatred, he poisons the will, strips it of love, takes away the life of the virtues, and brings in every sin. Through falsehood, he blinds the intellect, denies the faith, and leaves the soul entirely in darkness; but he cannot do this unless the soul consents to it. An angelic spirit can only act within the soul or place anything there to the extent that it receives from God, and it can only impart what it receives from Him, serving as an intermediary between God and the soul. And because nothing but good comes from God, an angelic spirit can bring nothing but good into the soul. It can certainly bring about this kind of good even when the soul resists, if God commands it—for example, by illuminating the understanding and teaching the truth, giving a revelation, or making someone a prophet. But it cannot place a good that belongs to the will—such as charity and everything that grows from it—within the will when the will itself resists. You should understand the evil spirit in the same way: with God's permission, it can form a false idea in the human understanding, but it does this by acting on the imagination or the common sense, or by taking the form of an angel of light and producing deceptive bodily appearances, rather than by joining itself to and entering the human understanding. Nevertheless, it cannot change the will unless the will itself consents. God alone is the holy agent who can transform the will, and everything else, exactly as he wills; and he cannot will anything but good. So wait for this, and say: “I waited for the one who saved me from faintness of spirit and from the storm.”^✦ I assume you’ve already received the wings of the dove, that you’ve begun to fly, and that you’re about to enter a place of rest.^✦ What remains is to do what the Psalmist says: “Look, I’ve fled far away and made my home in solitude.”^✦12 If you are a dove, you have no bitterness in you, and you soar higher than the ancient serpent.¹³ You have two wings: the right one, I say, is love of God; the left one is hatred of yourself.¹⁴ These wings make your heart’s desire fly above every created height, wait for the Creator alone, and say with the Prophet: “For what do I have in heaven, and what have I desired from you on earth?”^✦15 My flesh and my heart have failed; God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.^✦16 The one who rejected heaven and everything seen in heaven was high above all things; the one who wanted nothing of his own was detached from the earth; the one whose heart and flesh were failing was waiting, but the one who wanted no portion except God in his fullness waited for God alone as his good. If you've flown this high, I tell you: wait. And if you haven't flown yet, then fly and wait. The first flight is to the humble mountain of humility, where the devil cannot climb. The second flight is to the mountain of the curdled milk of self-hatred, where the flesh cannot dwell. The third flight is to the rich mountain of burning desire for God, where the blessed angels dwell. The fourth flight is to the mountain where God dwells in his good pleasure: to want nothing, there where Peter, James, and John fell down. Here you sit down; cast your care upon the Lord, and he will sustain you. Here, wait for the Creator to do as he pleases with his creature; and don't fall asleep, but watch and pray, so that you don't enter into temptation. Remember: this is what your gentle Jesus said to Peter, James, and John when he went to pray in the garden; if they had done as he said, the serpent wouldn't have sifted them like wheat.^✦ Since you are certain, beloved soul, that you have been placed in such a secure heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor thief can rob you of the blessings you desire and hope for, there shouldn't be any need to write more or offer further teaching. But because we are often deceived in many ways, and no one in this life can be called safe—or, if you prefer, secure—I add a second instruction: examine. That is, receive by waiting; and before you accept what has been sent to you, examine whether it comes from God or from somewhere else. This is what Paul advises you when he says: “Test everything; hold fast to what is good.” According to Solomon, every created thing is tested by measure, number, and weight. In succession, our good forefathers established four principal measures. Moses established the bushel, which contained twenty-two measures, each weighing two pounds. Joshua measured the Promised Land with a linen cord. Ezekiel measured the city of the holy faith with a reed seven cubits and one handbreadth long. John the Evangelist saw eternal life being measured with a golden rod, though eternal life had no measure. Take these four measures in the hands of the discernment God has given you and become a skilled surveyor, measuring everything that comes to mind under this kind of examination. It was called a modius—what we call a moggio—as if to signify a measure of things; it contains twenty-two staia because, as the ancients say, all the works God made in the beginning are divided into twenty-two parts. On the first day, He made seven of them: the higher heavens, angels, light, fire, air, water, and earth. On the second day, He made one: the firmament, where the stars and planets are. On the third day, He made four: plants, grain, herbs, and seeds. On the fourth day, He made three: the sun, the moon, and the stars. On the fifth day, He made three: birds, fish, and sea creatures that crawl. On the sixth day, He made four: wild beasts, tame animals, serpents, and human beings—for this is roughly how the text of Scripture speaks. Now measure whether it belongs within the bushel of the Lord God—that is, whether the thing that comes to mind for you to do follows the order you ought to observe—because God does nothing needlessly or in vain. God doesn't inspire a married woman to embrace chastity or a love of chastity unless her husband is similarly inspired; nor does he inspire a young woman to go traveling, a nun to wander about, or a religious man to take a woman with him. Nor does he inspire someone professed in religious life to become a collector for the poor unless his superior is moved to give him permission. So, as a general rule, God inspires no one to act against their own lawful and approved state of life. Find out whether it falls within the bushel of the Lord God's twenty-two created things: whether you can find such an inspiration or action within the whole order of things he established for those who came before you, and whether it therefore seems to you to be a divine movement or not. Take Joshua's measuring cord, with which he distributed the Promised Land to the people, and carefully consider whether you're moved by love for your heavenly homeland and by charity toward your brothers and sisters. Let Ezekiel place in your hand the measure of seven cubits and one handbreadth—that is, see whether such an action is accompanied by the seven virtues, founded upon the handbreadth of humility. The virtues are bound together, and none can exist without the others; in fact, they would all collapse if humility weren't their foundation. The Beloved's measure will be clearer to you: an unbounded golden measuring rod—that is, Holy Scripture. It is gold because it is precious, without limit because of its depth, and a hollow measuring rod because, when such a measure was shown to him, the mysteries of Scripture were represented as having reached their fulfillment. As Paul said, “Prophecies will come to an end.” To recognize the deceptions of the cunning serpent, it helps greatly to hold Holy Scripture in your hand, keep it in your mind, and find Jesus transfigured between Moses and Elijah—the truth of the gospel witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. And have not only the books of the Bible, whose depth is immeasurable, but also more accessible books written by holy teachers; as for works written or compiled by authors who are uncertain or not approved, read them in such a way that you treat as suspect everything not confirmed by the sacred books, and reject as poison anything contrary to them. Many people have written presumptuously, more to defend their own opinions or display themselves in writing than from zeal for truth or concern for human salvation. Every word of Holy Scripture is gold; therefore, don't let this golden measuring rod leave your hand, and you'll be safe, as the Psalmist says: “The queen stood at your right hand, clothed in a garment of gold and arrayed in many colors.” Its variety consists in weaving together and unfolding every state of life, manner, path, and order that is acceptable to God, safe for his creatures, and wholesome in itself; regard every other novelty with suspicion. Anyone who cannot read should listen to the Gospel and pray with reverent fear. Once you have measured well, you must use arithmetic and count. Therefore, number should be the second element in understanding the perfection of the things God has made, since He creates every creature according to a numbered scale of perfection.¹⁷ Anyone who wants to determine whether gold is pure, or how far it falls short of purity, counts its degrees—more precisely, its carats. If it proves to be twenty-four-carat gold, it is called perfect; and it is said to fall short of its highest purity by exactly as much as it falls short of that twenty-fourth degree, or carat. I believe that every state that proceeds from God—that is, every perfect movement—contains within itself a combination of twenty-four virtues. If any one of them were missing, that state would have to be purified until it returned to its proper measure. In the same way, every created species consists of a number of perfections gathered together within it; if even one were missing, it would not be that species but another.¹⁸ God, who makes all things very good, fully preserves these ordered degrees, even though something may appear imperfect because of an accident or a defect in the subject receiving it. The same ray of sunlight illuminates clear air more brightly than hazy air, and it shines better when it doesn't pass through a window of glass or cloth than when it meets such an obstacle.¹⁹ These twenty-four degrees are contained in the understanding of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, who is the one who inspires them, the Ten Commandments of the Law, and the seven principal virtues.²⁰²¹ To discuss them at length seems too lengthy to me, yet to say nothing about them would seem like undiscerning stinginess.²² I will take the middle course, and the Lord will give you understanding in everything. No new inspiration comes from God without beginning in fear, awe, and the deepest humility, just as we see in the Virgin Mother when the angel greeted her. A new breath of inspiration is a new light that overwhelms the powers it finds in the mind, just as a sudden flash of lightning startles the eye, and its thunder makes the whole person recoil at the sound.²³ In this light, as the soul sees within itself what it had never seen before—the knowledge of its own faults—it humbles itself under the almighty hand of God. If you've understood David where he says, “Your lightning flashes lit up the world; the earth saw and trembled,” you'll understand this first condition clearly. This light cannot exist without giving rise to reverence for God, both through deeper knowledge and through the sight of so unequal a companionship: God is seen more clearly in his goodness, while the soul understands itself to be more sinful. It almost begins to feel compassion for God at finding him in such an unworthy place, and says with Peter, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful human being.” This sheds abroad the spirit of piety. It seems to me that strength is accompanied by a thoughtful examination that asks what kind of inspiration this is; this belongs to the gift of knowledge. During this inward examination, the soul feels itself strengthened, as though it were being told, “Do not be afraid; you have found grace with God.” There the soul recognizes that it isn't worthy by itself to rise so high, yet also that nothing is impossible for God, who can raise up children of Abraham from stones; strengthened by this, it stands firm. Now the soul feels its mind urged to choose by the power of free will and to deliberate within itself about how it should enter such a state, so that this new sacrifice won't be without the salt of discernment, without which God would reject it. And so the soul says within itself, “How will this happen, since I do not know a man?” Would that be enough to guide it in such a calling, unless the one who gives the beginning also supplies everything that remains? And because, as has already been said, such a new calling and fresh infusion of light must be followed by a new understanding—one that reveals more fully the lowliness of every creature and the greater dignity of the Creator—the soul does not ordinarily hear such words. He gives understanding to the humble. Understanding always grows alongside virtue, and it fades as sins increase. The soul feels a new savor, a new delight, and a new consolation from such inspiration or light; for as it grows toward perfection, it gains in this state a new gladness, a special delight, and spiritual joy from the gift of wisdom. Every word from God stands apart from the world. Even if it invited you to come down from the mountain of contemplation and into the valley of active life, as we read of Moses, that change would still arise from a hatred of the fallen world, even though others take pleasure in it.^✦ In the same way, it tears you away from self-love and the desires of the flesh, gives you invisible wings to fly upward, and urges you toward a lofty purity of mind and a longing for the One who moves you. Know that every movement from God contains a quality called simplicity, or truth, which is the enemy of hypocrisy and every kind of duplicity; for God speaks with the simple, while a double-minded person is unstable in everything they do. Everything it says invites us to thank the One from whom it comes, since he commands that no offering made from stolen goods—or from a bird that lives by prey—be sacrificed to him. And because God, the supreme Good, draws the soul toward himself step by step, his breath calls it to faithfulness to him, giving it a taste and fervent desire for the purity that should exist between the mind and God; the soul knows that anyone who turns outside him commits fornication and loses him. Such a movement hates anything that causes a neighbor to stumble, because it is the voice of the One who wants everyone to be saved and who says, “Woe to the one through whom stumbling blocks come.” And he established love of neighbor as the fulfillment of his pure law. Examine whether this flattering thought is urging you to deny someone what, by divine law, is rightfully theirs; and since God doesn't bind you only to have you break free, be certain that any voice telling you to withdraw from someone to whom you are so deeply bound is not God, but another. The end of every creature is rest. God’s call leads the one he calls into joy and peace, a rest that can’t be found apart from the one who calls. Therefore, if a voice doesn’t tell you to keep the Sabbaths holy, don’t answer it as though it were God. The further you advance, the more you understand of the supreme Good; and the more you experience of it, the more the compelling power of truth moves you to praise with the angels, who never stop singing with one voice: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.” Therefore, if he calls you, he invites you to praise him anew and kindles you to do so all the more. This is how you should recognize his voice: because it’s a ray of his light, it turns the whole mind toward him and directs it to serve him alone and, continually offering itself in sacrifice, to worship him, saying: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve.” Seven signs remain to show that the divine gold is perfect: they are the seven virtues, without which it never moves. As supreme Wisdom, who knows the full extent of our powers, He tempers His inspiration with moderation, setting before the person He inspires only what that person can do—or what, with His help, that person will be able to do. He also blends into it the prudence to remain properly watchful and to know how to do what he asks. When He inspired the Apostles to become preachers instead of fishermen, He gave them, as He had promised, a mouth and wisdom that no one could resist. He is the one who promises courage at the beginning, patience in continuing, and steadfastness in persevering. But everyone must guard against presumption. Only the saints who hope in the Lord renew their strength, as Isaiah says. Virtue exists only in concrete action; therefore the righteous Lord, who loves righteousness, builds righteousness into every call He gives, inspiring when, how, how much, and where each person should serve Him. Just as his word is said to be light, so you should know that it is also a flame of love, of which the Psalmist sings: “Your word is set ablaze with fire, and your servant has loved it.” Therefore, inspired by the Beloved, you’ll hear yourself say: “My soul melted when my Beloved spoke.”²⁴ Hope gives us help—our one true hope—when we place our hope in God alone, because hope gives us an understanding of the truth, as has already been said. In that truth we see that we aren't capable even of thinking anything good on our own, but that our ability comes from God alone.^✦ You’ll find faith in every call he gives you, because he calls you to please him—and without faith it’s impossible to please him. I believe many of those who seem most perfect are often deceived in this: they imagine God is calling them to make some change in their way of life, because they don’t reckon the full measure of perfection and flee while believing they’re drawing closer to God.²⁵ Those who are imperfect and just beginning don’t need such a lengthy examination. But, as I said above, I believe I’m speaking to someone who has received the dove’s wings and flown into solitude, waiting to receive an eagle’s wings and fly without faltering, “so that your youth may be renewed like the eagle’s.”²⁶ The third test of divine words is their weight. And once you've measured with the rod and counted with numbers, take up the balance and weigh accurately. Measurement belongs to the intellect and is known as understanding and discernment. Number belongs to reason and is known as judgment and demonstration. The balance belongs to the will, where it is called charity and love. You should know that there are three kinds of balances—or scales, as we might call them to align more closely with the meaning of Scripture. The first are human, the second diabolical, and the third divine. The first are called balances of natural love, the second of perverse love, and the third of genuine charity. David identifies the first kind when he says, "The children of men are false in their scales, conspiring together to deceive through vanity." Everyone who loves God for their own sake weighs their love on these scales, much like a dog that loves its master only for what it gets from him; no such love lasts unless some benefit keeps it alive.²⁷ Those who love their neighbor and the world only for their own advantage are weighed by the same standard; yet they don't think this separates them from God, and they would make the supreme Truth a liar, though he says, “No one can serve two masters.” Scripture repeatedly calls the second kind of scales abominable in God's sight: God and every virtue are banished from them, and sin lies in both pans. The more heavily they weigh, the more they please those who call evil good and good evil, who turn light into darkness and darkness into light, and sweetness into bitterness and bitterness into sweetness. They say to God, "We don't want to know your ways." They delight in the evil they've done and rejoice in the worst kinds of wickedness. With the third scales, the supremely Just One weighed the mountains and the hills, as the Holy Spirit says through Isaiah. Now learn to weigh your affections on these holy scales: place yourself and every created thing on the left, and on the right place your affection stirred by a new spirit. But understand this: the greater the weight of the divine will, the higher it rises, contrary to the heavy things of the world.²⁸ That is why the beloved Christ said, “My burden is light.” So notice whether the left side rises higher than your affection, and flee from such an affection, because it is diabolical. If the two remain level, leave the affection as it is, because it is natural. But if the affection truly rises while every created thing descends, embrace it, because it is divine; and you’ll feel it rise from one degree to the next, until it not only sends the left side plunging down, wholly removed from every earthly thought or created thing, but through the strength and force of its lightness draws that left side after itself and lifts it as high as it can, saying, “My soul has thirsted for you; how deeply my flesh has longed for you.”²⁹ See how the soul was drawing the flesh upward. Moses’ desire reached very high when he prayed on the mountain, “Show me your face.” Paul’s rose even higher in actual experience when he was caught up to the third heaven. But the highest of all was the desire of the incarnate Word when he was transfigured before his disciples. And yet each of them descends in order to draw up the creature lying in the lower scale, without leaving his own height. He descends bodily but remains steadfast in fervent spirit; he never leaves the scale of charity, but reaches his hands down to those in the depths to help them climb.³⁰ Do you think Moses left his height when he descended into the valley and said, “I won’t move unless you come with me; I won’t move unless you forgive the sin of those below”?³¹ He knew that, weighed down by the burden of their sins, they couldn't pull themselves upward. Would anyone conclude that Paul had left the higher scale when he said that, for the salvation of his brothers, he wished to be separated from the Beloved?³² At that very moment, he remained firmly settled in the scale of ardent divine love. And the Teacher of truth makes everything clear when, having come down from the mountain in the flesh, he says, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself.” Now understand this, soul beloved by Christ, in the light of the Psalmist’s words. There are ascents set within the heart, in the valley of tears, in the place God has appointed; and these carry true weight and are dear to God. He accepts them and, through them, gives his blessing—the giver of the law leading us from strength to strength—until we come to see the God of gods in Zion, face to face.³³ After making this test and finding that such a calling had been set before you, I said, “Accept it.”³⁴ Now understand: you must have a good appetite and refuse nothing. Nor should you examine anything else about yourself, if through an intermediary you have placed your whole soul beneath the feet of the One seated on the exalted throne, who holds the earth as his footstool.^✦35 This is the sound counsel of Ecclesiasticus. After briefly explaining how one should wait and test, he says: "My child, when you enter God’s service, stand firm in righteousness and fear, and prepare your soul for trial. Humble your heart and endure; incline your ear and receive words of understanding, and don’t be hasty in a time of adversity. Wait for God’s sustaining help; cling to God, and endure, so that in the end your life may flourish." Then, in the passage immediately following, he adds: "Accept whatever comes upon you; endure in sorrow, and be patient in your humiliation, because gold and silver are tested in fire, but those acceptable to God are tested in the furnace of humiliation."³⁶ Recognize three conclusions in this holy counsel. The first is what you must do simply and without reservation: accept everything set before you. The second is what may often happen to you—sorrow and humiliation—which call for endurance. The third is the reason the supreme Sun guides his people in this way: to bring them to perfection.³⁷ Understand and notice how universally he speaks. Take every path set before you, and you’ll discover what it means to receive a changing variety of spiritual dishes from the rich host. And perhaps the natural-minded person, who doesn’t understand God’s banquet, will tell you that you’re foolish, fickle, or simply scatterbrained. For if God tells you, as he told Paul, “Go,” then go; “Stay,” then stay; “Choose death,” then desire it; “Escape death,” then hide; “Appeal,” then appeal; “Keep silent,” then give no answer. If he tells you to be rich or to keep your wealth, keep it; if he tells you to flee from it, become poor; and if he tells you to seek it again, obey. If he inspires you to leave everything to your children or relatives, do it. If he tells you to sell it and give to the poor, leaving your relatives no share, follow that path. If you’re chosen to go dressed in rags, go that way; and wear fine clothes suited to your station if he commands you to do so. Speak out boldly, then become gentle and silent, according to his will. At his will, laugh, sing, and dance; and likewise weep, cry out, and sigh whenever it pleases him. Sit peacefully at the feet of contemplatives if he commands it; then become a warrior and busy yourself in the kitchen whenever he shows you that this is what pleases him. Don't let a mistaken judgment deceive you when you hear this, as if this teaching were contrary to perseverance—the proven sign of divine inspiration, as was shown above. A servant who commits himself to one master and never leaves him isn't called unfaithful or changeable, even if he switches duties—now tending the horses, now the dogs, now the estate, and at other times buying provisions, serving at table, or setting out on a journey—as his steadfast master wills. But someone who frequently changes masters is rightly called fickle, even if he never changes the kind of work he does. Choose to serve God without changing masters, and perform whatever services he sees fit; this is true perseverance. Would you call the angels fickle because the same one is at one time a commander in war and is called Michael, at another time an envoy and is named Gabriel, and then becomes a healer and takes the name Raphael? I believe the chief saints had no concern except to receive whatever God sent, and they were as ready to do what caused them pain as what pleased them. Thus Abraham went with courage to sacrifice his beloved son, just as he had joyfully received him at his birth and raised him; he was as ready to be a poor wanderer as to be king of Damascus or its foremost citizen—even though his natural feelings preferred one condition to the other, or indeed found one pleasing and the other painful. So the holy counselor adds the second part and says: “Endure in sorrow, and remain patient in your humiliation.” It’s as if he were saying: sometimes God will call you to inward and outward suffering, and sometimes to being despised inwardly and outwardly.³⁸ How often someone who has spent a long time serving God through acts of penance, prayers, spiritual exercises, and charitable aid expects to attain clarity of mind, joy of spirit, and peace of conscience, yet suddenly finds himself poor like Job, deprived of children, friends, and relatives, sick from head to foot, a burden to himself, physically blind like Tobit, despised by the world, slandered by everyone, driven away on every side, hated by his own people, tempted in the flesh, assailed in faith, struck by despair, harried by evil spirits, weary of living, afraid of dying—alive, yet plunged into hell.³⁹⁴⁰ O divine judgments, unfathomable depths! O just providence, hidden from fools, marvelous to the righteous, and radiant with contemplation for the blessed!⁴¹ If, as you say, you have given your soul to God, then expect him to do with what belongs to him whatever he wills. Prepare yourself for provisions like these, and expect fruit of this kind: he will give it to you if you need it for your salvation, if it serves his glory, and also if he sees you as worthy to be marked with his seal.⁴² Now arm yourself with the shield of patience so that you can endure everything. You’ll lose that shield unless God himself straps it firmly to your back.⁴³ Don’t struggle to shake it off, don’t run away, and don’t pray merely for your own peace. I do want you to pray that you won’t sin or lose patience.⁴⁴ In every situation, praise God, give thanks, and kindle your heart with love. Make light of yourself: see yourself struck justly when there is cause, and still more, when there is none, for the sake of your crown; but above all, look at yourself in the mirror of the divine will and see whether you can begin climbing the cross with the Beloved. This is the bed longed for in this present life: here the naked Bridegroom receives his naked beloved into his precious arms. Whoever rejects or flees such a state denies that she wishes to be the Beloved’s bride; either she breaks her pledged faith like a traitor, or she steals herself away even though she has promised herself entirely to him. Listen to why you should accept everything and refuse nothing. It says that gold and silver are tested in the fire, and those worthy of being received are tested in the furnace of humiliation and contempt. God wants to make you gold with charity, silver with wisdom, and a human being filled with divinity.⁴⁵ Gold is refined in the fire. Do you know why you don't love with all your inner and outward powers? It's because something other than gold is mixed into you. Mixed into you may be the sulfur of sin, the earth of worldly love, the iron of self-presumption, the copper of your self-importance, the lead of self-love, or the silver of learning pursued through human study—just as it was with Paul, who used it to defend his own opinion.⁴⁶⁴⁷ Divinely sent trials purge you of all these impurities.⁴⁸ That is why Ecclesiasticus says in his book, “The furnace tests earthen vessels, and the trial of tribulation tests the righteous.” So understand this: until you have suffered tribulation, you haven't been purified; and if you haven't been purified, God won't dwell in you, because eternal Wisdom does not dwell in a malicious soul or in a body subject to sin. Since you are to become the silver of contemplation, the lips of your mind must likewise be purified by the small stone of faith, taken from the altar of the Passion with the tongs of anguish made fiery by present persecutions, because like loves like.⁴⁹ The divine Word is compared to silver, as the Psalmist says: “The words of the Lord are pure words, silver tested by fire, refined in the earth, purified seven times.” Light passes clearly only through pure glass, and an unclean body poorly reflects the light it receives. The glorious God intends to make you a divine person united with himself, but first you must be tested to see whether you are worthy of him; and unless you are humble, pure, and patient, you cannot receive him. That is why he allows you to suffer tribulation: so that you may know yourself and find yourself mortified and wholly restrained; so that, once you know yourself, you may cleanse yourself of every fault and he may bind himself to you; and so that through patience you may learn how to bear him.⁵⁰⁵¹ Oh, if you knew what a burden and pain God is to a soul that isn't blessed and isn't prepared according to his will, then in your longing for him you would say: “First test me like gold in the furnace of many hardships alongside your chosen ones, and make me worthy of you!”⁵² Light is delightful to healthy eyes, but hateful and painful to eyes that are unwell; and bread tastes sweet to a healthy palate but heavy to a sick one. The Son of Man was not seen dwelling with humanity until three young men were placed in the fiery furnace but were not burned.⁵³ O holy tribulations: you are the remission of sins, the preparation of a straight path, and the revelation of light. You are an iron gate that shuts out hell and an open door into paradise; a field of divine flowers, a chamber prepared for the Trinity, a chain of love, a hook drawing us toward eternal life, and the fulfillment of perfection for whoever bears them while giving thanks to the gracious God!⁵⁴⁵⁵ Here, then, is the seal upon my answer to your first question: put what you receive from God to work.⁵⁶ Listen to him—don’t be deaf—as, after giving his talents to each person according to that person’s ability, he says, “Put them to work until I come.” Never forget the terrible sentence passed by the merciful God against the man who had neither traded away nor thrown away the one talent he received, but had buried it in a clean, safe place simply because he was afraid of losing it.⁵⁷ He was called a wicked servant, stripped of the talent, and imprisoned forever. We urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. So now, soul thirsting for the Highest Good, become a wise merchant for me. Don’t be afraid, because you can only profit when God is the one who settles the account.⁵⁸ For he said to that wicked servant, “Why didn’t you put my money in the bank, so that when I returned I could have collected it with interest?” You must be shrewd and know where the goods he gives you can be traded; take them there and make a profit. There is a market held in three realms where divine goods are traded: hell, this world, and paradise. In hell, justice is traded; in this world, charity; in paradise, contemplation; and in all three, mercy.⁵⁹ We divide the first realm into two provinces: hell and purgatory. In the first province, three kinds of goods are traded. The first is despair. The second is error and spiritual blindness. The third is blasphemy and cursing. These goods aren't traded anywhere else. And so, if the glorious God should allow you, as a test, to be tempted by any of these three plagues, try to profit from them: send them back to hell, and don't keep them here, because they would make you poor, not rich. Anyone tempted by despair should say: “I know that all the time we have now is lent to us so that we can confess our fault, and that the merciful Lord is always ready to forgive. I know He came for sinners, not for the righteous. So, despair, go back to hell and stay with the damned.” And if despair were so strong that you couldn't drive it away, say: “It will be enough for you to rule over me when I'm in hell. For now, leave me to rejoice with my Jesus while I can. Now I intend to feed on the food of this present life: prayer, virtue, and acts of penance.”⁶⁰ And if you still couldn't help yourself in this way, be assured that it isn't a diabolical temptation or a spiritual passion, but a bodily illness caused by an excess of melancholic humors affecting the memory and imagination; and so, laugh it off.⁶¹ I tell you the same if you’re tempted in matters of faith and feel your mind attacking the truths of the Holy Spirit. Send such thoughts to hell and say, “I want nothing to do with you, because I’m in a place where people live by faith—the word that comes from the mouth of God.” Go and buy this faith from those who sell it, such as Holy Scripture and all the Church’s approved teachers. Beware of novelties, of people who devise new opinions, and of those who start new sects. Be wary of people who are ignorant and live poorly. Gather the flowers and leave the thorns alone. Be among those who bring people together, and avoid those who divide them. Know that in this life you can’t fully understand or clearly see divine truths, but can see them only as if in a dim mirror that shows their likeness; and so you’re in a good place when you don’t understand hidden mysteries. Don't seek what you cannot find, and don't try to fly higher than you're able. Now pray that the Lord will give you the faith that pleases him. And if you are not helped in this way, know that such a temptation is for your salvation: it is not you who deny the truth, but the evil spirit working through the faculty of imagination or memory. It disturbs the light of the intellect just as colored glass placed before the power of sight deceives the eye, making you judge something to be one color when it is another. I say the same about the spirit of blasphemy: it is the evil spirit joining itself imperceptibly to the tongue. It is the spirit that blasphemes, while you, without moving your tongue, seem to yourself to want to blaspheme. To drive it away, refuse your consent and do the opposite of what it suggests: whenever it tempts you to curse, bless instead. Defeated by that blessing, it will soon withdraw in confusion when it sees that it's losing ground rather than gaining it. It's permissible to learn even from the enemy. Remember that certain spirits didn't want to go to hell before their time, but said to Jesus, “What new thing do you find in us, or what has changed in you, that you have come to judge us before the appointed time?”^✦ They seemed to want to show that they had some hope, some knowledge of the truth, and a desire to praise God; but Jesus wouldn't let them speak, even though they knew he was the Christ. How foolish is a person who can be saved and yet chooses hell in this life, compared with those demons who cannot be saved and yet delay hell as long as they can, as has already been shown. In purgatory, three kinds of certainty are exchanged: certainty of grace, certainty that one's penance is acceptable, and certainty of future glory. All the souls in purgatory know they are in a state of grace. And if such merchandise is offered to your mind, reject it, because it isn't traded here in our country, where no one knows whether they are worthy of hatred or love. Therefore, never be certain that God has forgiven your sins. The wise Jesus ben Sira says, “Do not be without fear concerning the forgiveness of sins.” To keep from going on too long, I won't list the reasons; let his authority—or rather, the authority of the Holy Spirit—be enough for you. And let the examples of Mary Magdalene and Peter confirm this for you: until their deaths, they remained contrite for their sins and did penance for them throughout their lives, even though Jesus Christ, the supreme priest, had absolved them. This teaching doesn't mean, however, that a sin you've committed must be confessed more than once. What it does require is continual, universal contrition, together with particular contrition whenever you remember a specific sin. So let her say with David, “My sin is always before me.” Those in purgatory are also all certain that their penance is acceptable to God and makes satisfaction for their sins.⁶² If this kind of merchandise is brought before your mind—if it seems to you that you’re acting according to God’s will—reject it and send it off to purgatory, saying, “I am a useless servant, and everything I do is flawed.”⁶³ I’m not saying you should think you’re doing wrong when you do God’s will and keep his commandments or counsels. I’m saying that you should recognize that you cannot do such good without some fault, and that you must not presume to declare with certainty, “This deed of mine is pleasing to God.”⁶⁴ The Pharisee praying in the temple thought he was highly acceptable to God, yet his prayer was counted as sin against him. Listen to Solomon speaking in Ecclesiastes: “The righteous and the wise, and their works, are in God’s hand; and yet no one knows whether they are worthy of love or hatred. Everything that lies ahead remains uncertain, because the same things happen to the righteous and the wicked, the good and the evil, the clean and the unclean, to the one who offers sacrifices and to the one who despises offerings, victims, and sacrifices.”⁶⁵ Do you know what the angel said to the people of Laodicea in Revelation? This is what the true witness, the beginning of God's creation, says: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.” And then, a few words later, the passage gets to the point: “You say, ‘I am rich, I have grown wealthy, and I need nothing,’ but you don't realize that you are wretched, miserable, poor, naked, and blind.” I tell you to follow this same course if you ever think you can be secure and find yourself saying, “I can't be afraid of hell; my mind is filled with such pure hope.”⁶⁶ The souls in purgatory have this gift, but the Most High God doesn't want such certainty to be claimed in this present life.⁶⁷ For he commands his disciples, “Greet no one along the way”; that is, don't promise salvation to anyone while that person is still traveling through this present life.⁶⁸ Look at Paul: even after returning from the third heaven, he disciplines his body and brings it into submission, fearing that after preaching to others he himself might be among the condemned. Who can feel secure if Paul himself was afraid? If the cedar trembles, what will the hay do? If someone isn't safe in a land of peace, how will she fare among so many enemies? Just as no one is certain to go to hell, so no one can be sure of going to paradise. But like Ezekiel, remain suspended between heaven and earth; and while you hang there, fear falling and strive to rise. And so I remind you that falling is easier than rising, because all flesh is inclined to evil from its youth. Don't live without fear, for blessed is the person who is always watchful.⁶⁹ Perhaps, at times, some of the goods used in paradise will be brought to you. Now be wise: refuse them here and send them on ahead of you to the place where they’re traded, and you’ll profit that way. Three kinds of goods are traded in our heavenly homeland: true freedom, complete peace, and clear vision. As Saint Paul says, the Jerusalem above is our mother; she is free, and she alone makes her children free. This freedom consists above all in being unable to sin, since sin is the first and worst slavery—the slavery of which the Savior says, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” You may know from experience—or at least from reading—that some spiritual people are tempted to avoid even venial sin altogether; but because they can't achieve this, they fall into weariness, melancholy, mental collapse, or even despair of ever reaching the blessed life. And because they can't keep themselves from minor sins, they plunge into major ones and become enemies of every good work. So be prudent and cautious about this. If such a temptation comes to you, tell it that it’s welcome—but humbly send it on to paradise. Tell it to wait for you there, because you don’t want it here, where it isn’t used. Remember that the righteous person falls seven times a day and gets back up. What pride it is to want to be God: to possess here what isn't granted to us, and to rebel against what God permits in every human being.⁷⁰ The second treasure of our blessed homeland is perfect peace, where they delight in an abundance of peace; for, as David says of eternal life, “He has established peace within your borders.” This is another subtle temptation presented to the soul in this life: wanting peace with the world, never displeasing anyone, feeling no temptations, being able to pray whenever it wants, contemplate whenever it pleases, fast as much as it wishes, and perform other spiritual and virtuous works in the same way. When the soul doesn't have this peace—as indeed it cannot, since that would contradict the supreme Truth, who says, “In the world you will have trouble, but in me you will have peace”—a person falls into impatience, doubt in the faith, hatred of virtue, self-destruction, and grumbling against God. Therefore, if desires like these come to mind, welcome them gladly and send them on to wait for you in eternal life, where they belong; for your present condition, however, refuse them. And if these desires still persist affectionately for a few days, approach them with fear, regard them with suspicion, and cry out for your salvation: “Come, pain with hardship; disgrace with death, stay here with me”; for, as Saint Paul says, we must enter the kingdom of heaven through many tribulations. That is why Saint James said, “My brothers, consider it pure joy whenever you encounter various trials.” “Woe to anyone who has no trials!” said the sweet and beloved Lord Jesus. Whoever seeks that kind of peace here will face everlasting war there; but whoever lives here as a good fighter will find peace and endless rest there. The citizens of heaven see directly, while we pilgrims see through a dim mirror.^✦ So if you sense that you're being visited in dreams, through mental images, bodily visions, or even new raptures, be on your guard, know yourself, and test the spirit to see whether it comes from God or from the angel of light in disguise.^✦✦71 Stay humble and avoid these experiences as much as you can, always more ready to suspect the serpent's cunning than to draw near in hopes of receiving new or divine revelations.^✦ Know, as you've read in another book dear and familiar to you, that no one puts faith in visions like these without being deceived by them. And if they do come from God, the more you humble yourself and consider yourself unworthy, the more they will increase. The more Moses and Jeremiah shrink from the gift of prophecy, the more fully it is given to them.^✦ Through this humility, send these gifts ahead of you into the blessed kingdom, and say with David, “Lord, let my portion be in the land of the living.”⁷² But if God should nevertheless make you a prophet here, then make sure you prophesy. But I say again: be on your guard, because I've seen many people deceived and placed in grave danger, while the opposite has never yet come to my attention. What remains between these two kinds of commerce is using your talents this way: once you receive them, put them to work earning a return until the Giver returns to give you more. Know that you won't receive more until you multiply the first gift by using it; as I've said, you'll lose what you received if you leave it idle. You can't reach a state of perfection unless you use what God gives you. He wants to lead you from one stage to the next, because “the action of an agent takes place in a suitably disposed recipient”—meaning that the work of anyone who acts requires a subject ready to receive it, just as a blacksmith first prepares the iron with fire and then strikes it with the hammer. If a grain of wheat didn't fall into the ground, it wouldn't die; if it didn't die, it wouldn't sprout; if it didn't sprout, it wouldn't be weeded; if it weren't weeded, it wouldn't grow; without growing, it wouldn't form an ear; without forming an ear, it wouldn't produce grain; and it wouldn't dry unless it had produced grain. How could it be harvested if it weren't dry? Or how could it be threshed if it hadn't first been harvested? The grain isn't cleaned until it has first been threshed, and it's cleaned before it's ground; no bread can be made from it unless it's ground. So devote yourself to making good use of whatever talent God gives you, until he returns to give you another. For instance, does he let you suffer disgrace? Practice humility through it until he restores your good name. Does he give you a temptation? Fight it with courage until he grants you peace. Does he allow an illness to come upon you? Make it fruitful through patience until it ends in either death or restored health. Does he call you to the work of the active life? Then work with charity until he brings you into the contemplative life. Has he brought you into the contemplative life? Practice it diligently until you reach his tranquility through it. Never look for anything else; just faithfully carry out the duty he’s given you, fulfilling it as completely and faultlessly as you can. Then you’ll grow and be given a more precious state. This is what he says to those who act in this way: “Blessed, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful in a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Believe it: from a servant you become a son.^✦ Conversely, to help you understand that you won't receive more unless you first use the lesser gift well, he says: “If someone has been unfaithful in a little, how can anything greater be entrusted to him?”^✦ Someone who handles one quattrino badly shouldn't be trusted with a florin. Understand from this that if you don't use your natural gifts fruitfully and keep them pure—such as the powers of soul and body—you won't receive spiritual gifts, which perfect the natural ones. If you don't guard your intellect, you won't receive wisdom from God; if you don't defend your will from corrupt loves, he won't send you his holy and sincere charity. He doesn't want to place his most precious treasures in rotten vessels or throw pearls before filthy swine. Therefore, to conclude the first question: “Guard your heart with all vigilance.” Watch over your mind and everything entrusted to you with the greatest care, so that you can truthfully say, “My soul is always in my hands, and I have not forgotten your law.” This concludes the first answer.