Greco-Christian stream·Beguine Mystics·The Mirror of Simple Souls·Section XIV

Section XIV

This is Section XIV of the Porete Mirror project translation. The whole of Division XVIII is in scope. Three chapters, each carrying a different kind of meditation:

• Chapter I — Marguerite contemplates the abundance of grace given to the Virgin Mary from the womb of her mother; the Crucifixion as the naked Jesus setting right what naked Adam set wrong; the soteriological calculation that the smallest drop of Christ's blood would have sufficed to redeem a hundred thousand thousand worlds, and yet the abundance of his blood was poured out in anguishous measure; closes with the catalogue of seven beholdings profitable for the marred soul: the apostles, the Magdalene, John the Baptist, the Virgin Mary, the Incarnation, Christ's torments, the seraphim's will-conformity.
• Chapter II — Marguerite's own beholdings in this aforesaid life: the long antiphonal opposition between God's might / wisdom / bounty and the Soul's feebleness / foolishness / wickedness. One of the most rhetorically structured passages in the entire Mirror: each divine attribute is mirrored by a creaturely deficit, without beginning, without comprehending, without end, in three-fold parallel. The chapter closes with the cognition-symmetry: as much as I comprehend of my feebleness ... so much I comprehend of your might.
• Chapter III — the privy speech that she had to God in her meditation — Marguerite's extended if it pleased him sequence. The Soul lays before God a cascading series of theological-imaginative hypotheticals: if I had never been; if you would give me as great torments as you are mightful to avenge yourself; if I were even as you are and should be without falliaunce; if I had of me as much of worthiness as you have of yourself… and in each case she would lay all this in him and go to naught rather than withhold anything from him. The Soul refuses the gift of being itself — at the prayers of the humanity of Christ and of the saints and of the Virgin Mary — unless it comes from God's pure bounty and sole will.

No M.N. signed glosses fall in this section. Two M.N. glosses remain (in later divisions).

The same conventions apply: light modernization with archaic verb endings and pronouns normalized; Marguerite's technical vocabulary preserved (annihilated, Simple, the personified speakers); formal LLM-as-judge deferred per session-budget.

Division XVIII

Chapter I — Of what abundance of grace our blessed Lady had in the womb of her mother; and of certain beholdings that are convenient for the marred, to come to the being that this book speaks of

O Lady Mary, that are the vessel that more perfectly were fulfilled of divine light, right in the womb of your mother, than were the twelve apostles the day of Pentecost, when they gathered the abundance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost! O blissful Lady, it was needful to you to be so — for I hold of God his Son, that if he had found in you as much vanity as the quantity of a wrinkle in a kerchief, of necessity he had never made of you his mother. Lady, it may not be that you had been his mother. And this may not be but that you were it indeed.

I behold this Lady at the cross, in the presence of her Son's death — where the naked Adam did the wrong, the naked Jesus Christ has it: this which Jesus Christ set things better to rights than that which the former set wrong. And this has this Lady thereof: one, she is the mother of this Saviour.

Lady, what would your thought think of them for this? Lady, what said you to them, for that there was in them cruelty? Lady, what did you to them, for works of forfeit that they did? Lady, if it had been need, you had for them that very time given your life, rather than they should not have had forgiveness of God of that misdeed. But nay — for Jesus Christ made this accordance, so abundantly, so anguishously.

Why so abundantly? For sooth it is, that as much of his blessed blood as would have stood upon the point of a needle had been sufficient to have bought an hundred thousand thousand worlds, if there had been so many worlds. This he gave for us with such right-great abundance, for he will rob me by this, and separate me of myself, to make me live of divine pleasure.

Why so anguishously? For this — that I hold that if all diseases of deaths and of other torments that have been, or shall be, in reasonable creatures from the time of Adam unto the time of Antichrist — and all these miseases aforesaid were in one creature — truly it were but a point of the misease that Jesus Christ had in his worthy precious body, by one of his pains, without more — for the unbinding of his tenderness and cleanness.

And then this I beheld: how the divine nature oned him for us to the nature of man in the person of God the Son. Ah, ah, what a thing it is to think of! Who durst ask this, unless his own bounty had made it — that Jesus Christ should be poor and despised and tormented for us? What marvel is it? He might not withhold himself from this work, for the support of love by which he loved us constrained him thereto, forasmuch as he had taken the nature of man, by which he might do this. How might he have done this? But that the divine nature took nature of man, oneing him thereto in the person of God the Son.

This is thought right enough for us, to be disencumbered all the days of our life — if we will suffer the right work in us. I have not suffered it to do in me this work; for he would have made me free in this point, if I had heard him as soon as he had given me this thought of him. But I would not. Who shall wholly restore the hideousness of this loss? My opinion became a foolishness to me; for besides that I thought to find my works naught, did I but lose.

And then this I beheld: how he that is God and man was despised on earth in the nature of mankind shamefully for me; and the great poverty that he took for me, I beheld; and the grievous death that he suffered for me. In these three points be all that is made comprised, without comprehending.

O Truth, Way, and Life, what is this for us to think of? Lord, this is a greater thing, to embrace our hearts in the love of you by thinking on one of your benefits that you have done for us, than were all the world and the heaven and the earth, if they were set on fire to destroy one body.

And then I beheld his great purity and truth. Then Truth said to me, that I shall not see the divine Trinity until my soul be all so clean without spot of sin, as is the soul of Jesus Christ. And the soul of Jesus Christ was glorified in that very time that it was made of the divine Trinity, and oned to mortal body and to divine nature in the person of the Son, in the same moment that she was made; and oned and knit to these two natures as perfectly as it is now at this time. Since that his soul was oned to his divine nature, it might not be that the body that was mortal might do sin.¹

And then I beheld who these should be that should ascend to heaven. And Truth said to me this: that none shall ascend but he only that should reflect² the Son of God himself — that is to say, that none may ascend but they only that are God's sons by divine graces, of whom he said: this is my brother, my sister, and my mother — he that does the will of God my Father.³

And then I beheld the Seraphim, and asked of them for what cause were done the works that charity did, of the Incarnation of the manhood of Jesus Christ, or of this that the divine Trinity made them, and of all that he shall do, without end, in creature of his bounty.

And Love told me it was but all solely for one thing — and that is, that the divine will of all the Trinity would it. This is a sweet beholding, and profitable, to them that behold it, and to disencumber them of themselves to approach this being that we have spoken of.

Now we have seven beholdings that are for the marred profitable enough:

1The first is of the apostles.

2The second is of the Magdalene.

3The third is of John the Baptist.

4The fourth is of the Virgin Mary.

5The fifth: how the nature divine is oned to the nature of mankind in the person of the Son.

6The sixth: how the manhood of Christ Jesus was tormented for us.

7The seventh is of the Seraphim — how they are in the divine will.

Chapter II — Of the beholdings that this Soul had in this aforesaid life

Now I shall tell you the beholdings that I had in this life that is aforesaid. I beheld him in me, and me in him; and willed great wills for him. I praise me of these three above all things, howsoever it may be that these folks be of little peace who in will and in desire dwell.

I said thus, in the meantime that I knew not how to suffer it; and this beholding yielded me manner:

O Lord, I know not what this comprehends — your great everlasting might, your great everlasting divine wisdom, your great everlasting divine bounty. And this I say as for me: I know not what you are; for I know not your everlasting might, your everlasting wisdom, your everlasting bounty.

Nor I know not what I am; for I know naught of my passing⁴ feebleness, of my passing foolishness, of my passing wickedness.

Lord, you are one bounty by bounty outpoured, and all in you; and I am one wickedness by wickedness all outpoured, and all in me.

Lord God, you are all thing — thus is all thing made by you, and nothing is made without you. And I am naught — thus is all thing made without me.

Lord, you are all might, all wisdom, and all goodness, without beginning, without comprehending, without end. And I am all feebleness, all foolishness, and all wickedness, without beginning, without comprehending, without measure.

Lord, you are one only God in three persons; and I am one only enemy in three mischances.⁵

Lord, you are Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost; and I am feebleness, foolishness, and wickedness.

Lord, how much comprehend I of your might, of your wisdom, and of your goodness? As much as I comprehend of my feebleness, of my foolishness, and of my wickedness.

Lord God, how much comprehend I of my feebleness, of my foolishness, and of my wickedness? As much as I comprehend of your might, of your wisdom, of your goodness. And if I might comprehend one of these two natures, I should comprehend both. This is the measure.

And for as much as I know naught of my wickedness as compared to that which it is, I know not of your goodness as compared to that which it is. And yet that little that I know of my wickedness, it has given me the knowing that I have of your goodness. O Lord God, truly it is little — so little that it may not be said — for it is naught as in regard of the other part. And therefore you are, and none but you. All your truths grant it you in me.

Chapter III — How the beholding of the goodness of God and of her wretchedness sent this Soul to meditation; and of the privy speech that she had to God in her meditation

And then this I beheld, between the wickedness of me and between the goodness of him: what thing I might do, to appease me to him. This put me in meditation, by reasonings on one side in consenting of will, without receiving of God's favours.⁶

And then I said thus: that if it might be that I had never been, so that I had never misdone against his will — if it pleased him, it would be my pleasure.

And then I said to him: that if it might be that he would give me as great torments as he is mightful, to avenge himself of my defaults — if it pleased him, it were my pleasure.

And then after I said thus to him: that if it might be that I were even as he is, and should be without falling — and with this I should suffer as much of poverty and of despites and torments as he has of bounty, of wisdom, and of might — so I had never done against his will — if it were his pleasing, it were my pleasure.

And then I said to him: that if it might be that I had of me as much of worthiness as he has of himself, so that it might not be taken from me, nor diminished, unless I alone willed it myself — I should lay all this in him, and go to naught, ere I might anything withhold that came not to me from him. And though it might be that I might have all this aforesaid, I might not do it, to hold anything that came not to me from him.

And then I said this: that if I had of my proper condition this aforesaid, I should love better and rather choose that it went to naught without recovering, than that I should have it unless it came of him. And if I had as great torments as he is of might, I should love better these torments, if they came of him, than I should glory that came not of him — even were I to have it everlastingly.

And then I said to him: rather than I should henceforward do thing that were against his pleasing, it were more in my choice that his manhood should suffer on the cross as much as he has suffered of torments for me, if it might be — I say this — for this rather than that I should do thing that were his displeasure.

And then I told him that if I knew that all that he has made of naught, and all other things (be it understood) must go to naught, except I misdid against his will — it should go to naught of my choice, rather than that I misdid.

And then I told him that if I knew that I should have as much of torment without end as he has of goodness, unless I misdid against his will, I should choose rather to go suffer those pains everlastingly, than that I should do thing that I knew should displease his will.

And then I told him that if it might be that he could and would give me by his will as much of goodness as he has of worth everlastingly, I should not love it but for him. And if I lost it, I should not take account thereof but for him. And if he yielded it me again after this loss, I should not take it but for him. And if it might better please him that I went to naught and had naught of being, than that I should take this gift of him, I should love more that I went to naught.

And if it might be that I had the same that he has in him, as well as he has of him, with the assurance that it should never fail if I would — and I knew that it might better please him that I suffered as much torment of him as he has of goodness in him — I should love it better than to dwell in that glory. And though I knew that the sweet manhood of Christ Jesus, and the Virgin, and all the court of heaven might not suffer that I had the torments everlastingly, but rather that I had the being that I was come from — and God sees this in himself (if it might be, this pity of them, and this good will) — and thus says to me: "If you will, I shall yield you that which you are come from, by my will, for this that my friends of my court will it; but were it not their will, you should not have it; wherefore I yield you this gift, if you will take it" — it should fall in my choice, rather without end to dwell in torment, than I should take it, since I had it not of his sole will. So I would refuse it at the prayers of the humanity, and of the saints, and of the Virgin Mary; I might not suffer it, unless I had it of the pure love that he has to me, for me, of his pure bounty, and of his sole will, and love that a beloved has to his lover.⁷

And then I said to him: that if I wist it might more please him that I loved another more than him — here me faileth wit; thus it goes; this I feel not might nor will to grant. But I answered that I should take counsel with myself.

And then I said this: that if it might be that he might love another more than me — here me faileth wit; I cannot answer, nor will, nor grant it.

And then this I said to him: that if it might be that he might will that another loved me more than he loves me — here me faileth also wit; I cannot answer, no more than before; but always I said that of all that I should take counsel. And right so I did.⁸

I took counsel from himself, and told him that these three things were right hard — more than the other were before — namely that I should love another more than him, and he another more than me, and that another should love me more than he. Wit failed me here, for I might not to none of these three things grant my will; and always he assailed me for to have an answer; and so much I loved myself together with him, that I might not for nothing have discretion in this; and thus I was in distress. So went I not lightly away. This wits none, unless he have assayed this point. And always I might have no peace, unless I answered to this aforesaid.

Ah! I still loved myself — this had me — therefore I might not lightly answer. And if I had not loved myself, the answer had been swift and light. And always it behoved me to answer, if I would not lose myself in him — for which mine heart suffered so great distress.

Translator's footnotes (project translation)

¹ Since that his soul was oned to his divine nature, it might not be that the body that was mortal might do sin. The doctrine of the Christ's sinlessness in the technical scholastic register: because the soul of Christ was united (oned) to the divine nature from the moment of its creation, the body's mortality was not joined to any capacity for sin. The point is technical Thomistic-Bonaventurian, and Marguerite states it precisely. Compare Aquinas, Summa III q. 15 art. 1 (Christus non habuit peccatum originale).

² Reflect — Kirchberger's modernization of M.N.'s roth alight, glossed in the Latin marginalia as elucidavit ("made bright, gave light to"). Marguerite's meaning: only those who give light to / reflect the Son of God himself shall ascend; that is, only those in whom the Son shines.

³ Matthew 12:50 / Mark 3:35. Marguerite's prooftext for the spiritual-kinship doctrine: those who do the Father's will are Christ's brothers, sisters, and mothers.

⁴ Passing — Middle English idiom for "exceeding," "going beyond." M.N./Kirchberger's text uses it throughout this chapter to indicate the passing (transcendent) quality of both the divine attributes and the creaturely deficits.

⁵ Mischances — M.N.'s rendering of Marguerite's Old French mescheance (the Latin marginalia gives miseriis — "miseries, calamities"). Marguerite's Trinitarian-antithetical formula: one God in three persons / one enemy in three mischances — a striking inversion that gives the antitheology of the Soul-as-foe a strict Trinitarian counterstructure.

⁶ Kirchberger's editorial note flags this clause as a very corrupt passage. The Middle English of M.N.'s manuscripts is fragmentary here; the sense is approximately Marguerite went into meditation, reasoning with herself in consent of will, without receiving God's consolations in return. The meditation that follows is the famous if-it-pleased-him sequence.

⁷ Kirchberger's editorial note: "the Soul cannot express fully the painful sacrifice she perceives; possibly the sentence is left unfinished, and it is to be understood that now God asks these things of her when she says 'I said to him.'" The closing of chapter III is one of the most extraordinary moments in the Mirror: Marguerite refuses the gift of being itself — even with the support of all the saints and the Virgin Mary — unless it comes from God's pure bounty and sole will. Compare Bernard's De Diligendo Deo, where the fourth degree of love is to love oneself only for God's sake; Marguerite presses the doctrine further, refusing even existence itself unless it comes from him alone.

⁸ The three unfinished questions — that I loved another more than him; that he might love another more than me; that another loved me more than he loves me — are the structural turning point of the entire Soul's spiritual itinerary in the Mirror. Marguerite has, up to this point, granted every escalating hypothetical (if it pleased him that I had never been; if he gave me as great torments; etc.) — but Love's three questions break her, and the breaking is what makes Division XIX's martyrdom of will and love legible. The three-fold here me faileth wit is the only place in the Mirror where she names her own breakdown, and the enéantissement (annihilation) is grounded in the moment the will encounters the question it cannot answer. Source: Kirchberger 1927, lines ~3163–3181 of the M.N. text. Kirchberger's editorial gloss on the unfinished sentences modifies the I took counsel from himself passage above, identifying it as the point where Marguerite herself is no longer sure whether she or God is speaking.

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