God Alone
Friday, 21 February 2014 20:06
I continue here my translation of Mother Mectilde’s writing on prayer as given in Mère Marie–Véronique’s book, Catherine de Bar, Itinéraire spirituel. It is evident to one familiar with such shining spiritual doctors as Saint Teresa of Avila and Blessed Marie of the Incarnation, that Mother Mectilde belongs to the same company of chosen souls, graced by God with a marvelous ability to set forth the experience of interior prayer with clarity and simplicity. Mother Mectilde knows by experience that the soul drawn by God into the grace of contemplative prayer passes through successive seasons of purification. Reading Mother Mectilde makes one want to set out on the journey.
A Half–Way Light
[The contemplative soul passes] from perception by means of the senses to comprehension by the mental faculties or reason and. then, from this to the light of faith, beyond which comes another light, which one might call a half–way light between the light of glory and the light of faith. In this light the soul is possessed of God, who acts upon her as a painter applies different brush strokes to the canvas prepared for his work. At first, it seems that God stills all the soul’s faculties, which He holds bound and in darkness. The spirit is a bit restless, and then remains as if all lost in God, and God is the soul of its soul, in such wise that if God moves, something happens; if not, the soul rests in Him in patience and humility.
Repose and Quietness
At other times God manifests His presence as if He were withdrawn into Himself. The soul recognises that He is present and holds herself in respect before Him, like a valet in the presence of his master. In the nothingness of all operations, the soul enjoys a grand repose and quietness, neither wanting to be, nor being applied to anything in particular. This is the most ordinary disposition [of one] in this state of silence.
Nought but God and His Good Pleasure
At other times, the soul feels a plenitude of God that seems to take full possession of her. Sometimes the senses participate in this by the relish and sweetnesses communicated to them. And if the soul is continually ready to be sacrificed, and held captive by an impression of the holy love that detaches her from everything, she can want nought but God or His good pleasure.
Not by Reason
The understanding seems lifted into this light, and this without the operations of reason but, rather, by a prompt and sudden manifestation causing so instantaneous a change in the soul that she becomes aware of it only after she is established therein.
God Soothes the Afflicted Soul
When, at other times, the soul is cast down within herself, it seems that God manifests Himself to her to soothe her, to instruct her, and to raise her up. Finally, according to her need, He speaks a few distinct words to her, which, all of a sudden, lift her up to God. The soul has nothing to do in this state; she has only to receive passively and to leave God to his repose within her.
Simplicity and Recollection
In this state, the soul must simple, abandoned, simplified, humble, faithful to her duties and, above all, she must avoid the dissipation of the senses, the wanderings of the mind, and rushing about interiorly or exteriorly. Purity of heart and of conscience and the disengagement of the mind are absolutely necessary.
Experience the Best Teacher
To speak of the deaths, the agonies, the temptations that one must suffer to arrive at this . . . experience will teach it better than the discourse of a simple and ignorant girl. But, in the end, the fruits that one gathers from this are most sweet. The peace that the soul tastes causes her to pass over many a difficulty and to recognise that God alone can satisfy our spirit.
The Gift of Understanding
I want to say that the soul, in the state of interior silence, receives another light that illumines the light of faith. Its special characteristic is to captivate and subject human understanding to the truth of the mysteries taught us by faith. In this way the understanding is raised aloft with such certitudes of the things proposed to her that she could never doubt of them. This, according to my thinking, may be called the gift of understanding that the Holy Spirit pours forth into the soul.
Without Rule and Method
In this state of interior silence, one can give no law, nor exercise, nor can the soul bear any of these things. She must wait and receive in all simplicity what is given her. Her rule and method is to be unable to have any, given that, in this way, she is acted upon, and not herself acting.
In relation to this magnificent text, Mother Mectilde writes to Monsieur de Bernières on 7 December 1648 that she finds herself in a dark night where she clings to nought but a naked faith, stripped of all consolation. This little fragment is, to my mind, one of Mother Mectilde’s most beautiful writings. I have long wanted to translate it.
Abandoning Myself Without Return
Our Lord leads me by [the way of] darkness and poverty. I no longer know what He will make of me. I no longer have any knowledge; I relish nothing; I see nothing; I no longer know anything except that one must lose oneself and, even then, I do not know how to go about losing myself. All that I can do is remain at peace while abandoning myself without return to the divine leading.
