You must know that there are three kinds of contemplation ; the two principal regard the perfect ; the third is added for the imperfect Those kinds of contemplation which suit the perfect are upon the Majesty of God, and the Heavenly Court The third, which is for beginners, and for imperfect persons, is on the Humanity of Christ, which I now in this book describe. You must commence with this, if you would mount up to the others; otherwise you will make no progress, and remain in the state of fear. Very necessary, then, is the teaching which follows ; for never will you safely attain to the high things of God, unless you, for a long time and diligently, exercise yourself in the preliminary kind of contemplation.
Upon this S. Bernard speaks thus : “You know, there are two kinds of contemplation; one on the state, the bliss, and glory of the City which is above, the actions and the rest of the vast multitude which occupy the Heavenly Court ; the other on the Majesty, the Eternity, the Divinity of the King Himself. The one is the wall around the stone ; the other is the stone itself. The more difficult it is to penetrate into the second, the more sweet is that which is extracted from it But as the Church cannot on every side penetrate this stone, and as it is not given to all those who are in the Church to contemplate the secrets of the Divine Will, nor to comprehend in themselves the deep things of God ; therefore one is able to dwell not only in the clefts of the rock, but also in the excavations of the wall which is around it. Thus, the perfect are those who, daring from the purity of their conscience and the depth of their understanding, to penetrate into the secrets of wisdom, dwell in the clefts of the rock. The rest remain in the excavations of the wall. Those who are not capable of penetrating the rock, or who may not dare, are content to dig about the inclosure, or to trace in spirit the glory of the saints. If even this may not seem possible to any one, propose to him Jesus crucified, so that he without labour may dwell in the holes of the rock, which he has not cut. The Jews pierced Him, and he must enter into the labours of the unbeliever, that he may become a believer. Nor should he fear that he will suffer repulse who is invited to enter. Enter into the rock/ says the Prophet, ‘and hide thee in the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty/1 For the weak and effortless soul, the holes are already dug, where a hiding-place may be found, until strength and health are gained : so that he may at length be able to penetrate into the living stone, by which access may be obtained into the depths of the Incarnate Word, through the vigour and purity of his spirit. And if by the holes of the earth we mean that the text says, They pierced My hands and My feet/ there can be no doubt of the salvation of the soul which finds a refuge there. What is more efficacious for healing the wounds of conscience, and for purging the inner eye of the soul, than the constant meditation on the Wounds of Christ? But until the soul is perfectly healed and cured, I do not see how one is able to apply to it these words, ‘ Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice .’2 How can the soul dare to show its face, or raise its voice, when it is bidden to hide itself? ‘Hide thyself/ says the Prophet, in the caves of the earth.’ Why ? if not because the face is not fair, not worthy to be seen ? It is not worthy to be seen, as long as it is not able to see itself. But when, by dwelling in the caves of the earth, the inner eye of the soul has been healed, so that with open face the glory of God can be beheld ; then, indeed, what is seen he will trustfully declare, being acceptable both in voice and countenance. For it is necessary that the countenance should be pleasing to God, which is raised up to the contemplation of His glory ; and this it cannot be, unless it is clear and pure itself, and is transformed into the same brightness which it contemplates ; otherwise it will be thrown back by the force of the unwonted brightness with which it is itself in contrast. Therefore, when the pure countenance can look on the pure truth, then the Spouse desires to see it, and to hear also the voice.”3 Thus S. Bernard teaches.
You are convinced, then, of the necessity of meditating on the Life of Christ ; for it is evident, according to the authority I have quoted, that unless you are thereby purified, you can never attain to the sublime heights of God. Exercise yourself, then, in this contemplation with watchfulness and assiduousness.
But you must know that there are three kinds of contemplation ; that on the Humanity of Christ, on the Heavenly Court, and on the Divine Majesty. You must further bear in mind, that in each of these there are two elevations of soul, the intellectual and the affective. S. Bernard speaks of these in this manner :4 “There are two raptures in blessed contemplation ; one, of the understanding ; the other, of the heart ; one, of light ; the other, of heat ; one, in knowledge ; the other, in devotion. Truly pious affection ; a heart glowing with charity, the outpourings of holy devotion ; an earnestness of spirit, charged with zeal — these cannot come forth save from that wine-cellar, ‘the banquetinghouse5 * of the Beloved.” This, and much else to the same effect, may be gathered from S. Bernard’s WTitings.
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