a. f. hewit - light in darkness; a treatise on the obscure night of the soul

8/6/2019 A. F. Hewit - Light in Darkness; A Treatise on the Obscure Night of the Soul

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Light in Darkness.


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LrsHf fif^DirMess.A TREATISE

ON THE OBSCURE NIGHT OF THE SOUL.

REV. A. F. HE WITOf the Co7igregation of St. Paul.

"Attendentes quasi lucernselucenti in caliginoso loco, doneedies elucescat, et lucifer oriatur in cordibus vestris.""Attending-, as to a light shining in a dark place, until theday dawn, and the morning star rise in your hearts."2 Ep.Peter i. 19.

New York :THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY,9 WARREN STREET.

BALTIMORE : JOHN MURPHY & CO. BOSTON : PATRICK DONAHOE.


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THE KEW YORKPUBLIC LIBRARY

A 1199ASTOR, LENOX AND

T^LDEN FOUNDATIONS.1909

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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, byREV. A. F, HEWIT,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at "Washington, D.C.


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EBSTER FIIEE LIB URlFoot 76th Street, E. R.

PREFACE,HAVE written this little treatise be-cause I believe it to be requiredby the spiritual needs of a number

of persons who cannot easily make use ofthe larger and more elaborate treatises whichhave been written on the same subject bythe great masters of spiritual doctrine. Ihave endeavored to follow their teaching inall things, and I submit whatever I havewritten upon this, and upon every other sub-ject, without any reservation, and in thespirit of filial obedience, to the supreme judg-ment of the Holy See.


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CONTENTSCHAPTER I.

Of t-he Sources and Certainty of Spiritual Doctrine, . . 9

CHAPTER II.Of Melancholy and Sadness, 36

CHAPTER III.The Cause and Nature of the Obscure Night, . 48

CHAPTER IV.Active Exercises and Sensible Graces Incapable of Unit-

ing the Soul with God, 73

CHAPTER V.Visions and other extraordinary Communications not the

Medium of Union with God, .81

CHAPTER \T.The State of the Soul in the Obscure Night, and its Suf-


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Light in Darkness.

CHAPTER I.OF THE SOURCES AND CERTAINTY OF

SPIRITUAL DOCTRINE.

BEGIN this treatise with anexposition of the sources andcertainty of spiritual doctrine,

in order that the reader may well un-derstand at the outset the solid foun-dation upon which the maxims and prin-ciples of the science of the saints re-pose. This is necessary, in order tocommand that firm assent and belief ofthe mind which alone can give to spiri-


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lO Light in Darkness,

over the will, and thus secure the attain-ment of its proper endthe furtheranceof the health and growth of the soul.The patient must have confidence in hisphysician, and receive the medicinewhich is given him with a firm trustthat it is chosen according to scientificprinciples, in order that he may pru-dently place the risk of his life in thehands of another. If he is going to ex-amine and judge for himself in regard tothe proper medical treatment of his case,he would do better to be his own physi-cian outright, and to call in no other. Thesame reason runs, but with greater force,in the case of the maladies of the soul.For, whereas, in the first case, if the pa-tient submits, though distrustfully andfrom necessity, to take the prescriptionsof his physician, they will produce theirproper effect ; in the second case, it isonly by the avenue of trust and con-fidence that they can be taken at all,


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Lio-kt ill Darkness, iiv>

the question of spiritual life and health,one cannot be satisfied with his ownprivate opinions and conjectures, orwith those of any other man. Instruc-tion which comes with authority, andproduces that confidence which is bredfrom certainty, is necessary to satisfy awant of the soul that must be satisfiedbefore it can find its due equilibriumand attain a durable peace. As I amwriting- only for those who have a firmCatholic faith, I can affirm. that this in-struction has been given, without anyother proof than that which is derivedfrom the principles of faith. All thingswhich are necessary or in any way help-ful to salvation, and to the perfect sanc-tification of the soul, are given in therichest abundance in the CatholicChurch ; and, therefore, the instructionof which I have spoken is given. Thechurch is our teacher in all things per-taining to God and eternal life, commis-


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12 Light in Darkness.

self. The pastors and doctors of thechurch are the authorized ministersthrough whom this teaching is given.In all matters pertaining to faith andmorals, this teaching is infallible, that isto say, the church cannot fail to teachall things respecting faith and moralswhich are necessary to the well-beingof the faithful, and cannot err in any-thing which she proposes to them withauthority as the true doctrine concern-ing those things which are to be be-lieved or to be done. It is true that thechurch makes her solemn definitions offaith only in regard to certain generalprinciples of morality, leaving to thepastors, theologians, and moral or spir-itual writers the task of giving that fulland minute development and explana-tion of all the minor details of moralityand piety which are necessary to thedirection of the individual conr,ciencein the path of duty and perfection.


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Light in Darkness, 13ally infallible, are guided by infallibleprinciples and rules, and, so long- as theyfollow these rules, they are preservedfrom all error in the essentials of doc-trine. INIoreover, the supreme rulersof the church watch over the doctrineof Subordinate teachers, condemningtheir private errors when these aredangerous to sound morals or solidpiety, and giving an express or implicitsanction to that instruction which har-monizes with the principles of divineand Catholic faith. The gift of infal-libility thus extends its protective anddirective influence in all directions toa great distance beyond those truthswhich are formally defined as pertain-ing to the Catholic faith. It gives asafe and right direction to those whoseproper office it is to penetrate into thedepths of spiritual doctrine by studyand meditation, and from these depthsto bring out the treasures of wisdom


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14 Light in Darkness,

desire them and seek to profit by them.And it gives security to the mind andconscience in following the guidance ofapproved spiritual writers, that one can-not be by them led astray from theright path to perfection and salva-tion.The principal source of spiritual doc-

trine is the Holy Scripture. This is thefountain of divinely inspired wisdomcreated by the Holy Spirit, w^hose per-ennial streams water the garden of Godthrough all time. Spiritual doctrine iscontained in the Holy Scripture in twoformsthat of direct instruction ; andthat of indirect instruction, given by thehistory of the people of God and theexamples of the lives of saints, but es-pecially in the life and death of the Sonof God. Certain portions of the Scrip-ture contain in a special manner thatpart of spiritual doctrine which is calledmystical theology. These are, chiefly,


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Light in Darkness. 15tial Books, the Books of the ProphetJeremias, and, above all others, the Can-ticle of Solomon, a book which very feware fitted to understand or to make anyuse of to their spiritual profit, but whichis the great text-book of those enlight-ened saints, like St. John of the Cross,who have scaled the highest summits ofcontemplation. In the New Testament,the writings of St. John are especiallycharacterized by the sublimity of thespiritual doctrine which they contain,while the other sacred writers are alsofull of instruction which is adapted toall the stages of the spiritual life fromthe lowest to the highest. From thispure and divine source of inspired Scrip-ture, the great contemplative saints andmasters of spiritual doctrine have chieflyderived their wisdom ; as the greatest ofthem all in modern times, St. John ofthe Cross, says, in respect to himself, inhis '' Prologue " to the Ascent of MountCarmel : ''I trust neither to experience


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1 Light in Dai^kness.

nor to knowledge, for both may mis-lead me ; but solely to the Holy Scrip-tures, under the teaching of Avhich Icannot err, because he who speakstherein is the Holy Ghost." The cer-tainty and security of the doctrinetaught by. these great masters of thescience of the saints come from theunerring and divine authority of theScripture. It is only the erroneous in-terpretation of Scripture by the '' un-learned and unstable," who reject the au-thority of the church, and, by followingtheir own private judgment in a perverseand presumptuous manner, '' wrest theScriptures to their own perdition,"which is variable and deceptive. TheHoly Scripture itself is divine and in-fallible in all its parts, and is thereforean unerring light to those wno are capa-ble of understanding it. St. Peter, thefirst Pope, in his Second EncyclicalEpistle to the faithful throughout the


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Light m Darkness, 17the word ofprophecy more firm, to whichyou do well to attend, as to a light shin-ing- in a dark place, until the day daw^n,and the morning star rise in youihearts.""^' This occurs in the sameepistle which condemns unlearned andunstable persons for wresting theScriptures to their perdition, and thePrince of the Apostles furnishes uswith the criterion by which we maydistinguish between the right and thewrong use of the same : *^ Understand-ing this first, that no prophecy of theScripture is made by private interpreta-tion."f The church gives us the ruleof faith by Avhich we are enabled tounderstand the true sense of Scripturein regard to all the revealed mysteries.Guided by this rule, the fathers, doc-tors, and other competent interpretersof the sacred books are enabled to dis-cern its true sense in the multiform

* 2 St. Peter i, 19.lb. V. 20.


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ramifications which proceed from theseprincipal roots of doctrine ; and, undertheir direction, the faithful can tra-verse safely its green pastures and drinkfrom its living waters.Another source of spiritual doctrine

is contained in monastic and religioustradition, which is the sum of all thewisdom and experience of men andwomen especially devoted to a life ofascetic virtue in all ages. From thetimes of the early prophets, solitariesand religious communities have existedin the East, whose institutes have beenin the early period of the Christian eratransplanted to the West. Throughthis channel, a tradition, partly divineand partly human, has been transmittedto our own day. The divine portion ofthe tradition is that which has comefrom the oral teaching of inspired pro-phets and apostles, and belongs to thatUnwritten Word of which the church


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Light in Darkness. 19ing an authority equal to that of theScripture, of which it forms the supple-ment. The human portion is thatwhich has come from the written andoral teaching- of men not accredited asinspired by the Holy Ghost, and whoseteaching- therefore cannot be receivedas the word or revelation of God.Nevertheless, this teaching, proceedingas it does from the most enlightenedand holy men, whose minds were deeplyimbued with the spirit of the divineteaching of revelation, and who pos-sessed the gifts of the Holy Ghost inthe most abundant fulness, is not merelyhuman, in the sense of being the productof natural reason alone. The eminentJewish rabbis distinguished two kindsof divine wisdomthe one communi-cated by immediate revelation fromGod, which they called the word ; theother derived from the contemplationof the word by the aid of the divineSpirit, called the daughter of the word.


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20 Light in Darkitess.The Catholic faith, revealed by theprophets and apostles, and proposed bythe church, is the word, to which noaddition can be made. The doctrine ofthose men who are enlightened by theHoly Spirit to understand and explainthis word is the daughter of the word.It may contain even divine revelations,as we shall more fully explain hereafter,and proceed in part from divine inspira-tion. Yet, as God has not authorizedany of the saints to publish to the worldin his name any private revelations, orgiven any infallible criterion and au-thoritative sanction distinctly separatingthat which is divine from the human inthe writings of the saints, they are allto be classed as human; they are to betried by the standard of the publicteaching of the church, and the beliefwhich they engender in the mind isonly a human faith.

This human faith is, however, certain


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Light i7i Darkness. 21safe as a practical rule. For the church,by her sanction of the doctrine of thegreat saints and masters of the spirituallife, although not giving us assuranceof the absolute freedom of their writ-ings from all erroneous or inadequatestatements, guarantees them as freefrom any error savoring of heresy orimmorality, and as containing a doc-trine which is sound and salutary.A great portion of the religious tra-dition which subsists in the church hasbeen received from the fathers of thedesert. These wonderful men scaledthe heights and sounded the depths ofthe spiritual life, under the immediateguidance of the Holy Spirit, who com-municated to them extraordinary super-natural lights. They stand in the samerelation to spiritual science that thefathers of the church do to theology.Some of them have left writings inwhich the results of their experienceare contained. We are also made ac-


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quainted with their doctrine throughthe writings of those who went aboutvisiting the sohtaries and monasteriesof the desert, and collecting all theinstructions of the most famous saintswhich they could gather from them-selves or their disciples. After thesefathers came the founders of the variousreligious orders, the great writers whohave flourished in them, and others whohave not been meniibers of any religiousorder, or even always of the clergy,whose works have taken a place amongapproved Catholic writings. Many ofthese spiritual writers have been sol-emnly canonized by the Holy See, andothers, though not canonized, have livedand died in the odor of sanctity. Theirdoctrine is therefore proved by theirexample. Who are so fit to teach thescience of the saints as the saints them-selves? Who can be better or saferguides in the paths of perfection than


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Light ill Darkness. 23and learned by experience what are thedifficulties, dangers, temptations, andcombats which beset the way to heaven?Moreover, all the w^orks of those whohave been canonized or beatified forseveral centuries past have been sub-jected to a rigorous examination beforetheir cause has been proceeded with,and have been declared free from anyerror deserving of censure by the au-thority of the Holy See ; while theworks of the more ancient saints havereceived an equivalent approbation b}^the judgment of common Catholic con-sent, and the sanction of the pastors ofthe church during many ages.

It is evident, therefore, that, when weread such books as the Imitation ofChrist, the treatises of F. Louis of Gran-ada, of St. Francis de Sales, of St. x-\l-phonsus Liguori, of F. Louis da Ponte, ofSt. John of the Cross, and others of thesame kind, we may safely submit ourmind to their teaching without any


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reserve, and regulate our conscience bytheir practical rules. It is necessaryto take only one precaution in order toavoid all danger of error and illusion ;which is to read those spiritual books,and those alone, which have been writtenin a spirit of perfect obedience to thatsupreme authority which Jesus Christhas established in his church. Thosewho have been misled by a false m3^sti-cism, deceived by a counterfeit spiritu-ality, and drawn away from the rightpath into the wandering ways of error,have in every instance gone astray, byfollowing their own private lights, orthose of others, in neglect of or opposi-tion to the authority of the church.Amons: those works which are soundand Catholic in doctrine, the works ofsaints and saintlike men and women areto be preferred above all others as therichest in spiritual wisdom. For eachindividual, in particular, it is further

find that precise


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Lio'ht in Darkness. 2 q^>quality of spiritual food and medicinewhich is suitable for him, that he shouldselect those books which he is able tounderstand, and which will give him theinstruction he needs in the present stateof his soul. Otherwise he may misun-derstand and misinterpret what he reads,and puzzle himself with things whichare above his comprehension ; or elsehe may apply to himself rules and direc-tions salutary to those for whom theauthor intended them, but unsuitableto him ; he may remain in the elementsand first principles of the spirituallife when he ought to advance to ahigher stage, and find no nourishmentfor his soul in books which are unpro-fitable to him because he has outgrownthem, and needs a different kind of in-struction proper for his altered con-dition. Practical good sense, togetherAvith the light which the Holy Spiritgives to each one, will enable a personin many instances to choose for himself


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those books which are most useful tohim ; and what is lacking in this respectcan be supplied by the advice of otherprudent and experienced persons, of ajudicious priest, but especially of a wisedirector, Avho should always, if that ispossible, be consulted in cases of doubtor difficulty.

I have insisted so much at length, andwith so great earnestness, upon thispoint, because it is so necessary for theclass of persons for whom I am writingthis treatise. These are souls who haveadvanced beyond the first and earlieststage of the spiritual progress into thedarker and drearier portions of thatdesert which must be traversed bythose who would attain a high perfec-tion. Such souls are in need of guid-ance, because they are travelling in aregion totally unknown to them, and inthe night. Unless they place impUcitconfidence in the direction which is


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Light 271 Da7'kncss. 27losing all courage and sinking downunder the anxiety and suffering whichbeset them. If they are so happy as tohave a director who is competent toguide them, and are perfectly obedientto his counsel, this will be sufficient forall necessary purposes. Nevertheless,it is the greatest possible aid and con-solation in practising this difficult virtueof obedience, the greatest possible as-sistance toward understanding andfulfilling the counsels of a director, tohave the instructions of a good spiritualbook which is always at hand to reite-rate, amplify, and explain what the livingteacher can only say occasionally, andwith brevity. If there is a lack ofdirection, the book becomes doublynecessary. It is evident that a soul inthe state I have described needs to beassured that others have passed throughthe same state before it, and are qualifiedby their experience and knowledge ofits temptations, dangers, and sufferings.


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28 Lizht in Darkness."


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Light in Darkness. 29must have a guide with a lantern to gobefore it, as the Lord guided the Israel-ites throusfh the wilderness : '' Whowent before them in the way, andmarked out the place where they shouldpitch their tents, in the night showingtJiem the ivay by fire, and in the day bythe pillar of a cloud." -The first who were led through the

desert and the obscure night of faithhad need of an extraordinary directionof the Holy Spirit, and so also havethose who are called to be great doctorsof mystical theology. God gave themthis light in order that they might notonly walk safely and victoriously overthe desert into the promised land them-selves, but also guide and lead hispeople. It is the will of God that weshould follow the light of their doctrine,as a pillar of fire in the night. There isno soul whatever that is endeavoringto set its face toward heaven, for whom

*


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30 Light in Darkness,the special instruction, counsel, anddirection which are needful for him arenot contained in the writings of thegreat masters and models of the spirituallife. My only end and object in thepresent little book is to dip out of thispure and abundant fountain of the wis-dom and experience of the saints a cupof cold water, to present to the pilgrimsoul that is walking in the desert, forhis refreshment ; to light a little torchfrom their burning pillar of fire, whichhe may take to guide his steps in theobscurity of the night. If I present itto him with all confidence that it cannotmislead him, and claim his implicit trustin the guidance which is offered to himin this little book, it is only because Iam certain that this doctrine is not in anyrespect mine, but that of those learnedand holy men from whom I have de-rived it with the most scrupulous careand conscientiousness.Some one misfht here ask if it would


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Light in Darkness. 31not be better that I should abstain fromoffering my advice altogether, and leaveeach one to find the guidance he re-quires in those works of holy menfrom which I borrow, in accordancewith the sentiment I have already ex-pressed that the writings of the saintsare the best counsellors. To this I re-ply, that it is undoubtedly far betterthat those who are able to do so shouldgo at once to these pure sources ofdoctrine. It is merely because I thinkthere are some who are unable to do itwithout some such help as I am tryingto furnish them, that I attempt thistask. The works of St. John of theCross have only of late been translatedinto English. Although the translationhas been done in the best manner, andthe treasures of these admirable, al-most inspired spiritual treatises arethus laid open to the English reader,yet the work is very costly and not atall widely circulated ; so that a very


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large proportion of the persons whowould read it with profit cannot havethe opportunity of doing so. Besidesthis, the great extent of the work,and the sublimity of the topics of whichit treats, are discouraging to many whodo not know where to look for thoseparticular parts which are suitable forthem, and are apt to fear lest theyshould puzzle themselves by trying tounderstand matters above their reach.The Sermons of Tauler, another workof similar character, are not to be hadin English, with the exception of a selectnumber of them translated and pub-lished under Protestant auspices. Evenwhen one is able to read them in theelegant French translation of M. CharlesSt. Foi, they do not altogether supplythe need of that instruction in the firstprinciples of the direction of soulsthrough the obscure night which isgiven by St. John of the Cross. The


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Light in Darkness, 2iZgives in the English language, andwithin a moderate compass, the requi-site instruction on these points, is thesummary of F. Augustine Baker's spiri-tual treatises, by F. Cressy, calledSancta Sophia. This excellent book in-deed appears to me to contain every-thing that is necessary, and, no doubt,has been found by a great number tobe precisely the book they need. Yetthere are some who are deterred by thestyle in which it is written, and whofind it obscure and involved. Althoughit gives the substance of the doctrineof St. John of the Cross, it does not ex-plain the reasons of that doctrine as hedoes, and as our modern sceptical andinquisitive minds seem to require inorder to silence their objections andcommand their submission. It is forthese reasons that I have thought itwould be doing a service to many per-sons to present, in a moderate compass,and a form accessible to those who


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cannot get the works of St. John of theCross, or are not prepared to profit bythem without some previous prepara-tion, a summary of the more element-ary part of his doctrine. In selectingout of the great abundance of his spiri-tual instructions those portions likely tobe profitable, I have necessarily beenobliged to guide myself by my ownexperience and the knowledge I haveacquired of the wants of that class ofpersons whom I have specially in view.I do not presume to meddle with thosethings which relate to souls led by theextraordinary ways of contemplation,or who have already attained a stateof advanced perfection. Neither do Iintend to repeat over again the instruc-tions contained in so many excellentbooks which relate to an ordinary de-vout life, and the methods of attainingperfection in the use of active exercises.I aim to instruct and profit those who


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Light ill Darkness, 35in that state properly called interior,and who are, therefore, subjected tothe pains, anxieties, and trials of thatpassive purgation called by F. Bakerthe "great desolation," and by St. Johnof the Cross the '' obscure night."There are many such to be found, notonly in religious orders, but also in theworld, who need assistance very much,and whom I hope to benefit ; and I mayalso, perhaps, be able to afford somehelp to the superiors of communitiesof religious women whose office re-quires them to give instruction and di-rection to their subjects, and to theyounger and less experienced confess-ors who may have penitents requiringspecial direction.


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CHAPTER 11.OF MELANCHOLY AND SADNESS.

It is necessary to make first someexplanation of the causes and natureof that condition of the soul which iscommonly called melancholy, in orderto distinguish rightly from all otherkinds of sadness that desolation in thespirit which proceeds from the actionof divine grace.There is a kind of melancholy Avhich

proceeds altogether from physical cau-ses, and is merely the heaviness andsadness of the mind sympathizing withdisease or indisposition of the body.


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Light in Darkness. 2>7dition of the soul, to which many per-sons are liable from natural tempera-ment or from accidental causes, and isto be treated as a disorder or an infir-mity, and not as a phase of the spirituallife. The sadness of the spirit in thiscondition proceeds from its inability toenjoy its own natural activity, whichis impeded by the disorder of the bodi-ly organs. Let these be restored to ahealth}^ condition, and cheerfulness re-turns at once.Another kind of melancholy is pro-

duced by grief arising from the priva-tion of some natural good or the in-fliction of some natural evil; and this isvery apt, if of long continuance, to runinto the former kind by inducing a de-rangement of the bodily functions.A third kind of melancholy is thatwhich is frequently found in personswhose intellectual temperament leadsthem to seek an ideal rather than apractical and active life. It is a senti-


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38 Light iji Dai^kiiess.

ment of disparity between that idealstate after which the soul aspires andthe reality to which it is bound in thisworld, a sense of weariness and dissatis-faction with the everyday realities oflife, a pining- after clearer light, moreperfect beauty, more complete happi-ness, and a more elevated condition.And, as we shall see by-and-by, thiskind of sadness is more akin than anyother which arises from natural causesto the weariness of all created thingsproduced in the soul by the touches ofdivine grace.

I do not purpose to treat expressly ofany of these morbid states of the mindarising; from natural causes, nor of thatcommon and troublesome complaint ofdevout persons called scrupulosity.I pass over, also, those trials and suffer-ings which are the ordinary lot of per-sons leading a spiritual life. All thesematters are fully treated of by many


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Light i7t Darkness. 39sally diffused and within the reach ofall. I have alluded to them merely forthe sake of distinguishing- betweenevery kind of melancholy proceedingfrom natural causes, and that desolationof the spirit which is supernatural.This is a matter of great importanceboth to the director and the penitent

;

and it is also attended with many diffi-culties, especially in those cases wherethe subject is naturally of a melancholytemperament, and is also made to sufferthe pains of a passive, supernatural pur-gation.The characteristic mark of the state

of supernatural desolation is the sever-ity and continuity of the interior pain,which may have some interruptionsand alleviations, but cannot be radicallyhealed by any means whatever. Thereare certain chronic mental disorderswhich resemble this state so much thata superficial observer may easily mis-take one for the other. When a person


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whose temperament is cheerful, andwho'se character is marked by soHdityof judgment, is led into the obscurenight, it is easy to discern that this isreally the case. If the temperament beof that kind which is inclined to melan-choly, the effect of spiritual desolationupon it will be to produce many of thesame symptoms which are caused bynatural melancholy. In this case it isnecessary to observe carefully what hasbeen the past spiritual history of thesoul. If this history shows that onehas at the beginning laid the foundationof solid virtue, practised a filial obe-dience to his spiritual directors, ad-vanced steadily for some time in theway of perfection, and, especially, if hehas overcome the inclination to melan-choly Avhich is natural to him, it is safeto conclude that a state of permanentdesolation succeeding afterwards is aneffect of grace. This is still more evi-


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Light in Dcn^kness. 41one of great light, consolation, and sen-sible grace. And, finally, when oneshows great patience, resignation, for-titude and constancy, in seeking afterunion with God in the midst of dark-ness and trouble, it becomes perfectl}-certain that the desolation of his spiritis the effect of God's operation and nota morbid condition of the soul.

It is this continual, steady anxiety ofthe soul to draw nearer to God, to-gether with the inability to find inpra}' er, sacraments, or any other meanswhatever that which may still the paincaused by this anxiety, which consti-tutes the essence of the state of passivepurgation or of the obscure night.Every pain in the spirit, whatever maybe its cause or nature, which remainsafter one has made use of the properremedies provided by Almighty God,and is therefore unavoidable, is also in-tended as the means of a passive purga-tion or purgatory of the soul. Every in-


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terior trial which is not caused by wil-ful resistance to grace, is to be referredto the will of God, and to be regardedas a means of purifying the soul, andgiving it the occasion of practising thevirtues of faith, hope, and charity.Even those which are caused by thesins of others, or by our own sins, ofwhich we have repented, are permittedby God, and are to be referred tohis will, inasmuch as it is his will thatwe should endure them with patience.The pain which we suffer from them is,therefore, of the nature of a passivepurgation when it is submitted to in theproper spirit, because it forces the soulto turn from created things towardGod, and thus produces the same effectas that pain which is caused by the di-rect action of grace on the soul. Thedoctrine and instructions of this treatiseare, therefore, more or less applicableto 'every soul sincerely striving after


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Light in Darkness, 43interior pains and anxieties to which itis subjected. The life of faith is, in it-self, an obscure night, and the languageof Holy Scripture in such passages asthese, '' The night is far spent," '' A lightshining in a dark place," is applicable toall Christians. Some are called, however,to pass through a much darker night thanothers, and such persons, in proportionto the depth of the darkness which in-volves them, and the severity of thepains and terrors which accompany it,have special need of instruction in re-gard to the obscure night and the wayof walking in it. Let them not imaginethat this, or any other book, or that anydirector, even were he as great a saintas the cure of Ars, can remove thedarkness or take away the pain of thenight of the spirit. This is an impos-sibility. It is the will of God that theyshould remain in darkness until hechooses to give them light. The onlyhelp they can receive from any human


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direction is that which is intended tofree them from such difficulties, anx-ieties and errors, as proceed from theirown ignorance, inexperience, and pusil-lanimity ; and to encourage them topatience, steadfastness, and uncondi-tional resignation to the will of God.Such help as this will assist them toconduct themselves in that mannerwhich pleases God, and enables him toexecute hi^ designs upon them withouthindrance, so that they may receive allthe benefit which their trials are fittedto impart, may be purified as speedilyand thoroughly as possible, and maymerit the highest amount of grace andglory. Help of this kind I can promiseto give in this treatise to every one whois a docile child of the Catholic Church,who receives frequently and devoutlythe holy sacraments, is willing to sub-mit obediently in all things to lawfuldirection, and who reads this book


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Light ill Darkness. 45how to attain a perfect conformity to thewill of God. If any one who is dream-ing of a visionary, delusive spirituality,not based on obedience to the author-ity of the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Ro-man Church, seeks to find in these pagessomething wherewith to soothe andconsole himself, I wish him to under-stand distinctly that I disavow and pro-test against his perversion of my words.Such a person is like one who wishesto slumber when he is in danger ofdrowning or being frozen. I would notwrite a line to quiet his misgivings orsoothe the inward pain which is tor-menting him ; on the contrary, I would,if possible, disturb and agitate his con-science still more. The night which isaround such a soul is the beginning ofeternal darkness ; it is the night of un-belief, and not that of faith. Its interiorpain is the anguish of a soul deprivedof divine grace. Quietude in such a


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4-6 Light in Dai^kness,only chance of safety is in the contifi-uance and increase of that fear anddread which Avill give the soul no rest un-til it has found and followed that " lightshining in a dark place"the light ofCatholic faith. The Catholic reader,also, who is merely seeking to gratifycuriosity or to amuse his fancy with aspiritual book as he would with a novel,is seriously advised to lay down thisvolume, to betake himself to his prayer-book and some plain treatise on theeternal truths for his spiritual exercises,and to innocent secular literature foramusement. I know of nothing moreinjurious to sound religious sensibilitythan an indiscreet, fanciful dabbling inspiritual things without serious pur-pose. I want no such readers, noneexcept those who are sincerely seekingfor instruction and knowledge in orderthat they may turn it to their own spiri-tual advantage. I do not mean to re-pel, however, any who are conscien-


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Lio'ht in Darkness."^s 47tious, and who are sincerely seeking-the truth, even though they do not yetpossess a complete CathoHc faith or afirm belief in the truths of Christianity.

If this book should come across anyperson of that kind who is seeking forlight in darkness, and who is reallydetermined to follow the light whenfound, I am happy to include him inthat circle of auditors to whom I ad-dress these instructions.


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CHAPTER IIITHE CAUSE AND NATURE OF THE OB-

SCURE NIGHT.The object of this chapter is to ex-

plain in what way and for what reasonsthe obscure night comes upon the soul.I make this explanation in order to helpthose who are in this state to bear theirsufferings more patiently, and other-wise to conduct themselves in such amanner as to pass through it with thegreatest security and profit. Thegreatest cause of bewilderment, anx-iety and discouragement to souls inthe obscure night is, ignorance ofthe state they are in, and of the rightway of conducting themselves. Letthem understand that their case is nota singular one, that they are passingthrouofh a state which thousands have


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Light in Dai^kiiess. 49necessary to pass through to attain solidvirtue, and let them understand thatthey can fix their consciences in asecure position so as to run no riskwhatever of offending God, andthey will be at once strengthened andencouraged to shoulder their crossmanfully, and go forward, however longand dreary may be the desert, howeverdense the darkness of the night.In order to understand the reasonwhy the soul must pass through theobscure night, the cause which pro-duces it, and the benefits which the soulgains by it, it is necessary to go back tothe very first principles of the spirituallife. The end and object of the spiri-tual life is solely thisto bring the soulinto the most perfect possible unionwith God. This union is supernatural.The soul has no natural powers bywhich it can of itself attain to it. Thereare no natural media or means by whichit can be effected. It can be effected


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50 Light in Darkness,only by the direct action of God on thesoul, raising it above itself and aboveall created things. In our present fallenstate, this action of God on the soul isnecessarily painful to it, and the greaterthe guilt or number of the sins it hascommitted, the more sensitive has itbecome to this pain. The obscure nightis the state in which the soul remains,while it is undergoing this process ofpurgation from its sins or imperfections,and becoming prepared for the com-plete and perfect union with God.This principle is sufficient to explainthe radical nature and cause of the ob-scure night. Yet, as we have alreadysaid that only a certain number of soulspass through this night, it is necessaryto explain still further why it is thatthese particular souls pass through it,while the greater number are exemptfrom it. In order to understand this,it must be carefully observed that, inthe mystical theology, the


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Light in Darkness. 51term '' obscure night " is restricted toa night of extraordinary length and den-sity, through which certain souls areobliged to pass who have need of a spe-cial purgation. They have need of thisspecial purgation for one of two rea-sons, or for both combined. The firstis, that they may be purified from theeffects of grievous sin, and from habitualvenial sin. The reason why their p\irga-tion takes place in this life is, becausethey are more fervent and heroicthan ordinary Christians, whose pur-gatory must therefore take place afterthis life is ended. The second is,that they are called to a higher de-gree of grace and glory, a more sub-lime union with God, than otherswherefore they need to go through aspecial purgation, which is not so mucha purification from sin or its effects asa refining process which makes theoperation of the soul more subtile andspiritual. The soul which passes through


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52 Light in Da7'kitess.the obscure night gains, therefore, twogreat advantages : it has its purgatoryin this life, so that it is ready to go im-mediately into the enjoyment of thebeatific union as soon as it leaves thebody ; and it is prepared for a very highdegree of union with God by grace inthis life, which is consummated by acorresponding degree of glory in thelife to come.The reason of the obscure night hav-ing now been explained in a brief man-ner, I will next show what is its na-ture. It is divided into two partsthenight of the senses, and the night of thespirit. The first part is intended for thepurification and elevation of the sensi-tive or inferior part of the soul ; the se-cond, for the purification of the soul inits most spiritual portion and most inti-mate essence. The night of the spiritcommonly follows after the night of thesenses, and is incomparably darker andmore painful. There is usually an in-


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Light ill Darkness, 53terval between them, as there are pe-riods of light relieving the darkness ofthe whole night at intervals, in almostall cases. The spirit is partially puri-fied during the night of the senses, andthe senses are not completely purifieduntil the night of the spirit. They are,therefore, distinguished from each othernot because they are altogether separate,but because the effect in one is chieflyon the senses ; in the other, chiefly onthe spirit. Sometimes, the entire pur-gation of both sense and spirit is accom-plished at one and the same time.The reason why the soul has to pass

through a dark night in order to at-tain to supernatural light has been al-ready hinted at above, but needs a fullerexplanation. The union of the soul^vith God being supernaturalthat is,above natureno second causes or natu-ral media are sufficient to bring aboutthis union. The natural action of the sen-sitive soul, and the natural action of the


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54 Light in Darkness.intellectual soul, must be superseded bya higher, more subtile, and altogetherdivine action of the soul in God, or ofthe Spirit of God in the soul. The in-terval between the departure of thenatural light and the illuminationcaused by the supernatural light, is ne-cessarily a period of darkness. Thisdarkness, however, is caused, not by areal diminution or absence of light, butby the increase and actual brightnessof the light itself, which is too strongand subtile for the visual faculty of thesoul, and, therefore, brings it into astate of temporary darkness. It is theweakness and imperfection of our na-ture, in its present fallen condition, whichcauses the transformation into the imageof the Son of God to be painful. Inthe state of original integrity, it wouldnot have been painful, because in thatstate the soul could have enjoyed allits connatural activit}^, all its naturallight, all natural happiness in created


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Light hi Darkness. 55things and in sensible communicationsof grace, without impeding the opera-tion of that divine light which wouldgradually have prepared it for the trans-lation to a higher sphere. The reasonwhy this is so is, that in the state of in-tegrity the inferior good has no powerto draw away the soul from the su-preme good. In the fallen state, the im-perial command of reason and will overthe inferior nature no longer exists,wherefore the inferior nature has to bedeprived of the good for which it cravesin order to leave the hio^her nature freeto seek after the supernatural good.The cross has taken the place of thetree of life ; paradise has been exchangedfor the vale of tears ; we can only returnto the promised land from which wehave been exiled across the desert, andwe must travel in an obscure niQ^ht in-stead of by sunlight. It is probable,however, that the merit and consequent


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56 Light i7i Darkness.

is far superior to that which would havebeen attained by the way of originaljustice.

1 think I have said enough on thispoint to satisfy any one who aspiresafter perfection, that if he finds his souldrawn in spite of himself into a stateof desolation and obscurity, he ought toconsider this as the necessary means ofhis purification, the way by which alonehe can attain to that union with Godwhich is the true and only end of hisdesires and efforts. This is the wa}^ inwhich the saints of God have walked,preceded by our Lord himself, who en-dured the desolation of his last agonyon the cross in order to merit for hischildren the grace to follow him, and togive them the encouragement of hissympathy and example. Every onewho finds himself in the obscure night,and is unable to get himself out of itwhatever he may do, may therefore


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Light in Darkness, 57

degree of sanctity, and is leading- himtowards it by the shortest and most se-cure road. This ought to be the mosteffectual motive to patience, resigna-tion, fortitude and courage, for a gen-erous soul. And it is only such that theSpirit of God leads into the desert andthe obscure night. God knows whateach one is capable of enduring. Henever exposes to severe trials anyreally sincere and faithful soul, unlessthat soul is capable of passing throughthese trials safely by the help of thegrace he has prepared for it. Personsof this noble and heroic temper are onlyfearful and discouraged because theythink they are offending God, fancythat he has deserted them, and imaginethat they have strayed from the path ofeternal life into the way that leadsto perdition. Therefore it is that Ihave endeavored to show with certain-ty, and on the authority of that un-


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saints under the sanction of the church,that the obscure night is, in the order ofgrace, the vigil or eve of preparationwhich precedes the rising of that sunupon the soul v^^hich can never set, butwill enlighten it for ever during the end-less day of eternity. One who is firmlyconvinced of this, who assents to it witha clear and firm faith, and, with a firmconfidence in God, submits himself un-reservedly to his guidance, prepared towait with patient endurance during thewhole of the long night which is beforehim, is prepared to receive the full effectof the action of grace upon him, to cor-respond fully to the designs of God,and to put in practice the instructionshe will receive as to the way of comport-ing himself during the period of dark-ness. Moreover, he will be able to sparehimself all that suffering which comesfrom wilful, obstinate struggling againstGod, from cowardice and discourage--


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Light in Darkness, 59sensible devotion, and from the displea-sure of God, Avho is obliged to punishsuch impatient, indocile children morethan he wishes to do. He will, there-fore, pass through the night more speed-il}^, with much greater interior peace,and with much greater benefit to himself.

It may occur to some minds as an ob-jection to what has been said, that somesaints, as, for example, St. AloysiusGonzaga, appear to have reached thehighest grade of sanctity without everpassing through the state of desolationand obscurity. One who is tempted toimpatience and irresignation under histrials may be inclined to murmuragainst God, when he reads such a life,and may think that he could just as wellbe led by the way of sensible devotionas by the dreary road of desolation. Inanswer to this I reply, first, that we sel-dom know the complete, interior life ofa saint. Their biographers frequently


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6o Light in Darkness.

they have received, and the wonderfulworks they have done, than in record-ing the history of the interior cruci-fixion wdiich they have endured, the se-cret details of which are perhaps notknown by any mortal man. Thoselives which we do possess, in which thesecret historj^ of the saints is laid bare,give us the fullest and most trust-worthy information we can have on thissubject. Such are the lives of theB. Henry Suso and St. Teresa. Who-ever studies these lives will see howseverely these holy persons, althoughthey had no mortal sins to expiate, weretried in the crucible of purification.The same may be said of other saintswho preserved their baptismal innocenceunstained, as St. Francis de Sales, St.Vincent de Paul, St. Rose of Lima, St.Mary Magdalen de Pazzis, St. Alphon-sus Liguori, St. John of the Cross, andmany others. If there are eases, such


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Light in Darkness. 6isius, in which the divine grace has beengiven in such an extraordinary way asto elevate human nature almost to anequality with its pristine state, or withthat of the angels, there was a specialreason for the exception ; and those whowere thus favored served God, andmerited in some other way to make upfor what was lacking in the enduranceof interior pains. St. Thomas wasdestined to a work which required per-fect tranquillity of soul and continual,angelic contemplation. He was, there-fore, purified and raised to the heightof virtue at an early age. Yet he had aterrible though short ordeal to passthrough before his loins were girt byangelic hands with the cincture of su-perhuman purity. Nor was he free froma depressing anxiety concerning hisfinal salvation, as we see from severalindications given in his biography. St.Aloysius prepared himself for the grace


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62 Light in Darkness.rigorous self-denial and perpetual appli-cation to prayer, so that he preventedthe need of passive purgation to a greatextent. Besides, although he sufferedbut a short time from interior desola-tion, the fire of divine love in his bosomwas intensely painful, and actually causedhis death at an early age by a real inte-rior martyrdom, increased by manybodily privations and sufferings whichhe underwent during the last years ofhis life, in which he was gradually wast-ing away and slowly dying. More-over, as St. Aloysius was intended tobe a model for young people, who mustbe led in the way of sensible devotion,it was fitting that the grace of God inhim should have a special character ofsweetness and attractiveness on the sur-face, in order that the weak and tendermight be gently drawn by it to thepractice of piety ; and that his sufferingsshould be kept within the veil wherethe more heroic alone would penetrate.


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Light in Darkness, (y^^If anything more were necessary to

prove that the road to high sanctityand a lofty degree in heaven Hes throughdarkness and fire, I might cite the mar-tyrs who are at the head of the list ofsaints. We need not go beyond our ownState of New York to find these, some ofwhom were apostolic men laboring inthe missions among the Six Nations,others noble converts to the faith fromthe aborigines. When we read of thehorrible tortures joyfully undergone bythese true followers of the crucifiedRedeemer of mankind, we are temptedto think it incredible that the sameheaven which they won at such a costcan be open to us. If, therefore, thereare any of us whom God calls to makeany sacrifices for his sake, or to undergoany wearisome or acute sufferings ofbody or mind, such persons ought tothink themselves highly favored. Ifthey lack courage or opportunity to be-


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64 Light ill Darkness,

a great privilege to imitate, in somemeasure, the patient endurance of themartyrs, that they may not feel alto-gether ashamed to meet them hereafter.The grace of union with God is some-thing so inestimable that it is cheaplypurchased at any price. No matterhow long and dreary may be the timeof trial, it is to be regarded as nothingin comparison with that pure, refinedgold of virtue which is gained as a re-compense.Any fervent Christian, who is reso-

lutely bent on attaining the highest de-gree of perfection of which the gracewhich God chooses to grant him ren-ders him capable, ought, therefore, tobe resigned to the divine will, if hefinds himself led into the obscure night,however dark and long continued itmay be. If he has preserved his bap-tismal innocence, and has, with the ut-most diligence, endeavored to purify


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Light in Darkness. 65

acquire positive virtue, he ought to besatisfied to submit himself to a proba-tion from which the greatest saints havenot been dispensed. But if he has,through indulgence in venial sin, or,much more, by mortal sin, perhapshabitual and frequent for a considerableportion of his life, enfeebled or vitiatedhis moral constitution and contracted agreat debt to the justice of God ; howmuch greater reason has he to sur-render himself without a murmur tothe severe but merciful treatment ofhis divine physician and judge, who de-sires to heal his maladies and liberatehim from the stains of guilt ! Letus take the case of a person who, inadult age, is perfectly converted toGod so far as the will is concerned.His sins are undoubtedly remitted bythe sacrament of penance. But howshall he obtain the remission of thatdebt to the divine justice which he can-


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66 Light ill Darkness,

vere penances, or still longer and severersufferings in purgatory ? It is possiblefor some persons to take the religiousvows, and thus wipe out the accountwhich stands against them in the re-cords of justice. Such a one may say,Why should I now have to undergo apurgatory for forgiven sin ? Or, atleast, one may avail himself of the trea-sure of indulgences, take advantage ofa jubilee, and gain remission of the debtof a hundred talents which he cannotpay. How is it, then, that he is notfree from all obligation to suffer a pur-gatory either here or hereafter ? Tothis I reply that, in order to obtainplenary remission of the penalty due forsin, it is necessary to be entirely free fromattachment to the least venial sins, andto be turned away from created thingsto God so completely that one is effica-ciously determined never to commit thesmallest known and wilful sin. With-


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Light in Darkness. 6yaway venial sin and give remission ofthe punishment it deserves, much less areligious profession or a plenary indul-gence. A general resolution, howeversincere, to avoid venial sin, will not besufficient to produce this actual purifi-cation from every sin in particular, evenin the minutest fibres of the will, in itscapillary tubes, so to speak, and its im-perceptible air-cells. I sa}^, then, it isdoubtful whether you have gained, afterall, a remission of all your debt to thedivine justice, or whether you can evergain it unless you are first purified inthe crucible of suffering. But let ussuppose that you have. You were bap-tized yesterday ; you gained a plenaryindulgence at communion an hour agoyou have this moment pronounced yourreligious vows, and have received backagain your baptismal innocence. Wereyou to die now, you would have no pur-gatory to suffer, but would fly, as the


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68 I^ight in Dai^k7tess.

how much merit would you take withyou, what degree of glory would youobtain ? You would have the merit ofthe good acts performed by you whileyou were in the state of grace, and arecompense proportioned to your merit,with a little additional glory as a pre-sent from your good Lord. But all thetime and strength you wasted in mortalor venial sin would be a dead loss toyou through all eternity. Now, sinceit is God's will that you should live andwork, if you are even at this moment aspure as the first December snow inthe most secluded valley, you needtrial, discipline and suffering, to confirmyou in this purity, and to keep youfrom contracting new stains. Youneed it, in order to bring you back towhat 3^ou would be now if you hadnever sinned. You need it, in orderto prepare you for higher degrees ofgrace and glory. You need it, that you

gain merit be-


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Light in Darkness, 69fore God. Moreover, even if you doyour best for the future, how can youever regain the time you have lost, theg-races, virtues, merits, you ought tohave been acquiring during those ten,twenty, or thirty years you spent insin? It is plain that there is but oneway. God must double the value andexcellence of your works, by increasingthe difficulty of their performance, andby placing you in a state of passive suf-fering where you can by patience andlove obtain that purity which is likegold twice refined, and not only regainwhat you have lost, but increase andmultiply your treasures beyond whatthey would have been if you had liveda life of ordinary perfection from yourinfancy.

I have thus far pointed out and provedthe necessity of some purifying processby which the guilty soul may be cleansedfrom its stains, and the innocent soul


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cessity of suffering for the expiation ofsin, tlie imitation of our divine Lord,and the acquisition of merit. I mustnow show why the soul must endurethe obscure night rather than any otherform of suflfering.Why is it that the soul cannot bepurified and refined by means of activeoperations of the intellect and will, bythe effect of those graces which givelight to the intellect, sensible warmthand fervor to the affections, by super-natural visions and ecstasies, by the fireof sensible devotion, and similar meansto which our nature has an affinity ? Ifpain and suffering are necessar}'-, whycannot those sufferings suffice whichgive pain to the senses without obscur-ing the soul, and which are joyfullyendured, so long as the flame of sensiblelove to celestial things burns brightlywithin ?The answer to these questions must


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brings the soul into union with himselfnecessarily plunges it into an obscurenight ; and this I will endeavor to do inthe next following chapters.


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CHAPTER IV.ACTIVE EXERCISES AND SENSIBLE GRACESINCAPABLE OF UNITING THE SOUL

WITH GOD.It needs but little proof to show that

the soul cannot attain to union withGod by its own efforts. The finite can-not attain the infinite. Nature cannoti-ise above itself and reach the super-natural. Union with God is a kind ofdeification of human nature, making ita partaker of the divine nature. Allthe active exercises of the soul tendonly to make it perfect in its own kindand order. Even when the soul is re-generate and sanctified, its active exer-cises, although elicited from a super-natural motive and directed to a super-natural end, are in their substance


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74 Light in Darkness.they remove obstacles which make thesoul unfit to receive grace ; but theycannot produce in the soul anythingmore than a certain disposition forunion with God, which must be pas-sively received by an effect of the divineaction within the very essence of thesoul. Moreover, they obstruct the ac-tion of God in the soul, which cannottake place when the faculties are dis-tracted and occupied by outward things,but o.nly when the soul is quiet and re-collected.

Sensible graces are given in order tostimulate the soul to active exercises.They help to the exercise of holy affec-tions, to devout meditations, to acts ofthe will, and the operations of theactive life of virtue. For the same rea-son, therefore, that these active exer-cises are insufficient, the graces whichare in order to these exercises are alsoinsufficient.

Moreover, these active exercises and


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Light in Darkness. 75the graces which accompany them havemany dangers connected with them,and almost all persons injure themselvesby their means. In the use of them,self-love, self-indulgence, pride, pre-sumptuousness, and many other viciousinclinations find their aliment, and some-times the soul is lost through thesespiritual sins, as we see especially ex-emplified in the case of those who areled by pride to rebel against the author-ity of the church, like Eutyches, Pela-gius, and the Jansenists, who becameheretics, although retaining a speciousappearance of sanctity. The obscurenight is necessary for all those whohave contracted stains of imperfectionand venial sin in the manner described,in order to purify them, and make themcapable of receiving higher degrees ofgrace. It is necessary, also, for all, eventhose who have not in any way misusedthe graces of the state of beginners orproficients, in order to wean the soul


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']6 Light in Darkness.

from habits of action and from accus-tomed helps, which are only suited toan inferior and imperfect state.An objection may here be made, that,if sensible devotion and the spiritualexercises prompted by its influence areso imperfect and attended with so manydangers, it is hard to understand whythe Divine Spirit should lead souls atall by this way, and not by that whichis both more perfect and more secure.To this I reply, that in the order ofGod's providence the state of spiritualinfancy, childhood, and youth must pre-cede the adult age. This kind of devo-tion and these exercises are suitable andnecessary for beginners. Moreover,the dangers which accompany this im-mature state of the spiritual life maybe avoided by proper care and fidelity.It is necessary to use some caution onthis head, and not to depreciate sen-sible devotion too much. Some persons


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g-aage of certain spiritual writers whotreat of these topics. They appear tothink that the spiritual doctrine of thosewho write for the instruction of personsin a more advanced stage of progressis in some way contrary to that of otherauthors who write for those who arewalking in the " easy ways of divinelove," or by the path of active exer-cises. For instance, they may fancythat one who approves of the SanctaSophia of F. Baker must disapproveof the All for Jesus of the late holyand excellent F. Faber, and that onewho esteems highly the Spiritual Doc-trine of Lallemant ought to dispar-age the Christian Perfectio7i of Rodri-guez. This is a great error. Differentclasses of persons and different statesof the spiritual life need different in-structions ; but these instructions, andthe authors who compose them, in nowise oppose or contradict each other.


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78 Light i7i Darkitess.not constitute the essence of the spirit-ual life ; but they are means and aidsappointed b}^ God to prepare and dis-pose the soul for higher operations ofgrace, in case it is called to a more per-fect union with God in this life, and, ifnot, to prepare it for that degree ofunion to which God will raise it in thelife to come. They are not, therefore,to be despised or rejected. Those whomisuse them sin by a too great attach-ment to the natural satisfaction whichthey derive from them ; but those whouse them properly neither adhere tothem with this sinful attachment, norreject them with a sinful impatience toadvance into the desert before they arecommanded to do so. The truly hum-ble and docile soul waits upon Godwith patience and submission, receivingfrom him with gratitude whatever giftshe may bestow, and restoring to himwith cheerful obedience the same gifts


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Light hi Darkness. 79Such a person, so far from being injuredby sensible grace and devotion, is great-ly benefited by them ; and, if he is ledafterwards into the desert of darkness,temptation, and desolation, he will fol-low the guidance of the Divine Spiritwith equal alacrity, animated by thecourage and strength which he has re-ceived from these delicious communi-cations of grace. This entire subjectis so copiously treated by several excel-lent authors in their spiritual treatises,that I do not think it necessary to en-large upon it in this place. The onlypoint I aim at in this chapter is to fur-nish a clear, practical principle for theinstruction and guidance of those whoare deprived of sensible devotion andof the power of performing active spi-ritual exercises, not at intervals, butpermanently, and without their ownwill. Such persons should understandthat it is God's will to lead them to a


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8o Lie'kt ill Darkness,sthe spiritual life, and that the gracesthey have heretofore received are takenfrom them because, being unsuitable totheir present condition, they wouldcease to be helps and become only hindrances to their progress.


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CHAPTER V.VISIONS AND OTHER EXTRAORDINARYCOMMUNICATIONS NOT THE MEDIUMOF UNION WITH GOD.Those authors who treat of the

higher branches of the science of thespiritual life invariably take up thesubject of visions, revelations, andother preternatural or supernaturalimpressions on the senses and theimagination, in close connection withthe topic of sensible grace and de-votion. Their language imphes thegreat frequency of these spiritual phe-nomena, and those who have read thelives of a large number of saints andholy persons are well aware that a vastmultitude of facts falling under thishead are therein narrated. Whatever


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are much more infrequent, and, whenthey do occur, are of a much less ex-traordinary character among ourselves,than in other times and among- othernations. Some most extraordinary andwell-attested facts of this nature, nodoubt, have occurred in the most recenttimes. Yet, so far as I know, thosewho have the most extensive and longexperience as the directors of personsdevoted to the spiritual life, either with-in or without the precincts of religiouscommunities, meet with so few instancesworthy of any special attention of thispeculiar phase of the supernatural his-tory of the soul, that the language ofthe older writers implying its commonoccurrence seems to them strange andsurprising. It may seem, therefore, su-perfluous to treat of this matter at allin a little elementary book like this,which is only designed for practicalutility. This was my own impression


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Light in Darkjtess, '^ithe whole topic in silence. I havethought, however, that there -may behere and there some one person needinginstruction on these subjects, and thatpossibly, since spurious manifestationsof this kind are now so common, thegenuine might become more frequentthan they have been. My principal mo-tive, however, for determining to takeup the subject has been, that I have seenhow important it is to furnish a certainclass of Catholics who are piously dis-posed, but not sufficiently under thecontrol of sound reason and enlightenedfaith, with a safeguard against the dead-ly delusions of modern spiritism.The soul which is the subject of the

extraordinary communications of whichI am now speaking, is liable to the samedangers of which I have already spokenin the preceding chapter on sensible de-votion. These dangers are, however,much greater, because graces of this


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84 Light in Darkness,natural desires of the soul, and, there-fore, far more likely to become the oc-casion of self-love and spiritual pride.They are especially open to the dangerof illusion. It is easy for the soul todeceive itself in a thousand ways inregard to them. In the first place, itmay be deceived by mistaking thatwhich proceeds from the fantasy, orfrom the operation of a demon dis-guised as an angel of light, for a divinecommunication. If a soul has receivedsome divine communication occasion-ally, or even frequently, it by no meansfollows that it will be able to distinguishwith certainty that which is divine fromthat which is natural or diabolical. Theactivity of the imagination, which re-tains in itself the images left in it by acelestial vision, may reproduce similarones. The tempter, seeing that a soulhas received through an angel someextraordinary impression, and is on thelookout for similar favors, can easily


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LiorJit in Darkness. ^^>simulate them. There is, moreover, anextreme liability to mistake the truemeaning of visions, locutions, inspira-tions, and all kinds of extraordinarycommunications, even when these arecertainl}^ divine. One who abandonshimself with self-will and heedlessnessto what he thinks is an extraordinarylight from God will, therefore, mostcertainly become the victim of danger-ous illusions. He will be subject to il-lusion in regard to his own conduct inpractical matters, and stray from thestraight and safe path to perfection intodevious ways. He will become puffedup with spiritual pride, and corruptedinwardly by spiritual self-indulgence.He may be led also into the most grie-vous errors and heresies concerning thefaith, and become so spiritually blindand obstinate that he will resist the in-fallible authority of the church, andpersevere in his fatal error until death.

This species of illumination, there-


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S6 Light iji Da7'kness,fore, cannot be the medium of unionwith God, because it is uncertain andunsafe. It is a sin to desire or ask forany of these extraordinary communica-tions. On the contrary, every oneought to wish to be led by the ordinaryroad, on account of its greater safetyand humility. If anything of the kindoccurs in the spiritual life of one whris simply and sincerely seeking for acloser union with God, it should be re-ceived with fear, distrust, and total dis-regard, and the natural inclination toaccept it with easy credulity and de-light should be resisted and suppressed.It is, moreover, a duty to disclose every-thing which really seems on sober re-flection to be something supernatural,to a confessor, to obey his directionseven in contradiction to what seems adivine inspiration, and never to believein the celestial origin of any vision orrevelation, much less to undertake any-thins: in obedience to it, without the


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Light ill Darkness. 87express sanction of a wise director.Even if it becomes certain that one isreceiving extraordinary communicationsof this kind from God, it is a duty toabstain from reflecting on them withcomplacency, desiring their repetition,declaring them to others, or regardingthem as the essential part of devotionand the medium of union with God.

I repeat once more what I have al-ready said, that this species of light isessentially incapable of being the me-dium of union between God and thesoul. This is true even when all liabi-lity to delusion is removed, and it be-comes impossible to doubt the realityand the celestial nature of the visionsand revelations received, as in the caseof St. Catharine of Sienna, St. Teresa,St. Philip Neri, and other divinelyilluminated saints. The reason why thislight is unfit to serve as such a mediumis found in the pnnciples I have alreadylaid down concerning the union of the


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88 Light in Darkness,soul with God. This union is alto-gether supernatural. That operationof the faculties of the soul of whichthey are naturally capable is, therefore,no sufficient medium of union. But inthe case of which I am treating, thereis no operation of the faculties of whichthey are not naturally capable. Thismay be easily understood by a few illus-trations. To begin with the lowestfaculty, that of sensation. The recep-tion of the holy communion produces adelicious taste in the mouth, a glow inthe heart, a joyous sensation throughall the nerves of sensibility, a trance,an ecstasy. The bystanders perceive aradiance in the countenance, an increaseof beauty, a light about the head, anelevation of the whole body in the air.We call these phenomena supernatural,because they are out of the commonorder of things, and we suppose themto be caused by the direct agency of an


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in themselves, purely natural pheno-mena. They may be produced, to acertain extent; by merely natural causes.That is, they may be the effect eitherof causes which are contained in ourhuman nature, or of that nature whichis superhuman, yet not divine, or actingas a medium of divine power. Sup-pose them produced by an angel. Theangel can produce them by his naturalpower whenever he pleases, if God per-mits him to do it. If an angel canproduce them, a demon can do so like-wise. Moreover, the effects themselvesdo not transcend the natural capacity ofsensation, as is obvious.A person hears certain words audiblyspoken. This can occur from a purelysubjective cause, that is, from a peculiarstate of the auditory nerve, without anyexternal sound. It can be produced bya demon or an angel.A person sees a bright light, a jewel,


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90 Light in Darkness.the Blessed Virgin, or our Lord. Thismay be subjective, also, as numerousinstances prove beyond a doubt. Itmay be, however, a phenomenon moredistinct and continuous than a subjec-tive, spectral illusion can be, at least in aperson of ordinary health and mentalsoundness, or it may be visible to anumber of persons. It is, however,one of those phenomena which an angelis naturally capable of producing, andthe human visual faculty capable of per-ceiving. Even if we suppose that ourLord himself really descends to theearth, shows himself to some favoredindividual, and speaks with him face toface, this is an event which, althoughextraordinary, is not beyond the orderof nature.

If we ascend to the higher sphere ofthe intellect, and examine into the na-ture of these illuminations which Godmay impart to the mind, we still find


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Light in Darhiess. 91natural faculties which is heightenedby the effect of grace. Let a personreceive an infused gift of music, poetry,sculpture, language, philosophy, theo-logy, this will be essentially the samewith a natural gift or acquired science.Even if he is raised to the highest kindof contemplation, he will behold no-thing more than an intellectual imageof God, essentially the same with thatwhich is formed by the speculative fa-culty of a mind in the ordinary state.The union of the soul with God is

purely supernatural. It is a deificationof human nature. By this union, thedivine essence becomes the immediateobject of the intellect, and consequentlyof the will, which always follows theintellect. God is beheld as he is, andas he is visible to himself, and all crea-tures are beheld in God. God is lovedin himself on account of his essentialbeauty, and all creatures are loved in


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92 Light ill Darkness.in the beatific state, by means of thelight of glory which is the medium ofthe beatific vision. It is, however, be-gun in this life, and the medium of thisimperfect union is fides formata, or faithinformed by love. So far as the intel-lect is concerned, and the light whichilluminates it in order to the union withGod, the medium is faith. Faith alonecan bring the intellect in contact withthe invisible, incomprehensible essenceof God, subsisting in Three Persons;one of whom has assumed a perfect hu-man nature, and is our Lord JesusChrist. This divine faith is, therefore,the only root of sanctity and merit, and,as informed by divine love, is our super-natural life itself By it the soul livesin God, and, as it increases and drivesout everything which attaches the soulto any inferior object, this divine lifebecomes stronger, and approaches near-er to the eternally durable form in


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Light in Darkness. 93The whole of solid devotion, therefore,consists in the exercise of faith, hope,and charity. Whatever accompani-ments may attend and surround thesethree acts of the soul, these are only theaccidents, not the substance of the spirit-ual life, whether in the saints whose livesare extraordinary, or in ordinary virtu-ous and holy persons. Tender sentiments,extraordinary lights, raptures, visions,w^onderful works, miracles, sublime con-templations, are not sanctity. Sanctityis that faith which worketh by love.That is to say, it is an imitation of thesanctity of God, which consists in theperfect conformity of his will and hisintelligence as terminated in the sameinfinite, supreme good. The infinite,supreme good is God. God loves theinfinite good of his own divine essencesupremely, which he comprehends per-fectly, and this is what is meant by say-ing that he is infinitely holy. The holy


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94 Light in Darkness,it apprehends obscurely by faith. Thereis the same conformity of will and intel-ligence as terminated in the supremegood, in the soul, that there is in God,and this constitutes the sanctity of thesoul. As faith increases, if the will fol-lows the light of faith with fidelity,sanctity increases ; that is, the soul be-comes more holy, and more closely uni-ted with God. This is what St. Paulteaches us in the following inspired andsublime passage : ^^ Be zealous for the bet-ter gifts. And I yet sJiozu to yotc a moreexcellent zvay. If I speak zuith the tongiesof men, and of the angels, and have not char-ity, I am become as sounding brass or atinkling cymbal. And if I should haveprophecyf and should knozv all mysteries^and all knozvledge, and if I shoicld haveall faith (that is, not justifying faith,but a special assurance infused by Godthat he will concur by his divine powerto enable one to work miracles), so thai


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Light in Darkness. 95charity^ I am noiliing. And now thereremain faith^ hope, and charity, thesethree : hut the greatest of these is char-ityT'^There is, therefore, no grace from

God which directly tends to the in-crease of sanctity of the soul and amore perfect union with God, exceptthat grace which increases faith, hope,and charity, or, as we call it in theologi-cal language, sanctifying grace. Othergraces and favors, such as those ofwhich I am speaking in this chapter,cannot be the means of union with God.It is true that God may make specialrevelations to individuals, which theyare bound to receive with divine faith.The Holy Scripture is full of instancesof this sort, and we even find that theservants of God sought for instructionby means of these private revelations,without being in any way blamed for it.


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This may seem to furnish an objectionto the rule I have laid down above, thatno one is now permitted to desire orask for these revelations. This is, how-ever, a mistake. In former times, beforeGod had given a complete revelationand an infallible guide to men, the wayof instruction by visions and privaterevelations was one of the ordinarymeans of obtaining light from heavenfor the guidance of individuals. But,since the Son of God has come uponthe earth to make a full revelation ofthe truth, and has established in thechurch the infallible tribunal of doc-trinal and moral teaching, togetherwith that private tribunal of the con-fessional in which each particular soulreceives all the direction it needs, it isthe will of God that w^e should beguided by the authority of the churchand of the ministers of the church.He is not bound by this law, and he


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God should ever conduct a soul into astate so full of peril and so liable to illu-sion. They will ask why God does notplace the soul at once in the obscurenight, and keep it there until it is pre-pared for the grace of union. Theywill be tempted to look on all the mar-vellous histories recounted in the Livesof the Saints as legends unworthy ofan}^ serious attention. They will hardlybe able to think that visions, locutions,ecstasies, illuminations, and similar phe-nomena can be celestial favors at all, ifthey are justly spoken of in what ap-pears to be such an undervaluing tone,and with so many admonitions not todesire or ask for them, cherish or reflecton them, or adhere to them with anyattachment.

Thi^ difficulty easily disappears witha little further explanation. In the firstplace, let the reader carefully not

a. f. hewit - light in darkness; a treatise on the obscure night of the soul

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