Chapter 131: first half
In the first part of Chapter 131, the Soul expresses a radical and absolute surrender to the will of God, desiring nothing for herself apart from what pleases Him. She contemplates her own nonexistence, torment, loss, or annihilation as preferable to even the slightest deviation from His will. Her meditations reveal a pure, self-emptying love that values God’s pleasure above all things-even above divine gifts, eternal glory, or her own salvation. She would rather Christ suffer again, or all creation return to nothingness, than commit a single act contrary to God’s desire. This chapter reveals the height of mystical detachment and love: the soul’s total conformity to the divine will, where even suffering or loss is embraced joyfully if it arises from God and serves His purpose.
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1. “I pondered, in light of my wretchedness and in light of His goodness, what I could do to calm myself about Him. And I placed myself in meditation by the pondering of a comparison with the consent of my will without turning back.”
The soul reflects deeply on her own unworthiness and God’s immeasurable goodness. Her response is not despair but surrender-she consents to the divine will absolutely, anchoring herself in unwavering meditation on God’s desire, not her own.
2. “If it were possible that I never had existed, so that I never would have done evil against His will, if this would please Him, it would be my pleasure.”
This expresses an extreme form of humility and submission. The soul would prefer to have never existed-erasing her own being-if such nonexistence would better serve God’s will. This radical self-negation arises not from self-hatred, but from pure love for God’s pleasure and will.
3. “If He could give me as great torments as He is great in power to avenge Himself of me and of my sins, if it would please Him, it would be pleasing to me.”
Here the soul’s love reaches the point of willingly accepting unimaginable suffering-not for purification or merit, but simply because such suffering, if pleasing to God, would itself be a joy. This is the language of oblative love, empty of self-interest.
4. “I might suffer as much poverty, rejection, and torments as He has goodness, wisdom, and power in Him… it would be my pleasure.”
There is a desire here to mirror God’s greatness in her own suffering-not as equivalence, but as surrender. The soul desires a kind of metaphysical symmetry, where her suffering is proportional to His perfection, if it pleases Him.
5. “I would sooner return to nothingness than try or will to keep something which did not come from Him.”
The soul utterly rejects autonomy. Even worthiness or goodness possessed independently of God is seen as something to be relinquished. Existence itself has no value unless it is entirely derived from God and ordered toward Him.
6. “If I might have… as much worthiness as He has of Himself… I would love better that all things should return to nothingness… than if I should have something which came not from Him.”
The soul’s contemplative insight intensifies into metaphysical clarity: she would rather see all of creation vanish than cling to any good not directly from God. Her allegiance is not to being, but to divine origin and intentionality.
6. “Before I would do anything which might be contrary to His pleasure, I would prefer that the humanity of Jesus Christ suffer again…”
In a startling claim, the soul declares she would rather see Christ re-suffer His Passion than displease God. While shocking, it shows the extremity of her love and the priority she places on God’s will-above even compassion and reason.
7. “I would rather that all things… proceed toward nothingness, than that I do evil or will to do it.”
This radical stance reiterates the annihilation of self and cosmos as preferable to disobedience. It reflects an ascetic mysticism that sees sin not just as a moral error, but as an ontological affront to God’s will.
8. “Even if I did no evil against His will, I would rather suffer [eternal torments] than do something… displeasing to His will.”
The soul differentiates between moral fault and divine pleasure. Even without sin, if she suspected that a deed did not align perfectly with God’s will, she would embrace eternal torment over committing it. Her aim is not mere innocence, but ecstatic conformity.
9. “I would not love the goodness except for His sake… I would not take it except for His sake.”
Every good-spiritual, natural, or supernatural-is meaningful only in relation to God’s will. Detached from Him, it has no appeal. Even beatitude is subordinated to His delight.
10. “If I possess… as well as He possesses it… and if I knew that it would please Him more that I have as many torments as He has goodness, I would love it better that it be so.”
The soul imagines herself possessing infinite glory and still preferring infinite torment-if that would delight God more. This contemplation seals her complete renunciation of self and total immersion in divine will.
This chapter’s first half is a stunning display of annihilating love and the soul’s complete abandonment to the will of God, shaped by metaphysical humility and mystical self-effacement.
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1. Why does the Soul contemplate her own annihilation or nonexistence?
The Soul expresses a willingness to have never existed if such nonexistence would mean she had never offended God. This radical self-negation is not motivated by self-hatred but by an all-consuming desire to please God and align with His will. For her, the highest good is not her existence or salvation, but that God be pleased-even if that entails her own undoing. This reflects the mystical logic of love that places God’s pleasure above all personal interest.
2. What is the significance of the Soul accepting torment and suffering from God?
The Soul declares that if it pleases God to give her torments equal to His power, she would welcome them with joy. Suffering, in this context, becomes a medium of union with God’s will. Her love is so pure that even torment, when originating in God’s will, is preferable to joy gained apart from Him. This shows that her ultimate allegiance is not to comfort, merit, or reward, but to the divine pleasure itself.
3. How does the Soul view her own worth and independence?
The Soul categorically rejects any worthiness or goodness that is not derived directly from God. Even if she were hypothetically capable of possessing infinite dignity, she would prefer to return to nothingness than to possess anything independent of God’s gift. She does not desire autonomy but pure receptivity. This reveals a metaphysical humility, in which selfhood has no meaning outside of divine origin and ordering.
4. What extreme declaration does the Soul make regarding Christ’s Passion and God’s will?
The Soul says that she would rather Christ suffer again all the torments of His Passion than that she commit even the slightest act contrary to God’s will. While shocking, this statement emphasizes her intense love of God’s will, even above all else-even above gratitude for Christ’s suffering. The will of God is placed at the absolute center of her affections and decisions.
5. Why is the Soul willing to let all creation return to nothingness?
She states that if doing evil against God’s will were the alternative, she would prefer that all things, including herself and the entire cosmos, be annihilated. This affirms her belief that it is better for being itself to cease than for the divine will to be violated. It reveals an intense theological absolutism where obedience to God’s will supersedes even the value of existence.
6. What does the Soul say about the gift of divine goodness?
Even if given divine goodness as vast as God’s own worthiness, the Soul says she would love it only for God’s sake. If she lost it, she would grieve not for herself, but because it would grieve God. If it were returned, she would accept it only out of love for Him. This expresses pure, disinterested love-love not of the gift, but of the Giver alone.
7. How does the Soul contrast God’s attributes with her own condition?
Though not stated as systematically in this portion, the Soul consistently contrasts God’s infinite power, wisdom, and goodness with her own weakness, ignorance, and wretchedness. She uses this disparity not to despair, but to ground her total surrender. Her self-awareness enhances her perception of divine greatness, which in turn fuels her absolute devotion.
These questions and answers highlight the radical self-surrender, total preference for God’s will, and metaphysical humility that define the Soul’s mystical disposition in this part of Chapter 131.
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Chapter 131: second half
In this climactic chapter, the Soul undergoes the final and most painful purification: the martyrdom of her will and love. Tested by God through unimaginable scenarios-where she might love another more than Him, where He might love another more than her, or where she might receive blessings not solely from His will-the Soul is driven to the brink of spiritual collapse. Yet, through this torment, she comes to a total surrender: she affirms that if such things are truly God’s will, she would embrace them wholly out of love for Him, without seeking anything for herself. This marks the death of all self-love, even in its most subtle and spiritual forms. No longer desiring even a “good will” of her own, the Soul reaches a state of pure union, living solely by God’s will and love, emptied of all self-interest, and fully transformed into divine conformity.
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1. “If it were thus, I would refuse forever and remain in the torments rather than take the gift, since I would not have it by His will alone …”
The Soul declares that even eternal relief and salvation would be unacceptable if not given purely from God’s will. Not even the intercession of Christ’s humanity, the Virgin, and all the saints can suffice if the gift is not from God’s unmediated love. This reveals the soul’s radical attachment to divine will, not to its effects or benefits.
2. “I could not tolerate it if I did not have the gift from the pure love which He has for me of Himself … as a lover has for his beloved.”
Here the soul expresses her longing for a love that is personal, pure, and exclusive, mirroring the union between lovers. Her desire is not just for divine generosity but for that generosity to be motivated by divine love itself.
3. “Then He asked me how I would fare if it could be that He could love another better than me … Again … that another might love me better than He.”
These three hypothetical tests shake the soul to her core. Each one imagines a rival love-God loving another more, the soul loving another more, or another loving the soul more than God does. In each case, the soul’s sense of equilibrium fails. These scenarios expose the last remnants of self-will and attachment to her relational identity before God.
4. “So I could have no peace until He had my response … I was held in bondage … I loved myself so much along ‘with’ Him …”
This confession reveals that as long as the soul held onto any attachment to herself-even alongside her love for God-she could not give a pure and undivided answer. Her love had to be purified of self-interest. This is a deep mystical insight: self-love masquerading as divine love can prevent true union.
5. “The heart alone has this battle … It is the heart who responds in the anguish of death …”
The soul highlights the interior martyrdom involved in surrendering the will. This is not an intellectual or rhetorical decision but a crucifixion of desire itself. The “anguish of death” is the cost of abandoning even holy consolations if they are not God’s pure will.
6. “Lord … I will say to you, by you, and for your sake, what I would will for the sake of your love.”
Finally, the soul finds her voice-not out of self-will but through divine empowerment (“by you”). She offers her response entirely as an act of surrender and love, reflecting a will that no longer belongs to her but is fused with God’s own.
7. “My will is martyred, and my love is martyred: You have guided these to martyrdom.”
The soul concludes that both her will and her love have undergone a mystical death. This is not despair but fulfillment: martyrdom not of the body but of the soul’s independent operation. This is the death of all that is not-God within her-the highest expression of union.
8. “My heart formerly always thought about living by love through the desire of a good will. Now are these two things dead in me …”
Even her previous aspiration-to live through the desire of a good will-must die, because even that noble desire contains an “I.” This is the spiritual death that makes space for divine life alone to act. Her infancy is over; she has entered the nakedness of divine simplicity.
This second half of the chapter reveals the soul’s journey into complete annihilation of self-will, not through despair but through a love that will only accept union on God’s terms. It’s the mystical consummation of the soul’s desire for God to be all in all, even if it costs everything, including herself.
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1. Why does the Soul refuse the return of divine gifts if they are given through the intercession of the saints rather than God’s will alone?
The Soul insists that any gift, even one as significant as deliverance from eternal torment, must come solely from God’s will and pure love, not mediated by the desires of others-even the humanity of Christ, the Virgin Mary, or the saints. She views such a mediated gift as insufficient because it does not arise directly from God’s own free and loving will. This reflects the soul’s radical commitment to divine will as the only acceptable motive for any grace, highlighting her total self-emptying and singular desire for union with God, untainted by secondary causes.
2. What internal crisis does the Soul experience when God proposes hypothetical situations where divine love or the soul’s love might be directed elsewhere?
The Soul is thrown into profound distress and interior collapse when faced with the idea that God might love another more than her, that she might love another more than God, or that another might love her more than God. Her “sense fails” at each scenario, indicating a breakdown of her faculties-she cannot will, deny, or respond. This crisis reveals the remnants of self-love still clinging to her identity. The thought of displacement in the divine affection reveals that her union with God is not yet wholly detached from her own need to be uniquely loved. It is the testing ground for perfect detachment and the death of the spiritual ego.
3. What is the deeper spiritual significance of the Soul’s inability to respond immediately to God’s questions?
The Soul’s inability to respond reflects the tension between a purified love for God and a residual clinging to self-she admits that she still “loved herself along with Him.” This co-love, even in a holy form, prevents full surrender. Her delay and interior turmoil show the process of purification and the martyrdom of the will: she must die not just to sin or the world, but to her own need to be near God on her terms. True peace, she finds, comes only when self-will is annihilated and the soul can say with perfect honesty: “Your will be done, not mine,” even in the most unimaginable tests.
4. How does the Soul ultimately resolve her trial, and what is the nature of her final answer?
The Soul resolves the trial by finally surrendering her will entirely to God’s. She states that if God’s will truly desired those difficult scenarios to be so, then she would choose them entirely out of love for Him, and would never will anything else. This is not a resignation but a loving consent to the divine will-even when it appears painful, obscure, or contrary to natural inclination. She calls this the martyrdom of her will and love: a mystical death where her deepest desires are offered up to God and replaced by pure, passive receptivity. Her union is now absolute because it is based not on shared affection, but on total conformity to divine will.
5. What does the Soul mean when she says, “My heart formerly always thought about living by love through the desire of a good will. Now are these two things dead in me”?
The Soul is indicating that even the holy aspiration to “live by love through a good will” had to be relinquished. These were spiritual ideals she once clung to-noble, yes, but still her own. Now, both love (as she previously understood it) and will (even a “good” will) are dead in her, because they were rooted in her own identity and effort. This death marks the final transformation: the soul no longer lives by personal initiative but by divine movement alone. It is the realization of St. Paul’s declaration: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
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In Chapter 132, the Soul reaches the summit of spiritual maturity, moving beyond infancy into the “Land of Freeness,” where she refuses both clemency from Justice and aid from Mercy, desiring nothing for herself. Instead, she encounters Love-who offers all things-and responds with complete self-emptying, calling herself “Pure Nothingness” and expressing no will of her own. This radical renunciation marks the death of her own will, works, and even her previous modes of loving, as she dissolves into the all-sufficiency of divine Love. The chapter climaxes with a mystical revelation through a divine Spark, in which she simultaneously perceives God’s absolute majesty and her utter incapacity, leading to a new birth of her true good in God. Yet this mystery is so deep that it defies articulation, and to speak of it is, she says, to lie-for the reality can only be lived, not explained.
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1. “Then appeared the Land of Freeness, and there Justice came to me, and asked me what sort of clemency I wished from her. And I answered her, such as I was, that I wished no clemency from her, nor from anything which could torment me.”
The “Land of Freeness” symbolizes the Soul’s entrance into spiritual maturity and liberty-a state beyond reward or punishment. When Justice approaches, asking what clemency the Soul desires, the Soul denies needing any. This shows that she no longer fears justice or suffering, having surrendered every desire, even the desire for mercy in the face of judgment. Her will is dead to self-interest; she accepts whatever may come, not seeking reprieve.
2. “Then came Mercy, who asked what help I wished from her. I responded immediately, as I was, that I wished no aid from her nor from anything which could be a blessing for me.”
The Soul likewise declines assistance from Mercy, signifying her complete detachment from any form of spiritual consolation or benefit. She refuses both torment and blessing, preferring only the will of God. Her disinterest in even heavenly aid indicates that her will has become perfectly aligned with divine love-not seeking comfort, only surrender.
3. “Then to me came Love, filled with goodness, who had so many times set me outside of my mind, and in the end gave me the death about which you have already heard.”
Love is now personified and remembered as the force that repeatedly annihilated the Soul’s selfhood-bringing about the “death” of the will described in earlier chapters. Love, both fierce and tender, has been the midwife of her transformation, stripping her of every last attachment until only God remains.
4. “Beloved, what do you wish from Me? I contain all things which were, And are, and shall be… What you will, we will.”
Love offers everything. It contains all that exists and declares perfect union: “What you will, we will.” But this overwhelming gift is not met with human desire. The Soul does not ask for anything, because she no longer has a will of her own to exercise. This mutuality-Love’s all-giving, the Soul’s all-surrendering-defines the perfection of mystical union.
5. “Then I responded quickly that I was Pure Nothingness. Alas, what would I will? Pure Nothingness never had any will at all, and I will nothing.”
In a climactic moment of spiritual realization, the Soul names herself Pure Nothingness. She is empty of self, identity, will, or claim. She acknowledges that Love is all, and she is nothing. Her will has not just died; it has dissolved into non-existence. This is not despair but divine absorption-true annihilation of self in God.
6. “Then I began to depart from my infancy and my spirit began to become old when my will died and my works finished and my love ended which made me charming.”
Departing from “infancy” symbolizes spiritual maturity: the end of a childish, self-concerned love of God. Her personal works, affections, and even her earlier forms of spiritual devotion-what once made her charming-are now renounced. She is beyond doing or being. She has become a vessel.
7. “For the overflowing of the divine Love, which showed itself to me through divine Light by a Spark piercing me from the height, revealed suddenly Him and me; that is, He the Most High, and I so low that I cannot raise myself ever so little or help myself. And there was born my good.”
This “Spark” of divine illumination brings about a simultaneous vision: of God’s absolute supremacy and her utter nothingness. Yet, paradoxically, “there was born my good”-her ultimate fulfillment. In knowing that she is nothing, and He is all, she discovers the perfection of her being: not in herself, but in God.
8. “If you do not understand, I cannot help you. This is a miraculous work, of which one can tell you nothing, unless it is a lie.”
The ineffability of this final transformation is emphasized. What has occurred is beyond language, beyond doctrine. It must be lived, not explained. Any attempt to fully describe it would betray its mystery. This humility before the mystery of union closes the chapter with awe and silence.
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1. What is the significance of the “Land of Freeness” in the spiritual development of the Soul?
The “Land of Freeness” symbolizes the Soul’s arrival at a state of spiritual liberty, where she is no longer bound by desire for reward or fear of punishment. It marks her departure from spiritual “infancy” and the beginning of true maturity. In this state, the Soul encounters the personifications of Justice, Mercy, and Love, but no longer seeks anything from them-not clemency, help, or blessings-because her will has died, and she is totally surrendered to God’s being and will alone.
2. Why does the Soul refuse clemency from Justice and aid from Mercy?
The Soul refuses clemency and aid because she is beyond the dualities of torment and blessing. Her spiritual maturity has led her to a state of utter detachment and pure receptivity to God’s will. She seeks neither reprieve from judgment nor consolation, as she no longer views herself as a subject to be saved or comforted, but as “Pure Nothingness” dwelling solely in God’s being. This refusal illustrates the Soul’s absolute renunciation of self-will and self-interest.
3. How is Love different from Justice and Mercy in this passage?
Unlike Justice and Mercy, who offer assistance or judgment based on merit or need, Love speaks as one who “contains all things” and is the source of all that is, was, and shall be. Love’s invitation is total and mutual: “What you will, we will.” Love offers full union, asking the Soul what she desires. This shows that Love is the final and highest of the three, encompassing and transcending both Justice and Mercy. It represents the ultimate reality of God as pure giving, into which the Soul dissolves completely.
4. What does the Soul mean by declaring herself “Pure Nothingness”?
By calling herself “Pure Nothingness,” the Soul expresses that she has fully abandoned selfhood, will, and identity. She claims no part in the goodness of Love, recognizing that Love (i.e., God) is all, and she is nothing apart from Him. This radical humility and self-emptying is the culmination of her spiritual journey. It echoes the mystical tradition of annihilatio, the complete surrender of the soul into divine union, in which even the desire to will is extinguished.
5. What does the Soul mean when she says, “my spirit began to become old”?
This phrase marks the Soul’s transition from spiritual “infancy”-marked by desire, emotion, and spiritual activity-to spiritual “old age,” a metaphor for contemplative maturity. In this state, the Soul no longer operates from her own will or love, but is governed entirely by divine action. Her “works finished,” “will died,” and even the “love which made her charming” has ended. This suggests a stripping away of all that was previously seen as virtuous or spiritually fruitful, in order to enter the pure being of God.
6. What is revealed to the Soul by the divine “Spark piercing from the height”?
The divine Spark reveals simultaneously two realities: God’s absolute transcendence (He the Most High) and the Soul’s complete lowliness (I so low that I cannot raise myself ever so little or help myself). This revelation strips the Soul of any illusion of spiritual capability or agency. Yet, it is precisely in this recognition that “my good” is born-because it marks her perfect receptivity to God and the fruition of divine union.
7. Why does the Soul conclude that no one can explain this transformation without lying?
The Soul insists that the experience is beyond language and conceptual grasp. Any attempt to fully articulate the reality of union with God would necessarily distort it, since it belongs to a level of being and knowing that transcends reason and speech. This is a common theme in apophatic (negative) mysticism: true union with God cannot be communicated directly and must be lived in silence, love, and surrender.
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Chapter 133 teaches that the soul must move beyond the emotional and self-referential stage of spiritual infancy-where sorrow and tender affection often masquerade as love for God-into the true freedom of complete self-abandonment. The soul comes to see that even her desire for God was entangled with a hidden love of self. Only by relinquishing all self-will and entering into the state of “Willing-Nothing,” where she no longer seeks consolation, virtue, or reward, can the soul become truly free and united to Divine Love. This naked, unencumbered soul is no longer moved by her own works but by God’s work alone, and her understanding is sustained not by miracles or spiritual emotion, but by faith, which opens her to divine life beyond the grasp of reason or self-interest.
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1. “Now you have heard some considerations, says this Soul, which I contemplated in order to unencumber myself and find the way. Such is what I contemplated when I was sad, for all those who are sad possess affection of spirit.”
The Soul reflects that her earlier meditations arose during a time of spiritual sadness, marked by affection of spirit-a kind of pious sentimentality. These considerations were necessary for a time, to “find the way,” but they are now recognized as partial and immature.
2. “And these considerations are in the life of the spirit, through affection of the tenderness of the love which the Soul possesses toward herself. But she thinks that she possesses this love toward God, by whom she is wounded; but, to be sure, it is herself whom she loves, without her knowing it and without her perceiving it.”
The Soul discovers that her earlier spiritual emotions, while appearing to be love for God, were subtly self-centered. What she took to be divine love was actually an affectionate self-love masquerading as devotion. This is a sharp critique of emotional religiosity that confuses tender feeling with true self-emptying love.
3. “And there they are deceived who love through the tenderness which they have by affection, which does not allow them to arrive at understanding. And thus they remain as children in the works of children, so they remain as long as they have affection of the spirit.”
Spiritual immaturity is defined here as remaining in the realm of feelings and sentiments. Such souls may be sincere, but they are unable to attain deeper understanding or union with God, remaining at a childlike stage.
4. [Divine Love speaks]: “Ah, God, says Divine Love, who reposes in the Annihilated Soul, how long a road it is and a great distance from such a sad life to the life of freeness, for over such a life of freeness, Willing-Nothing has lordship!”
Divine Love acknowledges the vast gap between the sentimental, spiritually self-involved soul and the soul that lives in true freedom. This freeness comes only when the soul wills nothing-complete self-surrender and dispossession. The phrase “Willing-Nothing” signifies the soul that no longer asserts her own will, but rests entirely in God’s will.
5. “Such a seed can never fail, but so few folk are disposed to receive such a seed.”
The divine seed-sown by “Willing-Nothing” and drawn from the heart of divine will-is powerful and unfailing, but only those souls who have emptied themselves can receive it. This lament emphasizes the rarity of true detachment and divine receptivity.
6. “I have found many who are lost in the affection of the spirit by means of the works of the virtues in the desires of a good will, but I have found few of the gentle sad ones. And even fewer have I found who are free…”
This is a radical distinction between external virtue and internal freedom. Many souls perform good works out of good intentions, yet remain bound by self-love or emotional clinging. Fewer pass through the valley of true sorrow and even fewer attain true detachment or “freeness.”
7. “Fine Love makes one have one love and one will, and thus my will has become one Willing-Nothing.”
Perfect love simplifies the soul: she has one love-God-and one will-His. The soul’s own will is annihilated in pure union. “Willing-Nothing” means not willing anything for oneself, even virtue or merit.
8. “Such a Soul is naked and so she does not fear, in such nudity, that the serpent might bite her.”
The naked soul, stripped of all self-regard and self-will, is no longer vulnerable to temptation. She does not fear because she has nothing to lose or protect-not even her spiritual progress. Her simplicity is her invincibility.
9. “If [the Soul] were moved by her work, she would be there for herself; but if she is naked, this cannot be.”
True detachment means that the soul is not moved by her own works or spiritual accomplishments. Any growth that proceeds from self-activity would return her to self-love. Nakedness ensures all comes from God alone.
10. [Unencumbered Soul speaks]: “This is true, says the Unencumbered Soul, I am at such a point through relinquishing perfectly myself; miracles are subservient to Faith, and such miracles give me true knowledge of the divine gifts: Faith is the cause of this.”
The Unencumbered Soul affirms her transformation: she has given up all self-ownership and now lives purely by faith, not by signs or experiences. Miracles themselves are subordinate to faith, which alone opens the soul to the divine reality.
This chapter is a turning point in which earlier meditations are recognized as preparatory but ultimately insufficient. The mature soul moves beyond even “holy” sadness to the radical detachment of Willing-Nothing, which alone makes space for the divine seed of Love to grow.
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1. What does the Soul reveal about the nature of her earlier spiritual considerations?
The Soul discloses that her earlier spiritual reflections-those “considerations”-were born during a time of sadness and were intended to help her “unencumber” herself and find the way to God. However, she now sees that these reflections arose not from pure love of God, but from an affective tenderness that was actually self-directed. Though she believed she loved God, in truth she was loving herself through her spiritual sensitivity and pain. This misperception highlights the deceptive nature of spiritual affection when it is not fully purified.
2. How does this chapter distinguish between affective spirituality and mature spiritual freedom?
Affective spirituality, rooted in emotional tenderness and self-involved love, keeps the soul in a state of spiritual infancy. It appears devout but lacks true detachment. Mature spiritual freedom, by contrast, is marked by the soul’s self-emptying and entry into “freeness”-a state governed not by personal desire or even religious fervor, but by Willing-Nothing, total surrender to the divine will. This freedom is devoid of self-interest and emotional dependency.
3. What is meant by “Willing-Nothing,” and why is it central to the life of freeness?
“Willing-Nothing” refers to the soul’s total renunciation of self-will-even the will to be holy, virtuous, or spiritually fulfilled. It is not passivity but a radical alignment with God’s will alone. In the life of freeness, the soul wills nothing for herself, neither consolation nor merit. This self-dispossession allows the “divine seed,” drawn from God’s own will, to be sown in the soul. “Willing-Nothing” thus becomes the fertile ground for divine union.
4. According to Divine Love, what hinders most souls from reaching this life of freeness?
Most souls are hindered by the “affection of the spirit,” which keeps them caught in the pursuit of virtue through personal effort and emotional attachment to good will. Even though these souls desire God, they do so in a self-referential way-loving the feelings or satisfaction they get from the pursuit of God. Divine Love laments that few people are “gentle sad ones” who have begun to detach from this state, and even fewer live in true spiritual freedom.
5. What role does nakedness play in the soul’s union with God in this chapter?
Nakedness symbolizes complete vulnerability, detachment, and simplicity. A soul that is naked no longer fears temptation (symbolized by the serpent) because she has nothing left to lose-no spiritual ego, no clinging to virtue, no self-will. This nakedness ensures that her joy and motion come only from God’s own work, not from her own. She is no longer moved by personal accomplishments or spiritual experiences but lives entirely in God’s action.
6. What final affirmation does the Unencumbered Soul make, and how does it relate to faith?
The Unencumbered Soul affirms that she has reached her current state through perfect self-renunciation. She recognizes that even miracles are subservient to faith, and it is faith that has opened her to the true knowledge of divine gifts. Her life is no longer guided by signs, consolations, or even her own virtue, but by the supernatural gift of faith, which anchors her entirely in God’s will without reliance on her own self.
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Chapter 134 teaches that the soul, in the greatest perfection of being, surpasses all external models-even Holy Church-because she is entirely possessed by God in a state of radical freeness, humility, and self-annihilation. In this state, she no longer lives by the virtues as discrete practices, nor does she require fear, merit, or mediators, for she lives wholly from divine love and will. Detached even from her own spiritual desires, she rests in a nakedness of being that cannot be understood by those who remain attached to the works of the spirit. This soul is no longer governed by the affection of virtue but by the undivided will of Love itself, emptied of all self-concern, and thus unreachable by anything less than God’s own fullness.
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1. “Such a Soul, says Love, is in the greatest perfection of being, and she is closest to the Farnearness, when she no longer takes Holy Church as exemplar in her life.”
This paradoxical statement introduces a deeply mystical concept: that ultimate spiritual maturity transcends even the visible models of sanctity presented by Holy Church. The “Farnearness” evokes God’s absolute transcendence and intimate indwelling presence. The soul who no longer imitates Church-sanctioned virtue does not reject the Church, but has so fully internalized divine life that she now lives from the Source directly, rather than from mediated forms.
2. “The Soul is thus under the work of Humility, and so is beyond the work of Poverty and above the work of Charity.”
This soul is governed by true humility, a humility so deep that it surpasses even the classical evangelical virtues. Poverty and charity, though noble, are now interiorized and transcended. The soul no longer practices virtue for its own sake, but is possessed entirely by God, who is beyond all categories of human effort.
3. “She is so far from the work of the Virtues that she cannot understand their language.”
The soul’s union with God renders her foreign to the dialect of moral striving. She has passed beyond the stage of active virtue into pure being. The virtues, though once teachers and companions, are now integrated so completely that their distinct voices fall silent in the overwhelming presence of Divine Love.
4. “The works of the Virtues, who obey the Soul without contradiction, are completely enclosed within such a Soul, and because of this enclosure, Holy Church does not know how to understand her.”
The soul is so transformed that virtues arise spontaneously, without effort or conscious intention. This effortless sanctity makes her incomprehensible even to the Church, whose categories and discernment are tied to visible, structured forms of virtue. Her interior life is hidden and surpasses conventional understanding.
5. “Holy Church singularly praises Fear of God, for saintly Fear of God is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Still, Fear of God would destroy the being of freeness if she could penetrate such being.”
The soul in this state no longer lives by fear-not even holy fear-because she abides in perfect love, which casts out fear (cf. 1 John 4:18). While Fear of God is a legitimate spiritual gift, it cannot touch the freeness of a soul that is fully surrendered, emptied of self, and moved only by divine love.
6. “Perfect freeness possesses no why.”
This is a core mystical axiom: true love asks for no reason, no justification. The soul loves without cause or motive, just as God loves gratuitously. This groundless freedom is divine and immune to introspection or justification-it simply is.
7. “She has placed all her love beneath her feet, and she is concerned with herself no more than if she were not.”
The soul is utterly detached from self-love, even from love of her own spiritual progress. She stands in self-forgetfulness, so profoundly empty of self-concern that her own existence becomes negligible to her. This is the radical kenosis that opens her fully to divine indwelling.
8. “The greater part has delivered her from the debts which she owed to Jesus Christ and therefore she owes Him nothing, however much she may have been obligated.”
This startling claim must be read in a mystical key: the “greater part”-God’s infinite love and grace-has swallowed up all notions of merit and debt. The soul no longer relates to God on a transactional or juridical basis but in total communion. Gratitude, obligation, and guilt dissolve in the overwhelming experience of divine generosity.
9. “The more, or the greater part, wills to have total possession without any mediary within her.”
Here is the heart of deifying union: God wills to possess the soul entirely, without the mediation of virtue, sacrament, or even conscience. This is not a rejection of mediation in principle, but a description of a soul in whom mediation has fulfilled its purpose and given way to direct union.
10. “They are not able to understand the nakedness of this depth, nor to believe the goodness of God generously given for their sakes.”
Those who cling to spiritual effort, merit, and self-generated virtue cannot grasp this radical vision of divine generosity. They remain trapped in the economy of exchange and cannot believe that God gives everything-even deification itself-as pure gift.
Final Reflection:
This chapter challenges the reader to contemplate a state of being where virtue, effort, fear, and even ecclesial models are transcended by the soul’s total absorption into God. The teaching is not anti-Church, but beyond the Church as a visible structure-pointing instead to the hidden mystical church of the annihilated, free soul in whom God alone lives, wills, and loves.
—
1. What does it mean that the Soul is in the “greatest perfection of being” when she no longer takes Holy Church as exemplar in her life?
The phrase expresses a radical mystical teaching: the soul has reached such intimacy with God that she no longer relies on external forms, teachings, or even the visible Church as models for her life. This does not imply disobedience or rejection of the Church but rather indicates that the soul has interiorized divine life so completely that she now lives directly from God, not through mediated instruction. The “Farnearness” suggests both her closeness to God and her distance from familiar spiritual categories.
2. What is the significance of the soul being “under the work of Humility” and “beyond the work of Poverty” and “above the work of Charity”?
This sequence shows a mystical hierarchy. Being “under the work of Humility” means she is grounded in radical self-emptying. Being “beyond Poverty” and “above Charity” indicates she no longer consciously practices these virtues-they are no longer separate acts, but her entire being. Her identity has become infused with divine life so totally that distinct virtues have ceased to function as discrete efforts; they are now her very nature.
3. Why can the Soul “no longer understand the language of the Virtues”?
Because she has transcended the stage where virtues are deliberate actions. Virtue is now natural to her, flowing from her union with God. She doesn’t “practice” virtue; she is virtuous through and through, without calculation or intention. The “language” of virtue-effort, merit, growth-belongs to earlier stages of the spiritual life and has become foreign to her.
4. How does Holy Church relate to such a soul, according to this chapter?
Holy Church cannot understand this soul because her spiritual life surpasses the recognizable frameworks of ecclesiastical theology and virtue. Though she is not against the Church, her mode of life has become hidden and inaccessible. She lives by a direct and total union with God, which surpasses the boundaries of institutional understanding, though it does not contradict true doctrine.
5. Why would “Fear of God” destroy the being of freeness if it could enter it?
Fear of God, even as a gift of the Holy Spirit, introduces a duality-fear versus love, concern for self versus abandonment to God. In the soul’s state of perfect freeness, there is no self left to protect or fear. Freeness rests in God’s love alone, with no reason, no “why,” no concern. Fear would disrupt this simplicity and undermine the purity of her trust and union.
6. What does it mean that “Perfect freeness possesses no why”?
This means that true love and surrender to God are without reason, cause, or expectation. The soul who lives in perfect freedom no longer asks “why” she serves, loves, or exists. She is moved only by love itself, without seeking reward or understanding. Her will is no longer self-referential-it is simply absorbed into God’s will.
7. How has the soul become detached from herself?
She has “placed all her love beneath her feet” and regards herself “no more than if she were not.” This profound self-forgetfulness reveals the climax of mystical detachment. She is no longer interested in herself, her state, her progress, or even her salvation as such. Her only reality is God, and she lives in total surrender to Him.
8. What does it mean that “the greater part has delivered her from the debts she owed to Jesus Christ”?
This bold statement reflects the soul’s realization that divine grace has so overtaken her that all sense of debt, merit, or recompense disappears. The “greater part” (God’s absolute generosity and mercy) swallows up any “lesser part” (her own efforts or obligations). She owes Christ nothing in the legalistic sense-not because she is ungrateful, but because Love has fulfilled and transcended all.
9. Why does the soul no longer need any “mediary” within her?
The soul is now directly possessed by God. No longer needing intermediaries like virtues, methods, or even rational mediation, she is completely permeated by divine will. This is not a denial of Christ or the Church, but a fulfillment of all mediation in perfect union-where God Himself is her interior guide and life.
10. What prevents most souls from understanding this nakedness and freedom?
Most remain trapped in “the great sense of nature,” that is, the desire to manage and understand the spiritual life through effort, affection, or reasoning. They struggle with themselves and cannot believe in the radical generosity of God. Their depth is “destroyed” by self-reliance and attachment to spiritual identity. Only the naked, poor, annihilated soul can receive this divine freedom.
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Chapter 135 presents the soul’s final consummation in divine union, where all spiritual striving and self-willed virtue dissolve into the nothingness of perfect receptivity. The soul realizes that no creaturely work, however virtuous, holds any value before the infinite wisdom and goodness of God, who gives Himself not because of merit, but out of His own self-sufficiency. One encounter with this eternal, ever-new Goodness surpasses all the works of the Church across time. In this union, God’s infinite “farness” becomes the soul’s deepest nearness, stripping her of all separation, selfhood, and will. She becomes “nothing” in order to be wholly filled with divine being, restored to the point before her creation, where she lived only in God’s will. This transformation by love is not achieved through effort but through the utter abandonment of self into God’s sufficiency, where “He is, and she is not.”
—
1. “Oh, how greatly they are deceived who remain content to struggle with themselves in this!”
The Soul opens with a stark warning against spiritual self-effort and introspective struggle. Those who remain caught in inner conflict, even for the sake of virtue, are fundamentally mistaken. This statement critiques the dominant model of ascetic and moral striving, insisting that such exertion reflects a subtle form of self-reliance that blocks true union with God.
2. “Because whatever a creature can do of the works of goodness, it is nothing in the presence of divine wisdom.”
All human works, however virtuous or well-intentioned, amount to nothing before the immensity and purity of divine wisdom. The soul is taught here to distrust even her best efforts and to recognize their utter inadequacy compared to God’s transcendent goodness.
3. “Therefore, divine goodness does not give its goodness to the soul on account of this, but only for the sake of His own goodness.”
God bestows His goodness not as a reward for human virtue, but out of His own self-sufficient love. This affirms the utter gratuity of grace: it cannot be earned, only received. The soul’s emptiness becomes the condition for receiving divine fullness.
4. “One sole encounter or one meeting with that ultimate eternal ancient and ever-new goodness is more worthy than anything a creature might do, or even the whole Holy Church, in a hundred thousand years.”
The value of one direct experience of God’s eternal goodness infinitely outweighs even the collective works of the Church across millennia. This stark comparison is meant to destabilize reliance on institutional or moral achievement and point toward the primacy of contemplative union.
5. “His farness is greater nearness, because, from nearby, in itself, it better knows what is far…”
A paradox is introduced: God’s “farness” is actually a greater form of nearness. The mystery of God is such that His transcendence and immanence are one; He is both beyond all and more interior than the soul herself. This experiential paradox sustains the soul in union even when God seems distant.
6. “All things are one for her, without a why, and she is nothing in a One of this sort.”
Having been emptied of all self-reference, the soul sees all things as unified in God. She lives without reasoning or justification (“without a why”), having become nothing in the divine One. This is not nihilism, but radical receptivity.
7. “Thus the Soul has nothing more to do for God than God does for her. Why? Because He is, and she is not.”
The soul is fully passive before the divine action. She does nothing because she is not-her identity has been fully surrendered. God alone is, and in this ontological poverty, the soul rests.
8. “She retains nothing more of herself in nothingness, because He is sufficient of Himself…”
The soul’s journey culminates in total self-emptying: she holds back nothing, not even a shred of selfhood. God’s self-sufficiency makes all her effort unnecessary. She returns to the place she occupied “before she was”-the primordial point in God’s will where her being was conceived.
9. “Thus she has from God what He has, and she is what God is through the transformation of love…”
Through love’s radical transformation, the soul becomes what God is-not by nature, but by union. This is the apex of mystical theology: deiformity in the soul, where she no longer has a separate being but exists wholly in and through God, as she was before her created existence.
10. “…in that point in which she was, before she flowed from the Goodness of God.”
The journey concludes in a return to the eternal origin-what Meister Eckhart would call “the ground of the soul.” She returns to her uncreated source, having transcended all separation, identity, and effort, resting forever in God’s eternal Now.
This chapter is a powerful articulation of apophatic mysticism, the soul’s return to God not by effort but by ontological surrender.
—
1. Why does the Soul denounce those who remain content to “struggle with themselves”?
The Soul condemns self-struggling because it represents a misguided reliance on human effort and self-generated virtue. Such struggle, even if it appears holy, remains within the realm of creaturely limitation and cannot reach the depths of divine union. It distracts the soul from true surrender and perpetuates the illusion of spiritual progress through one’s own works.
2. What does the chapter say about the value of creaturely works in relation to divine wisdom?
Creaturely works, no matter how noble or virtuous, are “nothing” when placed before divine wisdom. The Soul recognizes that divine wisdom is of an entirely different order than any created act of goodness. As such, God’s gifts are not earned through moral action but are given freely, out of God’s own self-sufficient goodness.
3. How does the Soul describe the worth of a single encounter with God compared to religious observance?
A single, intimate meeting with the eternal and ever-new divine Goodness is said to surpass in worth even the cumulative works of the entire Church over hundreds of thousands of years. This highlights the radical primacy of contemplative union over all institutional, sacramental, or moral observances-emphasizing direct experience of God over mediated religion.
4. What is meant by the phrase “His farness is greater nearness”?
This paradox means that God, though infinitely transcendent (“far”), is more intimately near than anything else. His mysterious, unknowable distance brings about a deeper kind of nearness than anything familiar. This evokes the mystical truth that God’s inaccessibility does not imply absence, but a profound hidden presence that unites the soul to Him beyond sensory or intellectual grasp.
5. What does it mean that “all things are one for her, without a why”?
The soul has reached a state beyond reasoning or duality. She sees all reality as unified in God, without needing explanations or purposes. “Without a why” signals her freedom from causality, merit, or justification. She exists entirely in God’s being, resting in simplicity and without self-will.
6. How does the Soul interpret her own being as “nothing”?
The Soul declares that “He is, and she is not,” meaning that her separate existence has been annihilated in union with God. This is not a denial of existence per se, but an ontological and mystical surrender of selfhood. Her nothingness is a spiritual emptiness that allows God’s fullness to dwell in her without obstruction.
7. What is meant by saying she is “where she was before she was”?
This cryptic phrase refers to the soul’s return to her uncreated origin in God. Before she had a separate existence, she existed in God’s eternal will. Now, through complete detachment and love’s transformation, she returns mystically to that primordial point-beyond time, form, and identity.
8. How is divine transformation described at the end of the chapter?
The Soul becomes what God is “through the transformation of love,” meaning that love so completely unites her to God that she shares in His being. While not identical to God in essence (as in pantheism), she is divinized-utterly filled, defined, and animated by God alone. She no longer lives as herself but as one who dwells entirely in divine simplicity.
——————–
In Chapter 136 of The Mirror of Simple Souls, the soul is portrayed as having reached the summit of divine union-a state beyond prayer, beyond virtue, beyond even love as commonly understood. Here, she no longer acts, chooses, or desires, for she exists in the pure simplicity of God’s being, where all distinction between self and God has been effaced. She receives all from the “noble Farnearness” of divine goodness without merit, effort, or sorrow, having transcended both the power to do good and evil. Freed from spiritual struggle and wholly receptive, the soul affirms her intimate belovedness by the Trinity-Father, Brother, and Lover-and experiences the radical mercy that surpasses justice. All things are hers because she is nothing in herself and everything in God, resting in a love that has never ceased and cannot be surpassed.
—
1. “There she does not pray, no more than she did before she was.”
In the soul’s final union with God, prayer ceases-not because of negligence or irreverence, but because all distance has been overcome. Just as she did not pray before her creation, in the divine essence she is now beyond all discursive acts, including prayer. She simply is, suspended in divine simplicity, beyond need or petition.
2. “She receives what she has from divine goodness by the seed of His love, from that noble Farnearness.”
Her entire being flows from God’s gratuitous gift, described paradoxically as a “noble Farnearness”-a phrase pointing to God’s transcendent immanence. The “seed of His love” is not earned but planted in her by God Himself. This evokes mystical passivity: reception rather than acquisition.
3. “This does not disturb her, for what she loved the most she hates the more. This is the way.”
She has passed through the painful detachment even from the highest spiritual consolations. What she once loved-likely her own spiritual experience, virtue, or will-she now despises. This is the narrow way of annihilation, where even holy affection must die in favor of pure love.
4. “She has no greater part, nor middle, nor lesser part in His love; therefore she is not saddened by anything, whatever happens.”
In God’s love there is no gradation for her-no “more” or “less”-because her soul has entered into love’s totality. In this state, there is no possibility of loss or gain, and so, she remains unmoved by circumstance. Her joy is perfectly stable because rooted in God alone.
5. “She has no bottom, therefore she has no place; if she has no place, therefore she has no love.”
This is a radical claim of transcendence. “No bottom” implies boundlessness, uncontainability. Without location or limitation, she has gone beyond created forms of love. The “no love” here means no possessive, particular love-only divine, non-referential, ungrasping love remains.
6. “All work is prohibited to her in the simple existence of divinity.”
The soul is no longer capable of “works,” whether good or evil, because she lives in God’s own stillness. Just as God does not act out of necessity, neither does she. Her life is pure receptivity, divine being alone.
7. “It is just, says this Soul, that all things be subordinate to me, because all things are made for my sake.”
This may sound arrogant, but it reflects a mystical truth: the soul, in union with God, sees the whole cosmos as a gift of love meant to glorify divine intimacy. All things are for the soul-not in pride, but because God made them as a means of His self-gift.
8. “You have loved me, you do and you will do with all your power as Father… wisdom as Brother… goodness as Lover.”
This beautiful trinitarian invocation shows the soul’s complete trust in God’s enduring, multifaceted love. She experiences divine love as paternal, fraternal, and spousal-each one infinitely tender and total. God’s love has never failed her, not even for an instant.
9. “Therefore I can indeed say that you love no one more than me.”
In the singular intimacy of union, the soul feels uniquely and supremely loved-not in exclusion of others, but in totality. This is not egotism, but the experience of being personally and eternally cherished by Infinite Love.
10. “I receive as much of your never-ending mercy as you have of power in respect to what I suffer.”
The soul sees her suffering transfigured in divine mercy. God’s infinite power ensures that mercy corresponds precisely-and overwhelmingly-to her pain. There is no suffering left unattended or unloved. Even her torment is taken up into God’s omnipotent compassion.
This chapter shows the soul’s final repose in perfect divine union: beyond prayer, beyond place, beyond works-resting in the eternal, boundless love of God, who has always and forever loved her with the fullness of His power, wisdom, and tenderness.
—
1. Why does the Soul no longer pray in this state?
The Soul no longer prays because she has returned to the state she was in before she existed-completely immersed in the divine being, where all acts, including prayer, become unnecessary. Prayer presupposes a distance between the soul and God, but here, union is so complete that there is no longer a “self” to petition or a “God” to petition to; all has been absorbed into divine simplicity.
2. What does the phrase “noble Farnearness” signify in the context of divine union?
“Noble Farnearness” is a paradox expressing God’s simultaneous transcendence and immanence. Though God is infinitely beyond the soul (farness), He is also closer to her than her own being (nearness). In the state of union, the soul receives everything from God-not by merit or effort, but as a pure seed of divine love, rooted in this transcendent intimacy.
3. Why does the Soul now “hate what she loved most”?
This refers to the soul’s radical detachment, even from spiritual consolations or self-centered love for God. What she once clung to-perhaps her own virtue, feelings, or spiritual experiences-are now seen as obstacles to pure union. Her hatred is not malicious but purgative: she rejects all that could separate her from the naked simplicity of divine love.
4. What does it mean that she “has no bottom, no place, and therefore no love”?
These phrases reflect the soul’s complete transcendence of created categories. “No bottom” means she is no longer rooted in any finite foundation. “No place” suggests she no longer exists within definable limits. “No love” does not mean the absence of love, but rather the absence of any finite, particularized, possessive love. Only the ungrasping, all-embracing divine Love remains.
5. Why is all “work prohibited” to her in this state?
In the “simple existence of divinity,” there is no more doing-only being. She no longer acts or chooses in the moral-spiritual realm of good and evil works, because she is suspended in God’s pure act, which contains all goodness. As Christ Himself lived beyond human categories in His divine will, so now does the soul, resting entirely in God’s initiative.
6. How does the Soul express her sense of belonging and lordship over all things?
She declares that “all things are made for my sake,” not from arrogance, but from the recognition that God created the universe as an expression of His love for the soul. In union, she receives all things as hers, in total freedom and without restriction, because she is perfectly aligned with God’s will, in whom all things find their purpose.
7. What roles does the Soul attribute to God as Father, Brother, and Lover?
She describes God as Father (acting with power), Brother (with wisdom), and Lover (with goodness). These titles reflect the totality and intimacy of God’s love: paternal care, fraternal companionship, and spousal union. This trinitarian affirmation of God’s unwavering love confirms the soul’s security and identity in Him.
8. Why does the Soul say that “you love no one more than me”?
This is not a claim of superiority but a mystical expression of total intimacy. In perfect union, the soul feels as though she is singularly beloved-because divine love is infinite and wholly personal. Each soul in union with God experiences being loved to the fullest, as if no one else existed.
9. How does the Soul understand divine justice and mercy in light of her suffering?
She recognizes that just as God’s goodness cannot be denied to the saints beyond their merit, so too His mercy cannot allow her to suffer what she deserves. God’s infinite power and mercy meet her in her suffering and grant her a share in His eternal compassion-not as reward, but as pure grace.
10. What is the central paradox of this chapter’s teaching?
The soul has reached a state where she does nothing and is nothing-and yet she receives all, is loved fully, and possesses all things. This is the paradox of divine union: by losing all selfhood, she gains God; by relinquishing all effort, she receives perfect rest; by dying to love, she becomes Love itself.
This chapter is a profound contemplation of the end point of the mystical journey: the soul’s entry into divine simplicity, where even the highest spiritual activities fall away, and only God remains as the soul’s all.
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Chapter 137 teaches that the soul in its highest perfection fulfills the rule of religion not through external observance, but by being utterly dissolved in divine Love through annihilation of self. This annihilation returns her to the state of pre-existence, where she is received by Love beyond all works and merits. The most painful part of this transformation is the renunciation of spiritual “friends”-a metaphor for good desires, virtues, or supports that once helped her but must now be surrendered. True union requires the death of every attachment, even holy ones, so that the soul may be healed and transformed entirely by God’s action alone. Having passed through this ultimate trial, the soul goes beyond even her own being, dwelling in a state of silent, unmediated union with God, where all presumptions dissolve in the divine mystery.
—
1. “Such is she in her professed religion, and she has fulfilled its rule. What is its rule? It is that she is dissolved by annihilation into that prior existence where Love has received her.”
The Soul’s “professed religion” is not a set of outward observances but the radical inner path of annihilation-a return to the primordial state before distinct selfhood. This “prior existence” is where Love receives her, meaning she now rests in the eternal embrace of Divine Love, having passed beyond the need for spiritual practices or structured virtue. The “rule” she has kept is ontological, not behavioral-it is self-emptying to the point of being reabsorbed into Divine Being.
2. “Now she has passed the trial of her testing, and she has overcome the opposition of all powers. But the above was exceedingly difficult for her.”
The soul’s purification has involved confronting and overcoming every inner and outer resistance-spiritual, psychological, relational. These “powers” may include temptations, attachments, virtues clung to too tightly, or even consolations from God. The process is portrayed as deeply painful and arduous, echoing a spiritual death and rebirth.
3. “For there is no graver opposition than the opposition of friends: whoever puts them to death must pass through sword points.”
One of the most painful aspects of this journey is detachment not only from sin or worldly things, but from one’s deepest supports-friends, helpers, even spiritual companions. The “friends” symbolize both actual people and interior faculties (e.g., reason, devotion, affection) that once aided the soul but now must be relinquished. This “death of the friends” is not betrayal but the necessary sacrifice to enter pure union with God.
4. “Then all ability is carried off, without recovery, and she is given the healing of all her infirmities.”
The soul is stripped of all her own powers-agency, effort, merit-until she can do nothing on her own. This radical passivity is not a loss but the condition for divine healing. The soul becomes whole not by striving, but by ceasing to act apart from God.
5. “Oh, what great pity it is in the death of the friends who would assist the Soul to conquer her enemies, and in the end she must put them to death!”
There is a real tragedy and pathos in this stage: the very things that once served the soul’s holiness must now be “killed.” This is not a rejection of goodness but a passing beyond the need for intermediaries-virtues, affections, even spiritual consolation-as she rests in God alone. The “death” of these companions marks the painful but holy transition into divine simplicity.
6. “God does blessings of Himself as it is proper for Him to do, and so it is that this Soul no longer wishes to be in this place.”
The soul recognizes that God’s gifts are freely given and not earned. Her desire “no longer to be in this place” indicates a longing to remain always in God’s being, transcending not only the world but even spiritual frameworks. She is not suicidal or escapist; rather, her will is fully absorbed into divine will, where all location, time, and selfhood are transcended.
7. “Her thoughts, which placed her where God is, have been presumptuous; but this is because she is beyond her being.”
Even the thought of being “with God” is revealed as presumptuous in the final stages, because it still presupposes a duality-God and the soul. But this presumption is not sinful; it is the limit of language and thought. The soul is now “beyond her being,” which means she no longer even exists as a separate subject who can think of herself in relation to God. Her union is so total that she simply is-but not as herself: she is only in and through God.
—
1. What does it mean that the Soul has fulfilled the rule of her professed religion?
To “fulfill the rule” of her religion does not mean merely conforming to external practices or ecclesial regulations. Rather, the rule is identified as complete self-annihilation-the soul is “dissolved” into that primordial state of non-being or divine origin, where Love originally received her. This is a mystical interpretation of religious profession: union with God through total relinquishment of self, identity, and spiritual striving. The true “rule” is not discipline but ontological transformation.
2. Why is the Soul’s passage through testing described as particularly difficult?
The passage is described as exceedingly difficult because the opposition the Soul faces comes not from enemies, but from friends-those aspects of life or spiritual companions that were once helpful or even essential. These friends must be “put to death,” meaning that the Soul must detach even from what is good, holy, and supportive if it stands in the way of total union with God. The struggle with friends implies an interior crucifixion of familiar forms of piety, virtue, and affection.
3. What is the significance of the phrase “all ability is carried off, without recovery”?
This phrase highlights the Soul’s radical powerlessness at this stage. She is stripped of all capacity for independent thought, will, or action-even for spiritual effort. In losing every faculty, she becomes completely receptive, healed of all spiritual infirmities precisely through the loss of agency. This is not a collapse, but the culmination of surrender. God alone becomes the agent; the Soul now only is through God.
4. Why must the Soul put her “friends” to death, and what does this mean spiritually?
Putting her friends to death means renouncing all intermediary aids-affections, virtues, spiritual desires, or religious consolations-which once supported her journey. These must now be relinquished because they uphold a dualistic structure (self and God, means and end). In perfect union, even the most cherished supports become impediments. The death of friends signifies the transition from mediated love to direct, unmediated union with God, where all that remains is Divine Being itself.
5. What is the Soul’s attitude toward her current state, and how does it reflect her transformation?
The Soul expresses a detachment from her own state of being, even questioning the presumption of having once “placed herself where God is” through her thoughts. This humility stems from the realization that she is now beyond her own being-she has transcended self-consciousness and spiritual ambition. Her transformation is complete: she no longer acts, claims, or even thinks as an individual. All has been absorbed into the simplicity and sufficiency of Divine Love.
6. How does this chapter portray the soul’s relationship to God in the highest state of union?
The chapter portrays the Soul’s relationship to God as one of nonduality and total dependence. She no longer exists “beside” God but is drawn into the pre-personal reality of God’s being, where she is “dissolved by annihilation.” This union is not just affective but ontological: the soul is where she was “before she was,” participating in God’s being through the transformation of love. She retains no will, no works, no distinction-only divine sufficiency remains.
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Chapter 138 teaches that the soul, through complete self-emptying and surrender of her will, returns to her “prior being” – a state of pure simplicity in God that transcends all distinction, feeling, and thought. In this state, she is “melted” into the divine essence and exists only by and in God’s will, having abandoned all self-willed action. Her will becomes one with the divine will, and she is placed in divine being itself, beyond all ascent or descent, clothed in the radical nakedness of her origin in God. To attain this nakedness and simplicity, the Soul must remain vigilant against all self-deception, for Nature always seeks to subtly assert itself.
—
1. “Now this Soul is in the stage of her prior being, and so has left three and has made of two One.”
The “prior being” refers to the soul’s original state in God before creation – a state of undivided simplicity. “Leaving three” likely symbolizes transcending the composite structure of creaturely existence (such as body, soul, and spirit, or memory, intellect, and will). “Making of two One” signifies the final unification of the human and divine wills. This is the full return to unity beyond division, where all dualities and multiplicities are dissolved in divine simplicity.
2. “This One is when the Soul is melted in the simple Deity, who is one simple Being of overflowing fruition, in fullness of knowledge, without feeling, above all thought.”
The soul becomes one with God through a complete spiritual liquefaction – “melted” – meaning she is no longer distinct from Him in the mode of being. The Divine is described as “simple,” which in mystical theology means indivisible, unchanging, and without complexity. The union transcends sensory experience (“without feeling”) and rational reflection (“above all thought”), existing instead in pure fruition – the joyful, effortless enjoyment of God beyond any image or concept.
3. “This simple Being does in the Soul through charity whatever the Soul does, for the will has become simple.”
Once the soul has reached this state, she no longer acts independently. Rather, it is the Divine Being acting in and through her, specifically by means of charity (agape), the highest divine gift. The soul’s will is now “simple” – utterly unified with God’s will, stripped of all self-interest or multiplicity. There is no distinction between divine initiative and human response.
4. “Such a simple will has nothing to do in her, since it conquered the necessity of the two natures at the moment when the will was given up for the sake of simple being.”
In this state, the soul’s own will becomes so surrendered that it is inactive in the ordinary sense. The “necessity of the two natures” – likely referring to the duality of human nature (spirit and flesh, or divine and created nature) – is transcended. The soul no longer operates from the natural tension between body and spirit, or between God and self. Her will, surrendered entirely to God, no longer performs works or choices distinct from divine action.
5. “And this simple will, which is divine will, places the Soul in divine being.”
Here, we see the mystical culmination: the soul doesn’t just receive divine graces but is placed in the divine being itself – a full participation in God’s very life. The soul is not merely united to God externally or morally; she now is in God’s being through a radical transformation wrought by divine charity.
6. “No one can ascend any higher nor descend more deeply, nor can anyone be more naked.”
This state is the absolute summit and the deepest depth of spiritual life – the complete stripping away of self (nakedness), the highest ascent (into divinity), and the lowest descent (into one’s nothingness). There is nothing further to attain. The soul lives beyond merit, beyond effort, beyond perception – purely in God.
7. “Whoever wishes to attain this nakedness, must guard against the ways of Nature, who lures in a subtle fashion as sun draws water from cloth.”
To attain these spiritual heights, the mystic must remain vigilant. “Nature” – meaning the lower, self-seeking tendencies of the human person – is subtle and deceptive. Like evaporation, its influence is often invisible. Unless one watches with extreme care and ongoing discernment, these tendencies can assert themselves, pulling the soul back into selfhood.
8. “One cannot see it happen no matter how intently one stares. So Nature deceives herself without her knowing it if she does not pay attention with much great testing.”
Self-deception is easy, even (or especially) at high levels of the spiritual path. Nature’s luring is imperceptible – subtle attachments, spiritual pride, or clinging to the experience of God can slip back in. Therefore, constant testing, purification, and divine guidance are necessary to maintain true nakedness and avoid regression.
This chapter expresses Marguerite Porete’s most sublime teaching: the soul, in pure annihilation and stripped of self-will, returns to her divine origin – not as a separate being, but dissolved into God’s simple, eternal love.
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1. What does it mean that the Soul “has left three and has made of two One”?
This symbolic language refers to the dissolution of multiplicity within the soul. “Leaving three” likely represents transcending the triadic faculties of the soul (e.g., memory, understanding, will) or body-soul-spirit distinctions. “Making of two One” implies the merging of the soul’s will with the divine will – the unification of creature and Creator in simplicity. The result is no longer a duality of wills or being, but a singular divine life lived in and through the soul.
2. How is the soul described once it has returned to its prior being?
The soul is “melted in the simple Deity,” fully immersed in God’s own being. This means she no longer acts apart from God, but is completely united in divine simplicity – a state of “overflowing fruition,” of perfect knowledge without discursive thought, beyond feeling or image. She exists in pure being, resting in God as she was before creation, without identity apart from Him.
3. What is the significance of the soul having a “simple will”?
The “simple will” refers to a will that is no longer fragmented or self-directed. It is entirely unified with God’s will – no longer choosing, resisting, or acting from itself. This simplicity is the result of the soul renouncing both natural inclinations and spiritual striving, surrendering all into the hands of divine love. The simple will does nothing of itself, for it is now the divine will working within the soul without resistance or duality.
4. What does the text mean by saying that “no one can ascend any higher nor descend more deeply”?
This line emphasizes that the soul has reached the ultimate height of mystical union – complete immersion in God – and simultaneously the deepest humility, recognizing her own nothingness. To ascend higher would imply a separate self still seeking God; to descend more deeply would suggest a further stripping away of self, which is no longer possible. The soul is now “most naked,” having shed all that is not God, existing solely by divine grace.
5. What warning is given about Nature, and why is vigilance necessary?
For the soul to achieve union with God, vigilance is essential because “Nature” – the subtle movements of selfhood – continues to exert a hidden influence. Nature deceives gently and invisibly, “like the sun draws water from cloth,” without immediate perception. Even highly advanced souls may unknowingly be drawn back into subtle forms of attachment, self-will, or self-satisfaction unless they remain attentive and undergo continual testing and purification.
6. How does this chapter reflect the concept of annihilation in Porete’s mysticism?
The chapter illustrates the final stage of annihilation, in which the soul has relinquished all sense of separate identity. She has no personal will, no desire, no sense of ownership – only God’s being remains. Her annihilation is not destruction, but complete transformation and participation in divine simplicity. She lives not for herself, nor even as herself, but as an empty vessel through which God lives freely.
7. How does the soul’s return to her “prior being” relate to the pre-creational state?
The “prior being” points to the soul’s existence in the eternal will of God before she was created – a mode of being beyond time, individuality, or separation. In mystical terms, the soul is returned to this uncreated source, no longer as a distinct person laboring to merit union, but as one who simply is in God, as she was when known and willed by God from all eternity.
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Chapter 139 of The Mirror of Simple Souls warns of the profound subtlety of Nature, which can disguise self-will and spiritual pride under the appearance of goodness and necessity, thereby deceiving even advanced souls. The Soul reflects on her own experience of being misled by these false cloaks, only to be brought through humility to a deeper truth by divine knowledge. True freedom and union with God require not only the renunciation of external attachments but also the vigilant stripping away of internal illusions. Even relationships between kindred spirits, though rare and intimate, can become occasions for hidden self-seeking if not founded in complete spiritual freedom. The chapter ends with an exhortation to spiritual fecundity and transparency before God, whose gaze purifies and simplifies the soul, drawing it into a state of divine simplicity. The concluding “Deo gratias” signals a final surrender and gratitude for the divine work accomplished through both trial and grace.
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1. “Ah, God, how Nature is subtle in many ways, in demanding in the form of goodness and in the guise of her necessity what is not hers to have.”
The soul laments the deceptive cunning of Nature, which disguises its selfish impulses as goodness or necessity. Even when pretending to relinquish control, Nature subtly retains dominion. This false humility can derail the spiritual journey. The soul must discern this counterfeit virtue from true divine abandonment. Nature here represents the self-life and ego, always seeking to reclaim ground under noble pretexts.
2. “Certainly what she demands often can be menacing: for with these deceits she receives often what is not hers, in pretending to disrobe herself of her power and vigor and by her apparent gentle manner.”
Nature seduces by appearing meek or weakened, but this is only a guise. The soul warns that these strategies are deeply dangerous, as they allow Nature to reclaim control under the appearance of virtue. True surrender to God cannot coexist with such cunning manipulations. Spiritual vigilance is therefore essential.
3. “I certainly have proved this to my great condemnation, but even more to my great good by surpassing or completing what I had to do on the basis of my own maliciousness in divine knowing, without my understanding.”
The soul admits having been deceived by Nature but also affirms that God brought good from it. Even in error, divine knowledge guided her beyond herself. This line reflects the paradox of divine providence: even self-deception can be transformed into grace when surrendered to God.
4. “This divine knowledge and that hiding of mine impeded me in the way of the homeland by covering me with matter in which I had to take on humility in order to attain what is mine.”
The soul recognizes that divine knowledge itself can become a form of pride or disguise, becoming a hindrance if not matched by humility. The “matter” of her own condition-her weakness, limitations-was necessary for her to re-enter true union through humility, revealing the fine balance between illumination and self-effacement.
5. “It is common most of the time that one would not find in a kingdom two persons who would be of one spirit. But when it happens…they open themselves to each other, and cannot hide themselves…on account of the condition of their spirits.”
True spiritual unity is rare. But when it occurs, such souls are drawn into mutual transparency. Their shared constitution and calling compel openness. Yet even this deep communion is dangerous if not anchored in perfect detachment. The subtle ego may still lurk in such intimacy, so vigilance is required.
6. “Such folk have a great need to be on their guard, if they have not attained the crown of the perfection of freeness.”
Even in spiritually aligned companionships, the risk of spiritual possessiveness or hidden ego remains unless perfect freedom has been attained. The “crown of freeness” refers to the total loss of self-interest and self-will, a prerequisite for uncorrupted spiritual relationship.
7. “And thus I say to you, in conclusion, as God has given you highest creation and excellent light and singular love, be fertile and increase this creation without deficiency, for His two eyes always see you.”
The chapter ends with an exhortation. The soul reminds the reader of the divine gifts-creation, light, and love-and urges them to cooperate fruitfully with grace. God’s unceasing gaze is both a comfort and a call to spiritual integrity. The soul is invited into simplicity by contemplating this divine attention.
8. “And so ponder and consider that this seeing makes the Soul Simple.”
The simplicity of soul is the fruit of living under God’s gaze. In divine vision, all illusions are stripped away. Simplicity here means purity, transparency, and undivided will. The soul becomes what it sees, and seeing herself seen by God, she is drawn into the oneness and clarity of His being.
9. Final Line: “Deo gratias.”
A final offering of thanks. The journey has reached its final word: gratitude. All has been grace, and now all is returned in praise.
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1. What is the soul’s warning about Nature’s subtlety, and how does it manifest?
The soul warns that Nature is exceedingly subtle and deceptive, especially when she demands things under the appearance of goodness or necessity. Nature often pretends to be weak, humble, or surrendered-disrobing herself of power in a gentle manner-while secretly maintaining control and asserting self-will. These subtle deceptions allow Nature to claim what does not rightfully belong to her, threatening true spiritual detachment and union with God.
2. How does the soul describe her own experience with Nature’s deception?
The soul confesses that she has personally fallen prey to Nature’s deception, to her “great condemnation,” but also notes that God brought good from it. Her own maliciousness-likely meaning her self-will and pride-was surpassed by divine knowing, even though she didn’t understand it at the time. God used this fall to guide her beyond herself, revealing both the danger of spiritual pride and the mercy of divine providence.
3. What does the soul mean by saying divine knowledge and her hiding “impeded [her] in the way of the homeland”?
Here, the soul reflects that even divine gifts, such as deep spiritual knowledge or the inclination to spiritual withdrawal (“hiding”), can become obstacles if they cloak hidden self-interest. These became “matter” she had to assume with humility to attain what was truly hers-that is, her identity in God. Without humility, even spiritual insight can serve ego rather than self-emptying union.
4. What is said about spiritual companionship, and what caution is given?
The text notes that finding two people of one spirit is rare, but when it happens, they become completely transparent to one another. However, even such relationships carry risks. If these souls have not yet attained perfect spiritual freedom-the “crown of freeness”-they must be very vigilant. Their mutual openness can turn into spiritual attachment or subtle ego affirmation unless rooted in complete detachment and union with God.
5. What final exhortation does the soul offer the reader, and what is its spiritual meaning?
The soul exhorts the reader to be “fertile” and increase the divine creation within them, without deficiency, since God’s eyes are always upon them. This is both an encouragement and a caution: to live transparently and fruitfully under God’s gaze is to grow in spiritual simplicity. The soul becomes “Simple” when she lives consciously in the sight of God, stripped of duplicity, ego, and self-deception.
6. How does the chapter define spiritual simplicity, and what leads to it?
Spiritual simplicity is defined as the condition of the soul when she is fully transparent, undivided, and completely open to God. This state arises when the soul recognizes that she is always seen by God and allows that divine vision to purify her. The soul no longer acts out of self-assertion or spiritual pretense but rests in the single, unifying gaze of God.
7. What does the final “Deo gratias” imply in the context of the chapter’s teachings?
The concluding “Deo gratias” (“Thanks be to God”) encapsulates the soul’s final attitude: gratitude for all that has been revealed and endured. It marks the culmination of the spiritual journey-beyond struggle, beyond deception, and into a simple, grateful rest in God’s being. It also acknowledges that all progress, even when made through error, was ultimately the work of divine goodness.
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The final chapter and prayer of The Mirror of Simple Souls offer a culminating vision of mystical humility and divine authorship. The anonymous author effaces herself entirely, attributing the book’s origin to God alone and seeking no recognition beyond God’s secret will. The chapter frames the work as a divinely inspired seed meant for hidden souls prepared by grace, not for public acclaim or indiscriminate distribution. Three ecclesiastical figures-representing Franciscan, Cistercian, and scholastic traditions-affirm the book’s orthodoxy and depth, while warning that its teachings are too elevated for most. Ultimately, the text is offered as a spiritual gift for those called to the path of total annihilation in divine love, and it is sealed with a prayerful hope that, like seed in fertile ground, it may bear fruit a hundredfold in the hidden garden of the soul.
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1. Final Prayer:
“For the sake of the one who has written this book,
By the goodness of your heart, I pray you
That you pray the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit
And the Virgin Mary
That after this present life
In the company of the angels
They might render to her grace and praise.
Amen.”
This humble closing prayer reflects the author’s anonymity and detachment, even as she petitions readers to remember her in prayer. It does not ask for fame or recognition but only for divine grace and the companionship of angels after death. The invocation of the Trinity and the Virgin Mary places the entire work under the protection of orthodox Christian devotion, despite its radical spiritual teachings. The tone is reverent and trusting, consistent with a soul entirely abandoned to divine will. The anonymity emphasized throughout the text culminates here in self-effacing love and hope in divine mercy.
2. “I [am] a creature from the creator by whose mediation the Creator made this book of Himself…”
The author effaces herself completely, presenting herself only as a created vessel through whom the Creator has expressed Himself. The language reveals her complete humility and alignment with the mystical doctrine of annihilation: she is nothing, and God is all. The book is described not as her work, but as God’s work, offered in hope and hidden wisdom, reinforcing the themes of detachment and divine simplicity.
3. “I greet them through love of the peace of charity in the highest Trinity, who deems them worthy of direction…”
The greeting is offered in the spirit of divine charity, not out of personal attachment or human interest. The Trinity is the source of peace and the agent of spiritual direction. This reinforces the idea that the work is meant only for those prepared by divine grace to understand and live its radical message, not for casual or unprepared readers.
4. “[Brother John] said… this book was truly made by the Holy Spirit… and that if all the clergy of the world heard only what they understood [of it], they would not know how to contradict it…”
Brother John, a respected Franciscan, affirms the divine origin of the text and acknowledges its transcendence even over the learned clergy. His testimony supports the claim that the book is rooted in authentic mystical theology. He warns, however, that it should be read with reverence and discretion-a message consistent with earlier themes that only the annihilated and simplified soul can truly comprehend divine mysteries.
5. “Dom Franco… said that he proved through Scripture that truth is what this book speaks.”
Dom Franco’s testimony aligns the mystical teaching with Scripture, countering accusations of heresy. This connection to the biblical tradition affirms the orthodoxy of the book’s spiritual insights, despite their radical and nonconventional expressions.
6. “Master Godfrey of Fontaines… counseled that not many should see it… because… they could set aside the life to which they were called in aspiring to the one at which they will never arrive…”
Godfrey’s concern is pastoral: that ordinary souls might misunderstand or misuse the text. The way described in the book is not for everyone-only for those truly called to divine union through annihilation. His remark that this is the only “divine practice” underscores the book’s extreme demands and exalted vision of spiritual life, while cautioning against superficial appropriation by those unprepared.
7. “This approval was made for the sake of the peace of the hearers… that this seed might be made fruitful a hundredfold…”
The final note affirms that the book is a seed-hidden, potent, and generative. Its fruitfulness depends not on widespread popularity but on the quiet work it performs in those who are “worthy,” i.e., purified by grace. The phrase echoes Christ’s parable of the sower, tying the mystical message back to Gospel truth. The approval is meant to reassure cautious readers that this book, while radical, is grounded in true spiritual insight and confirmed by notable theological authorities.
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1. What does the final prayer reveal about the author’s spiritual disposition?
The final prayer is marked by humility, detachment, and trust in divine mercy. The author makes no mention of herself by name and asks not for recognition or fame, but for grace and praise after death from the Trinity and the Virgin Mary, in the company of the angels. This reflects the soul’s self-annihilation and desire to be remembered only in the hidden charity of God. It exemplifies the book’s overarching theme: that the soul must become nothing so that God may be all.
2. How does the author describe the origin and purpose of the book in Chapter 140?
The author identifies herself only as a “creature from the Creator” and insists that the book was made by God, through her, for others whom she neither knows nor desires to know. This signals her deep detachment and spiritual humility. The book’s origin lies in divine wisdom and love, not in human authorship. Its purpose is to speak to those who are prepared by divine grace-not for the curious or uninitiated, but for souls whom God chooses to direct inwardly through love.
3. What is the significance of the three ecclesiastical endorsements included in this chapter?
The three endorsements serve to legitimize the book and protect it from accusations of heresy.
* Brother John, a Franciscan of reputed sanctity, affirms that the book was made by the Holy Spirit and that no clergy could justly contradict it if they truly understood it.
* Dom Franco, a Cistercian monk, confirms that its truths are scripturally sound.
* Master Godfrey of Fontaines, a noted theologian, adds that the work is of such spiritual height and intensity that few can attain it, and it should be read with care lest some abandon their proper state of life to imitate what is beyond them.
These endorsements underscore that the text, though radical in its mystical language, is in continuity with Christian doctrine and approved by discerning, orthodox readers.
4. Why is discretion and limited distribution of the book emphasized?
Because the book describes a path of mystical annihilation and divine simplicity that few can understand or live, the text warns against casual or widespread reading. Master Godfrey’s concern is that some might aspire to the mystical life described without being called or prepared for it, and thereby abandon their actual duties. The message is not elitist, but protective: the book is for those whom God has already led inward, not for those still on the way or tied to more active, external forms of religious life.
5. How does this final chapter frame the book’s place within the tradition of Christian spirituality?
This chapter firmly places the book within the stream of Christian mystical theology. It aligns the teaching with divine inspiration, ecclesial approval, and scriptural truth. While acknowledging the book’s extraordinary depth, it affirms that its teaching-of union with God through love, self-emptying, and inner transformation-is the highest form of spiritual life, surpassing all “human practices.” This is not meant to invalidate other paths, but to point to the full maturity of divine union as the fulfillment of the soul’s journey. The book is thus framed as a seed for contemplatives, bearing fruit only in the hidden garden of God’s grace.
6. What is the theological significance of calling the book a “seed” and wishing it to bear fruit “a hundredfold”?
Referring to the book as a “seed” emphasizes its hidden, spiritual power. It evokes Christ’s parable of the sower, suggesting that the teaching, though veiled and difficult, will bear abundant fruit in those who are prepared. The wish that it may be fruitful “a hundredfold” echoes Gospel language and expresses hope that the work will lead souls to transformative union with God, even if only a few understand and receive it rightly. The seed must fall into fertile ground-the purified and simplified soul-where it can grow unseen and yield eternal life.