{ "meta": { "schema_version": "1.1", "endpoint": "/api/sources/rhineland-mystics/suso/vol-1-31-chapter-xxxii.json" }, "work": { "slug": "suso", "name": "Heinrich Suso" }, "parents": [ { "slug": "rhineland-mystics", "name": "Rhineland Mystics", "url": "/sources/rhineland-mystics/" } ], "chapter": { "num": 32, "slug": "vol-1-31-chapter-xxxii", "title": "Chapter XXXII.", "of": 51, "words": 2467, "text": "## Chapter XXXII.\n\nHow his sufferings once brought him nigh to death. \n\nIt happened to him once during many \nnights, that the moment he awoke from sleep \nsomething began to repeat in him the psalm of \nour Lord's sufferings, \"Deus, Deus meus, re- \nspice in me\" (Ps. xxi.). This psalm was spoken \nby Christ on the gallows of the cross, when He \nwas forsaken in His distress by His Heavenly \nFather and by every one. The Servitor was \nstruck with consternation at this continual in- \nterior whispering when he awoke, and weeping \nbitterly, he cried to Christ upon the cross in \nthese words : — Alas, my Lord and my God ! if \nit be meet and necessary that I should once \nmore suffer a new crucifixion with Thee, accom- \nplish, I beseech Thee, Thy pure and innocent \ndeath in me, poor man, and be with me, and \nhelp me to come forth victorious over all my \nsufferings. \n\nWhen this cross arrived, as had been fore- \nshown him, sufferings of no ordinary kind, and \nof whose nature nothing is here said, began to \nincrease continually upon him, and to multi- \nply from day to day, until at last they became \n\n\n142 LIFE OF BLESSED HENRY SUSO. \n\nso great, and weighed down the sick man so \nheavily, that they brought him to the very ex- \ntremity of death. One evening when he was \naway from the monastery, and had gone to his \nbed to rest, there fell on him snch an utter pro- \nstration of strength, that he thought he must \nnow inevitably die of faintness, and he lay there \nquite motionless, so that there was no pulse in \nany of his veins. When this was observed by a \nfaithful and good-hearted man who tended him, \nand whom he had won to God at great cost to \nhimself, the man ran to him in bitter grief, and \npressed his hand against his heart, to try whether \nthere was still life there. But his heart was \nwithout movement, and beat no more than that \nof a dead man would. At this he sank to the \nground in great sorrow, and while the tears \nstreamed down his face, he cried aloud with \npiteous lamentations : — O God ! alas for this \nnoble heart, which many a day has borne Thee, \nO merciful God, so lovingly within it, and has \ntold of Thee so pleasantly by word and writing, \nin every land, to so many erring men for their \nconsolation — how has it perished to-day! O \nwhat evil tidings is it that this noble heart \nmust rot, and cannot live a long time yet for \nThy glory and the consolation of many ! Thus \n\n\nHE COMES NIGH TO DEATH. 143 \n\npiteously lamenting with streaming eyes, he \nbent over the Servitor and touched his heart \nand mouth and arms, to see whether he still \nlived or was dead. But there was no motion \nthere. His face was deadly white, his mouth \nblack, and all sign of life had vanished, as from \na dead man laid out upon his bier. This lasted \nas long as it would take to walk a mile. Mean- \nwhile the object of his soul's contemplation, \nwhile he lay thus in seeming death, was naught \nelse but God and the Godhead, the True and \nthe Truth, in indwelling everlasting oneness. It \nhappened, indeed, that before he became so very \nweak, and was carried out of himself in ecstasy, \nhe began to speak in his heart fond words to \nGod in this wise : — Ah, everlasting Truth, Thy \ndeep abysses are hidden from every creature. \nI, Thy poor Servitor, see clearly that there is \nnow an end of me, as my departed strength be- \ntokens. I speak now at my life's verge to Thee, \nmighty Lord, whom no one can deceive, because \nall things are manifest to Thee. Thou alone \nknowest how things stand between me and Thee. \nTherefore I seek grace of Thee, faithful heavenly \nFather; and wheresoever, alas, I have broken out \ninto unlikeness and deflection from the supreme \nTruth, I grieve for it, and repent me of it with \n\n\n144 LIFE OF BLESSED HENRY SUSO. \n\nall my heart, and I beseech Thee to blot it out \nwith Thy precious Blood, according to Thy gra- \nciousness and my necessity. Kemember that \nall the days of my life I have celebrated and \nexalted as highly as I could Thy pure and inno- \ncent Blood, and it must now at my departure \nwash me clean from all my sins. Oh, kneel \ndown, I entreat you, all ye Saints, especially \nthou, my kind and gracious lord, St. Nicholas, \nand lift up your hands and help me to beseech \nthe Lord for a good end. O pure, gentle, kind \nMother Mary ! reach me thy hand to-day, and \nat this my last hour graciously receive my soul \nbeneath thy shelter, for thou art my heart's joy \nand consolation. O Lady and Mother mine, into \nthy hands I commend my spirit. O dear Angels, \nbe mindful that, all my life through, my heart \nhas ever laughed within me, when I only heard \nyou named, and forget not how often }rou have \nbrought me in my sorrows heavenly joys, and \nguarded me from my foes. O gentle Spirits, \nit is only now that my greatest straits are come, \nand that I most need your help. Aid me, then, \nand shield me from the horrible si^ht 0f my \nfoes, the evil spirits. O Lord of heaven, I \npraise Thee for having bestowed on me at my \ndeath-hour such entire consciousness ; and I go \n\n\nHE COMES NIGH TO DEATH. 145 \n\nhence in the full Christian faith without a doubt \nand without fear ; and I forgive all those who \nhave ever made me suffer, as Thou upon the \ncross forgavest those who slew Thee. Lord, \nLord, Thy divine sacramental Body, which I \nreceived to-day at Mass, ill though I was, must \nbe my guardian and my convoy to Thy divine \ncountenance. My last prayer which I make now \nat this my end, gentle Lord of heaven, is for \nmy dear spiritual children, who whether by spe- \ncial bonds of faithfulness, or by confession, have \nlovingly attached themselves to me in this mis- \nerable world. O merciful God, as Thou at Thy \ndeparture didst commend Thy dear disciples to \nThy Heavenly Father, even so in that self-same \nlove let these be commended to Thee, and grant \nthem also a good and holy end. And now I \nturn myself away altogether from all creatures, \nand I turn me wholly to the pure Godhead, the \nprimal fountain-head of everlasting bliss. \n\nAfter he had held much discourse within his \nheart in this fond loving fashion, he was trans- \nported out of himself in ecstasy, and fell into \nthe faint described above. At length, when he \nand others fancied that he must have departed, \nhe came to himself again, and his affrighted \nheart began to revive, and his sick limbs to re- \n\nL \n\n\n146 LIFE OF BLESSED HENRY SUSO. \n\ncover strength, and he got well and returned to \nlife again, as before. \n\n\nChapter XXXLTL \n\nHow a man should offer up his sufferings to the praise and \nglory of God. \n\nWhen the suffering Servitor had deeply \nmeditated upon this long and weary warfare, \nand moreover had come to see in it God's hid- \nden marvels, he turned one day to God, sighing \ninwardly, and said: — Alas, Lord, these suffer- \nings are in their outward aspect like sharp thorns \nwhich pierce through flesh and bone. There- \nfore, gentle Lord, cause some sweet fruit of \ngood instruction to issue forth from these sharp \nthorns of sufferings, that we, poor men, may \nsuffer more patiently, and be better able to offer \nup our sufferings to Thy praise and glory. \n\nAfter he had continued for a long time ear- \nnestly beseeching God for this, it came to pass \none day that he was rapt in ecstasy, and his \nbodily senses being abstracted, it was sweetly \nsaid to him within his soul : — I will show thee \nto-day the high nobility of My life, and how a \n\n\nHOW TO SUFFER FOR GOD. 147 \n\nsufferer should offer up his sufferings to the \npraise and glory of the loving God. \n\nAt these sweet interior words his soul was \nmelted within him, and his bodily senses being \nstilled in ecstasy, the arms, as it were, of his \nsoul stretched themselves forth, out .of the un- \nfathomable fulness of his heart to the far-off \nends of the universe, even to heaven and earth ; \nand he thanked God with a boundless heartfelt \nyearning, saying: — Hitherto, O Lord, I have \npraised Thee in my musings with the aid of all \nthat is pleasant and delightful in all creatures ; \nbut now I must joyously break forth into a new \nsong, and a strange kind of praise, which I knew \nnot before, since I have only now come to know \nit by suffering. And it is this : I pray from \nmy heart's bottomless depths that all the sorrow \nand pain wThich I have ever suffered, as well as \nthe woes and agonies of every human heart, the \nsmarts of all wounds, the anguish of all the sick, \nthe groans of all sad souls, the tears of all weep- \ning eyes, the misery of all the oppressed, the \ndistress of all needy widows and orphans, the \npining want of all the poor and hungry, the out- \npoured blood of all martyrs, the crushing of self- \nwill in all who are young and blooming, the \nafflictive exercises of all God's friends, and all \n\n\n148 LIFE OF BLESSED HENRY SUSO. \n\nthe secret and open pains and sorrows, which I \nor any other poor sufferer ever endured in body, \ngoods, or honour, in weal or woe, or which any \none will ever have to suffer from now to dooms- \nday,— all these I pray may he an everlasting \nsource of praise to Thee, O Heavenly Father, \nand an eternal honour to Thy only-begotten \nsuffering Son from everlasting to everlasting. \nAnd I, Thy poor Servitor, desire to-day to be \nthe faithful representative of all sufferers who \nperchance have been unable to turn to full ac- \ncount their sufferings, by patient thanksgiving \nand praise of God for them ; and I wish in their \nplace to offer up their sufferings in praise of \nGod, however they may have borne them ; and \nI now offer them up to Thee in their stead, just \nas if I myself alone had suffered them all in my \nbody and in my heart, as it is my heart's wish \nto do ; and I tender them- all this day to Thy \nonly-begotten suffering Son, that they may be \nan everlasting praise to Him, and that the suf- \nferers may be comforted, whether they are still \nhere in this vale of sorrow, or in the next world \nin Thy hand. \n\nO all ye who suffer with me, look at me and \ngive ear to what I say to you ! We, poor mem- \nbers, ought to console ourselves and rejoice in \n\n\nHOW TO SUFFER FOR GOD. 149 \n\nour venerable Head, God's lovely only-begotten \nSon, that He lias suffered for us, and never \npassed one pleasant day on earth. Behold ! if \nthere is only one rich man in a poor family, the \nwhole family rejoices in him. Ah, venerable \nHead of us all, Thy members, be gracious to us, \nand where through human frailty true patience \nfails us in any affliction, do Thou make it up \nfor us before Thy Heavenly Father. Bethink \nThee how Thou earnest once to the help of one \nof Thy servants, and when his courage was all \nbut failing him through suffering, Thou saidst \nto him : — Be of good cheer and look at Me. I \nwas noble and poor ; I was tender and in misery ; \nI was born from out the fulness of all joys, and \nyet I was full of sorrow. Therefore, as valiant \nknights of our imperial Lord, let us not lose \nheart; as noble followers of our venerable Leader, \nlet us be of good cheer, and rejoice to suffer; for \nif there were no other profit and good in suffer- \ning, than that we became more like the fair \nbright mirror Christ, the more closely that we \ncopied Him in this, our sufferings would be well \nlaid out. It seems to me in truth, that even if \nGod meant to give the same reward hereafter \nto those who suffer and to those who do not suf- \nfer, we ought still to choose suffering for our lot, \n\n\n150 LIFE OF BLESSED HENRY SUSO. \n\nwere it only to be like Him ; for love produces \nlikeness and devotion to the beloved, so far as \nit can and may. But oh ! how dare we pre- \nsume to take upon ourselves that we ought to \nresemble Thee, O noble Lord, in our sufferings! \nThy sufferings and our sufferings how unlike \nthey are ! O Lord, Thou alone art the sufferer \nwho hast never deserved to suffer. But where is \nhe, alas, who can pride himself that he has never \ngiven cause for sufferings I For if on the one \nhand he is guiltless in that for which he suffers, \non the other he deserves punishment on other \ncounts. Therefore we place ourselves, I mean \nall we who have ever suffered, in a great wide \nring round and round; and we place Thee, our \ndear gentle Lover, in the midst of us, even in the \nring of us suffering mortals, and we spread out \nfar and wide our thirsty veins with great long- \ning towards Thee, the rich outbursting foun- \ntain of all grace. Behold and marvel. Just as \nthe earth which is most cracked with drought \ntakes in best the stormy streams of watery rain, \neven so we heavily-laden men, the more guilty \nwe are towards Thee, the more closely do we \nclasp Thee to us with outspread hearts, and \nour longing desire is that, come what may, ac- \ncording to the promise of Thy divine mouth, we \n\n\nTHE REWARDS OF SUFFERING. 151 \n\nmay be washed in Thy streaming and trickling \nwounds, and be set free thereby from every \nsin ; for all which Thou shalt receive everlasting \npraise and honour from us, and we shall obtain \ngrace from Thee, since all unlikeness will be \nremoved from us by Thy almightiness. \n\nAfter the Servitor had remained sitting with- \nout movement for a long time, during which \nall this was revealed to him with great solem- \nnity in the innermost interior of his soul, he \nrose up joyfully and thanked God for the grace \nwhich he had received.", "project_translation": false, "text_trust": "verbatim", "quote_safe": true, "license": null, "methodology_url": null } }