Walter
Hilton († 1396)
WALTER
HILTON, OSA, AUGUSTINE BAKER, SERENUS CRESSY, OSB
THE PARABLE OF THE PILGRIM
A
quarter of a millenium separates these texts from each other, the first
written by an Augustinian Canon to an anchoress, the second by two
Benedictines to English Benedictine nuns in exile and for others. The
parable of the pilgrim is not unlike the Russian account of a pilgrim, The Tale of a Pilgrim and its
'Prayer of Jesus'.
I find myself much drawn to it, having written on pilgrimage, having
made the literal pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
and
having discovered and treasured these echoing texts in my former
convent, where I was librarian, following
that pilgrimage.
From the Scale of Perfection
Book II.21-23:
[For manuscript transcription in
its original Middle English,
see Walter Hilton, The Parable
of a Pilgrim, from The Scale of
Perfection]
21. An
introduction as to how a soul should behave in purpose and in practise
if it wants to come to this reforming, through the example of a pilgrim
going to Jerusalem; and the two kinds of humility. Nevertheless,
because you desire to have some kind of practice by which you could
approach that reforming more quickly, I shall tell you by the grace of
our Lord Jesus what seems to me the shortest and promptest aid that I
know in this work. And how that shall be I will tell you in this
manner, through the example of a good pilgrim. There was a
man wanting to go to Jerusalem, and because he did not know the way he
came to another man who he thought knew it and asked whether he could
reach that city. The other man told him he could not get there without
great hardship and labour, for the way is long and the perils are
great, with thieves and robbers as well as many other difficulties to
beset a man on his journey; also there are many different ways seeming
to lead in that direction, yet people are being killed and robbed daily
and cannot come to the place they desire. However, there is one way,
and he would undertake that anyone who takes and keeps to it shall come
to the city of Jerusalem, and never lose his life or be slain or die of
want. He would often be robbed and badly beaten and suffer great
distress on his journey, but his life would always be safe. Then the
pilgrim said: 'If it is true that I can keep my life and come to the
place I desire, I do not care what trouble I suffer on the journey, and
therefore tell me what you will, and I promise faithfully to do as you
say'. The other man answered and said this: 'See, I am setting you on
the right road. This is the way, and be sure to keep the instructions I
give you'. 'Whatever
you hear, see or feel that would hinder you on your way, do not
willingly stay with it, and do not tarry for it, taking rest; do not
look at it, do not take pleasure in it, and do not fear it; but always
go forth on your way and think that you want to be in Jerusalem. For
that is what you long for and what you desire, and nothing else but
that; and if men rob you, strip you, beat you, scorn you and despise
you, do not fight back if you want to have your life, but bear the hurt
that you have and go on as if it were nothing, lest you come to more
harm. In the same way, if men want to delay you with stories and feed
you with lies, trying to draw you to pleasures and make you leave your
pilgrimage, turn a deaf ear and do not reply, saying only that you want
to be in Jerusalem. And if men offer you gifts and seek to enrich you
with worldly goods, pay no attention to them, always think of
Jerusalem. And if you will keep on this way and do as I have said, I
promise you your life - that you shall not be slain but come to the
place that you desire'. According to
our spiritual propositions, Jerusalem is as much as to say sight of peace and stands for
contemplation in perfect love of God, for contemplation is nothing
other than a sight of Jesus, who is true peace. Then if you long to
come to this blessed sight of true peace and to be a faithful pilgrim
toward Jerusalem - even though it should be that I was never there, yet
as far as I know - I shall set you in the way that leads toward it. The
beginning of the highway along which you shall go is reforming in
faith, grounded humbly in the faith and in the laws of holy church, as
I have said before, for trust assuredly that although you have formerly
sinned, you are on the right road, if you are now reformed by the
sacrament of penance according to the law of holy church. Now since you
are on the sure way, if you want to speed on your travels and make a
good journey each day, you should hold these two things often in your
mind - humility and love. That is: I
am nothing; I have nothing; I desire only one thing. You shall
have the meaning of these words continually in your intention, and in
the habit of your soul, even though you may not always have their
particular form in your thought, for that is not necessary. Humility
says, I am nothing; I have nothing. Love says, I desire only one thing,
and that is Jesus. These two strings, well-fastened with mindfulness of
Jesus, make good harmony on the harp of the soul when they are
skillfully touched with the finger of reason. For the lower you strike
upon the one, the higher sounds the other; the less you feel that you
are or that you have of yourself through humility, the more you long to
have of Jesus in the desire of love. I do not mean only that humility
that a soul feels as it lookds at its own sin or at the frailties and
wretchedness of this life, or at the worthiness of his fellow
Christians, for although this humility is true and medicinal, it is
comparatively rough and carnal, not pure or soft or lovely. But I mean
also this humility that the soul feels though grace in seeing and
considering the infinite being and wonderful goodness of Jesus, and if
you cannot see it yet with your spiritual eye, that you believe in it,
for through the sight of his being - either in full faith or in feeling
- you shall regard yourself not only as the greatest wretch that there
is, but also as nothing in the substance of your soul, even if you had
never committed sin. And that is lovely humility, for in comparison
with Jesus who is in truth All, you are but nothing. In the same way
think that you have nothing, but are like a vessel that always stands
empty, as if with nothing in it of your own for however many good works
you do, outwardly or inwardly, you have nothing at all until you have -
and feel that you have - the love of Jesus. For your soul can be filled
only with that precious loquor, and with nothing else; and because that
thing alone is so precious and so valuable, regard anything you have
and do as nothing to rest in, without the sight and the love of Jesus.
Throw it all behind you and forget it, so that you can have what is
best of all. Just as a
true pilgrim going to Jerusalem leaves behind him home and land, wife
and children, and makes himself poor and bare of all that he has in
order to travel light and without hindrance, so if you want to be a
spiritual pilgrim you are to make yourself naked of all that you have -
both good works and bad - and throw them all behind you, and thus
become so poor in your own feeling that there can be no deed of your
own that you want to lean upon for rst, but you are always desiring
more grace of love, and always seeking the spiritual presence of Jesus.
If you do so, you shall then set in your heart, wholly and fully, your
desre to be at Jerusalem, and in no other place but there; and that is,
you shall set in your heart, wholly and fully, your will to have
nothing but the love of Jesus and the spiritual sight of him, as far as
he wishes to show himself. It is for that alone you are made and
redeemed, and that is your beginning and your end, your joy and your
glory. Therefore, whatsoever you have, however rich you may be in other
works of body and spirit, unless you have that, and know and feel that
you have it, consider that you have nothing at all. Print this
statement well on the intention of your heart, and hold firmly to it,
and it will save you from all the perils of your journey, so that you
will never perish. It shall save you from thieves and robbers (which is
what I call unclean spirits), so that though they strip you and beat
you with diverse temptations, your life shall always be saved; and in
brief if you guard it as I shall tell you, you shall within a short
time escape all perils and distresses and come to the city of Jerusalem. Now that you
are on the road and know the name of the place you are bound for, begin
to go forward on your journey. Your going forth is nothing else but the
work of the spirit - and of the body as well, when there is need for it
- which you are to use with discretion in the following way. Whatever
work it is that you should do, in body or in spirit, according to the
degree and state in which you stand, it if helps this grace-given
desire that you have to love Jesus, making it more whole, easier and
more powerful for all virtues and all goodness, that is the work I
consider the best, whether it be prayer, meditation, reading or
working; and as long as that taks most strenghtens your heart and your
working; and as long as that task most strengthens your heart and you
will for the love of Jesus and draws your affection and your thought
farthest from worldly vanities, it is good to use it. And if it happens
that the savour of it becomes less through use, and you feel that you
savour anothing kind of work more, and you feel more grace in another,
take another and leave that one. For though your desire and the
yearning of your heat for Jesus should always be unchangeable,
nevertheless the spiritual practices that you are to use in prayer or
the meditation to feed and nourish you desire may be diverse, and may
well be changed according to the way you feel disposed to appply your
own heart, through grace. For it goes
with works and desire as it does with a fire and sticks. The more
sticks are laid on a fire, the greater is the flame, and so the more
varied the spiritual work that anyone has in mind for keeping his
desire whole, the more powerful and ardent shall be his desire for God.
Therefore notice carefully what work you best know how to do and what
most helps you to keep whole this desire for Jesus (if you are free,
and are not bound except under the common law), and do that. Do not
bind yourself unchangeably to practices of your own choosing that
hinder the freedom of your heart to love Jesus if grace should
specially visit you, for I shall tell you which customs are always good
and need to be kept. See, a particular custom is always good to keep if
it consists in getting virtue and hindering sin, and that practice
should never be left. For if you behave well, you will always be humble
and patient, sober and chaste; and so with all other virtues. But the
practice of any other thing that hinders a better work should be left
when it is time for one to do this; for instance in a certain way for a
particular length of time, or waking or kneeling for a certian time, or
doing other such bodily work, this practice is to be left off sometimes
when a reasonable cause hinders it, or else if more grace comes from
another quarter. 22. The
delays and temptations that souls shall feel from their spiritual
enemies on their spiritual journey to the heavenly Jerusalem, and some
remedies against them. Now you are
on the way and know how you shall go. Now beware of enemies that will
be trying to hinder you if they can, for their intention is to put out
of your heart that desire and that longing that you have for the love
of Jesus, and to drive you home again to the love of worldly vanity,
for there is nothing that grieves them so much. These enemies are
principally carnal desires and vain fears that rise out of your heart
through the corruption of your fleshly nature, and want to hinder you
desire for the love of God, so that they can fully occupy your heart
without disturbance. These are your nearest enemies. There are other
enemies too, such as unclean spirits that are busily trying to decieve
you with tricks and wiles. But you shall have one remedy, as I said
before: whatever it may be they say, do not believe them, but keep on
your way and desire only the love of Jesus. Always give this answer: I
am nothing, I have nothing, I desire nothing but the love of Jesus
alone. If your enemies speak to you first like this, by stirrings in
your heart, that you have not made a proper confession, or that there
is some old sin hidden in your heart that you do not know and never
confessed, and therefore you must turn home again, leave your desire
and go to make a better confession: do not believe this saying, for it
is false and you are absolved. Trust firmly that you are on the road,
and you need no more ransacking of your confession for what is past:
keep on your way and think of Jerusalem. Similarly, if they say that
you are not worthy to have the love of God, and ask what good it is to
crave something you cannot have and do not deserve, do not believe
them, but go forward, saying thus, 'Not because I am worthy, but
because I am unworthy - that is my motive for loving God, for if I had
that love, it would make me worthy; and since I was made for it, even
though I should never have it I will yet desire it, and therefore I
will pray and meditate in order to get it'. And then, if your enemies
see that you begin to grow bold and resolute in your work, they start
getting frightened of you; however, they will not stop hindering you
when they can as long as your are going on your way. What with fear and
menaces on the one hand and flattery and false blandishment on the
other, to make you break your purpose and turn home again, they will
speak like this: 'If you keep up your desire for Jesus, labouring as
hard as you have begun, you will fall into sickness or into fantasies
and frenzies, as you see some do, or you will fall into poverty and
come to bodily harm, and no one will want to help you; or you might
fall into secret temptations of the devil, in which you will not know
how to help yourself. It is very dangerous for any man to give himself
wholly to the love of God, to leave all the world and desire nothing
but his love alone; for so many perils may befall that one does not
know of. And therefore turn home again and leave this desire, for you
will never carry it through to the end, and behave as other people do
in the world'. So say your
enemies; but do not believe them. Keep up your desire, and say nothing
else but that you want to have Jesus and to be in Jerusalem. And if
they then perceive your will to be so strong that you will not spare
yourself - for sin or for sickness, for fantasies or frenzy, for doubts
or fears of spiritual temptations, for poverty or distress, for life or
for death - but that you will is set ever onward, with one thing and
one alone, turning a deaf ear to them as if you did not hear them, and
keeping on stubbornly and unstintingly with your prayers and your other
spiritual works, and with discretion according to the counsel of your
superior or your spiritual father; then they begin to be angry and to
draw a little nearer to you. They start robbing you and beating you and
doing you all the injury they know: and that is when they cause all
your deeds - however well done - to be judged evil by others and turned
the worst way. And whatever you may want to do for the benefit of your
body and soul, it will be hampered and hindered by other men, in order
to thwart you in everything that you reasonably desire. All this they
do to stir you to anger, resentment or ill-will against your fellow
Christians. But against
all these annoyances, and all others that may befall, use this remedy;
take Jesus in your mind, and do not be angry with them; do not linger
with them, but think of your lesson - that you are nothing, you have
nothing, you cannot lose any earthly goods, and you desire nothing but
the love of Jesus - and keep on your way to Jerusalem, with your
occupation. Nevertheless, if through your own frailty you are at some
time vexed with such troubles befalling your life in the body through
the ill-will of man or the malice of the devil, come to yourself again
as soon as you can; stop thinking of that distress and go forth to your
work. Do not stay too long with them, for fear of your enemies. 23. A
general remedy against wicked stirrings and painful vexations that
befall the heart from the world, the flesh and the devil. Your enemies
will be much abashed, when they see you so well-disposed
that you are not annoyed, heavyhearted, wrathful, or greatly stirred
against any creature, for anything that they can do or say against you,
but that you fully set your heart upon bearing all that may happen -
ease and hardship, praise or blame - and that you will not
trouble about anything, provided you can keep whole your thought and
your desire for the love of God. But then they will try you with
flattery and vain blandishment, and that is when they bring to the
sight of your soul all your good deeds and virtues and impress upon
you that all men praise you and speak of your holiness; and how
everybody loves you and honors you for your holy living. Your enemies
do this to make you think that their talk is true, and take delight in
this vain joy and rest in it; but it you do well you shall hold all
such vain jabbering as the falsehood and flattery of your enemy, who
proffers you a drink of venom tempered with honey. Therefore refuse it;
say you do not want any of it, but want to be in Jerusalem. [For
manuscript transcription in its original Middle English,
see Walter Hilton, The Parable
of a Pilgrim, from The Scale of
Perfection] 'The
Parable of the Pilgrim' in Holy Wisdom, Chapter 6,
edited by Dom
Serenus Cressy from Don Augustine Baker's writings, acknowledges its
souce in Walter Hilton's Scala
Perfectionis. Now for a further confirmation
and more effectual recommendation of what hath hitherto been delivered
touching the nature of a contemplative life in general, the superminent
nobleness of its end, the great difficulties to be expected in it, and
the absolute necessity of a firm courage to persevere and continually
to make progress in it, whatsoever it costs us (without which
resolution it is in vain to set one step forward in these ways), I will
here annex a passage extracted out of that excellent treatise called Scala Perfectionis, written by that
eminent contemplative, Dr Walter Hilton, a Carthusian Monk, in which,
under the
parable of a devout pilgrim desirous to travel to Jerusalem (which he
interprets
as the vision of peace or contemplation), he delivers instructions very
proper and efficacious touching the behaviour requisite in a devout
soul for such a journey; the true sense of which advice I will take
liberty so to deliver briefly as, notwithstanding, not to omit any
important matter there more largely, and according to the old fashion,
expressed. The
pilgrim, overjoyed with that news, answered: 'So I may have my life
safe,
at last
come to the
place
that I above all only desire , I care
not what miseries I suffer in the
way'. Now this same humility is to
be exercised, not so much in considering thine own self, thy sinfulness
and misery (though to do thus at the first be very good and
profitable), but rather in a quiet loving sight of the infinite endless
being and goodness of Jesus; the which behldinging of Jesus must be
either through grace in a savourous felling knowledge of hi, or at
least in a full and firm faith in Him. And such a beholding, when thou
shalt attain to it, will work in thy mind a far more pure, spiritual,
solid and perfect humility, than the former way of behlding thyself,
the which produces a humility more gross, boisterous and unquiet. By
that thou wilt see and feel thyself, not only to be the most wretched
filthy creature in the world, but also in the very substance of thy
soul (setting aside the foulness of sin) to be a mere nothing, for
truly, in and of thyself and in regard to Jesus (who really and in
truth is all), thou art a mere nothing; and till thou hast the love of
Jesus, yea, and feelest that thou hast His love, although thou hast
done to thy seeming never so many good deeds both outward and inward,
yet in truth thou hast nothing at all, for nothing will abide in thy
soul and fill it but the love of Jesus. Therefore, cast all other
things behind thee, and forget them, that thou mayest have that which
is best of all; and thus doing, thou wilt beome a true pilgrim that
leaves behind him houses, and wife, and children, and friends, and
goods, and makes himself poor and bare of all things, that he may go on
his journey lightly and merrily without hindrance. 'Well,
now
thou art in thy way travelling towards Jerusalem; the which travelling
consists in working
inwardly, and (when need is) outwardly too, such works as are suitable
to thy condition and state, and such as will help and increase in thee
this gracious desire that thou hast to love Jesus only. Let thy works
be what they will, thinking,
or
reading, or preaching or labouring, etc.; if thou findest that they
draw thy mind from worldly vanity, and confirm thy heart and will more
to the love of Jesus, it is good and profitable for thee to use them.
And if thou findest that through
custom such works do in time lose their savour and virtue to increase
this love, and it seems to thee that thou feelest more grace and
spiritual profit in some other, take these other and leave those, for
though the inclination and desire of thy heart to Jesus must ever
be
unchangeable, nevertheless thy spiritual works thouu shalt use in thy
manner of praying, reading, etc., to the end to feed and strengthen
this desire, may well be changed, according as thou feelest thyself by
grace disposed in the applying of thy heart. Bind not thyself,
therefore, unchangeably to voluntary customs, for that will hinder the
freedom of thy heart to love Jesus, if grace would visit thee specially. 'Before
thou has made many steps in the way, thou must expect a world of
enemies of several kinds, that will beset thee roun about, and all of
them will endeavour busily to hinder thee from going forward; yea, and
if they can by any means, they will, either by persuasions, flatteries,
or violence, force thee to return home again to those vanities that
thou hast forsaken. For there is nothing grieves them so much as to see
a resolute desire in thy heart to love Jesus, and to travail to find
Him. Therefore they will all conspire to put out of thy heart that good
desire and love in which all virtues are comprised. 'Thy
first enemies that will assult thee will be fleshly desires and vain
fears of thy corrupt heart; and with these there will join unclean
spirits, that with sights and temptations will seek to allure thy heart
to them, and to withdraw it from Jesus. But whatsoever they say,
believe them not; but betake thyself to thy old only secure remedy,
answering ever thus, I am nought, I
have nought, and I desire nought, but only the love of Jesus,
and so hold forth on thy way desiring Jesus only. 'If
they endeavour to put dreads and scruples into thy mind, and would make
thee belief that thou hast not done penance enough, as thou oughtest
for thy sins, but that some old sins remain in thy heart not yet
confessed, or not sufficiently confessed and absolved, and that
therefore thou must needs return home and do penance better before thou
have the boldness to go to Jesus, do not beleive a word of all that
they say, for thou art sufficiently acquitted of thy sins, and there is
no need at all that thou shouldst stay to ransack thy conscience, for
this will now but do thee harm, and either put thee quite out of thy
way or at least unprofitably delay thy travailing in it. 'If
they shall tell thee that thou art not worthy to have the love of
Jesus, or to see Jesus, and therefore that thou oughtest not to be so
presumptious to desire and seek after it, believe them not, but go on
and say: It is not because I am worthy, but because I am unworthy, that
I therefore desire to have the love of Jesus, for if once I had it, it
would make me worthy. I will therefore never cease desiring it till I
have obtained it. For, for it only was I created, therefore, say and do
what you will, I will desire it continually, I will never cease to pray
for it, and so doing I hope to obtain it. 'If
thou meetest with any that seem friends unto thee, and that in kindness
would stop thy progress by entertaining thee, and seeking to draw thee
to sensual mirth by vain discourses and carnal solaces, whereby thou
wilt be in danger to forget thy pilgrimage, give a deaf ear to them,
answer them not; think only on this, That
thou wouldest fain be at Jerusalem. And if they proffer thee
gifts and preferments, heed them not, but think ever on Jerusalem. 'And
if men despise thee, or lay any false calumnies to thy charge, giving
thee ill names; if they go about to defraud thee or rob thee; yea, if
they beat thee and use thee despitefully and cruelly, for thy life
content not with them, strive not against them, nor be angry with them,
but content thyself with the harm received, and go on quietly as if
nought were done, that thou take no further harm; think only on this,
that to be at Jerusalem deserves to be purchased with all this
ill-usage or more, and that there thou shalt be sufficiently repaired
for all thy losses, and recompensed for all hard usages by the way. 'If
thine enemies see that thou growest courageous and bold, and that thou
will neither be seduced by flatteries nor disheartened with the pains
and troubles of thy journey, but rather well cotnented with them, then
they will begin to be afraid of thee; yet for all that, they will never
cease pursuing thee - they will follow thee all along the way, watching
all advantages against thee, and ever and anon they will set upon thee,
seeking either with flatteries or frights to stop thee, and drive thee
back if they can. But fear them not; hold on thy way, and have nothing
in thy mind but Jerusalem and Jesus, whom thou wilt find there. 'If
thy desire of Jesus still continues and grows more strong, so that it
makes thee to go on thy ways courageously, they will then tell thee
that it may very well happen that thou wilt fall into coprporal
sickness, and perhaps such a sickness as will bring strange fancies
into thy mind, and melancholic apprehensions; or perhaps thou wilt fall
into great want, and no man will offer to help thee, by occasion of
which misfortunes thou wilt be grievously tempted by thy ghostly
enemies, the which will then insult over thee, and tell thee that thy
folly and proud presumption have brought thee to this miserable pass,
that thou canst neither help thyself, nor will any man help thee, but
rather hinder those that would. And all this they will do to the end to
increase thy melancholic and unquiet apprehensions, or to provoke thee
to anger or malice against thy Christian brethren, or to murmur against
Jesus, who, perhaps for thy trial, seems to hide His face from thee.
But still neglect all these suggestions as though thou heardest them
not. Be angry with nobody but thyself. And as for all thy diseases,
poverty, and whatsoever other sufferings (for who can reckon all that
may befall thee?), take Jesus in thy mind, think on this lesson that
thou art taught, and say, I am
nought, I have nought, I care for nought in this world, and I desire
nought but the love of Jesus, that I may see him in peace in Jerusalem. 'But
if it shall happen sometimes, as likely it will, that through some of
these temptations and thy own frailty, thou stumble and perhaps fall
down, and get some harm thereby, or that thou for some time be turned a
little out of the right way, as soon as possibly may be come again to
thyself, get up again and return into the right way, using such
remedies for thy hurt as as the Church ordains; and do not trouble
thyself
over much or over long with thinking unquietly on thy past misfortune
and pain - abide not in such thoughts, for that will do thee more harm,
and give advantage to thine enemies. Therefore, make haste to go on in
thy travail and working again, as if nothing had happened. Keep but
Jesus in thy mind, and a
desire to gain his love, and nothing shall be
able to hurt thee. 'At
last, when thine enemies perceive that thy will to Jesus is so strong
that thou wilt not spare neither for poverty nor mischief, for sickness
nor fancies, or doubts nor fears, or life nor death, no, nor for
sins neither, but ever forth thou wilt go on with that one thing of
seeking the love of Jesus, and with nothing else; and that thou
despisest and scarce markest anything that they say to the contrary,
but holdest on in thy praying and other spiritual works (yet always
with discretion and submission), then they grow even enraged, and will
spare no manner of most cruel usage. They will come closer to thee than
ever before, and betake themselves to their last and most dangerous
assult, and that is, to bring into the sight of thy mind all thy good
deeds and virtues, showing thee that all men praise thee, and love
thee, and bear thee great veneration for thy sanctity, etc. And all
this they do to the end to raise vain joy and pride in thy heart. But
if thou tenderest thy life, thou wilt hold all this flattery and
falsehood to be a deadly poison to thy soul, mingled with honey;
therefore, away with it; caste it from thee, saying, thou wilt have
none of it, but thou wouldest be at Jerusalem, 'And
to the end, to put thyself out of the danger and reach of all such
temptations, suffer not thy thoughts willingly to run about the world,
but draw them all inwards, fixing them upon one only thing, which is
Jesus; set thyself to think
only on Him, to know Him, to love Him; and
after thou hast for a good time brought thyself to do thus, then
whatsoever thou seest or feelest inwardly that is not He, will be
unwelcome and painful to thee, because it will stand in thy way to the
seeing and seeking of Him whom thou only desirest. 'But
yet, if there be any work or outward business which thou art obliged to
do, or that charity or present necessity requires of thee, either
concerning thyself or thy Christian brother, fail not to do it:
despatch it as well and as soon as well thou canst, and let it not
tarry long in thy thoughts, for it will but hinder thee in thy
principal business. But if it be any other matter of no necessity, or
that concerns thee not in particular, trouble not thyself nor distract
thy thoughts about it, but rid it quickly out of thy heart, saying
still thus, I am nought, I can do
nought, I have nought, and nought do
I desire to have, but only Jesus and his love. 'Thou
wilt be forced, as all other pilgrims are, to take ofttimes, by the
way,
refreshments, meats and drink and sleep, yea, and sometimes innocent
recreations; in all which things use discretion, and take heed of a
foolish scrupulosity about them. Fear not that they will be much a
hindrance to thee, for though they seem to stay thee for a while, they
will further thee and give thee strength to walk on more courageously
for a good long time after. 'To
conclude, remember that thy principal aims, and indeed only business,
is to knit thy thoughts to the desire of Jesus - to strengthen this
desire daily by prayer and other spiritual workings, to the end it may
never go out of thy heart. And whatsoever thou findest proper to
increase that desire, be it praying or reading, speaking or being
silent, travailing or reposing, make use of it for the time, as long as
thy soul finds savour in it, and as long as it increases this desire of
having or enjoying nothing but the love of Jesus, and the blessed sight
of Jesus in true peace in
Jerusale; and be assured that this good
desire thus cherished and continually increased will bring thee safe
unto the end of thy pilgrimage'. This
is the substance of the parable of the Spiritual Pilgrim travailing in
the ways of contemplation; the which I have more largely set down
because, but the contexture of it, not only we see confirmed what is
already written before, but also we have a draught and scheme
represented, according to which all the following instructions will be
conformably answerable. Bibliography
You shall feel such hindrances, or others like them - what with your
flesh, the world and the devil - more than I can recite now. For as
long as a man allows his thoughts to run willingly all over the world
to consider different things, he notices few hindrances; but as soon as
he draws all his thought and his yearning to one thing alone - to have
that, to see that, to know that, and to love that (and that is only Jesus) - then he shall
well feel many painful
hindrances, for everything that he feels and is not what he desires is
a hindrance to him. Therefore, I have told you particularly of some as
an example. Furthermore, I say in general that whatever stirring you
feel from your flesh or from the devil, pleasant or painful, bitter or
sweet, agreeable or dreadful, glad or sorrowful - that would draw down
your thought and your desire from the love of Jesus to worldly vanity
and utterly prevent the spiritual desire that you have for the love of
him, so that your heart should stay occupied with that stirring: think
nothing of it, do not willingly receive it, and do not linger over it
too
long. But if it concerns some worldly thing that ought to be done for
yoruself or your fellow Christian, finish with it quickly and bring it
to an end so that it does not hang on your heart. If it is some other
thing that is not necessary, or does not concern you, do not trouble
about it, do not parley with it, and do not get angry; neither fear it
nor take pleasure in it, but promptly strike it out of your heart,
saying thus: 'I am nothing; I have nothing; I neither seek nor desire
anything but the love of Jesus'. Knit your thought to this desire and
make it strong; maintin it with prayer and with other spiritual work so
that you do not forget it; and it shall lead you in the right way and
save you from all perils, so that although you feel them you shall not
perish. And I think it will bring you to perfect love of our Lord Jesus.
On the other hand I also say: Whatever work or stirring it may be that
can help your desire, strengthen and nourish it, and make your
heart furthest from the enjoyment and remembrance of the world, and
more whole and more ardent for the love of God - whether it be prayer
or meditation, stillness or speaking, reading or listening, solitude or
company, walking or sitting - keep it for the time and work in it as
long as the savor lasts, provided you take with it food, drink and
sleep like a pilgrim, keeping discretion in your labor as your superior
advises and ordains. For however great his hate on his journey, yet at
the right time he is willing to eat, drink and sleep. Do so yourself,
for although it may hinder you at one time it shall advance you at
another.
Dom
Augustine Baker (†1638),
Dom Serenus Cressy, OSB (†1674)
Fr
Augustine Baker OSB. Holy
Wisdom or Direction for the Prayer of Contemplation. The Digest made by
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under the Title, Sancta Sophia in 1657. Introduction, Dom Gerard
Sitwell OSB. Wheathampstead: Anthony Clarke, 1972.
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Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. St Benedict's Rule. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.24, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 2005. 3 vols. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. Collections I-III and The Twelve Mortifications of Harphius. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.21, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 2004. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. Directions for Contemplation. Book D. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.11, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 1999. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. Directions for Contemplation. Book F. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.12, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 1999. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. Directions for Contemplation. Book G. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.13, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 2000. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. Directions for Contemplation. Book H. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.14, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 2000. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. Discretion. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.9, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 1999.
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Clark.
Analecta
Cartusiana 119.102, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für
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und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 1998. James Hogg,
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Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. Five Treatises: The Life and Death of Dame Margaret Gascoigne, Treatise of Confession. Analecta Cartusiana 119.23, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 2006. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. A Secure Stay in all Temptations. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.8, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 1999. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. Secretum. Introduction and Notes, John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.20, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 2003. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. Secretum. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.7, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 1997. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. A Spiritual Treatise . . . Called A.B.C. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.17, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 2001. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
Fr. Augustine Baker OSB. Vox Clamantis in Deserto Animae. Ed. John Clark. Analecta Cartusiana 119.22, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 2004. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
That Mysterious Man: Essays on Augustine Baker OSB 1575-1641. Ed. Michael Woodward. Introduced Rowan Williams. Analecta Cartusiana 119.15, ed. James Hogg. Salzburg: Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Salzburg, 2001. James Hogg, Salzburg, 2006.
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Ignatius
Brianchaninov. On the Prayer of Jesus.
Shaftsbury: Element, 1965.
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Graham. With the Russian Pilgrims to
Jerusalem. London: Macmillan, 1913.
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Hilton. The Scale of Perfection.
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