Chapter III

Does the Contemplative Life comprise many Acts?

By "life" is here meant any work to which a man principally devotes himself. Hence if there were many acts or works in the contemplative life, it would not be one life, but several.

It must be understood that we are speaking of the contemplative life as it concerns man. And between men and Angels there is, as S. Denis says,[338] this difference--that whereas an Angel knows the truth by one simple act of intelligence, man, on the contrary, only arrives at a knowledge of the simple truth by arguing from many premises. Hence the contemplative life has only a single act in which it finds its final perfection--namely, the contemplation of the truth--and from this one act it derives its oneness. But at the same time it has many acts by means of which it arrives at this final act. Of these various acts, some are concerned with the establishment of principles from which the mind proceeds to the contemplation of truth; others, again, are concerned with deducing from these principles that truth the knowledge of which is sought. But the ultimate act, the complement of the foregoing, is the contemplation of truth.

Some, however, maintain that many acts pertain to the contemplative life, thus:

1. Richard of S. Victor[339] distinguishes between contemplation, meditation, and thought. But these all seem to belong to the contemplative life.

But _thought_, according to Richard of S. Victor, seems to
signify the consideration of many things from which a man
intends to gather some single truth. Consequently, under the
term _thought_ may be comprised perceptions by the senses,
whereby we know certain effects--imaginations, too, as well as
investigation of different phenomena by the reason; in a word,
all those things which conduce to a knowledge of the truth we
are in search of. At the same time, according to S.
Augustine,[340] every operation of the intellect may be termed
_thought_. _Meditation_, again, seems to refer to the process of
reasoning from principles which have to do with the truth we
desire to contemplate. And _contemplation_, according to S.
Bernard,[341] means the same thing, although, according to the
Philosopher,[342] every operation of the intellect may be termed
"consideration." But _contemplation_ is concerned with the
simple dwelling upon the truth itself. Hence Richard of S.
Victor says[343]: "_Contemplation_ is the soul's clear, free,
and attentive dwelling upon the truth to be perceived;
_meditation_ is the outlook of the soul occupied in searching
for the truth; _thought _ is the soul's glance, ever prone to
distraction."

2. Further, the Apostle says: _But we all, beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory._[344] But this refers to the contemplative life; therefore, besides the three things already mentioned--namely, contemplation, meditation and thought,--_speculation_, too, enters into the contemplative life.

But _speculation_, as S. Augustine's Gloss has it,[345] "is
derived from _speculum_, a 'mirror,' not from _specula_, a
'watch-tower.'" To see a thing in a mirror, however, is to see a
cause by an effect in which its likeness is shown; thus
_speculation_ seems reducible to _meditation_.

3. Again, S. Bernard says[346]: "The first and chiefest contemplation is the marvelling at God's Majesty." But to "marvel" is, according to S. John Damascene,[347] a species of fear. Consequently it seems that many acts belong to contemplation.

But wonderment is a species of fear arising from our learning
something which it is beyond our powers to understand. Hence
wonderment is an act subsequent to the contemplation of sublime
truth, whereas contemplation reaches its goal in the affective
powers.

4. Lastly, prayer, reading, and meditation seem to belong to the contemplative life. Devout hearing, too, belongs to it, for it is said of Mary, who is the type of the contemplative life, that _sitting at the Lord's feet, she heard His word_.[348]

Man, however, arrives at the knowledge of truth in two ways:
first of all, by receiving things from others; as regards, then,
the things a man receives from God: prayer is necessary,
according to the words: _I called upon God, and the spirit of
Wisdom came upon me_.[349] And as for the things he receives
from men: hearing is necessary if he receive them from one who
speaks, reading is necessary if it be question of what is handed
down in Holy Scripture. And secondly, a man arrives at the
knowledge of truth by his own personal study, and for this is
required meditation.

"Uni trinoque Domino
Sit sempiterna gloria!
Qui vitam sine termino
Nobis donet in Patria!"

* * * * *

_S. Augustine:_ As long, then, as _we are absent from the Lord, we walk by faith and not by sight_,[350] whence it is said: _The just man shall live in his faith._[351] And this is our justice as long as we are on our pilgrimage--namely, that here now by the uprightness and perfection with which we walk we strive after that perfection and fulness of justice where, in all the glory of its beauty, will be full and perfect charity. Here we chastise our body and bring it into subjection; here we give alms by conferring benefits and forgiving offences against ourselves; and we do this with joy and from the heart, and are ever instant in prayer; and all this we do in the light of that sound doctrine by which is built up right faith, solid hope, and pure charity. This, then, is our present justice whereby we run hungering and thirsting after the perfection and fulness of justice, so that hereafter we may be filled therewith (_De Perfectione justitiae Hominis_, viii. 18).

* * * * *

_S. Augustine:_ You know, then, I think, not only how you ought to pray, but what you ought to pray for; and this not because I teach you, but because He teaches you Who has deigned to teach us all. The Life of Beatitude is what we have to seek; this we have to ask for from the Lord God. And what Beatitude means is, with many, a source of much dispute. But why should we appeal to the many and their many opinions? For pithily and truly it is said in God's Scripture: _Happy is that people whose God is the Lord!_[352] Oh, that we may be counted amongst _that people_! Oh, that we may be enabled to contemplate Him, and may come one day to live with Him unendingly! _The end of the commandment is charity from a pure heart and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith._[353] And among these three, hope stands for _a good conscience_. Faith, therefore, with hope and charity, leads to God the man who prays--that is, the man who believes, who hopes, and who desires, and who in the _Lord's Prayer_ meditates what he should ask from the Lord (_Ep._ cxxx. _ad probam_).

"For my heart hath been inflamed, and my reins have been
changed: and I am brought to nothing, and I knew not. I am
become as a beast before Thee; and I am always with Thee. Thou
hast held me by my right hand; and by Thy will Thou hast
conducted me; and with glory Thou hast received me. For what
have I in Heaven? and besides Thee what do I desire upon earth?
For Thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away; Thou art the
God of my heart; and the God that is my portion for ever. For
behold they that go far from Thee shall perish; Thou hast
destroyed all them that are disloyal to Thee. But it is good for
me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God: that I
may declare all Thy praises, in the gates of the daughter of
Sion."[354]