NOW let us speak of the first word. Christ saith, "See." Three
things are required by him who would see supernaturally in interior
exercises. The first is the light of the divine grace, but in a far
more sublime manner than can be felt in the external, active life.
The second is a stripping off of extraneous images and a denudation
of the heart, so that a man may be free from images, and attachments
to every creature. The third is a free conversion of the will, by
means of a concentration of all the bodily and spiritual faculties,
and complete deliverance from all inordinate affections. Thus this
will flows together into the unity of the Godhead and of our own
mind, so that the reasonable creature may be able to obtain and
possess supernaturally the sublime unity of God. It is for this that
God made the heaven and earth and mankind, it is for this that He
was made man, and taught us by word and example by what way we
should come to this unity. And then in the ardour of His love He
endured to die, and He ascended to heaven, and opened to us this
unity in which we may possess felicity and eternal blessedness.
ON THE THREEFOLD NATURAL UNITY OF MAN
NOW consider attentively: there are three kinds of natural unity in
all men, and, moreover, of supernatural unity among the just. The
first and supreme unity of man is in God; for all creatures are
immanent in this unity, and if they were to be separated from God,
they would be annihilated, and would become nothing. This unity is
essential in us according to nature, whether we are good or bad. And
without our co-operation it makes us neither holy nor blessed. This
unity we possess in ourselves, and nevertheless above us, as a
beginning and support of our life and essence.
Another unity exists in us naturally--that of the supreme forces, in
so far as they actively take their natural origin in the unity of
the spirit or of the thoughts. This is the same unity as that which
is immanent in God, but it is taken here actively and there
essentially. Nevertheless the spirit is entirely in each unity
according to the integrity of its substance. We possess this unity
in ourselves, above the sensitive part of us; and thence are born
memory, intelligence, and will, and all the power of spiritual
works. In this unity the soul is called spirit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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