DESCRIBES THE HIDEOUS APPEARANCE OF A SOUL IN MORTAL SIN AS REVEALED BY GOD
TO SOME ONE: OFFERS A FEW REMARKS ON SELF-KNOWLEDGE: THIS CHAPTER IS USEFUL AS
IT CONTAINS SOME POINTS REQUIRING ATTENTION. AN EXPLANATION OF THE MANSIONS.
1. Effects of mortal sin. 2. It prevents the soul's gaining merit. 3. The
soul compared to a tree. 4. Disorder of the soul in mortal sin. 5. Vision of a
sinful soul. 6. Profit of realizing these lessons. 7. Prayer. 8. Beauty of the
Castle. 9. Self-knowledge 10. Gained by meditating on the divine perfections.
11. Advantages of such meditation. 12. Christ should be our model. 13. The devil
entraps beginners. 14. Our strength must come from God. 15. Sin blinds the soul.
16. Worldliness. 17. The world in the cloister. 18. Assaults of the devil. 19.
Examples of the devil's arts. 20. Perfection consists in charity. 21. Indiscreet
zeal. 22. Danger of detraction.
1. BEFORE going farther, I wish you to consider the state to which mortal
sin
1 brings this
magnificent and beautiful castle, this pearl of the East, this tree of life,
planted beside the living waters of life
2
p. 46
which symbolize God Himself. No night can be so dark, no gloom nor blackness
can compare to its obscurity. Suffice it to say that the sun in the centre of
the soul, which gave it such splendour and beauty, is totally eclipsed, though
the spirit is as fitted to enjoy God's presence as is the crystal to reflect the
sun.
3
2. While the soul is in mortal sin nothing can profit it; none of its good
works merit an eternal reward, since they do not proceed from God as their first
principle, and by Him alone is our virtue real virtue. The soul separated from
Him is no longer pleasing in His eyes, because by committing a mortal sin,
instead of seeking to please God, it prefers to gratify the devil, the prince of
darkness, and so comes to share his blackness. I knew a person to whom our Lord
revealed the result of a mortal sin
4 and who said she thought no one who realized its effects
could ever commit it, but would suffer unimaginable torments to avoid it. This
vision made her very desirous for all to grasp this truth, therefore I beg you,
my daughters, to pray fervently to God for sinners, who live in blindness and do
deeds of darkness.
3. In a state of grace the soul is like a well of limpid water, from which
flow only streams of clearest crystal. Its works are pleasing both to God and
man, rising from the River of Life, beside which it is rooted like a tree.
Otherwise it would produce neither leaves nor fruit, for the waters of grace
p. 47
nourish it, keep it from withering from drought, and cause it to bring forth
good fruit. But the soul by sinning withdraws from this stream of life, and
growing beside a black and fetid pool, can produce nothing but disgusting and
unwholesome fruit.
Notice that it is not the fountain and the brilliant sun which lose their
splendour and beauty, for they are placed in the very centre of the soul and
cannot be deprived of their lustre. The soul is like a crystal in the sunshine
over which a thick black cloth has been thrown, so that however brightly the sun
may shine the crystal can never reflect it.
4. O souls, redeemed by the Blood of Jesus Christ, take these things to
heart; have mercy on yourselves! If you realize your pitiable condition, how can
you refrain from trying to remove the darkness from the crystal of your souls?
Remember, if death should take you now, you would never again enjoy the light of
this Sun. O Jesus! how sad a sight must be a soul deprived of light! What a
terrible state the chambers of this castle are in! How disorderly must be the
senses--the inhabitants of the castle--the powers of the soul its magistrates,
governors, and stewards--blind and uncontrolled as they are! In short, as the
soil in which the tree is now planted is in the devil's domain, how can its
fruit be anything but evil? A man of great spiritual insight once told me he was
not so much surprised at such a soul's wicked deeds as astonished that it did
not commit even worse sins. May God in His mercy keep us from such great evil,
for nothing in this life merits the name of evil in comparison with
p. 48
this, which delivers us over to evil which is eternal.
5. This is what we must dread and pray God to deliver us from, for we are
weakness itself, and unless He guards the city, in vain shall we labour to
defend it.
5 The
person of whom I spoke
6 said that she had learnt two things from the vision granted
her. The first was, a great fear of offending God; seeing how terrible were the
consequences, she constantly begged Him to preserve her from falling into sin.
Secondly, it was a mirror to teach her humility, for she saw that nothing good
in us springs from ourselves but comes from the waters of grace near which the
soul remains like a tree planted beside a river, and from that Sun which gives
life to our works. She realized this so vividly that on seeing any good deed
performed by herself or by other people she at once turned to God as to its
fountain head--without whose help she knew well we can do nothing--and broke out
into songs of praise to Him. Generally she forgot all about herself and only
thought of God when she did any meritorious action.
6. The time which has been spent in reading or writing on this subject will
not have been lost if it has taught us these two truths; for though learned,
clever men know them perfectly, women's wits are dull and need help in every
way. Perhaps this is why our Lord has suggested these comparisons to me; may He
give us grace to profit by them!
7. So obscure are these spiritual matters that to
p. 49
explain them an ignorant person like myself must say much that is
superfluous, and even alien to the subject, before coming to the point. My
readers must be patient with me, as I am with myself while writing what I do not
understand; indeed, I often take up the paper like a dunce, not knowing what to
say, nor how to begin. Doubtless there is need for me to do my best to explain
these spiritual subjects to you, for we often hear how beneficial prayer is for
our souls; our Constitutions oblige us to pray so many hours a day, yet tell us
nothing of what part we ourselves can take in it and very little of the work God
does in the soul by its means.
7 It will be helpful, in setting it before you in various
ways, to consider this heavenly edifice within us, so little understood by men,
near as they often come to it. Our Lord gave me grace to understand something of
such matters when I wrote on them before, yet I think I have more light now,
especially on the more difficult questions. Unfortunately I am too ignorant to
treat of such subjects without saying much that is already well known.
8. Now let us turn at last to our castle with its many mansions. You must not
think of a suite of rooms placed in succession, but fix your eyes on the keep,
the court inhabited by the King.
8 Like the kernel of the palmito,
9 from which several rinds
p. 50
must be removed before coming to the eatable part, this principal chamber is
surrounded by many others. However large, magnificent, and spacious you imagine
this castle to be, you cannot exaggerate it; the capacity of the soul is beyond
all our understanding, and the Sun within this palace enlightens every part of
it.
9. A soul which gives itself to prayer, either much or little, should on no
account be kept within narrow bounds. Since God has given it such great dignity,
permit it to wander at will through the rooms of the castle, from the lowest to
the highest. Let it not force itself to remain for very long in the same
mansion, even that of self-knowledge. Mark well, however, that self-knowledge is
indispensable, even for those whom God takes to dwell in the same mansion with
Himself. Nothing else, however elevated, perfects the soul which must never seek
to forget its own nothingness. Let humility be always at work, like the bee at
the honeycomb, or all will be lost. But, remember, the bee leaves its hive to
fly in search of flowers and the soul should sometimes cease thinking of itself
to rise in meditation on the grandeur and majesty of its God. It will learn its
own baseness better thus than by self-contemplation, and will be freer from the
reptiles which enter the first room where self-knowledge is acquired. Although
it is a great grace from God to practise self-examination, yet 'too much is as
bad as too little,' as they say; believe me, by God's help, we shall advance
more by contemplating the
p. 51
[paragraph
continues] Divinity than by keeping our eyes fixed on ourselves,
poor creatures of earth that we are.
10. I do not know whether I have put this clearly; self-knowledge is of such
consequence that I would not have you careless of it, though you may be lifted
to heaven in prayer, because while on earth nothing is more needful than
humility. Therefore, I repeat, not only a
good way, but the
best
of all ways, is to endeavour to enter first by the room where humility is
practised, which is far better than at once rushing on to the others. This is
the right road;--if we know how easy and safe it is to walk by it, why ask for
wings with which to fly? Let us rather try to learn how to advance quickly. I
believe we shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavouring to know
God, for, beholding His greatness we are struck by our own baseness, His purity
shows our foulness, and by meditating on His humility we find how very far we
are from being humble.
11. Two advantages are gained by this practice. First, it is clear that white
looks far whiter when placed near something black, and on the contrary, black
never looks so dark as when seen beside something white. Secondly, our
understanding and will become more noble and capable of good in every way when
we turn from ourselves to God: it is very injurious never to raise our minds
above the mire of our own faults. I described how murky and fetid are the
streams that spring from the source of a soul in mortal sin.
10 Thus (although the
case is
p. 52
not really the same, God forbid! this is only a comparison), while we are
continually absorbed in contemplating the weakness of our earthly nature, the
springs of our anions will never flow free from the mire of timid, weak, and
cowardly thoughts, such as: 'I wonder whether people are noticing me or not! If
I follow this course, will harm come to me? Dare I begin this work? Would it not
be presumptuous? Is it right for any one as faulty as myself to speak on sublime
spiritual subjects?
11 Will not people think too well of me, if I make myself
singular? Extremes are bad, even in virtue; sinful as I am I shall only fall the
lower. Perhaps I shall fail and be a source of scandal to good people; such a
person as I am has no need of peculiarities.'
12. Alas, my daughters, what loss the devil must have caused to many a soul
by such thoughts as these! It thinks such ideas and many others of the same sort
I could mention arise from humility. This comes from not understanding our own
nature; self-knowledge becomes so warped that, unless we take our thoughts off
ourselves, I am not surprised that these and many worse fears should threaten
us. Therefore I maintain, my daughters, that we should fix our eyes on Christ
our only good, and on His saints; there we shall learn true humility, and our
minds will be ennobled, so that self-knowledge will not make us base and
cowardly. Although only the first, this mansion contains great riches and such
treasures that if the soul only manages to
p. 53
elude the reptiles dwelling here, it cannot fail to advance farther. Terrible
are the wiles and strata-gems the devil uses to hinder people from realizing
their weakness and detecting his snares.
13. From personal experience I could give you much information as to what
happens in these first mansions. I will only say that you must not imagine there
are only a few, but a number of rooms, for souls enter them by many different
ways, and always with a good intention. The devil is so angry at this that he
keeps legions of evil spirits hidden in each room to stop the progress of
Christians, whom, being ignorant of this, he entraps in a thousand ways. He
cannot so easily deceive souls which dwell nearer to the King as he can
beginners still absorbed in the world, immersed in its pleasures, and eager for
its honours and distinctions. As the vassals of their souls, the senses and
powers bestowed on them by God, are weak, such people are easily vanquished,
although desirous not to offend God.
14. Those conscious of being in this state must as often as possible have
recourse to His Majesty, taking His Blessed Mother and the saints for their
advocates to do battle for them, because we creatures possess little strength
for self-defence. Indeed in every state of life all our help must come from God;
may He in His mercy grant it us, Amen! What a miserable life we lead! As I have
spoken more fully in other writings
12 on the ill that results from ignoring the need of humility
and self-knowledge, I will treat
p. 54
no more about it here, my daughters, although it is of the first importance.
God grant that what I have said may be useful to you.
15 You must notice that the light which comes from the King's palace hardly
shines at all in these first mansions; although not as gloomy and black as the
soul in mortal sin, yet they are in semi-darkness, and their inhabitants see
scarcely anything. I cannot explain myself; I do not mean that this is the fault
of the mansions themselves, but that the number of snakes, vipers, and venomous
reptiles from outside the castle prevent souls entering them from seeing the
light. They resemble a person entering a chamber full of brilliant sunshine,
with eyes clogged and half closed with dust. Though the room itself is light, he
cannot see because of his self-imposed impediment. In the same way, these fierce
and wild beasts blind the eyes of the beginner, so that he sees nothing but
them.
16. Such, it appears to me, is the soul which, though not in a state of
mortal sin, is so worldly and preoccupied with earthly riches, honours, and
affairs, that as I said, even if it sincerely wishes to enter into itself and
enjoy the beauties of the castle, it is prevented by these distractions and
seems unable to overcome so many obstacles. It is most important to withdraw
from all unnecessary cares and business, as far as compatible with the duties of
one's state of life, in order to enter the second mansion. This is so essential,
that unless done immediately I think it impossible for any one ever to reach the
principal room, or even to remain
p. 55
where he is without great risk of losing what is already gained; otherwise,
although he is inside the castle, he will find it impossible to avoid being
bitten some time or other by some of the very venomous creatures surrounding
him.
17. What then would become of a religious like ourselves, my daughters, if,
after having escaped from all these impediments, and having entered much farther
into the more secret mansion, she should, by her own fault, return to all this
turmoil? Through her sins, many other people on whom God had bestowed great
graces would culpably relapse into their wretched state. In our convents we are
free from these exterior evils; please God our minds may be as free from them,
and may He deliver us from such ills.
18. Do not trouble yourselves, my daughters, with cares which do not concern
you. You must notice that the struggle with the demons continues through nearly
all the mansions of this castle. True, in some of them, the guards, which, as I
explained, are the powers of the soul, have strength for the combat, but we must
be keenly on the watch against the devils's arts, lest he deceive us in the form
of an angel of light. He creeps in gradually, in numberless ways, and does us
much harm, though we do not discover it until too late.
13
19. As I said elsewhere,
14 he works like a file, secretly and silently wearing its
way: I will give you some examples to show how he begins his wiles.
p. 56
[paragraph
continues] For instance: a nun has such a longing for penance as
to feel no peace unless she is tormenting herself in some way.
15 This is good in
itself; but suppose that the Prioress has forbidden her to practise any
mortifications without special leave, and the sister thinking that, in such a
meritorious cause, she may venture to disobey, secretly leads such a life that
she loses her health and cannot even fulfil the requirements of her rule--you
see how this show of good ends. Another nun is very zealous about religious
perfection; this is very right, but may cause her to think every small fault she
sees in her sisters a serious crime, and to watch constantly whether they do
anything wrong, that she may run to the Prioress to accuse them of it. At the
same time, may be she never notices her own shortcomings because of her great
zeal about other people's religious observance, while perhaps her sisters, not
seeing her intention but only knowing of the watch she keeps on them, do not
take her behaviour in good part.
20. The devil's chief aim here is to cool the charity and lessen the mutual
affection of the nuns, which would injure them seriously. Be sure, my daughters,
that true perfection consists in the love of God and our neighbour, and the
better we keep both these commandments, the more perfect we shall be. The sole
object of our Rule and Constitutions is to help us to observe these two
laws.
21. Indiscreet zeal about others must not be indulged in; it may do us much
harm; let each one look to herself. However, as I have spoken fully
p. 57
on this subject elsewhere,
16 I will not enlarge on it here, and will only beg you to
remember the necessity of this mutual affection. Our souls may lose their peace
and even disturb other people's if we are always criticizing trivial actions
which often are not real defects at all, but we construe them wrongly through
ignorance of their motives. See how much it costs to attain perfection!
Sometimes the devil tempts nuns in this way about the Prioress, which is still
more dangerous. Great prudence is then required, for if she disobeys the Rule or
Constitutions the matter must not always be overlooked, but should be mentioned
to her;
17 if, after
this, she does not amend, the Superior of the Order should be informed of it. It
is true charity to speak in this case, as it would be if we saw our sisters
commit a grave fault; to keep silence for fear that speech would be a temptation
against charity, would be that very temptation itself.
18
22. However, I must warn you seriously not to talk to each other about such
things, lest the devil deceive you. He would gain greatly by your doing so,
because it would lead to the habit of detraction; rather, as I said, state the
matter to those whose duty it is to remedy it. Thank God our custom
p. 58
here of keeping almost perpetual silence gives little opportunity for such
conversations, still, it is well to stand ever on our guard.
Footnotes
45:1 Life, ch.
xxxviii. 31; ch. xl. 15.
45:2 Ps. i. 3: 'Et erit
tamquam lignum quod plantatum eat secus decursus aquarum.'
46:3 Way of Perf. ch.
xxviii. 9.
46:4 In this as in most other
cases when the Saint speaks of 'a person she knows,' she means herself.
Life, ch. xl, 15.
48:5 cxxvi. 1: 'Nisi Dominus
custodierit civitatem, frustra vigilat qui custodit eam.'
48:6 Life, ch.
xxxviii. 33; ch. xl. 15, 16.
49:7 Life, ch. x. 2
sqq.
Constitut. 2, 6.
49:8 Way of Perf.. ch.
xxviii. 1.
..."when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to Confession, immerse yourself entirely in my mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of my grace upon your soul." (Diary of St. Faustina, 1602)
.jpg)
