A Soul in Need

Mens humana, sollicitudinibus distracta, non intrat ad se per memoriam; phantasmatibus obnubilata, non redit ad se per intelligentiam; concupiscentiis illecta, ad se ipsam nequaquam revertitur per desiderium suavitatis internae et laetitiae spiritualis. Ideo totaliter in his sensibilibus iacens, non potest ad se tanquam ad Dei imaginem reintrare. Et quoniam, ubi quis ceciderit, necesse habet ibidem recumbere, nisi apponat quis et adiiciat, ut resurgat; non potuit anima nostra pefecte ab his sensibilibus relevari ad contuitum sui et aeternae Veritatis in se ipsa, nisi Veritas, assumpta forma humana in Christo, fieret sibi scala reparans priorem scalam, quae fracta fuerat in Adam. Ideo, quantumcumque sit illuminatus quis lumine naturae et scientiae acquisitae, non potest intrare in se, ut in se ipso delectetur in Domino, nisi mediante Christo, qui dicit: Ego sum ostium. Per me si quis introierit, salvabitur et ingredietur et egredietur et pascua inveniet. Ad hoc autem ostium non appropinquamus, nisi ipsum credamus, speremus et amemus. Necesse est igitur, si reintrare volumus ad fruitionem Veritatis tanquam ad paradisum, quod ingrediamur per fidem, spem et caritatem mediatoris Dei et hominum Iesu Christi, qui est tanquam lignum vitae in medio paradisi. Supervestienda est igitur imago mentis nostrae tribus virtutibus theologicis, quibus anima purificatur, et sic imago reformatur et conformis supernae Ierusalem efficitur et pars Ecclesiae militantis, quae est proles, secundum Apostolum, Ierusalem caelestis. Ait enim: Illa quae sursum est Ierusalem libera est, quae est mater nostra. Anima igitur credens, sperans et amans Iesum Christum, qui est Verbum incarnatum, increatum et inspiratum, scilicet via, veritas et vita; dum per fidem credit in Christum tanquam in Verbum increatum, quod est Verbum et splendor Patris, recuperat spiritualem auditum et visum, auditum ad suscipiendum Christi sermones, visum ad considerandum illius lucis splendores. Itinterarium Mentis in Deum, Sanctus Boneventura

The human mind, distracted by cares, does not enter into itself through memory; obscured by phantasms, it does not return into itself through intelligence; allured by concupiscence, it never returns to itself through the desire for inner sweetness and spiritual joy. Thus thrown down totally among sensible things it is not able to return to itself as to the image of God. And since when it lies fallen it must remain there prostrate unless someone draw near and give assistance that it might rise, so our soul has not been able to be raised up perfectly to behold the eternal Truth in itself unless the Truth, having assumed human form in Christ, should make itself into a ladder, repairing the first ladder which was broken in Adam. Therefore, however much anyone is illuminated by the light of nature and acquired knowledge, he cannot enter into himself so that he may delight in the Lord in himself without the mediation of Christ, He who says, 'I am the door. Through me if any man enter, he shall be saved; and he shall go in, and he shall go out, and he shall find pastures'. Yet we do not approach this door unless we believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him. It is thus necessary, if we wish to enter into the fruition of Truth, as into Paradise, that we enter through the faith, hope, and charity of the Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ, Who is as the tree of life in the middle of Paradise. The image of our mind must therefore be clothed in the three theological virtues by which the soul is purified, and so the image is repaired and is made to conform to the heavenly Jerusalem and part of the Church militant which is the offspring, according to the Apostle, of the heavenly Jerusalem. He says: 'That Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother'. Therefore the soul which believes in, hopes in, and loves Jesus Christ, Who is the Word incarnate, uncreated, and spirated, that is, the way and the truth and the life, where by faith he believes in Christ as in the uncreated Word, which is the Word and the splendor of the Father, he recovers spiritual hearing and vision, hearing to receive the speech of Christ, vision to gaze upon the splendors of His light. The Journey of the Mind into God, Saint Bonaventura