Greco-Christian stream·Rhineland Mystics·Heinrich Suso·Chapter XXXVII.

Chapter XXXVII.

Of the first lessons and examples which are suitable for a beginner, and how he should regulate his exercises with discretion.

At the first beginning of the Servitor's in- terior life, after he had purified his soul properly by confession, he marked out for himself, in thought, three circles, within which he shut himself up, as in a spiritual intrenchment. The first circle was his cell, his chapel, and the choir. When he was within this circle, he seemed to himself in complete security. The second circle was the whole monastery as far as the outer gate. The third and outermost circle was the gate; and here it was necessary for him to stand' well upon his guard. When he went outside these three circles, it seemed to him that he was in the plight of some wild-animal which is outside its hole, and surrounded by the hunt, and therefore in need of all its cunning and watchfulness.

He had, moreover, in his beginnings, made choice of a chapel as a place of retirement, in which he might satisfy his devotion by means of pictures. Now it should be observed that, in his youth, he had caused to be painted for him-

PICTURE OF THE ETERNAL WISDOM. 169

self, upon parchment, a picture of the Eternal Wisdom, who rules supreme over heaven and earth, and far surpasses all created things in ravishing beauty and loveliness of form; for which reason, when he was in the bloom of youth, he had chosen Wisdom for his beloved. He carried this lovely picture with him when he journeyed to the place of studies, and he always set it before him in the window of his oell, and used to look at it lovingly with heart- felt longings. He brought it back home with him on his return, and caused it to be trans- ferred to his chapel-wall as a token of affection. What other kinds of symbolical representations were there, bearing upon the interior life, and adapted to himself and other beginners, may be learned from the pictures and sayings of the ancient fathers painted on the walls. A part of these sayings, translated into the vulgar tongue, follows below, exactly as they were in- scribed upon the chapel : —

The ancient father Arsenius asked the angel what he must do to be saved. The angel an- swered : — Thou must flee, and be silent and sit still.

Afterwards, in a vision, the angel read these

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words to the Servitor out of the book of the ancient fathers : — A well-spring of all bliss is to keep thyself quiet and in solitude. Abbot Theodore. To keep thyself pure and spotless will advance thee more in knowledge than study will. Abbot Moses. Sit in thy cell : it will teach thee all things. Abbot John. Keep thy outward man still, and thy inward man pure. The same. A fish out of water and a monk out of his monastery will equally come to grief. Anthony. Bodily mortification, interior devo- tion, and seclusion from men beget chastity. The same. Wear no garment in which vanity can be discerned. The first battle of a beginner is boldly to resist sins. The Shepherd. Be wroth with no one, until he tries to pluck out thy right eye. Isidore. A wrathful man is displeasing to God, however great may be the miracles which he works. Ipericius. It is a less sin to eat meat when it should have been avoided than to backbite thy neighbour. Pior. It is very wicked to bring forward the sins of others, and to keep back our own. MAXIMS OF THE ANCIENT FATHERS. 171 Zacliary. A man must suffer great humilia- tions if he is to arrive at perfection. Nestor. Thou must first become an ass, if thou wouldst possess heavenly wisdom. An Ancient. Thou shouldst be immovable in weal and woe, like one dead. Helias. A pale complexion, a wasted body, and a lowly bearing beseem well a spiritual man. Hilarion. A wanton horse and an unchaste body should have their provender cut down. An Ancient. Take away from me wine, for the death of the soul lies hidden in it. The Shepherd. He who still complains, and cannot keep from anger and much talking, will never become a spiritual man. Cassian. As the dying Christ bore Himself upon the cross, so should our manner of life be fashioned. Anthony said to a brother: — O man, help thyself; otherwise neither God nor I will ever help thee. A woman besought the ancient father Ar- senius to remember her before God. He an- swered:— I pray God to blot out thy image from my heart. Macarius. I inflict many hardships on my body, because I have many temptations from it.

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John, the father, said: — I have never done my own will, and I never taught any thing in words which I had not first practised in deeds. An Ancient. Many words without deeds are vain; like the tree which bears many leaves, but no fruit. Nilus. He who must have much intercourse with the world must needs also receive many wounds. An Ancient. If thou canst do nothing else, keep guard at least over thy cell for God. Ipericius. He who keeps himself chaste will be honoured here, and crowned by God hereafter. Apollonius. Kesist beginnings, and stop the serpent by the head. Agathon. I have carried a stone in my mouth for three years, that I might learn silence. Arsenius. I have often repented of having spoken, but never of having kept silence. An ancient father was asked by a disciple how long he should keep silence. The father answered : — Until thou art asked a question. St. SyncUtica. If thou art sick, rejoice there- at, for God has been mindful of thee. Tlie same. If thou art sick, do not ascribe it to thy fasts, for those also fall sick who do not fast. MAXIMS OF THE ANCIENT FATHERS. 173 The same. If thou art tried by temptations of the flesh, rejoice, for thou mayest become a second Paul. Nestor, a good brother, said: — The sun never shone upon me eating. Another called John added : — Nor upon me angry. Anthony. The greatest virtue is to be able to observe moderation in all things. Paphnutius. It is no use to begin well, unless thou dost carry it through to a good end. Abbot Moses. Avoid whatever would deprive thee of purity of soul, however good it may appear. Cassian. The term of all perfection is at- tained, when the soul, with all its powers, is gathered up into one only object, God. The Servitor sent these examples and say- ings of the ancient fathers to his spiritual daughter, who drank them all in, and applied them to herself, as though he had meant her also to exercise her body with severe chastise- ments, after the austere fashion of the ancient fathers. And she began accordingly to mortify and torment herself with hair-shirts, and cords, and cruel bands set round with sharp iron nails, and many other such-like instruments of penance.

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But when the Servitor became aware of this, he wrote to her as follows : — Dear daughter, if thy purpose is to order thy spiritual life according to my teaching, as was thy request to me, cease from all such austerities, for they suit not the weakness of thy sex and thy well-ordered frame. The dear Jesus did not say, Take My cross upon you; but He said to each, Take up thy cross. Thou shouldst not seek to imitate the austerity of the ancient fathers, nor the severe exercises of thy spiritual father. Thou shouldst only take for thyself a portion of them, such as thou canst practise easily with thy infirm body, to the end that sin may die in thee, and yet thy bodily life may not be shortened. This is a very excellent exercise, and the best of all for thee. She wished to know from him why he him- self had practised such great austerities, and yet would not advise her or others to practise them. Upon this he referred her to the holy writings, saying : — It is written that, in former times, some among the ancient fathers led a life of such superhuman and incredible austerity, that the very mention of it is a horror to certain delicate persons of the present day; for they know not what burning devotion can enable a man, by the divine aid, to do and suffer for AUSTERITIES OF THE SAINTS. 175 God. One who is filled with such fervour finds all impossible things become possible of accomplishment in God; just as David says, that with God's help he would go through a wall (Ps. xvii. 30). It is also written in the book of the ancient fathers, that some of them did not treat themselves with such great severity as others did, and yet they were all striving to reach the self-same end. St. Peter and St. John had not the same training. Who can fully explain this marvel, unless it be that the Lord, who is wonderful in His Saints, wills, by reason of His high sovereignty, to be glorified in many different ways f Besides this, our natures are not all alike, and what is suit- able to one, suits not another. Therefore it must not be thought that, if perchance a man has not practised such great austerities, he will be thereby hindered from arriving at perfection. At the same time, those who are soft and deli- cate should not despise austerities in others, or judge them harshly. Let each look to himself, and see what God wants of him, and attend to this, leaving all else alone. Speaking generally, it is much better to be moderate rather than im- moderate in the practice of austerities. But as the mean is hard to find, it is wiser to keep a

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little under it, than to venture too high above it ; for it often happens that, if a man mortifies his bodily frame to excess, he will have afterwards to indulge it to excess ; though certainly many great Saints have forgotten themselves in this point through the fervour of their devotion. Such austerity of life, and the examples which have been mentioned, may be of use to those who are too tender with themselves, and to their own injury give too much rein to their rebellious bodies ; but this concerns not thee, nor the like of thee. God has many kinds of crosses with which He chastens His friends. I look for Him to lay another sort of cross upon thy shoulders, which will be far more painful to thee than these austerities. Accept this cross with patience when it comes to thee. Not long afterwards God afflicted the Ser- vitor's spiritual daughter with long and weary illnesses, so that she continued sickly in body until her death. She sent him word that it had come to pass with her as he had predicted. Upon which he wrote in answer thus: — Dear daughter, God has not only afflicted thee ac- cording to my words, but He has also wounded me in thee; for I have now no one left who will help me with the same diligence and godly VISION or ANGELS. 177 faithfulness to complete my little book, as thou didst when thou wert well. Therefore the Ser- vitor besought God earnestly on thy behalf, that it might be His good will to give thee back thy health ; and when God would not forthwith hearken to his prayer, he was angered against Him with a loving anger, and was minded that he would write no more books about the faith- ful God, and would likewise leave off his usual morning -greeting through ill-humour, unless God made thee well again. Now when he had sat down in the disquiet of his heart, according to custom, in his chapel, his senses were absorbed in ecstasy; and it seemed to him that a com- pany of angels came before him in the chapel, and sang to comfort him a heavenly song, be- cause they knew that at that time he was in peculiar sorrow; and they asked him why he looked so sad and did not sing with them. Then he told them how he had behaved in his excess to the dear God, because He would not hearken to his prayer for thy recovery. And they counselled him to desist from it, and not act thus ; for that God had ordained this sick- ness for the best, and it would be thy cross in this world, and through it thou wouldst earn great grace here, and a manifold reward in N

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heaven. Therefore be patient, my daughter, and receive it simply as a loving gift from the faithful God. Chapter XXXVHI. Of certain devout practices of a young beginner in his early years. Once upon a time the sick spiritual daugh- ter besought the Servitor, who had come to see her in her illness, to tell her something about spiritual things, not of too grave a kind, but yet such as a godly soul would hear with plea- sure. Upon which he told her about his devout practices in early life, in the following words : — As the Servitor was in his youth of a lively temperament, he made it a practice for a long time, whenever he was bled, to turn in spirit to God under the cross, and, lifting up his wounded arm, to say, with an inward sigh : — Ah, Friend of my heart ! remember that it is the way with lovers to go to their beloved ones at the time of blood-letting, in order that the new blood may be good. But Thou knowest well, dear Lord, that I have no beloved one save Thee alone, and therefore I come to Thee to bless my wound and make my blood good. YOUTHFUL DEVOTIONS. 179 At this same season of his youth, when his face was still in its fresh bloom and beauty of colour, it was his practice, as often as he shaved himself, to go to the Lord, and say : — Ah, sweet Lord, if my countenance and mouth were as rosy as the hue of all red roses, Thy Servitor would keep them for Thee, and give them to no one else ; and though Thou lookest only to the heart, and regardest little what is outward, nevertheless, dearest Lord, my heart offers Thee herein a love-token in testimony that it turns to Thee, and to none but Thee. When he put on a new tunic or cloak, he would first go to his usual place of prayer and beseech the Lord of heaven, who had provided him with this garment, to wish him luck and happiness in it, and to help him to wear it out in the fulfilment of His all-lovely will. Before this, in his childhood, it had been his custom, when the beautiful summer came and the tender flowrets first began to spring up, never to pluck or touch a flower until he had greeted with the gift of his first flowers his spiritual love, the sweet, blooming, rosy maid, God's Mother. When it seemed to him that the time for doing this had come, he picked the flowers with many loving thoughts, and, carry-

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ing tliem to his cell, made a garland of them ; and then he went into the choir, or into our Lady's chapel, and, kneeling down very humbly before our dear Lady, placed the garland upon her image, in the hope that, as she was the fairest of all flowers, and the bliss of summer to his heart, she would not disdain to accept these first flowers from her Servitor. Once upon a time, when he had thus crowned the all-lovely one, it seemed to him in a vision that heaven was opened, and he saw the bright angels ascending and descending in shining garments. He heard likewise in the court of heaven the blissful attendants singing the loveliest song which was ever heard. But chiefly they sang a song about our dear Lady, which rang so sweetly that his soul melted within him from excess of rapture, and it was like what is sung of her in the sequence on All- Saints day, " Illic regina virginum, transcen- dens culmen ordinum, etc. ;" which means, that the pure Queen soars high above all the heavenly host in honour and dignity. He too began to sing with the heavenly company, and it left behind in his soul a great savour of heaven and longing after God. Once, at the beginning of May, he had, YOUTHFUL DEVOTIONS. 181 according to Ms custom, placed with great de- votion a garland of roses upon his loveliest heavenly Lady ; and that same morning early, as he had come from a distance and was tired, he intended to allow himself a longer sleep, and to omit his usual greeting to the Virgin at the proper hour. Now when the time had come for him to greet her, as he was wont to do, and he should have got up, it seemed to him as if he were in the midst of a heavenly choir, and that they were singing the Magnificat in praise of God's Mother. When it was ended, the Virgin came forward, and bade the brother begin the verse, " O vernalis rosula, etc. ;" which signifies, O thou lovely little rose of summer. He thought within himself what she could mean by this, and yet, wishing to obey her, he began in joyous mood, " O vernalis ro- sula." Whereupon immediately three or four youths of the heavenly company, who were standing there in choir, began to sing with him, and then the rest of the choir took up the strain, as if in rivalry, and they sang so merrily, that the sound rang out as sweetly as if all stringed instruments were resounding there together. But his mortal frame could not bear this excess of melody, and he came to himself again.

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On the day after our Lady's feast of the Assumption, he was once more shown a vision of great joy in the court of heaven. But no one was allowed to enter in who was not worthy to be present there. Now when the Servitor was very anxious to press in, there came a youth who caught him by the hand, saying : — It is not for thee to enter in at present. Thou hast done wrong, and must expiate thy misdeed, before thou wilt be allowed to hear the song of heaven. Then he led him by a crooked path into an underground hole, which was dark and desolate, and very miserable to look at. The Servitor could not move in it either to the one side or to the other; but he lay there like a man in a dungeon, who cannot see either the sun or the moon. This was a sore suffering to him, and he began to bemoan and lament himself on account of his imprisonment. Soon afterwards the youth came back, and asked him how it fared with him. The Servitor answered: — Very ill. Then the youth said to him : — Know that the sovereign Queen of Heaven is angry with thee on account of the fault for which thou art lying here in prison. The Ser- vitor was greatly terrified at this, and said : — Woe is me ! utterly miserable that I am, what THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN. 183 have I done to her? He answered: — She is angry with thee for being so unwilling to preach about her on her festivals, and because yester- day on her great festival thou didst refuse thy superior's request, saying that thou wouldst not preach about her. The Servitor made answer: — Alas, my friend and master ! it seems to me in truth that she is worthy of far greater honour than what I can give her, and that I am of too little account to undertake this office. There- fore I yield it up to those who are old and worthy; for methinks they can preach more worthily about her than I, poor man, can. To this the youth replied : — Know that it pleases her to receive this honour from thee, and it is an acceptable service from thee in her eyes. Therefore refuse no more. The Servitor began to weep, and said to the youth : — Ah, dearest youth ! make my peace with the pure Mother, for I promise thee by my troth that it shall not happen again. The youth smiled, and consoled him lovingly, and led him home out of the prison, saying : — I have observed, from the kindly way in which the Queen of Heaven looked at and spoke of thee, that she will lay aside her anger against thee, and will always love thee with a mother's faithful love.

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It was the Servitor's practice when he left his cell, or returned to it, to pass through the choir before the Sacrament; for he thought within himself that he who has a very dear friend any where upon his road, is very glad to make his journey a little longer in order to hold some loving converse with him. A man once asked God to bestow upon him a heavenly carnival, as he did not wish for an earthly one from creatures. And while his senses were stilled in ecstasy, it seemed to him as if the dear Christ came in, under the form which He wore when He was thirty years of age, and signified to him that He would grant him his request, and make for him a heavenly carnival. Then He took a cup of wine in His hand, and presented it to three men, who were sitting there at table, one after the other. The first sank down powerless ; the second also became a little faint; but the third was not affected by it. Upon this the Lord explained to him the difference between a beginner, a pro- ficient, and a perfect man, — how unlike they are in the way in which they bear themselves in spiritual sweetness. When the Servitor had finished conversing with his spiritual daughter about these and HE DRAWS SINNERS TO GOD. 185 such-like divine endearments, she wrote it all down secretly, and then placed it in a box, which she locked up for concealment and security. Now one clay there came to her a good sister, to whom she had given the box in charge, saying : — Dear sister, what is this mar- vellous heavenly secret which thou hast in thy box ! I dreamed this night that there was in thy box a young heavenly boy, and that he had a sweet stringed instrument in his hands, from which he drew such ravishing spiritual melodies, that it filled many a one with spiritual delight. I pray thee bring forth for us what thou hast locked up, that we too may read it. But she kept silence, and would not speak to her about it, for it had been forbidden her.

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