{ "meta": { "schema_version": "1.1", "endpoint": "/api/sources/rhineland-mystics/suso/vol-1-19-chapter-xx.json" }, "work": { "slug": "suso", "name": "Heinrich Suso" }, "parents": [ { "slug": "rhineland-mystics", "name": "Rhineland Mystics", "url": "/sources/rhineland-mystics/" } ], "chapter": { "num": 20, "slug": "vol-1-19-chapter-xx", "title": "Chapter XX.", "of": 51, "words": 2391, "text": "## Chapter XX.\n\nHow he broke himself from drink. \n\nAnother afflictive exercise, which he once \nadopted, was to limit himself to an exceedingly \nsmall measure of drink ; and that he might not \ntransgress this measure either at home or abroad, \nhe caused a little cup to be made of the exact \nsize, and carried it with him whenever he went \nout. In times of great thirst it was no more \nthan enough to cool his parched mouth, just \nlike what is given to refresh a sick person in a \nburning fever. For a long time he drank no \nwine at all, save only on holy Easter-day, and \nhe drank it then in honour of the high festival. \nOn one occasion, after he had long endured \ngreat thirst, and from a spirit of mortification was \nresolved not to quench his thirst with water or \nwine, he looked upwards to God in the excessive \nanguish of his soul, upon which God answered \nhim interiorly in this wise : — Mark and see how \nthirsty I was in My death-agony, with nothing \nbut a little vinegar and gall to drink; and yet \nall the cool fountains upon this earth were \nMine, for I have created them all, as well as \nall things else, and ordained them all for man's \nsupport. Wherefore thou also must endure \n\n\n72 LIFE OF BLESSED HENRY SUSO. \n\npatiently privation and want, if thou wouldst \nimitate Me. \n\nIt happened once before Christmas that the \nServitor had utterly renounced and put from \nhim all bodily comforts, and moreover had \ntaken upon himself three penitential exercises \nin addition to the ordinary practices which he \nhad long pursued. The first of these was, that \nhe remained after matins until daybreak stand- \ning on the bare stones before the high altar, \nand this too at a time when the nights were at \nthe longest, and the bell for matins rang very \nearly. The second practice was, that he avoided \ngoing to any warm place, either by day or night, \nand never warmed his hands over the chafing- \ndish at the altar ;* in consequence of which his \nhands became horribly swollen, because the \ncold at that time was exceeding great. When \ncompline was ended, he used to go, all cold as \nhe was, to sleep upon his bench, and after \nmatins he stood before the altar on the bare \nstones till daybreak. The third practice was \nto abstain altogether from drinking during the \nday, however great his thirst might be. He \n\n* It was the custom to place a chafing-dish upon the \naltar when the cold was very great, in order that the priest \nmight warm his fingers at it. \n\n\nHIS ABSTINENCE FROM DRINK. 73 \n\nonly drank in the morning at table, and at that \ntime he was not thirsty. When, however, it \ndrew towards evening, his thirst became so ex- \ncessive that his whole frame panted for drink ; \nnevertheless he bore it all perseveringly, though \nthe pain of it was bitter and intense. His \nmouth, inside and out, was as dry as that of a \nsick person in a distemper, and his tongue was \nso cracked that for more than a year afterwards \nit would not heal. When he stood in choir at \ncompline thus parched with thirst, and the holy \nwater was sprinkled around according to cus- \ntom, he would eagerly open his parched mouth, \nand gape wide towards the sprinkling-brush, in \nthe hope that a little drop of water might fall \nupon his dried-up tongue and cool it a little. \nAgain, when he used to push away the wine \nfrom him at the supper-table, all athirst though \nhe was, he would sometimes lift up his eyes and \nsay: — Ah, heavenly Father, receive this cool \ndrink as an offering of my heart's blood, and \ngive Thy Child to drink of it in that thirst \nwherewith He thirsted in His death-agony upon \nthe cross. Sometimes also, when he was very \nthirsty, he would go opposite the fountain and \ngaze at the tinkling water in the tinned basin, \nand then he would look upwards to God and \n\n\n74 LIFE QP BLESSED HENRY SUSO. \n\nsigh deeply. At other times he was so utterly \novercome by his sufferings that he would cry \nout from the depths of his heart : — Alas, O \neverlasting Good, how hidden are Thy judg- \nments ! Ah me ! that the broad lake of Con- \nstance is so nigh, and the clear Rhine flows all \naround me,* and yet one single drink of water \nis too dear for me to purchase ! This is indeed \na misery. \n\nThis state of things continued until the \ntime when the Gospel was read at Mass about \nhow our Lord God changed water into wine.. \nThat same Sunday night he sat in misery at \ntable, for through excess of thirst he had no \ndesire to eat. As soon as grace was read he \nhurried quickly to his chapel, for he was so \novercome with agony that he could no more \ncontain himself, and, bursting into a flood of \nbitter tears, he exclaimed : — O God, Thou alone \nknowest what sorrow and anguish of heart arc \nWherefore was I born into- this world so utterly \npoor and destitute that in the midst of all abun- \ndance I must endure such grievous need? While \n\n* The Dominican Convent in which Blessed Henry Suso> \nlived stood on a small island at the point where the Rhine \nflows out of the lake of Constance. It is now a manufac- \ntory. \n\n\nHIS ABSTINENCE FKOM DKINK. 75 \n\nhe was uttering these lamentations, it seemed to \nhim as though a voice spoke within his soul, \nsaying : — Be of good courage ; God will soon \nrejoice and comfort thee. Weep not, brave \nknight ; bear thyself well. These words brought \nfresh life to his heart, so that he stopped lament- \ning, and tried to leave off weeping altogether. \nBut the pain he suffered would not let him feel \nquite joyful, and his tears continued falling, \nthough something inwardly forced him to smile, \nas though at some pleasant adventure close at \nhand which God would ere long send him. In \nthis state he went to compline. His mouth \nsang while his heart trembled, and it seemed to \nhim the while that he should soon be recom- \npensed for all his sufferings. And so it came \nto pass not long afterwards, and even that very \nnight he received part payment in the follow- \ning manner : It appeared to him in a vision as \nthough our dear Lady, God's Mother, came to \nhim with the little Child Jesus in the form He \nwore on earth when seven years old. The \nChild carried in His hand a small goblet of \nfresh water. The goblet was glazed all over, \nand was a little larger than one of the convent- \nmugs. Then our dear Lady took the goblet in \nher hand, and gave it to the Servitor to drink. \n\n\n76 LIFE OF BLESSED HENRY SUSO. \n\nHe received it with great eagerness, and \nquenched his thirst to his heart's content. \n\nOne day as he was walking in the country, \nhe happened to meet, on a narrow pathway, a \npoor, respectable woman ; and when the woman \ndrew near him, he gave up to her the dry path, \nand went himself into the wet at the side, in \norder to let her go by. The woman, turning \nround, said to him : — Dear master, how comes \nit that you, a gentleman and a priest, give way \nso humbly to me, a poor woman, who ought \nmuch more fittingly to have given way to you ? \nHe replied : — Ah, dear woman, it is my cus- \ntom to pay willing deference and honour to all \nwomen for the sake of the gentle Mother of God \nin heaven. At this she lifted up her eyes and \nhands to heaven, and spoke thus : — I beseech \nthis same augnst Lady that you may not depart \nthis world until you have received some special \ngrace from her whom you honour in all of us \nwomen. He answered : — May the pure Maiden \nMary in heaven obtain me this. \n\nIt happened soon afterwards that, though \nthere was abundance of every kind of drink \nbefore him, he left the table, according to Ins \ncustom, with a thirsting mouth. That same \nnight, when he lay down to rest, there came \n\n\nOUR LADY GIVES HIM DRINK. 77 \n\nand stood before him, in a vision, a beautiful \nheavenly form, which thus addressed him : — It \nis I, the Mother, who gave thee to drink from \nthe little goblet the other night ; and, since thou \nart so exceeding thirsty, I will in pity give thee \nonce more to drink. To this the Servitor made \nanswer very wisely : — Ah, purest one ! but thou \nhast nothing in thy hand out of which to give \nme drink. She replied: — I will give thee to \ndrink of that healthful drink which flows from \nmy heart. He was so terrified at this that he \ncould not answer her, for he knew well how un- \nworthy of it he was. Then she said to him, \nwith great kindliness : — Inasmuch as Jesus, \nthe treasure of heaven, has come down so lov- \ningly into thy heart, and since thy parched \nmouth has so dearly earned this grace, I will \nbestow it on thee for thy special consolation; \nand it is not a corporeal drink which I will give \nthee, but a healthful, spiritual, and excellent \ndrink of real and true purity. Then he let it \nbe as she had said, and he thought within him- \nself : — Thou shalt now drink thy full, and be \nable to quench thy great thirst. When he had \nwell drunk of this heavenly drink, there re- \nmained something in his mouth like a little soft \nlump. It was white, and of the nature of \n\n\n78 LIFE OF BLESSED HENRY SUSO. \n\nmanna ; and lie kept it in his mouth for a long \ntime, as a voucher for the truth of what had \ntaken place. Afterwards, he hegan to weep \nfrom his very heart, and he thanked God and \nHis dear Mother for the great grace that they \nhad vouchsafed him. \n\nThat same night our dear Lady appeared to \na holy person in another town, and said : — Go \nand tell my Child's Servitor from me what is \nwritten of the great doctor, John Chrysostom \nof the golden mouth, how that one day, when \nhe was still a scholar, as he was kneeling be- \nfore an altar, on which the heavenly Mother \nwas represented in carved wood giving the \nChild in her arms to drink, as mothers do, the \nimage of the Mother bade her Child stop awhile, \nand allowed the afore-named scholar likewise to \ndrink from out her heart. This same grace \nthe Servitor also has received from me in a \nvision, and as a voucher for its truth, mark \nthis: that from this time forth the teaching \nwhich will proceed from his holy mouth will be \nmuch more fervent and pleasanter to hear than \nit has ever been before. When the Servitor \nheard this, he lifted up his hands, heart, and \neyes, saying : — Praised be the vein of the out- \nflowing Godhead, and praised beyond praise be \n\n\nOUR LADY GIVES HIM DKINK. 79 \n\nthe sweet Mother of all graces by me, poor \nworthless man, for this heavenly gift. \n\nThe same holy person made answer, saying: \n— One thing more I have to tell you. Know, \nthen, that our dear Lady, with her dear Child, \nappeared to me last night in a vision, and our \nLady had in her hand a beautiful drinking-vessel \nof water. The Child and the Lady spoke loving \nwords about you, and then she held the vessel \nof water to the Child, and prayed Him to pro- \nnounce His blessing over it. He pronounced \nHis holy blessing upon the water, and imme- \ndiately the water became wine; and He said: — \nIt is enough. My will is that the brother should \nno longer mortify himself by abstaining from \nwine. Let him henceforward drink wine for \nhis wasted frame's sake. From that time forth, \nnow that God allowed it to him, the Servitor \ndrank wine as he had done before. \n\nAt this same period, when the Servitor had \nbecome very ill, owing to the excessive burden \nof the afore-mentioned exercises which he had \nso long practised, our dear Lord appeared to a \nholy friend of God, holding in His hand a box. \nShe said to him: — Lord, what meanest Thou by \nthe box 1 He answered : — I mean to cure my \nServitor with it, for he is sick. Then our Lord \n\n\n80 LIFE OF BLESSED HENRY SUSO. \n\nwent to the Servitor with the box, and opened \nit, and in the box there was fresh blood. He \ntook out some of the blood, and spread it over \nthe Servitor's heart, so that it became all bloody, \nand after that He spread it over his hands and \nfeet and all his limbs. Upon this, she said to \nHim: — Ah, Lord! why dost Thou mark him \nthus? or is it Thy will to impress upon him Thy \nfive love-marks I He answered : — Yes. I will \nlovingly mark his heart and all his frame with \nsufferings, and I will heal him, and restore him \nto health, and I will make of him a man after \nMy whole heart. \n\nAt length, after the Servitor had led, from \nhis eighteenth to his fortieth year, a life of ex- \nercises, according to the outer man — such as \nhave been in part described above — and when \nhis whole frame was now so worn and wasted \nthat nothing remained for him except to die or \nleave off these exercises, he left them off; and \nGod showed him that all this austerity and all \nthese practices were nothing more than a good \nbeginning, and a breaking through his un- \ncrushed natural man ; and he saw that he must \npress on still farther in quite another way, if he \nwished to reach perfection. \n\n\nTHE SCHOOL OF TEUE DETACHMENT. 81", "project_translation": false, "text_trust": "verbatim", "quote_safe": true, "license": null, "methodology_url": null } }