ON THE PRACTICE OF INTERIOR RECOLLECTION
The author of the book entitled "De Spiritu et Anima" tells us (chap.
xxi.)[33] that to ascend to God means nothing else than to enter into
oneself. And, indeed, he who enters into the secret place of his own
soul passes beyond himself, and does in very truth ascend to God.
Banish, therefore, from thy heart the distractions of earth and turn
thine eyes to spiritual joys, that thou mayest learn at last to repose
in the light of the contemplation of God.
Verily the soul's true life and her repose are to abide in God, held
fast by love, and sweetly refreshed by the Divine consolations.
But many are the obstacles which hinder us from tasting this rest, and
of our own strength we could never attain to it. The reason is
evident--the mind is distracted and preoccupied; it cannot enter into
itself by the aid of the memory, for it is blinded by phantoms; nor can
it enter by the intellect, for it is vitiated by the passions. Even the
desire of interior joys and spiritual delights fails to draw it inward.
It lies so deeply buried in things sensible and transitory that it
cannot return to itself as to the image of God.
How needful is it, then, that the soul, lifted upon the wings of
reverence and humble confidence, should rise above itself and every
creature by entire detachment, and should be able to say within itself:
He Whom I seek, love, desire, among all, more than all, and above all,
cannot be perceived by the senses or the imagination, for He is above
both the senses and the understanding. He cannot be perceived by the
senses, yet He is the object of all our desires; He is without shape,
but He is supremely worthy of our heart's deepest love. He is beyond
compare, and to the pure in heart greatly to be desired. Above all else
is He sweet and love-worthy; His goodness and perfection are infinite.
When thou shalt understand this, thy soul will enter into the darkness
of the spirit, and will advance further and penetrate more deeply into
itself.[34] Thou wilt by this means attain more speedily unto the
beholding in a dark manner of the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in
Trinity, in Christ Jesus, in proportion as thy effort is more inward;
and the greater is thy charity, the more precious the fruit thou wilt
reap. For the highest, in spiritual things, is ever that which is most
interior. Grow not weary, therefore, and rest not from thy efforts until
thou hast received some earnest or foretaste of the fulness of joy that
awaits thee, and has obtained some first-fruits of the Divine sweetness
and delights.
Cease not in thy pursuit till thou shalt behold "the God of gods in
Sion."[35]
In thy spiritual ascent and in thy search after a closer union with God
thou must allow thyself no repose, no slipping back, but must go forward
till thou hast obtained the object of thy desires. Follow the example of
mountain-climbers. If thy desires turn aside after the objects which
pass below thou wilt lose thyself in byways and countless distractions.
Thy mind will become dissipated and drawn in all directions by its
desires. Thy progress will be uncertain, thou wilt not reach thy goal,
nor find rest after thy labours.
If, on the other hand, the heart and mind, led on by love and desire,
withdraw from the distractions of this world, and little by little
abandon baser things to become recollected in the one true and
unchangeable Good, to dwell there, held fast by the bonds of love, then
wilt thou grow strong, and thy recollection will deepen the higher thou
risest on the wings of knowledge and desire.
They who have attained to this dwell as by habit in the Sovereign Good,
and become at last inseparable from it.
True life, which is God Himself, becomes their inalienable
possession;[36] for ever, free from all fear of the vicissitudes of time
and change,[37] they repose in the peaceful enjoyment of this inward
happiness, and in sweet communication with God. Their abode is for ever
fixed within their own souls, in Christ Jesus, Who is to all who come to
Him "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."[38]