Mystical Opuscula

Top Highlights

“First, therefore, I invite the reader to cry out in prayer through Christ crucified,* by whose blood we are cleansed from the filth of sin. Let us not believe that it is enough to read without unction, to speculate without devotion, to investigate without wonder, to observe without joy, to act without godly zeal, to know without love, to understand without humility, to strive without divine grace, or to reflect as a mirror without divinely inspired wisdom.” (Page 7)

“Nor is one prepared in any way for divine contemplation that leads to the ecstasies of the mind unless he is, like Daniel,* a man of desires. Such desires are aroused in us in two different ways: the first is through the outcry of prayer,* which makes us roar with anguish of heart; the second, through the flash of intuition, by which the mind turns itself most directly and intently toward the light.” (Page 7)

“Corresponding to this triple movement, our mind has three principal powers of perception. One is aimed at the material world and is called animal or sensorial; the other is aimed inward and acts within itself, and is called spiritual; the third one is aimed above itself, and is called supernatural. By these triple means, we should dispose ourselves for the knowledge of God,* and love Him with our whole heart, and with our whole soul, and with our whole mind. In this consists the perfect observance of the Law, as well as full Christian wisdom.” (Pages 10–11)

“Parallel to the six steps of the ascent to God, the powers of the soul also have six degrees through which we rise from the depths to the heights, from the external to the internal, from the temporal to the eternal. They are the following: senses, imagination, reason, understanding, intelligence, and, at the tip of the mind, the spark of moral discernment.³ These powers, implanted in us by nature, were distorted by sin, and are reformed by grace. They must be cleansed by righteousness, trained by learning, and perfected by wisdom.” (Page 11)