He is one might, one wisdom, and one will: and only one God in three persons, and three persons in one God. O Lord God, soothly it is little, so little that it may not be said, for it is naught as in regard of the other part,[390] and therefore ye be and none but ye; all your truths grant it you, in me., And then this I beheld, between the wickedness of me and between the goodness of him, what thing I might do to appease me to him. She heareth oft, this soul, things that she heareth not, and is full ofttimes where this soul is not, and feeleth ofttimes that which she feeleth not. understand it, ye that hear this, if ye may! Nor she leaveth naught for God. And though I wist that the sweet manhood of Christ Jesu and the Virgin and all the court of heaven might not suffer that I had the torments everlastingly, but [rather] that I had the being that I was come from, and God seeth this in himself (if it might be this pity of them and this good will), and thus saith to me: If thou wilt, I shall yield thee that which thou art come from, by my will, for this that my friends of my court will it, but were it not their will, thou shouldest not have it, wherefore I yield thee this gift, if thou wilt, take it! It should fall in my choice rather without end to dwell in torment than I should take it, since I had it not of his sole will. Beyond these we know we shall never see, but the freshness, newness and joy thereof shall remain for ever inexhaustible. Meditation of pure love hath but only one purpose, and that is this, that she loveth alway truly, without willing any guerdon. And the hid treasure of his sole goodness hath so, in inwardness, annihilated her,[164] that she is dead to all feelings both inward and outward, so that such a soul doth no more works, for God nor for her soul. MS. ne werke ye it, also schalle the deire but if ye lette him to dethe, werke. Lat. [4] Several passages from Cordonis Dyalogo are taken up and paraphrased by Pili. This soul desireth not despite nor poverty, nor tribulation nor dis-ease, nor masses nor sermons, nor fastings nor orisons, and she giveth to nature all that she asketh without grudging of conscience.. His name is the Holy Ghost, so have I in heart such union in love, that Love giveth me to love in him, that it maketh me a joyful life to lead. This gift is given, saith Love, sometime in a moment of time. Alas, alas! [117] And also she is drunk of the knowing of the divine bounty, by the pure grace of the Deity, of which she is always drunk, and of the beholding thereof, fulfilled with laud and hearing of divine love; not drunken of that which she hath drunk, but she is right drunk, and more drunk, of that which she never drank nor never shall drink.[118], Ah for God, Love, saith Reason, what is this to say, that this soul is drunk of that she never drank nor never shall drink? Oh, what a sweet meaning [is this]; for Gods love understand it all! We will keep fighting for all libraries - stand with us! by a meditation of [the] love [that is] without [the] hearing [that cometh from] creatures, by such meditation that souls receive in love without desiring any of his gifts, which men call consolations that comfort souls, by feeling of sweetness in prayer. It is well asked, and, saith Love, I will answer thee to all thy askings., Reason, saith Love, I certify thee that these souls, whom Fine Love leadeth, they have as lief[79] shame as worship, and worship as shame; and poverty as riches and riches as poverty; and torments of God and of his creatures, as comforts of God and of his creatures; and to be hated as loved and loved as hated; and hell as paradise and paradise as hell; and little estate as great, and great estate as little. Now naught is but he; no one [is] loved but he; for none is but he. in good understanding! It is impossible to estimate the influence of the Mirror on that susceptible Flemish-Franco borderland in that age of spiritual fervour, the early fourteenth century. The Mirror reflects a contemporary ecclesiastical world that was itself an inversion of women's experience and values. And this soul, saith the Holy Ghost, is of such condition, that if she had in her the same that we have, she would yield it to us; all this as we have it without willing any guerdon in heaven nor in earth, but right according to our will alone. [296] Now work in us, by you, of you, for us, without us, thus Lord as it pleaseth you. Then came Mercy, and asked me what help would I have of him. He thinketh not, why then should I think? It fitteth the Beloved since he is worthy, that he of his bounty call his lover to peace., Martha is troubled, peace hath Mary. When I was nothing, before I owed to my God anything by the work of self will, and yet should I have nothing ere I were quit of one of my faults, without more, though I had the same that this book speaketh of, where it speaketh of the argument[341] of which ye have heard! The author explains that, since Baptism remedies the corruption of original sin, we naturally feel distressed at any further actual sin, however venial, but this distress should not be allowed to drive us to a bitter spirit against ourselves. Nevertheless, even a venial sin is not a small matter since it displeases God. It was burned at Valenciennes by Gui II, Bishop of Cambrai 1296-1305. Certainly, I might not with- hold from him, but I should give him all, if I had whereof to give. Therefore his eye beholdeth me, that he loveth none more than me; my necessity requireth it. Much is due to Miss E. Underhill; Mgr. We cannot determine whether these analyses belonged to the earlier MS. of the book, but it seems improbable, for there is no indication of them either in the British Museum or Cambridge, or the Latin MSS. This knowing is of the substance of understanding of love in this life, that harboureth in her all the life of goodness, and setteth her in this good seat in a high place, through love. remained an integral part of the Mirror's history well beyond the events of 1310, revealing how seriously churchmen took Marguerite Porete's ideas on their own terms, in contexts entirely removed from Marguerite's identity and her fate. Obviously no deductions in favour of self-indulgence are to be drawn from this passage by those who have not attained that state. Sweet Beloved, I am naught. But the servile hearts that be not wise, that know not for default of wit what honour and courtesy is, nor what the gifts be of a noble lord, they have thereof great wonder, and that is no marvel!, They have cause[276] in themselves, saith Truth, as ye have heard before., Ah, for God, saith Nobility-of-unity of the freed soul, why should anyone marvel that hath any wit in him? Then follows, in Division XIV, a summing-up of the seven degrees or estates; it recalls the first chapter of the treatise, but is an interesting summary of St Augustines seven stages in the De Quantitate Animae, treated with the free originality we have learnt to expect of our author. And anon, as they willed this, of their forfeited will, they lost the Being of bounty. But in well-understanding it is herself that she loveth, without her witting. Now am I, saith this soul, wrought of him without myself, for work passing me and the strong works of virtues, they for me and I for him, till I be in him. This freedom, the highest state of the soul, implies a perfect union of will with God, so that the desires are transformed, and only that which pleases God is desirable. This soul rejoiceth herself sometimes in the supreme part of him, without her feeling, willing nothing of other[s] than of [him who is] her nearest. She was burned at the stake for heresy in Paris in 1310 after refusing to recant her views. They swim into the retina, to be instantly classified by experimental knowledge, and most speedily dismissed in the search for the ultimate, ever-increasing joy of the mountain ranges. Of myself, saith this soul, and of mine even-Christian and of all the world, and of affection of spirit and of virtues, wherein I have been servant, by the care and control of reason. Nor she knoweth naught but him, nor she loveth but him, nor she praiseth but him, for there is but he. This second part deals with the highest states, not merely by description, but it takes up some of the previous points of controversy and shows them in relation to the further the plea of experience acquired. But when a soul is touched with grace by which she has tasted somewhat of the sweetness of this divine fruition, and begins to wade and draweth the draughts to her-ward then it savoureth the soul so sweetly that she desireth greatly to have of it more and more, and pursueth thereafter. For God suffereth some time some evil to be done for greater good that afterward shall grow. The same thing happens (in suo modo) in a manner, in the union of man with God, as in that which unites the Son substantially with the Father, and the Father with the Son. This Soul saith thus: Ah, ye right little people, rude and ill-mannered, saith she. Gerson, who is the next French author to write on these matters, always fuses The Mirror the devotional, the ascetic and the mystical, The Mirror of Simple Souls is a treatise according to the older method, but our of some 60,000 words, on the progress of the author has some instinct at least of the dis-soul from the earlier stages of the . Alas, what would pure naught? It is promised her of all the Trinity and granted of his bounty, in the knowledge of wisdom without beginning, all that we have. Reason! saith for the rudeness of thee, have I so oftentimes named her by her surname, for most [men] understand a thing by its surname, therefore it is to us now helpful, and yet shall be. But the works of virtues be all within this soul enclosed, that obey her without any withstanding. Such power hath love over me. peterjohnparisis And her questions be out of all creatures knowledge, where creatures may have no knowing thereof., What marvel is it, saith this soul, if they wit it not; why should any wit it, but he of whom I am, that in me is the same [one], and he is the secret of love that is between [us] made, where my love is enclosed, without me? [312] Gloss these words if ye will understand it or ye shall misunderstand it, for it hath some likeness to the opposite[313] [for those] who understand not the fulness of the gloss; and likeness is not truth, but Truth is truth and nothing else. IMPRIMATUR: Edm. The seventh is of the seraphins, how they be in the divine will.. And then this I beheld, how the divine nature oned him for us to the nature of man in the person of God the Son. They have forgot that anything that I did for them sufficed me not unless I had done all that mine humanity might bear, unto the death., Ah, right sweet Lord Jesu Christ saith the soul, do not trouble yourself thereof, nor displease yourself, for these souls be so for themselves, and with themselves, that they forget you, for the littleness of themselves, in which they suffice themselves., Oh, saith Love, without fail it is great villainy!, This people, saith this soul, be merchants; in the world they be called thralls, for thralls they be, for it behoveth not to any gentleman to be able to meddle with merchandise, nor to be one of them. And then she had painted an image, that presented that kings semblance as nigh as she might, whom she loved, and by the sight of this image, with other usages, she was eased: and thus she appeased herself by the presentation of [that] love, whereby she was updrawn. Thus the virtues be mistresses, and every virtue maketh her to war with its contrary, the which be vices. And this is, that ye should have no vainglory, for unto that time none ought to speak. Upon these two staffs she is apeased,[115] and taketh no count of her enemies, neither on the right side nor on the left side. The Mirror of Simple Souls Download PDF version of the book. For wit it for sooth, that they whom encumbrances trouble, be full far from this life that we have spoken of., Now, for love, saith Understanding of divine light, tell me, among you, who have somewhat to answer, what ye understand by this., And we shall tell you, say the souls of-wit-of-nature, what we understand by this. [332] For no more than God may sin, who cannot will it, no more may I sin if my will will it not, such freedom hath my sum[333] given of his pure bounty, by love.. St John of the Cross, two last books). Then it behoveth, saith this soul, that I be in certainty that this which I have said is less than naught. And these be the degrees by which men ascend from the valley to the top of the mountain that is so separate that it seeth God only. As to the accusation of Quietism, we may probably safely take the humorous comment of Richard Methley in his later translation of the passage descriptive of the last stages of the souls journey (p. 293). These teach not the soul, nor any other usages, but pure love; for he who would have the comforts of God by feelings of consolation, he breaketh the price of fine love. A young man [there] was on a time that said to our Lord Jesu Christ that he had kept himself from the time he was a child unto that time. MS.properties probable translation of O.F. She is content with what God is in himself. This soul is printed in God, she hath taken his very imprint, by union of love, in the manner that the wax taketh the form of the seal, so hath this soul taken the print of God and his very likeness. Love! Since that his soul was oned to his divine nature it might not be that the body that was mortal, might do sin. Thus, of himself, he hath taken me, I can have no will because of him; thus it is! Such is the Beloved of our souls, saith this soul. For until then is not the soul wholly refined, until she do that which pleaseth her and that she be grudging of doing the contrary of her pleasaunces. . Perhaps he was one of the unknown fourteenth-century mystics who wrote as disciples of Rolle or Walter Hilton. And only by [this] one understanding of this great highful everlasting goodness doth new goodness grow.. Now be these two things ended in me that made me out of my childhood go; and there it showed me the country of freedom. As the revelation of God to the soul progresses, so the soul becomes more passive, both with regard to effort after virtue and search for knowledge. O haste you to understand, ye that be chosen and called to this sovereign being, for it is a full great way between the first estate of life of grace to the last estate of life of glory, which the gentle far night giveth. It is possible, and his views are much illuminated by a comparison with those of the writer of the Letter. It is the easiest of his literary sources to trace. That which she most loved, is now that she most hateth, as it is the manner. Then may not the body see the Trinity, since it may not see the angels and the souls. So say none of the Masters of us,[209] say the Virtues to Love. The French book that I shall write after is evil written and in some places for default[18] of words and syllables the reason is away. MS. Bod. Nor none may give [to] her nor take away [from her]. Him so high and me so low that I might no more from thence rise, nor help of myself have, and that was best. This is the established state that later writers call Spiritual Marriage. But yet also she doth the other, as by usage of good custom, as Love saith, in this book, that by usage of good custom this soul doth these outward works. But she doth it without desire and without that kind of usage that she had before, in labouring by outward impulses;[51] but fully she attendeth in all that she may to the usages of love, which be all divine and upward. And her joy of his goodness in recalling the bounties of her salvation, it beareth her light into the supreme place, where she is oned to her Spouse, and this pleaseth her in his pleasure. An examination of the original work of Richard Methley, the Latin translator of the Mirror, shows that he had hardly imbibed the teaching of his author. The personification of the far night here is consistent with the style of these later portions, and indicates merely that the dark night is the means by which the soul attains to God in a state beyond conscious thought. There seems to be a play on words, singular meaning first, exceptional, unique, and then strange. Then shall ye have peace, stillness and rest of peace in peace; and of such peace [as is] raised above corruption, if ye dwell in the risen peace. This article first returns to Guarnieri's announcement and subsequent statements on the subject in order to highlight both their strengths and their . This is the deepness of meekness that there sitteth in her chair and reigneth without pride. Contextual introduction to Margherita Porete. There is nothing more profitable, nor more sure to have than to know this., Now, Reason, saith Love, understand I come again for a little, touching to our matter. This book, the which is called The Mirror of Simple Souls, I, most unworthy creature and outcast of all other, many years gone wrote out of French into English after my simple learning,[10] in hope that, by the grace of God, it should profit those devout souls that shall read it. Ellen Babinsky provides an excellent analysis and account of Marguerite in her translation, "Marguerite Porete: The Mirror of Simple Souls. A place for taking pleasure, hence garden, orchard. For one thing, Lady Love, I will say, that if it might so be that one of his creatures had in himself [by Gods gift] as much power and will to give me joy and glory as all those receive of his [heavenly] court unless he himself properly gave it me, I should refuse it without end, rather than [that] I should take it or desire it of any other, than of himself. This I may clearly see since the one hath all and the other hath naught, in regard of his all. Truth speaks for them at our questioning, and love declareth it, that say that then is a soul naughted without her, when she hath no feeling of nature, nor no work of inwardness, nor shame, nor worship, nor dread of nothing that may befall, nor none affection hath. This is right of right, for this is the very addressing of fine love, who ever will maintain it. And therefore, they dwellin works., Alas, how they be deceived, who of this think them to suffice! And then I said this, that if it might be that he might love another more than me? For she hath naught of herself, she hath all given freely without any for-why? in him that is all. This soul is no-one by naughting, and she recketh not in this naughting, though the serpent her devour. For, Lord, my weening[156] is this, and it is truth, that though none had sinned but I alone, you would have bought my soul with your love, late laid on cross for me, by the use of powers ordained to destroy my sin. 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