| <<<home page |
Brookline Carmel Bulletin
January 15,
1961
Cogitatio Sancta
(Holy
Meditation)
Nobody becomes a saint
overnight. The transition from Sons of
Wrath to perfect Sons of Light is a long, gradual process. Like any traveler
between two far distant points, the pilgrim on the road to holiness needs to
have at hand some kind of index that will enable him to determine accurately
his position ‘en route’. Spiritual
tradition satisfies that need. It has
handed down to us two convenient indices.
Each of them divides the path into three stages and gives us the
characteristics of each stage, or ‘way’.
The oldest of them labels the stages the Way of Beginners, the Way of
Proficients, and the Way of the Perfect.
The other distinguishes the Purgative Way, the Illuminative Way and the
Unitive Way. Each scheme looks upon the
evolution of the spiritual life from a different point of view. The former bases its view upon the
development of Charity, that is, upon the intensity and relative stability of
Sanctifying Grace in the soul. The
other conceives of progress in holiness in terms of the encounter between God
and the soul, between the soul and divine realities.
According to the first
division, the Beginner is one whose principal effort consists in withdrawing
from sin and struggling against the urgings of concupiscence. The Proficient is one who concerns himself
chiefly with the acquisition of virtue.
The Perfect man is he to whom the practice of exalted virtue has become
second nature. As is readily apparent,
this division admits of universal application.
We’re all obliged to withdraw from sin, overcome concupiscence, and
practice virtue. Such is the ordinary
way of living up to the precept: “Be
ye also perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect”.
The other division derives
from terminology found in the works of mystical writers. The Purgative Way is that in which principal
concern is the pursuit of true wisdom.
A man in the Illuminative Way strives mainly to enkindle within himself
the flames of divine love. In the
Unitive Way God personally lifts the soul up to union with Himself in a way
that transcends all knowledge, reason and understanding. This last stage represents a clear-cut case
of mystical prayer. Because mystical
experience does not fall within the ordinary Providence of God, but is granted
according to the divine good pleasure without any meriting on the part of the
recipient, this second division applies, at least in its totality, to very few. It applies in part to all who make a
practice of formal prayer.
It should be noted that
the distinguishing features of the various stages in each scheme are modified
by the words ‘principal’, ‘chiefly’, ‘mainly’.
In other words, there is no sharp line dividing the adjoining
stages. Obviously, a Beginner doesn’t
only struggle against sin and concupiscence; he also tries to acquire
virtue. A Proficient striving for
virtue must still wage war on sin and concupiscence. Similarly, a man in pursuit of true wisdom must try to enkindle
in himself love for God; and one whose chief concern is love is still supposed
to advance in divine wisdom. The second
and third ‘ways’ in each scheme also overlap considerably.
In trying to discover how
far along he is, a person who practices prayer usually uses both indices and is
inclined to reduce one scheme to the other, setting up a rigorous
correspondence between their respective stages. This is likely to introduce confusion, for it is not necessarily
true that Beginners are those who meditate (learn true wisdom), nor Proficients
these who contemplate (nourish love by gazing upon truth). Neither is it true that the Perfect enjoy
mystical experience. St. Teresa of
Avila tells us that at times God grants mystical contemplation to those who are
far from perfect – sinners, even. But
more important than that, the transition from meditation to contemplation can
be explained according to the natural processes of learning without regard to
moral considerations. Thus, in a given case, a man with a keen penetrating mind
might pass quickly from meditation to contemplation and still be engaged in
major warfare against sin and concupiscence.
Likewise, someone not so gifted intellectually might be solidly grounded
in virtue, yet still find it necessary to meditate.
To substantiate this claim
we need only consider how the physical sciences develop: First a vast quantity of observational data
is amassed and reflected (meditated) upon carefully. Then the mind goes to work and formulates hypothetical laws that
govern and explain all that phenomena.
The hypotheses are further tested and refined until finally a few basic
laws are revealed in all their stark simplicity. Now the scientist is ready to contemplate. In all the concrete situations pertaining
to his discipline he sees with a gaze of simple
intuition the basic laws at work. Or,
contemplating the basic laws, he sees at a glance, and not without a certain
amount of pleasure, all the actual and possible individual and concrete cases
contained in them as so many logical consequences. Consider, for example the relationship between the Science of
Mechanics and Dynamics and the three laws of motion discovered by Newton.
Similarly, in our meditations
we mull over the whole history of God’s dealing with men. Apply our reason, aided by Faith, to all its
deeds and utterances, we are able eventually to abstract and lay bare the
fundamental laws and facts comprising the whole of divine reality. Having found them, we should find great delight
in contemplating them. A simple intuitive
gaze upon them enkindles and nourishes the flame of divine love in our hearts.
Thus contemplation is the logical outcome of meditation faithfully
practiced. Meditation becomes unnecessary eventually. To return to it once contemplation becomes
habitual is like going back to re-climb a mountain after having reached the
summit, the desired goal.
| <<<home page |
MISSION STATEMENT: This web site was created for the purpose of completing the work of Fr. Bruno Cocuzzi, O.C.D These conferences may be reproduced for private use only. Publication of this material is forbidden without permission of the Father Provincial for the Discalced Carmelites, Holy Hill, 1525 Carmel Rd., Hubertus, WI 53033-9770.