Contemplation

CONTEMPLATION. - Etymologically it is the action of "gazing at length with great admiration and reflection." It can be either natural or supernatural. Natural c., that is, the diligent consideration and admiration of an object, can be sensory, imaginative, or intellectual, according as the immediate organs, or those directed to such c., 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 c., only intellectual c. is called philosophical c. (which, according to its object, can be metaphysical, scientific, ethical, or religious) or simply c., as the most noble, inasmuch as it belongs "ad ipsum simplicem intuitum veritatis" (St. Thomas, loc. cit., q. 180, a. 3 ad 1).

- VI. Elements of infused c. - VII. Formal elicitive principles of mystical c. - VIII. The intellectual "vision" of God. - IX. Effects of infused c. in the soul. - X. Conditions required for infused c. - XI. Degrees of c.

I. PHILOSOPHICAL CONTEMPLATION

Since the truths that can be contemplated are various — scientific, philosophical, theological truths — as Th. Philippe observes (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 found an ample and characteristic wealth of doctrine concerning the c. of truth (cf. A. J. Festugière, Contemplation et vie contemplative selon Platon, Paris 1936). The Platonic θεωρία is not a cold intelligence of οὐσία and of the first principles, but is something that plunges beyond the essence of things, and touches, with a feeling of presence, the ineffable, being.

The Platonic c., still uncertain about its ineffable object, is developed in an excellent manner by Plotinus and his disciples. Although some place such an object in "total unconsciousness" or in the "absolute void" (cf. A. Drews, Plotin und der Untergang der antiken Weltanschauung, Jena 1907, and W. R. Inge, Christian Mysticism, London 1899, who partially changed his mind in The philosophy of Plotinus, 2nd ed., London 1923), the majority of scholars of Plotinus hold that the object of the Plotinian c. is the absolute, or at least the infinite, which in itself conceals the One, eternal, absolute, and inconceivable. Such an absolute, unknowable, under the formality of the good, takes the initiative so that the soul may admire it through loving c. (Plotinus, Enn., VI, 7, 31). To raise itself to the supreme c. of the absolute, the soul must detach itself from external objects, and turn back upon itself, by means of an ever more subtle purification, up to the renunciation of every multiplication. The θεωρία of Plotinus is an ecstatic c. that surpasses every dialectic of the cosmos and of the self in order to pour itself out into the absolute (cf. Krakowski, Une philosophie de l'amour et de la beauté. L'esthétique de Plotin et son influence, Paris 1929).

There is no occasion to dwell on a parallelism between Christian c. and that which developed naturally in the religious philosophies of the East. The whole of Eastern thought is permeated with the meditative-contemplative character. See for this purpose what is written in the Chandogya Upaniṣad, 6-1-2, Italian trans. by V. Papesso, Bologna 1937, pp. 207-208. In the Buddhist school of the Yogadras, a branch of the followers of the "Great Vehicle," one becomes an arhāt, that is, a saint, and one prepares oneself for the future ascent to bodhisattvas, or future Buddhas, passing through samādhi, or mental concentration, which is transformed into c. and purification of all desires (carnatha). It is the way to illumination (bodhi). Such a c., however, has an object that is more negative than positive. It does not seek God, but turns back into the c. of one's own self, empty of every determination. It is yoga, an ecstatic contemplative process, which originates with the Vedic religion. In the yoga-sukta of Patañjali, yoga, as a method, is entirely based on c., which tends to let nothing subsist except the activities of the spirit. In the Atmā-Bodha of Camkara, yoga, whose intellect is perfect, contemplates all things as dwelling in itself, and thus, through the eyes of knowledge, understands that every thing is ātma. It enters into the supreme essence, becomes supreme Brāhma, incessantly filled with beatitude (cf. R. Guenon, 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 of every spurious element and aberration, is not to be found except in the mystical experiences 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 the definition of contemplation, which can be applied 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): «Contemplatio est perspicax et liber contuitus animi in res perspicendas», that is, «Contemplatio est libera mentis perspicacia in sapientiae spectacula cum admiratione suspensa». Man disposes himself to the intuition of truths by following a threefold act: the acquisition of principles, by means of which one proceeds to the contemplation of truth, the deduction from principles for the search of truth, which can be acquired, and finally the intuitive possession of truth itself (Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, 180, 3).

Supernatural contemplation, with which alone we are concerned 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 concerning the essence of c. For St. Thomas, c. is essentially an intellective act, which excludes all reasoning. "It is a single act of simple intellectual sight, made in abstraction from all the affective, imaginative or discursive elements that accompany or surround it in prayer" (Gabriel of St. Mary 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 intellective act, c. does not exclude the volitive act, that is, love. The loving will influences c. as a causal principle and as a 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. "C. is the prolonged elevation of the mind in God and the sure intuition, and the joyful admiration of existing truth, savoring the tastes of eternal sweetness," asserts Cardinal Bona (Cursus vitae spiritualis, Italian ed., II, Alba 1941, pp. 182-83). There exists in fact a connection between c. and divine love, inasmuch as c. proceeds from love, and ends in love, since "the contemplative life, although consisting essentially in the intellect, nevertheless has its origin from the will, since by the love of God we are impelled to c." Many theologians of mysticism, ancient and modern, adhere to this opinion, from Vallgornera to Meynard and to Garrigou-Lagrange. In this doctrine, the connection between love and c. is exterior, accidental. Essentially, c. is the intuition of the divine true.

The thought of St. Augustine in relation to the essence of c. underwent notable variations with the progress of his spirituality. In the De Spiritu et anima, ch. 35, he defines c.: "Perspicuae veritatis iucunda admiratio." This is the thought of the newly converted Augustine, adhering to Neoplatonism, who loves to identify virtue with knowledge (cf. P. Pourrat, La spiritualité chrétienne, I, ch. 9, p. 353-54). The contemplative act is an "intelligere divina" (Enarratio in ps. 135, n. 8). No reasoning, simplification of every image; c. is a simple sight of the soul that contemplates God. Love has in it only a secondary office of facilitator. But later St. Augustine notably modifies the doctrine. C. remains always an act of pure contemplating intelligence with a simple gaze on God, in which a great flame of love develops, "quodam contactu" (Serm., 52, n. 16), in which "contremui amore," because "attingimus eam," that is, the divinity, "modice, toto isto cordis" (Confes., X, 16; cf. IX, 24).

In the medieval period Richard of St. Victor stands out for the accentuated character of intellectuality that he confers on c. Pure c. arrives at the supreme cognition and vision of the divinity through three degrees: Dilatatio, sublevatio, alienatio mentis. By means of the dilatatio God is seen in figure, by the sublevatio as in a mirror, by the alienatio in his "simple truth." In the contemplative act the divine inspiration ("divinae inspirationis aura") drives away error and makes the divine truth shine. Love is a fruit of c. (Beniamis maior, V, 2: PL. 196, 170); cf. M. Lenghart, La théorie de la contemplation mystique dans l'oeuvre de Richard de St-Victor, Paris 1935).

Opposed to the preceding is the class of "voluntarist" theologians of mysticism, for whom c. is principally only love. Hugh of Balma (De mystica theologia, quaestio unica, in Opera of St. Bonaventure, VII, Mainz 1609, p. 685) teaches that in c. one frees oneself from every hindrance of thought. In c. affection and love precede cognition; the Holy Spirit through love touches and inflames the supreme and affective apex of the mind, and in an indescribable way, without thought, draws it to himself. Suárez (De virtute et statu religionis, II, chs. 2 and 12, Opera omnia, XIII, Venice 1743, p. 97-103), who still attributes the Mystica theologia to St. Bonaventure, reacts against the opinion of Hugh of Balma, with a prolonged confutation. Followers of Hugh of Balma were Nicholas Kempf, Vincent of Aggsbach, Bernard of Waging. For these extremists c. must exclude all intelligence, shutting itself in the agnostic circle of the affective power alone. Every intelligence is in fact conceived as an obstacle to c. Exasperation of voluntarism.

There is furthermore a third class of theologians of mysticism who think to reconcile the two opposed opinions noted above, and for whom c. is "a contemplative prayer in which our soul is elevated and united to God with a sight of the intelligence and an adherence of the will, in a most simple form" (J. De Guibert, Etudes de théologie mystique, Toulouse 1930, p. 25). Rudolph of Biberach in the De septem itineribus aeternitatis adheres to this doctrine, and many among the moderns: P. Lejeune, etc.

M. Grabmann observes: "Mystical c. is accomplished in a manner that befits the purely spiritual nature of the angel more than the composite nature of man. Therefore c. too is assigned to that supreme sphere of the soul in which intuition takes place, a mode of knowing proper to the angels" (La mistica cattolica, Milan 1930, p. 53). Considered in this light, while the other opinions set forth appear insufficient, on the contrary the luminous doctrine of St. Bonaventure appears exhaustive. The soul, already hierarchized through the ascensum, descensum, et regressum, is ready to open itself to divine c., by means of the two great ways that lead to ecstasy, in the twofold c., that is, the "intellectual" c. and the "sapiential" one (cf. Collationes in Hexaemeron, visio IV, collatio IV, p. 34, n. 24: Opera Omnia, V, Quaracchi, p. 358).

This twofold contemplation takes place "per viam splendoris, et hunc modum docet b. Augustinus" and "per viam amoris, et hunc modum docet Dionysius" (Expositio in Lucam, ch. 9, n. 49, in Opera omnia, VII, Quaracchi, p. 234; cf. also Brevilognum, part 3, ch. 6, in Opera omnia, V, p. 259; in III Sent., d. 35, a. 1, q. 3, in Opera omnia, III, p. 779; and E. Longpré, St. Bonaventure: La contemplation, in DSp, I, col. 1819).

The Bonaventurian thought on the matter is well defined: the volitive c. or excessus anagogicus is the supreme union, which as such is produced by love, and as such rises above every intellect and knowledge. "In conclusion c. is a higher and experimental knowledge of God, perceived passively not in himself, but in sanctifying grace, not by means of an intellective intuition, but in an embrace of the affective faculty, and an interior tasting of the divinity" (E. Longpré, La théologie mystique de St. Bonaventure, in Arch. franc. hist., 14 [1921], p. 98). In c., therefore, the intellective c. precedes; at a given moment the lights of the intelligence are extinguished, and love comes to have an almost experimental cognition of the divine presence, as of a marvelous reality. In this sapiential and affectionate c. the supreme apex of the mind surrenders to the kiss of love in a manner that would befit the nature of the angel more than the composite nature of man (cf. M. Grabmann, op. cit., p. 52).

IV. ACQUIRED AND INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

Catholic theologians unanimously agree in distinguishing contemplation from those extraordinary phenomena that often accompany it: visions, revelations, stigmata, etc., and all recognize that a true and perfect contemplation, even of the highest degree, can occur, and sometimes does occur, stripped of such phenomenal activities. And even when certain paramystical phenomena seem to become a habitual part of the contemplative life, as would be the case with ecstasies, even then one must discern what essentially constitutes the ecstatic state from the phenomenism that blossoms around it.

One often speaks of infused and acquired contemplation, and others prefer to call the two kinds of contemplation: active and passive contemplation. One thing is quite certain amid such confusion of terms: every contemplation, even the most elementary, indeed meditation itself, since it cannot be performed without the assistance of Grace and without the infusion of supernatural habits and without the action of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, bears at least an elementary degree of infusion, and for this reason in no case, in scientific rigor, can one speak of purely acquired contemplation, which would be Pelagian. Nor, in strict rigor of terms, can one speak of purely passive prayer, since even in the sublime heights of spiritual marriage there is not, nor can there be, complete passivity of the human faculties under the torrent of Grace (cf. J. de Guibert, Etudes de théol. myst., Toulouse 1930, pp. 93-94; P. Lejeune, s. v. in DThC, III, col. 1619).

Theologians of mysticism rightly speak of acquired and infused contemplation, basing themselves on a precise element that distinguishes them: the preeminence of human or divine causality in the simplification of the intellectual and affective acts that constitute the essence of contemplation.

Acquired contemplation is "a contemplative prayer in which the simplification of the intellectual and affective acts results from our personal activity aided by Grace through the play of psychological laws and as a consequent effect of our previous acts of faith and charity" (J. De Guibert, op. cit., pp. 35-36). Infused contemplation is "a contemplative prayer in which the simplification of the intellectual and affective acts results from a divine action in the soul, such as to surpass all that the simple causes of a psychological order, currently in play, would have produced, and the fruits of our previous acts from supernatural virtues."

The definition that R. Garrigou-Lagrange gives of acquired contemplation is also good, Perfezione cristiana e c., Italian trans., Turin 1933, ch. 4, no. 2, p. 241. On the contrary, that of A. Saudreau (Pour fixer la terminologie mystique, in La vie spirituelle, 1929, pp. 131-34) is most unfortunate.

A problem arises: does there exist an acquired contemplation to which, by our own powers alone, aided by Grace, we can, if we wish, raise ourselves? The existence of a contemplation that can be called acquired has been much contested in recent years, writes Gabriele di S. Maria Maddalena (La contemplazione acquisita, in Spiritualità teresiana, vita cristiana, I, Florence 1931). Carmelite and Dominican theologians dealt with it in an interminable dispute.

The theologians of mysticism who deny the existence of acquired contemplation oppose an entire theological tradition. Already in the mid-18th century Casimiro Liborio Tempesti could write in his Mistica teologia (I, Venice 1748, p. 2, tr. 3, ch. 1, no. 65), that a torrent of all theologians, ancient as well as modern, admitted the existence of acquired contemplation. Similarly N. Terzago in his Theologia historico-mystica (Venice 1760, diss. VII, no. 3).

The first theologian who systematically treats of acquired contemplation is Thomas of Jesus (cf. De contemplatione acquisita, Milan 1922), and in his other works. He was preceded with less systematic exposition by Antonio de Molina (Ejercicios espirituales, t. II, Burgos 1615, ch. 6), Philip of the Most Holy Trinity (Summa theol. mystic., Lyon 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), Henry Herp (Theologia mystica, III, Cologne 1538, ch. 7).

St. Francis de Sales designates acquired contemplation with the title of "union de simple remise en Dieu" (Réponse sur le coutumier, Oeuvres, ch. 24, ed. Migne, II, col. 236). F. Cayré (Précis de patrologie, I, Paris 1927, introduction, p. 25; Italian vers., I, Rome 1936, p. 26) calls it "imperfect contemplative meditation."

The conquest of acquired contemplation on the part of the soul occurs through a successive gradation. From predominantly speculative meditation one passes to affective meditation; from this to a progressive simplification of the affective and intellective gaze, until reaching that contemplative state which, beginning with isolated acts of brief duration, gradually extends itself, until reaching an almost habitual state of abstraction in God.

In such a state of acquired contemplation, the simplification and immobility of the contemplative gaze must not be understood in such a way that the operations of the intellect and will have almost totally disappeared in the soul, but only diminished (A. Poulain, Le grazie d'orazione, Italian trans., Turin 1926, ch. 2, no. 5, p. 10).

Souls called to acquired contemplation must avoid regarding this exercise almost as a sterile and idle act, which exposes one to easy illusion; this is a temptation common to souls who come to acquired contemplation from speculative meditation. The abandonment of the soul and the concentration of the psychic powers upon a supernatural object is not idleness, and to taste God sweetly without reasonings or words is infinitely delightful and fruitful for the soul.

It is well, as Alvarez de Paz notes (De inquisitione pacis, part 2, l. V, ch. 13), before acceding to acquired contemplation, to seek the opinion of one's director, and to keep in mind that often in the sweet and gentle exercise of acquired contemplation the call to infused contemplation is made by God.

St. Teresa in the Way of Perfection, ch. 28, speaking of the "prayer (acquired) of recollection," that is, of acquired contemplation, says: "it is a prayer that presents numerous 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 immobility in the consideration of a divine truth cannot be long, as Suárez notes in De Oratione, l. II, ch. 10, no. 13, and the maximum term of half an hour fixed by Card. Brancati di 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 by continuing their action in a simpler, gentler way that delights the soul." "One is neither rash nor presumptuous" writes Gerson (De monte contempl., ch. 28) "when one desires that kind of prayer that must make us love God with all our heart."

The spiritual director can recognize that a soul is ready and mature to ascend to acquired contemplation when he will notice in it an almost impossibility of meditating, according to that method that had been taught to it, and which it strives with great fidelity to execute. Another sign is the disposition to unity, when a simple thought or affection suffices to occupy us for a long time.

V. INFUSED OR MYSTICAL CONTEMPLATION

Gerson clearly indicated the note common to every mystical c. properly so called. It is "an experimental knowledge of God" (On the Magnificat, treat. VII, ch. 2).

The constitutive element of mystical c. is therefore the feeling that the soul experiences of God's presence within it, a sort of perception, of experiencing God. This is also the teaching of St. Teresa. "In the state of sweet quiet, the first of mystical contemplation, the soul," says St. Francis de Sales, "insensibly sucks the sweetness of this presence" (Treatise on the Love of God, 1, 6, ch. 8); cf. also G. B. Scaramelli, Mystical Directory, III, n. 32.

"It happens therefore — writes St. Francis de Sales (Treatise on the Love of God, 6, ch. 7) — sometimes that Our Lord imperceptibly infuses into the depths of our heart a certain sweet gentleness with which he makes us feel his hope... You will notice... that all this recollection is brought about by love." In it "the soul has no need to occupy itself with discoursing with the intellect, because it sees its Spouse present, with a sight so sweet that discourses would be useless and superfluous."

Although it does not see him with the intellect, it does not care at all, being content to feel him near to itself, for the joy and satisfaction that the will receives from it. St. Teresa writes: "the will finds itself in its love, without effort of the intellect. The Lord wills that without any effort of the mind the soul should understand that it is with Him" (Way of Perfection, ch. 31).

Therefore a good mystical school, headed by St. Bonaventure, teaches that the principal element in infused c. is love, that is, the will, and that this element increasingly assumes importance and occupies the field exclusively the more the mystical degrees ascend up to the perfect and transforming union of will, which are the divine darkness. However, a great part of the theologians of mysticism, formed in the Thomistic school, gives precedence and predominance in infused c. to the intellectual element. For them infused c. is "above reasoning and in the darkness of faith a simple and loving cognition of God, which cannot be obtained by our personal activity aided by Grace, but which requires a special inspiration or illumination of the Holy Spirit" (R. Garrigou-Lagrange, Christian Perfection and c., etc., Italian trans., Turin 1933, ch. 4, art. 4, p. 287). And A. M. Meynard thus describes it: "it is a gratuitous gift by which the just and purified soul raises itself, 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 superior spiritual region, in which it contemplates with an excessively simple and ardently affectionate gaze the divine and heavenly things" (Treatise on the Interior Life, Italian trans., II, Turin 1937, b. 3, ch. 1, n. 148, p. 188).

In c. there is cooperation of the intellect and the will of the contemplative; in the lower degrees the intellectual action prevails, in the higher ones the volitive action, in which the intellect falls silent to give place to the action of the will, which embraces the beloved entirely. Thus F. Joret (Mystical c. according to St. Thomas Aquinas, Italian trans., Lille 1924, ch. 6, p. 368): "while the intellect stops and humbles itself in this negative intuition, the heart proceeds further, without any hesitation... Indeed if knowledge is required for love to be born, it limits it. 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 C. is not usually given suddenly, but for the most part is granted after a certain preparation. C. is completely gratuitous, but the soul can dispose itself to receive it (cf. St. Teresa, Vita, ch. 14; A. M. Meynard, op. cit., II, l. III, ch. 4, nos. 209-17, pp. 287-309). It is not necessarily accompanied by an absolute impossibility of discoursing or reasoning, which would derive from the binding of the imagination. This binding may not exist, and consequently 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 C.

The theologians of mysticism generally admit that infused C. does not belong to the order of gratis datae graces (cf. Giuseppe dello Spirito Santo, Cursus Theol. myst. schol., Cologne 1721, II, disp. XI, q. 224 and 236, against the contrary opinion of the Carmelite Antonio della Annunciazione). Infused C., although predominantly passive, does not exclude the activity of the soul. "Properly speaking there is no C., however elevated, in which the soul ceases to act, but under the divine impulse the acts of C. become exceedingly delicate and sweet, our faculties seem more passive than active," because in infused C. God is the principal agent (St. John of the Cross, Living Flame of Love, stanza 3, 5).

In what does infused C. resemble acquired C.? Both require acts of the intellect and of the will, C. being 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 whatever refers to God. Nevertheless infused C. can touch this truth in broader and more sublime forms.

But infused C. differs essentially from acquired C. because, in the language of the mystics, it takes place on the "summit" or "peak" or in the "ground" of the soul. That is, it is a supreme spiritual operation, purged of every, even remote, sensibility, unfolding in the higher part of the soul. It is not possible to fix a determinate duration for the infused contemplative act generically taken, since its degrees are too varied, from the prayer of sweet quiet to ecstasy, and to spiritual marriage. The contemplative act, in its highest and purest nature, lasts a short time, at most — according to St. Teresa — half an hour. The splendor of the light that dazzles, that oppresses the mind, and the weakness of our nature, do not permit us to endure this suspensive adherence for long, making some respite necessary. Thomas of Vallgornera writes however (Theol. myst. D. Th., q. IV, disp. 2, a. 7, n. 11): "in perfectissimis viris, ex extraordinariis auxiliis, potest anima in una simplici intuitione et amoris suspensione, per aliquod tempus, ad plures die vel nocte horas durare. Dictum est certum, quia ita legitur in vitis sanctorum" (cf. also Suárez, De Relig., IV, l. II, ch. 10, n. 13).

The summit of C., which mystical authors call "divine darkness," is a confused and obscure cognition of the divine truth.

Pseudo-Dionysius describes it thus: "The divine darkness is nothing other than that inconceivable light in which God is said to dwell (1 Tim., 6, 1). Although it is invisible by reason of its dazzling lights, unapproachable because of its supernatural clarity, whoever has merited to see and know God rests in it, and by the very fact that he does not see and does not know, he is truly in Him who surpasses all sight and cognition" (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 can neither be seen nor grasped... We long to enter into this most luminous and obscured darkness; by reason of our blinding and of our mystical ignorance, we long to see and know Him who escapes every C. and every cognition" (Theol. mystica, chs. 1 and 2). The divine darkness is touched in the highest C., ecstasy, transforming union. "In this new state every feeling ceases, the soul is absorbed by enjoyment, without understanding what it enjoys. It enjoys a good that contains in itself alone all goods, and yet the nature of this good remains for it inconceivable" (St. Teresa, Vita, ch. 18; cf. also St. John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul, l. 2, ch. 17).

The intuition of God that one has in C., even the highest, differs from the beatific vision, because the lumen gloriae is granted in a permanent manner, mystical illumination in a transient manner. The beatific vision is immediate, the contemplative one is in speculo, that is, in the supernatural divine effects produced in the soul, as in a marvelous mirror. The divine vision is clear, the contemplative one is in aenigmate, that is, more negative than positive.

VII. FORMAL ELICITIVE PRINCIPLES OF MYSTICAL CONTEMPLATION

The formal principles of c. are remotely the spiritual faculties, and immediately the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The gifts of wisdom and understanding are the formal and elicitive principles of infused c. (Thomas of Vallgornera, Theol. myst. D. Th., q. III, disp. 4, n. 2, 2 and 3; Philip of the Holy Trinity, Sum. Theol. myst., p. 2, tract. 3, dist. 3, n. 1; V. Contenson, Theol. mentis et cordis, VIII, dist. 1, cap. 2, 3). Generally the gift of knowledge is added to these (Suárez, De Relig., IV, l. II, cap. 10, n. 9; D. Schram, Theol. myst., II, p. 2, cap. 4, p. 239). J. Lopez Ezquerra holds the contrary (Lucerna mystica, l. 3, cap. 7, n. 66). It is generally admitted that they are necessary for the development of mystical contemplation (R. Garrigou-Lagrange, Perfezione cristiana e c., p. 307) because of the imperfect manner in which the Christian virtues, even when elevated, are preserved in us. The three gifts listed above have a distinct office, but not a separate or independent one, in infused c.; since they are perfections that dispose man to follow well the divine inspirations, they must be put into action in the soul by means of actual Grace, the free concurrence of the will, and often the guidance of a good director. Hence too often they lie inert and unused. The gift of knowledge is granted by God to make us know his divine presence in all creatures. The gift of knowledge moves the intellect, which it guides to refer all creatures to God, and bends the will, leading it to the true good. The gift of understanding has as its purpose to make us understand and penetrate truths superior to the powers of our nature, that is, the divine mysteries. In infused c. this gift is so sublime that the soul, elevated in some way above the human condition, begins to share in the angelic splendors, penetrating, as far as is possible, into the intimate secrets of God. God himself one day explained to St. Catherine of Siena the wondrous effects of this gift (Dialogo, cap. 35).

The gift of understanding permits one to have a negative intuition of God, by means of the passive purification of images and spiritual forms; it gives the mind the privilege of being able to behave before the data of Revelation as it does naturally before principles, and it makes spiritual realities visible under concrete appearances.

The gift of wisdom, according to Denis the Carthusian, is the « primum atque dignissimum » among the infused gifts, which knows the divinity by inner taste, for « quem mens bene de Deo sentit ac iudicat, per connaturalitatem et conformitatem affectus ad ipsum, seu per mentalem saporem » (De contempl., cap. 1, n. 44).

The theologians of mysticism are unanimous in recognizing the gift of wisdom as the active and important principle of infused c., and in particular of the « divine darkness ». All the mystics speak of the action of the gift of wisdom as the elicitive principle of c., in particular St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, Angela of Foligno. According to Denis the Carthusian, the effects of the gift of wisdom in infused c. are to make the soul become «God's secretary», because the divine lights are impressed in her by intelligible species of a higher order, and by a most pure supernatural light; and also «God's counselor», because in a certain way, introduced into the sanctuary of the divinity, and by way of negation and sublime ignorance, she contemplates there the mysteries of uncreated Wisdom. Meynard writes: «In this state of secret and dark vision an most intense and intimate fire strips the soul of vile and earthly images, and places our faculties at heights where nothing created can disturb our rest: it is the abyss of the Divinity: then God has nothing more hidden for the soul that is confidant of his secrets, because it enters the dwelling of the 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, Turin 1937). John Ruysbroeck says: «The gift of wisdom, a most sweet savor that we taste at the summit of the soul, penetrates the intellect and the will to the extent that these faculties gather in this elevated place. This wisdom or this immense, inexhaustible savor comes forth from the depth of the righteous soul, to spread even into the most intimate part of our powers, according to their capacity, and also into the sensitive part, which it gladdens with a delicate tone... this sweetness is so great and so immense that for those who taste it heaven and earth and all that they contain seem to disappear and return to nothing... Hence the soul contemplates with an avid gaze that divine simplicity from which such great delights derive. Here is the starting point of a new light. Nevertheless the soul knows that it will never be able either to grasp or to know perfectly this sweet simplicity, because it is by a created light that it contemplates. Yet its joy is immense and it feels itself faint in the heights of its c.: transformed by this immense clarity, it cannot detach its gaze from the incomprehensible objects that procure it such great happiness... It contemplates all in Him» (Regno degli amanti di Dio, capp. 32 and 34).

The gratis datae graces can sometimes be bestowed on righteous souls with a view to infused c., but they are not necessary for them; they simply help to confer the high c. in a more perfect manner (D. Schram, Theologia myst., I, Paris 1868, part 2ᵃ, cap. 4, p. 244); among the gratis datae graces, the graces of healings, of prophecies, and of the discernment of spirits emerge in a particular way (Sum. Theol., 1ᵃ-2ᵃᶜ, q. 3, a. 4).

VIII. THE INTELLECTUAL «VISION» OF GOD

In the highest forms of c. God begins to manifest his divinity to the loving soul immersed in the supernatural ray of the divine dark cloud (Pseudo-Dionysius, De mystica Theologia, cap. 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 knowledge prior to 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, not detailed, which almost blinds the soul.

St. Joseph of Copertino said: «Sometimes I see the attributes of God united together, without my spirit being able to distinguish them or divide them; at other times I see them separate and distinct». St. John of the Cross concedes that in ecstasy there are «most elevated 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 elevated, is always filtered through the intellect, not transformed by the «lumen gloriae», except in the most exceptional cases recounted above, and consequently it is representative, not intuitive.

The vision of the divine attributes, particularly those that are incommunicable to the creature, such as infinity, aseity, eternity, as well as the vision of the perfect identification of all the attributes in a single divine substance that contains all goods, takes place in a splendor of manifestation that dazzles, wounds the intellect and, shining, darkens.

The vision is then, as the mystics say, «darkness and light». The soul sees, but such is the power of the vision that it neither knows nor can express it with human expression, «almost plunged into silence, so as to be almost inexpressible with human word» (Angela of Foligno, Il libro delle mirabili visioni, c. e istruzioni, ed. Fallacara, Florence 1922: Istruzione sulla presenza di Dio, pp. 174-75); because «mystical truth would translate better into music than into words» (W. James, L'expérience religieuse, French trans., Paris 1908, p. 337).

Is the light of glory sometimes granted on earth, in the most elevated contemplation? According to St. Augustine and St. Thomas (Sum. Theol., 2ᵃ-2ᵃᵉ, q. 75, a. 3, ad 1), such a privilege was granted to Moses and to St. Paul, as well as to the Most Blessed Virgin. St. Bonaventure and other theologians admit that a few times 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 bring with it an immediate, non-analogical vision of God, albeit confused and obscure.

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

According to the doctrine of St. Bonaventure (set out particularly in the Collect. in Hexaem., II, 32; XX, 11, etc.: Opera, V, Quaracchi 1891, pp. 342 ff., 427 etc.), in the contemplative state not only is a direct vision, even a transient one, of the divine essence not possible, but mystical cognition can never imply a direct cognition of God, even one had through impressed species representative of the divinity. The splendor of the divine illumination, in fact, according to the teaching of the Seraphic Doctor, so dazzles the intellect as to take away from it every faculty of sight, plunging it into the mystical night, the "docta ignorantia." The love that burns the will passes beyond and reaches where the intellect cannot reach. Love is therefore the summit of the contemplative life ("suprema unitio per amorem"). In such a state the affective virtue alone operates and at the same time "imposes silence on all the other powers, and the man raised in ecstasy hears arcane words, which it is not lawful to tell to man, inasmuch as they exist only in the '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 the contemplation in which God manifests himself by way of love is more elevated than that in which he manifests himself by way of the intellect, and there one has a contact of obscure and real presence of the divine essence that almost touches and caresses the loving soul, hiding itself in the divine darkness. This assumes among many mystics the name of "divine touch." When the soul reaches the ecstasy of love, it seems that the heavens lower themselves, that the ecstatic grows vast and assumes a divine tonality. This marvelous state is very well described by St. Bernard, Serm. in Cant., 1, 11, 12.

IX. EFFECTS OF INFUSED C IN THE SOUL

First of all, infused c. stirs up in the mind an ardent desire for heavenly light and a great contempt for earthly things, producing in it, as it were, a divine transformation (St. Francis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God, 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 with earthly things, through the ineffable pleasure encountered in the contemplative act. The soul, as St. Catherine of Siena observes (Dialogue, 167), would like to sing a new canticle to her beloved, but cannot express in words the immense delights she experiences in the innermost part of her being. The principal effect of c. upon the will is consequently a great love of God and of neighbor, so that that kind of c. which does not produce such an effect can with certainty be said not to be supernatural. Such love is always accompanied by the increase of the moral virtues, in particular humility, conformity to the divine will, and holy abandonment (v.).

X. CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR INFUSED CONTEMPLATION

Two principles cooperate in infused c.: God and man. The principal part belongs to God, who gives the grace of the contemplative vocation to whom he wills and when he wills. Man's part is indirect and negative, but it has its importance, because in general God does not grant the grace of infused c. except to those who prepare themselves for it with generosity and perseverance.

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

God's cooperation in c. consists in the grace of c., which God gives, and which is at once "sanctifying" grace and "gratis given" grace.

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

It is lawful to desire the gift of c., but humbly and conditionally, abandoning oneself to the will of God. "If it is a question of gratiae gratis datae, which sometimes accompany infused c., especially if it is a question of bodily or imaginary visions, or of certain purely apparent phenomena such as raptures, stigmata, etc., it may be said that it is not permitted to desire them, because that would be pure pride and true folly" (Meynard, op. cit., p. 302 ff.).

For such a desire to be legitimate, a truly divine inspiration is required, which is quite rare. The saints, out of prudence or humility, generally ask God to be delivered from these physical states. On this point the theologians are all agreed.

But may one desire the infused c. that derives from the gifts of the Holy Spirit? On this point authors seem divided: some, and they are the majority, basing themselves on the doctrine of St. Thomas, affirm that this desire is legitimate; 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 c. are St. Teresa of Jesus, Way of Perfection, ch. 20, Father Surin in his Treatise on the Love of God, III, ch. 1, Tommaso da Vallgorrera, 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 supporter of the present thesis, in his treatise Christian Perfection and Contemplation, p. 465: "The grace of infused c., although eminent, is therefore truly in the normal way of holiness, indeed of the holiness that every Christian ought to have before death, in order to avoid Purgatory, in order 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. DEGREES OF CONTEMPLATION

C. numbers the following degrees, which form as it were a magnificent crescendo, of an 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 can be distinguished into sweet quiet, operative quiet, and arid quiet; 2) prayer of simple union; 3) ecstatic union, which can be simple, or painful or delightful, or assume the characteristics of rapture (spiritual betrothal); 4) The state of perfect union or spiritual marriage (v. ORAZIONE; ESTASI).

Umile Bonzi da Genova