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  "work": {
    "slug": "suso",
    "name": "Heinrich Suso"
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      "slug": "rhineland-mystics",
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  "chapter": {
    "num": 23,
    "slug": "vol-1-22-chapter-xx-iii",
    "title": "Chapter  XX  III.",
    "of": 51,
    "words": 615,
    "text": "## Chapter  XX  III.\n\nOf  interior  sufferings. \n\nAmong  his  various  sufferings,  there  were \nthree  interior  ones  which  caused  him  great  tor- \nment. One  of  these  was  impious  imaginations \nagainst  the  faith.  Thus,  there  would  come \ninto  his  mind  the  thought : — How  was  it  pos- \nsible for  God  to  become  man,  with  many  other \nthoughts  of  that  kind.  The  more  he  fought \nagainst  them,  the  more  perplexed  he  became. \nGod  suffered  him  to  remain  under  these  temp- \ntations about  nine  years,  during  which  he  ceased \nnot  with  wailing  heart  and  weeping  eyes  to \ncry  to  God  and  all  the  Saints  for  help.  At  last, \nwhen  God  deemed  that  the  time  was  come,  He \nset  him  entirely  free  from  them,  and  bestowed \nupon  him  great  steadfastness  and  clearness  of \nfaith. \n\nThe  second  interior  suffering  was  an  inordi- \nnate sadness.  He  had  such  a  continual  heavi- \nness of  spirit,  that  it  was  as  if  a  mountain  lay \nupon  his  heart.  A  partial  cause  of  this  was, \nthat  his  turning  away  from  creatures  to  God \nhad  been  carried  out  with  such  excessive  speed \nand  severity,  that  his  bodily  frame  had  suffered \nH \n\n\n98  LITE  OF  BLESSED  HENRY  SUSO. \n\ngreatly  from  it.      This  trial  lasted  for  eight \nyears. \n\nThe  third  interior  suffering  was  a  tempta- \ntion which  assailed  him,  that  it  would  never  be \nwell  with  his  soul  hereafter,  but  that  he  must \nbe  damned  eternally,  no  matter  how  rightly  he \nshould  act,  or  how  many  spiritual  exercises  he \nshould  practise ;  for  all  this  would  be  of  no \navail  to  place  him  among  the  saved,  and  it  all \nseemed  to  him  lost  labour  from  the  beginning. \nHis  mind  was  saddened  with  this  thought  day \nand  night ;  and  when  he  had  to  go  into  choir, \nor  to  do  any  other  good  work,  the  temptation \npresented  itself: — What  does  it  profit  thee  to \nserve  God?  Then  he  would  say  to  himself, \nvery  mournfully  : — Surely  there  is  nothing  but \na  curse  for  thee.  Never  will  it  be  well  with \nthee.  Give  it  all  up,  then,  betimes.  Thou  art \nlost,  do  what  thou  wilt.  Then  he  would  think \nwithin  himself: — Alas,  utterly  wretched  that  I \nam,  whither  shall  I  betake  myself?  If  I  quit \nthe  Order,  hell  will  be  my  lot ;  and  if  I  remain \nin  it,  nothing  but  misery  awaits  me.  Alas,  Lord \nGod !  was  there  ever  a  man  worse  off  than  I \nam?  Sometimes  he  would  stand  deep  sunk \ninto  himself,  and  groan  many  times  heavily, \nwhile  the  tears  ran  down  his  cheeks.     Then  he \n\n\nINTERIOR  SUFFERINGS.  99 \n\nwould  beat  his  breast  and  say : — Alas,  O  God ! \nam  I  then  never  to  be  saved?  Oh!  what  a \nmournful  thing  is  this !  Must  I  be  miserable \nhere  and  hereafter  ?  Woe  is  me,  that  I  ever \ncame  forth  from  my  mother's  womb. \n\nThis  temptation  fell  upon  him  through  an \ninordinate  fear.  It  had  been  told  him  that  his \nadmission  into  the  Order  had  been  connected \nwith  the  bestowal  of  temporal  goods,  and  from \nthis  comes  the  sin  called  simony,  which  consists \nin  the  purchase  of  something  spiritual  with \nsomething  temporal.  What  he  heard  sunk \ndeep  into  his  heart,  until  at  length  he  was \nquite  overpowered  by  the  anguish  that  it  caused \nhim. \n\nAfter  this  terrible  suffering  had  lasted  about \nten  years,  all  which  time  he  never  looked  upon \nhimself  in  any  other  light  than  as  one  damned, \nhe  went  to  the  holy  Master  Eckart,  and  made \nknown  to  him  his  suffering.  The  holy  man \ndelivered  him  from  it,  and  thus  set  him  free \nfrom  the  hell  in  which  he  had  so  long  dwelt. \n\n\n100  LIFE  OF  BLESSED  HENRY  SUSO.",
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