But by his divinity and by his divine might, and by the virtue of his holy word, the host turneth into his precious body of flesh and blood. My opinion became a foolishness to me, for besides that I thought to find my works, naught did I but lose. She hath long heard say, by the Holy Ghost, that God setteth the least little at the most high [worth], of his sole bounty, and therefore, this soul hath no distress because of sin that she ever did, nor hope on account of thing that she might do, but only in the goodness of him that is her Beloved. The first cost that this soul which is free hath, is this, that she hath no grudging of conscience, though she work not the work of virtues. Uploaded by And I acknowledge that I may have no greater joy nor greater worship than to be servant to this soul., Do you know this? saith Love, you could do no better than to know this!, Ah right sweet soul, saith Reason, what shall I do for my people that I have to govern, that shall no more see of this souls ordinance[162] in her outward usages?, Why? saith Love, is there other ordinance but this?, Nay, saith Reason, not for them that see nor for them that be chosen in this assize: but of such be few in earth, I dare well say., Now, Reason, saith Love, what callest thou ordinance?, I call ordinance, saith Reason, the life of works of virtues [lived] continuously, by thy counsel and that of Discretion, after the ensample of our Lord Jesu Christ., Reason, saith Love, this which the manhood of Jesu Christ suffered, the Deity felt it not. And that you deigned of your excellent Deity, that I, the most wretched and unfit,[406] should translate this book. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. No more is this soul encumbered of anything that she doth, than is her angel of the keeping of her. God is divine; so have I a being that is divine., When this soul, saith Love, is thus drawn out of herself, without herself, by God, for him, in him, in this divine work, she cannot never work works of charity of human body;[239] nor can any who attains to this work., O understand holily, saith this soul, the sweet words of Love, for these words be hard to understand for them that desire the meaning of the gloss., This is sooth, saith Love, for work of creatures may not be compared to divine work made of God in creatures, of his bounty, for creature., O God, saith this soul, how far is the country of the Perished and the country of the Marred from the country of freeness and of fulfilled peace, there where the Settled dwell!, That is sooth, saith Love, and I shall say one word soothly, saith this soul, against Will, in which the perished and the marred dwell, that lead life of perfection. The souls possession of God in herself seems to her nothing compared with the fulness of the transcendent life of the Trinity as it exists in itself. Also, as Jesu Christ is buyer of the people by his death, and the laud of God the Father, right so am I, because of my wickedness, the salvation of mankind, and the glory of God the Father. M. O these words seem full strange to the readers, that say the soul is lost in the Right High by plenty of knowing, and becometh naught in her understanding. Now they be in hell without being, and shall be, without recovering the mercy of seeing God. [63] N. The third point, saith Love, is this. Inspire them with your Holy Ghost that they may fully by the virtue of love understand it in the same wise as it is devoutly meant, that it may turn you, to worship and to them, profit of soul, by your endless might and bounty. . The Mirror of Simple Souls, here for the first time printed, came to light in 1911, when Mr. J. This is sooth, saith Love, under such control live they, that these virtues have power over., But these souls that I speak of, have the virtues put at point;[46] for they do nothing for them, but the virtues do all that the souls will, without control or withstanding, for these souls be their mistresses.. And those who thus address themselves wot if I say the truth. Now we see him by faith. 4355; Rossian, 4; Chisian, C. iv. This may mean that she has no will i.e., she is indifferent concerning her own satisfaction, or that her will is made naught , MS. and this hase of failance and not of suffisance.. Understand ye lovers what this is., I have said, saith Love, that this soul is fallen of me into naught, and less than naught without number. And a beggar must I be [according to the measure of my] strength, unless he give me all his goodness, since I am all wickedness. That was human and not clean, pure, divine, for she was then marred and not Mary. occur in collections of versions of the chief fourteenth-century English mystics, and at least three of the four books belonged to the Charterhouses of London and Yorkshire. The persons that are such, they are thus called and fulfilled, that they have within them no craving of anything. The gist of this teaching seems to be from Clement of Alexandria (Strom. But the fifth hath put her at point concerning this; it showeth to the soul herself. The Mirror is a theological treatise which analyzes how love in human beings is related to divine love, and how the human soul by means of this relation may experience a lasting union of. Lady Soul! saith Reason; have you forgotten that it is so, that it is not long agone, that you were not; for God, right sweet soul, look that you err not!, If I err in this holding, Love, saith this soul, you err with me, who make this to be believed, to be thought and to be said., Now prove it, Lady Soul! saith Reason, this, that you have said., O Reason, saith this soul, how blinded thou art, and what trouble they have who by thy counsel live! [315] Certainly, do it they must, before they come to perfect freedom of all points. This soul, saith Love, is free and right free, surmounted free of tree, crop and root, and of all its branches. Nor I wot not what I am, for I wot naught of my passing[386] feebleness, of my passing foolishness,[387] of my passing wickedness. Therefore it is said in such terms as alway, thus, in this wise. Many such other words in this book must be taken [thus]. The translators of this Modern English version rely primarily on the French, yet take other medieval translations into account. And since by my wickedness God is known and also his divine bounty, and since the souls salvation is no other thing than to know the divine bounty, then am I the cause of the salvation of all creatures, for the goodness of God is known by me. Howsoever great she be, she is nothing, who loveth or desireth of me, saith Love, whether to lose me or to win me, except it be only for my pleasure; for otherwise she is with herself, and not with me [at all]. He is right well born that is of that lineage, those be folks royal, their hearts are so excellent noble, and of such great worthiness and wisdom that they may not do thing of little value, nor begin thing without attaining the crown. This doth my Beloved, saith this soul that is such, and thus are the spreadings of divine love without any want. And after him read it a Master of Divinity, that was named Master Godfrey of Fountayns : and he blamed it not, no more did the others; but he said thus, that he counselled not that many[23] should see it, and for this cause, because they might leave their own working[24] and follow this calling, to the which they should never come; and so they might deceive themselves. Now, Reason, saith Love, why wilt thou that I call or summon this soul to hear of God, all that may be said?, For this, saith Reason, that she may dwell in her being of innocence without moving to hear you speak.[139], And shall I tell thee a truth? saith Love. Many sharp pains and bitterness of conscience feeleth this soul in this war. And yet, saith Reason, thus much I say, that who hath these two cords in his heart the light of faith and the strength of love he hath leave to do what pleaseth him, [as] witness God himself, who saith to the soul : Love! I beheld him in me and me in him, and willed great wills for him. But our faith withsaith[83] all that and believeth verily and soothly, without any doubt, that it hath not whiteness nor taste nor smell, but [is] the precious body of our Lord Christ Jesu, very God and man. The Mirror reflects a contemporary ecclesiastical world that was itself an inversion of women's experience and values. Such souls be all one in all things, and equable[124] in all things, for they do not unfree[125] their being, for nothing that may them fall;[126] for right as the sun hath of God his light and shineth upon all thing without taking any unclean- ness in him, right so have these souls their being, of God, and in God, without taking any uncleanness in them for thing that they see or hear., Eh, Love, saith Reason, do these souls feel no joy in their inwardness nor in; their outwardness?, No, saith Love, right as thou saidest, for the nature of them is mortified, and the spirit dead for all will is from them departed; thus live they, thus be they, in such a death according to the divine will.. And with all our virtue, is that we should do all our works purely for him. . It may not be., Ah, God, saith Reason, how dare any say this! I would only venture to add that, whereas the Areopagite represents the Darkness as a necessary mode of knowing God, to be attained by an elevation of the mind, laborious at times, the author of the Mirror regards the darkness as being of a temporary nature, arising when the spiritual life is well advanced, and being intermittent in its first approaches. they leave it to the Master and are disposed[243] to show it or to hide it, all at his will. His divine bounty may not suffer him [to do so]. Alas, saith Reason, shall we now be put out of her house because that she is come to lordship?, Nay, saith Love, ye shall dwell as of her household all three, but it shall be at her gate, for her gate shall have three porters, so that if any will in her house do aught that is against love, that each of you defend[228] it. This was and is, and shall be her divine beholding, her divine love, her divine peace, and her divine lauding; altogether her labours and all her rest, to will only the divine will, and therefore she had glorious life enclosed within the soul of her mortal[300] body without any intermediary. The fourth is, that a soul is drawn by highness of love into delight of thought by meditation, and relinquisheth all labours outward, and of obedience to others, by highness of love in contemplation. But if I might amend it, I would amend it, and if I had as much might as he[142] hath, I would love him as much as you are worth!, Ah right sweet soul, saith Love, ye may no more say! For [in] reproaches of the Father, and threatenings of the Son, there is nothing [found] of the oil of peace. Not even so, in many cases, can I claim to understand, or to offer more than a guess for my version of the text. God himself offers her that she should take what she desires and have her own will. . [143] And since I love him more than me, and he is the fulfilled of all goodness, my Lord, my God, and mine all, this is my comfort altogether, saith this soul. Sun and darkness and seas be fulfilled. a forgotten soul, drunk! That we love him with all our heart, is that our thoughts be alway verily in him. Miss Underhill wrote an account of the work which appeared in the Fortnightly Review, 1911, and published some extracts in No. They desire for Gods sake, despite,[48] poverty, tribulation, dis-ease, masses and sermons, fastings and orisons, and [they] take from nature all her asking, in refusing all thing that is lusty and pleasant to the flesh; for by this way, and by sharp contrition, souls must go, before they come to these divine usages. This is the eagle[108] that flieth high; so right high and yet more high than doth any other bird, for she is feathered with fine love, and she beholdeth above others the beauty of the sun. It ariseth from no other thing[248] but that [the soul] was not yet there,[249] as compared to the great gifts that he hath to give, and the same that never was given nor said of mouth, nor of heart thought, [may be had] if anyone desired this, and could dispose himself thereto.. She will not go forth from her retirement to hear you speak, by her own motion only if you call and summon her. 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. The first estate is that a soul is touched of God by grace, and dissevered from sin, with intention according to her power to keep the commandments of God that he commandeth in the law, up [on] pain of death. One manner she declares to actives, the second to contemplatives, and the third to common people. We have spoken of the influence of the Areopagite on our author. Book excerpt: When Dr. Romana Guarnieri, in a letter to Osservatore Romano (16 June 1946), announced her discovery that Margaret Porette (d. 1 June 1310) was the author of The Mirror of Simple Souls, certainly a major French document of pre-Reformation spirituality, a sensation was created in the academic world. And this may not be but that ye were it [indeed]. And therefore, I say, saith this soul, that their rudeness I will no more hear: let them tell me nothing, for I can no more suffer it. Margherita Porete was burned as a heretic in Paris on 1st June 1310. [242] And if she had, saith Love, she would be for herself and with herself, and not for me nor with me at all. This soul, saith Love, can no more speak of God, for she is naughted of all outward desire and of all the affections of the spirit, so that [which] this soul doth, she doth it by usage of good custom, or by commandments of Holy Church, without any desire; for will is dead which gave her desire. 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