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ON UNION WITH GOD
Nihil Obstat.
F. THOS. BERGH, O.S.B.,
CENSOR DEPUTATUS.
Imprimatur.
EDM. CAN. SURMONT,
VICARIUS GENERALIS.
WESTMONASTERII,
_Die 7 Decembris, 1911_.
[_All rights reserved_]
_The Angelus Series_
ON UNION WITH
GOD
BY BLESSED
ALBERT THE GREAT, O.P.
WITH NOTES BY
REV. P. J. BERTHIER, O.P.
TRANSLATED BY
A BENEDICTINE OF PRINCETHORPE
PRIORY
_R. & T. WASHBOURNE, LTD._
PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
AND AT MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, AND GLASGOW
PREFACE
Surely the most deeply-rooted need of the human soul, its purest
aspiration, is for the closest possible union with God. As one turns
over the pages of this little work, written by Blessed Albert the
Great[1] towards the end of his life, when that great soul had ripened
and matured, one feels that here indeed is the ideal of one's hopes.
Simply and clearly the great principles are laid down, the way is made
plain which leads to the highest spiritual life. It seems as though,
while one reads, the mists of earth vanish and the snowy summits appear
of the mountains of God. We breathe only the pure atmosphere of prayer,
peace, and love, and the one great fact of the universe, the Divine
Presence, is felt and realized without effort.
But is such a life possible amid the whirl of the twentieth century? To
faith and love all things are possible, and our author shows us the
loving Father, ever ready to give as much and more than we can ask. The
spirit of such a work is ever true; the application may vary with
circumstances, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit will never be wanting
to those souls who crave for closer union with their Divine Master.
This little treatise has been very aptly called the "Metaphysics of the
Imitation," and it is in the hope that it may be of use to souls that
it has been translated into English.
Blessed Albert the Great is too well known for it to be necessary for us
to give more than the briefest outline of his life.
The eldest son of the Count of Bollstaedt, he was born at Lauingen in
Swabia in 1205 or 1206, though some historians give it as 1193. As a
youth he was sent to the University of Padua, where he had special
facilities for the study of the liberal arts.
Drawn by the persuasive teaching of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, he joined
the Order of St. Dominic in 1223, and after completing his studies,
received the Doctor's degree at the University of Paris.
His brilliant genius quickly brought him into the most prominent
positions. Far-famed for his learning, he attracted scholars from all
parts of Europe to Paris, Cologne, Ratisbon, etc., where he successively
taught. It was during his years of teaching at Paris and Cologne that he
counted among his disciples St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatness of whose
future he foretold, and whose lifelong friendship with him then began.
In 1254 Albert was elected Provincial of his Order in Germany. In 1260
he was appointed Bishop of Ratisbon, but resigned his see in 1262. He
then continued unweariedly until a few years before his death, when his
great powers, especially his memory, failed him, but the fervour of his
soul remained ever the same. In 1280, at Cologne, he sank, at last worn
out by his manifold labours.
"Whether we consider him as a theologian or as a philosopher, Albert
was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary men of his age; I might
say, one of the most wonderful men of genius who appeared in past times"
(Jourdain).
Very grateful thanks are due to Rev. P. J. Berthier, O.P., for his kind
permission to append to this edition a translation of his excellent
notes (from the French edition, entitled "De l'Union avec Dieu").
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. OF THE HIGHEST PERFECTION
WHICH MAN CAN ATTAIN UNTO
IN THIS LIFE 15
II. HOW A MAN MAY DESPISE ALL
THINGS AND CLEAVE TO
CHRIST ALONE 19
III. THE LAW OF MAN'S PERFECTION
IN THIS LIFE 23
IV. THAT OUR LABOUR MUST BE
WITH THE UNDERSTANDING
AND NOT WITH THE SENSES 27
V. OF PURITY OF HEART, WHICH
IS TO BE SOUGHT ABOVE ALL
ELSE 33
VI. THAT A MAN TRULY DEVOUT
MUST SEEK GOD IN PURITY
OF MIND AND HEART 40
VII. OF THE PRACTICE OF INTERIOR
RECOLLECTION 45
VIII. THAT A TRULY DEVOUT MAN
SHOULD COMMIT HIMSELF TO
GOD IN ALL THAT BEFALLS
HIM 52
IX. THE CONTEMPLATION OF GOD
IS TO BE PREFERRED ABOVE
ALL OTHER EXERCISES 57
X. THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE TOO
SOLICITOUS FOR ACTUAL AND
SENSIBLE DEVOTION, BUT DESIRE
RATHER THE UNION OF
OUR WILL WITH GOD 65
XI. IN WHAT MANNER WE SHOULD
RESIST TEMPTATION AND ENDURE
TRIALS 70
XII. THE POWER OF THE LOVE OF
GOD 76
XIII. OF THE NATURE AND ADVANTAGES
OF PRAYER,--OF INTERIOR
RECOLLECTION 82
XIV. THAT EVERYTHING SHOULD BE
JUDGED ACCORDING TO THE
TESTIMONY OF OUR CONSCIENCE 88
XV. ON THE CONTEMPT OF SELF:
HOW IT IS ACQUIRED: ITS
PROFIT TO THE SOUL 94
XVI. OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD,
WHICH WATCHES OVER ALL
THINGS 102
"It is good for me to adhere to my God."
"Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect."
ON UNION WITH GOD
CHAPTER I
OF THE HIGHEST PERFECTION WHICH MAN CAN ATTAIN UNTO IN THIS LIFE
I have felt moved to write a few last thoughts describing, as far as one
may in this waiting-time of our exile and pilgrimage, the entire
separation of the soul from all earthly things and its close, unfettered
union with God.
I have been the more urged to this, because Christian perfection has no
other end but charity, which unites us to God.[2]
This union of charity is essential for salvation, since it consists in
the practice of the precepts and in conformity to the Divine will. Hence
it separates us from whatever would war against the essence and habit of
charity, such as mortal sin.[3]
But religious, the more easily to attain to God, their last end, have
gone beyond this, and have bound themselves by vow to evangelical
perfection, to that which is voluntary and of counsel.[4] With the help
of these vows they cut off all that might impede the fervour of their
love or hinder them in their flight to God. They have, therefore, by
the vow of their religious profession, renounced all things, whether
pertaining to soul or body.[5] God is in truth a Spirit, and "they that
adore Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth,"[6] that is, with a
knowledge and love, an intelligence and will purified from every phantom
of earth.
Hence it is written: "When thou shalt pray, enter into thy
chamber"--_i.e._, into the inmost abode of thy heart--and, "having shut
the door" of thy senses, with a pure heart, a free conscience and an
unfeigned faith, "pray to thy Father" in spirit and in truth, in the
"secret" of thy soul.[7]
Then only will a man attain to this ideal, when he has despoiled and
stripped himself of all else; when, wholly recollected within himself,
he has hidden from and forgotten the whole world, that he may abide in
silence in the presence of Jesus Christ. There, in solitude of soul,
with loving confidence he makes known his desires to God. With all the
intensity of his love he pours forth his heart before Him, in sincerity
and truth, until he loses himself in God. Then is his heart enlarged,
inflamed, and melted in him, yea, even in its inmost depths.