CONTEMPLAZIONE

CONTEMPLATION. – Etymologically, it is the action of “looking for a long time with great admiration and reflection.” It can be either natural or supernatural. Natural contemplation, that is, the diligent consideration and admiration of an object, can be sensible, imaginary, or intellectual, according to whether the organs immediately directed to such contemplation are the senses, the imagination, or the intellect. St. Thomas observes (Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, q. 180, a. 1): “Movet autem vis appetitiva ad aliquid inspiciendum vel sensibiliter, vel intelligibiliter.”

Of these three forms of natural contemplation, only the intellectual contemplation is called philosophical contemplation (which, according to its object, can be metaphysical, scientific, ethical, or religious) or simply contemplation, as the most noble, inasmuch as it pertains “ad ipsum simplicem intuitum veritatis” (St. Thomas, loc. cit., q. 180, a. 3 ad 1).

OUTLINE:

I. Philosophical contemplation

II. Supernatural contemplation

III. Essence of contemplation

IV. Acquired and infused contemplation

V. Infused or mystical contemplation

VI. Elements of infused contemplation

VII. Formal principles of mystical contemplation

VIII. The intellectual vision of God

IX. Effects of infused contemplation on the soul

X. Conditions required for infused contemplation

XI. Degrees of contemplation.

I. PHILOSOPHICAL CONTEMPLATION

Since there are various truths that can be contemplated—scientific, philosophical, theological truths—as observed by The Philippine (Spéculation métaphysique et Contemplation chrétienne, in Angelicum, 14 [1937], pp. 223-63), the contemplative intuition of truth varies according to them.

It is well known that in Plato there is a broad and characteristic wealth of doctrine concerning the contemplation of truth (cf. A. J. Festugière, Contemplation et vie contemplative selon Platon, Paris 1936). Platonic theology is not cold intellect, in which the first principles are founded, but something that goes beyond the essence of things and touches, with a feeling of presence, the ineffable, the being.

Platonic contemplation, still uncertain about its ineffable object, is developed in an excellent manner by Plotinus and his disciples. Although some place this object in total ignorance or absolute void (cf. A. Drevs, Plotin und der Untergang der antiken Weltanschauung, 1907, and W. R. Inge, Christian Mysticism, London 1899, partially recanting in The philosophy of Plotinus, 2nd ed., London 1923), the majority of Plotinus scholars hold that the object of Plotinian contemplation is the absolute, or at least the indefinite, which in itself conceals the One, eternal, absolute, and inconceivable. This absolute, inconceivable, under the formality of the good, takes the initiative so that the soul may admire it through loving contemplation (Plotinus, Enn., VI, 7-31). To rise to the supreme contemplation of the absolute, the soul must detach itself from external objects and turn inward, undergoing a purification ever more refined, even to the renunciation of all multiplicity. Plotinus’ theology is ecstatic contemplation that surpasses every dialectic of the cosmos and the self by giving itself over to the absolute (cf. Krakowski, Une philosophie de l'amour et de la beauté. L'esthétique de Plotin et son influence, Paris 1929).

It is not necessary to dwell on a parallel between Christian contemplation and that developed naturally in the religious philosophies of the East. The entire Eastern thought is permeated with a meditative-contemplative character. See, for this purpose, what is written in the Chándogya Upanisad, 6-12, Italian trans. by V. Papesso, Bologna 1937, pp. 207-208. In the Buddhist school of the Yogacāras, a branch of the followers of the “Great Vehicle,” one becomes arhats, that is, saints, and prepares for future ascent to bodhisattvas, or future Buddhas, by passing through samādhi, or mental concentration, which transforms into contemplation and purification of all desires (karmātha). It is the path to enlightenment (bodhi). This contemplation, however, has a more negative than positive object. It does not seek God but turns inward to the contemplation of the self, empty of all determination. It is yoga, an ecstatic contemplative process that originates with Vedic religion. In the yoga-sukta of Patañjali, yoga, as a method, is entirely based on contemplation, which tends to leave only the activities of the spirit. In the Atmā-Bodha of Śaṅkara, yoga, whose intellect is perfect, contemplates all things as dwelling within itself, and thus, through the eyes of knowledge, understands that all things are ātman. It enters into the supreme essence, becomes supreme Brahman, ceaselessly filled with bliss (cf. R. Guénon, L'homme et son devenir selon le Vedanta, Paris 1925, pp. 251-52).

II. SUPERNATURAL CONTEMPLATION

Although principles and hints of contemplation are found in many religions and philosophies, a systematic doctrine of contemplation, free from any spiritistic element or aberration, is found only in the mystical experience of Christianity (R. Garrigou-Lagrange, Le Sauveur et son amour pour nous, Juvisy 1924, ch. 18).

In the light of this mystical experience, St. Thomas establishes the principles and definition of contemplation, which can apply not only to supernatural contemplation but also to the natural contemplation of truth and of God: “contemplatio pertinet ad ipsum simplicem intuitum veritatis” (Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, q. 180, a. 3 ad 1, an aphorism already enunciated by Richard of St. Victor (Benjamin maior, I, ch. 4: PL 196, 67): “Contemplativo est perspicax et liber contuitus animi in res perspicendas” or “Contemplativo est libera mentis perspicacia in sapientiae spectacula cum admiratione suspensa.” Man disposes himself to the intuitive grasp of truths through a threefold act: the acquisition of principles, by which one proceeds to the contemplation of truth; the deduction from principles for the search for truth, which can be acquired; and finally the intuitive possession of truth itself (Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, q. 180, a. 3).

Supernatural contemplation, which is the exclusive subject here, was defined by Gerson (De Mystica theologia speculativa, Consid. XXVIII, in Opera omnia, ed. Du Pin, III, Antwerp 1728, col. 384): “Experimentalis cognitio habita de Deo per amoris unitivi complexum.”

III. ESSENCE OF CONTEMPLATION

Much has been disputed about the essence of contemplation. For St. Thomas, contemplation is essentially an intellectual act that excludes all reasoning. “It is a single act of simple intellectual sight, abstracted from all affective, imaginative, or discursive elements that accompany or surround it in prayer” (Gabriele of St. Magdalene, Letter to Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, in appendix to Perfection chrétienne et contemplation, I, pp. 272-75). The end of the contemplative life is the “consideratio veritatis,” teaches St. Thomas (Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, q. 180, a. 2), who adds: “Vita contemplativa consistit in actu rationis.” Although consisting essentially in an intellectual act, contemplation does not exclude the volitive act, that is, love. The act of loving will influences contemplation both as a causal principle and as its term, inasmuch as it belongs to the human will to move the intellect toward its object (loc. cit., q. 180, a. 1 corp.), “in quantum scilicet aliquis ex delectatione Dei inardescit ad eius pulchritudinem conspiciendam”; therefore “vita contemplativa terminatur ad delectationem, quae est in affectu, ex quo etiam amor intenditur”; the contemplative life in charity “habet principium et finem” (loc. cit., q. 180, a. 7 ad 1).

Many masters of mysticism adhered to the Thomistic doctrine. “Contemplation,” writes Cardinal Bona, “is the prolonged elevation of the mind to God and the sure intuition, and the joyful admiration of existing truth, tasting the sweetness of eternal delight” (*Cursus vitae spiritualis*, Italian ed., II, Alba 1941, pp. 182–83). There is indeed a connection between contemplation and divine love, inasmuch as contemplation proceeds from love and terminates in love, since “though the contemplative life consists essentially in the intellect, it nonetheless has its origin in the will, for it is from the love of God that we are impelled to contemplation.” Many theologians of mysticism, both ancient and modern—from Vallgrenera to Meinard and to Garrigou-Lagrange—adhere to this opinion. In this doctrine, the bond between love and contemplation is external and accidental; essentially, contemplation is the intuition of the divine truth.

The thought of St. Augustine regarding the essence of contemplation underwent notable variations as his spirituality developed. In *De Spiritu et Anima*, ch. 32, he defines contemplation as “perspicua veritatis iucunda admiratio.” This is the thought of Augustine as a neophyte, adhering to Neoplatonism, which he loved to identify with virtue and knowledge (cf. P. Pourrat, *La spiritualité chrétienne*, I, ch. 9, pp. 353–54). The contemplative act is a “divine intelligence” (*Enarration in ps. 135*, n. 8). There is no reasoning, no simplification of images; contemplation is a simple vision of the soul that beholds God. Love here has only a secondary role as a facilitator. But later, St. Augustine significantly modifies his doctrine. Contemplation remains always an act of pure contemplative intelligence with a simple gaze.

God, in whom a great flame of love burns, “quodam contactu” (*Serm.*, 52, n. 16), in whom we “tremble with love,” because “we attain Him,” that is, the divinity, “modice, toto ictu cordis” (*Confess.*, X, 16; cf. IX, 24).

In the medieval period, Richard of St. Victor stands out for the pronounced intellectual character he imparts to contemplation. Care reaches the supreme cognition and vision of the divinity through three degrees: *dilatatio*, *sublevatio*, and *alienatio mentis*. Through *dilatatio*, God is seen in figure; through *sublevatio*, as in a mirror; through *alienatio*, in His “simple truth.” In the contemplative act, the divine inspiration (“divinae inspirationis aura”) removes error and causes the divine truth to shine forth. Love is a fruit of contemplation (*Benjamin maior*, V, 2; PL 196, 170); cf. N. Lenhart, *La théorie de la contemplation mystique dans l'oeuvre de Richard de St-Victor*, Paris 1935).

Opposed to the foregoing is the class of “voluntarist” mystic theologians, for whom contemplation is primarily only love. Hugh of Balma (*De mystica theologia*, single question, in *Opera* of St. Bonaventure, VII, Magnona 1609, p. 683) teaches that in contemplation one is freed from every fetter of thought. In contemplation, affection and love precede cognition; the Holy Spirit, through love, touches and inflames the highest affective apex of the mind, and in an ineffable manner, without thought, draws it to Himself. Suárez (*De virtute et statu religionis*, II, chaps. 2 and 12, *Opera omnia*, XIII, Venice 1743, pp. 97–103), who still attributes the *Mystica theologia* to St. Bonaventure, reacts against Hugh of Balma’s opinion with a lengthy refutation. Followers of Hugh of Balma included Nicholas Kempf, Vincent of Aggsbach, and Bernard of Waging. For these extremists, contemplation must exclude all intellect, closing itself within the agnostic circle of affective power alone. Every intellect is conceived as an obstacle to contemplation. This is an exacerbation of voluntarism.

There is, moreover, a third class of mystic theologians who seek to reconcile the two foregoing opposing opinions, and for whom contemplation is a contemplative prayer in which the soul is elevated and united to God through a simple vision of the intellect and an adherence of the will, in the simplest manner” (J. De Guibert, *Études de théologie mystique*, Toulouse 1930, p. 25). Adherents to this doctrine include Rudolf of Biberach in *De septem itineribus aeternitatis*, and many moderns such as P. Lejeune.

M. Grabmann observes: “Mystical contemplation is accomplished in a manner more befitting the purely spiritual nature of the angel than the composite nature of man. Hence contemplation is also assigned to that highest sphere of the soul in which intuition, the mode of knowing proper to angels, takes place” (*La mistica cattolica*, Milan 1930, p. 53). Considered in this light, while the other opinions expounded appear insufficient, the luminous doctrine of St. Bonaventure appears exhaustive. The soul, already hierarchized through *ascensus*, *descensus*, and *regressus*, is ready to open itself to divine contemplation through the two great paths that lead to ecstasy: intellectual contemplation and sapiential contemplation (cf. *Collationes in Hexaëmeron*, visio IV, collatio IV, p. 34, n. 24; *Opera Omnia*, V, Quaracchi, p. 358).

This dual contemplation occurs “per viam splendore,” and the soul cannot give itself to being “per viam splendore,” and the soul is not a mode that befits *ascensus* alone; rather, the luminous doctrine of St. Bonaventure appears exhaustive. The soul, already hierarchized through *ascensus*, *descensus*, and *regressus*, is ready to open itself to divine contemplation through the two great paths that lead to ecstasy: intellectual contemplation and sapiential contemplation (cf. *Collationes in Hexaëmeron*, visio IV, collatio IV, p. 34, n. 24; *Opera Omnia*, V, Quaracchi, p. 358).

Ancient as well as modern theologians admitted the existence of acquired contemplation. Similarly, N. Terzago in his *Theologia historico-mystica* (Venice 1760, diss. VII, n. 3).

The first theologian systematically to treat of acquired contemplation is Thomas of Jesus (cf. *De contemplatione acquisita*, Milan 1922), and in other works. Preceding him with a less systematic exposition was Antonio de Molina (*Ejercicios espirituales*, vol. II, Burgos 1615, ch. 6), Filippo della Santissima Trinità (*Summa theol. mystic.*, Milan 1686), Brancati di Lauria (*De oratione christiana*, Rome 1625, ch. 10), Richard of St. Victor (*Benjamin maior*, part 5, ch. 2: PL 196, 169 D), John Gerson (*Theologia mystico-speculativa*, part 4, conf. 24: *Opera omnia*, III, Antwerp 1728, p. 380), and Henry Herp (*Theologia mystica*, III, Cologne 1538, ch. 7).

St. Francis de Sales designates acquired contemplation by the title “union de simple remise en Dieu” (*Réponse sur le coutumier*, *Œuvres*, ch. 24, ed. Migne, II, col. 236). F. Cayré (*Précis de patrologie*, I, Paris 1927, introd., p. 25; Italian trans., I, Rome 1936, p. 26) calls it “imperfect contemplative meditation.”

The soul’s attainment of acquired contemplation occurs through successive gradation. From meditation with a predominantly speculative character, one passes to affective meditation; from this to a progressive simplification of the affectionate and intellectual gaze, until one arrives at that contemplative state which, beginning with isolated and brief acts, gradually extends until it reaches an almost habitual state of abstraction in God.

In this state of acquired contemplation, the simplification and stillness of the contemplative gaze must not be understood as if the operations of the intellect and will had altogether vanished from the soul, but only as diminished (A. Poulain, *Le grazie d’orazione*, Italian trans., Turin 1926, ch. 2, n. 5, p. 10).

Souls called to acquired contemplation must avoid regarding this exercise as a sterile and idle act, exposing one to easy illusion—a temptation common to souls who arrive at acquired contemplation from speculative meditation. The soul’s abandonment and the concentration of its psychic powers upon a supernatural object is not idleness, and the gentle savoring of God without reasoning or words is infinitely delightful and fruitful for the soul.

It is well, as Alvarez de Paz (*De inquisitio pacis*, part 2, I, V, ch. 13) notes, before proceeding to acquired contemplation, to seek the advice of one’s spiritual director and to bear in mind that often in the sweet and gentle exercise of acquired contemplation God calls one to infused contemplation.

St Teresa, in *The Way of Perfection*, ch. 28, speaking of the “acquired prayer of recollection,” that is, acquired contemplation, says: “It is a prayer that offers many advantages...; by this path more readily than by any other her Divine Master will instruct her and grant her the prayer of quiet.”

The duration of the soul’s stillness in the consideration of a divine truth cannot be long, as Suárez notes in *De Oratione*, I, II, ch. 10, n. 13, and the maximum term of half an hour fixed by Cardinal Brancati de Lauria does not seem acceptable.

J. P. De Caussade (*Instructions sur les états d'oraison*, Perpignan 1741, part 2, preliminary dialogue) observes: “One must know that the spirit and the heart do not rest in the same way as the body, but rather continue their action in a manner more simple, more sweet, and that delights the soul.” “One is neither rash nor presumptuous,” writes *Gerson* (*De monte contemplationis*, ch. 28), “when one desires that kind of prayer which must make us love God with all our heart.”

The spiritual director may recognize that a soul is ready and mature to ascend to acquired contemplation when he notes in it an almost impossible difficulty in meditating according to the method that had been taught it and which it strives faithfully to follow. Another sign is the disposition to unity, when a single thought or affection suffices to occupy one for a long time.

V. INFUSED OR MYSTICAL CONTEMPLATION

Gerson has clearly indicated the common mark of every properly so-called mystical contemplation. It is “an experimental knowledge of God” (*Super Magnificat*, treatise VII, ch. 2).

The constitutive element of mystical contemplation is therefore the feeling that the soul experiences of God’s presence within it, a kind of perception, an experimental knowledge of God. This is also the teaching of St Teresa. “In the state of sweet quiet, the first of mystical contemplation,” says St Francis de Sales, “the soul insensibly sucks in the sweetness of this presence” (*Treatise on the Love of God*, I, 6, ch. 8); cf. also G. B. Scaramelli, *Direttorio mistico*, III, n. 32.

“It happens, then,” writes St Francis de Sales (*Treatise on the Love of God*, VI, ch. 7), “that Our Lord sometimes infuses into the depths of our heart, in an imperceptible way, a certain sweetness by which He makes us feel His hope... You will note... that all this recollection is made through love.” In it “the soul has no need to linger in discourse with the intellect, because it sees its Spouse present, with a sweetness so great that discourse would be useless and superfluous.”

Even though it does not see Him with the intellect, it does not trouble itself at all, being content simply to feel Him near, to the joy and satisfaction that the will receives. St Teresa writes: “the will finds itself in its love, without any effort of the intellect. The Lord wishes that, without any strain of the mind, the soul understand that it is with Him” (*The Way of Perfection*, ch. 31).

Hence a good mystical school, led by St Bonaventure, teaches that the principal element in infused contemplation is love, that is, the will, and that this element increasingly assumes importance and takes exclusive place as mystical souls ascend to the perfect and transforming union of wills, which are the divine darkness. Yet a large part of mystical theologians, formed in the Thomistic school, gives precedence and pre-eminence in infused contemplation to the intellectual element. For them infused contemplation is “above reasoning and in the darkness of faith a simple and loving knowledge of God, which cannot be attained by our personal activity aided by grace, but requires a special inspiration or illumination of the Holy Spirit” (*R. Garrigou-Lagrange, Perfezione cristiana e contemplazione*, etc., Italian trans., Turin 1933, ch. 4, art. 4, p. 287). And A. M. Meynard describes it thus: “It is a gratuitous gift by which the just and purified soul rises, more passively than actively, above the ordinary mode of knowing, and receives lights so abundant, so pure, and so vivid, that it is as though introduced into a higher spiritual region, where it contemplates with an excessively simple and ardently affectionate gaze the divine and celestial things” (*Trattato della vita interiore*, Italian trans., Turin 1937, I, 3, ch. 1, n. 148, p. 188).

In contemplation there is cooperation of the intellect and will of the contemplative; in the lower degrees the intellectual action prevails, in the higher degrees the volitional, in which the intellect becomes silent to give place to the action of the will, which embraces all the Beloved. Thus F. Joret (*La contemplation mystique selon s. Thomas d’Aquin*, Italian trans., Lille 1924, ch. 6, p. 368): “while the intellect halts and humbles itself in this negative intuition, the heart proceeds beyond, without any hesitation... For if knowledge is required for love to arise, it limits II. One can love more than one knows.” These are the substantial touches of the divine union between the soul and God “which touches the soul in its substance through the will” (*St John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle*, stanza 14).

VI. ELEMENTS OF INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

Infused contemplation is not usually given suddenly, but rather after a certain preparation. Contemplation is entirely gratuitous, but the soul can dispose itself to receive it (cf. St Teresa, *Life*, ch. 14; A. M. Meynard, op. cit., II, 1. III, ch. 4, nn. 209-17, pp. 287-300). It is not necessarily accompanied by an absolute impossibility of discourse or reasoning, which would result from the binding of the imagination. This binding may not exist, and hence distractions may coexist even in the contemplative state, at least in the lower degrees. Nor is consciousness of the state of grace necessary for infused contemplation.

Mystical theologians generally admit that infused contemplation does not belong to the order of gratiae gratis datae (cf. Giuseppe dello Spirito Santo, *Cursus Theol. myst. schol.*, Cologne 1721, II, disp. XI, qq. 224 and 236, against the contrary opinion of the Carmelite Antonio della Annunciazione). Infused contemplation, although predominantly passive, does not exclude the activity of the soul. “Strictly speaking, there is no contemplation, however lofty, in which the soul ceases to act, but under the divine impulse the acts of contemplation become excessively delicate and sweet, our faculties seem more passive than active,” because in infused contemplation God is the principal agent (St John of the Cross, *Living Flame of Love*, stanza 3, s).

In what does infused contemplation resemble acquired contemplation? Both require acts of intellect and will; contemplation is an elevation of the soul to God through a simple and affectionate gaze.

Both have as their principal object God and His infinite perfections, and as their secondary object what relates to God. Yet infused contemplation can touch this truth in more ample and sublime forms.

But infused contemplation differs essentially from acquired contemplation in that, according to the language of the mystics, it takes place at the “summit” or “peak” or in the “depths” of the soul. It is, that is, a supreme spiritual operation, purged of all—even remote—sensibility, unfolding in the higher part of the soul. It is not possible to fix a definite duration for the infused contemplative act taken generically, since its degrees are too varied, ranging from the sweet prayer of quiet to ecstasy and spiritual marriage. The contemplative act, in its highest and purest nature, lasts but a short time, at most—according to St Teresa—half an hour. The brilliance of the light that dazzles, that overwhelms the mind, and the weakness of our nature do not allow us to sustain this suspended adherence for long, making some respite necessary. St Thomas of Vallgornera writes, however: “In most perfect men, through extraordinary aids, the soul can, in a single simple intuition and suspension of love, endure for several hours, even for many day or night hours. This is certain, because it is read in the lives of the saints” (cf. also Suárez, *De Relig.*, IV, bk. II, ch. 10, no. 13).

The summit of contemplation, which mystical authors call “divine darkness,” is a confused and obscure knowledge of divine truth.

Pseudo-Dionysius describes it thus:
“The divine darkness is nothing else than that light inconceivable in which it is said that God dwells (1 Tim 6:1). Although it is invisible by reason of its dazzling lights, inaccessible by reason of its supernatural clarity, whoever has merited to see and know God rests in it, and precisely because it is not seen and not known, he is truly in Him who surpasses every vision and knowledge” (*Letter V*).
“Then the soul, freed from the sensible world and from the intellectual world, enters into the mysterious darkness of an ignorance and... is lost in Him who cannot be seen or grasped... We long to enter this most luminous and yet most obscure darkness; because of our blindness and our mystical ignorance, we long to see and know Him who eludes every contemplation and every knowledge” (*Theologia mystica*, chs. 1–2).

Divine darkness is attained in the highest contemplation, ecstasy, the transforming union. “In this new state all feeling ceases, the soul is absorbed in enjoyment without understanding what it enjoys. It enjoys a good that alone contains all goods, yet the nature of this good remains for it inconceivable” (St Teresa, *Life*, ch. 18; cf. also St John of the Cross, *Dark Night of the Soul*, bk. II, ch. 17).

The intuition of God attained in even the highest contemplation differs from the beatific vision, because the lumen gloriae is granted permanently, whereas mystical illumination is transient. The beatific vision is immediate; contemplative vision is “in a mirror,” that is, in the divine supernatural effects produced in the soul as in a wonderful mirror. The divine vision is clear; contemplative vision is “in aenigmate,” that is, more negative than positive.

VII. FORMAL PRINCIPLES ELICITING MYSTICAL CONTEMPLATION
—The remote formal principles of contemplation are the spiritual faculties, and the immediate formal principles are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gifts of wisdom and understanding are the formal and eliciting principles of infused contemplation (Thomas of Vallgornera, *Theol. myst. D. Th.*, q. III, disp. 4, nos. 2, 2–3; Philip of the Holy Trinity, *Sum. Theol. myst.*, pt. 2, treat. 3, dist. 3, no. 1; V. Contenson, *Theol. mentis et cordis*, VIII, dist. 1, ch. 2, no. 3). Generally the gift of knowledge is added (Suárez, *De Relig.*, IV, bk. II, ch. 10, no. 9; D. Schram, *Theol. myst.*, II, pt. 2, ch. 4, p. 239). J. López Ezquerra (*Lucerna mystica*, bk. 3, ch. 7, no. 66) maintains the contrary. It is generally admitted that these gifts are necessary for the development of mystical contemplation (R. Garrigou-Lagrange, *Perfezione cristiana e contemplazione*, p. 307) because of the imperfect manner in which Christian virtues, even elevated, remain in us. The three gifts listed above have a distinct office, but not a separate or independent one, in infused contemplation; being perfections that dispose man to follow divine inspirations well, they must be set in motion in the soul by actual grace, the free concurrence of the will, and often the guidance of a good director. Hence they too often lie inert and unused.

The gift of knowledge is granted by God to make us know His divine presence in all creatures. It moves the intellect, which guides us to refer all creatures to God, and bends the will, leading it to the true good. The gift of understanding aims to make us grasp and penetrate truths beyond the powers of our nature, namely the divine mysteries. In infused contemplation this gift is so sublime that the soul, in some way elevated above the human condition, begins to share in angelic splendor, penetrating, as far as possible, into the intimate secrets of God. God Himself once revealed to St Catherine of Siena the marvelous effects of this gift (*Dialogue*, ch. 35).

The gift of understanding allows a negative intuition of God through the passive purification of spiritual images and forms; it gives the mind the privilege of behaving toward the data of revelation as it naturally does toward principles, and makes spiritual realities visible beneath concrete appearances.

The gift of wisdom, according to Denis the Carthusian, is the “primum atque dignissimum” among the infused gifts; it knows the Godhead through an internal savor, “per quem mens bene de Deo sentit ac iudicat, per connaturalitatem et confortitatem affectus ad ipsum, seu per mentalem saporem” (*De contempl.*, ch. 1, no. 44).

Mystical theologians are unanimous in recognizing the gift of wisdom as the active and important principle of infused contemplation, and in particular of the “divine darkness.” All the mystics speak of the action of the gift of wisdom as the eliciting principle of contemplation, especially St Th

Resa

According to Denis the Carthusian, the effects of the gift of wisdom in infused contemplation are to make the soul a “secretary of God,” because the divine lights are impressed upon it by intelligible species of a higher order, and by a most pure supernatural light; and also a “counsellor of God,” because in a certain way, introduced into the sanctuary of the Godhead, and by way of negation and sublime ignorance, it contemplates the mysteries of the incarnate Wisdom. Meynard writes: “In this state of secret and dark vision an intense and intimate fire strips the soul of vile and earthly images, and places our faculties at heights where nothing created can disturb our repose: it is the abyss of the Godhead. Then God has nothing hidden from the soul in the condition of his secrets, because it enters the dwelling of peaceful, sweet and true light, to contemplate the glory of the most glorious Trinity, its immanent processions, its light, its love, its enjoyment and its most delightful, most happy and most holy unity” (Trattato della vita interiore, II, Torino 1937). John Ruysbroeck says: “The gift of wisdom, a sweet savour that we taste at the summit of the soul, penetrates the intellect and the will insofar as these faculties gather in this lofty place. This wisdom or this immense, inexhaustible savour flows from the depths of the just soul, to expand even into the innermost part of our powers, according to their capacity, and even into the sensitive part, which it gladden with a delicate tone... this savour is so great and so immense that for those who taste it heaven and earth and all that they contain seem to vanish and return to nothing... Hence the soul contemplates with an eager gaze that divine simplicity from which such great delights flow. Here is the starting point of a new light. Nevertheless the soul knows that it can never fully grasp or know this sweet simplicity, because it is by a created light that it contemplates. Yet its joy is immense and it feels itself swooning in the heights of its contemplation: transformed by this immense key, it cannot turn its gaze away from the incomprehensible objects that bring it such great happiness... It contemplates all in Him” (Regno degli amanti di Dio, chaps. 32 and 34).

Gratuitous graces may sometimes be bestowed on just souls with a view to infused contemplation, but they are not necessary for it; they merely help to confer this high contemplation in a more perfect way (D. Schram, Theologia myst., I, Paris 1868, part 2, ch. 4, p. 244). Among the gratuitous graces, those of tongues, prophecy and discernment of spirits stand out in particular (Sum. Theol., 1a-2ae, q. 3, a. 4).

VIII. THE “INTELLECTUAL” VISION OF GOD

In the highest forms of contemplation God begins to manifest his divinity to the loving soul immersed in the supernatural ray of the divine darkness (Pseudo-Dionysius, De mystica Theologia, ch. 1). This can happen either by way of ecstasy and intellectual union, or by way of ecstasy and loving and volitional union. In the latter, however, there is always some prior knowledge before love. In the first case there is the intellectual vision of the divine attributes, and often of the Most Holy Trinity, in a dazzling vision that is not detailed and almost crushes the soul.

St Joseph of Cupertino said: “Sometimes I see the attributes of God united together, without my spirit being able to distinguish or separate them; at other times I see them separate and distinct.” St John of the Cross admits that in ecstasy there can be “very lofty cognitions of some attribute, now of his omnipotence, now of his strength, goodness and sweetness” (Salita al Monte Carmelo, II, 24, n. 2). Such a vision, however lofty, is always filtered through the intellect, not transformed by the “lumen gloriae,” except in the exceptional cases mentioned above, and consequently it is representative rather than intuitive.

The vision of the divine attributes, particularly those that are incommunicable to creatures, such as infinity, purity, eternity, and the vision of the perfect identification of all attributes in one divine substance that contains all goods, takes place in a splendour of manifestation that dazzles, wounds the intellect and, shining, overwhelms II.
The vision is then, as the mystics say, “tender and light.” The soul sees, but the power of the vision is such that it cannot express it in words “almost sunk in silence, so that it can hardly be expressed in human speech” (Angela of Foligno, Il libro delle mirabili visioni, chs. and instructions, ed. Fallacara, Florence 1922: Instruction on the presence of God, pp. 174–75); because “mystical truth would be better translated into music than into words” (W. James, L’esperienza religiosa, French trans., Paris 1908, p. 337).

Is the light of glory sometimes granted on earth, in the highest contemplation? According to St Augustine and St Thomas (Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, q. 175, a. 3, ad 1) this privilege was granted to Moses and St Paul, as well as to the Blessed Virgin. St Bonaventure and other theologians admit that on a few occasions it has been granted to other saints (Thomas of Vallgornera, Theol. myst., q. III, disp. 4, n. 5, a. 2). One may ask whether this ecstatic knowledge of God does not entail an immediate, non-analogical, albeit confused and obscure vision of God.

Mystical schools answer this question in very different ways. On the authority of Pseudo-Dionysius, the school of the Victorines, the high German and Flemish mystical school, and among moderns the school of A. Poulain, J. Maréchal and Picard, answer in the affirmative. The mystical school with a Thomistic background denies this possibility and attributes to such a vision the character of a mediated knowledge, through sensible species.

According to the teaching of St Bonaventure (set forth especially in the Collect. in Hexaem., II, 32; XX, 11, etc.; Opera, V, Quaracchi 1891, pp. 342 ff., 427 ff.), in the contemplative state it is not only impossible to have a direct, even transient vision of the divine essence, but mystical cognition can never imply a direct cognition of God even if received through representative species of the Godhead. The splendour of the divine illumination, according to the teaching of the Seraphic Doctor, dazzles the intellect to such an extent that it deprives it of every visual faculty, immersing it in the mystical night, “the learned ignorance.” The love that burns the will passes beyond and reaches where the intellect cannot go. Love is therefore the summit of the contemplative life (“supreme unity through love”). In this state only the affective virtue operates, and at the same time “it imposes silence on all the other powers and the man raised in ecstasy listens to arcane words that it is not lawful for man to utter, since they exist only in ‘affect’” (Coll. in Hexaem., II, 30–32, p. 351, XX, 10, p. 427; Itinerarium mentis in Deum, ch. 4, n. 3: Opera Omnia, p. 307, ch. 7, n. 6, p. 313).

Therefore contemplation in which God manifests himself through love is higher than that in which he manifests himself through intellect, and there one has a contact of obscure yet real presence of the divine essence that almost touches and caresses the loving soul while hiding in the divine darkness. This is called by many mystics the “divine touch.” When the soul reaches the ecstasy of love it seems that the heavens descend, that the ecstatic grows and assumes divine tones. This wonderful state is very well described by St Bernard, Serm. in Cant., 1, 11, 12.

IX. EFFECTS OF INFUSED CONTEMPLATION ON THE SOUL

First of all, infused contemplation arouses in the soul a burning desire for heavenly lights and a great contempt for earthly things, producing in it a kind of divine transformation (St Francis de Sales, Trattato dell’amor di Dio, I, VIII, ch. 1).

In the intellect, it arouses a vivid and profound sentiment of admiration for God; in the will, an intense foretaste of heaven, and a weariness of earthly things, through the ineffable pleasure encountered in the act of contemplation. The soul, as St. Catherine of Siena observes (*Dialogue*, 167), would wish to sing a new canticle to its Beloved, but cannot express in words the immense delights it experiences in the innermost depths of its being. The principal effect of infused contemplation upon the will is, consequently, a great love of God and of neighbor; hence, that kind of contemplation which does not produce such an effect may be confidently said not to be supernatural. Such love is always accompanied by an increase of moral virtues, particularly humility, conformity to the divine will, and holy abandonment (*v.*).

**X. CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR INFUSED CONTEMPLATION.** — Two principles concur in infused contemplation: God and man. The principal role belongs to God, who grants the grace of a contemplative vocation to whom He wills and when He wills. The role of man is indirect and negative, yet it is of importance, for in general God does not grant the grace of infused contemplation except to those who prepare themselves for it with generosity and perseverance.

A contemplative vocation ordinarily presupposes certain natural qualities, such as a balanced, open, and calm temperament. Nevertheless, natural dispositions are not absolutely indispensable conditions for contemplation. God calls whom He wills and gives to whom He wills. As for moral dispositions in the subject, the pseudo-Diognetus requires four: great purity of heart, true simplicity, ardent love, and profound humility.

God’s concurrence in contemplation consists in the grace of contemplation, which He bestows, and which is at once “sanctifying grace” and “gratuitous grace.”

Neither the production of infused contemplation, nor its various forms and manifestations, nor its duration, nor its intensity depend upon us. “A breath of wind lifts the straw that lies upon the earth and holds it suspended in the air; when the wind ceases, the straw falls back to the ground.” So it is with the breath of the Holy Spirit, which suspends the faculties of the intellect and inflames the will with love (*Álvarez de Paz, De inquisitione pacis*, V, part 2, ch. 12).

It is lawful to desire the gift of contemplation, but humbly and conditionally, abandoning oneself to the will of God. “If it concerns gratuitous graces, which sometimes accompany infused contemplation—especially if they involve corporeal or imaginary visions, or certain purely apparent phenomena such as raptures, stigmata, etc.—it may be said that it is not permitted to desire them, for this would be sheer pride and true folly” (*Meynard, op. cit.*, p. 302 sqq.).

For such a desire to be legitimate, there must be a truly divine inspiration, which is exceedingly rare. The saints, out of prudence or humility, generally ask God to be delivered from these physical states. On this point, theologians are unanimous.

But may one desire infused contemplation, which flows from the gifts of the Holy Spirit? On this matter, authors appear divided: some, and they are the majority, basing themselves upon the doctrine of St. Thomas, affirm that such a desire is legitimate, while others see in it presumption. This divergence of opinion is more apparent than real. Among the spiritual masters who teach the legitimacy of the desire for contemplation are St. Teresa of Jesus (*The Way of Perfection*, ch. 20), Fr. Surin in his *Treatise on the Love of God*, III, ch. 1, and Tomás de Vallgornera, who presents in his *Mystica Theologia*, q. III, disp. 3, a. 3, n. 6, the thesis “Omnes ad supernaturalem contemplationem aspirare possunt.”

In conclusion, it will be well to cite the words of R. Garrigou-Lagrange, a great proponent of this thesis, in his treatise *Perfection chrétienne et contemplation*, p. 465: “The grace of infused contemplation, though eminent, is thus truly part of the normal path to holiness, indeed of the holiness that every Christian should attain before death, to avoid Purgatory, to be immediately, after the separation of the body, in the radical order willed by God, and not to be painfully deprived for a longer or shorter time of the beatific vision.”

**XI. GRADES OF CONTEMPLATION.** — Contemplation comprises the following degrees, which form a magnificent crescendo of ever-greater possession of the soul by God, according to the teaching of St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross:

1) The prayer of quiet, which may be distinguished into sweet quiet, active quiet, and dry quiet;
2) the prayer of simple union;
3) ecstatic union, which may be simple, or painful, or delightful, or take on the characteristics of rapture (spiritual espousals);
4) the state of perfect union or spiritual marriage (*V. ORAZIONE; ESTASI*).

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TIMOTEO CENTI