That this maner of praier pleseth moche God, and maketh a man to have him as he were
The Sword of Divine Love
The author describes the intense, transformative power of contemplative prayer that wounds the soul with love and detaches the heart from worldly desires.
is drunk, and wounds his soul with the sword of love.1 This kind of prayer greatly pleases God, for it is only in the affection of the heart, and therefore it never goes away empty-handed without some grace. As I mentioned before, this prayer belongs to the second part of contemplation. Anyone who has this gift from God must, for that time, flee the presence and company of others and be alone so that they are not hindered. Anyone who has it should hold onto it while he can, for it cannot last long in that fervor. For if grace comes plentifully, it is wonderfully hard work for the spirit, even though it is pleasing; and it greatly wears down the body's nature in whoever uses it much, for if grace comes mightily, it makes the body stir and turn this way and that like a man who is mad or drunk and can find no rest. This is a form of the passion of love, which by great force and mastery breaks down all lusts and pleasures in earthly things; it wounds the soul with the blissful sword of love so that the body fails, falls down, and cannot bear it. This touch is of such great power that even the most vicious or fleshly person on earth, if they were once well and mightily touched by this sharp sword, would be thoroughly sated and sober for a long while afterward, and would loathe all the delights and lusts of the flesh and all earthly things in which they had once taken the most pleasure.
Read the original Latin
dronken, and maketh his soule to be woundid with the suerd of love.
This maner of praier mykil pleseth God, for it is oonli in the affeccion of the herte, and therfore it goth nevere awey unsped withoutin sum grace. This praier longeth to the secunde partie of contemplacioun, as I have bifore seide. Whoso hath this gift of God ferventli, hym bihoveth for the tyme flee presence and cumpanye of alle men and to be alone that he be not lettid. Whoso hath it, holde it while he may, for it mai not longe laste in the fervour. For yif grace come plenteuousli, it is traveilous wondirfulli to the spirit, though it be likande; and it is mykil wastande the bodili kynde, whoso mykil useth it, for it maketh the bodi, yif grace come myghtili, for to stire and turne heer and theer as a man that were mad or dronken and can have noo reste. And this is a poynt of the passion of love, the whiche bi grete violence and maistrie breketh doun alle lustis and likynges of alle ertheli thinges, and it woundeth the soule with the blisful swerd of love, that the bodi faileth and falleth doun and mai not bere it. This touchynge is of so grete myght that the moste vicious or fleschli man lyvand in erthe, yif he were wel touchid ones myghtili with this scharp suerd, he schulde be right saad and sobre a grete while after, and lothe alle likynges and the lustis of the fleisch, and of alle ertheli thinges whiche he hadde bifore most likynge inne.
Notes
- 1 ↩The printed section begins mid-clause with 'dronken,' and almost certainly continues the chapter's opening claim (title/prior clause): that this manner of prayer makes a person seem as if he were drunk. Rendered from the supplied fragment only; subject of 'maketh' is the manner of prayer in context.
Scala Perfectionis (The Scale of Perfection) 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