Chapter 51 teaches that the soul, through complete self-emptying and surrender, becomes transformed into likeness with the Godhead-not by nature, but through love and grace. This transformation is marked by the soul’s recognition of her nothingness, which paradoxically grants her union with the All, who is God. In losing all personal will, desires, and spiritual practices, she gains absolute freedom and rests entirely in the divine will, unmoved and unencumbered. Her life becomes one of silent repose, beyond prayer or action, and in this stillness she becomes the dwelling place of God, likened to the “precious Esther,” chosen to live hidden in the chamber of divine will.
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1. “It is fitting, says Love, that this Soul be similar to the Godhead, for she is transformed into God, says Love, which is why she has retained her true form, which is granted and given to her without beginning from One alone who has always loved her by His goodness.”
The Soul, having reached complete union, is described as being transformed into God. This is not pantheism but a mystical identification-her form remains, yet it has become perfectly receptive to divine life. Her identity is now grounded in eternal love, bestowed by God “without beginning.” This affirms the soul’s likeness to the Godhead through a love that transcends time and individuality.
2. “Ah, Love, says this Soul, the meaning of what is said makes me nothing, and the nothingness of this alone has placed me in an abyss below less than nothingness without measure.”
The Soul, in response, plunges into profound humility. Awareness of divine majesty reduces her to “less than nothingness.” This paradoxical self-emptying is not despair but the gateway to divine fullness. The deeper she knows her nothingness, the more capacity she has to receive God.
3. “And the understanding of my nothingness, says this Soul, has given me the All, and the nothingness of this All, says the Soul, has taken from me prayer, and I pray nothing.”
This is the heart of apophatic spirituality: the Soul gains “All” by realizing her nothingness. But this All is itself “nothing” in worldly or conceptual terms. Even prayer ceases-replaced by a silent, total resting in God. This is the radical contemplative state: beyond asking, beyond effort, immersed in divine will.
4. “I repose completely in peace, says this Soul, alone and nothing and all in the courtesy of the goodness of God alone, without moving myself away from the one will …”
Here, the Soul describes her state as total repose, unified with God’s will. She possesses “nothing and all” through absolute detachment and surrender. Her peace flows not from external goods or even interior experience, but from resting in the one will-God’s alone.
5. “For as long as I will nothing, says this Soul, I am alone in Him without myself, completely unencumbered … But when I will something … I have lost freeness.”
The act of willing-even of willing good-reintroduces the self and its burdens. True freedom lies in the absence of self-will. This is the essence of mystical poverty: to will nothing is to be in God without encumbrance. Self-will breaks the unity; its absence preserves it.
6. “O very precious Esther, says Love, you who have lost all your practices, and through this loss have the practice of doing nothing … in this nothingness … you are unconscious and remain dead. But you live, beloved … in His will completely …”
Love addresses the Soul as “Esther”-the hidden queen. Her greatness lies in losing even spiritual practices. She has entered the pure “practice of doing nothing,” living in divine will alone. Her death to self is her truest life. She dwells now in God’s chamber, where He delights to remain-a symbol of mutual indwelling in perfect love.
This chapter presents one of the deepest mystical teachings of the Mirror of Simple Souls: that true union with God entails utter emptiness of self, total rest in the divine will, and a passive, receptive identity that paradoxically becomes most like the Godhead.
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1. What does it mean for the Soul to be “similar to the Godhead”?
It means the Soul has been wholly transformed into God by love, not by nature but by grace and union. She retains her identity but now reflects the divine through total conformity to God’s will, having been eternally loved and formed by Him.
2. How does the Soul understand her own identity in relation to God?
The Soul recognizes herself as “nothing,” and this awareness places her in an “abyss below less than nothingness.” This deep humility paradoxically grants her the “All,” because in losing all self-claim, she becomes fully open to receive God.
3. What is meant by the Soul saying she “prays nothing”?
She has gone beyond all forms of active prayer and desire. In her state of union, she neither asks nor strives-she simply rests in God’s will. This is the contemplative state where the soul is so unified with God that even prayer becomes unnecessary.
4. Why does the Soul reject even the act of willing something good?
Because any act of willing reintroduces the self and its preferences, which breaks the pure union with God. To will anything-even a good-makes her “with herself,” not with God. Only by willing nothing can she be totally unencumbered and free.
5. What is the paradox of “nothing and all” that the Soul describes?
By becoming nothing, she receives all-that is, God Himself. But even this “All” is experienced as a kind of nothingness because it is beyond grasping, naming, or possessing. The soul dwells in divine fullness precisely through emptiness.
6. How is this Soul addressed by Love, and why is this significant?
Love calls her “precious Esther,” a biblical allusion to a hidden queen chosen for a divine mission. This emphasizes the Soul’s hidden nobility and election. She has given up all spiritual practices yet paradoxically fulfills the highest “practice” by doing nothing but resting in God.
7. What is the final dwelling place of the Soul according to Love?
She lives “unconscious and dead” in the nothingness of her Lover, yet fully alive in His will. This will is called His “chamber,” a place of intimacy, where He delights to dwell with her. Her soul has become the resting place of God.
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Chapter 52 presents a vision of the soul’s complete immersion in divine Love, where she is no longer guided by intellect or virtue but by love alone, which unites her to God beyond understanding. Love praises the soul as nobly born, worthy of entering the divine “manor” because she is transformed, not by knowledge, but by love’s total embrace. Like iron consumed by fire, the soul loses her own form and is wholly invested with God’s essence, resting in absolute peace without need or desire. She no longer seeks help or consolation, even from God’s power, wisdom, or goodness, for she lives entirely from God’s peace and has become nothing in herself so as to lack nothing in Him. Living with one will, one love, and one work in union with God, she transcends even the practice of virtues, remaining in a hidden, naked nothingness that continuously reveals the All. In this state, she is deepened, enlarged, and made supremely secure, held in the unceasing embrace of divine righteousness.
—
1. “O very high-born one, says Love to this precious pearl, it is well that you have entered the only noble manor, where no one enters if he is not of your lineage and without bastardy.”
Love praises the soul’s nobility, identifying her as one born of divine origin-“not of bastardy.” Entry into the “noble manor” symbolizes entrance into the innermost depths of divine love, a domain only accessible to souls conformed wholly to God, free of any spiritual impurity or duality.
2. “This Soul … has entered into the abundances and flowings of divine Love … not by the attainment of divine Understanding … but by attainment absolute of her love.”
The soul is united to divine Love not through intellect or enlightenment, but through pure love. Marguerite sharply distinguishes between understanding and love, insisting that union is not cognitive but affective-a radical surrender of being through love alone.
3. “All this … is like iron invested with fire which has lost its own semblance … So also this Soul is completely invested … and transformed into this greater part.”
The metaphor of iron transformed by fire signifies the soul’s complete assimilation into divine love. Her own identity is consumed and replaced by the divine reality, just as iron glows and becomes fire-like when heated. She no longer acts or lives from herself but from the divine greater part.
4. “She remains and is transformed into the greater part of the absolute eternal peace without anyone finding her.”
The soul disappears into divine peace-so deeply hidden in God that she cannot be located or defined. Her identity has been dissolved in the peace of God, and she is no longer accessible to any external force, idea, or intervention.
5. “What never was given, nor is, nor will be, makes her naked and places her in nothingness … she desires neither assistance nor to be spared …”
Here Marguerite reveals the radical detachment of the soul. Her love is so pure it is untouched even by the desire for God’s help or consolation. She is stripped of all needs, expectations, and spiritual claims-even divine favors are relinquished.
6. “He is, says this Soul, and nothing is lacking to Him. I am not, and so nothing is lacking to me.”
A profound paradox: in being “nothing,” the soul lacks nothing, because her identity is absorbed into the sufficiency of God, who is. Her negation of self is the gateway to fullness, as she partakes of divine being through annihilation.
7. “Such being makes me have one love and one will and one work in two natures.”
The soul becomes so united with God that her love, will, and action are now indistinguishable from His. The phrase “in two natures” evokes Christological language, hinting at the mystery of divine-human union.
8. “This Soul leaves the dead to bury the dead, and the sad ones to work the Virtues … she rests … in the greater part, but she uses all things.”
The soul transcends ordinary spiritual labor (“working the Virtues”) and leaves behind those still bound to the lesser ways. Yet she does not despise or abandon these things-she “uses all things” from her place of transcendence, which reflects mastery, not rejection.
9. “These showings make her deep, large, supreme, and sure. For they make her always naked, All and Nothing …”
Divine revelation expands the soul’s interior capacity-making her vast, firm, and deeply rooted. Her paradoxical state of being “All and Nothing” is her ultimate form of union: fully possessing God and yet stripped of all self.
—
1. According to Love, how does the soul enter the “noble manor” of divine love?
The soul enters the noble manor not through intellect or birthright in the worldly sense, but because she is of a noble spiritual lineage-unmixed with “bastardy,” meaning she is pure, divinely conformed, and wholly given over to love. Her entrance is based on her essential transformation through love.
2. What distinction does Love make between divine understanding and divine love?
Love insists that the soul does not attain divine Love through divine Understanding or intellect, since no amount of enlightenment can grasp Love’s flowings. Rather, the soul reaches it through absolute attainment of love itself, bypassing intellectual mediation.
3. What is the significance of the metaphor comparing the soul to iron transformed by fire?
The metaphor illustrates how the soul, like iron immersed in fire, loses her distinct form and is entirely absorbed into the greater divine reality. She is no longer distinguishable by her own properties but becomes an extension of divine Love-transfigured, consumed, and sustained by it.
4. Why does Love say the soul desires “neither assistance nor to be spared” by God’s power, wisdom, or goodness?
Because the soul has been stripped of all need and self-interest. She is fully surrendered, resting in divine peace and desiring nothing-even divine consolation. This reveals a love so pure that it seeks no reward or relief, not even from God’s attributes.
5. What does the soul mean when she says, “He is, and nothing is lacking to Him. I am not, and so nothing is lacking to me”?
She expresses the mystical paradox of self-annihilation: by no longer existing as a separate “self,” she shares in God’s all-sufficiency. Her being is now wholly God’s being, and in her nothingness she lacks nothing because God is her All.
6. What does it mean that the soul “has one love and one will and one work in two natures”?
This refers to the soul’s deep union with God: her desires, actions, and love are no longer her own but God’s. The phrase “two natures” echoes Christological language, suggesting a unity that preserves distinction but merges action and will in perfect harmony.
7. How does Love contrast the soul’s state with that of those who “work the Virtues”?
Love implies that the soul has transcended the realm of deliberate virtue practice. She has passed beyond active moral effort into a state of resting in divine peace, though she still “uses all things” as needed. Her life is no longer oriented toward spiritual achievement but complete divine conformity.
8. What effect do the divine “showings” have on the soul?
These revelations expand and deepen the soul, making her “deep, large, supreme, and sure.” They continually show her her nakedness and nothingness, which paradoxically reveals to her the All-Powerful. In this way, she remains in a state of total self-surrender and divine fullness.
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Chapter 53 emphasizes the radical distinction between the knowledge attained through Reason and the divine understanding granted through Love. The Soul, now fully immersed in Love, declares that the deepest truths of God cannot be grasped or explained by Reason, no matter how refined or persistent it may be. In fact, Reason’s efforts to question and understand these mysteries only distort and prolong what Love reveals directly and simply to the soul that is wholly surrendered. Love affirms that true comprehension belongs only to those who are ruled by Fine Love and have died to all forms of selfhood-“dead by all deaths”-so that nothing remains to resist divine union. This chapter critiques rationalism in the spiritual life and upholds a theology of experiential, transformative knowledge available only through total annihilation of the self in God.
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1. “O most sweet abyssed one, says Reason, at the bottom without bottom of total humility, and very noble rock on the broad plain of truth, alone on the mountaintop except for those in your domain…”
Reason begins with a reverent and poetic address to the Soul, acknowledging her profound humility and elevated spiritual state. The language is paradoxical-“bottom without bottom”-to evoke the ineffable depth of the Soul’s annihilation and transformation. Reason recognizes the Soul’s elevated status but simultaneously shows its own distance from that state.
2. “I pray that you say what is meant by these hidden meanings which Fine Love mentions.”
Reason, though admiring, is still bound to the mode of inquiry and seeks clarification of the ineffable truths expressed by Love. However, this appeal already reveals Reason’s limits: the truths of Fine Love transcend rational explanation and cannot be neatly grasped through discursive understanding.
3. “Reason, says this Soul, if anyone would tell these to you and should you hear, still you will never grasp them.”
The Soul immediately rebuffs Reason’s request, pointing out the fundamental incommensurability between the truths of divine Love and the faculties of human reason. Even if spoken plainly, these mysteries remain inaccessible to Reason. The Soul suggests a radical epistemological rupture: this knowledge is only given by and through Love.
4. “Your questions have dishonored and ruined this book… You have revealed this book to those in your domain who move along at a snail’s pace.”
There is a sharp rebuke here: Reason’s persistent questioning has diluted the power of the book, forcing expansions and clarifications for readers not yet ready to grasp divine things. The Soul laments how the text must be adapted for the slow-moving and rationalistic minds under Reason’s domain, implying a loss of mystical immediacy.
5. Love: “Revealed? Truly, in this matter Reason and all her students can only be against what does not seem to them to be well said…”
Love joins the critique, underscoring that Reason and her disciples resist what eludes rational clarity. Anything not “well said” in Reason’s terms is suspected or dismissed. This affirms the tension between divine Love’s radical speech and Reason’s demand for coherence, system, and clarity.
6. “That one alone understands it whom Fine Love rules… whoever grasps clearly must be dead by all mortifying deaths…”
Understanding, in the world of this Soul, is not cognitive but existential. It requires the complete death of self-“all mortifying deaths”-so that Love may reign entirely. Only such a person, annihilated of ego, can receive the divine truths Love reveals. This statement caps the chapter with a mystical affirmation: the gate to true knowledge is death to the self.
This chapter reinforces the fundamental incompatibility between rational inquiry and divine Love’s mystical knowledge. Reason is portrayed as an obstacle-well-meaning, even admiring-but ultimately incapable of entering the realm that Love opens only to those who have died entirely to self.
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1. Why does Reason approach the Soul with such reverence at the beginning of the chapter?
Reason recognizes the Soul’s utter humility and exalted state, calling her “abyssed” and “alone on the mountaintop.” This reflects Reason’s awareness that the Soul has reached a spiritual height far beyond rational comprehension. The language reveals both admiration and the distance between them.
2. What does the Soul say about Reason’s request to understand the hidden meanings revealed by Love?
The Soul responds bluntly that Reason will never be able to grasp these truths, even if they were plainly told to her. These mysteries of divine Love are not accessible to Reason or discursive thought, only to those governed entirely by Love.
3. How does the Soul criticize Reason’s role in relation to the book’s message?
The Soul accuses Reason of having “dishonored and ruined” the book by forcing it to become lengthy and explanatory for those governed by Reason. This suggests that the book’s original simplicity and mystical immediacy are compromised when adapted to rational minds.
4. What is Love’s assessment of Reason and her students in this chapter?
Love confirms the Soul’s criticism by stating that Reason and her students are “one-eyed”-they see but do not understand. They instinctively oppose whatever doesn’t conform to their rational categories, showing the limitation of Reason in spiritual matters.
5. Who alone, according to the Soul, can understand the truths spoken by Love?
Only those who are fully ruled by Fine Love and who have undergone “all mortifying deaths” can understand these truths. This means complete self-emptying and death to the ego are prerequisites for truly grasping divine reality.
6. What does the phrase “dead by all deaths” signify in this context?
It refers to the total annihilation of self-will, pride, knowledge, and desire. Only by dying to all attachments and false selves can the Soul become receptive to the divine mysteries revealed by Love.
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Chapter 54 teaches that the soul’s full understanding of divine love and the truths expressed in this book requires passing through three spiritual “deaths.” The first two deaths-symbolizing detachment from sin and nature-can still leave remnants of Reason’s influence. But the third and most profound death involves a total annihilation of the self that only those who have transcended all earthly ties and fears can grasp-those “on the mountain.” This state lies utterly beyond the reach of Reason and its methods, and only Love can speak truthfully about it. The chapter affirms that ultimate union with God demands a complete dying to self that reason cannot endure or comprehend, and only divine Love can lead the soul through this final transformation.
—
1. [Reason]: “Ah, treasure house of Love, says Reason, tell us about how many kinds of death it was necessary for you to die before you understood this book perfectly.”
Reason, recognizing its limits yet still compelled to inquire, turns with awe and humility to Love for insight into the mysterious process of transformation the Soul undergoes. The metaphor of “kinds of death” refers to the stages of self-annihilation that precede the reception of divine wisdom. Reason’s language acknowledges that understanding this book is not a matter of intellectual effort but of profound inner death.
2. [Soul]: “Ask Love, says this Soul, for she knows the truth about it.”
The Soul defers to Love, indicating that the authority for interpreting the path lies not in the Soul’s own reflective powers, nor in Reason, but in Love-who embodies divine truth. The phrasing subtly implies that only Love can disclose the true mystery behind the deaths required for divine understanding.
3. [Reason]: “Ah, Lady Love, for the sake of God’s mercy, says Reason, tell it to us, not only for me and for those whom I have nourished, but also for those who have taken leave of me …”
Here Reason shows a rare humility and even generosity, appealing not only for its own sake but for the benefit of others-both those still under its tutelage and those who have transcended it. This underscores the transitional role of Reason: while it cannot attain the divine truths directly, it still plays a part in guiding others to the threshold.
4. [Love]: “Those who have taken leave of you will still have something of your nourishment after two kinds of death by which this Soul has died. But the third death, by which this Soul died, no one living grasps except the one on the mountain.”
Love describes a hierarchy of deaths: the first two involve a death to sin and to nature-visible progress in the ascetical life-but the third death is an ineffable, mystical annihilation. Only the one “on the mountain”-an image suggesting solitude, elevation, and spiritual height-can know this final death. It is a state beyond comprehension, beyond even the living.
5. [Reason]: “Ah, for God’s sake, says Reason, say what kind of folk are on the mountain.”
Reason is overwhelmed and curious, not content with being excluded. It asks who these elevated souls are. This question implies both reverence and a kind of desperation; Reason reaches the edge of its own domain and peers out into the unknowable.
6. [Love]: “They have neither earthly shame nor honor, nor fear of anything which might come.”
The people on the mountain-those who have undergone the third death-live free from all attachments to worldly values, praise or blame, fear or ambition. Their souls are stripped of every earthly concern. This total dispossession is the condition for receiving divine union in its most radical form.
7. [Reason]: “Ah, God, Lady Love, says Reason, for God’s sake, answer our questions before you say any more, for I have horror and fear to hear of the life of this Soul.”
At last, Reason confesses terror. The life of the Soul appears too foreign, too unsettling, too absolute in its negation of the familiar human order. The deeper the revelation, the more Reason recoils. This moment dramatizes the boundary between rational knowledge and mystical experience-where Reason itself must fall silent.
This chapter reveals the abyss between reason and divine wisdom. The Soul’s journey requires three “deaths”: progressive stages of detachment culminating in a final, mysterious annihilation that only the most spiritually elevated attain. Reason is shown as reverent but ultimately fearful and powerless before this mystery, whereas Love alone speaks the truth of such transformation.
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1. What does Reason ask at the beginning of the chapter, and why?
Reason asks how many deaths the Soul had to undergo in order to understand the book perfectly. She seeks this knowledge not just for herself but for her followers and those who have moved beyond her guidance. This question reflects Reason’s desire to grasp the path of transformation leading to divine wisdom, despite her acknowledged limitations.
2. Why does the Soul redirect Reason’s question to Love?
The Soul tells Reason to ask Love because Love alone “knows the truth about it.” This shows that the ultimate authority for understanding the divine mysteries lies with Love, not Reason or the Soul’s own reflection. It reinforces the theme that divine knowledge transcends rational understanding.
3. What are the three “deaths” Love refers to, and who can grasp them?
Love says that after two deaths, those who have left Reason may still retain something of her nourishment. But the third death-the most profound-is incomprehensible to any living soul, except “the one on the mountain.” This implies that full union with God requires complete annihilation, beyond even what the intellect or moral effort can achieve.
4. What characterizes those who dwell “on the mountain”?
They are entirely free from earthly shame and honor and have no fear of anything to come. These souls have transcended all human attachments and concerns. They live in a radical spiritual freedom that is the fruit of total self-emptying.
5. How does Reason respond to the description of this life, and what does this reveal about her limits?
Reason expresses horror and fear, asking Love to pause before continuing. This reaction highlights Reason’s inability to comprehend the life of the Soul who has undergone the third death. It reveals the limits of rational faculties when confronted with the mystical annihilation and total union with God.
6. What role does Love play in this dialogue?
Love is the only one capable of articulating the deeper mysteries of the Soul’s transformation. She represents divine wisdom and authority, in contrast to Reason’s limited reach. Love gently yet firmly delineates the boundary between what Reason can nourish and what only Love can reveal.
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In Chapter 55, Love explains that while many souls live virtuous and spiritually disciplined lives – mortifying the body, practicing charity, and desiring martyrdom – they often become lost in their own works, believing that this state of striving and spiritual satisfaction is the highest possible good. These souls, though devout, are subtly bound to their own will and desire, and thus remain spiritually one-eyed, lacking the full vision of divine freedom. They mistake their state of perpetual desire and virtuous effort for perfection, failing to see that true union with God requires the abandonment of even these holy attachments. Marguerite warns that such souls “perish on the way” because their spiritual satisfaction blinds them to the deeper, self-emptying life of pure Love that transcends all desire and merit.
—
1. “Reason, says Love, those who live as described in this book (these are the ones who have attained the being of such a life) understand quickly without it being necessary to explain the glosses.”
Love begins by distinguishing those who have attained the “being” described in the book from those still under the governance of Reason. Such souls, living from divine union rather than through rational explanation, immediately grasp the truths of Love without the need for commentary or interpretation. The intuitive knowledge of the soul united to God transcends Reason’s laborious questioning.
2. “There are two types of folk who live the life of perfection by the works of Virtues in affections of the spirit.”
Love introduces a critique of the traditional spiritual life centered on the active practice of virtues. Though these lives may appear holy and committed, they remain bound to the spiritual faculties and are not yet free of self. These “affections of the spirit” are still driven by will, effort, and self-conscious striving.
3. “They possess such great pleasure in their works that they have no understanding that there might be any better being than the being of the works of the virtues and death by martyrdom.”
This type of soul delights in virtue and sacrifice, mistaking the satisfaction derived from these works for the highest spiritual state. Their error lies in equating spiritual effort and visible devotion with union with God, failing to see that such satisfaction can obscure the call to deeper annihilation.
4. “Such folk are happy, says Love, but they are lost in their works, on account of the sufficiency which they have in their being.”
Love delivers a sharp paradox: these virtuous souls are “happy” but “lost.” Their reliance on works and the self-satisfaction they derive from them becomes a spiritual trap. The “sufficiency” they experience-believing they have attained the goal-prevents them from moving beyond themselves into divine nothingness.
5. “Such folk, says Love, are called kings, but they are in a country where everyone is one-eyed. But without fail, those who have two eyes consider them to be servants.”
This vivid metaphor suggests that the spiritually active are respected among their peers (“kings among the one-eyed”) but seen as limited from the perspective of the soul with full vision (“those who have two eyes”). The true mystic sees that these souls, still bound to effort and desire, are servants-not yet free in divine love.
6. “Servants they are truly, says this Soul, but they don’t understand it. They are like the owl who thinks there is no more beautiful bird in the wood than young owls.”
The Soul echoes Love’s critique, noting that these devout people, like owls admiring their own kind, are blinded by self-satisfaction. Their attachment to their own desire for virtue leads them to believe they are at the pinnacle of spiritual life, unaware that a deeper freedom exists.
7. “Thus they perish on the way because they are satisfied by what desire and will give to them.”
The chapter ends with a powerful warning: those who remain attached to spiritual desire and the will’s activity may fail to reach divine union. They “perish on the way” because they are content with lesser goods-good in themselves, but insufficient to carry the soul into the radical self-emptying required for divine indwelling.
This chapter functions as a contemplative and prophetic critique of the spiritually devout who remain entangled in the self, even through seemingly holy acts. Marguerite, through the voice of Love and the Soul, invites the reader to consider a deeper path-beyond desire, beyond virtue, into the naked freedom of divine nothingness.
—
1. Who are the two types of people described by Love in this chapter?
Love describes those who live a life of spiritual perfection through the works of virtues and affections of the spirit. These include people who mortify the body through charitable works and find pleasure in these actions, believing that the highest spiritual life consists in virtuous striving, martyrdom, and continual desire to do good.
2. Why does Love say that such people are “happy, but lost”?
They are “happy” because they find satisfaction and spiritual joy in their good works. However, they are “lost” because their satisfaction blinds them to the possibility of a higher spiritual state. They remain attached to their own being and efforts, which keeps them from the self-emptying required for union with God.
3. What does it mean that they are “in a country where everyone is one-eyed”?
This metaphor suggests that these people are seen as spiritual leaders or “kings” among others who are also limited in their vision. However, from the perspective of those with full spiritual sight-those completely surrendered in Love-they are still incomplete, functioning more as “servants” than as those truly free in God.
4. How does the owl metaphor deepen the critique of spiritual desire?
The Soul compares these people to owls who believe their own kind are the most beautiful, illustrating the spiritual self-satisfaction of those who dwell in desire. Just as owls are blind to greater beauty, these souls cannot see beyond their current spiritual state and thus remain trapped in what they perceive as the highest good.
5. What danger does Marguerite warn about through the phrase “they perish on the way”?
The warning is that those who become content with desire, will, and virtue-without transcending them into divine detachment-risk never reaching union with God. Their journey ends prematurely because they cling to spiritual goods that are still bound to the self, rather than letting go into the total poverty and freedom of divine Love.
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Chapter 56 teaches that while the Virtues play a valuable role in the spiritual life, they are not the final goal and cannot lead the soul to the fullness of divine union. The Virtues, though sincere and holy, are astonished and even scandalized when Love says that those who live entirely by their counsel may perish-not in sin, but by remaining stuck in a limited, self-reliant form of piety. Love affirms that ultimate understanding belongs to the intellect illumined by Divine Love, which surpasses the labor and merit of virtuous works. The Soul supports this by noting that the Virtues, like a poor lord offering a small wage, can only take one so far; they cannot teach what they themselves do not possess-namely, the experience of abiding in the All of God. Thus, the soul must seek out the Love who is the mother of Divine Understanding, for only she can bring the soul into the fullness of divine life beyond the limits of desire, effort, and virtue.
—
1. “Ah, God, alas! say the Virtues. Lady Love, who will offer honor to us since you say that those perish who live totally by our counsel?”
The Virtues express dismay and confusion over Love’s radical claim that those who live solely by the guidance of Virtues perish. They feel dishonored and spiritually displaced, as their very purpose is to guide souls to holiness. Their protest illustrates the central tension between the active life of virtue and the contemplative, annihilated life of union that Marguerite espouses.
2. “For we cannot perceive that one can perish who does everything according to our teaching, through the ardor of desire which gives true sentiment of Jesus Christ.”
The Virtues cling to the traditional path of desiring Christ and acting righteously, but they acknowledge a limit: they cannot perceive beyond the realm of will and effort. This signals the gulf between their sphere-rooted in desire, effort, and obedience-and the realm of Love, which transcends all grasping, even holy striving.
3. “To be sure, says Love. There is mastery in the intellect, for there is the kernel of divine food.”
Love affirms the importance of divine intellect-not in the rational, discursive sense, but as the receptacle of divine wisdom. True understanding of God’s depths lies beyond the operational realm of the Virtues and is instead rooted in the still, receptive intellect illumined by Love.
4. “We are made by you for the purpose of serving such Souls.”
The Virtues begin to understand their secondary role: they exist not as ends, but as servants to the higher purpose of union with God through Love. They are not denied, but relativized, acknowledged as necessary in the soul’s early stages but not the culmination.
5. “Whoever serves a poor Lord a long time becomes poor in waiting for a small wage.”
The Soul warns that serving only the Virtues (here compared to a “poor Lord”) leads to spiritual impoverishment. One who clings to the Virtues alone remains stuck in a lower spiritual economy-working for a “wage” rather than receiving the fullness of God’s gratuitous Love.
6. “How will the Virtues teach their pupils what they do not possess and never will possess?”
This rhetorical question underscores the limitation of the Virtues. While they are good and necessary, they cannot convey the fullness of Divine Love because they themselves are not immersed in it. The soul seeking divine union must go beyond the pedagogical reach of the Virtues.
7. “Let that person ask this Love who is the mother of Understanding and of Divine Light…”
Marguerite distinguishes between two “Loves”: the lesser, which is a product of human understanding, and the greater, who is the very source of Divine Light and true Understanding. Only the latter can teach the mystery of how souls perish in Virtues-because she knows the All and abides in the All.
8. “…on account of the greater part of the All in which this Soul stops and remains, and so she cannot do other than remain in the All.”
The Soul who abides in Divine Love rests not in works or striving, but in the All-total union with God. This state is marked by stillness, simplicity, and a deep ontological resting in divine plenitude. It is inaccessible to those who dwell only in active virtue.
—
1. Why do the Virtues complain to Love at the start of the chapter?
Because Love has said that those who live totally by the counsel of the Virtues “perish.” The Virtues feel dishonoured and fear their teaching is being declared useless or even dangerous.
2. What underlying assumption makes the Virtues sure their path cannot lead to ruin?
They are convinced that anyone who ardently desires Jesus Christ and performs works of virtue and mortification must be safe. They cannot imagine that self-reliance on virtuous activity could block deeper union with God.
3. How does Love answer their anxiety?
Love says the “kernel of divine food” lies in the intellect illumined by Love, not in external works. The Virtues were created to serve souls who will eventually move beyond them; their office is preparatory, not ultimate.
4. Why does the Soul call the Virtues “a poor Lord” who pays a small wage?
Works of virtue give a limited, “earned” recompense. A soul that serves only these works remains spiritually poor, because she never receives the free, limitless gift of Divine Love that lies beyond merit and wage.
5. What key criticism does the Soul level against the Virtues as teachers?
They cannot teach what they themselves “do not possess and never will possess” – namely, the experience of resting in the All of Divine Love. Hence pupils must turn to Love, not to the Virtues, for the final stage.
6. Which Love must one consult to understand how “those who live in the Virtues perish,” and why?
The text distinguishes between a “daughter of Understanding” (ordinary human love) and the “mother of Understanding and of Divine Light.” Only this higher Love, source of true enlightenment, knows the whole mystery because she lives in the “greater part of the All.”
7. What practical lesson does Marguerite draw for readers?
Virtuous practice is good, but if one stops there, self-satisfaction prevents entry into the radical poverty where God alone is All. To reach union, a soul must let Love lead her beyond virtue, desire, and will into pure, self-emptying rest in God.
——————–
In Chapter 57, the Soul, Love, and the Holy Spirit explore the condition of the “sad ones,” souls who, though still operating within the domain of virtue and spiritual practice, are set apart from the “lost” by their profound awareness of their own insufficiency. Unlike the lost, who believe themselves complete in their virtue, the sad ones recognize that a higher, freer state exists-one beyond asking, desiring, or possessing-and they grieve their distance from it. This sorrow, born of humility and longing, prompts them to seek guidance from Divine Understanding, who teaches them the path toward the “land of willing nothing,” where the unencumbered rest in the fullness of divine being without movement, need, or exchange. Their sadness is thus a holy sorrow that prepares them for the radical dispossession required for true union with God.
—
1. “Now we will tell you also about those who are sad who are servants and merchants, but they act more wisely than the lost do.”
This introduces a new class of souls-the “sad ones”-who, although not yet free, are in a more advanced spiritual position than the “lost.” They still operate within the realm of virtue and labor (hence servants and merchants), but their sorrow comes from an awareness of something greater. Their wisdom lies in their dissatisfaction with mere virtue.
2. “Because, says Love, the sad ones maintain that there is a being better than theirs, and so they understand well that they do not have understanding of this better thing which they believe.”
The defining quality of the sad ones is humility: they know they lack the fullness of divine being. Unlike the lost, who believe their state of virtue is the highest possible, the sad recognize a higher state beyond them. This self-perception of spiritual poverty is what marks their path toward eventual freedom.
3. “They maintain instead that they are miserable and sad … and those who are sad know this. Thus she [Lady Understanding] teaches them the right royal road, which runs through the land of willing nothing.”
Their sadness opens the way to Divine Understanding. Recognizing their insufficiency, they cry out for help and are taught the path to “willing nothing,” the pure self-emptying necessary for divine union. Sadness becomes a grace that moves them beyond self-sufficiency and prepares them for total detachment.
4. “So, if they are sad, they can come to the being of the unencumbered ones, of whom we speak, according to the teaching of this Divine Light.”
The sad are not yet unencumbered but have the potential to become so. Their sorrow is a threshold condition-painful but necessary. The unencumbered dwell in pure divine being without movement, desire, or effort, and the sad may arrive there by surrendering through the guidance of Divine Light.
5. “Truly, so long as a soul makes any calls to Understanding or to Love … one can indeed say that the one who asks often is little or poor, and [this is true] of whoever asks for something.”
The Holy Spirit affirms the soul’s poverty as a mark of its immaturity. To ask implies lack and separation; thus, even the act of seeking shows one has not yet arrived. Full union means no longer asking or needing, for all is fulfilled in the divine.
6. “Every being, whatever it might be, is but a game of catch or child’s play compared to the supreme being of willing nothing …”
This profound statement relativizes all spiritual effort, desire, or striving-no matter how virtuous. Only the being of “willing nothing,” the total passivity and freedom of divine union, is true fulfillment. Everything else is preparatory or transitional.
7. “For the unencumbered one in his righteous being could neither refuse, nor desire, nor promise anything in exchange for something which someone could give him; but instead, [the unencumbered one] would want to give everything for the sake of maintaining loyalty.”
The unencumbered are described as having transcended exchange or desire. Their only movement is one of pure generosity, not based on merit or gain but on fidelity to divine being. This is the end-point toward which the sad ones are journeying.
This chapter reveals the importance of spiritual sorrow-not as despair but as holy dissatisfaction. The “sad ones” are those who intuit that virtue and effort, while good, are not the end. Their sadness becomes a holy longing that opens them to Divine Understanding and prepares them for the radical detachment of divine union.
—
1. Who are the “sad ones,” and how do they differ from the “lost”?
The sad ones are souls who still operate within the realm of virtues-serving and “trading” like servants and merchants-but unlike the lost, they realize that there is a higher state of being they have not attained. Their sorrow comes from this awareness and humility, while the lost believe they have already arrived through virtue alone and thus are deluded.
2. Why does Love esteem the sad ones more than the lost, even though they practice similar things?
Love values the sad ones because they recognize a superior state beyond their current one and acknowledge their lack of understanding. This self-awareness and longing make them open to further spiritual illumination, unlike the lost, who remain complacent in their virtue.
3. What is the significance of the sad ones acknowledging that they are “miserable and sad”?
This confession of misery is spiritually significant because it denotes humility, an accurate self-assessment, and a readiness to be taught. It is the sadness of longing for what they do not yet possess-the divine fullness-and this longing prompts them to seek guidance from Divine Understanding.
4. What role does Lady Understanding play for the sad ones?
Lady Understanding, illumined by divine grace, responds to the cries of the sad ones. She teaches them the “right royal road” that leads through the “land of willing nothing.” This path leads beyond effort and desire into the passive receptivity of divine union.
5. What is meant by the phrase “land of willing nothing,” and why is it important?
The “land of willing nothing” refers to a state of complete detachment from self-will, desires, and even spiritual ambitions. It is the place where one no longer seeks or asks but simply abides in God’s will. It is essential because it marks the transition into the highest form of union, the state of the unencumbered.
6. According to the Holy Spirit, why is asking a sign of being “little or poor”?
To ask implies lack and separation; it shows that the soul has not yet attained union and completeness. In contrast, the unencumbered soul no longer asks because it is wholly aligned with divine being, beyond need or exchange.
7. How does the chapter characterize the state of the unencumbered ones?
The unencumbered dwell in pure divine being, without movement, desire, or need. They do not bargain or seek return; rather, they give all in fidelity. Their state is described as the “supreme being of willing nothing,” in which perfect freedom and love are realized.
8. What is the spiritual value of sorrow in this context?
Sorrow becomes a grace that signals spiritual readiness. It is the pain of realizing one’s insufficiency and longing for divine fullness. Far from being a hindrance, this sorrow motivates the soul to seek Divine Light and prepares it for the radical detachment necessary for true union.
——————–
In Chapter 58, Porete explores the sublime state of the soul in the fifth stage of union with God, where it is utterly annihilated of self-will and filled only with divine presence. Reason questions how such a soul can give anything, but Love responds that the soul gives what God gives through her-divine treasures, not her own. This stage is marked by profound peace and the absence of desire, and although the soul occasionally experiences the sixth stage-a fleeting, ravishing spark of divine glory-it cannot remain there long. Nonetheless, this brief encounter overflows and leaves the soul more noble, detached, and free, stabilizing her even more firmly in the fifth stage. This deep peace, inaccessible to those who still live in desire, is a divine gift received passively, prior to any awareness, and reflects God’s own glory acting in the soul beyond her knowledge or effort.
—
1. “Ah, for God’s sake, says Reason, what do these Souls have to give who are so annihilated?”
Reason expresses confusion at the paradox of the annihilated soul-one who has nothing of her own left-being capable of giving anything at all. From the perspective of Reason, which values agency, possession, and merit, annihilation seems like a total void. Yet this is the threshold of a deeper mystery that Love proceeds to reveal.
2. “To give? says Love. Truly, says Love, whatever God has of value.”
Love responds with a shocking reversal: the annihilated soul gives precisely what God values most. Because she has been emptied of self, she becomes a pure vessel of divine overflow. She offers not from herself but as a transparent medium of divine presence. Her nothingness becomes God’s everything.
3. “She is in the depths of the fifth stage with her Lover. There nothing is lacking to her…”
The fifth stage marks the full annihilation of will. The soul is so united with God that she lacks nothing-her identity is fused with divine sufficiency. She no longer operates from desire or effort but rests in a complete surrender where union and peace are constant.
4. “…she is often carried up to the sixth, but this is of little duration. For it is an aperture, like a spark, which quickly closes…”
The sixth stage is portrayed as a momentary “spark,” an ecstatic flash of even more sublime union-what the text calls the “Ravishing Farnearness.” This is a superabundant grace that the soul cannot hold or retain, as it belongs entirely to God’s movement. It is a taste of divine glory, given and then withdrawn.
5. “The overflowing from the ravishing aperture makes the Soul… free and noble and unencumbered from all things.”
Even though brief, the divine spark leaves a permanent mark. It frees the soul more completely from self and from all attachment. The soul, having tasted this divine ravishment, dwells more deeply and nobly in the fifth stage, fully detached and receptive.
6. “…at the fifth she has no will. And because at the fifth stage… she has no more will… no one would be able to believe… the peace upon peace of peace which the Soul receives…”
The hallmark of the fifth stage is the death of will. This is not apathy or passivity, but a profound stillness where the soul is no longer moved by her own desires, only by God’s hidden workings. The result is unspeakable peace-a layered, all-encompassing rest that cannot be imagined unless one abides in it.
7. “Understand these divine words in a divine manner through Love, hearers of this book!”
The author exhorts readers to transcend intellectual analysis and to receive these teachings spiritually, through the disposition of divine Love. These mysteries are not grasped by reason but by love’s own light.
8. “The work of the Spark… is nothing other than the showing of the glory of the Soul. This does not remain in any creature very long…”
The divine spark is a brief unveiling of the soul’s ultimate glorification in God-a kind of eschatological glimpse. It is too pure, too divine to last in time-bound creatures, but its imprint transforms the soul forever.
9. “The peace… from the operation of my work… is so delicious that Truth calls it glorious food.”
Love refers to the fruit of this divine union as “glorious food,” echoing Eucharistic overtones. It is sustenance not for those who desire, but for those who have been emptied of desire-who will nothing, seek nothing, possess nothing.
10. “Such Souls would govern a country if it had the need, and all without themselves.”
In a final paradox, Love claims that annihilated souls are so filled with divine peace and wisdom that they could govern a nation without ego, ambition, or personal investment. Their actions would flow purely from divine will, unaffected by self.
This chapter reveals the exquisite paradox of the annihilated soul: possessing nothing, she becomes a vessel for everything. She dwells in a stable, will-less peace (the fifth stage) and receives momentary flashes of divine glory (the sixth), returning transformed. Her identity is no longer hers-it is God’s alone.
—
1. Why does Reason question the capacity of annihilated souls to give anything?
Reason operates from a human logic that values possession, autonomy, and effort. From this view, a soul that has been annihilated-emptied of will and self-seems to have nothing left to contribute or offer. Hence, Reason cannot understand how such a soul could give anything meaningful.
2. How does Love answer Reason’s concern?
Love explains that the annihilated soul gives not from herself but from God. She gives “whatever God has of value,” because her emptiness makes her a vessel of divine gift. Her giving is no longer personal or self-originated; it is divine self-giving through her.
3. What defines the fifth stage of the soul?
The fifth stage is marked by the complete loss of personal will. The soul lives in continual union with God, lacking nothing and resting in divine peace. She does not fall back to the fourth stage because she has transcended desire and self-driven will entirely.
4. What is the nature of the soul’s experience of the sixth stage?
The sixth stage is an ecstatic, momentary state described as a “spark” or “aperture”-an overwhelming grace in which the soul is ravished by divine nearness. However, this state is fleeting and cannot last because it is beyond what a creature can sustain. After it passes, the soul returns to the fifth stage, but remains deeply changed.
5. How does the brief experience of the sixth stage affect the soul?
The soul emerges from the sixth stage more free, noble, and detached. Even though the ecstatic state does not last, its “overflowing” transforms her interiorly, stabilizing her more securely in the peace of the fifth stage.
6. What is the “peace upon peace of peace” that Love speaks of?
It refers to the layered, unspeakable peace that the soul experiences in the fifth stage after having passed through the sixth. This peace cannot be understood or believed unless one has directly received it. It is the fruit of pure union with God, where the soul no longer acts from self at all.
7. Why must these teachings be understood “in a divine manner through Love”?
The truths expressed in this chapter surpass intellectual reasoning. They pertain to the inner life of divine union and can only be grasped through love, humility, and a heart attuned to God. Human logic alone will misread or resist them.
8. What is the significance of the phrase “before the Soul has any perception or awareness of His work”?
This emphasizes that God acts freely and sovereignly in the soul without her cooperation or even awareness. His grace precedes any perception, showing that union is entirely God’s doing, not the result of the soul’s effort.
9. What is meant by the soul being able to “govern a country… and all without themselves”?
This paradox underscores the soul’s perfect detachment and surrender. Even if she were placed in charge of great external responsibilities, her actions would flow purely from God’s will, without ego, control, or self-reference. She would act effectively, yet not from herself.
10. Who is excluded from the nourishment of the “glorious food” Love mentions?
Those who still remain in desire-who have not yet reached the state of will-less peace-cannot be fed by the divine peace that Love calls “glorious food.” This nourishment is only for the annihilated soul, emptied of self and united to God in love.
——————–
In Chapter 59, Porete presents the Soul’s journey as a triple conquest: first over sin through grace, then over nature through spiritual life, and finally over spirit itself through divine life. This final stage, the life of God in the Soul, is marked by utter self-loss-a state where the Soul is “without herself,” not present in self, neighbor, or even in God as object, but dissolved in pure divine being. This annihilation is brought about by the brief, ungraspable movement of the divine Spark, which opens and transforms the Soul in a flash of unspeakable glory. Paradoxically, the Soul only truly “belongs to herself” when she has no part of herself remaining, for she lives wholly in God. Aware of the ineffability of this state, the Soul turns from the sublime to the humble, choosing to speak “about little things” for the sake of those still on the path-those who yearn, strive, and remain “with themselves,” but who may yet be drawn toward this total union.
—
1. “At the beginning this Soul conquered by means of the life of grace, grace which is born in the death of sin. Afterward, she conquered by means of the life of the spirit, which is born in the death of nature. And now, she lives the divine life, which is born in the death of the spirit.”
Porete outlines a mystical progression in three phases: from grace (born of renouncing sin), to spiritual life (born of renouncing nature), to divine life (born of renouncing even the spirit). This final “death of the spirit” indicates total self-emptying-even of all spiritual striving or identity-making way for a divine mode of existence beyond human categories. It is a transformation that demands successive, deeper renunciations of ego and self-possession.
2. “This Soul… who lives the divine life, is always without herself.”
To be “without herself” means to be entirely dispossessed of personal identity, no longer anchored in self-reflection, emotion, or ego. The soul does not even cling to its identity in God or others. This is the full realization of annihilation: a radical freedom and dispossession that permits divine life to flow unhindered. It is the paradox of true belonging-she belongs to herself precisely when she no longer lays claim to herself.
3. “When she is no part of herself, neither in God nor in herself, nor in her neighbors; but in the annihilation by which this Spark opens her by the approach of His work.”
This annihilation goes beyond theological or moral categories-it involves a loss even of one’s spiritual identity, roles, or attachments. The soul is stripped bare not just of sin or self-will, but even of her relational identity with God and others. Only the divine Spark-God’s immediate and unmediated action-gives her form and movement, and even this is fleeting. The emphasis is on the mystical receptivity to divine glory beyond comprehension.
4. “How one would be a grand lord who could comprehend the profit of one movement of such annihilation.”
Porete emphasizes the immeasurable value of a single movement of annihilation, likening it to a royal dignity. This is not power or knowledge in a worldly sense, but the profound humility and detachment that allows one to be filled entirely by God. Comprehending the value of such divine negation would be a rare spiritual greatness-an honor of spiritual nobility.
5. “Do not be displeased if I speak afterward about little things… not for those who are this, but for those who are not who yet will be, and will beg continuously as long as they are with themselves.”
Porete turns to her readers with pastoral concern, acknowledging that such exalted states are not the norm. She will return to “little things”-practical teachings-for the sake of those still journeying, still encumbered by selfhood and desire. The contrast between the annihilated and those “with themselves” reinforces the radical nature of divine union, while extending hope to those still seeking.
—
1. What are the three successive ways by which the Soul has conquered, according to Love?
The Soul first conquers through the life of grace, which is born in the death of sin. Then she conquers through the life of the spirit, born in the death of nature. Finally, she lives the divine life, born in the death of the spirit. Each stage represents a deeper self-emptying: from moral conversion, to transcendence of natural inclinations, and finally, to the dissolution of even spiritual self-awareness.
2. What does it mean for the Soul to be “without herself”?
To be “without herself” means the Soul has reached a state of complete annihilation of self, where she is no longer anchored in her identity-not in herself, not in God as object, nor in her neighbors. She is radically dispossessed, no longer participating in her own being, but entirely opened by the divine Spark acting within her. This dispossession is the condition of living the divine life.
3. According to Love, when does the Soul truly belong to herself?
Paradoxically, the Soul belongs to herself only when she is no part of herself. That is, when she is utterly emptied-even of self-consciousness or identity-she is most truly her own, because she is entirely given over to divine action. Her being becomes God’s possession through annihilation rather than acquisition.
4. What role does the divine “Spark” play in the Soul’s state of annihilation?
The Spark represents an intensely brief, sublime movement of divine glory that opens the Soul by its approach and annihilates her understanding. It is not sustained or graspable, and no one can speak fully of its mystery. This Spark enacts the soul’s transformation and produces an interior forgetting of self-an annihilation that results in profound, wordless union.
5. Why does the Soul express the need to “speak afterward about little things”?
Though the chapter discusses high mystical truths, the Soul turns to practical matters for the sake of those who have not yet reached this state of union. She speaks to those who are still with themselves, still yearning, still on the path. It reflects Porete’s pastoral concern to bridge the mystical with the moral, addressing the spiritual needs of seekers still caught in desire and effort.
——————–
In Chapter 60 of The Mirror of Simple Souls, Marguerite Porete outlines the necessary spiritual progression through three distinct “deaths”-the death of sin, the death of nature, and the death of the spirit-each of which purifies the soul and prepares her for union with Divine Love. The first death brings moral purification through obedience to God’s Law; the second overcomes natural inclinations; and the third annihilates even spiritual striving, ushering the soul into the divine life beyond self, will, and understanding. Porete emphasizes the vast distance between the initial life of grace and the final state of glory, underscoring the need for an inner fire of desire, the cooperation of human nature, and the draw of divine righteousness to aid the soul’s ascent. Her compassionate inclusion of both “noble ones” and “little ones” reveals a pedagogical purpose: to illuminate the path for all souls, regardless of their current stage, and to call them toward the sublime state of total annihilation in Love.
—
1. “The first is the death of sin … by which the Soul must die completely so that there no longer remains in her color, or taste, or odor of anything which God prohibits in the Law.”
This “death of sin” is the foundation for all later spiritual progress. Marguerite affirms that complete detachment from all sinful inclinations is necessary-not just in action, but in every sensory and inner residue. Only when the soul is emptied of all that is contrary to divine law can it be said to truly live by grace. This is the first purification, associated with the moral and legal life in accord with divine commandments.
2. “Ah, to you most noble ones, annihilated and uplifted by great admiration and stupefied by conjunction of union of Divine Love, do not be displeased if I touch on something for the little ones …”
Marguerite here acknowledges a twofold audience: the spiritually advanced (“noble ones”) and the beginners (“little ones”). The contrast underlines the radical distance between those who still have a will (the moral and active life) and those who have passed beyond it in the mystical, annihilated state. Her pedagogical method juxtaposes the two to make the divine nobility of the higher path more evident.
3. “…pay attention and hasten yourselves, for it is a very great way and a very long road from the first stage of grace to the last stage of glory which the gentle Farnearness gives.”
This reflects the arduous and transformative journey from initial conversion to union with God. Marguerite doesn’t downplay the difficulty but encourages urgency and attentiveness. The “gentle Farnearness” is her term for God’s paradoxical intimacy-in-distance, and the “last stage of glory” refers to that ineffable union which transcends desire and understanding.
4. “When these two natures are together … and with the third nature … through righteousness … this concord is finely noble.”
She identifies three “natures”: (1) the soul’s natural energy, (2) the ardor of spiritual desire, and (3) the righteous glory that draws the soul. The union of these three elements-body, spirit, and divine grace-forms a complete harmony. This is not merely moral development, but mystical transformation, culminating in the adornment of the soul with divine beauty.
5. “…jealousy of Love and the work of charity, by which I am burdened, cause this book to be made, so that you little ones might be of this sort without interruption …”
Marguerite’s motivation is deeply charitable. Her “jealousy of Love” reflects divine zeal, and her burden is the mystical obligation to share what she has seen. Even though many readers are still “little ones,” she hopes to awaken in them the yearning for annihilation and union. The text is not just a description of mystical states, but an invitation to transformation.
—
1. What are the three deaths the Soul must undergo before entering the free and annihilated life?
The first death is the death of sin, where the Soul becomes completely free of anything prohibited by God’s Law, including all traces such as “color, taste, or odor.”
The second is the death of nature, where the Soul transcends its natural desires and faculties.
The third is the death of the spirit, which leads to divine life-this is the full annihilation where the Soul is beyond self, nature, and spiritual effort.
2. Who are considered to live by the life of grace, and what characterizes this stage?
Those who have undergone the first death (death of sin) live by the life of grace. They follow God’s Law by avoiding what He forbids and doing what He commands. This stage is marked by moral uprightness and spiritual obedience but does not yet involve mystical union or annihilation of will.
3. Why does Love address both “noble ones” and “little ones” in this chapter?
Love addresses both groups to contrast their spiritual states. The “noble ones” have reached annihilation and union with Divine Love, while the “little ones” are beginners still attached to their will and reason. This dual address serves both as a teaching tool and a compassionate gesture to uplift those not yet advanced.
4. What does Marguerite mean by “the long road from the first stage of grace to the last stage of glory”?
She refers to the vast spiritual distance between initial conversion and complete union with God. The “first stage of grace” involves moral effort and obedience, while the “last stage of glory” is the state of divine union beyond desire, will, and understanding-attainable only through total annihilation.
5. How does the interplay of nature, spiritual desire, and righteousness form a “noble concord”?
When the natural energy of the person, the ardor of spiritual desire, and the attraction of divine righteousness (or glory) all come into harmony, they form a powerful dynamic that supports total self-surrender. This unity is “noble” because it leads to a state in which the soul is adorned and drawn entirely by God.
6. What is Marguerite’s stated purpose in writing this book, according to this chapter?
Marguerite says she is compelled by “jealousy of Love” and “the work of charity” to write the book. Her aim is to guide the “little ones” so that they may aspire to the annihilated life-even if only in will-and to encourage the advanced to persevere. Her writing is an act of spiritual generosity.