Quis sit ordo voluntarius, et quis in eo servandus sit modus
The Voluntary Sacrifice
The voluntary order is introduced through the Psalmist's call to freewill sacrifice, understood as a burnt offering of the spirit that presses from grace toward greater glory.
Next, we must examine the voluntary order — the order the Psalmist speaks of: "Freely will I sacrifice to you" (Ps. 53). A voluntary sacrifice is indeed a freewill burnt offering, an acceptable gift — when someone, starting from what has been granted, presses on through what has been commanded toward the rewards of greater glory that are set before those who yearn for them, doing so with the freedom of the spirit.
Christ's Call to Perfection
Christ's invitations to sell all and to become eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven are presented as the summit of voluntary perfection.
It is to this summit of perfection that the Savior invites those who are more fervent: "If you wish," he says, "to be perfect, go and sell what you have, and give to the poor, and come, follow me" (Matt.✦ 19). And elsewhere: "There are eunuchs," he says, "who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."✦ Let anyone who can grasp this, grasp it."✦ .
Renunciation as Voluntary Sacrifice
Renunciation, chastity, and strict profession are voluntary sacrifices; even the necessity they impose is freely chosen and therefore remains voluntary, not coerced.
And so the renunciation of the world, the vow of chastity, and the profession of any stricter life are counted among voluntary sacrifices. For although, to someone looking back after renouncing the world, the entrance to the kingdom of heaven does not lie open; although after the vow of chastity any unlawful corruption of the flesh is forbidden; although after embracing a stricter rule of life it would be ruin to slide back into what is laxer — far be it from us, nevertheless, to refuse to count this perfection of life, which someone has undertaken voluntarily and not under coercion, among what is necessary and forced, and not rather among what is free and willing; since even that necessity itself, which no one imposed on an unwilling person, but to which that person freely submitted out of a desire for perfection, must be called voluntary, not coerced.1
Examining One's Strengths
One who aspires to perfection must first examine the standard of the vow and then weigh both inner strengths against temptation and outer strengths for bodily labor.
Whoever, then, has set out toward these lofty and sublime goals should first carefully examine the standard of his vow or resolution — what it consists of and how extensive it is; then let him weigh and discern, by the balance of experience, the strengths of his inner and outer self. By inner strengths I mean those with which a person fights daily against the battles of temptation through constant practice; by outer strengths, those with which he bears the burdens of bodily labor with tireless endurance.
The Two Labors and Their Proper Season
Bodily disciplines cleanse the soul from passion while spiritual exercises steep it in divine sweetness; the afflicted need outward discipline first, but once passions are quieted, spiritual exercises should intensify — always within the bounds of one's rule.
Now although the labor of both the inner and the outer self is necessary for anyone advancing toward any state of greater perfection, it is bodily disciplines that especially cleanse the soul itself from the stains of the passions; spiritual exercises, on the other hand, like heavenly spices, steep it in the sweetness of spiritual fragrances.2 Therefore, since the sweetness of spiritual anointing does not suit one still stained by the filth of vices — assuredly, for the person whom the passions of the flesh still assail, the outward affliction of the body is more necessary. But once those passions have been quieted or put to rest, it's all right to ease up a little on outward disciplines; the spiritual exercises themselves, however, should be pursued more intently and more fervently. But not in such a way that he presumptuously exceeds the standard of his profession, or destroys or blurs the distinctions of times that are laid down in the rule to which he has submitted himself; rather, keeping the appointed time for each task, let him apply himself within those boundaries — more gently or more fervently, as he knows is helpful to him.
Read the original Latin
Sequitur ordo voluntarius a nobis deinceps inspiciendus, de quo Psalmista : Voluntarie sacrificabo tibi (Psal. liii). Est quippe holocaustum gratuitum, acceptabilis hostia, sacrificium voluntarium; cum quis ab his quae concessa sunt, per ea quae praecepta sunt, ad ea quae potioris gloriae praemia suspirantibus proposita sunt, spiritus libertate contendit. Ad quod perfectionis culmen ferventiores quosque Salvator invitans : Si vis, inquit, perfectus esse, vade et vende quae habes, et da pauperibus : et veni, sequere me (Matth. xix). Et alias : Sunt spadones, inquit, qui se castraverunt propter regnum coelorum. Qui potest capere, capiat (ibid.) .
Itaque saeculi abrenuntiatio, castitatis propositum, cujuslibet acrioris vitae professio, inter voluntaria sacrificia computantur. Nam licet post saeculi abrenuntiationem retro respicienti regni coelorum non patescat ingressus ; post votum castitatis illicita sit quilibet carnis corruptio ; post arctioris vitae propositum ruina sit ad remissiora delabi; absit tamen, ut ista vitae perfectio, quam voluntarie subiit quis, non coactus, inter necessaria et coactitia, et non potius inter voluntaria numeretur; cum et ipsa necessitas, quam invito nullus imposuit, sed cui ipse se desiderio perfectionis sponte subjecit, voluntaria dicenda sit, non coactitia. Qui igitur ad haec excelsa, et sublimia sese contulerit, primo voti vel propositi sui normam, in quibus et in quantis constet, diligenter inspiciat; deinde interioris et exterioris hominis vires experientiae libra trutinet et discernat. Vires dico interiores, quibus contra tentationum bella exercitatione quotidiana confligat; vires exteriores, quibus corporalium laborum onera infatigabili longanimitate toleret. Licet autem in quemlibet statum proficienti necessarius sit et interioris et exterioris hominis labor; corporalia tamen ipsam animam specialiter a passionum sordibus diluunt; spiritualia autem exercitia, quasi quaedam coelestia aromata spiritualium eam odoramentorum suavitate profundunt. Proinde quoniam vitiorum squalore sordenti non congruit unctionis illa dulcedo : profecto ei quem adhuc carnis passiones impugnant, necessaria magis est hominis exterioris afflictio. Ipsis autem passionibus sopitis vel exstinctis, licet ab exterioribus modicum temperare; ipsa autem spiritualia instantius et ferventius exercere. Nec sic tamen, ut professionis suae normam praesumptuosus excedat, nec temporum distinctiones, quae in regula cui se subdidit praescribuntur, destruat vel confundat ; sed servato cuilibet operi tempore praestituto, in ipsis se vel sedatius vel ferventius, sicut utile sibi norit, exerceat.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.19.21 — Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
- ↩Matt.19.12 — For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to receive this, let him receive it.
- ↩Matt.19.12 — For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to receive this, let him receive it.
Notes
- 1 ↩The argument reframes monastic 'necessitas' (the binding obligation of vows) as itself voluntary because it was freely chosen — a key theological move that preserves the category of 'voluntary sacrifice' even under binding commitment.
- 2 ↩The metaphor of spiritual exercises as 'coelestia aromata' (heavenly spices/perfumes) steeping the soul draws on Song of Songs imagery; the contrast with bodily disciplines 'washing' (diluunt) the soul frames asceticism as purification and contemplation as perfume.
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