Review

The triple way (purgative, illuminative, unitive) extends to the following:

• Reading/meditation
• Prayer/contemplation

What is contemplation?

“Through contemplation our mind passes unto the heavenly Jerusalem, after whose likeness the Church is formed...” (3.1.1 2) Contemplation is the wisdom to which meditation and prayer tend. (Fehlner, footnote 99) In glory there is a threefold gift, in which consists the perfection of the reward. Each gift corresponds with a particular rung of the celestial hierarchy (3.1.1):

• • Supreme eternal peace—corresponding to the choir of Thrones
  • Clear vision of supreme truth—corresponding to the choir of Cherubim
  • Full enjoyment of the supreme good—corresponding to the choir of Seraphim

It is necessary to attain each of the following through the three ways:

• Purgative—expulsion of sin—the goal of which, is the slumber of peace
• Illuminative—imitation of Christ—the goal of which, is the splendor of truth
• Unitive—reception of the Groom—the goal of which, is the sweetness of charity

Chapter 3.6
Another way of progressing to perfect contemplation in nine steps

Three things are necessary for everyone after the fall of Adam:

• Bitter sorrow (purgation), in which you must
  • Ponder the evil in which is the consequence of your own wickedness
  • Remember the suffering Christ endured under torment
  • Beg healing for the miseries you have inflicted on others

• Gratitude (perfection), in which you must
  • Admire the blessings consequent on your being created out of nothing
  • Not permit yourself to boast of your merits
  • Be thankful for being snatched out of the jaws of hell

• Imitation of Christ (enlightenment), in which your
  • Eye of truth must be directed to what is above you. This is realized by
    • The contemplation of divine things
    • The study of the universe
    • Captivation of your judgment

“We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take
every thought captive to obey Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

• • Loving affection must be directed to what is without you. This is accomplished through
    • Desire for heavenly things (wisdom)
    • Love of other human beings (friendship)
    • Contempt for carnal pleasures (modesty)

• • Manly acts of virtue must be directed to your internal renewal. This is accomplished by
    • Undertaking difficult tasks (courage)
    • Performance of praiseworthy tasks (magnanimity)
    • Embracing the lowly (humility)

The triple way of contemplation in bitterness, imitation, and gratitude:

• Purgation in bitterness consists of three things
  • Contrition within yourself, which must be painful on account of sadness for your wickedness
  • Compassion for Christ, which must be fearful out of reverence for divine judgment
  • Pity for your neighbor, which must cry out and work insistently on his behalf

• Enlightenment in imitation wherein your
  • Gaze on first truth [divine realities] is raised to mysteries beyond comprehension, extended to other human beings who can explain these truths, and humbled for the sake of belief
  • Loving affection is raised to God, to neighbor, and emptied of the worldly
  • Manly acts of virtue seek out the commendable, share what can be shared, and despise the contemptible.

• Perfection in gratitude in which
  • Watchfulness moves you to cry out in song over the utility [usefulness] of God’s blessings
  • Joy moves you to exult God in jubilation over the excellence of his gifts
  • Benevolence moves you to embrace the God who is generous.

Chapter 3.7
The twofold manner of contemplating divine things

This section refers back to 2.a above—gazing on first truth. First truths are the mysteries of the Holy Trinity, two which we are lifted up by contemplation in a two-fold manner:

• By affirmation (as enumerated by St. Augustine), wherein we understand that there are some attributes of God which are:
  • Common (attributes mutual to all three persons of the Trinity)

• • • God is primary essence
    • Perfect nature
    • Blessed life

• • • Ever present eternity
    • Simplicity filling all things
    • Stability source of all motion, whether physical or spiritual

• • Proper (attributes which enumerate the distinctiveness of the three persons of the Trinity)
    • Light inaccessible – For just as light begets splendor, and light and splendor emanate warmth, so too does the Father beget the Son, and the Father and the Son emanate the Holy Spirit.
    • Mind unwavering – For just as the mind begets an inner word for that which it observes, and the mind and the inner word together emanate love, so too does the Father beget the Son, and the Father and the Son emanate the Holy Spirit. Peace incomprehensible – For just as the Origin must have for itself an Image, and a Bond must exist between the two, so too must the Father have an image of himself (the Son) and a bond must exist between the two (the Holy Spirit), and this is true peace.

• • Appropriated (attributes possessed by the individual persons of the Trinity)
    • Unity – appropriated to the Father for he is the Origin of all
    • Truth – appropriated to the Son for he is the Image of the Origin
    • Goodness – appropriated to the Spirit for he is the bond between Father and Son
    • Power – appropriated to the Father because he is Principle
    • Wisdom – appropriated to the Son because he is Word
    • Will – appropriated to the Spirit because he is Gift
    • Sublimity – appropriated to the Father because he is Principle and Origin
    • Beauty – appropriated to the Son because he is Image and Word
    • Sweetness – appropriated to the Spirit because he is Bond and Gift

• By negation (as enumerated by Pseudo-Dionysius). That is, coming to understand the Trinity by reflecting on what it is not, rather than what it is. This method of negation is higher than affirmation because, since the Divine One infinitely transcends our conceptualizations, we cannot say precisely what God is, but we can say precisely what he is not.

Review

The triple way (purgative, illuminative, unitive) extends to the following:

• Reading/meditation
• Prayer/contemplation

Chapter 3 Preamble
What is contemplation?

“Through contemplation our mind passes unto the heavenly Jerusalem, after whose likeness the Church is formed...” (3.1.1 2) Contemplation is the wisdom to which meditation and prayer tend. (Fehlner, footnote 99) In glory there is a threefold gift, in which consists the perfection of the reward. Each gift corresponds with a particular rung of the celestial hierarchy (3.1.1):

• Supreme eternal peace—corresponding to the choir of Thrones
• Clear vision of supreme truth—corresponding to the choir of Cherubim
• Full enjoyment of the supreme good—corresponding to the choir of Seraphim

It is necessary to attain each of the following through the three ways:

• Purgative—expulsion of sin—the goal of which, is the slumber of peace
• Illuminative—imitation of Christ—the goal of which, is the splendor of truth
• Unitive—reception of the Groom—the goal of which, is the sweetness of charity

Chapter 3.2
Seven steps to achieve the slumber of peace

• Shame in recalling the seriousness of your sins: their magnitude, multitude, baseness, and your ingratitude.

• Fear in anticipating the judgment of God in view of four considerations: pointless activity, the clouding of your understanding, the hardening of your will, and your final condemnation.

• Sorrow in realizing the damage incurred: the loss of divine friendship, the destruction of innocence, the wounding of nature, and the descent into your past life.

• Cries for help to: God the Father, Christ the Redeemer, the Virgin Mary, and the Church Triumphant.

• Strength expended to calm the passions: spiritual sloth, malice, concupiscence, and vanity.

• Ardent desire for martyrdom: full forgiveness of sins, cleansing from stain, satisfaction for penalties incurred, and perfect sanctification by grace.

• Slumber—unending, restful abode under the shadow of God’s wings—you are no longer burned by concupiscence or disturbed by the fear of punishment.

Chapter 3.3
Seven steps to achieve the splendor of truth

• Assent your reason to Christ who suffered for you, paying him homage and recognizing him as
  the Son of God, the origin of all things.

• Unite yourself to Christ by compassionate affection such that you suffer with him.

• With wondering contemplation, consider how great the Lord is (in power, beauty, happiness, and eternity), and go out to meet him.

• In Ecstatic devotion forget yourself, for the Lord suffered for your redemption, enlightenment, sanctification and glorification.

• Put on Christ and suffer like him: suffer with willingness for your neighbor, suffer most severely to self, suffer most obediently to God, and suffer most prudently as regards your enemy.

• Embrace the cross and suffer full of injury via privation of possessions, full of vituperation via words, full of mockery via signs, and full of pain via torments.

• Enjoy the truths revealed in Christ’s passion— the admirableness God, the value of the world of intelligent spirits, the vanity of the world of the senses, the desirableness of paradise, the horribleness of hell, the praiseworthiness of virtue, and the blameworthiness of sin.

Chapter 3.4
Seven steps to attain the sweetness of charity

• Watchfulness: Be ready for the groom.
• Trust: Have firm confidence in the prizes offered by the Groom.
• Desire: Long for the Lord as the hind longs for fountains of living water.
• Ecstasy: Be uplifted to the heights of the groom.
• Complacence: Be calm in light of the Groom’s beauty.
• Joy: Delight in the gifts offered by the Groom.
• Union: Be bonded to Christ so you can say, “it is good for me to cling to God.”

Review

The triple way (purgative, illuminative, unitive) extends to the following:

• Reading/meditation
• Prayer/contemplation

Introduction

What is prayer? “Meditation seeks to teach us to avoid evil and do food. Prayer is rather the lifting of the mind to God, to place us before him in adoring admiration and imploring merciful forgiveness. This is the
immediate preparation for contemplation...” (Fehlner, footnote 67)

A fruitful prayer life is attained through a three-part journey:

• The deploring of our misery, which corresponds with purgation
• The imploring of mercy, which corresponds with enlightenment
• The offering of divine worship (latria), which corresponds with perfection

Chapter 2.4
The six degrees of the love of God

“And so, to understand progress in the love of God, consider how such love has six degrees, by which you ascend in order, step by step, until you attain perfect love.” (2.4.9p1)

• Sweetness — whereby a man learns to taste how good is the Lord. A pleasing of the heart attained by “vacationing” from ordinary tasks and sanctifying the Sabbath through holy meditations. (2.4.9p2)

• Craving — The soul becomes so accustomed to that sweetness, there arises in her a hunger only satisfied when she possesses him whom she loves (God). She cannot do this in the present life, because he is afar off, she continually goes beyond herself in ecstatic love: “As a hind longs for streams of running water, so my soul longs for thee, O God” (Ps 41:2). (2.4.9p3)

•  Surfeit — Anything at all tending downward becomes an annoyance. Filled with the desire for God the soul can find no nourishment in (and is nauseated by) anything other than the beloved. (2.4.10p1)

• Inebriation — That you love God with such love, that not only do consolations annoy, but you even delight and seek torment in place of consolation; and for the love of Him whom you love, you delight in punishments, in disgraces and beatings, like the Apostle. As a drunkard strips himself without shame and sustains wounds without pain, so is inebriated love of God to be understood. (2.4.10p2)

• Security — Because the soul feels a love for God so intense as to exclude all anxiety, she would gladly bear injury and disgrace for his sake. Fear has been cast out. The Soul places such hope on divine aid that she considers it impossible to be separated from God. (2.4.11p1)

• Tranquility — Peace and rest. The soul is undisturbed by adversity, as a passenger slumbering in Noah’s Ark. In this state of tranquility, it is very easy for one to do everything required by perfection: to work or suffer, to live or die. (2.4.11p2)

• • Aquinas: “It is impossible for any created good to constitute man's happiness. For happiness is the perfect good, which lulls the appetite altogether... Now the object of... man's appetite, is the universal good... Hence it is evident that naught can lull man's will, save the universal good. This is to be found, not in any creature, but in God alone... Therefore God alone constitutes man's happiness.” (Summa Theologiae, IIA.2.8)

• • Augustine: “Great are You, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and of your wisdom there is no end. And man, being a part of your creation, desires to praise you — man, who bears about with him his mortality, the witness of his sin, even the witness that you 'resist the proud,' — yet man, this part of your creation, desires to praise you. You move us to delight in praising you; for you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” (Confessions, 1.1)

Review

The triple way (purgative, illuminative, unitive) extends to the following:

• Reading/meditation
• Prayer/contemplation

Introduction

What is prayer? “Meditation seeks to teach us to avoid evil and do food. Prayer is rather the lifting of the mind to God, to place us before him in adoring admiration and imploring merciful forgiveness. This is the
immediate preparation for contemplation...” (Fehlner, footnote 67)

A fruitful prayer life is attained through a three-part journey:

• The deploring of our misery, which corresponds with purgation
• The imploring of mercy, which corresponds with enlightenment
• The offering of divine worship (latria), which corresponds with perfection

Chapter 2.1
The triple deploring of our misery

“Deploring of misery, whatever it be, whether that of having committed sin, or of having lost grace, or of the postponement of glory, must be characterized by three dispositions...” (2.1.2) These being:

• Sorrow — over the damage wrought or misfortune encountered. Sorrow arise from:
  • Recalling what good deeds you failed to do
  • Recalling what sins you committed
  • Acknowledging what you lost – the gifts of life

• Shame — over the disgrace brought upon you. Shame arises when you become aware of:
  • Where you are (so low when once so high)
  • How you are (smeared with mud when once as lovely as an icon).
  • What you are (enslaved when once so free)

• Fear — over thee danger or punishment which your guilt makes you liable. Fear arises when you ponder:
  • Where you are going (because the path of sin goes swiftly toward hell).
  • What will happen (just but inevitable condemnation)
  • What will follow (the wages of eternal death)

Chapter 2.2
The triple way of imploring mercy

We do not implore divine mercy in vain if the following criteria are met:

• We must implore with an outpouring of desire given to us by the Holy Spirit. For through the Spirit we are:
  • Eternally predestined by the Father in the Son
  • Reborn spiritually in baptism
  • Gathered in one spirit within the Church

• We must implore with the confidence of hope which we have in Christ who:
  • Offered himself on the cross for us while on earth
  • Appears now in glory before the face of the Father
  • Comes to us in the Blessed Sacrament through Holy Mother Church.

• We must diligently beg the help of:
  • The angels
  • The triumphant in heaven
  • The merits of the militant just on earth

Chapter 2.3
The triple offering of worship

“The gift of worship must have three features, whatever the gift motivating our worship.” (2.3.3)

• The heart must bow low in reverence and adoration of God. Admire God’s immensity and note your own insignificance. Show God reverence in three ways:
  • As to a Father - by whom we have been (a) formed, (b) reformed, and (c) educated
  • As to a Lord – by whom we have been (a) saved from the enemy, (b) ransomed from the prison of hell, and (c) guided to the holy vineyard
  • As to a Judge – before whom we are (a) accused by conscience, (b) convicted by the evidence of our lives, and (c) confess our guilt.

“When we speak to God as Father, our reverence must be great; when we address God as Lord it must be greaterstill; when we address God as judge it must be greatest. Hence, the first is manifested in the form of a bow; the second, in the form of a genuflection; the third, in the form of prostration. “In the first we submit ourselves; in the second we cast ourselves down; in the third we despise ourselves. In the first we deem ourselves small; in the second we account ourselves least; in the third, nothing.” (2.3.6)

• The heart must be opened to include kindness and thanksgiving. Contemplate God’s kindness and note your own unworthiness. We show this love of benevolence in a threefold manner:
  • Great – by reflecting on (a) our own unworthiness, (b) the gifts we’ve been given, and (c) the perfections of our natures.
  • Greater – by pondering (a) the magnitude of God’s grace, (b) the forgiveness of our sins, and(c) the vestments of grace
  • Greatest – in considering (a) the immensity of God’s mercy, (b) the rewards he has promised, and (c) all of the gifts he has given us that are beyond what is necessary.

• The heart must be borne aloft by love of complacence (to seek to please God or to be pleased by God, for his own sake, in friendship) and mutual converse. Ponder God’s own charity and consider your own tepidity (lukewarm-ness). Tender God in a threefold manner:
  • Gratuitous love – only what pleases God pleases us
  • Requited love – that which pleases us only does so insofar as we please God alone
  • Love both gratuitous and requited – the sharing of this pleasure with others

“In the first, the world is crucified to man; in the second, man to the world; in the third, man is crucified for the world so as to wish to die for all men... And this is the perfect and highest degree of charity. Until this is attained, no one can consider himself perfect. This degree of perfection is attained when the heart finds itself not only willing to die, but craves to do so for the salvation of its neighbor... One cannot arrive at this perfect love of neighbor unless he first comes to perfect love of God, for whose sake one loves one’s neighbor, a neighbor who is not lovable except for God’s
sake.”

Review

The human soul undergoes three hierarchical actions:

• Purgation: cleansing, which leads to peace
• Illumination: enlightenment, which leads to truth
• Union: perfection, which leads to charity

The soul attains bliss when it has mastered these three hierarchical (ordered) actions. Therefore, a true understanding of Scripture and the merit of eternal life depend on our mastering of these actions. Thus, the triple way (purgative, illuminative, unitive) extends to the following:

• Reading/meditation
• Prayer/contemplation

The success of your mediation is dependent upon the fruitful use of three powers:

• The sting of conscience, which corresponds with purgation
  This is what we studied in chapter 1.1. Our life of meditation must be cleansed as follows: we must recall our sins, then we must assess our present state, and then (finally) we must redirect our meditation to focus on goodness rather than evil.
• The light of reason, which corresponds with enlightenment
• The spark of wisdom, which corresponds with perfection

Chapter 1.3
The perfective way of meditation

“Lastly comes instruction about how you ought to exercise in order to enkindle the embers of wisdom.” (Note the terminology applied to wisdom has more to do with heat than with light. Reason provides clarity, but holy wisdom burns from within.)

The embers must be:

• Stirred up — by detaching your affection from any love of creatures. (1.3.15)
  • For “the love of a creature for its own sake does not fulfill...”
  • “...and if it fulfills,fresh...”
  • “...and if it refreshes, it does not suffice...”

• Enkindled — by turning your affections to love of the Groom. This is accomplished by pondering His love in relation either:
  • To yourself – for he loves you so immensely that he supplies for every need.
  • To the affections of the citizens of heaven – for in his love the blessed enjoy his love in overabundance.
  • To the Groom himself – for “by his love, you are in the presence of your God, desirable, above all else.” (1.3.16)

• Fanned on high — by recognizing God is beyond anything which can be sensed, imagined, and understood. Meditate on the mysteries of God:
  • Say of him that he cannot be sensed (because God is not visible, audible, cannot be smelled, tasted, or touched) yet he is still totally desirable.
  • Reflect on the fact that he cannot be imagined, because God is “without limits, has no figure, quantity, circumscription, [and] cannot change”, yet remains wholly desirable.
  • Reflect on the fact that God is beyond our understanding, because “he cannot be demonstrated or defined; is beyond opinion, critical evaluation and investigation; yet is nonetheless wholly desirable.” (1.3.17)

Chapter 1.4
Corollary of the purgative, illuminative, and perfective ways of Scriptural meditation

“From the foregoing (all of Chapter 1), it becomes clear how the wisdom of Sacred Scripture is attained by meditating in the purgative, illuminative and perfective ways. Your every meditation must not only treat of the contents of Sacred Scripture, but also on these three.” For your every meditation in search of wisdom either concerns:

• Human works
  • What you have done
  • What you ought to do
  • And what is your primary motivation

• Divine works
  • What God has entrusted to you
  • How much he has forgiven
  • And how much he has promised

• The agency of both God and Man for we are linked together

To attain holy wisdom in our meditation, our entire soul must take an active part through its powers of:

• Reason: The ability to critically assess a subject
• Synderesis: The tendency to seek that which is good and restrain from that which is evil – a power of the soul which allows us to entertain a conviction
• Conscience: The force within us that testifies to truth and compels us to determine a practical application from our convictions
• Will: Our ability to actually choose to accomplish the application

Review

The human soul undergoes three hierarchical actions:

• Purgation: cleansing, which leads to peace
• Illumination: enlightenment, which leads to truth
• Union: perfection, which leads to charity

The soul attains bliss when it has mastered these three hierarchical (ordered) actions. Therefore, a true understanding of Scripture and the merit of eternal life depend on our mastering of these actions. Thus, the triple way (purgative, illuminative, unitive) extends to the following:

• Reading/meditation
• Prayer/contemplation

The success of your mediation is dependent upon the fruitful use of three powers:

• The sting of conscience, which corresponds with purgation
  This is what we studied in chapter 1.1. Our life of meditation must be cleansed as follows: we must recall our sins, then we must assess our present state, and then (finally) we must redirect our meditation to focus on goodness rather than evil.
• The light of reason, which corresponds with enlightenment
• The spark of wisdom, which corresponds with perfection

Chapter 1 – 1.2
The illuminative way of meditation

Meditation under the light of reason accomplishes the following:

• Focus - on the sins you have been forgiven
• Amplification - so as to appreciate the gifts entrusted to you
• Refraction - so as to illumine the rewards promised you

(These three are expounded below)

Focus on the sins you have been forgiven:

• “Carefully ponder the sins which the Lord has pardoned: what they are, how many you have committed, and how great, what great punishments you should have undergone and what goods deprived of. The content of this meditation is sufficiently clear from the foregoing (chapter 1.1).”

• “But not only should all this be pondered, but also how many evils would have befallen you, had the Lord permitted it. And when all this has been carefully considered, the darkness of your mind will be illumined by the light of understanding” (Chapter 1.2.10)

• “Such enlightenment should be accompanied by grateful affection; otherwise it is not heavenly enlightenment, in the wake of whose brilliance you perceive the warmth to follow. Hence, thanks are to be offered for the forgiveness of sins committed or for the preservation from the possibility of committing sin out of need, out of weakness or out of perversity of one’s will.” (Chapter 1.2.10)

Consider how this light is amplified by pondering the blessings entrusted to you:

• Blessings which complement your nature:
  • The gifts which God bestowed on your body:
    • The integrity of its members
    • Health
    • The nobility of its sex

• • The gifts which God bestowed upon your senses:
    • Keen vision
    • Acute hearing
    • Discreet speech

• • The gifts which God bestowed upon your soul:
    • Clear insight
    • Right judgment
    • A kindly heart

• Blessings given in aid of grace:
  • Baptismal grace, whereby God accomplishes the following:
    • Eradication of original sin
    • Restoration of innocence
    • Justification

• • The grace of doing penance commensurate with:
    • Opportunities of the moment
    • Willingness of one’s soul
    • Sublimity of one’s religious order

• • The grace of priesthood whereby God has made you who are priest:
    • Dispenser of doctrine
    • Dispenser of pardon
    • Dispenser of the Eucharist

• Blessings given in supererogation (blessings above and beyond what is necessary):
  • The universe
    • Beneath – plants and animals that honor you
    • On par – other humans to interact with
    • Above – angels to protect you

• • The only begotten Son
    • Incarnate so he may be our brother
    • As sacrifice so we may be redeemed
    • As Eucharist so he may be our food

• • The Holy Spirit
    • The pledge of our acceptance
    • The privilege of our adoption
    • The ring of our espousal

Consider how, through meditation, the light of reason is refracted upon the font of all good when you remember the rewards promised:

• Deliverance from all evil
• The company of all the saints
• “The fulfillment of every desire in himself who is both the source and goal of all goods and is so good that he surpasses every petition, every desire, every evaluation, and who considers you worthy of so great a good, if you love and desire him above all else and for his own sake. And so you must strive to reach him with your every desire, affection, and good disposition.”

Prologue

According to Bonaventure, sacred doctrine (Scripture) is to be understood in a threefold manner:

• Moral: relating to man – what we are to do
• Allegorical: relating to Christ – what we are to believe and imitate
• Anagogical: relating to the beatific vision – what we are to hope for and enjoy eternally

This threefold manner of understanding Scripture is in response to the three hierarchical actions of the human soul:

• Purgation: cleansing, which leads to peace
• Illumination: enlightenment, which leads to truth
• Union: perfection, which leads to charity

The soul attains bliss when it has mastered these three hierarchical (ordered) actions. Therefore, a true understanding of Scripture and the merit of eternal life depend on our mastering of these actions.

Thus, the triple way (purgative, illuminative, unitive) extends to the following:

• Reading/meditation
• Prayer/contemplation

Chapter 1 – 1.1
The purgative way of meditation

The success of your mediation is dependent upon the fruitful use of three powers:

• The sting of conscience, which corresponds with purgation
• The light of reason, which corresponds with enlightenment
• The spark of wisdom, which corresponds with perfection

Fruitful use of the sting of conscience is exercised in a threefold, hierarchical manner:

• Prodding: recalling your sins (examination of conscience)
• Sharpening: assessing your present state
• Redirecting: making the good subject of your meditation

In recalling your sins, you must acknowledge and reflect upon these three faults:

• Negligence in:
  • guarding your heart — for we must remain diligent in protecting our hearts
  • using your time well — for we must not waste time
  • intending your life’s true goal — for we must act with right intention

• • prayer — for good reading and good works depend on this
  • reading — for good prayer and good works depend on this
  • the performance of good works— for good prayer and good reading depend on this

• • repentance — for we must deplore sin
  • resisting temptation — for we must repel the devil
  • progressing to holiness — for we must advance from virtue to virtue

• Concupiscence as regards:
  • lust — for what is sweet, soft, or carnal
    • 1.1.5.p1: “You are blameworthy when you prefer gourmet food, fine clothing, luxurious comforts. Not only is it reprehensible to desire all such willfully,[1] but a soul in quest of perfection will deliberately reject such cravings as soon as they are felt.”

• • curiosity — to know what is secret, see what is pretty, and possess what is precious
    • 1.1.5.p2: “Behind all these lie utterly reprehensible, deeply embedded vices of greed and curiosity”

• • vanity — to crave favor, praise, or honor
    • 1.1.5.p3: “All such things are empty and when sought render your life an exercise in vanity. They are to be fled as much as lust for women. Much is the guilt with which conscience should reproach your heart when such cravings are discovered in your life.”

• Iniquity/malice in the form of:
  • anger
    • interior attitudes (affections of your heart)
    • expressions (body language)
    • words (your speech)

• • envy
    • silence at another’s prosperity
    • rejoicing at another’s adversity
    • callous toward another’s needs

• • sloth (boredom — the desire for some good without effort), from which come:
    • suspicions of evil
    • blasphemous thoughts
    • malicious detraction

In assessing your present state, your conscience is sharpened by reflecting upon:

• Your death, which is:
  • indeterminable (unpredictable)
  • inevitable (certain)
  • irrevocable (bodily death cannot be taken away)

• The blood of the cross, which was shed in order for our hearts to be:
  • aroused/vivified
  • washed/cleansed
  • softened/made fruitful

• The face of the judge, who is:
  • infallible (without error — he cannot be deceived)
  • inflexible (unchanging — he cannot be manipulated)
  • inescapable (omniscient, preeminent, omnipotent)

In redirecting your meditation to the good, the sting of conscience is rectified by:

• Zeal, as a counterweight to negligence
  • 1.1.9.p1: “Zeal is a certain liveliness or vigor of the soul, shaking off all negligence and carelessness and disposing the soul to undertake all work for God vigilantly, confidently, fittingly. This opens the way to all subsequent perfection.”

• Austerity, as a counterweight to concupiscence
  • 1.1.9.p2: “...A kind of firmness or toughness of the mind restraining every form of concupiscence and disposing one to love and prefer the rough and hard, the poor and the vile.”

• Kindness, as a counterweight to wickedness
  • 1.1.9.p3: “A certain gentleness of the soul excluding all wickedness and disposing the soul to benevolence, forbearance, and inner joy.”

[1]           Father Fehlner: “According to Bonaventure, followed by Scotus, appetite is a desire for some good... which satisfies a need or gives pleasure to the subject who desires it; whereas the will in itself is not a desire for some need, but a power to love the good for its own sake.”

Bonaventure’s notion of free will is significant because he teaches that human beings have the real power to choose between good and evil. This is a very bold understanding of human power that differs from other Catholic teachings:

• Bonaventure leans far closer to Augustinians than the Dominicans of his day. To paraphrase the Augustinian belief: God does not move us to be righteous people by binding us in chains. He does so by transforming our hearts so that we may freely choose to be righteous.[1]

• Augustine, On Reprimand and Grace, 14.45: “And how did [God] bring them? Surely he did not bind them with any physical chains. He acted within: he held their hearts; he moved their hearts; and he drew them on by their wills which he worked in them.

• We have the real ability to make free choices—to choose between good and evil—we have a free will. However, we will fail to make good choices without divine assistance.

The more our hearts are transformed, the more we willingly surrender to the divine will. The more we willingly surrender to the divine will, the more we resemble the divine One himself. There is no better example of this than the Blessed Virgin Mary.

• Because Mary was predestined to be Theotokos (Mother of God), she stands above all of creation in her reflection of the Blessed Trinity:

• “It was fitting that the Virgin be the form and exemplar of all holiness.”[2]

• “Mary is fittingly called the “bitter sea” because she purifies; the “illuminatrix” because she enlightens; the “Lady” because she perfects and consummates. Therefore, she is elevated above the angelic hierarchy purifying, illuminating and perfecting; and she is elevated above the human hierarchy purifying, illuminating and perfecting.”[3]

Notice the three actions ascribed to Mary: purification (purgation), enlightenment (illumination), and perfection/consummation (union). Thus we see that the Triple Way of the spiritual life is really a reflection of Mary’s interior life; in fact, our journey toward perfection in the Triple Way is really a concerted effort to follow Mary’s example—The Triple Way is an eminently Marian work.

Understanding this will allow us to reflect more perfectly on our own journey through the Triple Way. What made Mary the New Eve?

• (Luke 1:30-38); “Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’

“But Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?’ And the angel said to her in reply, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.’ Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.’”

As Mary shows us, humbly surrendering to the will of the Father is the mark of spiritual perfection. God will respond by transforming our hearts, and this transformation of heart is what allows us to be true instruments of God’s love—beings unbound from our sinful habits, in total freedom to live as true extensions of Christ’s body—this is aseitas. And so we pray after communion:

“Lord, take all my freedom. Accept my memory, my understanding, and my will. You have given me all that I have or hold dear. I return it to you, that it may be governed by your will. Give me only your grace and the gift of loving you, and I will be rich enough; I will ask for nothing more.”[4]

[1]              St. Bonaventure/St. Thomas Aquinas: We can choose to walk around the world with our eyes open or closed. Either is within our power. Closing one’s eyes and stumbling about the world would certainly lead to injury or even death. Whereas, opening one’s eyes is only helpful because the sun has illuminated the path we must take. See Summa Contra Gentiles, III.159.2: “But those alone are deprived of grace who offer an obstacle within themselves to grace; just as, while the sun is shining on the world, the man who keeps his eyes closed is held responsible for his fault, if as a result some evil follows, even though he could not see unless he were provided in advance with light from the sun." Domingo Banez and the modern Dominicans: In order to choose good over evil, God must give us an efficacious grace. If that grace is withheld, we will choose evil. It is difficult to see how God is not ultimately a guilty party in this scheme. St. Robert Bellarmine and the modern Jesuits: In order to choose good over evil, God must give us a grace which he knows we will not freely reject. If that grace is withheld, we will choose evil. It is again difficult to see how God is not ultimately a guilty party in this scheme.

[2]              Sermo II de Purificatione

[3]              Sermo I de Assumptione, p.2

[4]              Suscipe by St. Ignatius of Loyolla

This concept of the soul satisfies Bonaventure’s desire to understand how our own humanity mirrors the divine oneness of God. At any given moment of our lives, our souls experience a unification of being, mode, power, and exercise. This orderliness is beautiful, convenient, and fitting since man is made in God’s image and likeness, and God is himself perfectly ordered.

Bonaventure’s teaching stands apart from what other popular Catholic Doctors offer. A notable example is that of St. Thomas Aquinas, who leans heavily on the Aristotelian notion that the soul has only two faculties (the intellect and the will), and therefore possesses only two powers (to know and to love). If we adopt this conceptualization of the soul, then the chart above is thrown out of sync, and we no longer have a perfect correlation of all the soul’s facets. In fact, one cannot even attempt the above chart using Thomas Aquinas’s concept of the soul because there is no congruous relationship that connects the divisions of being, mode, power, and exercise.

According to Bonaventure, the human will is inherently free. Not only is it possible for humans to choose between things that are not necessarily moral (like whether to eat this or that type of food, or whether to wear this or that type of shoe), we truly have the power to choose between that which is morally good and that which is morally bad. However, the ability to choose goodness is reliant upon God’s grace. It takes divine assistance for us to be holy or choose holiness.

Here we see how the above chart applies to our personal sanctity. God’s grace moves us from meditation to prayer to contemplation – from purgation to illumination to union – so that ultimately, our intellect is cleaned, our memory of God is illumined, and our will becomes truly one with God’s will. And we, having attained union with God’s will, may freely live as an expression of God’s love.