The Sermons of Johannes Tauler · 84 of 124

Third Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday after

For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom all paternity In heaven and earth Is named, that HHe would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit with might unto the inward man. That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth. To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God. — Eph. ill, 14-20.

Children, these words are so rich in meaning that there is no need of our searching through authors to expound them. When St. Paul wrote this epistle he was a prisoner, and he wished that his friends should not be distressed on his account. Let me say that if I were myself a prisoner, surely this would be an affliction to my favorite children, and their sympathy would make them all the more dear to me. And from his prison, St. Paul pointed out to his disciples the road to self-renunciation, and bade them not be distressed about anything whatsoever. Some men suffer more keenly from their friends, misfortunes than from their bwn, and they would say that there is no fault in that; and yet there is fault in every distress of mind. St. Paul would teach us entire resignation and equality of mind under all burdens, all gifts and all graces that God gives ns. Trouble of mind is a great obstacle, stagnating spiritual life, clouding its light, and quenching the fire of love. Hence the apostle elsewhere teaches: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice” (Phil. iv:4).

When he says “I bow my knees,1 ” he means not only the outward

Ihousand times wider and broader, deeper and longer than what is outward. Our outward support is our knees and feet, and these we take from under us when we outwardly genuflect. So should one act interiorly towards God. All that he is and all that he can do he should bend down humbly under the mighty hand of God, thereby owning to his natural and his guilty nothingness; by nature we are nothing and by our sins our nothingness is full of guilt. With this double nothingness let us lie prostrate at God’s feet, in all subjectiocn to Him, in nudity of spirit and in self-renunciation; for these three are like three sisters covered with the same garment; and the name of that garment is humility. A man should stand in a well-balanced equality of mind between pleasure and pain, possessing and lacking, hard and easy; and he should receive everything from God and nothing from creatures.

In every man there are three men. The first man is guided to the subjugation of the outward senses, as far as possible, under the sway of reason, drawing them inward and restraining their outward activity. Then appears the second man, standing in all detachment of spirit, greedy of nothing, resting his thoughts upon his own nothingness, making God his lord and master, and wholly submissive to Him. The third man is now before us, emancipated from servitude, free to enter deep into the uncreated source of his life as he was predestined in God’s mind in eternity, his spirit in full detachment joined to God without forms or images. In this state God grants him “the riches of His glory”; and he is richly gifted with graces, which perceptibly strengthen all his powers, high and low; “strengthened by His Spirit with might into the inward man.”

St. Paul says: “That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts.” This dwelling, therefore, refers to our holy faith, in which men greatly differ one from another. For when one man says: I believe in God the Father Almighty, he may have an interior faith in God in a more sensible and appreciable way than some other men. Yet if a six-year-old child and a professor from Paris make the same act of faith, it is indeed the same faith in both of them, yet very differently understood by each. So does an interior man have his faith in a clear light, all plain and distinct. But in the soul of the third and highest kind of man, just awhile ago spoken of, this knowledge is to forms and images, in a certain singleness and simplicity of knowledge— enjoying holy faith in all sweetness.

“That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts.” Compare Christ to a healing salve. Now, when God finds a man turned submissively to Him, into the innermost soul of that man does God pour this healing ointment that is Christ, and it is in this sense that He dwells within our hearts. Then that heart is made so sweet and gentle and supple that all hardness and stiffness are quite gone from it. Abandonment to God, nudity of spirit, and freedom from all desire — when these three virtues are deep in a man’s heart, then the unction that is Christ soaks down into all its recesses, making it mild and gentle. He, himself, longs to be turned into a healing salve for the saving of men. His love of God has the “breadth and length” to embrace all mankind. St. Paul became a Jew to the Jews and a pagan to the pagans, that he might gain them all; our Saviour ate and drank and consorted with sinners to gain them. And so would this man gladly be ranked with all classes of men to save them.

The same healing ointment penetrates the soul with a universal brotherly love; none are excluded, because God loves all, whether good or bad. That soul is “rooted and founded in charity”; and the deeper a tree’s roots, the higher and broader are its branches. Alas! how many showy trees are fallen low; how many fine-appearing blossoms have been torn off and scattered by the stormy wind of temptation. Our Saviour teaches: “Every plant which my Heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up” (Matt, xv, 13). See to it “that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth.”

Children, to have breadth in God is to realize His presence at all times and in all our doings, as St. Augustine says: “O man, thou canst not escape His presence. If thou turnest thy back on His countenance, all friendly and smiling, thou shalt face Him stern and angry.” This breadth as it is in God is infinite, and if we bring it into our souls, it becomes universal love. If you say that it is half quenched in this life, and can only be at best a lovely participation, I answer no, dear child. It is universal, it is as broad as the earth; for it embraces all mankind, and the soul would give all it has and its own

In that sort of love let us work, and as far as possible embrace all men in its beneficence.

And the length — that is in God’s eternity, having no past nor present and without any change, as the saints now enjoy God in heaven, and know and love all that God enjoys. Thus let us co-operate unceasingly. with Him in our daily course of life, as long as we remain here below.

The depth that is in God is an abyss that no created mind can fathom. But this we can do: we can attain to a fathomless annihilation of self, insomuch as we judge ourselves to bfe nothing and to merit nothing. Then the soul goes out to all blinded and malicious sinners, and suffers for them a most painful grief, melted with pity for their dreadful blindness. This depth of love is so immeasurable, that it carries the loving soul down to the depth of hell, and if God would accept the exchange (which indeed it cannot think) it would feel like emptying hell of all the damned and taking their place there alone forever. To be sure no one should so pray, nor ever think, for it is against God’s decree. But love and humility have inebriated this soul, till it resembles Moses, who prayed to God for the Israelites: “Either forgive them this trespass, or if Thou do not, strike me out of the book that Thou hast written” (Exod. xxii, 31, 32). This depth of love is born of God’s unfathomable love, which neither angels nor men can ever reach or even comprehend, for, children, it is too far above us.

The height that is in God is this: He can do all things, and yet He cannot make any creature so noble, as to enable it by its nature to reach His own divine height, even though such a creature were far above all seraphs and cherubim. The highest possible created nature is immeasurably below God, for it is created and God is uncreated and is wholly self existent. But the favored souls we have been speaking of attain God’s height in a kind of way, namely by their spirit soaring high towards God in great thanksgiving and elevation of soul; and because God has become so great to them and so high, that all that is not God seems nothing in comparison, according to the prophet: “Man shall come to a deep heart, and God shall be exalted” (Ps. lxiii, 7).

I declare to you, that the man who rates any created thing great and high, even though he rates it less than God, to such a one God cannot

God. All created beings taken together, are seen in His eyes to be less in comparison with God than absolute non-existence is in comparison with the angels of heaven. God’s super essential height of being draws the soul so high above itself in love and thanksgiving and praise that all possible honor done to godly angels and saints is not to be at all considered; the soul has a loving ambition to transcend them all and render God praise that shall be worthy of Him. As a great heap of coals make a mighty fire whose flame leaps up on high, so is the soul now wafted up above all its thoughts, imaginations and activities, beyond all its faculties, noblest and lowest, away above all its own possibilities and strength, far above all creatures, into the height of the super essential Godhead. In this elevation of spirit, the soul has its own interior depths manifested in a marvellously clear light, and is placed in onion with God’s inaccessible height and measureless depth and breadth and length.

Herein is fulfilled St. Paul’s word: “That you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth,” namely in the Godhead. Children, if it happens that any man comes to this state without the three virtues of self abandonment, purity of heart, and freedom from desire, then let him at least be securely habited in deep and true humility and enter into the monastery of love. And any man who enters this state without due preparation in the exercises of a devout life, shall surely fall to the ground. But if thou hast entered in furnished with the above named virtues, then thou shalt hold thy place; for if thou ever shalt lose it, it must be by self-seeking and lack of detachment of spirit.

Children, here precious graces are granted, and the seed of them is sown in this soil, and springs up. It iB written: “In Me is all grace of the way and of the truth; in Me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to Me, all you that desire Me, and be filled with My fruits” (Eccli. xxiv, 25, 26). To attain to this a man must go beyond all creatures; and hence it happens that this new birth is shown to some, who nevertheless do not experience it. But any man who directs all his spiritual exercises to acquiring genuine self-renunciation, to him

Let me tell you, children, that I sometimes meet with this in young people. But in those who undertake it when advanced in years, it is usually a failure, because they stand upon their own will, adhere to their old devotions with self will; they are hard in their judgments

To men absorbed in external works, the interior experiences we have been treating of must remain hidden; their souls are too coarse duly to appreciate such things as God’s infinite being dwelling in the soul. Many a one who fancies that he has reached a high point of interior spirituality, has as a matter of fact never reached even its lowest degree. God draws men inward to this sanctification by selfrenunciation and purity of intention; and upon learning this, many men drive Him away from them as if He were the evil one, holding obstinately to their self-will and self-indulgence. All the fruits of grace are as if struck by a mildew and are destroyed. For no matter how high thou comest, the three sister virtues of abandonment to God, purity of intention and self-denial, grouped and held together by humility, must be and continue with thee if thou shalt hold thy place. When the evil spirit comes to thee looking for his own, and finds thee attached to created things, that gives him his opportunity.

And now what shall I say of how to gain this blessed spiritual state, which outward living men wish not to have, for they are not willing to withdraw from the clatter of externalized spirituality? Dear child, listen to my counsel: If thou recitest an approved prayer once with thy lips, recite it twice besides with a loving interior spirit, and let no one hinder thee in this method. Whatever may be the noise of thy outward devotions, that may not count for much. Meanwhile do not talk about thy interior experiences; but outwardly submit thyself to everyone in sincere humility. Thy outward man should always wait on the inward man as a servant on his master, doing his bidding to the utmost of his power. Such is not the way with those who are exclusively occupied with the external things of religion, and who would constrain others to follow the same course, making a great noise about it. For thy part, dear child, be silent; and be patient with such persons. Abandonment to God, purity of motive, and selfdenial — hast thou these lovely virtues? Then let the whole world be in an uproar round about’ thee the livelong day, and sit thee down quietly; for nothing can do thee harm. If any disturbance or inter* ference injures thy health, quietly withdraw out of reach.

Children, when I find any one led by God in this way, I counsel him as God gives me light And if somebody curses and swears at me for doing so, I cannot help it — let him curse and swear. In this respect the sisters of our order have a good custom. For whenever one of them feels called to this state of recollection, the others are glad, and she is granted leave to follow her interior attraction. They all feel that such a case is placed beyond their interference. And this is a lovely condition in a community, and one established by the Holy Ghost Himself.

Dear child, dwell always in the monastery of these three virtues, so often named, and beware of those hateful step-sisters, self-indulgence and self-love — nay, set upon them fiercely and cut off their heads. These evil tendencies would drive you to be continually asking privileges, now to leave the house to hear a sermon, again to go to church to visit the blessed sacrament — anything to enjoy some relaxation from solitude and recollection. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!

Finally St. Paul bids us: “Enow also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge.” This is that knowledge with which our Lord overcame the devil by His bitter death and thereby redeemed us. And yet in that He became the most utterly forsaken of all men on the face of the earth, and at the same time the most perfectly acceptable to His Father that He possibly could be. Did He not exclaim: “My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Mark xv, 34), being more utterly abandoned by His Father than any saint has ever been. Before this He had felt this abandonment during His agony and bloody sweat in the garden, although in the highest part of His soul He was joined to the Godhead as truly as He is today in heaven. This is the knowledge and, as it were, the skill Christ would teach us, surpassing all other, namely that one should be stripped of all consolation; and becoming miserable, being wholly without support, should abide in total self-renunciation, in imitation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whosoever does this becomes most pleasing to the heavenly Father.

God rules and reigns in such a soul. In its innermost depths essential peace is born: if thou hast been granted it, let neither man nor angels nor devils ever take it from thee. And yet thou must continue to hold thy outward man in check, wholly subjecting him to thy inward man, and continually suppressing and grieving him, never trusting him, never crediting him, lest he place any hindrance to the progress of thy spirit by his various devices, most especially by his sinful inclinations. To be sure, as long as we are in this life we cannot be wholly without comfort; but place thy reason in supreme control of thy appetites, that all satisfaction of natural cravings may be taken in God and through God, and to this end constantly pray for God’s guidance in such things. Our Lord always strengthens those who frequently beg His aid, enlightens them with His wisdom, and perfects their work by His goodness. May God help us to follow St Paul’s blessed counsels in such wise that we may attain to the possession of essential truth. Amen.

Proficients are led into the Evangelical counsels — How this vocacation is related to religious orders — Penalty for rejecting this vocation— The perfect are totally absorbed in irritation interiorly and exteriorly of the life and passion of Christ — Remarks on the • different states of souls in purgatory.