Chapter IV

Does the Contemplative Life consist solely in the Contemplation of God, or in the Consideration of other Truths as well?

S. Gregory says[355]: "In contemplation it is the Principle--namely, God--which is sought."

A thing may come under the contemplative life in two ways: either primarily, or secondarily--that is, dispositively. Now primarily the contemplation of Divine Truth belongs to the contemplative life, since such contemplation is the goal of all human life. Hence S. Augustine says[356]: "The contemplation of God is promised to us as the goal of all our acts and the eternal consummation of all our joys." And this will be perfect in the future life when we shall see God face to face--when, consequently, it will render us perfectly blessed. But in our present state the contemplation of Divine Truth belongs to us only imperfectly--namely, _through a glass and in a dark manner_; it causes in us now a certain commencement of beatitude, which begins here, to be continued in the future. Hence even the Philosopher[357] makes the ultimate happiness of man consist in the contemplation of the highest intelligible truths.

But since we are led to a contemplation of God by the consideration of His Divine works--_The invisible things of God ... are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made_[358]--it follows also that the contemplation of the Divine works belongs in a secondary sense to the contemplative life--according, namely, as by it we are led to the knowledge of God. For this reason S. Augustine says[359]: "In the study of created things we must not exercise a mere idle and passing curiosity, but must make them a stepping-stone to things that are immortal and that abide for ever."

Thus from what we have said it is clear that four things belong, and that in a certain sequence, to the contemplative life: firstly, the moral virtues; secondly, other acts apart from that of contemplation; thirdly, the contemplation of the Divine works; and fourthly--and this is the crown of them all--the actual contemplation of the Divine Truth.

Some, however, say that the contemplative life is not merely confined to the contemplation of God but is extended to the consideration of any truth whatsoever, thus:

1. In Ps. cxxxviii. 14 we read: _Wonderful are Thy works! My soul knoweth right well!_ But the knowledge of the works of God is derived from a certain contemplation of the truth. Whence it would seem that it belongs to the contemplative life to contemplate not only the Divine Truth, but also any other truth we please.

But David sought the knowledge of God's works that he might
thereby be led to God Himself, as he says elsewhere: _I
meditated on all Thy works, I mused upon the works of Thy hands;
I stretched forth my hands to Thee._[360]

2. Again, S. Bernard says[361]: "The first point in contemplation is to marvel at God's majesty; the second, at His judgments; the third, at His benefits; the fourth, at His promises." But of these only the first comes under the Divine Truth--the rest are effects of it.

But from the consideration of the Divine judgments a man is led
to the contemplation of the Divine justice; and from a
consideration of the Divine benefits and promises a man is led
to a knowledge of the Divine mercy and goodness, as it were by
effects either already shown or to be shown.

3. Once more, Richard of S. Victor[362] distinguishes six kinds of contemplation; the first is according to the imagination simply, when, namely, we consider corporeal things; the second is in the imagination directed by the reason, as when we consider the harmony and arrangement of the things of the senses; the third is in the reason, but based on the imagination, as when by the consideration of visible things we are uplifted to the invisible; the fourth is in the reason working on the things of the reason, as when the soul occupies itself with invisible things unknown to the imagination; the fifth is above the reason, but not beyond its grasp, when, for instance, we know by Divine Revelation things which cannot be comprehended by the human reason; and the sixth is above the reason and beyond its grasp, as when by Divine illumination we know things which are apparently repugnant to human reason--for example, the things we are told concerning the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

And only the last named of these seems to come under Divine Truth; consequently contemplation of the truth is not limited to Divine Truth, but extends also to those truths which we consider in created things.

But by these six are signified the steps by which we ascend
through created things to the contemplation of God. For in the
first we have the perception of the things of sense; in the
second, the progress from the things of sense to the things of
the intellect; in the third judgment upon the things of sense
according to intellectual principles; in the fourth, the simple
consideration of intellectual truths at which we have arrived by
means of the things of sense; in the fifth, the contemplation of
intellectual truths to which we could not attain by the things
of sense, but which can be grasped by reason; in the sixth, the
contemplation of intellectual truths such as the reason can
neither find nor grasp--truths, namely, which belong to the
sublime contemplation of the Divine Truth, in which
contemplation is finally perfected.

4. Lastly, in the contemplative life the contemplation of truth is sought as being man's perfection. But any truth whatsoever is a perfection of the human intellect. Consequently the contemplative life consists in the contemplation of any kind of truth whatsoever.

But the ultimate perfection of the human intellect is the Divine
Truth; other truths perfect the intellect by way of preparation
for the Divine Truth.

* * * * *

_S. Augustine:_ Martha, Martha, thou hast chosen a good part, but Mary hath chosen the better. Yours is good--for it is good to busy oneself with waiting on the Saints--but hers is better. What you have chosen will pass away at length. You minister to the hungry, you minister to the thirsty, you make the beds for them that would sleep, you find house-room for them that need it--but all these things will pass away! For there will come a time when none will hunger, when none will thirst, when none will sleep. And then thy care will be taken from thee. But Mary hath chosen the better part, which shall never be taken from her! It shall not be taken away, for she chose to live the life of contemplation, she chose to live by the Word. What kind of life will that be that flows from the Word without spoken word? Here on earth she drew life from the Word, but through the medium of the spoken word. Then will be life, from the Word indeed, but with no spoken word. For the Word Himself is life. _We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is_[363] (_Sermon_, CLXIX., xiv. 17).

* * * * *

_S. Augustine: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life!_[364]

Whosoever asks for This One Thing and seeks after It prays with sure and certain confidence; nor need he fear lest, when he shall have obtained It, he shall find It disagreeable to him, for without It naught that he prays for as he ought, and obtains, is of any avail. For this is the one, true, and only Blessed Life--to contemplate the delights of the Lord for eternity, in immortality and incorruptibility of body as well as soul. For the sake of This One Thing are all other things to be sought after, and only thus our petitions for them are rendered not unbecoming. Whosoever hath this One Thing will have all that he wishes for, nor indeed will he be able to wish there for anything which is unfitting. For there is the Fountain of Life, for which we must now thirst in prayer as long as we live by hope--as long, too, as we see not What we hope for. For we dwell 'neath the shadow of His wings before Whom is all our desire, that so we _may be inebriated with the plenty of_ His _house, and may drink of the torrent of_ His _pleasure: for with_ Him _is the Fountain of Life, and in_ His _light we shall see light._[365] Then shall our desire be sated with all good things, then will there be naught for us to seek for with groanings, but only What we shall cling to with joy. Yet none the less, since this is _the peace that surpasseth all understanding_, even when praying for it _we know not what we should pray for as we ought_[366] (_Ep._ cxxx. _ad probam_).

"He shall cast death down headlong for ever: and the Lord God
shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of His
people He shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord
hath spoken it. And they shall say in that day: Lo, this is our
God, we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the
Lord, we have patiently waited for Him, we shall rejoice and be
joyful in His salvation."[367]