Chapter 11 deepens the understanding of the soul annihilated in Love by articulating nine mystical qualities that define her hidden and incomprehensible state – offered by Love for the benefit of contemplatives. First, the soul is so buried in humility and a sense of her nothingness that she is, paradoxically, impossible to find. Second, she is saved by faith alone – not through works – because her faith so fills her with the inner reality of the Trinity that nothing created can enter her attention. Third, she is alone in Love, forsaking all created consolations. Fourth, she does nothing for God in the conventional sense, because she trusts entirely in God’s own work within her. Fifth, she omits nothing for God, since her will is wholly conformed to His. Sixth, she cannot be taught, for her love reaches beyond all created knowledge. Seventh, nothing can be taken from her, because her treasure is God alone. Eighth, nothing can be given to her, because she already possesses the All in God. And ninth, she has no will of her own, for God’s will acts in her and through her entirely. The soul, full of divine Love, lives in a luminous paradox: utterly nothing in herself, yet dwelling in the all-sufficiency and ungraspable richness of God.
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1. “The first point, says Reason, which you said is that one cannot find such a Soul.”
This is a paradox. The Soul is so annihilated in humility and self-knowledge of her own nothingness and sin that she becomes invisible, unknowable, even to herself. The “unfindability” is not a literal disappearance, but rather the mystical truth that the soul emptied of all ego and self-will can no longer be located within the categories of created being. Her humility is so radical that she sees herself as worse than all sinners, meriting the most extreme divine vengeance. Yet this very recognition is what makes her the perfect vessel of Divine Love.
2. “The second point is that this Soul is saved by faith without works.”
Here, Love teaches a Pauline truth in its most mystical form. The soul is immersed in the reality of God through faith-not merely intellectual assent, but a total interior surrender that consumes all attention and energy. She is so absorbed in God’s being-Father, Son, and Spirit-that she can no longer perform discrete “works” as such. Her faith is her whole life, and this deep union renders her incapable of distraction by created things. It also means that she no longer functions from self-directed effort but from divine influx alone.
3. “The third point is that she is alone in Love.”
To be alone in Love means radical detachment. The Soul relies on no created consolation, not even heavenly promises. Her hope is in God’s goodness alone. She is likened to the phoenix-a unique, solitary being that lives and dies in flames, then rises anew. This solitude in Love is not isolation but a state of total sufficiency in the Beloved, a mystical aloneness in divine intimacy.
4. “The fourth point is that this Soul does nothing for God.”
Another paradox. She does nothing for God because she is entirely surrendered to God. Her actions are not her own; they are God’s. She rests in His will, trusting entirely in His love. This annihilation of self-will is not sloth but the deepest form of charity, where the Soul neither claims nor initiates anything but lets herself be the instrument of divine action.
5. “The fifth point is that this Soul omits nothing to do for God which she might be able to do.”
Though she does nothing for God of her own initiative, she omits nothing that God wills. She is entirely responsive, perfectly aligned, incapable of even thinking a contrary thought. This union of passivity and complete availability makes her a vessel of divine action. She omits nothing, not because of her own diligence, but because she no longer exists apart from God’s will.
6. “The sixth point is that one cannot teach her anything.”
The Soul has transcended all human knowledge. No created understanding can compare to what she loves, which is the unknowable God. Even if she were given all the knowledge of past, present, and future creatures, it would mean nothing compared to the Mystery she is immersed in. She prefers what is eternally not-given over all that is given. Her learning is love-infused, unmediated, and divine.
7. “The seventh point is that one cannot take anything from her.”
The Soul possesses nothing but God. So nothing can be taken from her-not wealth, honor, body, life-because none of these are her possession. Only God is her All. This reveals the soul’s invincibility: she is unstealable, untouchable, because her treasure is in the uncreated. Her security is not in having but in being one with the Source of all.
8. “The eighth point is that one cannot give anything to her.”
As nothing can be taken from her, so nothing can be added. She already possesses the All she desires: God Himself. Any created gift is worthless compared to what she loves, which is God in His unapproachable and incomprehensible mystery. The soul even says, “There is no lesser part,” meaning that all distinctions of lesser and greater fade in the face of divine simplicity. She desires only what God retains for Himself, and this is both her grief and her glory.
9. “I say as well, says Love, that if this Soul would possess all the understanding and the love and the praise which ever was given and will be given by the divine Trinity, this would be nothing compared to what she loves and will love. And she will never attain this love through understanding.”
Love begins by proposing a radical counterfactual: even if the Soul somehow held every conceivable gift-all understanding, all love, and all praise that has ever existed or ever will exist in the Trinity-it would still pale in comparison to the one object of her desire: the infinite, unmediated Love of God. This hyperbole isn’t meant to be taken arithmetically but rhetorically: it highlights the boundlessness of the divine Love that the Soul craves.
Distinction Between Gifts and the Giver: The imagined gifts (understanding, love, praise) are all created or creaturely-even if they originate in the Trinity, they remain “given” insofar as they stand in relation to the Soul. But the Soul’s ultimate longing is not for gifts, however splendid, but for God Himself-the Giver who is Love. Thus every gift, no matter how transcendent, remains ontologically inferior to communion with the Person of God.
Apophatic Edge – “Never Attained Through Understanding”: The closing clause, “And she will never attain this love through understanding,” reaffirms that intellectual ascent-even the loftiest theological insight-cannot bridge the gap to the divine Mystery. True union with God’s Love is not a matter of comprehension or knowledge; it is an ontological participation in Love itself. Understanding can point toward God, but it cannot become God or contain Him.
10. “Nevertheless, Lady Love, she says, my love is so certain that I would prefer to hear something slanderous about you than that one should say nothing about you.”
The Soul boldly declares that she would rather hear false accusations against Love (“something slanderous”) than complete silence about Love’s goodness. This paradox highlights the depth of her devotion: any spoken word-even if inadequate or erroneous-keeps divine Love alive in the heart. Silence, by contrast, is like a spiritual death, as it withholds remembrance of God.
11. “And without fail I do this: I slander because everything I say is nothing but slander about your goodness. But whatever slander I commit must be pardoned me by you.”
The Soul confesses that every attempt to speak of Love’s goodness inevitably falls short-what she utters misrepresents or diminishes the infinite reality. Thus, in a mystical twist, her praise becomes “slander,” not because she intends harm, but because human language is inherently incapable of doing justice to divine perfection. This echoes Porete’s broader apophatic theme: the more one tries to name God, the more one errs. True knowledge of God lies beyond words; any conceptual praise is a kind of “blasphemy” relative to the absolute Otherness of God. Knowing this limitation, the Soul preemptively asks for pardon.
This passage also calls attention to the theme of Language as both Mediator and Obstacle: we need words to commune with God and one another, yet words always distort the divine Mystery. The Soul embraces this tension rather than fleeing from it.
In sum, this quote shows the Soul’s radical humility and devotion: she prefers the flawed utterance of Love’s name to its omission, yet she recognizes that all her speech is a kind of “slander” against divine greatness. Her plea for forgiveness reveals her confidence in Love’s mercy, and her paradoxical stance invites us to hold both the necessity and inadequacy of our own words about God.
12. ” … that I might accomplish the enterprise of this book … For insofar as I ask of Love something for myself on account of love, I will be with myself in the life of the spirit, in the shadow of the sun where one cannot see the subtle images of the drawing power of divine Love and of the divine generation.”
The passage elucidates the tension between language as mediator and obstacle in Porete’s very act of writing the Mirror of Simple Souls. In so far is she must use language to delineate the spirit’s annihilation in union with God, she is obstructed from being with God, and “[she] will be with [herself] in the life of the spirit.” To be with herself in the spirit means to not be with God in the annihilated spirit – this forms the crux of the dilemma.
Porete further explains this with the metaphor of the sun. “[T]he shadow of the sun” is the linguistically mediated expression of the mystical experience which is not the direct, unmediated expereince of the sun, i.e., God. There “one cannot see … the divine generation.” Language can never peer into the place where the mystical experience is generated.
13. “The ninth point is that one cannot say anything about her.”
This is the climax. The Soul speaks in self-awareness but confesses that everything said of Love is slander, because all language fails before the divine. Even praise falls short. She continues speaking because silence would be worse-yet acknowledges that speech itself falsifies the Reality. Her lament is her glory, her complaint her praise. She dwells in the “shadow of the sun,” the divine mystery that both reveals and hides, and yearns for the unspeakable.
This chapter forms a mystical crescendo where Love, through Reason, draws out a vision of the Annihilated Soul so stripped of self that she cannot be found, taught, robbed, or gifted. Her only reality is the incomprehensible God who gives Himself by not giving, speaks by silence, and acts by annihilation. It is a vision of union that passes through negation, where all that remains is Love loving in her.
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1. Why “one cannot find this Soul,” and what does that reveal about her humility?
Because she is so profoundly aware of her own sinfulness and nothingness that she considers herself less than all sinners. Her radical humility “annihilates” her self-image, rendering her invisible to human judgment-even her own-so she cannot be located within any created category.
2. What does it mean that this Soul is “saved by faith without works”?
Her faith is so all-consuming that it fills her entirely with the Triune life, leaving no room for distinct “works.” She trusts God’s goodness implicitly, and thus, though she no longer performs works as such, she abides in the salvific activity of faith itself, which Love affirms surpasses all works.
3. How is the Soul “alone in Love,” and why is she likened to the phoenix?
She seeks no comfort or help from any creature-heavenly or earthly-but rests solely in God’s goodness. Like the phoenix, she stands unique and solitary, renewed by divine fire, fully satisfied in the Beloved and needing nothing else.
4. What paradox lies in the statement “this Soul does nothing for God”?
The paradox is that the Soul’s entire life is God’s action in her. She no longer acts for God as a separate agent; instead, she lets God act through her. Her will is wholly seized by Love, so she does nothing in her own name.
5. Why “she omits nothing to do for God,” even though she “does nothing for God”?
Because her will is perfectly aligned with God’s. She cannot will anything contrary to Him, so by default she “omits nothing” that God intends. Her perfect availability makes her exhaustively responsive to divine will, even though she no longer initiates action.
6. What is signified by saying “one cannot teach her anything”?
She is infused with such a superior, uncreated knowledge of God’s mystery that every creaturely truth appears nothing in comparison. To her, all created learning pales before the ineffable Reality she loves, so no teaching can augment her understanding.
7. Why “one cannot take anything from her,” not even life or love?
Because her only true possession is God. Since she holds nothing of her own-only the unassailable treasure of divine Love-no external force can deprive her of her ultimate good. Losses of honor, wealth, or life touch only what she has voluntarily relinquished.
8. What does “one cannot give anything to her” teach about her sufficiency?
It teaches that no created gift can add to her fulfillment, for she already possesses the inexhaustible gift of God’s own being. Only the Giver-God-can satisfy her, and that “greater part” remains solely His domain, highlighting her total sufficiency in divine Love.
9. How is it possible that “this Soul possesses no will”?
Her personal will has been entirely surrendered to God. She exercises no will apart from His; whatever she “consents” to is God’s will acting in her. This perfect conformity means she has no independent will at all-only God’s.
10. “If this Soul would possess all the understanding … this would be nothing compared to what she loves … ” Why does Love compare “all understanding” and “all praise” to “nothing” next to the Soul’s desire?
To show that even the loftiest gifts-being able to comprehend every truth or offer every hymn-are ontologically inferior to the infinite, unmediated Love of God that the Soul craves.
11. What does the impossibility of “attaining this love through understanding” teach about the limits of theology?
It reminds us that intellectual study can point toward God but cannot substitute for the soul’s direct, participatory experience of divine Love.
12 “And in this greater part … is enclosed the supreme mortification of the love of my spirit … ” What is the “greater part,” and how does it mortify the Soul’s own love?
The “greater part” is God’s hidden, ungraspable Essence. Encountering it kills off all creaturely attachments-even spiritual consolations-so that the Soul’s own love is purified and emptied.
13. How can “mortification” also be called the Soul’s “total glory”?
In mystical theology, dying to self (mortification) is the very pathway to being clothed in divine life (theosis). The Soul’s hiddenness in God becomes its ultimate honor and transformation.
14. “I would prefer to hear something slanderous about you than that one should say nothing about you … ” Why would the Soul choose “slander” over silence regarding Love’s goodness?
Because even a flawed word keeps divine Love alive in the heart, whereas silence lets the memory and praise of God die away.
15. In calling her own praise “slander,” what is the Soul confessing about language and the divine?
That every human attempt to describe God inevitably falls short-and thus “mistrepresents” the infinite Reality-yet such attempts are driven by love and are therefore pardoned by God.
16. “But the more I hear tell of you the more I am amazed … great villainy … feign discernment … ” How does hearing another’s testimony of God’s goodness both enrich and test the Soul’s faith?
It renews her wonder by revealing new facets of divine mystery, but it also exposes false teachers whose “feigned discernment” can mislead the unwary. Any insight mediated by language is not equal the immediate experience of God which is ineffable.
17. ” … in the shadow of the sun where one cannot see the subtle images of the drawing power of divine Love … ” If the “sun” is God, what does it mean to stand “in the shadow of the sun”?
If the sun is God Himself, then standing directly in the sun represents an unmediated experience of God while standing in the shadow represents a mediated one. This mediation proceeds by images, thoughts or language. Here Porete is primarily concerned about communicating her experience of the annihilated soul which paradoxically cannot be communicated by language.
18. Why would the “subtle images” of divine attraction vanish in that shadow?
The unmediate experience of God is only possible outside of the shadows, that is, beyond images, thoughts or any other form of cognition.
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Chapter 12 clarifies a central paradox of the annihilated soul: that she truly possesses no will, nor can she will to possess one, because this very lack is the perfection of divine will operating in her. While Reason struggles with the apparent contradiction – seeing the soul’s longing to will God’s will as a form of possessing will – Love and the higher intellect correct this by showing that such longing is itself a divine movement, not originating in the creature. The soul’s sufficiency is not in her own power, but in being entirely carried by divine Love. True sufficiency lies in her utter incapacity to possess the divine will as her own, since God’s justice retains His grandeur. Yet this incapacity is the soul’s glory: her will is dissolved in the divine will, and thus she is fully sufficed, not by what she holds, but by what God alone enacts in her. This teaching exalts the mystery of divine union, where perfect surrender and the loss of will allow the soul to live entirely in God’s being.
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1. “Now listen and grasp well, hearers of this book, the true intellect by which this book speaks in different places, that the Annihilated Soul neither possesses will, nor is able to possess it, nor is able to will to possess it, and in this the divine will is perfectly accomplished.”
Love issues a clarion call to understand the key mystical principle: the Annihilated Soul has no will of her own. She cannot have one, nor even will to have one. And in this utter emptiness of self-will, God’s will is perfectly enacted. Thus, the soul’s “conformity” to the divine will is not achieved by the soul willing it, but by her not willing anything so that God’s will can act in the resulting empty space.
2. “The Soul does not possess sufficiency of divine Love, nor divine Love sufficiency of the Soul, until the Soul is in God and God in the Soul, of Him, through Him, in such a state of divine rest. Then the Soul possesses all her sufficiency.”
Neither the soul nor divine Love alone is sufficient; only their mutual indwelling-God in the soul and soul in God-brings true “sufficiency.” This mutual in-gift establishes the “divine rest” in which the soul’s completeness is found. Spiritual sufficiency emerges from union, not from either party in any degree of isolation.
3. Intellect of Reason: “It seems … that the ninth point says … the Annihilated Soul wills nothing compared to what she would will to will, which will she cannot possess … from this she has a lack and no sufficiency.”
Reason reads the text and concludes that the soul’s lack of self – will renders her insufficient-she wants a will she cannot have, and thus remains incomplete. This is the natural mind’s dilemma: absence of will equals deficiency.
4. Soul: “Ah, Intellect of Reason … you take the shell and leave the kernel … your intellect is too low … Intellect of Divine Love … grasps it well without hesitation, for she is this herself.”
The Annihilated Soul chides Reason for simplistic thinking which takes only the superficial meaning (“the shell”). In contrast, Divine Love’s intellect, infused in the soul’s essence, comprehends this paradox. This highlights Porete’s recurring theme: only love-grown intellect can truly grasp these Mysteries.
5. Height of Intellect of Love: “If this Annihilated Soul wills the will of God-and the more she wills it, the more she would will to will it-she cannot possess this through the smallness of creaturehood, because God retains the grandeur of His divine righteousness. But God wills that she would will this, and that she would possess such a will. Such a will is the divine will …”
This passage refines the paradox: the soul’s desire is God’s will, yet she cannot will it as her own will because the divine will’s infinite grandeur always exceeds creaturely capacity. Rather, it is God who wills the soul to will His will, establishing her as participant in His divine life. The soul’s inability to appropriate God’s will preserves the Creator-creature distinction. The soul’s final annihilation has to be God’s doing: God reaches down to the Soul because the Soul cannot reach up to God.
6. “This divine will … courses through her in the veins of divine Understanding and the marrow of divine Love and the union of divine Praise. But the [created] will of the Soul inhibits these.”
The divine will is envisioned as life-giving blood-understanding as veins, love as marrow, praise as union. Yet any residual exercise of the soul’s own will “inhibits” this flow. Only through complete self-abandon can the full nourishment of divine life permeate the soul.
7. Love: “Therefore … how can the Soul possess will, since Clear Understanding understands that the will is one being among the beings … which a creature cannot possess if she possesses it by willing nothing?”
Love appeals to “Clear Understanding” (the infused intellect) to explain that a created being simply cannot “possess” its own will if it truly wills nothing. Will, as a distinct faculty, stands or falls on self-assertion; the Annihilated Soul’s self-negation precludes any such possession.
8. Love: “Now Reason has heard … the answer to her questions, except … where Reason says that the Unencumbered Soul possesses in her a lack of sufficiency. I will tell her … it is from willing the divine will, which the more one wills it, one possesses less of such a willing of his sufficiency. But this same will is the will of God alone and the glory of the Soul.”
Love finally answers Reason’s objection that, if an Annihilated Soul wills nothing, then this is a lack, not a sufficiency. Rather, the opposite is the case, because lack of the creaturely will is the sufficiency of the Divine will: The soul’s emptiness is the canvas on which God’s glory is painted. Or another metaphor: the Annihilated Soul is the empty stage on which the drama of the Trinity unfolds. The real lack would be the soul attempting with self-will to will God’s will, which she cannot do since creaturely will cannot attain to Divine will.
Final Comment:
This chapter culminates Porete’s teaching on the will: spiritual perfection is not self-assertion, the soul’s self-willing of God’s will. This only results in finite creaturely will displacing God’s infinite will. Rather, spiritual perfection is granted by self-annihilation, the soul’s complete surrender and willing nothing so that God’s will wills in the soul. Paradoxically, then, the Annihilated Soul is both utterly empty and radiantly full. What looks like lack to the natural mind is actually the soul’s gateway into the divine life – and thus her true sufficiency and rest.
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1. What is the chapter’s core thesis about the Annihilated Soul’s will?
Porete argues that the Annihilated Soul possesses no independent will, cannot have one, and cannot even will to have one. In this utter self-emptying, God’s will alone is perfectly accomplished in her.
2. How does Reason initially misread this thesis, and why?
Reason interprets the soul’s lack of will as a deficiency-if the soul has no will, she must be incomplete and suffer a “lack of sufficiency.” This reflects the natural mind’s assumption that will is an essential faculty for any being.
3. What is Love’s key clarification in response to Reason’s objection?
Love explains that the soul’s “lack” is in fact her gift: by surrendering her will, she allows God’s infinite will to will in her. Although she desires to will God’s will, she cannot ever fully possess it-preserving the Creator-creature distinction.
4. Why can the Annihilated Soul never “possess” God’s will as her own?
Because God’s will is infinite and upheld by divine righteousness. No finite creature can contain or appropriate the fullness of God’s will; to attempt to do so would collapse the distinction between Creator and creature.
5. What role does the Infused Intellect of Love play in understanding this paradox?
The Infused Intellect of Love (the soul’s God-given, participatory knowing) grasps the paradox naturally-seeing self-emptying as true freedom. By contrast, the natural intellect (Reason) only sees the “shell” of emptiness and mistakes it for lack.
6. How does Porete define the soul’s true sufficiency?
True sufficiency arises not from the soul or from divine Love in isolation but from their mutual indwelling – “the Soul is in God and God in the Soul.” Only in that state of divine rest does the soul “possess all her sufficiency.”
7. What does Porete mean when she says “the more one wills [God’s will], one possesses less of such a willing of his sufficiency”?
The more the soul tries to will God’s will with her own self-willing, the less she possesses of the sufficiency of God’s will. Paradoxically, its the loss of creaturely will that makes room for the infinite will of God, and is thus the soul’s sufficiency.
8. How does the Creator-Creature distinction remain intact even in perfect union?
The soul cannot will God’s will with her own self-willing since a creature’s capacity can never attain to God’s. Thus, although the soul’s will is God willing in her, she never ceases to be a finite creature. She cannot contain or exercise the infinite divine will unless God wills it for her.
9. What is the paradox presented in “if this Annihilated Soul wills the will of God … she cannot possess this through the smallness of creaturehood,” and how does the clause “God wills that she would will this, and that she would possess such a will” resolve it?
The paradox is that although the Soul desires God’s infinite will ever more deeply, her finite, creaturely nature makes it impossible for her to fully contain or own that boundless will on her own. The resolution comes in acknowledging divine initiative: God Himself wills that her will become His own. In other words, God transforms her limited desire so that her will is no longer merely creaturely but is enfolded into and empowered by the infinite divine will.
These questions should help tease out Porete’s central argument: spiritual perfection lies not in strengthening our will, but in its complete surrender, so that only God’s will moves in us.
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Chapter 13 explores how Reason, though content with earlier explanations given for the Actives and Contemplatives, requests clarification for the sake of the common folk, who may struggle to grasp the paradoxes spoken of the annihilated Soul. These paradoxes – such as possessing all things yet nothing, or willing all yet willing nothing – confound Reason, whose natural counsel is to desire holy things, fear sin, and strive for heaven. Yet Love explains that for souls governed by Fine Love, all experiences – honor or shame, torment or comfort, hell or paradise – are equally dear, for they no longer will or not-will anything apart from what God wills in them. These souls are so emptied that God alone moves them, and their peace lies in perfect acquiescence to His will, beyond all personal judgment or preference. They possess all, because they possess God, yet feel they possess nothing, since even divine gifts are counted as nothing compared to God’s very self. Thus, Love reveals that only through the light of faith and the power of divine love can one understand this book’s mysteries, which exceed the grasp of Reason alone.
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1. Reason’s Request for Clarity: “I pray again that you declare them for the sake of the common folk … for there are several double words which are hard to grasp with their intellect.”
Reason recognizes that the paradoxical language (“neither shame nor honor … possesses all and possesses nothing … wills all and wills nothing”) can overwhelm ordinary readers. She asks Love to distill these truths into accessible explanations, so that all-even the “preciously elected”-can see the “true light of Truth” and the “perfection of Charity.”
2. The Double Words Summarized: “This Soul takes no account of shame, nor of honor … and so neither desires nor despises poverty … neither masses nor sermons … neither fasts nor prayers …”
Reason rehearses the core paradoxes: the Annihilated Soul is utterly detached from every pair of opposites-social status, material condition, religious practices, even ultimate destinies. To the natural mind, this appears bizarre: how can a soul thrive without caring for any of these?
3. Love’s First Clarification: Equanimity in All States – “Such Souls … possess as equally dear shame as honor, poverty as wealth, torment as comfort … in hell as in paradise … in small estate as in great … they neither will nor not-will anything of these prosperities nor adversities.”
Love explains that the Annihilated Soul’s indifference is really a perfect equanimity: every condition-honor or shame, plenty or want-matters to her only insofar as God wills it. She neither seeks nor rejects any circumstance; she rests in the one will of God that ordains all things.
4. Love’s Second Clarification: Ignorance of Divine Plan – “These Souls know not what is best for them … nor by what means God wishes to dispense justice or mercy … and for this the Unencumbered Soul possesses no longer any will to will or not-will, except only to will the will of God, and to accept in peace the divine ordinance.”
Beyond equanimity, these souls acknowledge their inability to understand God’s providence. They no longer presume to choose or refuse any path-only to will whatever God wills and to receive it in tranquil obedience. Their peace arises from total trust, not from insight into divine strategies.
5. The Final “All and Nothing” Paradox: “This Soul possesses God by divine grace … and whoever possesses God, possesses all things. And so [the book] says she possesses nothing, for all that this Soul possesses from God … seems to be nothing to her. And thus … she possesses all and so possesses nothing, she knows all and so knows nothing.”
Here Love ties together the chapter’s paradoxes. Possessing God is the only true possession-and it inherently includes everything. Yet because God’s essence infinitely transcends all creaturely gifts, even that possession seems “nothing” to the soul’s eye. Similarly, her infused knowledge (“knows all”) registers as “knowing nothing” beside the infinite Mystery.
In response to Reason’s plea, Love shows that what appear as “double words” of contradiction are in fact expressions of the Annihilated Soul’s radical freedom and unshakeable peace. By surrendering her own will and all creaturely preferences, the soul lives solely by the one will of God, embraces every condition equally, and dwells perpetually in the sufficiency of possessing God alone-paradoxically “all” and “nothing” at once.
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1. Why does Reason ask Love to explain the paradoxes “for the sake of the common folk”?
Because ordinary readers (and even some contemplatives and actives) struggle with the book’s seemingly contradictory phrases-e.g., “possesses all and possesses nothing.” Reason hopes that Love’s plain explanations will illuminate these mysteries so anyone moved by faith and love can grasp them.
2. What does it mean that the Annihilated Soul “possesses shame as honor, poverty as wealth, torment as comfort”?
It means the soul treats every experience-whether painful or pleasurable, lowly or exalted-as equally dear, because she neither seeks nor avoids any state apart from God’s will. All conditions are embraced in perfect equanimity.
3. How can the Soul be “in hell as in paradise,” and why is this not despairing?
This paradox indicates that the soul’s inner peace is unaffected by external circumstances-even the torments of hell or the bliss of paradise. She rests solely in God’s will, so every realm is lived in tranquil obedience, not as judgment or reward but as God’s ordained space of her journey.
4. Why does the Soul “neither desire nor despise” religious practices like Mass, sermons, or prayer?
Because her devotion is no longer dependent on external forms. She remains obedient to Church practices out of love, but her spirit is free: she neither clings to nor rejects these means, seeing them simply as expressions of divine ordinance.
5. What does it signify that the Soul’s “nature is reordered” so she “gives to Nature all she asks … without remorse of conscience”?
Her bodily and emotional needs are met with trust. She cares for herself as necessary, without guilt, because her reordered nature desires only what aligns with God’s will-never seeking excess, never rejecting life’s necessities.
6. How does Love address Reason’s claim that the Soul “possesses all and so possesses nothing”?
Love explains that true possession is having God (who contains all things). To the soul’s eyes, however, even God’s gift seems “nothing” compared to the infinite Mystery. Thus she truly has “all,” yet experientially “nothing.”
7. Why does the Soul “know all and so knows nothing”?
Her infused understanding grasps divine mysteries (“knows all”), but relative to God’s infinite essence, her knowledge remains an unmeasurable “nothing.” She is aware both of her union and of her unknowing before the divine Mystery.
8. What practical effect does this radical equanimity have on the Soul’s peace?
Because she wills only what God wills-without preference for pleasure or avoidance of pain-she is never disturbed by life’s ups and downs. Her peace is anchored in divine love, not in shifting circumstances or personal desires.
9. How do faith and love function as “two strings in the bow” for those striving?
Reason notes that only those armed with faith (trust in God) and love (the soul’s surrendered affection) can live into these paradoxes. With these virtues, one is free to “love and do what you will,” reflecting St. Augustine’s maxim on love’s primacy over law.
These questions should help navigate the chapter’s challenging contrasts and see how they reveal the soul’s complete freedom in God.
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Chapter 14 teaches that the Soul, through the virtue of Faith, comes to a profound contemplative understanding of God’s nature and the mystery of the Incarnation. She knows by faith that God is all-powerful, all-wise, and perfectly good, and that the work of the Incarnation was accomplished by the unified action of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – each fully participating in joining human nature to the divine person of the Son. While God Himself remains one in divine nature, the person of the Son now possesses both divine and human natures – body and soul – without division, and is thus uniquely the point of union between God and humanity. True contemplation lies in believing, speaking, and thinking in accordance with this mystery of the Trinity: three persons in one God, one power, one wisdom, one will. God’s divine nature fills all things, while the glorified humanity of Christ is in paradise and in the Sacrament of the Altar, making this mystery both heavenly and sacramental.
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1. “She knows, says Love, by the virtue of Faith, that God is all Power, and all Wisdom, and perfect Goodness …”
Porete begins by grounding the Soul’s knowledge of God not in speculative reason but in the virtue of Faith. Faith here is presented as a participatory gift that enables the soul to affirm God’s attributes: omnipotence, omniscience, and perfect benevolence. This establishes that true contemplation of God arises from faith’s assent to the divine self-revelation.
2. ” …and that God the Father has accomplished the work of the Incarnation, and the Son also and the Holy Spirit also.”
Love emphasizes the joint action of all three Persons of the Trinity in the Incarnation. The Father “accomplished” it by will, the Son by assumption of human nature, and the Spirit by effecting unity. This triune work underscores the coherence of divine action: one salvific plan enacted by Father, Son, and Spirit.
3. “Thus God the Father has joined human nature to the person of God the Son, and the person of God the Son has joined [human nature] to the person of Himself, and God the Holy Spirit has joined [human nature] to the person of God the Son.”
This compact Trinitarian schema affirms the hypostatic union: the Father’s will, the Son’s person, and the Spirit’s indwelling all converge to unite human nature with the second Person. The repetition highlights different roles-begetting, assuming, and indwelling-while maintaining that it is a single, indivisible union.
4. “So then God possesses in Him one sole nature, that is divine nature; and the person of the Son possesses in Him three natures, that is, this same nature which the Father possesses, and the nature of the soul and the nature of the body, and is a person of the Trinity; and the Holy Spirit possesses in Him this same divine nature which the Father and the Son possess.”
Porete here articulates two key nuptial paradoxes:
Divine Simplicity: The Trinity shares one divine nature-undivided and co-essential.
Christ’s Person: The Son uniquely possesses three natures-divine, human soul, and human body-while remaining one Person. This succinctly conveys orthodox Christology: one Person, two natures, yet here expanded to three to distinguish the soul and body.
5. “To believe this, to say this, to think this is true contemplation. This is one Power, one Wisdom, and one Will. One God alone in three persons, three persons and one God alone.”
Contemplation is defined as faith-filled affirmation of Trinitarian mystery. Knowledge of divine simplicity and unity in distinction is not an abstract puzzle but the essence of mystical vision. The soul, by faith, participates in the triune attributes as co-identical in the Godhead.
6. “This God is everywhere in His divine nature, but humanity is glorified in paradise, joined to the person of the Son as well as to the Sacrament of the Altar.”
Porete contrasts God’s omnipresence with humanity’s localized glorification. Though God’s nature fills all things, human nature is exalted only in two “paradisal” unions-eternal (heaven) and eucharistic (the altar). This underscores the sacramental economy: the Incarnation and Eucharist as two loci where human nature truly participates in divine life.
Final Analysis:
In this chapter, Porete uses faith as the lens for true theological knowledge, summarizing the core mysteries of Trinity and Incarnation in a manner accessible to the soul “annihilated” by love. She presents these dogmas not as intellectual abstractions, but as mystical horizons-the very substance of contemplative union. By affirming that “to believe, to say, to think” these truths is contemplation, she unites orthodox doctrine with apophatic practice, showing that the soul’s simplest acts of faith are themselves windows into divine mystery.
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1. What faculty allows the Soul to understand God according to this chapter?
The Soul understands God by the virtue of Faith, not by natural reason. Faith enables her to affirm God’s nature and the mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation.
2. What are the essential attributes of God that the Soul knows through Faith?
She knows that God is all Power, all Wisdom, and perfect Goodness.
3. How does Porete describe the involvement of the Trinity in the Incarnation?
Porete teaches that all three Persons of the Trinity are involved:
* The Father joins human nature to the Son.
* The Son joins human nature to Himself.
* The Holy Spirit also joins human nature to the Son.
This shows the unity and cooperation of the Trinity in salvation history.
4. According to this chapter, how many natures does the person of the Son possess?
The Son possesses three natures:
* Divine nature (shared with the Father and the Spirit)
* Human soul
* Human body
This is Porete’s way of describing the full reality of the Incarnate Word.
5. What does Porete define as “true contemplation”?
To believe, say, and think these Trinitarian and Christological truths is true contemplation. For Porete, contemplating God consists in resting faithfully in these revealed mysteries.
6. How does Porete affirm the doctrine of the Trinity?
She states: “One Power, one Wisdom, and one Will. One God alone in three persons, three persons and one God alone.” This affirms the unity of essence and distinction of persons central to Trinitarian belief.
7. Where is God said to be present in His divine nature, and where is glorified humanity located?
God is everywhere in His divine nature (omnipresence), while glorified humanity is in paradise and joined to the person of the Son in heaven and to the Sacrament of the Altar on earth.
8. What is the significance of the Sacrament of the Altar in this context?
The Sacrament of the Altar (the Eucharist) is one of the two places where humanity is joined to the person of the Son-the other being in paradise. It affirms the real presence of Christ and the exaltation of human nature through the Eucharist.
9. How does Porete present the mystery of contemplation as mirroring the mystery of the Trinity and the Incarnation, and what does this suggest about the nature of union between the soul and God?
Porete presents contemplation not merely as intellectual reflection but as a participation in divine mysteries. To “believe, say, and think” the truths of the Trinity and Incarnation is, for her, true contemplation-suggesting that the soul’s contemplative union with God mirrors the interpersonal unity of the Trinity and the joining of divine and human natures in Christ. Just as the Trinity acts as one in the Incarnation, and just as human nature is united to God in the person of the Son, so too the contemplative soul is joined to God in an intimate and mystical union. This implies that contemplation is not separate from doctrine but is the soul’s interior participation in the same unity that defines God’s own being and action.
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Chapter 15 teaches that the Holy Sacrament of the Altar is the means by which true Christians receive both the divinity and the humanity of Christ, not through sensory perception but through the Light of Faith. While the physical senses detect only bread, faith affirms with certainty the real presence of Christ’s glorified body – true God and true man – ordained by the Trinity for the nourishment of the Church. This presence is not subject to human or angelic vision, even in glory, but is known spiritually and sacramentally by faith. The chapter emphasizes that Christ’s humanity in the Eucharist neither comes nor goes in a physical sense but remains as ordained by divine power, accessible only to faith, not reason or sense. The Soul, illuminated by divine light, enters into union with Love through this mystery, desiring to be dissolved entirely into the will of the Beloved. Thus, profound union and spiritual nourishment come through the subtle perception of the intellect enlightened by faith and love, not by outward signs.
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1. “True Christians receive this divinity and this humanity when they take the Holy Sacrament of the Altar.”
Porete begins by affirming the profound reality of the Eucharist: it is not symbolic but the true reception of both the divinity and humanity of Christ. The emphasis is on the real presence, experienced by those who are genuinely united to God in love and faith. She is not explaining it in scholastic terms but rooting the mystery in lived spiritual participation.
2. “Take this Sacrament, place it in a mortar with other things, and grind this Sacrament until you can no longer see nor feel the Person… I tell you truly… He is not there.”
This startling image emphasizes the sacramental presence of Christ: His presence is not physical in the way ordinary objects are. Once the accidents (appearance of bread) are destroyed, the Real Presence ceases. But Porete insists we must “understand in a holy way,” not as though Christ is coming and going in a spatial sense. The presence is mysterious, sacramental, and wholly governed by divine ordinance, not human logic or perception.
3. “The humanity of Jesus Christ neither comes nor goes.”
This statement echoes orthodox Eucharistic theology while transcending it through mystical language. Christ’s humanity is eternally joined to the Godhead and remains constant; what changes is our perceptibility of His presence. The sacramental modality of Christ’s presence is not subject to physical movement or change.
4. “Those in glory … no longer see Him glorified except by [this] intellect.”
This is a remarkable mystical insight: even the blessed in heaven, including angels and saints, see Christ’s Eucharistic presence not sensibly, but spiritually, through the intellect of the spirit. Porete aligns the soul’s faith-driven vision of Christ in the Eucharist with the beatific knowledge of the glorified, but notes a difference: the glorified no longer need faith, while we still believe in what we cannot see.
5. “We see [the glorified humanity] by the virtue of Faith … our faith contradicts all these [senses] …”
Here, the heroism of faith is lifted up. Despite all appearances, faith insists that this is not bread but the precious body of Christ. Porete thus champions a faith that transcends the senses, inviting the soul to rest in divine certainty, not empirical evidence.
6. “The divine Trinity has ordained the Holy Sacrament … for the purpose of feeding and nourishing and sustaining the Holy Church.”
Porete underscores the ecclesial and nourishing purpose of the Eucharist. This is not a private spiritual experience but one meant to sustain the whole Church-a Trinitarian gift designed for communal growth into divine union.
7. “No one can arrive at a profound depth … without … subtlety of a great natural sense and … the Light of Intellect of the Spirit.”
Here we see the mystical epistemology that undergirds the entire book: knowledge of divine mysteries cannot come from reason alone. It requires a refined spiritual intuition, a spiritual intellect, and ultimately a transcendent love. The soul must be made subtle, receptive, and one in will with God.
8. “She comes from Love and there she wishes to be dissolved … to possess only one will in Love: that is, the sole will of the one whom she loves.”
Porete ends the chapter by returning to the theme of total union through love. The Eucharist is not only a sacrament of presence-it is also the means by which the soul is drawn back into her origin in Love, dissolved of all self-will, and made one with the divine. This is the ultimate fruit of the Sacrament: mystical union with Love itself.
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1. What do true Christians receive in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, according to Porete?
They receive both the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. The sacrament is not merely symbolic; it is a real participation in the fullness of Christ. This reception is understood through faith, not through the senses or reason.
2. What does Porete’s metaphor of grinding the sacrament in a mortar teach us about Christ’s Eucharistic presence?
It teaches that Christ’s sacramental presence is not material in the way ordinary physical objects are. Once the visible form is destroyed, the presence ceases-not because Christ “comes and goes,” but because His presence is divinely ordained and bound to the form of the sacrament. His humanity “neither comes nor goes” in a physical sense; it remains eternally joined to the divine, but the sacramental mode of presence depends on divine will.
3. Why does Porete say that even the saints and angels see Christ’s Eucharistic presence in the same way as we do?
Because no one, not even those in glory, sees the glorified humanity of Christ in the Eucharist by the senses. Rather, it is seen through the intellect of the spirit. In heaven, faith is no longer needed, but even there, the Eucharistic presence is not a matter of physical sight-it is a spiritual perception.
4. How does faith operate in contrast to sensory experience in the Eucharist?
Faith contradicts the senses. While the eyes, taste, smell, and touch perceive only bread, faith affirms that what is truly present is the precious body of Jesus Christ, both true God and true man. Faith goes beyond sensory data and affirms divine truth.
5. What is the ultimate purpose of the Sacrament of the Altar according to this chapter?
It is ordained by the Divine Trinity to feed, nourish, and sustain the Holy Church. The Eucharist is not just a mystical experience for individuals but a sacrament of communion and support for the entire Body of Christ.
6. According to Porete, what is required to penetrate the depth of this mystery?
One must have great natural subtlety, the Light of the Intellect of the Spirit, and deep inner refinement. Divine mysteries are not accessed through ordinary reasoning, but through illumined intellect and spiritual intuition, guided by love.
7. How does the soul participate in the Eucharistic mystery through love?
The soul, born of Love, longs to return to Love and be dissolved into it, so that it no longer possesses a separate will. In the Eucharist, the soul is drawn into union, receiving the being toward which she tends, resting in God alone with one will: the will of her Beloved.
Commentary on Chapters 14 and 15:
The placement of Chapter 15 directly after Chapter 14 is not accidental. Porete is offering a profound mystical theology of union, and she does so by unfolding it in three successive modes:
Chapter 14: The Incarnation and Hypostatic Union – She presents the union of divine and human natures in the Person of Christ, emphasizing the Trinity’s unified action. This is the foundational ontological union-God becoming man.
Chapter 15: The Eucharist (Real Presence) – She then transitions to the sacramental presence, where the union of Christ’s humanity and divinity is communicated to us. The Eucharist becomes the means by which Christ’s Hypostatic Union becomes present to the Church and intimately interiorized by the soul.
Implied Continuity: Union in Contemplation – Though not yet fully developed in these chapters, Porete is leading toward the final mystical union, where the soul, simplified and annihilated, comes to rest in God alone, as Christ is fully present in her by grace and love, just as He is in the Eucharist.
In this structure, Porete is subtly showing that:
* The Incarnation is not just a historical event, but a template for union.
* The Eucharist is not just a sacrament, but a real mode of that union made available to the soul.
* The contemplative union is not a metaphor – it is a participation in the same mystery: the joining of human and divine in love.
Christological and sacramental realism undergirds Porete’s mysticism. Her radical contemplative path is not disembodied – it’s grounded in the concrete reality of Christ, both in history and in the Eucharist.
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Chapter 16 teaches that the Soul united to God through Love and Faith lives in a profound simplicity and surrender, in which she “knows all and knows nothing” and “wills all and wills nothing.” This paradox arises because the Soul knows all that is necessary for salvation through faith, yet remains ignorant of the hidden workings of God within her, which He alone possesses and does not share. Likewise, she wills only what God wills in her, and so her own will is entirely relinquished, made “nothing” in light of God’s sufficiency. Because of this complete rest in the divine will, she desires nothing external – not masses, prayers, fasts, or even anxiety over sin – since her whole being is immersed in the eternal presence of God, who is equally present with or without such practices. She is beyond self-concern, sin, or fear, as her peace is fixed in the Trinity. Though she has no anxiety, her love for others remains pure; if she could help her neighbor, she would do so fully. Yet her thoughts are so divinely focused, unimpeded by created things, that no worldly concern can stir her inner rest, which reflects the tranquil and all-sufficient goodness of God Himself.
—
1. “Reason, says Love, to what I said, that the Unencumbered Soul knows all and so knows nothing, I answer you that she knows by the virtue of Faith what is necessary for her to know for her salvation.”
Love clarifies to Reason that the soul’s knowledge operates on two levels. By Faith, the soul knows all that is essential for salvation. This is not empirical or speculative knowledge but sufficient and salvific. At the same time, the soul “knows nothing” of what God alone knows and does within her. Thus, mystical union transcends discursive understanding-it is a knowing through unknowing.
2. “She wills all things, says Love, and so wills nothing; for this Soul … wills so perfectly the will of God that she neither knows, nor is able, nor wills in her own will except the will of God.”
This paradox captures the soul’s total conformity to God. She is so united with the divine will that she can be said to will “everything” (because she embraces God’s total will) and “nothing” (because she has no personal or separate will). This is the annihilation of self-will in the fire of divine charity.
3. “This daughter of Zion desires neither masses nor sermons, neither fasts nor prayers.”
At first glance, this seems iconoclastic, even heretical-but Love makes a distinction. These practices are good for those still begging (i.e., seeking God), but this soul no longer begs. She possesses God. For her, external means are not necessary because she abides in the divine presence always, without mediation.
4. “Why would this Soul desire these things named above since God is surely everywhere, without this as with this?”
This rhetorical question underscores the soul’s radical detachment from created means. The presence of God is not confined to rituals or devotional acts. The soul sees God everywhere and in everything, hence has no need to chase after Him in particular actions.
5. “This Soul has no anxiety about sin which she might have ever committed … nor about the sins or anxiety in which her neighbors remain.”
The soul’s detachment extends even to the past and the sufferings of others. But this is not indifference-it is the fruit of resting in God’s perfect will and providence. She is so united to God’s will that His displeasure at sin becomes hers, but she is not anxious, because anxiety implies disunion, and she is at rest in God.
6. “This means, says Love, that this Soul does not belong to herself, which is why she cannot have anxiety. For her thought is at rest in a peaceful place, that is, in the Trinity.”
Here is the heart of Porete’s mystical theology: self-annihilation leads to divine rest. The soul no longer belongs to herself-her ego is gone. As a result, she has no anxiety, no striving, no disturbance. She rests in the Trinity, in a state of pure being, beyond all fear or concern.
7. “It is His displeasure itself which gives to this Soul such displeasure.”
This subtle line highlights that even the soul’s sense of moral repulsion at sin is not her own. Her response is not moralism but participation: she feels God’s own sorrow, not by effort but by union.
8. “The Trinity has no anxiety in her on account of such displeasure, and so also this Soul who is at rest in [the Trinity] has no anxiety.”
Because God is not anxious, neither is the soul who rests in God. This mystical calm coexists with sorrow for sin and compassion for others, but it remains free of turbulence. It is a peaceful sorrow, a serene compassion-marks of perfect charity.
—
1. What does it mean that the soul “knows all and so knows nothing”?
The soul “knows all” through the virtue of Faith, meaning she knows everything necessary for salvation without needing discursive knowledge. Yet she “knows nothing” of what God works in her by Himself, since this action is beyond her comprehension. Her knowledge is thus total in one sense (by faith) and nonexistent in another (by mystical unknowing).
2. Why does Love say the soul “wills all things and so wills nothing”?
Because the soul is perfectly conformed to the will of God, she wills all that God wills. Yet since her will is completely surrendered, she has no independent will of her own-hence, she wills “nothing.” Her own will is annihilated in the divine will.
3. Why does this soul no longer desire masses, sermons, fasts, or prayers?
Because she no longer seeks God-she possesses Him. These devotional practices are useful for those still on the way (the “beggars”), but she is already united with God and sees Him in all things, at all times. Thus, external means are no longer necessary for her communion with Him.
4. Is this rejection of external devotions a condemnation of them?
No. Love affirms that such devotions are good and necessary for many souls. But this particular soul has moved beyond them, not out of contempt, but because her interior union with God is so complete that nothing external adds to her relationship with Him.
5. Why does this soul have no anxiety about her past sins or the sins of others?
Because she no longer belongs to herself-her selfhood is lost in God. She shares in God’s displeasure at sin, but without being disturbed or anxious. Her rest in the Trinity is so profound that even sorrow is free of inner turmoil.
6. What does Love mean when she says the soul “does not belong to herself”?
It means the soul has undergone complete self-surrender and annihilation of ego. She has no self-will, no self-possession, no sense of personal agency apart from God. She exists entirely within and from God’s will.
7. Does this union with God make the soul indifferent to others?
No. If she could help others, she would do so with all her power. Her thoughts are simply so united to the divine that she is not disturbed by others’ struggles; she shares God’s own compassion, but without being drawn into anxious striving.
8. How does the soul’s state reflect the nature of God Himself?
Because God is without anxiety-even in His displeasure at sin-the soul united with Him shares this divine serenity. Her compassion is God’s compassion, and her peace is God’s peace. She is thus a mirror of divine life: sorrowful without despair, active without agitation, present without striving.
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Chapter 17 teaches that the Soul united to God through Love lives in such pure righteousness and divine simplicity that she gives to Nature all that it legitimately requires without guilt or spiritual disturbance. These Souls are entirely detached from temporal possessions, not out of ascetic effort or moral calculation, but because their interior peace rests so wholly in God that anxiety over earthly needs is impossible for them – even if they were to live until the end of time. If they possess anything and know another is in greater need, they would give it away without hesitation, even in the face of absolute scarcity, because their justice and charity are divine in origin and unclouded by self-interest. Their peace and innocence are so profound that to deny Nature its rightful sustenance would be, for them, a breach of divine righteousness and a disturbance of the harmony in which they live. They use the elements and all created things with the same innocent freedom that comes from God’s original intent in creation, and they dwell in a spiritual condition beyond guilt or grasping, upheld by a “high place” of inner repose established in Love.
—
1. “This Soul gives to Nature whatever she asks. And it is true, says Love, that this Soul has neither care nor love for temporal things which she would know how to gain in refusing Nature her demand …”
The Soul, fully united with God, no longer clings to or values temporal things. She grants Nature what is needed without resistance or anxiety, not out of indulgence but because refusal would arise from selfishness or guilt. Her purity allows her to respond freely to natural needs without attachment.
2. “But such creatures are so excellent that one would not dare to speak overtly about them, especially about their practice by which these Souls possess being from good intellect.”
Love emphasizes the hidden and sacred nature of such souls, warning against revealing too much lest those with “simple intellects” misunderstand and misuse the teaching. These souls live from a divinely illumined intellect, rare and easily misjudged.
3. “Such Souls… possess, by righteousness of their being which is pure and divine being, such a condition within them that they possess nothing.”
This radical dispossession is not merely external but existential-they possess nothing, not even spiritually, except God. Their confidence in divine providence is total; they remain untroubled even if deprived of all earthly means until Judgment Day.
4. “If they possess something … and should they know that others might have greater need than they, such Souls would never withhold anything …”
These souls, moved by Divine Love, are utterly selfless. Even if famine loomed and no more sustenance would grow, they would still give freely. This generosity arises not from moral obligation but from the perfection of divine justice living within them.
5. “Such is their nature, through pure righteousness; and such righteousness is Divine Righteousness, who has given his measure to the Soul.”
Their generosity and non-possession are not just virtues but the outworking of Divine Righteousness itself in the soul. They have become the living measure of God’s justice and love-what they do is the expression of God’s own rightness.
6. “Why would such Souls feel guilty about taking what is necessary if necessity asks it?… Who would make his conscience guilty about taking the necessities from the four elements …?”
Love uses the image of the four elements to affirm that such souls receive necessities from creation as innocently and peacefully as breathing air or feeling warmth. Their communion with God frees them from guilt and inner conflict in receiving what is needed.
7. “They possess the good foundation, says Love, and the high place which holds them in repose from all things.”
Ultimately, these souls are anchored in divine peace, a “high place” above conflict, anxiety, or lack. They are not indifferent, but at rest-freely responding to the needs of Nature and neighbor without any loss of interior stillness.
—
1. What does it mean that the Soul “gives to Nature whatever she asks”?
It means the Soul, having no attachment to temporal possessions or self-will, does not resist the natural needs of the body. She freely allows Nature to be sustained with what is necessary without guilt or conflict, because she lives in total simplicity and innocence.
2. Why does Love caution against speaking overtly about these Souls and their practices?
Love warns that such Souls are so spiritually advanced and their practices so subtle that those with “simple intellects” might misunderstand them, potentially harming themselves or misapplying the teaching. The depth of their life in God is too easily misread.
3. How does such a Soul view the idea of possession?
The Soul lives in a state of total dispossession-she “possesses nothing” in the deepest sense. Her being is so aligned with Divine Righteousness that she holds on to nothing, even spiritually, except God. Her identity is one of radical freedom and unownership.
4. What would such a Soul do if someone else had a greater need than she?
She would give freely, without hesitation, even if it meant she would be left with nothing. Her charity is so pure that even the threat of future deprivation would not stop her from helping someone in greater need.
5. How does Divine Righteousness justify the actions of these Souls regarding giving and receiving necessities?
Divine Righteousness affirms that it is just for these Souls to take what is necessary and to give freely. It argues that guilt would only arise from selfish withholding, not from innocent use of creation. Their righteousness is itself a participation in God’s justice.
6. What is the significance of the example of the four elements?
The example illustrates how these Souls receive from creation without guilt, just as one naturally accepts light or warmth. Their relationship to created things is innocent, untroubled, and free from possessiveness-they take only what Nature requires, with complete peace of heart.
7. What sustains the peace and freedom of such Souls?
Their peace comes from their rootedness in Divine Love and Righteousness. They rest in the “high place” of God’s own life and will, beyond anxiety or self-concern. Their repose is total-they are not anxious even about their own survival, trusting completely in God.
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Chapter 18 teaches that souls deeply transformed by divine Love no longer know how to speak of God, not out of ignorance but because their knowledge has been drawn into the mystery of unknowing. They cannot say where God is or who God is in the ordinary way, because true divine Love has overtaken them with such subtlety and surprise that all creaturely modes of speaking fall away. Those who speak of God freely and with certainty have not been touched by the pure seed of divine Love, which removes the impulse to articulate and replaces it with silent understanding. In such souls, comprehension is profound yet fleeting, as the subtle presence of the divine Lover causes them to grasp much and quickly forget, not through confusion but through a divine forgetfulness that keeps them ever open and emptied for Love.
—
1. “Such creatures know no longer how to speak of God, for they know not how to say where God is any more than how to say who God is.”
This opening statement emphasizes the deep unknowing that characterizes the soul united with God. The soul, immersed in Divine Love, transcends all conceptual and locational knowledge of God. The inability to speak of God is not ignorance but the fruit of a union so intimate that God exceeds all names and categories. It signals a contemplative realization beyond discursive reason.
2. “For whoever speaks of God when he wishes and to whom he wishes and where he wishes to speak, must not doubt, but know without doubt… such a one never once felt the true seed of divine Love…”
Here, Love rebukes those who speak easily or confidently of God. True divine Love humbles the soul, striking it with awe and a kind of wordless astonishment. The soul that feels this “true seed” is rendered silent, no longer able to speak of God as if He were an object to be grasped or discussed at will. The mark of divine Love is reverent muteness, not spiritual verbosity.
3. “…which makes the Soul completely surprised without being aware of it.”
The encounter with Divine Love is so profound it catches the soul off guard, awakening it to a reality too vast and subtle to be articulated. This surprise is not emotional shock but a contemplative displacement-being drawn out of oneself into the mystery of God, beyond self-awareness or spiritual self-possession.
4. “For the true pure seed of divine Love, without creaturely matter, which is given by the Creator to the creature…”
The divine Love that transforms the soul is purely spiritual-“without creaturely matter”-and directly imparted by God. It is not mediated through sense, intellect, or created forms. This purity strips the soul of any ability or even desire to reduce God to concepts or language.
5. “And the custom of such Souls is to understand much and to forget quickly through the subtlety of the Lover.”
The final line beautifully captures the paradox of contemplative knowing. These souls “understand much,” not in the sense of accumulating knowledge, but of being infused with divine understanding. Yet they “forget quickly,” not from weakness but because the Divine Lover moves so subtly that nothing is clung to. This forgetting is the fruit of being led continually into deeper silence, trust, and surrender.
—
1. Why do such souls no longer speak of God?
Because they no longer know how to speak of God-neither where God is nor who God is. Their union with God transcends all conceptual and verbal categories. They have entered into a state of divine unknowing where language fails and silence becomes the truest expression of their experience.
2. What does the Soul imply about those who speak of God freely and confidently?
The Soul criticizes such behavior, asserting that those who can speak of God “when he wishes and to whom he wishes” have never truly experienced the “pure seed of divine Love.” True divine Love leaves the soul awestruck and silent, not talkative or presumptuous.
3. What is the “true pure seed of divine Love,” and what does it do to the soul?
It is a gift directly from the Creator, unmediated by created things (“without creaturely matter”), which utterly transforms the soul. This divine seed removes the soul’s ability and inclination to speak about God, replacing it with a silent, deep, contemplative knowing.
4. What is meant by the soul being “completely surprised without being aware of it”?
This describes a mystical experience of divine encounter that transcends even the soul’s conscious awareness. The soul is overtaken by God in such a subtle and total way that it cannot reflect on itself or the experience-it simply abides in the mystery.
5. How does the chapter describe the intellectual disposition of such souls?
These souls “understand much and forget quickly.” This paradox means that while they are filled with divine insight, they do not cling to thoughts or retain them as possessions. Their understanding flows from the subtle presence of the Divine Lover and quickly dissolves into deeper silence.
6. What is the significance of “forgetting quickly” in this context?
“Forgetfulness” here is not a lack but a spiritual grace. It signifies the soul’s detachment from even spiritual understanding. The soul follows the movement of God moment to moment, without clinging to past illuminations, thus remaining wholly surrendered and open.
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Chapter 19 teaches that the most exalted souls-those who are entirely surrendered to God-remain hidden, not only from the world but even from the highest theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity. These virtues dwell within the souls and serve them, yet cannot fully comprehend their identity or worth, which is known to God alone. Such souls surpass the understanding of the institutional Church (called here “Holy Church the Little”), for they belong to a deeper spiritual reality governed by Divine Love (“Holy Church the Great”). Their lives are not defined by desire or will but by total self-emptying, making them uniquely receptive to God’s noblest gifts. They are royal in dignity-daughters, sisters, and spouses of the King-yet entirely unknowable except by the One who created and continually re-creates them through Love.
1. “O Holy Trinity, say Faith, Hope, and Charity, where are such supreme Souls who are such as this book describes? Who are they? Where are they? What do they do?”
The theological virtues-Faith, Hope, and Charity-express a yearning to locate and understand these exalted souls. Their questions highlight both the mystery and the hiddenness of these souls, even to divine virtues themselves, suggesting that such souls are rare, veiled, and surpass ordinary spiritual categories. The amazement of the Church is anticipated, underlining how these souls exceed the expectations of conventional religious understanding.
2. “In truth, Holy Church the Little, says Love; this is the Church who is governed by Reason, and not Holy Church the Great, says Divine Love, who is governed by us.”
Love distinguishes between two “Churches”: one governed by Reason (“Holy Church the Little”) and another governed by Divine Love (“Holy Church the Great”). This reflects a mystical hierarchy-those led by rational structures versus those moved entirely by divine infusion. The souls described here belong to the latter, and thus, their lives remain incomprehensible to those guided only by Reason.
3. “Without fail, as you know, says Love, a thing which God has created knows not how to find these Souls.”
No created being, not even the theological virtues themselves, can fully locate or identify these souls. They dwell in a divine hiddenness that makes them spiritually elusive. This reinforces their sanctity: they live in union with God beyond created categories.
4. “You are with them in all moments of the hours, for you make them noble.”
Faith, Hope, and Charity may not comprehend the full nature of these souls, but they are constantly present within them and elevate their dignity. The virtues are servants and adornments of these souls, not their origin or measure.
5. “But who they are-for the purpose of speaking of their worth and their dignity-this is known neither to you nor to them, which is why the Holy Church cannot know it.”
Their true identity and divine nobility are unknowable even to themselves and to the virtues that dwell in them. This is the reason why institutional religion (Holy Church) cannot grasp them. They are known only to God, existing in a hiddenness akin to the hidden life of Christ.
6. “God alone, says Love, who has created them and redeemed them, and perhaps re-created them many times for the sake of Love by whom alone they are exiled, annihilated and forgotten.”
God alone knows these souls, having not only created and redeemed them but also “re-created” them repeatedly through trials and self-emptying love. Their lives involve continual annihilation of self and forgetfulness of self in divine Love-a process unintelligible to natural or ecclesial categories.
7. “Are not all the Virtues praised, written and commanded for the sake of these Souls, and not the Souls for the sake of the Virtues?”
This bold inversion elevates these souls above even the virtues. Virtues exist for their perfection, not the other way around. The soul, in its highest state, is not formed by virtues but is served by them, being receptive only to God.
8. “Whoever wishes to have these gifts [must] accompany neither desire nor will, for otherwise he will not have [the gifts].”
To receive the sublime gifts of divine nobility, the soul must be emptied of all desire and self-will. This teaching reflects the theme of annihilation-only through complete detachment can one receive God’s highest favors.
9. “No created thing enters within their souls except God alone who created the Souls.”
This closing line sums up the chapter’s vision of the soul’s inaccessibility. Even the highest spiritual powers, the Church, and the virtues cannot penetrate these souls-only God dwells within them. This radical theocentrism excludes all creaturely intrusion and places these souls in a unique intimacy with God alone.
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1. Why do Faith, Hope, and Charity ask Love about the souls described in the book?
They are astounded by the sublimity of these souls and seek to understand who they are, where they are, and what they do, especially since these souls seem hidden and surpass normal categories of sanctity. Their inquiry reflects the mystery surrounding such souls, even to the highest theological virtues.
2. What distinction does Love make between the “Holy Church the Little” and the “Holy Church the Great”?
“Holy Church the Little” is governed by Reason and represents the institutional or rationally organized Church. In contrast, “Holy Church the Great” is governed by Divine Love and is aligned with these exalted souls. The latter transcends rational comprehension and reflects a mystical, God-governed reality.
3. Why does Love say that no created thing can know who these souls are?
Because these souls are hidden in God alone. Even the virtues that dwell in them-Faith, Hope, and Charity-do not know their full identity or worth. Only God, who created and continually re-creates them through love, knows them fully.
4. What is the relationship between these souls and the theological virtues?
The virtues dwell within these souls and make them noble, but they do not define the souls. Instead, the virtues are said to exist for the sake of these souls, not the other way around. This reveals the radical exaltation of such souls and their primacy in God’s plan.
5. What is required of a soul to receive the singular gifts of divine nobility mentioned in the chapter?
The soul must completely renounce desire and self-will. Only in such emptiness and surrender can the soul be receptive to the pure gifts of divine nobility, which God does not bestow on those who remain attached to personal desire or volition.
6. Why can’t even Holy Church understand these souls, according to Love?
Because Holy Church, as a created reality, cannot enter into or comprehend the interior of these souls. Only God, who dwells in them and created them, knows them intimately. Their nature and union with God are beyond all creaturely knowledge or ecclesial recognition.
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Chapter 20 teaches that the exalted souls who are united to God are ultimately known and understood only by God Himself, not even by other souls who may share in similar spiritual graces. Although these rare souls-“those-who-are-such”-may recognize one another through shared divine practice and the singular gift bestowed on them, they cannot fully comprehend each other’s dignity, for that remains a mystery held by God alone. Reason is humbled by this truth and stands in awe of the uniqueness and divine origin of such souls. Love affirms that all human and created understanding, even enlightened or spiritually elevated, falls short of grasping the full measure of God’s intimate work in the soul. This chapter emphasizes the transcendence and incomprehensibility of divine union.
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1. Reason: “You say that no one understands these souls except God who created them.”
Reason repeats the central claim from earlier: the ultimate mystery of these exalted souls lies beyond all created comprehension. This sets the stage for a further probing into whether even similar souls might have some knowledge of one another.
2. Love: “Those-who-are-such, if they were, or if they are, would understand their companions by their practice, but even more by the virtue of the gift which is given to them, which is singular.”
Love affirms that souls of the same kind-those fully united to God-can recognize one another through their spiritual practice and especially through the shared divine gift that marks them. However, this recognition is not total comprehension; it is a fellowship of likeness in being and grace.
3. Reason: “Singular, says Reason, and without fail it is singular, for in hearing it I am singularly amazed.”
Reason, despite being a faculty of order and analysis, is overwhelmed by the uniqueness of the gift given to these souls. The repetition of the word “singular” emphasizes both the rarity and incomparability of such spiritual states. Even Reason can do nothing but marvel.
4. Love: “Even so such souls would not understand the dignity of these Souls, for God alone understands them, God who created them.”
Even among souls of the same lofty rank, full knowledge of one another’s inner worth and divine elevation is impossible. Their dignity is known only to God. This reaffirms a major theme: the soul’s ultimate identity and glory are hidden in God alone, never fully accessible to creation-even to other exalted souls.
This chapter clarifies an apparent paradox: while these souls can recognize each other by shared divine life and practice, the depths of their identity remain veiled, known only to their Creator.
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1. What is Reason’s concern at the beginning of this chapter?
Reason is troubled by the idea that no one understands the exalted souls except God and wants clarification, especially since the book also suggests that similar souls might recognize each other.
2. How does Love clarify the nature of this recognition among such souls?
Love explains that those-who-are-such (souls united to God) can recognize each other, not through full comprehension, but by their shared spiritual practice and more deeply by the singular divine gift they have received.
3. What is the meaning of the word “singular” in this context?
“Singular” refers to the utterly unique and incomparable nature of the divine gift given to these souls. Reason is struck by this and repeats the word to express both intellectual and spiritual amazement.
4. Can even other perfect souls understand the full dignity of these exalted souls?
No, Love insists that even souls who share in this divine union cannot comprehend the full dignity of their companions; only God, who created them, can know their true worth.
5. What does this exchange reveal about the limitations of both reason and spiritual likeness in grasping divine mystery?
It shows that reason can recognize its limits and be amazed by divine mysteries, and even spiritual likeness cannot penetrate the full depth of God’s work in a soul. Only God fully knows the soul He has formed and exalted.