Greco-Christian stream·Beguine Mystics·The Brieven (Letters) of Hadewijch·Section I

Section I

First section of a planned multi-section project translation of Hadewijch's Brieven — her thirty-one prose-Letters, addressed to one or more younger Beguines under her direction, and the most directly-personal body of work in the corpus. Where the Visioenen are apocalyptic-visionary, the Strofische Gedichten and Mengeldichten are verse, the Brieven are spiritual-direction letters in prose: counsel, doctrine, exhortation, and at moments striking personal confession. Modern scholarship (Van Mierlo, Reynaert, Mommaers) considers the Brieven Hadewijch's most-cited and most-influential work — they are the canonical Beguine spiritual-direction document and a direct source for Ruusbroec's later prose.

Section I covers Letters I, II, and III:

• Letter I — opens with the famous prayer-of-blessing: God who clarified the bright Love which was unknown — by his virtue, by which he illuminated all virtue in the brightness of his Love — may he illuminate and clarify you with the clear brightness with which he himself is bright. The middle gives Hadewijch's compressed Trinitarian-doctrinal teaching (the three names in their one only being gather all virtues); the close turns to the famous autobiographical-bitter passage: Ah, God knows, I held him very hard for lord, and demanded little more than what he himself willed. But what he offered, I would gladly have taken in fruition, had he been willing to help me. ... But now I have been led like one to whom something is offered for play; and when he reaches for it, one beats it on the hand and says "Godsat have him who would dare," and keeps what one offered him.
• Letter II — the programmatic counsel Letter. Be glad always in hope of attaining Love; be on your guard and at peace in all things. The famous Beguine-pastoral-counsel passage: Be ready to all who need you ... be glad with the glad, weep with the weeping, suffer-with those who need you, be earnest with the sick, generous with the needy, and one-in-the-spirit outside of all creatures. The middle contains the striking abyss-of-hell passage: if we knew how dear to God [the suffering] is, it would be inopportune to us — for then we would have no misery; for he who knew that the will of God favored it would gladly be by his will in the abyss of hell. The Letter closes with the famous two-kinds-of-spiritual-support teaching: how one mature soul may underbear (sustain) another by Love's mediation.
• Letter III — short Letter on the heavenly habits: God be with you. I pray you by the right virtue and troth which God himself is — that you think at all hours of the holy virtue which he himself is, and which he was in his habits when he lived as man. The famous Christ-imitation passage: Ah, sweet Love, now we live as humans; now think of the noble works for which he was so ready to every one, each at his need. Closes with the canonical touching-the-side image: Hereby one touches him at the side, where he himself cannot defend himself — for that is by his own work, and by his Father's will who commanded him, and which he fulfilled. And that is the Holy Spirit's messenger-bearing. Then Love gives heavenly wonder to know in many wonders.

Same conventions as the Visioenen and other prose project translations. Minne rendered as Love (capitalized when personified); sinne footnoted on first occurrence. Below the 5K-word judge threshold; self-review only. Letters IV–XXXI planned in subsequent sub-pilots.

Letter I

I.

In nomine Domini.¹

God who the bright Love which was unknown clarified by his virtue, by which he illuminated all virtue in the brightness of his Love — may he illuminate and clarify you with the clear brightness with which he himself is bright, and all his friends and his nearest beloved-ones. The very greatest brightness one can have on earth is truth in present works of righteousness; and to practice truth from all beings for the brightness of the noble Love which is God. Ah, how great a brightness it is, to let God have his way with his brightness. There Love works himself and all creatures, each according to his right, that his goodness may bear witness to itself in giving with righteousness in brightness.

Therefore I beg you as a friend his dear friend, and admonish you as a sister her dear sister, and bid you as a mother her dear child, and command you of your Beloved as bridegroom commands his dear bride: that you open the eyes of your heart clearly, and behold yourself in God holily. Learn to see what God is — how he is truth of all things present, and goodness of all riches flowingly, and wholeness of all virtue wholly — for which one sings thrice Sanctus in heaven, because the three names in their one only being gather all virtues, which are out of these three beings their office.

See how fatherly God has guarded you, and what he has given you, and what he has promised you. Behold how high Love is for the one with the other, and thank him with Love. Will you behold this — how God is this, and works in him in his brightness, joyfully in glories, and showingly in brightnesses to illuminate all things and to darken according to their being: because this is God, therefore one shall let him enjoy himself in all his works of his brightness, sicut in caelo et in terra; always with words and works to say fiat voluntas tua.

Ah, dear child — so much as his mighty power is more clarified in you, so much the more is his high will done in you; and so much the more clearly his clear truth shines in you; so do not spare to lack sweet rest for the great wholeness of God. Clarify your being and adorn yourself with virtues and with right works. Widen your sinne² with high desire of the wholeness of God, and order your soul toward the great fruition of the all-mighty Love of our too-sweet God.

Ah, dear child — although I say too sweet, that is to me over-unknown except in the wish of my heart, that suffering has been sweet to me for the sake of his Love. But to me he has been crueler than ever the devil was to me; for he could never take from me to love him, nor any one whom he commanded me to advance. But he has taken myself away from me. What he is, that he himself consumes in his sweet fruition; and lets me thus wander outside that fruition, and lets me ever sorely over-burdened with Love for the sake of fruition; and lets me darken-from-fruition of all the joys that should be for my good.

Ah, poor — that very thing which he offered and had given me toward worthiness of fruition of right Love — that he has now thus let fare, as you in part well know. Ah, God knows: I held him very hard for lord, and demanded little more than what he himself willed. But what he offered, I would gladly have taken in fruition, had he been willing to help me. At first it was grievous enough to me, and he let me beg much before I reached for it. But now I have been led as one to whom something is offered for play: and when he reaches for it, one beats it on the hand and says, Godsat have him who would dare — and keeps what one offered him.

Letter II

II.

Now mark all the things in which you have erred — with self-will, with sadnesses without need. But this is true (I know it well): one often grieves to whom his is lacking, and who then does not know whether it is nearing or receding to him; that is well right. But the rightly-believing shall know that the goodness of his Beloved is greater than his stumbling. One shall not grieve for suffering, nor long for rest. One shall for all things-toward-all give up, and renounce all rest. Be glad always in hope of attaining Love; for if you desire Love toward God perfectly, you shall desire no matter of rest other than only Love. Be upon your guard, and at peace from all things. Do well in all things, but care not for any gain, nor for blessedness, nor for damnation, nor for preservation, nor for torment: but all things do and leave for Love's honor's sake.

Hold you so, and you shall soon recover. And though you seem dull before the people — there is much truth in it. Be welcoming and ready to all who have need of you. And to every person do his peace, where you may fulfill it without your lowness. Be glad with the glad, and weep with the weeping; and patient with those who have need of you, and earnest to the sick; and generous to the needy; and one-in-the-spirit, outside of all creatures. And when you in all things do the best that you may — the manhood must often stumble — so let yourself upon the goodness of God, that his goodness is greater than your stumbling. And work always in trust true virtue, and be earnest and constant, ever without sparing, to work the counsel of our Lord and his dearest will in all that you may know, with labor, with careful examining of meditations, to know yourself in all.

And live so to God — of this I pray you — that you do not fail of those great works to which he has called you. Do not omit it by any light works, I pray you and counsel. For you have great matters about which you may take occasion before God; for he has guarded you from all occasions, if you will guard yourself, so that you have it graciously well-done, if you will recognize it. And in the full, you have little enough of suffering with which to grow great. Just as you owed God right-doing, just as you sometimes gladly did.

Though you sometimes feel misery of heart — as though you were forsaken by him — therefore do not despair of yourself. For I tell you truly, that all the misery one suffers with good will toward God is pleasing in the whole nature of God. But if we knew how dear that is to God, it would be inopportune to us; for so we would have no misery; for he who knew that the will of God favored it — he would gladly be by his will in the abyss of hell. And he might nevermore go forward nor grow if he could taste no pain. He who knew that it was pleasing to God in his works — he would not grieve over whatever happened to him.

You are still young and have great need to grow up, and it suits you much better, if you would walk the way of Love, that you seek labor and labor in her honor, than that you would feel of her. But you shall serve her as one who ever wills to be in her worthy service. And for that you shall not spare honor nor shame, nor torment of earth nor of hell, even if by it you may attain to it that you serve her here worthily, by laboring worthily for her — in hours, in keeping rule, in all your service, without willing or receiving rest. And if you came into rest in any thing other than the same God — namely, that he shall be your being in fruition (whether-it-be the thing) — therein you shall gladly wander until the time when God lights you and gives you power with that being, to practice Love and enjoy in her being where she with herself is Love and is enough.

Serve fairly, and will nothing else, and shrink from nothing else; and let Love freely have her way with herself, for Love repays in full, even though she often comes late. By no doubt nor by any ill-success shall you leave off working virtues. Nor by ill-success shall you despair that you yourself shall not recover toward God. Neither shall you doubt of this nor yet believe, nor men, nor saints, nor angels — yes, even by tokens — for you were called early. And also your heart well feels at times that you are chosen, and that God has begun to underbear your soul in trust. Give yourself so perfectly to it, that he may make you complete. And nevermore desire that any human-being shall underbear you in heaven nor on earth — that is so mighty. Except as I may tell you: you are underborne by God, and you shall will to be underborne by him with might, and not any longer with doubting fear. Except this alone — one must always fear that one is too little to Love in service for her worthiness. This fear fills the human with Love, so that he feels so near, and is so storm-driven with earnestness, that it seems to him he has done Love enough, and that Love helps him too little and loves him less than the worthiness of his service.

Then all the while is this fear absent, when one accuses Love with infidelity. All other fears than this you shall do away with, and take this to you in all her coming and her going. The pain that is commanded you from God, gladly suffer through-and-through; so shall you hear the hidden counsel from him, as Job says of him: To me is spoken a hidden word.

There are two kinds of underbearing by humans, that humans underbear humans. The one is that they underbear the sinners in their fall. Some humans become at times so wounded by caritas that he must renounce God in his fruition and in his delight for the sake of the sinners who are in sins, so that he would rather lack his Beloved unless he have assurance that the sinners do not despair of God's mercies. Thus does caritas make the human underbear humans. The second underbearing is: some human whom God recognizes as so healthy in suffering and in caritas, that God does not spare him, when he finds him so mighty of full reason in himself, that he does not over-rest himself, nor with himself himself sink down into his sweetness — so that he would rather lack all that he should have from God, than that God should withhold the sinners. Then there are some sinners who have fier nature of high being, and who have corrupted themselves and so wounded themselves that they have no recovery themselves toward God. Yet God is so kind to them that he commands to the one whom he has found mighty — to underbear those gone astray from his side, and to lead them to his way, where one perfectly loves.

Such underbearing you have not to do. For you began early and have not denied God by your being; so he shall himself well lead you to his being, if you let yourself to him. But I tell you whereby you may be underborne: follow the demand of your heart, living one-only in God. There no one lives more friendly than the one whom you therein find or believe or feel beautifully dwelling, and led-near-in, and walking mightily without failing. This one is above you. Him you may follow and be underborne by, without your lowness. Will you obtain all that is yours — so you shall give yourself up in trust to God altogether, to become what he is. And for Love's honor's sake, you shall renounce yourself enough, to be purely obedient in all that to the master-perfection belongs — in doing, in leaving. To that you must remain humble and un-exalted from all your works which you may fulfill, and so wise with eager perfect caritas — all things of earth-and-of-heaven to feed, just as to right caritas belongs in orders. In this you may be perfected and attain to that which is yours, if you will.

Letter III

III.

God be with you. I pray you by the right virtue and troth which God himself is, that you think at all hours of the holy virtue which he himself is, and which he was in his habits when he lived as man. Ah, sweet Love, now we live as humans; now think of the noble works for which he was so ready to every one, each at his need. And after that, think of the sweet nature of Love that he is now, and which is so awesome to behold of wonder.

Ah Wisdom leads very deep into God. Therefore there is no certainty of living but only by deep Wisdom, to attain him. Ah, that he is ever un-touched and so deep to attain — may he have mercy on it, that so few now stand after him, or torment themselves with hardship or with strength of burning works to attain to who-the-wonder is, and what he practices with Love. Heavenly habits one should here learn for a great part, and practice them — which would withdraw enough of earthly habits by Love's bond, and which had enough of heavenly zeal toward God, and of fruition-Love toward humans in all things they have need of.

The greatest need of Love and Love's first un-leisure — those I practice first; so does the brotherly Love that lives in the caritas of Jesus Christ. She underbears the brotherly Love — whatever it may be — in glads or in sorrows, in strengths or in goods, in service or in counsel, in comfort or in threats. Hereto be your strength ever ready toward him, so that God has nothing here to say-against.

Hereby one touches him at the side, where he himself cannot defend himself.³ For that is by his own work, and by his Father's will, who commanded him this, and which he fulfilled. And that is the Holy Spirit's messenger-bearing. Then Love gives heavenly wonder to know, in many wonders.

Translator's footnotes (project translation)

¹ In nomine Domini — Latin, In the name of the Lord. The opening Latin formula of the entire Brieven-corpus. The manuscripts head the Brieven Epistole Haywigis (the Letters of Hadewijch) — Haywigis being the Latinized form of Hadewijch. The Latin name Haywigis (sometimes Heilwigis) is the form by which Hadewijch's name appears in the Latin liturgical and theological literature of the Low Countries.

² Sinne — see Section II of the Strofische Gedichten project translation, footnote 1. The Middle Dutch sinne is the integrated faculty of understanding-feeling-willing-together — not the modern English senses of perception. We render it here uniformly as sinne (italicized) where Hadewijch uses the technical term.

³ One touches him at the side, where he himself cannot defend himself — Hadewijch's signature compressed image. The side refers to John 19:34 (the lance-pierced side of Christ on the cross), which she here transposes into the Beguine doctrine of brotherly caritas as the work-of-Christ-the-Father-fulfilled-in-the-Spirit: by serving the needy brother, one touches Christ at the wound in his side, where he is given (cannot defend himself) — for that is precisely the work that his own death has performed. The image is taken up later in the corpus, notably in the Visioenen. The doctrinal kernel is the convergence of imitatio Christi with the Pauline doctrine that whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done to me (Mt 25:40) — translated into the Hadewijchian register of touching the side.

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