Quod pax non est ponenda in hominibus.

The Unstable Peace of Human Attachment

Placing one's peace in any person leads to instability, but turning to the abiding Truth frees the heart from grief at loss.

Son, if you place your peace in some person because of your feelings toward them or your life together, you'll be unstable and unable to find rest. But if you turn instead to the Truth who always lives and remains, a friend's departure or death won't grieve you.

Loving Others in Christ

All human love should be rooted in Christ, for without Him no friendship is lasting or truly pure.

A friend's love should rest in me, and anyone who has seemed good to you and very dear in this life should be loved for my sake. Without me friendship is worth nothing and won't last; and that love isn't true and pure which I don't bind together.

Dying to Human Comfort

The soul must be detached from even beloved companions, for closeness to God requires withdrawal from earthly comfort, and self-abasement is the path to rising toward Him.

You ought to be so dead to the affections you feel for beloved people that, as far as it depends on you, you'd choose to live without any human companionship. The more a person draws near to God, the farther they withdraw from every earthly comfort. The more deeply a person descends into themselves and grows worthless in their own eyes, the higher they rise toward God.

The Humble Heart as Vessel of Grace

Self-attribution blocks grace, but total self-annihilation and emptiness of created love opens the soul to God's abundant inflow.

But whoever attributes some good to himself hinders the grace of God from being found within him, because the grace of the Holy Spirit always seeks a humble heart. If you knew how to annihilate yourself completely and empty out every created love, then I would be able to flow into you with great grace.¹²

The Cost of Disordered Love

Fixing one's gaze on creatures obscures the Creator, and even a small disordered attachment holds the soul back from the highest good.

When you look back at creatures, your gaze at the Creator is taken away from you. Learn to overcome yourself in all things for the sake of the Creator; then you'll be able to reach divine knowledge. However small it may be, if anything is loved or regarded in a disordered way, it holds you back from the highest good and corrupts you.³

Read the original Latin

Fili, si ponis pacem tuam cum aliqua persona propter tuum sentire vel convivere, instabilis eris et implacatus. Sed si recursum habes ad semper viventem et manentem veritatem, non contristabit te amicus recedens aut moriens. In me debet amici dilectio stare, et propter me diligendus est quisquis tibi bonus visus est, et multum carus in hac vita. Sine me non valet, nec durabit amicitia; nec est vera et munda dilectio, quam ego non copulo. Ita mortuus esse debes talibus affectionibus dilectorum hominum, ut quantum ad te pertinet sine humano optes esse consortio. Tanto homo magis Deo appropinquat, quanto ab omni solatio terreno longius recedit. Tanto etiam altius ascendit ad Deum, quanto profundius in se descendit, et plus sibi ipsi vilescit.

Qui autem aliquid boni sibi attribuit, gratiam Dei in se invenire impedit: quia gratia Spiritus sancti cor humile quærit semper. Si scires te perfecte annihilare, atque ab omni creato amore evacuare, tunc deberem in te cum magna gratia emanare. Quando tu respicis ad creaturas, subtrahitur tibi aspectus Creatoris. Disce te in omnibus propter Creatorem vincere: tunc ad divinam valebis cognitionem pertingere. Quantumcumque modicum sit, si quid inordinate diligitur et respicitur, retardat a summo bono, et vitiat.

Notes

1 ↩deberem: the subject is uncertain — possibly 1st person ('I ought to') spoken by Christ, or impersonal ('it ought to'). Rendered as 1st person to preserve the direct-address voice of Book 3, but the grammar is ambiguous.
2 ↩annihilare and evacuare are strong verbs of self-emptying; rendered literally to preserve the ascetical force. cum magna gratia: cum here is instrumental ('with great grace'), not temporal.
3 ↩quantumcumque modicum sit: concessive subjunctive, rendered 'however small it may be.' inordinate: 'disorderedly' — rendered as 'in a disordered way' to capture the moral-theological sense of inordinate attachment.