Mystics All?
(Originally printed in Carmelite Digest, Vol. 14, No. 4, Autumn 1999
Copyright the Carmel of Mary Immaculate and St. Mary Magdalen, Flemington NJ)
“It seems that I am contradicting in this last chapter what I had said before.” With this sweetly ingenuous remark, St. Teresa of Avila laid the fuse for what would be, in the following centuries, the most disputed question in spiritual theology: the question of whether or not all Christians are called to the mystical life.[1]
The contradiction to which she refers may be presented thus: In chapter 17, paragraph 2 of the “Way of Perfection”, she writes, “Thus, although in this house all are engaged in prayer, it does not follow that all are to be contemplatives. This is impossible”. In chapter 19 of the same book, she writes, “Note that Our Lord invites all…If this invitation were not general, the Lord would not call us all, and if he did call us he would not say, ‘I will give you to drink’…But…I hold it for certain that all those who do not stop on the way shall not lack this living water” (“Way of Perfection, para. 15).
These two passages have been discussed and interpreted time and again since she wrote them. The first one is obviously the more explicit: “it does not follow that all” even of her own nuns “are to be contemplatives. This is impossible”. The second passage is more ambiguous. To have a clear understanding of it one must decide what she meant by “this living water”. Was she in truth talking about infused contemplation?
Much ink would flow through the centuries in discussing these matters. The controversy exploded openly some hundred years ago with the publication of “The Degrees of the Spiritual Life” by Abbé Auguste Saudreau in 1896, and “The Graces of Interior Prayer” by Fr. Augustin Poulain, S.J. in 1901.[2] Both authors claimed to present the traditional teaching on contemplation of St. Teresa of Jesus, and each came to a different conclusion. So much so, that their opinions met head on. Over the next 25 years (the controversy was not even interrupted by the First World War), more than two dozen articles and books would appear, centering for the most part on these three points: whether the ascetical life and the mystical life are two separate ways to perfection, or whether they are two stages in the same way; what constitutes the mystical life; and, finally, do there exist two distinct forms of supernatural contemplation. The essential question behind these discussions is, Are all Christians called to the mystical life and to infused contemplation?
Taking his stand on the teaching of St. John of the Cross, the Discalced Carmelite, Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, unhesitatingly answered, Yes. “We hope to show”, he wrote in 1925, “that St. John of the Cross saw in the transforming union the normal goal of the path of spirituality” and that “this infused contemplation necessarily falls within the framework of the normal development of the spiritual life”.[3] This view he maintained until the end of his life. In “Union With God”, published in 1951 and written explicitly for “persons living in the world”,[4] he says, “St. John of the Cross shows to all the direct way to [intimacy with God], and for that reason we are presenting him as the Master of the contemplative life…This is ‘the form of Christian life which aims at intimacy with God through the assiduous practice of prayer and mortification’…The contemplative life leads to contemplation which is the goal and then end of the contemplative life”. Moreover, “between the state of union and the contemplative life by means of which we tend toward that state, there exists a sort of ‘continuity’…Union is the full perfection of a life which develops within us gradually, a life which this union itself alone can crown”.[5]
This teaching was taken up, though more cautiously, by his confrere, Fr. Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus, O.C.D., who said that “Every soul possessing the seven gifts [of the Holy Spirit] received at Baptism can be moved by God and brought to Him to the plenitude of the mystical life, including supernatural contemplation…All those who have experienced hunger and thirst for God must consider the proximate call [to contemplation and the mystical life] as unquestionably for them”. [6]
This opinion slowly gained ground. A step forward was made at the Second Vatican Council when it was officially stated that “All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity”.[7] Still, this did not decide the question of whether the “fullness of Christian life” means the mystical life, though the phrase “the perfection of charity” suggests that it does. Charity is God’s own life, and this “has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”. [8] To act under the habitual influence of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit is one of the generally accepted definitions of the mystical life.[9] It is a definition which seemingly limits the mystical life to an elite few.
The teaching of the Second Vatican Council that all Christians are called to perfection does much to clarify our view of our Christian vocation. Still, it does not, as one Carmelite writer points out, explicitly answer the question of “whether all are called to the mystical life as the only way to the fullness of divine love and total service to humanity. We touch here on the greatest single controversy in the history of spiritual theology, a controversy seemingly settled by the Second Vatican Council in favour of the proponents of mysticism for all; seemingly, I say, because I doubt very much whether the Council Fathers were really pronouncing on mystical matters. For this we have to wait for Vatican III, and perhaps the undoing of the seventeenth century destruction of the great tradition of mystical contemplation”. [10]
Fortunately, this prophecy has proven to be overly pessimistic: we have not been forced to wait for another ecumenical council in order to have an authoritative answer to these questions. The recently published “Catechism of the Catholic Church” deals with these matters, though from an unexpected angle.
The “Catechism” reiterates the Council’s teaching on the call of all Christians to holiness.[11] It then goes on to say that “Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called ‘mystical’ because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments – ‘the holy mysteries’ – and, in him, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity”. [12] Such a use of the word “mystical” is startling to us, but it is certainly not new. It is as old as the Church itself, for “mystical” is simply the adjective derived from the noun “mystery”. [13] St. Paul spoke of himself and the other apostles as “stewards of the mysteries of God”. [14] This use of the word “mysteries” to designate the sacraments has been perpetuated in the Eastern Churches.[15]
Does this mean, then, that every Catholic who frequents the sacraments is a mystic? It should: the infinite abundance of grace flowing through the sacraments is more than enough to make a saint, even in this life, of each human being who could ever exist. But grace is a gift, and a gift needs to be not only received but also accepted, and accepted by the whole person. Grace exists to unite us with Christ, and spiritual progress tends toward this union. But the “Catechism” points out that “Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes”. For “the way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle”.[16] If grace is not evident in our lives it is because our grasp of it is too languid, our cooperation with it too fitful.
Yet God calls us all to this intimate union with him, to “this union [which] is called ‘mystical’ because it participates in the mystery of Christ…and, in him, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity”.[17] All mysteries come down to this one mystery, for “there is no other mystery of God, except Christ”.[18] He is the Door to “the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity,…the central mystery of Christian faith and life”.[19]
“Mystery” and “mystical”, then, are personal words. They refer to a person. What they denote is a living relationship, an intimate union with Christ, an intimate union with the Trinity. All other uses of these words are secondary and flow from this. It is union with Christ, the whole Christ, which makes the mystic. This is what made St. Paul cry out, “I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me”.[20] At the same time he also insisted on his union with every other member of Christ: “Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to fall and I am not indignant?”[21] Because the Church forms “’as it were, one mystical person’ with Christ the head”[22], in as much as I live the life of the Church, identifying myself with every one of its members, Head and body, saint and sinner, to that extent I am living a mystical life. This is confirmed by a study of the way the “Catechism” uses the word “mystical”: in each case it is applied to the Mystical Body of Christ.[23]
What, then, of all the phenomena so commonly associated with mysticism? Do they have any place at all in this use of the word?
Certainly they do, for none of God’s gifts is meaningless. The “Catechism” sums it up succinctly: “God call us all to this intimate union with him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all”.[24]
This is quite clear, and in one sentence puts an end to many mindboggling discussions on the subject. “This mystical life” of union with Christ “is a gratuitous gift given to all”. However, because it is a mystery, it is not easily perceived. For this reason, God gives “special graces or extraordinary signs” of it to some members of the Mystical Body in order to make manifest the life circulating through the whole Body, and of which many Christians undoubtedly are unaware or which they take for granted. So we see that special graces and extraordinary signs act like a highlighting pen: they draw our attention to a reality which is present all the time but which we might easily miss.
In that case, where is the place of infused contemplation which was identified so closely with the mystical life? Is it special, an extraordinary grace, or an essential part of the life of the Mystical Body?
The “Catechism” does not use the term either of acquired contemplation or of infused contemplation. It uses the phrase “contemplative prayer”, translating in this way the word “oraison” used in the original French edition.[25] The “Catechism” gives St. Teresa’s famous definition of contemplative prayer: “Contemplative prayer [oración mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends: it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us”.[26] Both vocal prayer and meditation are meant to bring us to contemplative prayer.[27]
Is contemplative prayer something we undertake ourselves, or is it wholly given by God? The “Catechism” does not answer this question directly. Instead, it describes what contemplative prayer entails: in it, “one makes time for the Lord;…we ‘gather up’ the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the Lord”. [28] All these phrases indicate actions which we perform. But we perform them “under the prompting of the Holy Spirit”. The “Catechism” goes on to say that “Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God…who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more. But he knows that the love he is returning is poured out by the Spirit in his heart, for everything is grace from God…Contemplative prayer…is a gift, a grace; it can only be accepted in humility and poverty”. This is unequivocal: contemplative prayer is a grace to which we open ourselves, for it is ”the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his beloved Son”.[29]
To speak of “union” is to return to the “Catechism’s” definition of the mystical life. We have seen that all Christians are called to the mystical life of union with Christ. That contemplative prayer is equally meant for all Christians is shown by the “Catechism’s” comment on meditation: “This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him”.[30]
This person-to-person relationship is the essence of contemplative prayer. “Contemplative prayer seeks him ‘whom my soul loves’…In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.”[31] It is this shift of attention from oneself to Christ which marks the passage from meditation to contemplative prayer, from asking “’Lord what would you have me do?’” to “the unconditional acceptance of a servant and the loving commitment of a child” which “participates in the ‘Yes’ of the Son become servant”.[32] “This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self”, of our way of seeing, thinking, reacting. “The light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men”.[33]
As we have seen, all Christians are called to “intimate union with Christ”. For this, contemplative prayer is necessary, for it “is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery”. Union with Christ is not a piecemeal matter; it is not possible to be united with Him totally in one area, and not at all in another. We will not be united with Him in His actions if we are not united with Him in His prayer. “The mystery of Christ is celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in our acts”.[34]
How far this union is meant to go is shown in the last paragraph: ”contemplative prayer is a communion”. It not only conforms us to the likeness of God[35], it is also “a communion of love bearing Life for the multitude, to the extent that it consents to abide in the night of faith”. “Contemplative prayer is a sharing in the Pascal night of the Resurrection [which] passes through the night of the agony and the tomb – the three intense moments of the Hour of Jesus which his Spirit…brings to life in prayer”.[36]
We see then that the Christian life calls us all to enter into the mystery of Jesus Christ so that His life, death and resurrection may be made present in each of us. To the question “Are we called to be mystics all?” the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” answers with a resounding “Yes”!
[1] All quotations from the works of St. Teresa of Jesus are from the “Obras Completas”, Editorial de Espiritualidad, Madrid, 1963. This writer is responsible for all translations in this article, unless otherwise indicated.
[2] Both these works were translated into English soon after their appearance: “The Degrees of the Spiritual Life” in 1907, translated by Dom Bede Camm, O.S.B. and published by Burns Oates and Washbourne Ltd., London; “The Graces of Interior Prayer” in 1910, translated by Leonora L. Yorke Smith and published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Truebner and Co. Ltd, London, and B. Herder, St. Louis.
[3] “The transforming union according to the doctrine of St. John of the Cross”, by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., printed in “The Spiritual Life”, March 1925, quoted in “La Escuela Mistica Carmelitana”, by Crisogono de Jesus Sacramentado, O.C.D., “Mensajero de Santa Teresa y de San Juan de la Cruz”, Madrid, 1930, pp. 318-19.
[4] “Union With God”, by Fr. Gabriela of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., Scuola Salesiano del Libro, Roma, 1956, p. 12
[5] “Union With God”, pp. 31, 33, 216.
[6] Fr. Marie-Eugène off the Child Jesus, O. C.D., “I Want to See God”, translated by S. M. Verda Clare, C.S.C., Fides Publishers Assn., Chicago Ill., p. 477 & 483
[7] “Lumen Gentium”, 40,2
[8] Rom. 5,5
[9] Cf. “The Theology of the Spiritual Life”, Joseph de Guibert, S.J., translated by Paul Barrett, O.F.M.Cap., Sheed & Ward, New York, 1953, p. 282
[10] “Lovelier than the dawn”, by Fr. Noel Dermot O’Donoghue, O.C.D., Carmelite Centre of Spirituality, Dublin, 1984, p. 28
[11] “Catechism of the Catholic Church”, English Language Edition Ignatius Press, 1994, # 2013
[12] Ibid. 2014
[13]“ Mustikos: connected with the mysteries”, from “A Greek-English Lexicon”, The Clarendon Press, Oxford, England, 1968, p. 1156
[14] 1 Cor. 4,1
[15] “Catechism”, # 774
[16] Ibid. # 2015
[17] Ibid. # 2014
[18] St. Augustine, Ep. 187, quoted in “Catechism”, # 774
[19] “Catechism”, # 234
[20] Gal. 2, 20
[21] 2 Cor. 11, 29
[22] “Catechism” # 1119; see also # 1474
[23] Cf. “Catechism” # 771, # 791, # 863, # 886, # 958, # 1070, # 1119, # 1396, # 1474, # 1477, # 2014
[24] Ibid. # 2014
[25] Cf. “Catéchisme l’Église Catholique”, Mamé / Plon, 1992, 2709 ff. The French word “oraison” is defined as: “1. Language, speech,” (cf. English “oration”), “…2.Prayer to God…’Faire oraison’ (to ‘make prayer’), to put oneself in mystical communion with God”. (“Dictionnaire Usuel”, Quillet-Flammarion, Paris, 1963.)
[26] “Catechism” # 2709
[27]Ibid. # 2704 & # 2708
[28] Ibid. # 2710 & # 2711
[29] Ibid. # 2712 & # 2713
[30] Ibid. # 2708
[31] Ibid. # 2709
[32] Ibid. # 2706 & 2716
[33] Ibid # 2715
[34] Ibid. 2718
[35] Ibid. # 2713
[36] Ibid. # 2719