number #ejbjf4 ,,the ,,mystical ,,element ,,of ,,religion ,all rights reserved4 ,illustration3 ,walker ,boutall1 ph1 sc ,st4 ,catherine of ,genoa4 7,caterina ,fiesca ,adorna47 ,,the ,,mystical ,,element ,,of ,,religion ,,as ,,studied ,,in ,,saint ,,catherine ,,of ,,genoa ,,and ,,her ,,friends ,,by ,,baron ,,friedrich ,,von ,h,,gel ,,member ,,of ,,the ,,cambridge ,,philological ,,society ,,volume ,,first ,,introduction ,,and ,,biographies ,,london3 ,j4 ,m4 ,,dent ,,co4 ,,new ,,york3 ,e4 ,p4 ,,dutton ,,co4 ,,mcmviii ,,richard ,,clay ,,sons1 ,,limited1 ,,bread ,,street ,,hill1 ,e4,c41 ,,and ,,bungay1 ,,suffolk4 ,,preface ,the following work embodies well-nigh all that the writer has been able to learn and to test1 in the matter of religion1 during now some thirty years of adult life2 and even the actual composition of the book has occupied a large part of his time1 for seven years and more4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the precise object of the book naturally grew in range1 depth and clearness1 under the stress of the labour of its production4 ,this object will perhaps be best explained by means of a short description of the undertaking's origin and successive stages4 ,born as ,i was in ,italy1 certain early impressions have never left me2 a vivid consciousness has been with me1 almost from the first1 of the massively virile personalities1 the spacious1 trustful times of the early1 as yet truly ,christian1 ,renaissance there1 from ,dante on to the ,florentine ,platonists4 ,and when1 on growing up1 ,i acquired strong and definite religious convictions1 it was that ampler pre-,protestant1 as yet neither ,protestant nor anti-,protestant1 but deeply positive and ,catholic1 world1 with its already characteristically modern outlook and its hopeful and spontaneous application of religion to the pressing problems of life and thought1 which helped to strengthen and sustain me1 when depressed and hemmed in by the types of devotion prevalent since then in ,western ,christendom4 ,for those early modern times presented me with men of the same general instincts and outlook as my own1 but environed by the priceless boon and starting-point of a still undivided ,western ,christendom2 ,protestantism1 as such1 continued to be felt as ever more or less unjust and sectarian2 and the specifically post-,tridentine type of ,catholicism1 with its regimental ,seminarism1 its predominantly controversial spirit1 its suspiciousness and timidity1 persisted1 however inevitable some of it may be1 in its failure to win my love4 ,hence ,i had to continue the seeking and the finding elsewhere1 yet ever well within the great ,roman ,church1 things more intrinsically lovable4 ,the wish some day to portray one of those large-souled pre-,protestant1 post-,mediaeval ,catholics1 was thus early and has been long at work within me4 ,and then came ,john ,henry ,newman's influence with his ,dream of ,gerontius1 and a deep attraction to ,st4 ,catherine of ,genoa's doctrine of the soul's self-chosen1 intrinsic purification2 and much lingering about the scenes of ,caterinetta's life and labours1 during more than twenty stays in her terraced city that looks away so proudly to the sea4 ,such a delicately psychological1 soaring1 yet sober-minded ,eschatology1 with its striking penetration and unfolding of the soul's central life and alternatives as they are already here and now1 seemed to demand an ampler study than it had yet received1 and to require a vivid presentation of the noble1 strikingly original personality from whom it sprang4 ,and later still came the discovery of the apparently hopeless complication of the records of ,catherine's life and doctrine1 and how these had never been seriously analyzed by any trained scholar1 since their constitution into a book in #aeeb4 ,much critical work at ,classical and ,scriptural texts and documentary problems had1 by now1 whetted my appetite to try whether ,i could not at last bring stately order out of this bewildering chaos1 by perhaps discovering the authors1 dates and intentions of the various texts and glosses thus dovetailed and pieced together into a very ,joseph's coat of many colours1 and by showing the successive stages of this1 most original and difficult1 ,saint's life and legend4 ,all this labour would1 in any case1 help to train my own mind2 and it would1 if even moderately successful1 offer one more detailed example of the laws that govern such growths1 and of the critical method necessary for the tracing out of their operation4 ,but the strongest motive revealed itself1 in its full force1 later than all those other motives1 and ended by permeating them all4 ,the wish arose to utilize1 as fully as possible1 this long1 close contact with a soul of most rare spiritual depth1--a soul that presents1 with an extraordinary1 provocative vividness1 the greatness1 helps1 problems and dangers of the mystical spirit4 ,i now wanted to try and get down to the driving forces of this kind of religion1 and to discover in what way such a keen sense of1 and absorption in1 the ,infinite can still find room for the ,historical and ,institutional elements of ,religion1 and1 at the same time1 for that noble concentration upon not directly religious contingent facts and happenings1 and upon laws of causation or of growth1 which constitutes the scientific temper of mind and its specific1 irreplaceable duties and virtues4 ,thus1 having begun to write a biography of ,st4 ,catherine1 with some philosophical elucidations1 ,i have finished by writing an essay on the philosophy of ,mysticism1 illustrated by the life of ,caterinetta ,fiesca ,adorna and her friends4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the book's chief peculiarities seem to spring inevitably from its fundamental standpoint3 hence their frank enumeration may help towards the more ready comprehension of the work4 ,the book has1 throughout1 a treble interest and spirit2 historico-critical1 philosophical1 religious4 ,the historico-critical constituent may attract critical specialists2 but will such specialists care for the philosophy8 ,the philosopher may be attracted by the psychological and speculative sections2 but will the historical analysis interest him at all8 ,and the soul that is seeking spiritual food and stimulation1 will it not readily be wearied by the apparent pettiness of all that criticism1 and by the seemingly cold aloofness of all that speculation8--,and yet it is the most certain of facts that the human soul is so made as to be unable to part1 completely and finally1 with any one of these three great interests4 ,hence1 ,i may surely hope that this trinity of levels of truth and of life1 which has so much helped on the growth of my own mind and the constitution of my own character1 may1 in however different a manner and degree1 be found to help others also4 ,this alternation and interstimulation between those three forces and interests within the same soul1 and within this soul's ever-deepening life1 is1 in any case1 too fundamental a feature of this whole outlook for any attempt at its elimination here4 ,then there is a look of repetition and of illogical anticipation about the very structure of the book4 ,for the philosophical ,first ,part says1 in general1 what the biographical ,second ,part says in detail2 this detail is1 in reality1 based upon the critical conclusions arrived at in the ,appendix1 which follows the precise descriptions of the biography2 and then the ,third1 once more a philosophical1 ,part returns1 now fortified by the intervening close occupation with concrete contingent matters1 to the renewed consideration1 and deeper penetration and enforcement1 of the general positions with which the whole work began4--,yet is not this circular method simply a frank application1 to the problems in hand1 of the process actually lived through by us all in real life1 wherever such life is truly fruitful8 ,for1 in real life1 we ever start with certain general intellectual-emotive schemes and critical principles1 as so many draw-nets and receptacles for the capture and sorting out of reality and of our experience of it4 ,we next are brought1 by choice or by necessity1 into close contact with a certain limited number of concrete facts and experiences4 ,and we then use these facts and experiences to fill in1 to confirm or to modify that1 more or less tentative and predominantly inherited1 indeed ever largely conventional1 scheme with which we began our quest4 ,in all these cases of actual life1 this apparently long and roundabout1 indeed back-before1 process is1 in reality1 the short1 because the only fully sincere and humble1 specifically human way in which to proceed4 ,the order so often followed in 8learned0 and 8scientific0 books is1 in spite of its appearance of greater logic and conciseness1 far longer2 for the road thus covered has to be travelled all over again1 according to the circular method just described1 if we would gain1 not wind and shadow1 but substance and spiritual food4 ,then again1 there is everywhere a strong insistence upon ,history as a ,science1 yet as a ,science possessing throughout a method1 type and aim quite special to itself and deeply different from those of ,physical ,science2 and an even greater stress upon the important1 indeed irreplaceable function of both these kinds of ,science1 or of their equivalents1 in the fullest spiritual life4 ,here the insistence upon ,history1 as a ,science1 is still unusual in ,england2 and the stress upon the spiritually purifying power of these ,sciences will still appear somewhat fantastic everywhere4--,yet that conception of two branches of ordered human apprehension1 research and knowledge1 each 7in its delicate and clear contrastedness of method1 test1 end and result7 legitimate and inevitable1 so that either of them is ruined if forced into the categories of the other1 has most certainly come to stay4 ,and the attempt to discover the precise function and meaning of these several mental activities and of their ethical pre-requisites1 within the full and spiritual life of the soul1 and in view of this life's consolidation and growth1 will1 ,i believe1 turn out to be of genuine religious utility4 ,for ,i hope to show how only one particular manner of conceiving and of practising those scientific activities and this spiritual life and consolidation allows1 indeed requires1 the religious passion1--the noblest and deepest passion given to man1--to be itself enlisted on the side of that other noble1 indestructible thing1 severe scientific sincerity4 ,this very sincerity would thus not empty or distract1 but would1 on the contrary1 purify and deepen the soul's spirituality2 and hence this spirituality would continuously turn to that sincerity for help in purifying and deepening the soul4 ,and1 surely1 until we have somehow attained to some such interaction1 the soul must perforce remain timid and weak2 for without sincerity everywhere1 we cannot possibly develop to their fullest the passion for truth and righteousness even in religion itself4 ,and then again a ,catholic1 one who would be a proudly devoted and grateful son of the ,roman ,church1 speaks and thinks throughout the following pages4 ,yet it is his very ,catholicism which makes him feel1 with a spontaneous and continuous keenness1 that only if there are fragments1 earlier stages and glimpses of truth and goodness extant wheresoever some little sincerity exists1 can the ,catholic ,church even conceivably be right4 ,for though ,christianity and ,catholicism be the culmination and fullest norm of all religion1 yet to be such they must find something thus to crown and measure3 various degrees of1 or preparations for1 their truth have existed long before they came1 and exist still1 far and wide1 now that they have come4 ,otherwise1 ,marcion would have been right1 when he denied that the ,old ,testament proceeds from the same ,god as does the ,new2 and three-fourths or more of the human race would not1 to this very moment1 be bereft1 without fault of their own1 of all knowledge of the ,historic ,christ and of every opportunity for definite incorporation into the ,christian ,church1 since we dare not think that ,god has left this large majority of ,his children without any and every glimpse and opportunity of religious truth1 moral goodness1 and eternal hope4 ,yet such a recognition of some light and love everywhere involves no trace of levelling down1 or even of levelling up2 it is1 in itself1 without a trace of ,indifferentism4 ,for if some kinds or degrees of light are thus found everywhere1 yet this light is held to vary immensely in different times and places1 from soul to soul1 and from one religious stage1 group or body to another2 the measure and culmination of this light is found in the deepest ,christian and ,catholic light and holiness2 and1 over and above the involuntary1 sincere differences in degree1 stage and kind1 there are held to exist1 also more or less everywhere1 the differences caused by cowardice and opposition to the light1--cowardices and oppositions which are as certainly at work within the ,christian and ,catholic ,church as they are amongst the most barbarous of ,polytheists4 ,i may well have failed adequately to combine these twin truths2 yet only in some such1 though more adequate apprehension and combination resides the hope for the future of our poor storm-tossed human race1--in a deep fervour without fanaticism1 and a generous sympathy without indifference4 ,and lastly1 a lay lover of religion speaks throughout1 a man to whom the very suspicion that such subjects should or could1 on that account1 be foreign to him has ever been impossible4 ,a deep interest in religion is evidently part of our very manhood1 a thing previous to the ,church1 and which the ,church now comes to develop and to save4 ,yet such an interest is1 in the long run1 impossible1 if the heart and will alone are allowed to be active in a matter so supremely great and which claims the entire man4 8,where my heart lies1 let my brain lie also03 man is not1 however much we may try and behave as though he were1 a mere sum-total of so many separable water-tight compartments2 he can no more fruitfully delegate his brains and his interest in the intellectual analysis and synthesis of religion1 than he can commission others to do his religious feeling and willing1 his spiritual growth and combat1 for him4--,but this does not of itself imply an individualistic1 hence one-sided1 religion4 ,for only in close union with the accumulated and accumulating experiences1 analyses and syntheses of the human race in general1 and with the supreme life and teaching of the ,christian and ,catholic ,church in particular1 will such growth in spiritual personality be possible on any large and fruitful scale3 since nowhere1 and nowhere less than in religion1 does man achieve anything by himself alone1 or for his own exclusive use and profit4 ,and such a layman's views1 even when thus acquired and expressed with a constant endeavour to be1 and ever increasingly to become1 a unit and part and parcel of that larger1 ,christian and ,catholic whole1 will ever remain1 in themselves and in his valuation of them1 unofficial1 and1 at best1 but so much material and stimulation for the kindly criticism and discriminating attention of his fellow-creatures and fellow-,christians and 7should these views stand such informal1 preliminary tests7 for the eventual utilization of the official ,church4 ,to this officiality ever remains the exclusive right and duty to formulate successively1 for the ,church's successive periods1 according as these become ripe for such formulations1 the corporate1 normative forms and expressions of the ,church's deepest consciousness and mind4 ,yet this officiality cannot and does not operate in vacuo1 or by a direct recourse to extra-human sources of information4 ,it sorts out1 eliminates what is false and pernicious1 or sanctions and proclaims what is true and fruitful1 and a development of her own life1 teaching and commission1 in the volunteer1 tentative and preliminary work put forth by the ,church's unofficial members4 ,and just because both these movements are within1 and necessary to1 one and the same complete ,church1 they can be and are different from each other4 ,hence the following book would condemn itself to pompous unreality were it to mimic official caution and emphasis1 whilst ever unable to achieve official authority4 ,it prefers to aim at a layman's special virtues and function3 complete candour1 courage1 sensitiveness to the present and future1 in their obscurer strivings towards the good and true1 as these have been in their substance already tested in the past1 and in so far as such strivings can be forecasted by sympathy and hope4 ,and ,i thus trust that the book may turn out to be as truly ,catholic in fact1 as it has been ,catholic in intention2 ,i have striven hard to furnish so continuous and copious a stream of actions and teachings of ,christian saints and sages as everywhere to give the reader means of correcting or completing my own inferences2 and ,i sincerely submit these my own conclusions to the test and judgment of my fellow-,christians and of the ,catholic ,church4 99 99 99 99 99 ,my obligations to scholars1 thinkers and great spiritual souls are far too numerous and great for any exhaustive recognition4 ,yet there are certain works and persons to whom ,i am especially indebted2 and these shall here be mentioned with most grateful thanks4 ,in my ,biographical and ,critical ,part ,second1 ,i have had1 in ,genoa itself1 the help of various scholars and friends4 ,signor ,dottore ,ridolfo de ,andreis first made me realize the importance of ,vallebona's booklet4 ,padre ,giovanni ,semeria1 the ,barnabite1 put me in touch with the right persons and documents4 ,the ,cavallire ,l4 ,a4 ,cervetto1 of the ,biblioteca ,civica1 referred me to many useful works4 ,the ,librarian of the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana copied out for me the inventory of ,st4 ,catherine's effects4 ,and ,signor ,dottore ,augusto ,ferretto1 of the ,archivio di ,stato1 made admirably careful1 explicitated copies for me1 from the originals1 so full of difficult abbreviations1 of the long series of legal documents which are the rock-bed on which my biography is built4 ,the courteous help of the ,head ,librarian of the ,genoese ,university ,library extended to beyond ,genoa4 ,for it was owing to his action1 in conjunction with that of the ,italian ,ministry1 of the ,english ,embassy in ,rome1 and of the ,british ,museum ,authorities1 that the three most important of the manuscripts of ,st4 ,catherine's life were most generously deposited for my use at the latter institution4 ,i was thus enabled to study my chief sources at full leisure in ,london4 ,the ,rev4 ,padre ,calvino1 ,canon ,regular of the ,lateran1 made many kind attempts to trace any possible compositions concerning ,st4 ,catherine among the ,venerable ,battista ,vernazza's manuscripts1 preserved by the spiritual descendants of ,battista's ,augustinian ,canonesses in ,genoa2 it was not his fault that nothing could be found4 ,the ,society of ,bollandists lent me1 for a liberal length of time1 various rare books4 ,i shall indeed be proud if my ,appendix wins their approbation1 since it deals with subject-matters and methods in which they are past-masters4 ,father ,sticker's pages on ,st4 ,catherine1 in their ,acta ,sanctorum 7#ageb71 are certainly not satisfactory2 they are1 however1 quite untypical of the ,bollandists' best work1 or even of their average performances4 ,my obligations in my ,psychological and ,philosophical ,parts ,first and ,third are still more numerous and far more difficult to trace4 ,indeed it is precisely where these obligations are the most far-reaching that ,i can least measure them1 since the influence of the books and persons concerned has become part of the texture of my own mind4 ,but among the great religious spirits or stimulating thinkers of ,classical and ,patristic times1 ,i am conscious of profound obligations to ,plato generally2 to ,aristotle on two points2 to ,st4 ,paul2 to ,plotinus2 to ,clement of ,alexandria2 and to ,st4 ,augustine4 ,and the ,areopagite ,literature has necessarily been continuously in my mind4 ,among ,mediaeval writers ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas has helped me greatly1 in ways both direct and indirect2 ,eckhart has1 with the help of ,father ,h4 ,s4 ,denifle's investigations1 furnished much food for reflection by his most instructive doctrinal excesses2 and the extraordinarily deep and daring spirituality of ,jacopone da ,todi's poetry has been studied with the greatest care4 ,the ,renaissance times have given me ,cardinal ,nicolas of ,coes1 whose great ,dialogue de ,idiota has helped me in various ways4 ,and in the early post-,reformation period ,i have carefully studied1 and have been much influenced by1 that many-sided1 shrewdly wise book1 ,st4 ,teresa's ,autobiography4 ,yet it is ,st4 ,john of the ,cross1 that massively virile ,contemplative1 who has most deeply influenced me throughout this work4 ,st4 ,catherine is1 ,i think1 more like him1 in her ultimate spirit1 than any other ,saint or spiritual writer known to me2 she is certainly far more like him than is ,st4 ,teresa4 ,later on1 ,i have learnt much from ,fnelon's ,latin writings concerning ,pure ,love1 of #agaj and #agab2 together with ,abb ,gosselin's admirably lucid ,analyse de la ,controverse du ,quitisme1 #ahbj1 and the ,jesuit ,father ,deharbe's solid and sober die vollkommene ,liebe ,gottes1 #ahef4 ,among modern philosophers ,i have been especially occupied with1 and variously stimulated or warned by1 ,spinoza1 with his deep religious intuition and aspiration1 and his determinist system1 so destructive because taken by him as ultimate2 ,leibniz1 with his admirably continuous sense of the multiplicity in every living unity1 of the organic character1 the inside of everything that fully exists1 and of the depth and range of our subconscious mental and emotional life2 ,kant1 with his keen criticisms and searching analyses1 his profound ethical instincts1 and his curious want of the specifically religious sense and insight2 ,schopenhauer1 with his remarkable recognition of the truth and greatness of the ,ascetic element and ideal2 ,trendelenburg1 with his continuous requirement of an operative knowledge of the chief stages which any principle or category has passed through in human history1 if we would judge this principle with any fruit2 ,kierkegaard1 that certainly one-sided1 yet impressively tenacious re-discoverer and proclaimer of the poignant sense of the ,transcendent essential to all deep religion1 and especially to ,christianity1 religion's flower and crown2 and ,fechner1 in his little-known book1 so delightfully convincing in its rich simplicity1 die drei ,motive und ,grnde des ,glaubens1 #ahfc4 ,of quite recent or still living writers1 two have been used by me on a scale which would be unpardonable1 had the matters treated by them been the direct subjects of my book4 ,in ,part ,first whole pages of mine are marked by me as little but a prcis of passages in ,dr4 ,eduard ,zeller's standard ,philosophy of the ,greeks4 ,i have myself much studied ,heracleitus1 ,parmenides1 ,plato and ,plotinus2 and ,i have1 also in the case of the other philosophers1 always followed up and tested such passages of ,zeller as ,i have here transcribed4 ,but ,i did not1 for by far the most part1 think it worth while1 on these largely quite general and practically uncontested matters1 to construct fresh appreciations of my own1 rather than to reproduce1 with due consideration and acknowledgments1 the conclusions of such an accepted authority4 ,and already in ,part ,first1 but especially in ,part ,third1 ,i have utilized as largely1 although here with still more of personal knowledge and of careful re-examination1 considerable sections of ,professor ,h4 ,j4 ,holtzmann's ,lehrbuch der ,neutestamentlichen ,theologie1 #ahig--sections which happen to be1 upon the whole1 the deepest and most solid in that great but often daring work4 ,the same ,professor ,holtzmann is1 besides1 a most suggestive religious philosopher2 and his penetrating though very difficult book ,richard ,rothe's ,speculatives ,system1 #ahii1 has also been of considerable use4 ,other recent or contemporary ,german writers to whom ,i owe much1 are ,erwin ,rhode1 in his exquisite great book1 ,psyche1 #bnd ed41 #ahih2 ,professor ,johannes ,volkelt1 in his penetratingly critical ,kant's ,erkenntnisstheorie1 #ahgi2 ,professor ,hugo ,mnsterberg1 in his largely planned although too absolute ,grundzge der ,psychologie1 ,vol4 ,i41 #aijj2 ,professor ,heinrich ,rickert1 in his admirably discriminating ,grenzen der naturwissenschaftlichen ,begriffsbildung1 #aijb2 and also two friends whose keen care for religion never flags--,professors ,rudolf ,eucken of ,jena and ,ernst ,troeltsch of ,heidelberg4 ,eucken's ,lebensanschauungen der grossen ,denker1 #ast ed41 #ahij2 der ,kampf um einen geistigen ,lebensinhalt1 #ahif2 and the earlier sections of der ,wahrheitsgehalt der ,religion1 #aijb1 have greatly helped me4 ,and ,troeltsch's ,grund-probleme der ,ethik1 #aijb1 has considerably influenced certain central conceptions of my book1 notwithstanding the involuntary1 rough injustice manifested by him1 especially elsewhere1 towards the ,roman ,church4 ,among present-day ,french writers1 my book owes most to ,professor ,maurice ,blondel's1 partly obscure yet intensely alive and religiously deep1 work ,l',action1 #ahic2 to ,dr4 ,pierre ,janet's carefully first-hand observations1 as chronicled in his ,etat ,mental des ,hystriques1 #ahid2 to ,monsieur ,emil ,boutroux's very suggestive paper ,psychologie du ,mysticisme1 #aijb2 to various pregnant articles of the ,abb ,l4 ,laberthonnire in the ,annales de ,philosophie ,chrtienne1 #ahih-aijf2 and to ,m4 ,henri ,bergson's delicately penetrating ,essai sur les ,donnes ,immdiates de la ,conscience1 #bnd ed41 #ahih4 ,and amongst living ,englishmen1 the work is most indebted to ,professor ,a4 ,s4 ,pringle-,pattison1 especially to his eminently sane ,hegelianism and ,personality1 #bnd ed41 #ahic2 to ,professor ,james ,ward1 in his strenuous ,naturalism and ,agnosticism1 #ast ed41 #ahii2 to the ,reverend ,george ,tyrrell's ,hard ,sayings1 #ahih1 and ,the ,faith of the ,millions1 #b vols41 #aija1 so full of insight into ,mysticism2 and1 very especially1 to ,dr4 ,edward ,caird1 in his admirably wide and balanced survey1 ,the ,evolution of ,theology in the ,greek ,philosophers1 #aijd4 ,but further back than all the living writers and friends lies the stimulation and help of him who was later on to become ,cardinal ,newman4 ,it was he who first taught me to glory in my appurtenance to the ,catholic and ,roman ,church1 and to conceive this my inheritance in a large and historical manner1 as a slow growth across the centuries1 with an innate affinity to1 and eventual incorporation of1 all the good and true to be found mixed up with error and with evil in this chequered1 difficult but rich world and life in which this living organism moves and expands4 ,yet the use to which all these helps have here been put1 has inevitably been my own doing3 nowhere except in direct quotations have ,i simply copied1 and nowhere are these helpers responsible for what here appears4 ,and then there have been great souls1 whom ,i cannot well name here1 but whom ,i would nevertheless refer to in reverent gratitude2 souls that have taught me that deepest of facts and of lessons1--the persistence1 across the centuries1 within the wide range of the visible and indeed also of the invisible ,church1 of that vivid sense of the finite and the ,infinite1 of that spacious joy and expansive freedom in self-donation to ,god1 the prevenient1 all-encompassing ,spirit1 of that massively spontaneous1 elemental religion1 of which ,catherine is so noble an example4 ,thus a world-renouncing1 world-conquering1 virile piety1 humble and daring1 humane1 tender and creatively strong1 is at no time simply dead1 but it merely sleepeth2 indeed it ever can be found1 alive1 open-eyed irresistible1 hidden away here and there1 throughout our earthly space and time4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in matters directly connected with the publication of the work ,i have especially to thank ,messrs4 ,sciutto of ,genoa1 the photographers to whom ,i owe the very successful photographs from which the plates that stand at the head of my volumes have been taken2 ,mr4 ,sidney ,e4 ,mayle1 publisher1 of ,hampstead1 for permission to use the photogravure of ,st4 ,catherine's portrait which appeared as an illustration to a paper of mine1 in his scholarly ,hampstead ,annual1 #ahih2 ,miss ,maude ,petre1 who helped me much towards achieving greater lucidity of style1 by carefully reading and criticizing all my proofs2 and my publisher1 who has not shrunk from undertaking the publication of so long a work on so very serious1 abstruse-seeming a subject4 ,even so1 ,i have had to suppress the notes to my chapter on 8,catherine's ,teaching10 which throughout showed the critical reasons that had determined my choice of the particular sayings1 and the particular text of the sayings1 adopted by me in the text2 and have had to excise quite a third of my ,appendix1 which furnished the analysis of further1 critically instructive texts of the ,vita e ,dottrina1 the ,dicchiarazione and the ,dialogo4 ,if a new edition is ever called for1 this further material might be added1 and would greatly increase the cogency of my argument4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the work that now at last ,i thus submit to the reader1 is doubtless full of defects2 and ,i shall welcome any thoughtful criticism of any of its parts as a true kindness4 ,yet ,i would point out that all these parts aim at being but so many constituents of a whole1 within which alone they gain their true significance and worth4 ,hence only by one who has studied and pondered the book as a whole1 will any of its parts be criticized with fairness to that part's intention4 ,to gain even but a dozen of such readers would amply repay the labour of these many years4 ,i take it that the most original parts are ,chapter ,eight1 with its analysis of ,battista ,vernazza's interesting ,diary2 the ,appendix1 with its attempts at fixing the successive authors and intentions that have built up the ,vita e ,dottrina2 ,chapter ,nine1 which attempts to assign to psycho-physical matters1 as we now know them1 their precise place and function within the vast life-system1 and according to the practical tests1 of the great ,mystical ,saints2 and ,chapter ,fifteen1 with its endeavour to picture that large ,asceticism which alone can effect1 within the same soul1 a fruitful co-habitation of1 and interaction between1 ,social ,religion1 the ,scientific ,habit of ,mind1 and the ,mystical ,element of ,religion4 99 99 99 99 99 ,kirkegaard used to claim that he ever wrote existentially1 pricked on by the exigencies of actual life1 to attempt their expression in terms of that life1 and in view of its further spiritual development4 ,more than ever the spiritual life appears now as supremely worth the having1 and yet it seems to raise1 or to find1 the most formidable difficulties or even deadlocks4 ,i can but hope that these pages may have so largely sprung from the exigencies of that life itself1--that they may have caught so much of the spirit of the chief livers of the spiritual life1 especially of ,st4 ,catherine of ,genoa and of ,st4 ,john of the ,cross1 and1 above all1 of the ,one ,master and ,measure of ,christianity and of the ,church1--as to stimulate such life1 its practice1 love and study1 in their readers1 and may point them1 spur them on1 through and beyond all that here has been attempted1 missed or obscured1 to fuller religious insight1 force and fruitfulness4 ,,friedrich ,,von ,h,,gel4 ,kensington1 ,easter #aijh4 8,grant unto men1 ,o ,god1 to perceive in little things the indications1 common-seeming though they be1 of things both small and great40 ,,st4 ,,augustine1 ,confessions1 ,bk4 ,,xi1 ch4 xxiii1 #a4 ,,contents ,,of ,,the ,,first ,,volume ,the frontispiece photogravure reproduces an oil-painting preserved in the sacristy of the ,santissima ,annunciata in ,portorio1 the ,church of the ,pammatone ,hospital in ,genoa4 ,this painting is probably a copy 7perhaps not older than #agcg7 of the portrait which hangs in the superioress's room in the same hospital1 and which is presumably the picture referred to by documents as extant in #aeab1 eighteen months after ,catherine's death4 ,the copy has been reproduced in preference to the original1 because the original has been considerably and clumsily restored1 whereas the copy gives us the older portrait as it existed before this restoration4 ,,page ,,part ,i4--,,introduction ,,chapter ,i4--,,the ,,three ,,chief ,,forces ,,of ,,western ,,civilization #c-di ,introductory #c-aj ,i4 ,the ,first of the ,three ,forces3 ,hellenism1 the ,thirst for ,richness and ,harmony #aj-be ,,ii4 ,the ,second of the ,three ,forces3 ,christianity1 the ,revelation of ,personality and ,depth #be-ci ,,iii4 ,the ,third ,force3 ,science1 the ,apprehension and ,conception of ,brute ,fact and ,iron ,law #ci-dh ,,iv4 ,summing up3 ,hellenism or ,harmonization1 ,christianity or ,spiritual ,experience1 and ,science or ,acceptance of a ,preliminary ,mechanism1 all three necessary to ,man #dh1 #di ,,chapter ,,ii4--,,the ,,three ,,elements ,,of ,,religion #ej-hb ,introductory #ej ,i4 ,the ,three ,elements1 as they successively appear in the ,child1 the ,youth1 and the ,adult ,man #ej-ec ,,ii4 ,each ,element ever accompanied by some amount of the other two4 ,difficulty of the ,transition from one ,stage to the other #ec-ee ,,iii4 ,parallels to this ,triad of ,religious ,elements #ee-eh ,,iv4 ,distribution of the ,three ,elements amongst ,mankind and throughout ,human ,history #eh-fe ,v4 ,causes operative in all ,religion towards minimizing or suppressing one or other ,element1 or towards denying the need of any ,multiplicity #fe-gj ,,vi4 ,the ,special ,motives operating in each ,element towards the suppression of the other ,elements #gj-gg ,,vii4 ,three ,final ,objections to such a conception of ,religion1 and their ,answers #gg-hb ,,part ,,ii4--,,biographical ,,chapter ,,iii4--,,catherine ,,fiesca ,,adorna',s ,,life1 ,,up ,,to ,,her ,,conversion2 ,,and ,,the ,,chief ,,peculiarities ,,predominant ,,throughout ,,her ,,convert ,,years4 #he-abg ,introductory #he1 #hf ,i4 ,proposed ,study of the ,mystical-,volitional ,element in a ,particular1 ,concrete ,instance3 ,st4 ,catherine of ,genoa #hf-ij ,,ii4 ,the ,materials and ,aids towards such a ,study #ij-ic ,,iii4 ,peculiarities of the ,genoese ,climate and ,geographical ,position2 of the ,ligurian ,character2 and of the ,times into which ,catherine was born4 ,her ,family1 ,father and ,mother #ic-ig ,,iv4 ,catherine's ,life1 up to the ,preliminaries of her ,conversion3 ,autumn #addg to ,mid-,march #adgd #ig-ajd ,v4 ,her ,conversion1 with its immediate ,preliminaries and ,consequences1 ,march #adgd #ajd-aji ,,vi4 ,the ,two ,conceptions concerning the ,character and ,rationale of her ,penitential ,period and of her whole ,convert ,life4 ,the ,position adopted here #aji-aac ,,vii4 ,catherine and the ,holy ,eucharist #aac-aaf ,,viii4 ,catherine and ,confession and ,direction #aag-abc ,,ix4 ,catherine and ,indulgences #abc-abf ,x4 ,peculiarities concerning the ,invocation of ,saints and ,intercessory ,prayer #abf1 #abg ,,chapter ,,iv4--,,catherine',s ,,life ,,from #adgc ,,to #aejf1 ,,and ,,its ,,main ,,changes ,,and ,,growth #abh-agd ,i4 ,first ,period of ,catherine's ,convert ,life3 ,giuliano's ,bankruptcy and ,conversion2 their ,work among the ,poor1 ,march #adgc to ,may #adgg #abh-aca ,,ii4 ,catherine and ,tommasa ,fiesca3 their ,difference of ,character and attrait4 ,peculiarity of ,catherine's ,penitence and ,health during this ,time #aca-acc ,,iii4 ,change in the ,temper of ,catherine's ,penitence1 from ,may #adgd onwards #acc-ace ,,iv4 ,catherine's ,great ,fasts #ace-acg ,v4 ,second1 ,central ,period of ,catherine's ,convert ,life1 #adgg-adii3 its ,special ,spiritual ,features #ach-ada ,,vi4 ,catherine and ,giuliano move into the ,hospital in #adgi1 never again to quit it4 ,she is ,matron from #adij to #adie #ada-adc ,,vii4 ,catherine and the ,plague4 ,the ,outbreak of #adic #adc-ade ,,viii4 ,catherine and ,ettore ,vernazza1 #adic-adie #ade-adg ,,ix4 ,catherine's ,health breaks down1 #adif2 other ,events of the same ,year #adg-adi ,x4 ,events of #adig #adi-aed ,,xi4 ,beginning of her ,third1 ,last ,period2 ,end of the ,extraordinary ,fasts2 ,first ,relations with ,don ,marabotto #aee-aei ,,xii4 ,her ,conversations with her ,disciples2 8,caterina ,serafina40 ,don ,marabotto and the ,possessed ,maid #aei-afb ,,xiii4 ,catherine's ,sympathy with ,animal-and ,plant-,life3 her ,love of the ,open ,air4 ,her ,deep ,self-knowledge as to the ,healthiness or ,morbidness of her ,psycho-physical ,states #afc-aff ,,xiv4 ,catherine's ,social ,joys and ,sorrows1 #aeja-aejg #aff-agd ,,chapter ,v4--,,catherine',s ,,last ,,four ,,years1 #aejf-aeaj4 ,,sketch ,,of ,,her ,,character1 ,,doctrine1 ,,and ,,spirit #age-bej ,i4 ,catherine's ,external ,interests and ,activities up to ,may #aeaj4 ,occasional slight ,deviations from her old ,balance4 ,immensely close ,interconnection of her whole ,mental and ,psycho-physical ,nature4 ,impressions as connected with the ,five ,senses #age-aha ,,ii4 ,more or less ,maladif ,experiences and ,actions #ahb-bjj ,,iii4 ,catherine's ,history from ,may to ,september #i1 #aeaj #bjj-baa ,,iv4 ,the ,last ,six ,days of ,catherine's ,life1 ,september #aj-ae #baa-bai ,v4 ,sketch of ,catherine's ,spiritual ,character and ,significance #bbj-bej ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,catherine',s ,,doctrine #bea-bid ,introductory #bea-bfj ,i4 ,god as ,creative ,love4 ,the ,creature's ,true and ,false ,self2 ,true and ,false ,love #bfj-bff ,i4 ,sin1 ,purification1 ,illumination #bff-bgb ,,iii4 ,the ,three ,categories and the ,two ,ways #bgc-bhj ,,iv4 ,the ,other ,worlds #bha-bid ,,chapter ,,vii4--,,catherine',s ,,remains ,,and ,,cultus2 ,,the ,,fate ,,of ,,her ,,two ,,priest ,,friends ,,and ,,of ,,her ,,domestics2 ,,and ,,the ,,remaining ,,history ,,of ,,ettore ,,vernazza #bie-cce ,introductory #bie1 #bif ,i4 ,the ,burial and the ,events immediately surrounding it4 ,september #ae to ,december #aj1 #aeaj #bif-cjj ,,ii4 ,the ,different ,removals of the ,remains1 and the ,chief ,stages of her ,official ,cultus #cjj-cjf ,,iii4 ,the ,fate of ,catherine's ,priest ,friends #cjg-caa ,,iv4 ,the ,fate of ,catherine's ,three ,maid-servants #caa-cad ,v4 ,the ,two ,vernazzas3 their ,debt to ,catherine1 and ,catherine's ,debt to them #cad1 #cae ,,vi4 ,ettore ,vernazza's ,life1 from #aeji to #aeab #caf-cba ,,vii4 ,ettore in ,rome and ,naples2 his ,second ,will2 his ,work in the ,genoese ,prisons #cba-cbi ,,viii4 ,ettore again in ,naples2 his ,death in ,genoa1 ,june #aebd2 ,peculiarities of his ,posthumous ,fame #cbi-cce ,,chapter ,,viii4--,,battista ,,vernazza',s ,,life #ccf-cfg ,introductory #ccf1 #ccg ,i4 ,battista's ,life1 from ,april #adig to ,june #aeaj #ccg-cci ,,ii4 ,battista and her ,god-father1 ,tommaso ,moro #cci-cdd ,,iii4 ,battista's ,colloquies1 ,november #aeed to ,ascension ,day #aeee #cdd-ceh ,,iv4 ,some further ,letters of ,battista1 #aege-aeha #ceh-cff ,v4 ,battista's ,death1 ,may #aehg #cff1 #cfg ,,conclusion ,,to ,,volume ,i ,,wherein ,,lies ,,the ,,secret ,,of ,,spiritual ,,persuasiveness #cfg-cgj ,,appendix ,,to ,,part ,,ii ,,chronological ,,account ,,and ,,critical ,,analysis ,,of ,,the ,,materials ,,for ,,the ,,re-,,constitution ,,of ,,saint ,,catherine',s ,,life ,,and ,,teaching #cga-dff ,introduction3 ,the ,three ,laws that govern the ,growth of ,religious ,biography2 ,complexity of the ,materials for ,catherine's ,life #cga-cgf ,,first ,,division3 ,,account ,,and ,,analysis ,,of ,,the ,,documents ,,previous1 ,,and ,,immediately ,,subsequent ,,to1 ,,the 8,,vita ,e ,,dottrina0 ,,with ,,the 8,,dicchiarazione10 ,,in ,,seven ,,stages #cgf-dcc ,i4 ,first ,stage3 ,august #adef to ,september #ab1 #aeaj1 all ,legal #cgf-chj ,,ii4 ,second ,stage3 ,five further ,official and ,legal ,documents1 #aeaa-aebf2 and ,four ,mortuary ,dates1 #aebd-aehg #chj1 #cha ,,iii4 ,third ,stage3 ,bishop ,giustiniano's ,account of ,catherine's ,life1 ,remains1 and ,biography1 #aecg #chb-chd ,,iv4 ,fourth ,stage3 ,the ,two ,oldest ,extant ,manuscripts of the 8,vita e ,dottrina0 with the 8,dicchiarazione40 ,manuscript ,a 7,october #aedg to ,february #aedh71 and ,manuscript ,b #chd-cie ,v4 ,fifth ,stage3 ,manuscript ,c 7copy of a ,,mss4 of #aeej871 first appearance of the 8,dialogo10 8,chapter0 ,first #cie-daj ,,vi4 ,sixth ,stage3 ,first ,printed ,edition of the 8,vita-,dottrina-,dicchiarazione10 #aeea2 ,examination of all it possesses in addition to ,manuscripts ,a1 ,b1 and ,c1 apart from the 8,dialogo0 #daa-dag ,,vii4 ,seventh ,stage3 ,the ,second 8,chapter0 of the 8,dialogo10 which appears for the first time in the ,printed 8,vita10 #aeea #dag-dbd ,,viii4 ,seventh ,stage continued3 ,minute ,analysis of one ,passage from the ,second 8,chapter0 #dbd-dbg ,,ix4 ,seventh ,stage concluded3 ,character and ,authorship of this ,second 8,chapter0 #dbg-dcc ,,second ,,division3 ,,analysis1 ,,assignation1 ,,and ,,appraisement ,,of ,,the 8,,vita-,,dottrina-,,dicchiarazione0 ,,corpus1 ,,in ,,eight ,,sections #dcc-dff ,i4 ,the 8,dicchiarazione03 the ,two ,stages of its ,existence #dcd-ddj ,,ii4 ,the ,earlier 8,dicchiarazione10 and its ,theological ,glosses #ddj-ddg ,,iii4 ,five ,conclusions concerning the ,history of the 8,dicchiarazione0 #ddg-ddi ,,iv4 ,the 8,vita0-,proper1 its ,divisions and ,parts1 and its ,chief ,secondary and ,authentic ,constituents #ddi-dec ,v4 ,age and ,authorship of the ,literature retained #dec-deg ,,vi4 ,analysis of the ,conversion-,narratives #deh-dfb ,,vii4 ,the ,sayings-,passages3 ,three ,tests for discriminating ,authentic from ,secondary ,sayings #dfb1 #dfc ,,viii4 ,conclusion3 ,at least ,six ,stages in the ,upbuilding of the ,complete ,book of #aeea4 ,the ,slight ,changes introduced since then4 ,first ,claims to ,authorship for ,catherine #dfc-dff 8,he is not far from every one of us2 for in ,him we live1 and move1 and have our being40--,acts xvii1 #bg1 #bh4 8,where the ,spirit of the ,lord is1 there is liberty40--#b ,corinthians iii1 #ag4 ,,the ,,mystical ,,element ,,of ,,religion ,,part ,i ,,introduction ,,chapter ,i ,,the ,,three ,,chief ,,forces ,,of ,,western ,,civilization ,,introductory4 #a4 ,an enigma of life3 the ,universal and ,abiding does not move the will2 and what does move it is ,individual and ,evanescent4 ,amongst the apparent enigmas of life1 amongst the seemingly most radical and abiding of interior antinomies and conflicts experienced by the human race and by individuals1 there is one which everything tends to make us feel and see with an ever-increasing keenness and clearness4 ,more and more we want a strong and interior1 a lasting yet voluntary bond of union between our own successive states of mind1 and between what is abiding in ourselves and what is permanent within our fellow-men2 and more and more we seem to see that mere ,reasoning1 ,logic1 ,abstraction1--all that appears as the necessary instrument and expression of the ,universal and ,abiding1--does not move or win the will1 either in ourselves or in others2 and that what does thus move and win it1 is ,instinct1 ,intuition1 ,feeling1 the ,concrete and ,contingent1 all that seems to be of its very nature individual and evanescent4 ,reasoning appears but capable1 at best1 of co-ordinating1 unifying1 explaining the material furnished to it by experience of all kinds2 at worst1 of explaining it away2 at best1 of stimulating the purveyance of a fresh supply of such experience2 at worst1 of stopping such purveyance as much as may be4 ,and yet the ,reasoning would appear to be the transferable part in the process1 but not to move2 and the experience alone to have the moving power1 but not to be transmissible4 #b4 ,our personal experience as regards our own convictions4 ,experience indeed and its resultant feeling are always1 in the first instance1 coloured and conditioned by every kind of individual many-sided circumstances of time and place1 of race and age and sex1 of education and temperament1 of antecedent and environment4 ,and it is this very particular combination1 just this one1 so conditioned and combined1 coming upon me just at this moment and on this spot1 just at this stage of my reach or growth1 at this turning of my way1 that carries with it this particular power to touch or startle1 to stimulate or convince4 ,it is just precisely through the but imperfectly analyzable1 indeed but dimly perceived1 individual connotation of general terms2 it is by the fringe of feeling1 woven out of the past doings and impressions1 workings and circumstances1 physical1 mental1 moral1 of my race and family and of my own individual life2 it is by the apparently slight1 apparently far away1 accompaniment of a perfectly individual music to the spoken or sung text of the common speech of man1 that ,i am1 it would seem1 really moved and won4 ,and this fringe of feeling1 this impression1 is1 strictly speaking1 not merely untransferable1 but also unrepeatable2 it is unique even for the same mind3 it never was before1 it never will be again4 ,heraclitus1 if we understand that old ,physicist in our own modern1 deeply subjective1 largely sentimental way1 would appear to be exactly right3 you cannot twice step into the same stream1 since never for two moments do the waters remain identical2 you yourself cannot twice step the same man into the same river1 for you have meanwhile changed as truly as itself has done1 3 all things and states1 outward and inward1 appear indeed in flux3 only each moment seems to bring1 to each individual1 for that one moment1 his power to move and to convince4 #c4 ,our experience in our attempt to win others4 ,and if we transmit this emotion or conviction to another mind1 or if we seem to be able to trace such transmission when it has been actually effected in ourselves or in others1 we shall find that1 in proportion as one mind feeds1 not forces1 another1 the particular bond and organization of the mental and emotional picture which cost us so much1 moved us so much1 has1 in each case1 been snapped and broken up2 the whole has been again resolved into its constituent elements1 and only some of these elements have been taken up into the already existing organization of the other mind1 or have joined together in that mind1 to form there a combination which is really new4 ,even a simple scent or sound or sight comes charged to each of us with many but most differing connotations1 arousing or modifying or supplanting old or new ideas and impressions in the most subtle1 complex1 and individual manner4 ,insist upon another mind taking over the whole of this impression1 and you will have rightly and necessarily aroused an immediate or remote hostility or revolt against the whole of what you bring4 ,hence here too we are again perplexed by the initial enigma3 the apparently insurmountable individuality of all that affects us1 and the equally insurmountable non-affectingness of all that is clearly and certainly transmissible from any one man to another4 #d4 ,this mysterious law appears to obtain in precise proportion to the depth and importance of the truths and realities in view4 ,and if we seem boxed up thus1 each one away from our fellow1 in all our really moving and determining inclinations and impressions1 judgments and affections1 with regard to matters on which we feel we can afford to differ deeply and to be much alone2 we appear to be more and not less so1 in exact proportion as the importance of the subject-matter increases4 ,in moral and spiritual1 in religious and fundamental matters1 we thirst more1 not less1 for identity of conviction and of feeling2 and we are1 or seem to be1 more1 not less1 profoundly and hopelessly at variance with each other than anywhere else4 ,and more than this3 the apparent reason of this isolation seems but to aggravate the case1 because here more than anywhere else imagination1 feeling1 intuition seem indeed to play a predominant1 determining part2 and yet here more than anywhere else we feel such a predominance to be fraught with every kind of danger4 ,thus here especially we feel as incapable of suppressing1 indeed of doing without these forces1 as of frankly accepting1 studying1 and cultivating them4 ,now and then we take alarm and are in a panic at any indication that these springs and concomitants of life are at work within us2 yet we persist in doing little or nothing to find sufficient and appropriate food and scope and exercise for the right development and hence the real purification of these elemental forces1 forces which we can stunt but cannot kill4 ,nothing1 we most rightly feel1 can be in greater or more subtle and dangerous opposition to manly morality or enlightened religion than the seeking after or revelling in emotion2 nothing1 we most correctly surmise1 can equal the power of strong feeling or heated imagination to give a hiding-place to superstition1 sensuality1 dreamy self-complacent indolence1 arrogant revolt and fanaticism2 nothing1 even where such things seem innocent1 appears less apt than do these fierce and fitful1 these wayward and fleeting feelings1 these sublimities and exquisitenesses1 to help on that sober and stable1 consistent and persistent1 laborious upbuilding of moral and religious character1 work1 and evidence which alone are wanted more and more4 ,indeed1 what would seem better calculated than such emotion to strain the nerves1 to inflame the imagination1 to blunt common-sense and that salt of the earth1 the saving sense of the ridiculous1 to deaden the springs of research and critical observation1 to bring us1 under the incalculably sapping influences of physical abnormalities1 close up to where sanity shades off into madness1 and ethical elevation breaks down into morbidness and depravity8 #e4 ,the experience of the human race3 the two series of personalities1 movements1 races4 ,and the secular experience of the race would seem fully to bear out such suspicions4 ,for have we not there a double series of personalities1 events1 and movements far too long and widespread not to be conclusive8 ,on the one hand1 there are those that seem to spring from dimly lit or dark feeling1 to arise1--as it were1 hydra-like1 to sting and madden1 or mist-like1 to benumb all life1 and turn it into mere drift and dreaming1--from out of the obscure1 undrained1 swampy places of human ignorance and passion4 ,on the other hand1 there are those that are formed and fashioned by clear1 transparent thought2 and these flourish in the cultivated1 well-drained plains of human science and strict demonstration4 ,among the first series1 you have the ,pantheistic schools and personalities of the decaying ,roman ,empire1 ,plotinus the ,ecstatic1 and ,jamblichus1 and such other dreamers1 straining up into the blue2 the somewhat similar1 largely subterranean1 ,jewish and ,christian sects and tendencies of the ,middle ,ages2 the ,anabaptist and other like groups1 individualistic1 fantastic1 in considerable part anomistic and revolutionary1 of the ,reformation period2 and such phenomena as the ,eternal-,gospel troubles and the ,quietistic controversy in the ,roman ,church4 ,and above all1 in the ,east1 we have1 from time immemorial1 whole races1 7in the midst of a world crying aloud for help and re-fashioning1 but which is left to stagnate and decay17 still dreaming away their lives in ,buddhistic abstraction and indifference4 ,among the second1 the light1 clear series1 you have whole races1 the luminous1 plastic1 immensely active ,greek1 the strong-willed1 practical1 organizing ,roman1 and the ,anglo-,saxon determined 8to stand no nonsense02 you have an ,aristotle1 sober1 systematic2 one side at least of the great ,mediaeval ,scholastic movement1 culminating in ,st4 ,thomas1 so orderly and transparent2 above all1 modern ,physical ,science1 first subjecting all phenomena to rigorous quantitative and mathematical analysis and equation1 and then reacting upon philosophy as well1 and insisting1 there and everywhere1 upon clearness1 direct comparableness1 ready transferableness of ideas and their formulae1 as the sole tests of truth4 ,descartes2 ,kepler1 ,galileo2 ,hobbes1 ,spinoza are1 in increasing degrees1 still perhaps the most perfect types of this clear and cool1 this ultimately mathematical and ,monistic tendency and position4 #f4 ,the dark1 intuitive personalities and schools1 apparently a mere stop-gap1 transition1 or reaction against the clear1 discursive ones4 ,and further1 the personalities and schools of the interiorly experimental1 emotional kind seem to appear upon the scene but as stop-gaps or compensations for the other series1 in periods of transition or reaction1 of uncertainty or decay4 ,so at the break-up of the ,roman ,empire 7,neo-,platonism72 so at the end of the ,patristic period and just before the official acceptance of ,scholasticism 7,st4 ,bernard72 so during the foundering of the ,mediaeval fabric of life and thought in the ,renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries 7,pico1 ,paracelsus72 so in the ,german ,romanticism of sixty years ago1 as a reaction against the survivals of the eighteenth-century ,rationalism2 so now again in our own day1 more slightly1 but not less really1 in a revival of spiritual philosophy4 ,it looks then as though the experimental-emotional strain could only thrive fitfully1 on the momentary check or ruin of the clear and 8scientific0 school2 as though it were a perhaps inevitable disease breaking in occasionally upon the normal health of the human mind4 ,for the eventual result of the world's whole movement surely seems to be the reclamation of ever-increasing stretches of knowledge and theory from the dominion of vague1 irresponsible1 untestable feeling1 and their incorporation in the domain of that unbroken1 universal determinism1 of those clear and simple1 readily analyzable1 verifiable1 communicable1 and applicable laws which1 more and more1 are found to rule phenomena wheresoever we may look4 #g4 ,this seems especially to apply to the ,intuitive-,emotional element of ,religion4 ,and if the prima facie trend of centuries of thought and conflict appears to rule out of court even such a fringe of individual experience and emotion as ever accompanies and stimulates all religion3 the verdict of history1 indeed of any survey of contemporary life1 if only this be sufficiently large1 would seem fatal to any type of religion in which this individual experience and emotion would form religion's core and centre1 as in the case of the specifically experimental-emotional school generally1 and of the ,mystics in particular4 ,to take some such survey1 let us look1 to begin with1 outside of where ,catholic discipline and unity somewhat obscure1 at first sight1 even the legitimate and indeed the really existing diversities of school and tendency4 ,in the ,church's organism each divergence has ever been more largely tempered and supplemented by the others2 and since the ,reformation1 indeed in part even more recently1 owing to an entirely intelligible and in part inevitable1 reaction1 even most legitimate and persistent divergencies1 which flourished in rich and enriching variety throughout the ,middle ,ages1 have largely ceased to appear in any obvious and distinct embodiments4 ,let us look then first to where such diversities grow unchecked1 and indeed generally tend to excess and caricature4 ,let us take contemporary ,english ,protestantism1 and then ,foreign ,protestantism in the large lines of its history4 ,in both cases the experimental-emotional strain and group will seem to compare unfavourably with its competitors4 ,for if we look about us in ,england1 we seem to have little difficulty in classing the tendencies within the ,established ,church under the headings of ,high1 ,broad1 and ,low2 indeed we can readily extend this treble classification to all the various schools and bodies of ,english ,protestantism4 ,we can easily conceive of the greater portion of ,english ,nonconformity as but a prolongation and accentuation of the ,evangelical school in the ,established ,church3 the readiness and ease with which the former at certain moments unite and coalesce with the latter1 show quite conclusively how close is the affinity between them4 ,we almost as readily think of the ,unitarian and ,theistic bodies as prolongations and further sublimations of the ,anglican ,broad ,church view1 though here1 no doubt1 the degrees and kinds of difference are more numerous and important4 ,and if it would be hard to find an extension1 still more an accentuation1 of the ,anglican ,high ,church party amongst the ,english ,nonconformists1 a strain largely identical with the sacerdotal current elsewhere has always existed in the ,presbyterian churches4 ,nor must we forget the powerful and constant1 both repellent and attractive1 influence exercised by ,rome upon even those outside of her obedience4 ,to be quite philosophical1 the survey ought to include all types of ,english ,christianity2 and1 in that case1 the ,high ,church position would rank rather as a dilution1 as a variety1 incomplete and inconsistent though it be1 of the type represented most strikingly and emphatically by ,rome1 than as a variant of the types having their centres at ,wittenberg and ,geneva4 ,and if we next turn to ,german ,protestantism1 especially to the simultaneous variations of its short-lived1 fluid1 formative period1 we shall there too find this treble tendency4 ,the ,evangelical strain will be represented here by the numerous ,illuminist and ,anabaptist personalities1 groups and movements to which ,luther himself had given occasion1 which but emphasized or caricatured his own earlier ,mysticism2 but which1 when they threatened1 by their revolutionary1 communistic fanaticism and violence1 completely to discredit and ruin his own movement1 he suppressed with such ruthless and illogical severity4 ,and the ,broad ,church strain will here be found emphasized and caricatured in ,socinianism1 and in such milder forms of ,rationalism as prepared the way for it or followed in its wake4 ,and finally1 the ,high ,church strain is not so hard to discover in much of the doctrine and in some of the forms and externals of ,orthodox1 official ,lutheranism4 ,indeed in foreign ,protestantism generally1--in ,zwinglianism1 in ,calvinism1 and in its other bodies and sects1 we can trace various forms of1 and degrees of approximation to1 one or other of these three types1 the ,historical1 the ,experimental1 the ,rational4 ,now looking at the scene of battle1 for the moment quite generally1 it would seem as though1 of these three types and tendencies1 the ,emotional and ,experimental had proved itself decidedly the weakest for good1 the strongest for evil of the three1 and this both in the past and in the present1 both in ,england and abroad4 ,we have here in ,england1 in the past1 the ,puritan excesses in ,ireland1 ,scotland1 and ,england itself2 and later on and down to the present1 the largely dreary and unlovely1 narrow and unjust monotony of ,evangelicalism4 ,we have there abroad1 in the past1 the ,peasants' ,war and the ,anabaptist ,saturnalia at ,mnster2 and later on and down to the present1 that ,pietism which has so often barred the way to a just appreciation of ,historical ,christianity and to a candid acceptance of rational methods and results1 and this without its being able to find any constructive or analytic working principle of its own4 ,both in ,england and in ,germany1 indeed throughout the cultivated ,west1 only the ,historical1 ,traditional school on the one hand1 and the ,rationalistic1 ,scientific school on the other hand1 seem to count at all3 it is they which alone seem to gain ground1 or at least to hold it1 at the ,universities and amongst the thinking1 ruling classes generally4 #h4 ,yet this adverse judgment will appear largely misleading1 if we study the matter more fully4 ,and yet this first aspect of things will1 ,i think1 turn out to be largely deceptive1 to be but one side and one teaching of that noble inheritance1 that great output of life and experience1 past and present1 which is ready to our hand for ever-renewed study and assimilation in human history and society1 and which1 taken as it really is1--as the indefinite prolongation of our own little individual direct experiences1--can alone help us to give to these latter experiences a full1 life-regulating value4 ,let us take then the foregoing objections1 and let us do so as but so many starting-points and openings into our great subject4 ,this preliminary discussion will but prepare the ground and method for the following detailed study1 and for the final positions of the whole book4 ,indeed even the book's opening question can be answered only by the whole book and at our labour's end4 ,i4 ,,the ,,first ,,of ,,the ,,three ,,forces3 ,,hellenism1 ,,the ,,thirst ,,for ,,richness ,,and ,,harmony4 ,we revert then to the apparent interior antinomy from which we started1--the particular concrete experience which alone moves us and helps to determine our will1 but which1 seemingly1 is untransferable1 indeed unrepeatable2 and the general1 abstract reasoning which is repeatable1 indeed transferable1 but which does not move us or help directly to determine the will4 ,and we here begin by the study of the antinomy1 as this has been explicated for us by ,hellenism1 the earliest and widest of the three main mental1 indeed spiritual1 forces that are operative within each of us ,westerns1 on and on4 #a4 ,the antinomy in the pre-,socratics4 ,heraclitus appeared to us an impressive exponent of the former truth1 of the apparent utter evanescence of these particular impressions and experiences1 of the complete shiftingness of the very faculty within us and of the environment without us1 by which and in which we apprehend them4 ,an ever-changing self in the midst of an ever-changing world1 basing its persuasiveness and persuadableness1 indeed even its conscious identity with itself and its communion with others1 upon the ever-changing resultants of all these changes3 this would surely seem to be a house built not upon the sand but upon the quicksands4 ,now we have to remember that ,parmenides had1 already in early ,greek times1 been equally emphatic1 perhaps equally impressive1 on the other side of this very question1--on the impossibility of ,becoming1 of ,change2 and on the certainty and knowableness of the utter ,oneness and ,permanence of all ,being4#a ,all that really is1 he maintained1 excludes all ,becoming3 the very notion of ,being is incompatible with that of ,becoming3 the first is utterly without the second4 ,all real ,becoming would be equivalent to the real existence of ,non-,being4 ,hence all ,multiplicity and ,becoming is necessarily but apparent1 and masks an underlying absolute ,unity and ,permanence1 which can be reached by the intellect alone4 ,and this position of ,parmenides was felt to be so strong1 that all the subsequent ,greek ,physicists took their stand upon it3 the four unchangeable elements of ,empedocles1 the ,atoms of ,leucippus and ,democritus 7atoms of eternally unchanging shape and size1 and of one absolutely uniform and unchanging quality7 are but modifications of the doctrine of ,parmenides concerning the ,oneness and ,unchangeableness of ,being4 ,but even ,heraclitus himself is far removed from denying all ,oneness1 all ,permanence4 ,for1 according to him1 a permanent law of permutation runs through and expresses itself in the shiftingness of all things perceptible by sense2 or rather one eternal physical substance1 ,fire1 of ceaselessly active properties1 is continually manifesting itself1 in a regular succession of appearances1 from fire to air1 from air to water1 from water to earth1 and then backwards up again to fire4 ,and when once the ,greeks begin to break away from all this ,hylozoism1--these systems which uniformly1 from ,thales to ,democritus1 attempt to explain all things by some one living or moving ,matter1 without the intervention of ,spirit or of ,mind1--,spirit appears in ,anaxagoras as the ,one1 and as present1 everywhere and in varying degrees1 as the principle of the motion of that co-eternal matter which is here1 on the contrary1 conceived of as but apparently homogeneous anywhere1 and as really composed of an indefinite number and combination of qualitatively differing constituents4 ,thus in all its schools1 even before ,socrates and ,plato1 ,greek philosophy clung to the ,one and the ,one's reality1 however differently it conceived the nature of this ,unity1 and however much it may have varied as to the nature and reality of the ,many1 or as to the relation and the bond subsisting between that ,unity and this ,multiplicity4 ,only at the end of this first period do the ,sophists introduce1 during a short time marked by all the symptoms of transition1 uncertainty1 and revolution1 the doctrine1 of the unknowableness1 indeed of the unreality1 of the ,one1 and with it of the exclusive reality of mere ,multiplicity1 of evanescent ,appearances4 #b4 ,in ,socrates4 ,but ,socrates opens out the second and greatest period of ,greek philosophy1 by reverting to1 indeed by indefinitely deepening1 the general conviction that ,oneness underlies ,multiplicity4 ,and he does so through the virtual discovery of1 and a ceaseless insistence upon1 two great new subject-matters of philosophy3 ,dialects and ,ethics4 ,it is true that in both these respects the ,sophists had prepared the ground3 they had1 before him and all around him1 discussed everything from every then conceivable point of view2 and they had1 at the same time1 helped to withdraw man's attention from pure speculation about physical nature to practical occupation with himself4 ,but the ,sophistic ,dialectic had ended in itself1 in universal negation and scepticism2 and the ,sophistic ,anthropology had1 partly as cause1 partly as effect of that scepticism1 more and more completely narrowed and dragged down all human interest1 capacity1 and activity to a selfish1 materialistic self-aggrandizement and a frank pleasure-seeking4 ,socrates indeed took over both these subjects2 but he did so in a profoundly different spirit1 and worked them into a thoroughly antagonistic view of knowledge and of life4 ,socrates begins1 like the ,sophists1 with the ,multiplicity of impression and opinion1 which we find occasioned by one and the same question or fact2 and like them he refuses to take the ,physicists' short cut of immediate and direct occupation with things and substances1 say the elements4 ,slowly and laboriously he works his way1 by the help of ,dialectics1 7for these have now become a means and not an end17 around and through and into the various apprehensions1 and1 at last1 out of and beyond them1 to a satisfactory concept of each thing4 ,and the very means taken to arrive at this concept1 and the very test which is applied to the concept1 when finally arrived at1 for gauging the degree of its finality1 both these things help to deepen profoundly the sense of a certain ,multiplicity in all ,oneness and of a certain ,oneness in all ,multiplicity4 ,for the means he takes are a careful and 7as far as may be7 exhaustive and impartial discussion and analysis of all the competing and conflicting notions and connotations occasioned by each matter in dispute2 and the test he applies to the final concept1 in view of gauging the degree of its finality1 is how far this concept reconciles and resolves within its higher unity all such various and contrary aspects suggested by the thing1 as have stood the brunt of the previous discussion and have thereby proved themselves true and objective4 ,socrates again1 like the ,sophists1 turns his attention away from ,physics to ,ethics2 he drops speculation about external nature1 and busies himself with the interior life and development of man4 ,but the world in which ,socrates' method necessarily conceives and places man1 and the work and standard which he finds already latent in each man1 for that man to do and to endorse in himself and in the world1 are both entirely different from those of the ,sophists1 and occasion a still further1 indeed the greatest of all possible deepenings of the apprehension of ,oneness and of ,multiplicity4 ,for the world of ,socrates is a world in which ,reality and ,truth reign and are attainable by man2 never does he even ask whether truth is or can be reached by us1 but only what it is and where it lies and how it can be attained4 ,and since ,socrates instinctively shares the profoundly ,greek conviction that ,reality and ,truth are necessarily not only one but unchanging1 he assumes throughout that1 since ,truth and ,reality do exist1 ,oneness and unchanging ,being must exist also4 ,and thus the ,oneness of ,reality and the ,multiplicity of ,appearance are re-established by him in ,greek philosophy4 ,and their apprehension is indefinitely deepened and extended1 since1 whatever is being knowable1 and knowable only through ,dialectics1 and ,dialectics having left us with concepts each in a sense a one and a many1 ,life itself1 ,reality and all ,nature must1 somehow and to some extent1 be also a one and a many4 ,and man according to ,socrates is required1 already as a simple consequence of such convictions1 to discover and acknowledge and organize the ,one and the ,many in his own interior life and faculties4 ,for if his senses tell him of the ,many1 and his reason alone tells him of the ,one1 and the ,many are but appearances and the ,one alone is fully real1--then it will be in and through his reason that he is and will be truly man4 ,thus immediately within himself does man have a continuous1 uniquely vivid experience of the ,one and the ,many1 and of the necessity1 difficulty1 and fruitfulness of their proper organization2 and from hence he will reflect them back upon the outer world1 adding thus indefinitely1 by means of ,ethics1 to the delicacy and depth of his apprehension of such ,oneness and ,multiplicity as1 by means of ,dialectics1 he has already found there4 ,but further1 he now thus becomes conscious1 for the first time at all adequately1 of the difference between his own body and his own mind4 ,and here he has no more a ,oneness and a ,multiplicity1 he is directly conscious of a ,oneness in ,multiplicity1 of a ruling and organizing power of the mind in and over the body2 and the ,one here is unseen and spiritual1 and the ,many is here found to be an organism of forces and of functions designed1 with profound wisdom1 to correspond with and to subserve the soul4 ,and this ,microcosm is readily taken as a key and an analogy wherewith to group and explain the appearances of the world without4 ,much appears in that outer world as unreduced to system2 but then similarly within us much is still in a state of chaos1 of revolt4 ,in that world no one ruler can be directly perceived2 but then similarly within us1 the one ruling mind is perceptible only in its effects4 ,and this inner organization1 ever required more than realized1 is not a matter of abstract speculation1 of subtle induction1 adjournable at will2 it is a clamorous consciousness1 it is a fact that continually requires acts to back it or to break it4 ,strengthen it1 and you have interior expansion and life2 weaken it1 and you bring on shrinkage and death4 ,for the passions are there1 active even if we refuse to be active1 active against us and above us1 if not under us and for us2 and their submission to the reason1 to effort1 cannot fail1 once our attention is fully turned that way1 more than anything else to keep alive and to deepen our sense of the organization of all that lives1 of the presence of the ,one and the ,many1 of the ,one in the ,many1 in all that truly lives at all4 #c4 ,in ,plato4 ,now this dialectical method and this ethical subject-matter get applied1 investigated1 and developed1 with ever-increasing complexity and interaction1 by ,socrates1 ,plato1 and ,aristotle1 the three spiritual generations of this1 the greatest period of ,greek ,philosophy4 ,and the more penetrating the method becomes1 and the more deeply it probes the subject-matter1 the more intense and extensive is found to be this ,unity in ,multiplicity both within man and without him4 ,in the teaching of ,socrates both the method and the apprehension of ,unity and ,multiplicity are as yet1 so to speak1 in bud4 ,dialectics are here still chiefly a ,method1 and hardly as yet a ,metaphysic as well4 ,the soul here is as yet but simply one1 and virtue is also simply one1 and simply and directly identical with knowledge1 and hence directly teachable3 the very possibility that the will may not or indeed cannot follow1 necessarily1 automatically1 the clear perception of what is really good for it1 is one quite foreign to the mind of ,socrates1 indeed to all ,greek thinkers up to the very end of the classical philosophy4 ,in ,plato the methods and the results are both1 as it were1 in flower4 ,dialectics have here become both a systematic method1 and a metaphysical system3 not only are ,ideas true1 and the only means for reaching truth1 but they alone are true1 they alone fully are1 and exist as separate self-subsisting realities4 ,and as in the world within1 ,goodness is1 in this profoundly ethical system1 seen and willed and striven for as supreme1 so also in the world without1 is the ,idea of ,goodness considered as existing supreme from all eternity1 and as somehow the ,cause of all that truly is4 ,it is true that ,plato nowhere succeeds in finding in his system a fitting place for a ,personal ,god3 for1 among other reasons1 the ,platonic ,ideas are all1 from the lowest to the highest1 but ,hypostasized ,concepts of ,kinds1 and are hence1 quite consistently1 considered to be perfect and supreme1 in precise proportion as they are general4 ,the highest ,idea will thus of necessity be the most general1 the most devoid of all determination1 and hence the least personal of them all4 ,it is true also that in his ,metaphysics generally he insists so much upon the complete severance and self-sufficingness of the ,ideas as over against ,appearances1 that he prepares his own inevitable failure again to bridge over the gulf that he himself has thus dug too deep and broad4 ,especially is his half-suggestion misleading1 that the transition to ,phenomenal ,multiplicity is but a further extension of the ,multiplicity already observable in the world of ,ideas4 ,for these two ,multiplicities are evidently entirely different in kind4 ,each ,idea is conceived as necessarily eternal1 unchanging1 complete and perfect in its own way2 whereas each appearance is conceived as necessarily temporal1 changing1 incomplete1 and imperfect even in its own way4 ,it is true again1 that1 in ,psychology1 ,plato breaks up the ,soul into the three parts of the ,reason1 the ,irascible ,passions1 and the ,concupiscible ,passions1 and that he discriminates between them even as to their place of residence in the body4 ,and correspondingly he distinguishes1 in ,ethics1 the four ,cardinal ,virtues1 ,prudence1 ,fortitude1 ,temperance1 and ,justice3 he distributes the first three virtues among the three parts of the soul1 allotting ever one of these virtues specially to one part2 and makes ,justice to be the general virtue that sees to each part carrying out its own special work and virtue1 and respecting the work of the other two4 ,and thus we seem to get away from the ,oneness of the soul and the ,oneness of virtue1 as already taught by ,socrates4 ,it is finally true that not only does ,matter remain unexplained and treated as though in itself a mere nothing2 but that it is considered1 nevertheless1 as somehow strong enough to hinder and hamper the ,idea which really constitutes that ,matter's sole reality4 ,hence also springs ,plato's saddening aloofness from and contempt for all trades and handicrafts1 for all the homely tastes1 joys1 and sorrows at all peculiar to the toiling majority4 ,and herein he but considerably deepens and systematizes one of the weakest and most ruinous traditions of his class1 age1 and people1 and falls far short of ,socrates1 with his deep childlike love of homely wisdom and of technical skill and productiveness4 ,indeed ,matter is considered to be the one occasion of all sin1 just as ignorance is considered to be the one true cause of sin4 ,for although ,plato throughout holds and proclaims free-will1 in the definite sense of freedom of choice2 and although he1 in some passages1 declares the ignorance which 7according to him7 is the necessary condition of a wrong choice1 to be itself voluntary and culpable and to spring from an avoidable attachment to the world of sense3 yet he clings1 nevertheless1 to the ,socratic position that all ignorance and immorality are involuntary1 that no man does or can act against what he sees to be for his own good4 ,all this would of itself suffice to show how and why the ,platonic system has1 as such1 long ceased to live or to be capable of resuscitation4 ,and yet even some of the apparent weaknesses just referred to are nearly or even entirely strong points in his scheme4 ,so with his treble division of the ,soul1 if we but soften the distinction of actual parts into a difference of function or of object4 ,for1 already in ,plato's own judgment1 these parts admit of and require a regular hierarchy of subordination3 the ,irascible part is the natural ally1 if properly tamed and broken in by the ,reason1 of this ,reason against the ,concupiscible part3 it is the winged steed amongst the two horses of the chariot of the soul1 and the charioteer1 the ,reason1 has to see to it that this his winged steed flies not recklessly1 but lends all its strength to keep its heavy1 wingless1 downwards-tending yoke-fellow from plunging them all into the deep and dark4 ,hence all this really makes for a true1 because rich and laborious1 ,unity in ,multiplicity4 ,the same applies to the scheme of the four ,cardinal ,virtues2 for here also there is a balancing and interaction of forces and of duties1 which together are well fitted to deepen and fruitfully to unify the soul4 ,but above all1 there are four main conceptions which1 with varying degrees and kinds of clearness1 consistency1 and proof1 run throughout the ,dialogues1 and which not all the ever-increasing perception of the complexity of their implications1 nor all the never-ending costingness of their reproduction1 have long kept mankind from accepting and working into their own inner life and into their outlook and labour upon the world without4 ,there is1 first1 the sense of the ,universal nature of philosophy4 ,philosophy is here not a science alongside of other sciences1 nor a sect existing with a view to the advantage of its members1 nor a substitute for religion or science1 art or action2 but it stands for the totality of all mental activity1 the nearest approach to an adequate realization of the reasonable nature of man4 ,hence philosophy has constant relations with all departments of human thought and action2 or rather they all1 with their several methods and ideals1 come to enrich and stimulate philosophy1 whilst philosophy1 in return1 reacts upon them all1 by clarifying and harmonizing them each with itself and each with all the others4 ,there is1 next1 the constant conviction of the reality of moral accountableness on the one hand1 and of the strength of the passions and of the allurements of sense on the other1 of the costing ethical character of the search for light and truth1 of the ceaseless necessity of a turning of the whole man1 of conversion4 8,as the bodily eye cannot turn from darkness to light without the turning of the whole body1 so too when the eye of the soul is turned round1 the whole soul must be turned from the world of generation unto that of ,being1 and become able to endure the sight of ,being1 and of the brightest and best part of ,being1 that is to say of the ,good40#b ,hence ,philosophy is a ,redemption1 a ,liberation1 a ,separation of the soul from the body1 a ,dying and seeking after death1 a constant ,purification and ,recollection of the soul2 and the four ,cardinal ,virtues are so many purifications2#c and men who have once come to lay the blame of their own confusion and perplexity upon themselves1 will hate themselves and escape from themselves into ,philosophy1 in order to become different and get rid of their former selves4#d ,there is1 in the third place1 the dominant consciousness of ,multiplicity in ,unity and of ,unity in ,multiplicity1 and of the necessity of the soul's ever moving from one to the other--moving out of itself and into the world of ,multiplicity1 of sense and exterior work2 and moving back into itself1 into the world of ,unity1 of spirit and interior rest4 ,hence there is and ought to be a double movement of the soul4 ,and this double action does not continue on the same plane1 but the moving1 oscillating soul is1 according to the faithful thoroughness or cowardly slackness of these its movements1 ever either mounting higher in truth and spirit1 or falling lower away into the sensual and untruthful4 ,for these its ascensions are 8effortful10 painful1 gradual2 they are never fully finished here below1 and they nowhere attain to that absolute knowledge which is possessed by ,god alone4#e 8,we ought10 he tells us1 8to strive and fly as swiftly as possible from hence thither4 ,and to fly thither is to become like ,god02 but he adds1 8as far as this is possible40#f ,and there is1 lastly1 an unfailing faith in an unexhausted1 inexhaustible1 transcendent world of ,beauty1 ,truth1 and ,goodness1 which gives of itself1 but never gives itself wholly1 to that phenomenal world which exists only by participation in it2 and in a ,supreme ,goodness1 felt and half conceived to be personal and self-communicative1 as the cause of all that is anywhere beautiful and one and good4 ,these four characteristics of ,universality1 ,conversion1 ,unification1 ,transcendence1 we find them together in ,greek philosophy once1 and once only1 namely in ,plato4 ,twice again we have indeed a world-embracing1 world-moving scheme placed before us1 and in each case two of these four characteristics reappear in a deepened and developed form4 ,for ,aristotle works out1 more fully and satisfactorily than ,plato1 the characters of ,universality and of ,unification2 especially does the latter find a great improvement4 ,and ,plotinus insists1 even more constantly and movingly than ,plato1 upon ,conversion as a necessary means1 and upon ,transcendence as a necessary characteristic of all true philosophy4 ,but ,aristotle has lost the ,conversion from out of his scheme1 and also the ,transcendence conceived as at the same time immanent in the world2 and ,plotinus has lost the ,universality1 and the ,unification conceived as a ,unity in ,multiplicity4 #d4 ,in ,aristotle4 ,as to ,aristotle1 the improvements upon ,plato are marked and many4 ,there is the doctrine of the non-existence of the ,general apart from the ,particular2 the doctrine of ,matter as not simple ,non-,being1 but as ,not-yet-,being1 the ,possible1 the ,not-yet-,actual1 which is waiting the presence of the ,form to give it the ,actuality for which it is destined1 since ,matter requires ,form1 and ,form requires ,matter2 and the doctrine1 here first fully developed1 of ,motion1 the ,moved and the ,moving4 ,since all ,motion1 ,change1 ,natural ,life spring from ,form 7and a particular ,form71 working in and with ,matter 7a particular and appropriate ,matter71 the ultimate ,first ,moving ,cause must ,itself be all-moving and all-unmoved1 that is1 it must be ,pure ,form4 ,we thus get the first at all adequate philosophical presentation of ,theism3 for this ,pure ,form is then shown to be eternal1 unchanging1 all thought1 self-thinking1 and absolutely distinct from the world which it moves4 ,in all other real ,beings the ,form has1 in various degrees1 to contend with the manifold impediments of ,matter2 and in proportion to the ,form's success1 does the resultant ,being stand high in the scale of ,creation4 ,the plant1 with its vegetative and plastic soul1 stands lowest in the scale of organic life2 next comes the animal1 with its sensitive and motive soul2 and highest stands man1 with his rational and volitional soul4 ,and each higher ,being takes over1 as the lower part of his own nature1 the functions and powers of the lower ,being2 and hence1 since all ,beings constitute so many several parts of the world's systematic whole1 they are all deserving of the closest study4 ,and ,man1 destined to be the highest constituent of this whole1 can become so only by moving as much as may be out of his entanglement in the lower1 the passive functions of his soul1 and identifying himself with his true self1 with that active power1 that pure reason which1 itself pure ,form1 finds its proper objects in the ,forms of all things that are4 ,thus we get a system of a certain grand consistency and an impressively constant re-application of certain fundamental ideas to every kind of subject-matter4 ,but the ,platonic ,dualism1 though everywhere vigorously attacked1 is yet nowhere fully overcome4 ,for in ,metaphysics1 ,plato's 8,one alongside of the ,many0 becomes with ,aristotle the 8,one throughout the ,many03 to the mind of the latter1 the ,separate ,general1 ,pure ,form as existing without ,matter1 is a mere abstraction2 ,matter without ,form is a simple potentiality2 ,matter and ,form together1 and they only1 constitute the ,particular1 and 7in and by it7 all actual and full ,reality4 ,and only ,reality1 in the highest and primary sense1 can1 according to him1 form the highest and primary object of ,knowledge4 ,yet knowledge never refers to the ,particular1 but always to the ,general2 and1 in the ,particular1 only to the ,general manifested in it4 ,and this is the case1 not because1 though the ,particular is the fuller ,reality1 we can more easily reach the ,general within it2 but1 on the contrary1 because1 though we can more easily reach the ,particular1 the ,general alone is abiding and fully true and really knowable4 ,again1 for ,aristotle the ,particular1 which alone really exists1 is constituted a particular and really existent ,being1 in virtue of its participation in ,matter2 but it is constituted as abiding1 true1 and knowable1 in virtue of its ,form4 ,the cause of its ,reality is thus different from that of its ,truth2 the addition of the simple ,potentiality of ,matter has alone given ,reality to the pure ,actuality of ,form4 ,finally1 for ,aristotle all ,movement1 as comprehensive of every kind of change1 being defined as the transition from ,potentiality to ,reality1 as the determination of ,matter by ,form1 can be called forth1 in the last resort1 only by a pure ,form which1 though the cause of all ,motion1 is itself unmoved1 is pure ,thought and ,speculation1 a thinking of thinking1--,god eternally thinking ,god and ,himself alone4 ,yet this ,god is1 if thus safely distinguished from the world1 yet hardly more ,personal than ,spirit was in ,anaxagoras1 or the ,idea of ,good was in ,plato4 ,for not only does ,aristotle refuse ,him a body and all psychic life1 but with them he eliminates all ,doing and all ,producing1 all ,emotion and all ,willing1 indeed all ,thinking except that of ,his own lonely ,self-,contemplation4 ,and yet the activity of the will is as essential to ,personality as that of thinking2 and thinking again we can conceive as personal only if conditioned by a diversity of objects and a variety of mental states4 ,and this ,god's relations with the world are strangely few and still curiously materialistic4 ,for ,he but sets the world in motion1 and has no special care for it or detailed rule over it2 and since1 of the three or four kinds of motion1 spacial motion is declared to be the primary one1 and its most perfect form to be the circular1 and since a circle moves quickest at its circumference1 ,he is conceived as imparting to the world a spacial and a circular movement1 and this1 apparently1 from a point in space1 since ,he does so from outside4 ,his transcendence is1 so far1 but a spacial one4 ,in ,physics1 ,aristotle still constantly describes ,nature as an harmonious1 reasonable ,being1 an all-effecting force4 ,there is here a mythical strain at work1 and yet nowhere is a subject clearly defined to which these various qualities could be attributed4 ,in ,anthropology again1 the active soul1 the rational and free-willing1 the immortal principle1 is that which specially distinguishes and constitutes ,humanity1 and which indeed is the ,form of the lower soul-powers and of the body as well4 ,yet it is these lower soul-powers1 it is the passive1 the vegetative and sensitive1 the mortal soul-powers which1 in and with the body1 constitute this particular man1 and only particular men are really existent4 ,where and how then is this living man's ,personality1 his indelible consciousness of the unity of his nature1 to arise and to be found in all this medley8 ,and finally1 in ,ethics1 ,aristotle maintains and develops1 it is true1 the great ,socratic tradition of conceiving all virtue as active1 and demands with ,plato that the whole man should1 as much as may be1 put himself into all his moral acts4 ,indeed ,aristotle makes here the great advance of definitely denying the ,socratic doctrine that virtue consists in knowledge1 and of abolishing the ,platonic distinction between ordinary and philosophic virtue4 ,all moral qualities are1 according to him1 matters of the will2 and arise1 in the first instance1 not through instruction1 but through exercise and education4 ,but in place of ,plato's grandly organic1 though still too abstract scheme of the ,cardinal ,virtues1 each of the three partial ones pressing upwards and requiring and completing the others1 and all three bound together by the general fourth1 we get a more detailed and experimental1 but only loosely co-ordinated enumeration and description of the virtuous habits1 all of them so many means between two vicious extremes4 ,the purificatory1 recollective1 self-fleeing1 grandly organic1 deeply religious tone and drift of ,plato's philosophy1 that priceless conviction that we must give all if we would gain all1 has disappeared4 ,everywhere then we get in ,aristotle that noble ,greek insistence1 upon ,action and ,energy1 upon ,reason and ,clearness1 upon the ,general and ,unification4 ,but at all the chief turning-points we get a conflict between the ,general1 which is alone supposed to be fully true1 and the ,particular1 which is alone supposed to be fully real4 ,and hence we are left with an insufficient apprehension of the inexhaustibleness of all ,reality1 of its indefinite apprehensibleness but ever inadequate apprehendedness4 ,and above all1 as both cause and effect of all this1 we find here only a slight and intermittent hold upon the great fact and force of ,personality in both ,god and man4 ,in a word1 if in ,plato the abstracting process went in general still further than in ,aristotle3 in ,aristotle the supply of experimental material of a spiritual kind which in ,plato was ever enriching1 supplementing and correcting the abstract reasoning and its results in matters of spirituality1 is almost entirely in abeyance4 #e4 ,in ,plotinus and ,proclus4 ,in the third and last period of ,greek ,philosophy1 we can pass by the ,stoic and ,epicurean1 and also the ,sceptical schools4 ,for1 great as was their practical importance and influence1 these schools never aimed at embracing the totality of life2 no one of them ever1 as a matter of fact1 cultivated more than one side of a purely individual self-education and peace-seeking4 ,they reproduced and continued1 on a larger scale1 those interesting three minor ,socratic schools which themselves had1 even during the full times and universal systems of ,plato and ,aristotle1 constituted as it were the backwaters away from the main stream of ,greek speculation4 ,the ,stoic system carries on the ,cynic school2 the ,epicurean1 the ,cyrenaic2 and the ,sceptical1 the ,megaric4 ,unity and ,rest is monopolized by the ,stoic1 and ,multiplicity and ,movement by the ,epicurean2 whilst the ,sceptic attempts to stand apart from and above both4 ,what ,socrates1 ,plato1 and ,aristotle1 living in still many-sided and public-spirited times1 had1 in their lives and teaching1 seen and practised together2 now1 in a period of spiritual poverty and self-seeking1 is seen and practised by separate schools separately1 each in external conflict with the other4 ,only the system of that great mystical soul1 ,plotinus1 has1 for our present purposes1 a claim on our close attention4 ,indeed this1 the last great attempt at synthesis of the ancient ,greek mind1 will have to occupy us in such detail throughout a great part of this book1 that here we can but briefly indicate its chief characteristics as regards the ,one and the ,many4 ,it is then clear that ,plotinus is an even more intensely and exclusively religious spirit than is ,plato himself4 ,some of his descriptions of the soul's flight from the world of sense and of the soul's substantial touch of ,god in ecstasy1 and again his penetrating apprehension of the timeless and spaceless characteristics of ,spirit1 have never ceased1 at least indirectly1 to leaven1 and to lend much of their form to1 the deepest recollective aspirations of religious souls in ,europe and ,western ,asia1 for some fourteen centuries at least4 ,yet this religious sense is here so exclusive1 and it thirsts so vehemently for perfect unity and for an infinite ,superiority and utter ,self-sufficingness of ,god1 that it readily allies itself with1 and reinforces by a massive enthusiasm and asceticism1 the abstractive trend which1 so strong at all times in ,greek philosophy1 was at this period already1 for other reasons1 growing more intensely abstractive than ever4 ,under this double influence ,plotinus reduces the two great1 deliberate1 alternating movements of the soul1--its ,outgoing to the ,particular and ,contingent1 and its ,incoming to the ,general and ,infinite1 as they are taught by ,plato1--to one only1 that of ,recollection and ,abstraction1 a movement ever up and away1 from all ,multiplicity1 to the ,one alone4 ,and he denies to this ,one all ,multiplicity whatsoever1--hence all such conscious1 volitional action upon the world as is involved in ,plato's magnificent1 though never worked out1 intuition that it is love1 7some energizing analogous to our thinking1 loving and willing the existence1 the self-realization and the happiness of other self-conscious beings17 which moves the ,good1 as it were1 to go out from ,itself1 and to communicate ,itself to others4 ,here1 in ,plotinus's scheme1 ,man begins indeed with sense-impressions and imaginative picturings1 with discursive reasoning and intuitive reason1 with feelings1 volitions1 and energizings of every kind4 ,but the more he moves up1 the more of all this he leaves utterly behind2 till1 in ecstasy1 all will1 love1 thought1 consciousness1 cease altogether4 ,for man has thus been getting nearer and nearer1 and more and more like1 the ,one2 and this ,one is just nothing besides sheer1 pure ,oneness1--it is neither ,will1 nor ,love1 nor ,thought1 nor ,self-consciousness1 in any degree or sense of these words4 ,plotinus's scheme is thus indeed prompted by some of the deepest ,mystical aspirations4 ,but whilst in its one deliberate movement--that of man up to ,god--it starts from convictions and requirements that are deeply ethical1 libertarian1 spiritual1 theistic3 it will be shown1 in its conception of the nature of the ,one and of this ,one's relations down into the world1 to be curiously naturalistic and determinist1 and subtly materialistic4 ,thus does ,greek ,philosophy end in an impressively all-devouring ,abstraction1 in an intense ,realism destructive1 step by step1 of precisely all that concrete1 individual1 personal ,beauty1 ,truth1 and ,goodness1 of all the spiritual1 hence organic1 interior1 self-conscious reality1 which had given occasion to this system4 ,we have now but so many hypostatized abstractions1 each more pale and empty than the other1 each ever more simply a mere category of the human mind1 indeed1 but a category appropriate to ,things and to ,mathematico-,physical ,laws1 not to ,spirit and to ,ethico-,personal ,organisms4 ,the system1 in its ultimate upshot and trend1 is thus profoundly anti-,immanental1 anti-,incarnational3 a succession of increasingly exalted and increasingly empty ,transcendences1 each of which is1 as it were1 open upwards but closed downwards1 takes the place of all deliberate operations and self-expressions of the ,higher in and through the ,lower1 hence of all preveniences and condescensions of ,god4 ,and in ,proclus1 practically the last non-,christian ,greek ,philosopher1 all these intensely abstractive1 naturalistic features get finally and fully systematized1 whilst but intermittent traces remain of ,plato's richly manifold1 organized activities and his at times strikingly incarnational conceptions2 and only skeleton-schemes persist of those rapt recollective experiences of ,plotinus which1 derived in his case from direct experience1 constitute him1 among all ,philosophers1 as ,dr4 ,edward ,caird most aptly calls him1 the 8,mystic par excellence40 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,second ,,of ,,the ,,three ,,forces3 ,,christianity1 ,,the ,,revelation ,,of ,,personality ,,and ,,depth4 ,now the whole of this clear1 conceptual1 abstractive ,greek method1 in as far as it identified abstractions with realities1 and names with things1 and reasoning with doing1 suffering1 and experience2 and sought for ,unity outside of ,multiplicity1 for ,rest outside of ,energizing1 for the ,highest outside of ,personality and ,character as these are developed and manifested in the permeation and elevation of the lower2 has in so far been succeeded and superseded by two other great world-moving experiences of the human race1 experiences apparently even more antagonistic to each other than either appears to be to the ,greek view3 ,christianity and ,scientific ,method4 #a4 ,the unique fulness and closeness of unity in multiplicity of our ,lord's life4 ,as to ,christianity1 it is really impossible to compare it directly with ,hellenism1 without at once under-stating its originality4 ,for its originality consists not so much in its single doctrines1 or even in its teaching as a whole1 and in the particular place each doctrine occupies in this teaching1 as in its revelation1 through the person and example of its ,founder1 of the altogether unsuspected depth and inexhaustibleness of human ,personality1 and of this ,personality's source and analogue in ,god1 of the simplicity and yet difficulty and never-endingness of the access of man to ,god1 and of the ever-preceding condescension of ,god to man4 ,hence if ,christianity is thus throughout the ,revelation of ,personality2 and if ,personality is ever a ,one in ,many1 7and more deeply ,one and more richly ,many1 in proportion to the greatness of that spiritual reality73 then we need not wonder at the difficulty we find in pointing out any one particular doctrine as constitutive of the unique originality of ,christianity4 ,for a ,person came1 and lived and loved1 and did and taught1 and died and rose again1 and lives on by ,his ,power and ,his ,spirit for ever within us and amongst us1 so unspeakably rich and yet so simple1 so sublime and yet so homely1 so divinely above us precisely in being so divinely near1--that ,his character and teaching require1 for an ever fuller yet never complete understanding1 the varying study1 and different experiments and applications1 embodiments and unrollings of all the races and civilizations1 of all the individual and corporate1 the simultaneous and successive experiences of the human race to the end of time4 ,if there is nothing shifting or fitful or simply changing about ,him1 there is everywhere energy and expansion1 thought and emotion1 effort and experience1 joy and sorrow1 loneliness and conflict1 interior trial and triumph1 exterior defeat and supplantation3 particular affections1 particular humiliations1 homely labour1 a homely heroism1 greatness throughout in littleness4 ,and in ,him1 for the first and last time1 we find an insight so unique1 a ,personality so strong and supreme1 as to teach us1 once for all1 the true attitude towards suffering4 ,not one of the philosophers or systems before ,him had effectually escaped falling either into ,pessimism1 seeing the end of life as trouble and weariness1 and seeking to escape from it into some aloofness or some ,nirvana2 or into ,optimism1 ignoring or explaining away that suffering and trial which1 as our first experience and as our last1 surround us on every side4 ,but with ,him1 and alone with ,him and those who still learn and live from and by ,him1 there is the union of the clearest1 keenest sense of all the mysterious depth and breadth and length and height of human sadness1 suffering1 and sin1 and1 in spite of this and through this and at the end of this1 a note of conquest and of triumphant joy4 ,and here1 as elsewhere in ,christianity1 this is achieved not by some artificial1 facile juxtaposition3 but the soul is allowed to sob itself out2 and all this its pain gets fully faced and willed1 gets taken up into the conscious life4 ,suffering thus becomes the highest form of action1 a divinely potent means of satisfaction1 recovery1 and enlargement for the soul1--the soul with its mysteriously great consciousness of pettiness and sin1 and its immense capacity for joy in self-donation4 ,and again1 ,his moral and spiritual idealism1 whilst indefinitely higher than that of any of the philosophers or prophets before ,him1 has nothing strained or restless1 nothing rootless or quietistic1 nothing querulous or disdainful1 or of caste or sect about it3 the humblest manual labour1 the simplest of the human relations1 the universal elemental faculties of man as man1 are all entered into and developed1 are all hallowed in smallest detail1 and step by step4 ,and finally ,his teaching1 ,his life1 are all positive1 all constructive1 and come into conflict only with worldly indifference and bad faith4 ,no teacher before ,him or since1 but requires1 if we would not be led astray by him1 that we should make some allowances1 in his character and doctrine1 for certain inevitable reactions1 and consequent narrownesses and contrarinesses4 ,especially is this true of religious teachers and reformers1 and generally in exact proportion to the intensity of their fervour4 ,but in ,him there is no reaction1 no negation1 no fierceness1 of a kind to deflect ,his teaching from its immanent1 self-consistent trend4 ,his very ,apostles can ask ,him to call down fire from heaven upon the unbelieving ,samaritans2 they can use the sword against one of those come out to apprehend ,him2 and they can attempt to keep the little ones from ,him4 ,but ,he rebukes them2 ,he orders ,peter to put back the sword in its scabbard2 and ,he bids the little ones to come unto ,him1 since of such is the ,kingdom of ,heaven4 ,indeed ,st4 ,mark's ,gospel tells us how the disciples begged ,him to forbid a man who did not follow them from casting out devils in ,his name2 and how ,he refused to do so1 and laid down the great universal rule of all-embracing generosity3 8,he that is not against us1 is with us40#g #b4 ,this rich unity of life occasions three special presentations of it1 the 8,petrine10 8,pauline10 8,joannine40 ,now it is this very reality and depth1 and hence the rich ,unity1 the growth1 variety1 and manifold fruitfulness of ,his life and teaching1 which explain1 as a necessity and an advantage1 that we should have those successive pictures and conceptions of ,him which already the ,new ,testament presents4 ,because ,socrates was so great and impressive1 we have the two successive1 remarkably divergent1 portraits of him3 the external1 historical1 by ,xenophon2 the internal1 typical one1 by ,plato2 and that is all4 ,because our ,lord is so unspeakably greater1 and continues1 with inexhaustible freshness1 to be the very life of the lives of ,christians1 we have three or four classical portraits of ,him in the ,new ,testament2 and1 in a certain true manner and degree1 each successive age1 in a measure each single soul1 forms1 and has to form1 its own picture of ,him4 ,we can roughly classify these pictures under the three successive types of the 8,petrine10 the 8,pauline10 and the 8,joannine10 provided we do not forget that the precise limits of the first of these divisions are difficult to draw1 and that there are growths and diversities of aspect to be found within the ,pauline type4 ,for the ,petrine type will here be sought in the ,synoptic ,gospels1 and in particular in those accounts and sayings there which appear to give us the closest reproduction of our ,lord's very acts and words and of the impressions produced by these upon the original witnesses4 ,the ,pauline type will embrace four main stages or developments3 that of the four or five of the earlier ,epistles--the two to the ,thessalonians and those to the ,galatians1 ,corinthians1 and ,romans2 that of the ,epistles of the ,captivity1 ,colossians1 ,philippians1 ,ephesians2 that of the ,pastoral ,epistles2 and that of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews4 ,and even in the least diversified1 the ,joannine type1 there is the variation between the ,gospel and ,epistles on the one hand1 and the ,apocalypse on the other4 ,but taking these three types as each a unity1 we shall hardly be guilty of an empty schematization1 if the ,petrine or ,primitive-,apostolic group represents to us mainly the simplest statement of the external facts1 and specially of the traditional1 the ,jewish side of our ,lord's teaching2 and if the ,pauline and ,joannine groups each mainly represent to us1 in various degrees and combinations1 the two manners in which the hidden significance of these facts1 as intended for all men and for all time1 can be penetrated1 viz4 by thought and speculation1 and by feeling and operative experience4 ,of course none of the three groups is without a large element common to it and to the other two3 it is the same facts that are looked at and loved1 by means of the same powers of the soul1 and within the same great common principles and convictions4 ,only the precise antecedents1 point of view1 temper of mind2 the selection1 presentation1 and degree of elaboration of the facts and of their spiritual meaning2 the preponderance of this or that mental activity2 the reasons and connections sought and seen1 are often widely different in each1 and produce a distinctiveness of impression which can be taken to correspond roughly to the three main powers of the soul3 to the range of sense-perception and of memory2 to that of reasoning2 and to that of intuition1 feeling1 and will4 ,if each group had only that element which can be taken as being its predominant one1 then any single group would be of little value1 and each group would imperatively require ever to be taken in conjunction with the other two4 ,but1 as a matter of fact1 neither are the 8,petrine0 writings free from all reasoning and mystical affinities2 nor are the 8,pauline10 free from the historic1 positive spirit1 or1 still less1 from the mystical habit2 nor the 8,joannine0 free from the deepest teaching as to the necessity of external facts1 or from some argument and appeals to reason4 ,hence each group1 indeed each writing even singly1 and still more all three groups if taken together1 profoundly embody and proclaim1 by the rich variety of their contents and spirit1 the great principle and measure of all life and truth3 unity in and through variety1 and steadfastness in and through growth4 ,specially easy is it to find in all three types the two chief among the three modalities of all advanced religion3 the careful reverence for the external facts of nature 7so far as these are known71 and for social religious tradition and institutions2 and the vivid consciousness of the necessity and reality of internal experience and actuation1 as the single spirit's search1 response1 and assimilation of the former4#h #c4 ,the 8,petrine0 attestations3 their special message4 ,thus the 8,petrine0 group gives us1 as evidence for the observation and love of the external world3 8,behold the birds of the air1 how they sow not1 neither harvest nor gather into barns02 8,study the lilies of the field how they grow1 they toil not1 neither do they spin3 yet ,i say unto you1 that not even ,solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these02 8,the seed sprouts and shoots up1 whilst the man knows not2 the earth beareth fruit of itself1 first the stalk1 then the ear1 then the full grain in the ear02 8,when now the fig-tree's shoot grows tender and putteth forth leaves1 you know that summer is nigh02 and1 8,when it is evening1 you say3 #8,it will be fair weather1 for the sky is red4' ,and in the morning3 #8,it will be foul weather to-day1 for the heaven is red and lowering4'0#i ,and as to reverence for tradition we get3 8,think not that ,i have come to destroy the law or the prophets2 ,i have come not to destroy but to fulfil40 ,and this respect extends to existing religious practices3 8,beware10 ,he says1 8lest you do your justice before men1 to be seen by them10 but then describes the spirit in which they are to practice their 8sedaka10 this 8justice0 which they are to do1 with its three quite traditional divisions of alms-deeds1 prayer1 fasting1 the three ,eminent ,good ,works of ,judaism4 ,and again3 8,if thou offer thy gift upon the altar10 the doing so is in nowise criticised4#aj ,indeed there is no shrinking from the manifestation1 on the part of the crowd1 of new and even rude forms of trust in the visible and external3 8,a woman who had been suffering from an issue of blood during twelve years1 ''' coming in the crowd behind ,him1 touched ,his garment1 for she said3 #8,if ,i but touch ,his garments ,i shall be saved4' ,and straightway the issue of blood was dried up02 and the crowds generally 8put the sick in the open places1 and begged ,him that they might but touch the hem of ,his garment2 and such as touched it were healed02 and this 8hem0 consisted doubtless in the blue tassels1 the ,zizith1 worn by every religious ,jew at the four corners of his cloak4#aa ,and the twelve ,apostles1 whom ,he sends out with special instructions1 8going forth preached that men should repent1 and went casting out many devils1 and anointing many sick with oil and healing them40 ,indeed there is1 as the act preliminary to ,his public ministry1 ,his baptism in the ,jordan2 and there is1 as introductory to ,his ,passion1 the supremely solemn1 visible1 and audible act which crowns the ,last ,supper4#ab ,but this same group of documents testifies also to a mystical1 interior element in ,our ,lord's temper and teaching4 8,blessed are the poor in spirit1 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven10 8,blessed are the clean of heart1 for they shall see ,god10 are ,beatitudes which cannot be far from the ipsissima verba of ,our ,lord4 8,in that hour ,jesus answering said3 #8,i confess to ,thee1 ,father1 ,lord of ,heaven and earth1 that ,thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent1 and hast revealed them unto babes3 yea1 ,father1 for this hath been well-pleasing before ,thee4' ''' #8,come unto ,me1 all ye that labour and are heavy laden1 and ,i will refresh you4 ,take ,my yoke upon you and learn of ,me1 for ,i am meek and humble of heart1 and you shall find refreshment for your souls3 for ,my yoke is sweet and ,my burden is light4'0 is deeply mystical passage doubtless expresses with a vivid exactitude the unique spiritual impression and renovation produced by ,him within the souls of the first generations of ,his disciples4 ,and the three ,synoptists give us five times over the great fundamental mystical paradox3 8,if a man would come after ,me1 let him deny himself1 and take up his cross and follow ,me4 ,for whosoever shall be determined to save his soul1 shall lose it2 but whosoever shall lose his soul for ,my sake1 shall find it40 ,and the great law of interiority is recorded in ,st4 ,mark3 8,listen unto ,me1 ye all1 and understand3 nothing that entereth from without into a man can defile him1 but only the things that proceed from a man are the things that defile a man40#ac ,and we get in ,mark the fundamental interior virtue of childlikeness1 and the immanence of ,christ in the childlike soul3 8,if anyone wish to be first1 let him be the last of all men and all men's servant40 8,and taking a little child ,he placed it in the midst of them2 and having embraced it1 ,he said unto them3 #8,whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of ,god as a little child1 shall not enter therein4'0 8,suffer little children to come unto ,me1 for of such is the kingdom of heaven40#ad ,and the spirituality of the soul's life in heaven1 and the eternal ,now of ,god1 as the ,living and ,vivifying ,present1 are given in all three ,synoptists3 8,in the ,resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage1 but are as the angels in heaven4 ,but concerning the resurrection of the dead1 have ye not read that which was spoken by ,god1 saying1 #8,i am the ,god of ,abraham1 and the ,god of ,isaac1 and the ,god of ,jacob'8 ,he is not the ,god of the dead but of the living40#ae #d4 ,the 8,pauline0 group of writings3 its special teaching4 ,the ,pauline group furnishes by far the greater amount of the explicit reasoning to be found in the ,new ,testament2 where1 e4g41 does the ,new ,testament furnish a parallel to the long and intricate argument of chapters ,third to ,eleventh of the ,epistle to the ,romans1 with its constant 8therefores0 and 8buts0 and 8nows08 ,yet this same group of writings also emphasizes strongly1 though more rarely1 the external-fact side of religion1 and is deeply penetrated by the intuitive-emotional1 the mystical spirit of ,christianity4 ,the external1 historical side is represented by the careful description and chronological arrangement observable in the account of six successive apparitions of the ,risen ,christ2 and by the reference back to the acts and words used in the ,eucharistic act at the ,last ,supper4#af ,yet throughout the writings of ,st4 ,paul and of his school1 it is the mystical1 interior1 experimental element that permeates the argumentative-speculative and the historical constituents4 ,the chief manifestations of this mystical spirit and conviction1 which really penetrates and knits together the whole of the ,pauline teaching1 can perhaps best be taken in a logical order4 ,first then it is ,st4 ,paul who1 himself or through writers more or less dependent on him1 gives us by far the most definite and detailed presentation of by far the most extraordinary experiences and events to be found in the ,new ,testament outside of the ,gospels themselves4 ,for the author of the ,acts of the ,apostles gives us the lengthy description of the ,pentecostal ,visitation1 and1 three times over1 that most vivid account of ,our ,lord's apparition to ,saul on the way to ,damascus4 ,and ,st4 ,paul himself describes for us1 at the closest first hand1 the ecstatic states of the ,christian communities in their earliest charismatic stage2 he treats the apparition on the way to ,damascus as truly objective and as on a complete par with the earlier apparitions accorded to the chosen ,apostles in the first days after the ,resurrection2 and he gives us the solemn reference to his own experience of rapture to the third ,heaven4#ag ,we should1 however1 note1 in the next place1 as the vital complement1 indeed as the necessary pre-requisite1 to this conviction and to the effectiveness of these facts1--facts conceived and recorded as external1 as temporal and local1--,st4 ,paul's profound belief that all external evidences1 whether of human reasoning and philosophy or of visible miracle1 fail to carry conviction without the presence of certain corresponding moral and spiritual dispositions in those to whom they are addressed4 8,the word of the ,cross10 the very same preaching1 8is to those that are perishing foolishness1 but to us that are being saved the power of ,god40 ,and the external1 taken alone1 can so little convince1 that even the seeking after the external1 without requisite dispositions1 will but get us further away from its hidden function and meaning4 8,the ,jews ask for signs 7miracles71 and the ,greeks seek wisdom 7philosophy72 but we preach ,christ crucified1 who is to the ,jews a stumbling-block1 and to the ,gentiles foolishness2 but to those who are called1 both ,jews and ,greeks1 ,christ the power of ,god and the wisdom of ,god4 ,for the foolishness of ,god is wiser than men1 and the weakness of ,god is stronger than men40 ,and the cause of this difference of interpretation is shown to lie in the various interior dispositions of the hearers3 8,the animal man does not receive the things of the ,spirit of ,god1 for they are foolishness to him1 and he is incapable of understanding them1 because they are spiritually discerned2 but the spiritual man discerneth all things40#ah ,and yet this mystery of religion has to be externally offered1 to be preached to us1 and is preached to all men2 it is intended by ,god to be known by all1 and hence it is ,he who stimulates men to external preaching and external hearing1 as to one of the pre-requisites of its acceptance3 8,the mystery which was hidden from the ages has now been made manifest02 he desires the ,colossians to be strengthened in 8the knowledge of the mystery of ,god and ,christ02 and has to 8speak the mystery of the ,christ10 to 8make it manifest40#ai ,and since this preaching1 to be effective1 absolutely requires1 as we have seen1 interior dispositions and interior illumination of the hearers1 and since these things are different in different men1 the degrees of initiation into this identical mystery are to be carefully adapted to the interior state of those addressed4 8,we preach wisdom amongst the perfect 10 the technical term in the heathen ,greek ,mysteries for those who had received the higher grades of initiation4 8,i was not able to speak unto you as unto spiritual men1 but 7only7 as unto fleshly ones1 as unto infants in ,christ4 ,i have fed you with milk1 not strong food1 for you were not yet able40#bj ,and since all good1 hence also the external preaching1 comes from ,god1 still more must this all-important interior apprehension of it come from ,him4 ,in a certain real sense the ,spirit is thus organ as well as object of this interior light4 8,god has revealed unto us the wisdom of ,god through the ,spirit2 for the ,spirit searcheth all things1 even the deep things of ,god4 ,for what man knoweth the things of a man1 unless the spirit of man that is in him8 even so no man knoweth the things of ,god1 except the ,spirit of ,god40#ba ,but further1 the mystery revealed in a unique degree and form in ,christ's life1 is really a universal spiritual-human law2 the law of suffering and sacrifice1 as the one way to joy and possession1 which has existed1 though veiled till now1 since the foundation of the world4 8,the mystery of ,christ1 which in former generations was not made manifest unto the sons of men1 but has now been revealed to ,his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit40 ,and this law1 which is ,christ's life1 must reappear in the life of each one of us4 8,we have been buried together with ,him through ,baptism unto death1 in order that1 as ,christ rose again from the dead through the glory of the ,father1 so we also may walk in the newness of life02 8,we know that our old man has been crucified together with ,him4 ,but if we have died with ,christ1 we believe that we shall live with ,him02 8,if the ,spirit who raised ,jesus from the dead dwelleth in you1 ,he who raised ,jesus from the dead will quicken your mortal bodies through ,his ,spirit dwelling within you40#bb ,christ's life can be thus the very law of all life1 because 8,he is the first-born of all creation1 for in ,him all things were created in heaven and on earth10 8all things were created through ,him02 8and ,he is before all things1 and in ,him all things hold together02 8all things are summed up in ,christ02 8,christ is all in all40 ,so that in the past1 before ,his visible coming1 the ,jews in the desert 8drank from the spiritual rock which followed them1 and the rock was ,christ40 ,and as ,he ,himself is the perfect image of ,god1 so all things are1 in varying degrees1 created in the image of ,christ3 87,christ7 who is the image of the living ,god02 8all things were created unto ,him40 ,and since man is1 in his original and potential essence1 in a very special sense 8the image and glory of ,god10 his perfecting will consist in a painful reconquest and development of this obscured and but potential essence1 by becoming1 as far as may be1 another ,christ1 and living through the successive stages of ,christ's earthly life4 ,we are bidden 8all attain unto a full-grown man1 unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of ,christ10 so that1 in the end1 we may be able to say with the ,apostle himself3 8,i live no more in myself1 but ,christ lives in me02 a consummation which appears so possible to ,st4 ,paul's mind1 that he eagerly1 painfully longs for it3 8,my children1 with whom ,i am again in travail1 until ,christ be formed in you40 ,and indeed 8we all1 with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the ,lord1 are transformed into the same image from glory to glory1 even as from the ,lord1 the ,spirit40#bc ,we have then in ,st4 ,paul not only a deeply mystical element1 but mysticism of the noblest1 indeed the most daringly speculative1 world-embracing type4 #e4 ,the 8,joannine0 group3 its characteristic truths4 ,and finally the ,joannine group furnishes us with an instance1 as strong as is conceivable within the wide pale of a healthy ,christian spirit1 of the predominance of an interior and intuitive1 mystical1 universalistic1 spiritual and symbolic apprehension and interpretation both of external fact and of explicit reasoning4 ,the ,visible and ,historical is indeed emphasized1 with a full consciousness of the contrasting ,gnostic error1 in the culminating sentence of the solemn ,prologue of the ,gospel1 8,and the ,word was made ,flesh and tabernacled amongst us1 and we saw ,his glory10 and in the equally emphatic opening sentence of the ,first ,epistle3 8,that which was from the beginning1 what we have heard1 what we have seen with our eyes1 what we have beholden1 and our hands have handled1 ''' we announce unto you40 ,hence too the ,historical1 ,temporal ,last ,judgment1 with its corporal resurrection1 remains as certainly retained in this ,gospel as in ,st4 ,matthew3 8,the hour cometh in which all those that are in the monuments shall hear the voice of the ,son of ,god1 and those that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life1 but those that have worked evil1 unto the resurrection of judgment40#bd ,and ,reasoning of a peculiarly continuous1 rhythmically recurrent pattern1 is as present and influential everywhere1 as it is difficult to describe or even to trace4 ,for it is here but the instrument and reflex of certain ,mystical conceptions and doctrines1 of a tendency to see1 in everything particular and temporal1 the ,universal and ,eternal2 to apprehend ,unity1 a changeless ,here and ,now1 in all multiplicity and succession1 and hence to suppress explicit reasoning and clear distinctions1 movement1 growth1 and change1 as much as may be1 both in the method of presentation and in the facts presented4 ,if the ,synoptists give us the successive1 and write1 unconsciously but specially1 under the category of ,time3 the ,fourth ,gospel consciously presents us with simultaneity1 and works specially under the category of ,space4 ,the ,successive is here conceived as but the appearance of the ,simultaneous1 of the ,eternal and ,abiding4 ,hence the historical development in the earthly experiences1 teachings1 and successes of ,christ is ignored3 ,his ,godhead1 that which is1 stands revealed from the first in the appearances of ,his earthly life4 ,hence too the various souls of other men are presented to us as far as possible under one eternal and changeless aspect2 they are types of various abiding virtues and iniquities1 rather than concrete1 composite mortals4 ,god appears here specially as ,light1 as ,love1 and as ,spirit4 ,yet these largely thing-like attributions co-exist with personal qualities1 and with real1 ethical relations between ,god and the world3 8,god so loved the world1 as that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son1 in order that anyone who believeth in ,him may not perish1 but may have everlasting life40 ,the ,father 8draws0 men1 and 8sends0 ,his ,son into the world4#be ,and this ,son has eternally pre-existed with the ,father2 is the very instrument and principle of the world's creation2 and 8is the true ,light that enlightened every man that cometh into the world40 ,and this ,word which1 from the first1 was already the ,light of all men1 became ,flesh specially to manifest fully this its ,life and ,light4 ,indeed ,he is the only ,light1 and ,way1 and ,truth1 and ,life2 the only ,door2 the ,living ,bread2 the true ,vine4#bf ,this ,revelation and ,salvation is indeed assimilated by individual souls and is received by them at a given moment1 by a birth both new and from above1 and is followed by a new knowledge4 ,but this knowledge is not absolute nor unprogressive4 ,everywhere the ,evangelist has indeed the verb 1 but nowhere the noun ,gnosis2 and the full meaning of the ,revelation of the ,father by the ,son is to be only gradually revealed by the ,holy ,spirit4 ,and this special new knowledge is not the cause but the effect of an ethical act on the part of the human soul1--an act of full trust in the persons of ,god and of ,his ,christ1 and in the intimations of the moral conscience as reflections of the divine will and nature4 8,if any man willeth to do ,his will1 he shall know of the doctrine1 whether it be from ,god1 or whether ,i speak from myself02 8,he who doeth the truth1 cometh to the light40#bg ,and this trust1 and the experimental knowledge which flows from it1 lead to an interior conviction so strong as to make us practically independent of external evidences4 ,hence in the ,first ,epistle1 this 8we know0 is repeatedly emphasized3 8,we know1 that1 if ,he shall be manifested1 we shall be like ,him02 8,you know1 that ,he was made manifest1 that ,he might take away sins40 ,and this knowledge is communicated by the ,spirit of ,god to man's soul2 the spirit bearing witness1 there within1 to the truth of ,christ's words1 communicated from without4 8,the ,spirit it is that beareth witness1 for the ,spirit is the ,truth40#bh ,external signs 7miracles71 and a certain un-ethical assent given to them and their implications1 these things are1 even at their best1 but preliminary1 and1 of themselves1 insufficient4 ,hence ,our ,lord can find 8many who believed in ,his name1 seeing ,his signs 7miracles7 which ,he did02 and yet could 8not trust ,himself to them40 ,nicodemus indeed can come to ,our ,lord1 moved by the argument that 8thou hast come a teacher from ,god1 for no man can do the signs 7miracles7 that thou doest1 unless ,god be with him40 ,but then ,our ,lord's whole conversation with him renders clear how imperfect and ignorant ,nicodemus is so far1--he had come by night1 his soul was still in darkness4 ,so also 8many ,samaritans believed in ,him1 because of ,his sign10--,his miraculous knowledge of her past history1 shown to the ,woman at the ,well2 but more of them believed because of ,his own words to them3 8,we ourselves have 7now7 heard1 and we know that this man is of a truth the ,saviour of the world40 ,hence ,he can ,himself bid the ,apostles1 in intimation of their full and final privilege and duty1 8believe in ,me0 7that is1 ,my words and the ,spirit testifying within you to their ,truth71 8that ,i am in the ,father1 and the ,father is in ,me02 and1 only secondarily and failing that fulness1 8but if not1 then believe1 because of the very works40 ,and the whole ,joannine doctrine as to the object and method of ,faith is dramatically presented and summed up in the great culminating scene and saying of the ,fourth ,gospel3 8,thomas0 7the ,apostle who would see a visible sign first1 and would then build his ,faith upon that sight7 8saith to ,him3 #8,my ,lord and my ,god4' ,jesus saith to him3 #8,because thou hast seen ,me1 ,thomas1 thou hast believed2 blessed are they that have not seen1 and have believed4'0#bi ,and this ,faith and ,knowledge arising thus1 in its fulness1 at most only on occasion1 and never because1 of spacial and temporal signs1 are conceived as a timeless1 ,eternal ,life1 and as one which is already1 here and now1 an actual present possession4 8,he who believeth in the ,son1 hath eternal life02 8,he who heareth and believeth ,my word1 hath eternal life02 8,we know that we have passed from death unto life02 8,we know ,him that is true1 and we are in ,him that is true1 in ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ4 ,this is the true ,god and eternal life40#cj ,there is then a profound immanence of ,christ in the believing soul1 and of such a soul in ,christ2 and this mutual immanence bears some likeness to the ,immanence of the ,father in ,christ1 and of ,christ in the ,father4 8,in that day0 7when 8the ,father shall give you the ,spirit of ,truth07 8ye shall know that ,i am in ,my ,father1 and you are in ,me1 and ,i in you40#ca ,,iii4 ,,science3 ,,the ,,apprehension ,,and ,,conception ,,of ,,brute ,,fact ,,and ,,iron ,,law4 ,but now1 athwart both the ,hellenic and the ,christian factors of our lives1 the first apparently so clear and complete and beautiful1 the latter1 if largely dark and fragmentary1 so deep and operative1 comes and cuts a third and last factor1 that of ,science1 apparently more peremptory and irresistible than either of its predecessors4#cb ,for both the former factors would appear to melt into mid-air before this last one4 ,they evidently cannot ignore it2 it apparently can ignore them4 ,if ,metaphysics and ,religion seem involved in a perpetual round of interminable questions1 solved1 at most and at best1 for but this man and for that1 and with an evidence for their truth which can be and is gainsaid by many1 but cannot be demonstrated with a peremptory clearness to any one3 ,science1 on the other hand1 would appear to give us just this terra firma of an easy1 immediate1 undeniable1 continually growing1 patently fruitful body of evidence and of fact4 ,and not only can ,metaphysics and ,religion not ignore ,science1 in the sense of denying or even overlooking its existence2 they cannot apparently1 either of them1 even begin or proceed or end without constant reference1 here frank and open1 there tacit but none the less potent1 to the enterprises1 the methods1 the conclusions of the ,sciences one and all1 and this even in view of establishing their own contentions4 ,and more and more of the territory formerly assigned to ,metaphysics or ,religion seems in process of being conquered by ,science3 in ,metaphysics1 by experimental psychology1 and by the simple history of the various philosophical systems1 ideas1 and technical terms1 and of the local and temporal1 racial and cultural antecedents and environments which gave rise to them2 in ,religion1 by an analogous observation and study of man in the past and present1 of man studied from within and from without4 #a4 ,three characteristics of this scientific spirit4 ,now this scientific spirit has hitherto1 since its birth at the ,renaissance1 ever tended to the ever-increasing development of three main characteristics1 which are indeed but several aspects of one single aim and end4 ,there was and is1 for one thing1 the passion for ,clearness1 which finds its expression in the application of ,mathematics and of the ,quantitative view and standard to all and every subject-matter1 in so far as the latter is conceived as being truly knowable at all4 ,there was and is1 for another1 the great concept of ,law1 of an iron ,necessity running through and expressing itself in all things1 one great ,determinism1 before which all emotion and volition1 all concepts of ,spontaneity and ,liberty1 of ,personality and ,spirit1 either ,human or ,divine1 melt away1 as so many petty subjective wilfulnesses of selfish1 childish1 8provincial0 man1 bent on fantastically humanizing this great1 cold thing1 the ,universe1 into something responsive to his own profoundly unimportant and objectively uninteresting sensations and demands4 ,there was and is1 for a third thing1 a vigorous ,monism1 both in the means and in the end of this view4 ,our sources of information are but one1--the reasoning1 reckoning ,intellect1 backed up by readily repeatable1 directly verifiable ,experiment4 ,the resultant information is but one1--the ,universe within and without1 a strict unbroken ,mechanism4 ,if we look at the most characteristically modern elements of ,descartes1 and1 above all1 of ,spinoza1 we cannot fail to find throughout1 as the reaction of this ,scientific spirit upon ,philosophy1 the passion for those three things3 for ,clearness and ready ,transferableness of ideas2 for one universal1 undeniable ,common ,element and ,measure for all knowledge of every degree and kind2 and for ,law1 omnipresent and inexorable4 ,that is1 we have here a passion for ,thing as over against1 as above1 ,person2 for the elimination of all wilfulness1 even at the cost of will itself1 of all indetermination1 obscurity and chance1 even at the cost of starving and drying up whole regions of our complex nature1 whole sources of information1 and of violently simplifying and impoverishing the outlook on to reality both within us and without4 #b4 ,fundamental motive of entire quest1 deeply legitimate1 indeed religious3 ,spinoza1 ,leibniz1 ,kant4 ,and yet how unjust would he be who failed to recognize1 in the case of ,spinoza especially1 the noble1 and at bottom deeply religious1 motives and aspirations underlying such excesses2 or the new problems and necessities1 the permanent growth and gain1 which this long process of human thought has brought to ,religion itself1 especially in indirect and unintentional ways6 ,for as to the motives1 it ought not to be difficult to any one who knows human history and human nature1 to see how the all but complete estrangement from ,nature and ,physical ,fact which1 from ,socrates onwards1 with the but very partial exception of ,aristotle1 had1 for well-nigh two thousand years1 preceded this reaction2 how the treatment of ,matter and the ,visible as more or less synonymous with ,non-,being and ,irrationality1 as a veil or even a wall1 as a mere accident or even a positive snare1 lying everywhere between us and ,reality1 could not fail to require and produce a swing of the pendulum in the opposite direction4 ,and the feeling and the perception of how superficial and unreal1 how oppressively confined1 how intolerably fixed and ultimate1 how arrogant and cold and fruitless1 such persistent neglect of the ,data of ,sense had somehow1 at last1 rendered philosophy1 gave now polemical edge to men's zealous study and discovery of this world4 ,this study was perceived1 even by the shallower thinkers1 to be fair and rational and fruitful in itself2 and it was found1 by some few deep spirits1 to be a strangely potent means of purifying1 enlarging1 8deprovincializing0 man himself4 ,the severe discipline of a rigorous study of man's lowly1 physical conditions and environment1 things hitherto so despised by him1 was now at last to purify him of his own childish immediacy of claim4 ,the pettily selfish1 shouting ,individual was to pass through the broad1 still1 purgatorial waters of a temporary submergence under the conceptions1 as vivid as though they were direct experiences1 of ruthless ,law1 of ,mechanism1 of the ,thing2 so as to pass out1 purified and enlarged1 a ,person1 expressive of the ,universal and ,objective1 of ,order and of ,law4 ,it is especially in ,spinoza that this deeper1 universally human and ethical1 indeed we can say religious1 implication and ideal of the rigorously scientific spirit is present in all its noble intuition and aspiration1 and that at the same time1 alas1 this deep truth is forced into a ruinously inappropriate method and formulation4 ,for the original end of the entire quest1 an end which is still emotionally dominant and which furnishes the hidden dialectic of the whole1--,man1 his nobility and interior purification and beatitude1--has here1 intellectually1 become but a means2 ,man1 in the real logic of this system1 is1 hopelessly and finally1 but a wheel in the huge mechanism of that natura naturata which ,spinoza's own richness and nobility of character transcends with potent inconsistency4 ,and this very system1 which is so nobly human and ,christian in its ethical tone and in its demand of a ,conversion of the whole man1 in its requiring man to lose and sacrifice his petty self that he may gain his true self and become a genuine constituent of the ,universe and ,thought of ,god1 is also the very one which1 by its ruthless ,naturalism and ,determinism of ,doctrine and its universally ,mathematical and ,quantitative form and method1 logically eliminates all such qualitative differentiation and conversion as impossible and futile4 ,the prima facie view of life as it presents itself to the clarifying1 ,scientific ,intellect1 namely the omnipresence of the determinist mechanism1 has never been more impressively felt and pictured than by ,spinoza2 the dispositions and happiness of the purified1 disinterested soul have rarely been experienced and described with more touching elevation and power4 ,but there is no real transition1 indeed no possibility of such1 in his system1 from that first aspect to this latter state2 for that first aspect1 that apparent determinism1 is for his logic not merely apparent or secondary1 but the very truth of truths1 the very core and end of things4 ,and this bondage of mind to matter1 this enslavement of the master to the servant1 this narrow1 doctrinaire intellectualism and determinism1 is more hidden than cured in ,leibniz1 who1 if he brings the immense improvement because enrichment of a keen sense and love of the ,historical1 loses1 on the other hand1 ,spinoza's grandly ,conversional tone and temper4 ,a cheerful1 easy1 eminently sane but quite inadequate bustle of manifold interests2 a ready1 pleasant optimism2 an endless laboriousness of the reasoning faculty2 all this1 even though carried out on a scale unique since the days of ,aristotle1 is necessarily unequal to face and bear 8the burthen of all this unintelligible world40 ,and yet here1 in him who may not unfitly be called the last of the ,dogmatic ,rationalists and ,optimists1 we have already those great perceptions which were destined more and more to burst the bonds of this cold1 clear1 complete1 confining outlook4 ,for one thing1 as already stated1 there is1 alongside the love of the ,material and ,mathematical1 an almost equal love of the ,historical and ,human4 ,there is1 for another thing1 the deep consciousness of the ,individuality and ,interiority of all real existences1--all that is at all1 has an inside to it4 ,and1 finally1 in further enforcement of this latter doctrine1 there is the fruitful conception of ,subconscious ,states of feeling and of mind in all living things4 ,yet it is only in ,kant that1--with all his obscurities and numberless demonstrable inconsistencies1 with all his saddening impoverishment of the outlook in many ways1--we get1 little conscious as he himself is of such a service1 the deep modern explanation of the ancient pre-scientific neglect and suspicion of natural research4 ,here we are led to see that the strictly ,scientific view of ,nature is necessarily quantitative1 but that the strictly ,ethical1 ,spiritual view of man is as necessarily qualitative2 that the analysis of all natural phenomena but leads to judgments as to what is1 whereas the requirements of human action lead to judgments of what ought to be4 ,here the weak point lies in the contrast1 established by him and pushed to the degree of mutual exclusion1 between ,reason and ,will4 ,for the contrast which we find in actual life is really between the deeper reason1 ever closely accompanied by deep emotion1 this reason and emotion occasioning1 and strengthened by1 the action of the whole man1--and all this is not directly transferable2 and the more superficial reasoning1 having with it little or no emotion1--the action of but one human faculty1--and this action is readily transferable4 #c4 ,place and function of such science in the totality of man's life4 ,the mistake in the past would thus lie1 not in the doctrine that the ,visible cannot suffice for man and is not his mind's true home2 nor in the implication that the ,visible cannot directly and of itself reveal to him the ,spiritual world4 ,the error would lie entirely in the double implication or doctrine1 that there is really nothing to be known about ,nature1 or that what can be known of it can be attained by ,metaphysical or ,mystical methods2 and again that strictly quantitative1 severe scientific method and investigation can1 even in the long run1 be safely neglected by the human soul1 as far as its own spiritual health is concerned4 ,we take it then that mankind has1 after endless testings and experiences1 reached the following conclusions4 ,we encounter everywhere1 both within us and without1 both in the physical and mental world1 in the first instance1 a whole network of phenomena2 and these phenomena are everywhere found to fall under certain laws1 and to be penetrable by certain methods of research1 these laws and methods varying indeed in character and definiteness according to the subject-matter to which they apply1 but in each case affording to man simply indefinite scope for discovery without1 and for self-discipline within4 ,and all this preliminary work and knowledge does not directly require religion nor does it directly lead to it2 indeed we shall spoil both the knowledge itself1 and its effect upon our souls and upon religion1 if religion is here directly introduced4 ,the phenomena of ,astronomy and ,geology1 of ,botany and ,zoology1 of human ,physiology and ,psychology1 of ,philology and ,history are and ought to be1 in the first instance1 the same for all men1 whether the said men do or do not eventually give them a raison d'tre and formal rational interest by discovering the metaphysical and religious convictions and conclusions which underlie and alone give true unity to them and furnish a living link between the mind observing and the things observed4 ,various as are these phenomena1 according to the department of human knowledge to which they severally belong1 yet they each and all have to be1 in the first instance1 discovered and treated according to principles and methods immanent and special to that department4 ,and the more rigorously this is accomplished1 both by carrying out these principles and methods to their fullest extent1 and by conscientiously respecting their limits of applicability and their precise degree of truth and of range in the larger scheme of human activity and conviction1 the more will such science achieve three deeply ethical1 spiritually helpful results4 ,such science will help to discipline1 humble1 purify the natural eagerness and wilfulness1 the cruder forms of anthropomorphism1 of the human mind and heart4 ,this turning to the visible will thus largely take the place of that former turning away from it2 for only since the ,visible has been taken to represent laws1 and1 provisionally at least1 rigorously mechanical laws characteristic of itself1 can it be thus looked upon as a means of spiritual purification4 ,such science again will help to stimulate those other1 deeper activities of human nature1 which have made possible1 and have all along preceded and accompanied1 these more superficial ones2 and this1 although such science will doubtless tend to do the very opposite1 if the whole nature be allowed to become exclusively engrossed in this one phenomenal direction4 ,still it remains true that perhaps never has man turned to the living ,god more happily and humbly1 than when coming straight away from such rigorous1 disinterested phenomenal analysis1 as long as such analysis is felt to be both other than1 and preliminary and secondary to1 the deepest depths of the soul's life and of all ultimate ,reality4 ,and finally1 such science will correspondingly help to give depth and mystery1 drama and pathos1 a rich spirituality1 to the whole experience and conception of the soul and of life1 of the world and of ,god4 ,instead of a more or less abstract picture1 where all is much on the same plane1 where all is either fixed and frozen1 or all is in a state of feverish flux1 we get an outlook1 with foreground1 middle distances1 and background1 each contrasting with1 each partially obscuring1 partially revealing1 the other2 but each doing so1 with any freshness and fulness1 only in and through the strongly willing1 the fully active and gladly suffering1 the praying1 aspiring1 and energizing spiritual ,personality1 which thus both gives and gets its own true self ever more entirely and more deeply4 #d4 ,science to be taken1 throughout our life1 in a double sense and way4 ,in such a conception of the place of ,science1 we have permanently to take ,science1 throughout life1 in a double sense and way4 ,in the first instance1 ,science is self-sufficing1 its own end and its own law4 ,in the second instance1 which alone is ever final1 ,science is but a part of a whole1 but a function1 a necessary yet preliminary function1 of the whole of man2 and it is but part1 a necessary yet preliminary part1 of his outlook4 ,crush out1 or in any way mutilate or deautonomize1 this part1 and all the rest will suffer4 ,sacrifice the rest to this part1 either by starvation or attempted suppression1 or by an impatient assimilation of this immense remainder to that smaller and more superficial part1 and the whole man suffers again1 and much more seriously4 ,and the danger1 in both directions1--let us have the frankness to admit the fact1--is constant and profound3 even to see it continuously is difficult2 to guard against it with effect1 most difficult indeed4 ,for to starve or to suspect1 to cramp or to crush this phenomenal apprehension and investigation1 in the supposed interest of the ulterior truths1 must ever be a besetting temptation and weakness for the religious instinct1 wherever this instinct is strong and fixed1 and has not yet itself been put in the way of purification4 ,for ,religion is ever1 qua religion1 authoritative and absolute4 ,what constitutes religion is not simply to hold a view and to try and live a life1 with respect to the ,unseen and the ,deity1 as possibly or even certainly beautiful or true or good3 but precisely that which is over and above this1--the holding this view and this life to proceed somehow from ,god ,himself1 so as to bind my innermost mind and conscience to unhesitating assent4 ,not simply that ,i think it1 but that1 in addition1 ,i feel bound to think it1 transforms a thought about ,god into a religious act4 ,now this at once brings with it a double and most difficult problem4 ,for ,religion thus becomes1 by its very genius and in exact proportion to its reality1 something so entirely sui generis1 so claimful and supreme1 that it at once exacts a two-fold submission1 the one simultaneous1 the other successive2 the first as it were in space1 the second in time4 ,the first regards the relations of religion to things non-religious4 ,it might be parodied by saying3 8,since religion is true and supreme1 religion is all we require3 all things else must be bent or broken to her sway40 ,she has at the very least the right to a primacy not of honour only1 but of direct jurisdiction1 over and within all activities and things4 ,the second regards the form and concept of religion itself4 ,since religion always appears both in a particular form at a particular time and place1 and as divine and hence authoritative and eternal2 and since the very strength and passion of religion depend upon the vigorous presence and close union of these two elements3 religion will ever tend either really to oppose all change within itself1 or else to explain away its existence4 ,religion would thus appear doomed to be either vague and inoperative1 or obscurantist and insincere4 ,and it is equally clear that the other parts of man's nature and of his outlook cannot simply accept such a claim1 nor could religion itself flourish at all if they could and did accept it4 ,they cannot accept the claim of religion to be immediately and simply all1 for they are fully aware of being themselves something also4 ,they cannot accept her claim to dictate to them their own domestic laws1 for they are fully aware that they each1 to live truly at all1 require their own laws and their own1 at least relative1 autonomy4 ,however much man may be supremely and finally a religious animal1 he is not only that2 but he is a physical and sexual1 a fighting and artistic1 a domestic and social1 a political and philosophical animal as well4 ,nor can man1 even simply qua religious man1 consent to a simple finality in the experience and explication1 in the apprehension and application of religion1 either in looking back into the past2 or in believing and loving1 suffering and acting in the present2 or in forecasting the future1 either of the race or of himself alone4 ,for the here and now1 the concrete 8immediacy10 the unique individuality of the religious experience for me1 in this room1 on this very day1 its freshness1 is as true and necessary a quality of living religion as any other whatsoever4 ,and if all life sustains itself only by constant1 costing renovation and adaptation of itself to its environment1 the religious life1 as the most intense and extensive of all lives1 must somehow be richest in such newness in oldness1 such renovative1 adaptive1 assimilative power4 #e4 ,all this seen at work in man's actual history4 ,now it is deeply instructive to observe all this at work historically4 ,for here we find every variety of attitude towards this very point4 ,there are men of ,religion who attempt to do without ,science1 and men of ,science who attempt to do without ,religion4 ,or again1 men of ,religion attempt to level up1--to assimilate the principles and results of the various sciences directly to religion1 or at least to rule those scientific principles and results directly by religion4 ,or men of ,science attempt to level down1 to make religion into a mere philosophy or even a natural history4 ,yet we find also1--with so persistent a recurrence in all manner of places and times1 as itself to suggest the inherent1 essential1 indestructible truth of the view1--another1 a far more costing attitude4 ,this attitude refuses all mutilation either of normal human nature or of its outlook1 all oppression of one part by the other2 for it discovers that these various levels of life have been actually practised in conjunction by many an individual in the past and in the present2 and that1 where they have been practised within a large organization of faith and love1 they have ever led to a fuller reality and helpfulness both of the science and of the religion concerned4 ,hence the mind thus informed cannot doubt the truth of this solution1 however difficult at all times may be its practice1 and however little final at any time can be its detailed intellectual analysis4 ,,iv4 ,,summing ,,up3 ,,hellenism ,,or ,,harmonization1 ,,christianity ,,or ,,spiritual ,,experience1 ,,and ,,science ,,or ,,acceptance ,,of ,a ,,preliminary ,,mechanism1 ,,all ,,three ,,necessary ,,to ,,man4 ,to sum up all this first chapter1 we have got so far as this4 ,we have seen that humanity has1 so far1 found and worked out three forces and conceptions of life1 forces which are still variously operative in each of us1 but which find their harmonious interaction in but few men1 their full theoretical systematization in none4#cc ,there is the ancient1 ,greek contribution1 chiefly intellectual and aesthetic1 mostly cold and clear1 quick and conclusive1 with1 upon the whole1 but a slight apprehension of personality and freedom1 of conscience and of sin1 and little or no sense of the difference and antagonism between these realities and simply ,mathematical1 ,mechanical laws and concepts4 ,it is a view profoundly abstract1 and1 at bottom1 determinist3 the will follows the intellect necessarily1 in exact proportion to the clearness of information of the former4 ,and the strength of this view1 which was possible even to that gifted race just because of the restrictedness of its knowledge concerning the length and breadth of nature and of history1 and still more with regard to the depths of the human character and conscience1 consists in its freshness1 completeness1 and unity4 ,and this ideal of an ultimate harmonization of our entire life and of its theory we must never lose1 more and more difficult though its even approximate realization has of necessity become4 ,there is next the middle1 ,christian contribution1 directly moral and religious1 deep and dim and tender1 slow and far-reaching1 immensely costly1 infinitely strong2 with its discovery and exemplification of the mysterious depth and range and complexity of human personality and freedom1 of conscience and of sin2 a view profoundly concrete and at bottom libertarian4 ,the goodwill here first precedes1 and then outstrips1 and determines the information supplied by the intellect3 8,blessed are the clean of heart1 for they shall see ,god40 ,and the strength of this position consists in its being primarily not a view1 but a life1 a spiritual1 religious life1 requiring1 implying1 indeed proclaiming1 definite doctrines concerning ,god and man1 and their relations to each other1 but never exhausted by these doctrines even in their collectivity1 inexhaustible though these in their turn are by their union with the life of the spirit1 their origin and end4 ,there is finally the modern1 ,scientific contribution1 intensely impersonal and determinist1 directly neither metaphysical nor religious1 but more abstract even than the ,greek view1 in the mathematical constituent of its method1 and more concrete in a sense than ,christianity itself1 in the other1 the sensible-experiment constituent of its method4 ,the most undeniable of abstractions1 those of mathematics1 7undeniable just because of their enunciation of nothing but certain simplest relations between objects1 supposing those objects to exist17 are here applied to the most undeniable of concretions1 the direct experiences of the senses4 ,and this mysterious union which1 on the surface1 is so utterly heterogeneous1 is itself at all explicable only on mental1 metaphysical assumptions and on the admission of the reality and priority of ,mind4 ,it is a union that has turned out as unassailable in its own province1 as it is incapable of suppressing or replacing the wider and deeper truths and lives discovered for us respectively by ,hellenism and ,christianity4 ,only in the case that man could but reckon mathematically and observe with his senses1 or in the case that man were indeed provided with other faculties1 but that he found ,reality outside him and within him to be properly apprehensible by the mathematico-experimental process alone1 could there be any serious question of such a final suppression of by far the greater and deeper portion of himself4 ,instead of any such deadlock the facts of these last four centuries bear out the contention that neither can the religious life suppress or do without the philosophical and the scientific1 nor can either of these other two lives suppress or permanently do without its fellow or without religion4 ,but all this and its detailed practical application will1 ,i trust1 become much clearer as we proceed4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,three ,,elements ,,of ,,religion ,,introductory4 ,we have found then that all life and all truth are1 for all their unity1 deeply complex1 for us men at all events2 indeed that they are both in exact proportion to their reality4 ,in this1 our second chapter1 ,i should like to show the complexity special to the deepest kind of life1 to ,religion2 and to attempt some description of the working harmonization of this complexity4 ,if ,religion turned out to be simple1 in the sense of being a monotone1 a mere oneness1 a whole without parts1 it could not be true2 and yet if ,religion be left too much a mere multiplicity1 a mere congeries of parts without a whole1 it cannot be persuasive and fully operative4 ,and the several constituents are there1 whether we harbour1 recognize1 and discipline them or not2 but these constituents will but hinder or supplant each other1 in proportion as they are not somehow each recognized in their proper place and rank1 and are not each allowed and required to supplement and to stimulate the other4 ,and though no amount of talk or theory can1 otherwise than harmfully1 take the place of life1 yet observation and reflection can help us to see where and how life acts3 what are the causes1 or at least the concomitants1 of its inhibition and of its stimulation and propagation1 and can thus supply us with aids to action1 which action will then1 in its turn1 help to give experimental fulness and precision to what otherwise remains a more or less vague and empty scheme4 ,i4 ,,the ,,three ,,elements1 ,,as ,,they ,,successively ,,appear ,,in ,,the ,,child1 ,,the ,,youth1 ,,and ,,the ,,adult ,,man4 ,now if we will but look back upon our own religious life1 we shall find that1 in degrees and in part in an order of succession varying indefinitely with each individual1 three modalities1 three modes of apprehension and forms of appeal and of outlook1 have been and are at work within us and around4#cd #a4 ,sense and ,memory1 the ,child's means of apprehending ,religion4 ,in the doubtless overwhelming majority of cases1 there came first1 as far as we can reconstruct the history of our consciousness1 the appeal to our infant senses of some external religious symbol or place1 some picture or statue1 some cross or book1 some movement of some attendant's hands and eyes4 ,and this appeal would generally have been externally interpreted to us by some particular men or women1 a ,mother1 ,nurse1 ,father1 ,teacher1 ,cleric1 who themselves would generally have belonged to some more or less well-defined traditional1 institutional religion4 ,and their appeal would be through my senses to my imaginative faculty first1 and then to my memory of that first appeal1 and would represent the principle of authority in its simplest form4 ,all here as yet works quasi-automatically4 ,the little child gets these impressions long before itself can choose between1 or even is distinctly conscious of them2 it believes whatever it sees and is told1 equally1 as so much fact1 as something to build on4 ,if you will1 it believes these things to be true1 but not in the sense of contrasting them with error2 the very possibility of the latter has not yet come into sight4 ,and at this stage the ,external1 ,authoritative1 ,historical1 ,traditional1 ,institutional side and function of ,religion are everywhere evident4 ,cases like that of ,john ,stuart ,mill1 of being left outside of all religious tradition1 we may safely say1 will ever remain exceptions to help prove the rule4 ,the five senses then1 perhaps that of touch first1 and certainly that of sight most2 the picturing and associative powers of the imagination2 and the retentiveness of the memory1 are the side of human nature specially called forth4 ,and the external1 sensible1 readily picturable facts and the picturing functions of religion correspond to and feed this side1 as readily as does the mother's milk correspond to and feed that same mother's infant4 ,religion is here1 above all1 a ,fact and ,thing4 #b4 ,question and ,argument1 the ,youth's mode of approaching ,religion4 ,but soon there wakes up another activity and requirement of human nature1 and another side of religion comes forth to meet it4 ,direct experience1 for one thing1 brings home to the child that these sense-informations are not always trustworthy1 or identical in its own case and in that of others4 ,and1 again1 the very impressiveness of this external religion stimulates indeed the sense of awe and of wonder1 but it awakens curiosity as well4 ,the time of trustful questioning1 but still of questioning1 first others1 then oneself1 has come4 ,the old impressions get now more and more consciously sought out1 and selected from among other conflicting ones2 the facts seem to clamour for reasons to back them1 against the other hostile facts and appearances1 or at least against those men in books1 if not in life1 who dare to question or reject them4 ,affirmation is beginning to be consciously exclusive of its contrary3 ,i begin to feel that ,i hold this1 and that you hold that2 and that ,i cannot do both2 and that ,i do the former1 and exclude and refuse the latter4 ,here it is the reasoning1 argumentative1 abstractive side of human nature that begins to come into play4 ,facts have now in my mind to be related1 to be bound to other facts1 and men to men2 the facts themselves begin to stand for ideas or to have the latter in them or behind them4 ,the measuring-rod seems to be over all things4 ,and religion answers this demand by clear and systematic arguments and concatenations3 this and this is now connected with that and that2 this is true or this need not be false1 because of that and that4 ,religion here becomes ,thought1 ,system1 a ,philosophy4 #c4 ,intuition1 ,feeling1 and ,volitional requirements and evidences1 the ,mature ,man's special approaches to ,faith4 ,but yet a final activity of human nature has to come to its fullest1 and to meet its response in a third side of ,religion4 ,for if in ,physiology and ,psychology all action whatsoever is found to begin with a sense-impression1 to move through the central process of reflection1 and to end in the final discharge of will and of action1 the same final stage can be found in the religious life4 ,certain interior experiences1 certain deep-seated spiritual pleasures and pains1 weaknesses and powers1 helps and hindrances1 are increasingly known and felt in and through interior and exterior action1 and interior suffering1 effort1 and growth4 ,for man is necessarily a creature of action1 even more than of sensation and of reflection2 and in this action of part of himself against other parts1 of himself with or against other men1 with or against this or that external fact or condition1 he grows and gradually comes to his real self1 and gains certain experiences as to the existence and nature and growth of this his own deeper personality4 ,man's emotional and volitional1 his ethical and spiritual powers1 are now in ever fuller motion1 and they are met and fed by the third side of religion1 the ,experimental and ,mystical4 ,here religion is rather felt than seen or reasoned about1 is loved and lived rather than analyzed1 is action and power1 rather than either external fact or intellectual verification4 ,,ii4 ,,each ,,element ,,ever ,,accompanied ,,by ,,some ,,amount ,,of ,,the ,,other ,,two4 ,,difficulty ,,of ,,the ,,transitions ,,from ,,one ,,stage ,,to ,,the ,,other4 ,now these three sides of the human character1 and corresponding three elements of ,religion1 are never1 any one of them1 without a trace or rudiment of the other two2 and this joint presence of three such disparate elements ever involves tension1 of a fruitful or dangerous kind4#ce #a4 ,utility of this joint presence4 ,in the living human being indeed there never exists a mere apprehension of something external and sensible1 without any interior elaboration1 any interpretation by the head and heart4 ,we can hardly allow1 we can certainly in nowise picture to ourselves1 even an infant of a few hours old1 as working1 and being worked upon1 by nothing beyond these sense-perceptions alone4 ,already some mental1 abstractive1 emotional-volitional reaction and interpretation is presumably at work2 and not many weeks or months pass before this is quite obviously the case4 ,and although1 on the other hand1 the impressions of the senses1 of the imagination and the memory are1 normally1 more numerous1 fresh1 and lasting in early than in later years1 yet up to the end they continue to take in some new impressions1 and keep up their most necessary functions of supplying materials1 stimulants1 and tests to the other powers of the soul4 ,thus1 too1 ,religion is at all times more or less both traditional and individual2 both external and internal2 both institutional1 rational1 and volitional4 ,it always answers more or less to the needs of authority and society2 of reason and proof2 of interior sustenance and purification4 ,i believe because ,i am told1 because it is true1 because it answers to my deepest interior experiences and needs4 ,and1 everything else being equal1 my faith will be at its richest and deepest and strongest1 in so far as all these three motives are most fully and characteristically operative within me1 at one and the same time1 and towards one and the same ultimate result and end4 #b4 ,the two crises of the soul1 when it adds ,speculation to ,institutionalism1 and ,mysticism to both4 ,now all this is no fancy scheme1 no petty or pretty artificial arrangement3 the danger and yet necessity of the presence of these three forces1 the conflicts and crises within and between them all1 in each human soul1 and between various men and races that typify or espouse one or the other force to the more or less complete exclusion of the other1 help to form the deepest history1 the truest tragedy or triumph of the secret life of every one of us4 ,the transition from the child's religion1 so simply nave and unselfconscious1 so tied to time and place and particular persons and things1 so predominantly traditional and historical1 institutional and external1 to the right and normal type of a young man's religion1 is as necessary as it is perilous4 ,the transition is necessary4 ,for all the rest of him is growing1--body and soul are growing in clamorous complexity in every direction3 how then can the deepest part of his nature1 his religion1 not require to grow and develop also8 ,and how can it permeate and purify all the rest1 how can it remain and increasingly become 8the secret source of all his seeing10 of his productiveness and courage and unification1 unless it continually equals and exceeds all other interests within the living man1 by its own persistent vitality1 its rich and infinite variety1 its subtle1 ever-fresh attraction and inexhaustible resourcefulness and power8 ,but the crisis is perilous4 ,for he will be greatly tempted either to cling exclusively to his existing1 all but simply institutional1 external position1 and to fight or elude all approaches to its reasoned1 intellectual apprehension and systematization2 and in this case his religion will tend to contract and shrivel up1 and to become a something simply alongside of other things in his life4 ,or he will feel strongly pressed to let the individually intellectual simply supplant the institutional1 in which case his religion will grow hard and shallow1 and will tend to disappear altogether4 ,in the former case he will1 at best1 assimilate his religion to external law and order1 to ,economics and ,politics2 in the latter case he will1 at best1 assimilate it to ,science and ,philosophy4 ,in the first case1 he will tend to superstition2 in the second1 to rationalism and indifference4 ,but even if he passes well through this first crisis1 and has thus achieved the collaboration of these two religious forces1 the external and the intellectual1 his religion will still be incomplete and semi-operative1 because still not reaching to what is deepest and nearest to his will4 ,a final transition1 the addition of the third force1 that of the emotional-experimental life1 must yet be safely achieved4 ,and this again is perilous3 for the two other forces will1 even if single1 still more if combined1 tend to resist this third force's full share of influence to the uttermost4 ,to the external force this emotional power will tend to appear as akin to revolution2 to the intellectual side it will readily seem mere subjectivity and sentimentality ever verging on delusion4 ,and the emotional-experimental force will1 in its turn1 be tempted to sweep aside both the external1 as so much oppressive ballast2 and the intellectual1 as so much hair-splitting or rationalism4 ,and if it succeeds1 a shifting subjectivity1 and all but incurable tyranny of mood and fancy1 will result1--fanaticism is in full sight4 ,,iii4 ,,parallels ,,to ,,this ,,triad ,,of ,,religious ,,elements4 ,if we would find1 applied to other matters1 the actual operation and co-operation1 at the earliest stage of man's life1 of the identical powers under discussion1 we can find them1 by a careful analysis of our means and processes of knowledge1 or of the stages of all reflex action4 #a4 ,the three constituents of ,knowledge4 ,even the most elementary acquisition1 indeed the very possibility1 of any and all certitude and knowledge1 is dependent for us upon the due collaboration of the three elements or forces of our nature1 the sensational1 the rational1 the ethico-mystical4#cf ,there is1 first1 in the order of our consciousness and in the degree of its undeniableness1 the element of our actual impressions1 the flux of our consciousness as it apprehends particular sights and sounds1 smells and tastes and touches2 particular sensations of rest and movement1 pleasure and pain1 memory1 judgment1 and volition1 a flux1 8changeless in its ceaseless change40 ,we have so far found neither a true object for thought1 nor a subject which can think4 ,and yet this element1 and this alone1 is the simply1 passively received1 the absolutely undeniable part of our experience1--we cannot deny it if we would4 ,and again1 it is the absolutely necessary pre-requisite for our exercise or acquisition1 indeed for our very consciousness1 of the other two means or elements1 without which there can be no real knowledge4 ,for there is1 next in the logical order of the analysis of our consciousness and in the degree of its undeniableness1 the element of the various forms of necessary thought1 in as much as these are experienced by us as necessary4 ,we can1 with ,aristotle1 simply call them the ten categories2 or we can1 with greater precision and extension1 group them1 so far with ,kant1 under the two main heads of the two pure 8aesthetic0 ,perceptions of time and space1 on the one hand2 and of the various 8analytic0 ,forms of judgment and of the ,categories of ,unity1 ,reality1 ,substance1 ,possibility1 etc41 on the other hand4 ,now it can be shown that it is only by means of this whole second element1 only through the co-operation of these 8perceptions0 and forms of thought1 that any kind even of dim feeling of ordered succession or of system1 of unity or meaning1 is found by our mind in that first element4 ,only these two elements1 found and taken together1 present us1 in their interaction1 with even the impression and possibility of something to reason about1 and something wherewith to reason4 ,the second element then differs from the first in this1 that whereas the first presents its contents simply as actual and undeniable1 yet without so far any necessity or significance3 the second presents its contents as both actual and necessary4 ,by means of the first element ,i see a red rose1 but without any feeling of more than the fact that a rose1 or at least this one1 is red2 it might quite as well be yellow or blue4 ,by means of the second element1 ,i think of a body of any kind1 not only as actually occupying some particular space and time1 but as necessarily doing so2 ,i feel that ,i must so think of it4 ,and yet there is a third and last element necessary to give real value to the two previous ones4 ,for only on the condition that ,i am willing to trust these intimations of necessity1 to believe that these necessities of my subjective thought are objective as well1 and correspond to the necessities of ,being1 can ,i reach the trans-subjective1 can ,i have any real knowledge and experience of anything whatsoever1 either within me or without4 ,the most elementary experience1 the humblest something to be granted as really existing and as to be reasoned from1 is thus invariably and inevitably composed for me of three elements1 of which only the first two are directly experienced by me at all4 ,and the third element1 the ethico-mystical1 has to be there1 ,i have to trust and endorse the intimations of necessity furnished by the second element1 if anything is to come of the whole movement4 ,thus1 here also1 at the very source of all our certainty1 of the worth attributable to the least or greatest of our thoughts and feelings and acts1 we already find the three elements3 indubitable sensation1 clear thought1 warm faith in and through action4 ,and thus life here already consists of multiplicity in unity2 and what in it is absolutely indubitable1 is of value only because it constitutes the indispensable starting-point and stimulation for the apprehension and affirmation of realities not directly experienced1 not absolutely undeniable1 but which alone bear with them all the meaning1 all the richness1 all the reality and worth of life4 #b4 ,the three links in the chain of ,reflex ,action4 ,we can also find this same triad1 perhaps more simply1 if we look to ,psychology1 and that most assured and most far-reaching of all its results1 the fact and analysis of ,reflex ,action4 ,for we find here that all the activities of specifically human life begin with a sense-impression1 as the first1 the one simply given element2 that they move into and through a central process of mental abstraction and reflection1 as the second element1 contributed by the mind itself2 and that they end1 as the third element1 in the discharge of will and of action1 in an act of free affirmation1 expansion1 and love4 ,in this endless chain composed of these groups of three links each1 the first link and the last link are obscure and mysterious3 the first1 as coming from without us1 and as still below our own thought2 the third1 as going out from us1 and seen by us only in its external results1 never in its actual operation1 nor in its effect upon our own central selves4 ,only the middle link is clear to us4 ,and yet the most mysterious part of the whole process1 the effect of it all upon the central self1 is also the most certain and the most important result of the whole movement1 a movement which ever culminates in a modification of the personality and which prepares this personality for the next round of sense-perception1 intellectual abstraction1 ethical affirmation and volitional self-determination1--acts in which light and love1 fixed and free1 hard and cold and warm1 are so mysteriously1 so universally1 and yet so variously linked4 ,,iv4 ,,distribution ,,of ,,the ,,three ,,elements ,,amongst ,,mankind ,,and ,,throughout ,,human ,,history4 ,let us now watch and see where and how the three elements of ,religion appear among the periods of man's life1 the human professions1 and the races of mankind2 then how they succeed each other in history generally2 and finally how they exist among the chief types and phases of the ,oriental1 ,classical ,graeco-,roman1 and ,judaeo-,christian religions4 #a4 ,the ,elements3 their distribution among man's various ages1 sexes1 professions1 and races4 ,we have already noticed how children incline to the memory-side1 to the external1 social type2 and it is well they should do so1 and they should be wisely helped therein4 ,those passing through the storm-and-stress period insist more upon the reason1 the internal1 intellectual type2 and mature souls lay stress upon the feelings and the will1 the internal1 ethical type4 ,so again1 women generally tend either to an excess of the external1 to superstition2 or of the emotional1 to fanaticism4 ,men1 on the contrary1 appear generally to incline to an excess of the intellectual1 to rationalism and indifference4 ,professions1 too1 both by the temperaments which they presuppose1 and the habits of mind which they foster1 have various affinities4 ,the fighting1 administrative1 legal and political sciences and services1 readily incline to the external and institutional2 the medical1 mathematical1 natural science studies1 to the internal-intellectual2 the poetical1 artistic1 humanitarian activities1 to the internal-emotional4 ,and whole races have tended and will tend1 upon the whole1 to one or other of these three excesses3 e4g4 the ,latin races1 to ,externalism and ,superstition2 the ,teutonic races1 to the two ,interiorisms1 ,rationalism and ,fanaticism4 #b4 ,co-existence and succession of the ,three ,elements in history generally4 ,the human race at large has evidently been passing1 upon the whole1 from the exterior to the interior1 but with a constant tendency to drop one function for another1 instead of supplementing1 stimulating1 purifying each by means of the other two4 ,if we go back as far as any analyzable records will carry us1 we find that1 in proportion as religion emerges from pure fetichism1 it has ever combined with the apprehension of a ,power conceived1 at last and at best1 as of a ,father in heaven1 that of a ,bond with its brethren upon earth4 ,never has the sacrifice1 the so-to-speak vertical relation between the individual man and ,god1 between the worshipper and the object of his worship1 been without the sacrificial meal1 the communion1 the so-to-speak lateral1 horizontal relations between man and his fellow-man1 between the worshippers one and all4 ,never has religion been purely and entirely individual2 always has it been1 as truly and necessarily1 social and institutional1 traditional and historical4 ,and this traditional element1 not all the religious genius in the world can ever escape or replace3 it was there1 surrounding and moulding the very pre-natal existence of each one of us2 it will be there1 long after we have left the scene4 ,we live and die its wise servants and stewards1 or its blind slaves1 or in futile1 impoverishing revolt against it3 we never1 for good or for evil1 really get beyond its reach4 ,and yet all this stream and environment of the traditional and social could make no impression upon me whatsoever unless it were met by certain secret sympathies1 by certain imperious wants and energies within myself4 ,if the contribution of tradition is quantitatively by far the most important1 and might be compared to the contribution furnished by the ,vocabulary to the constitution of a definite1 particular language1--the contribution of the individual is1 qualitatively and for that individual1 more important still1 and might be compared to the contribution of the ,grammar to the constitution of that same language3 for it is the ,grammar which1 though incomparably less in amount than the ,vocabulary1 yet definitely constitutes any and every language4 ,and there is here no necessary conflict with the claim of ,tradition4 ,it is true that all real1 actual ,religion is ever an act of submission to some fact or truth conceived as not only true but as obligatory1 as coming from ,god1 and hence as beyond and above our purely subjective fancies1 opinings1 and wishes4 ,but it is also true that1 if ,i could not mentally hear or see1 ,i should be incapable of hearing or seeing anything of this kind or of any other2 and that without some already existing interior affinity with and mysterious capacity for discriminating between such intimations--as either corresponding to or as traversing my existing imperious needs and instincts--,i could not apprehend the former as coming from ,god4 ,without1 then1 such non-fanciful1 non-wilful1 subjective capacities and dispositions1 there is for us not even the apprehension of the existence of such objective realities3 such capacities and dispositions are as necessary pre-requisites to every act of faith1 as sight is the absolute pre-requisite for my discrimination between black and white4 ,hence as far back as we can go1 the traditional and social1 the institutional side of religion was accompanied1 in varying1 and at first small or less perceptible degrees and forms1 by intellectual and experimental interpretation and response4 #c4 ,the ,three ,elements in the great ,religions4 ,even the ,greek religion1 so largely naturalistic up to the very end1 appears1 in the centuries of its relative interiorization1 as a triad composed of a most ancient traditional cultus1 a philosophy of religion1 and an experimental-ethical life2 the latter element being readily exemplified by the ,demon of ,socrates1 and by the ,eleusinian and ,orphic ,mysteries4 ,in ,india and ,tibet1 again1 ,brahmanism and ,buddhism may be said to have divided these three elements between them1 the former representing as great an excess of the external as ,buddhism does of abstruse reasoning and pessimistic emotion4 ,mahometanism1 while combining1 in very imperfect proportions1 all three elements within itself1 lays special stress upon the first1 the external element2 and though harbouring1 for centuries now and more or less everywhere1 the third1 the mystical element1 looks1 in its strictly orthodox representatives1 with suspicion upon this mysticism4 ,judaism was slow in developing the second1 the intellectual element2 and the third1 the mystical1 is all but wholly absent till the ,exilic period1 and does not become a marked feature till still later on1 and in writers under ,hellenistic influence4 ,it is in the ,book of ,wisdom1 still more in ,philo1 that we find all three sides almost equally developed4 ,and from the ,hasmonean period onwards till the destruction of ,jerusalem by ,titus1 we find a severe and ardent external1 traditional1 authoritative school in the ,pharisees2 an accommodating and rationalizing school in the ,sadducees2 and1 apart from both1 more a sect than a school1 the experimental1 ascetical1 and mystical body of the ,essenes4 ,but it is in ,christianity1 and throughout its various vicissitudes and schools1 that we can most fully observe the presence1 characteristics1 and interaction of these three modalities4 ,we have already seen how the ,new ,testament writings can be grouped1 with little or no violence1 according to the predominance of one of these three moods1 under the heads of the traditional1 historic1 external1 the 8,petrine0 school2 the reasoning1 speculative-internal1 the ,pauline2 and the experimental1 mystical-internal1 the ,joannine school4 ,and in the ,east1 up to ,clement of ,alexandria1 in the ,west up to ,st4 ,augustine1 we find the prevalence of the first type4 ,and next1 in the ,east1 in ,clement and ,origen1 in ,st4 ,gregory of ,nyssa1 in the ,alexandrian and the ,antiochene school generally1 and in the ,west1 in ,st4 ,augustine1 we find predominantly a combination of the second and third types4 ,the ,areopagitic writings of the end of the fifth century still further emphasize and systematize this ,neo-,platonic form of mystical speculation1 and become indeed the great treasure-house from which above all the ,mystics1 but also largely the ,scholastics1 throughout the ,middle ,ages1 drew much of their literary material4 ,and those six or seven centuries of the ,middle ,ages are full of the contrasts and conflicts between varying forms of ,institutionalism1 ,intellectualism1 and ,mysticism4 ,especially clearly marked is the parallelism1 interaction1 and apparent indestructibleness of the ,scholastic and ,mystical currents4 ,abelard and ,st4 ,bernard1 ,st4 ,thomas of ,aquin and the great ,franciscan ,doctors1 above all the often largely latent1 yet really ceaseless conflict between ,realism and ,nominalism1 all can be rightly taken as caused by various combinations and degrees1 insufficiencies or abnormalities in the action of the three great powers of the human soul1 and of the three corresponding root-forms and functions of religion4 ,and whereas1 during the prevalence of ,realism1 affective1 mystical religion is the concomitant and double of intellectual religion2 during the later prevalence of ,nominalism1 ,mysticism becomes the ever-increasing supplement1 and at last1 ever more largely1 the substitute1 for the methods of reasoning4 8,do penance and believe in the ,gospel0 becomes now the favourite text1 even in the mouth of ,gerson 7who died in #adbi71 the great ,nominalist ,doctor1 the ,chancellor of the then greatest intellectual centre upon earth1 the ,university of ,paris4 ,a constant depreciation of all dialectics1 indeed largely of human knowledge generally1 appears even more markedly in the pages of the gentle and otherwise moderate ,thomas of ,kempen 7who died in #adga74 ,although the ,humanist ,renaissance was not long in carrying away many minds and hearts from all deeper consciousness and effort of a moral and religious sort1 yet in so far as men retained and but further deepened and enriched their religious outlook and life1 the three old forms and modalities reappear1 during the earlier stages of the movement1 in fresh forms and combinations4 ,perhaps the most truly comprehensive and ,christian representative of the new at its best1 is ,cardinal ,nicolas of ,coes1 the precursor of modern philosophy4 ,for he combines the fullest adhesion to1 and life-long labour for1 ,external ,institutional authority1 with the keenest ,intellectual1 ,speculative life1 and with the constant temper and practice of experimental and ,mystical piety4 ,and a similar combination we find in ,blessed ,sir ,thomas ,more in ,england1 who lays down his life in defence of ,institutional ,religion and of the authority of the visible ,church and its earthly head2 who is a devoted lover of the ,new ,learning1 both ,critical and ,philosophical2 and who continuously cultivates the ,interior ,life4 ,a little later on1 we find the same combination in ,cardinal ,ximenes in ,spain4 ,but it is under the stress and strain of the ,reformation and ,counter-,reformation movements that the depth and vitality of the three currents gets specially revealed4 ,for in ,germany1 and in ,continental ,protestantism generally1 we see 7immediately after the very short first 8fluid0 stage of ,luther's and ,zwingli's attitude consequent upon their breach with ,rome7 the three currents in a largely separate condition1 and hence with startling distinctness4 ,luther1 ,calvin1 ,zwingli1 different as are their temperaments and both their earlier and their later ,protestant attitudes and doctrines1 all three soon fall back upon some form and fragmentary continuation1 or even in its way intensification1 of ,institutional ,religion1--driven to such conservatism by the iron necessity of real life and the irrepressible requirements of human nature4 ,they thus formed that heavy untransparent thing1 orthodox ,continental ,protestantism4 ,laelius and ,faustus ,socinus attempt the construction of a purely ,rationalistic ,religion1 and capture and intensify the current of a clear1 cold ,deism1 in which the critical mind is to be supreme4 ,and the ,anabaptist and other scattered sects and individuals 7the latter represented at their best by ,sebastian ,frank7 attempt1 in their turn1 to hold and develop a purely interior1 experimental1 emotional-intuitive1 ecstatic ,religion1 which is warm1 indeed feverish and impulsive1 and distrusts both the visible and institutional1 and the rational and critical4 ,in ,england the same phenomenon recurs in a modified form4 ,for in ,anglicanism1 the most characteristic of its parties1 the ,high ,church school1 represents predominantly the ,historical1 ,institutional principle4 ,the ,latitudinarian school fights for the ,rational1 ,critical1 and ,speculative element4 ,the ,evangelical school stands in close spiritual affinity to all but the ,unitarian ,nonconformists in ,england1 and represents the ,experimental1 ,mystical element4 ,we readily think of ,laud and ,andrewes1 ,pusey and ,keble as representatives of the first class2 of ,arnold1 ,stanley1 and ,jowett as figures of the second class2 of ,thomas ,scott1 ,john ,newton1 and ,charles ,simeon as types of the third class4 ,the ,tracts for the ,times1 ,essays and ,reviews1 and 7further back7 ,bunyan's ,works1 would roughly correspond to them in literature4 ,and this trinity of tendency can also be traced in ,catholicism4 ,whole ,religious ,orders and ,congregations can be seen or felt to tend1 upon the whole1 to one or the other type4 ,the ,jesuits can be taken as predominantly making for the first type1 for fact1 authority1 submission1 obedience2 the ,dominicans for the second type1 for thought1 a philosophico-speculative1 intellectual religion2 the ,benedictines1 in their noble ,congregation of ,st4 ,maur1 for a historico-critical intellectual type2 the ,french ,oratory1 for a combination of both the speculative 7,malebranche7 and the critical 7,simon1 ,thomassin72 and the ,franciscans1 for the third1 for action and experimental1 affective spirituality4 ,and yet none of these ,orders but has had its individuals1 and even whole secondary periods1 schools1 and traditions1 markedly typical of some current other than that specially characteristic of the ,order as a whole4 ,there are the great ,critics and ,historians of the ,jesuit ,order3 the ,spanish ,maldonatus1 the ,new ,testament ,scholar1 admirable for his time1 and helpful and unexhausted still2 the ,french ,denys ,petau1 the great historian of ,christian ,doctrine and of its development2 the ,flemish ,bollandists1 with their unbroken tradition of thorough critical method and incorruptible accuracy and impartiality4 ,there are the great ,jesuit ,mystics3 the ,spanish ,venerable ,balthazar ,alvarez1 declared by ,st4 ,teresa to be the holiest mystical soul she had ever known2 and the ,frenchmen1 ,louis ,lallemant and ,jean ,joseph ,surin4 ,there are those most attractive figures1 combining the ,scholar and the ,mystic3 ,blessed ,edmund ,campion1 the ,oxford ,scholar and ,elizabethan ,martyr2 and ,jean ,nicolas ,grou1 the ,french translator of ,plato1 who died in exile in ,england in #ahjj4 ,the ,dominicans have1 from the first1 been really representative of external authority as well of the speculative rational bent2 and the mystical side has never been wanting to them1 so amongst the early ,german ,dominicans1 ,tauler and ,suso1 and many a ,dominican female ,saint4 ,the ,benedictines from the first produced great rulers2 such striking types of external authority as the ,pope-,saints1 ,gregory the ,great and ,gregory ,,vii 7,hildebrand71 and the great ,benedictine ,abbots and ,bishops throughout the ,middle ,ages are rightly felt to represent one whole side of this great ,order4 ,and again such great mystical figures as ,st4 ,hildegard of ,bingen and the two ,saints ,gertrude are fully at home in that hospitable ,family4 ,and the ,franciscans have1 in the ,conventuals1 developed representatives of the external authority type2 and in such great philosopher-theologians as ,duns ,scotus and ,occam1 a combination which has more of the intellectual1 both speculative and critical1 than of the simply ascetical or even mystical type4 ,and if we look for individual contrasts1 we can often find them in close temporal and local juxtaposition1 as in ,france1 in the time of ,louis ,,xiv1 in the persons of ,bossuet1 ,richard ,simon1 and ,fnelon1 so strikingly typical of the special strengths and limitations of the institutional1 rational1 experimental types respectively4 ,and yet the most largely varied influence will necessarily proceed from characters which combine not only two of the types1 as in our times ,frederick ,faber combined the external and experimental2 but which hold them all three1 as with ,john ,henry ,newman in ,england or ,antonio ,rosmini in ,italy4 ,v4 ,,causes ,,operative ,,in ,,all ,,religion ,,towards ,,minimizing ,,or ,,suppressing ,,one ,,or ,,other ,,element1 ,,or ,,towards ,,denying ,,the ,,need ,,of ,,any ,,multiplicity4 ,let us end this chapter with some consideration of the causes and reasons that are ever tending to produce and to excuse the quiet elimination or forcible suppression of one or other of the elements that constitute the full organism of religion1 and even to minimize or to deny altogether the necessity of any such multiplicity4 #a4 ,the religious temper longs for simplification4 ,to take the last point first4 ,how obvious and irresistible seems always1 to the specifically religious temper1 the appeal to boundless simplification4 8,can there be anything more sublimely1 utterly simple than religion80 we all say and feel4 ,in these regions1 if anywhere1 we long and thirst to see and feel all things in one1 to become ourselves one1 to find the ,one ,thing necessary1 the ,one ,god1 and to be one with ,him for ever4 ,where is there room here1 we feel even angrily1 for all these distinctions1 all this balancing of divers faculties and parts8 ,is not all this but so much ,aestheticism1 some kind of subtle ,naturalism1 a presumptuous attempting to build up bit by bit in practice1 and to analyze part from part in theory1 what can only come straight from ,god ,himself1 and1 coming from ,him the ,one1 cannot but bear the impress of ,his own indistinguishable ,unity8 ,and can there be anything more unforcedly1 unanalyzably simple than all actual religion1--and this in exact proportion to its greatness8 ,look at ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi1 or ,st4 ,john ,baptist2 look above all at the ,christ1 supremely1 uniquely great1 just because of ,his sublime simplicity6 ,look at1 feel1 the presence and character of those countless souls that bear1 unknown even to themselves1 some portion of this ,his impress within themselves1 forming thus a kind of indefinitely rich extension of ,his reign1 of the kingdom of ,his childlikeness4 ,away then with everything that at all threatens to break up a corresponding simplicity in ourselves6 ,poverty of spirit1 emptiness of heart1 a constant turning away from all distraction1 from all multiplicity both of thought and of feeling1 of action and of being2 this1 surely1 is the one and only necessity for the soul1 at least in proportion to the height of her spiritual call4 #b4 ,yet every truly living ,unity is constituted in ,multiplicity4 ,now in all this there is a most subtle mixture of truth and of error4 ,it is profoundly true that all that is at all1 still more all personality1 and hence above all ,god1 the ,spirit of spirits is1 just in that proportion1 profoundly mysteriously ,one1 with a ,unity which all our best thinking can only distantly and analogously represent4 ,and all religion will ever1 in proportion as it is vigorous and pure1 thirst after an ever-increasing ,unification1 will long to be one and to give itself to the ,one1--to follow naked the naked ,jesus4 ,yet all the history of human thought and all the actual experience of each one of us prove that this ,unity can be apprehended and developed1 by and within our poor human selves1 only in proportion as we carefully persist in stopping at the point where it can most thoroughly organize and harmonize the largest possible multiplicity of various facts and forces4 ,no doubt the living soul is not a whole made up of separate parts2 still less is ,god made up of parts4 ,yet we cannot apprehend this ,unity of ,god except in multiplicity of some sort2 nor can we ourselves become rightly one1 except through being in a true sense many1 and very many1 as well4 ,indeed the ,christian ,faith insists that there is something most real actually corresponding to this our conception of multiplicity even and especially in ,god ,himself4 ,for it as emphatically bids us think of ,him as in one sense a ,trinity as in another a ,unity4 ,and it is one of the oldest and most universal of ,christian approaches to this mystery1 to conceive it under the analogy of the three powers of the soul4 ,god the ,father and ,creator is conceived as corresponding to the sense-perception and ,imagination1 to ,memory-power2 ,god the ,son and ,redeemer1 as the ,logos1 to our reason2 and ,god the ,holy ,spirit1 as corresponding to the effective-volitional force within us2 and then we are bidden to remember that1 as in ourselves these three powers are all united in ,one personality1 so in ,god the three ,persons are united in ,one substance and nature4 ,even the supremely and ineffably simple ,godhead is not1 then1 a mere1 undifferentiated ,one4 ,and if we take the case of ,our ,lord1 even when ,he is apprehended in the most abstract of orthodox ways3 we get either the duality of natures1 ,god and ,man2 or a trinity of offices1 the ,kingly1 the ,prophetic1 and the ,priestly1--these latter again corresponding roughly to the ,external1 the ,intellectual1 and the ,mystical element of the human soul4 ,and even if we restrict ourselves to ,his ,humanity1 and as pictured in any one ,gospel1 nay in the earliest1 simplest1 and shortest1 ,st4 ,mark1 we shall still come continually upon a rich multiplicity1 variety1 and play of different exterior and interior apprehensions and activities1 emotions and sufferings1 all profoundly permeated by one great end and aim1 yet each differing from the other1 and contributing a different share to the one great result4 ,the astonishment at the disciples' slowness of comprehension1 the flash of anger at ,peter1 the sad reproachfulness towards ,judas1 the love of the children1 the sympathy with women1 the pity towards the fallen1 the indignation against the ,pharisees1 the rejoicing in the ,father's revelation1 the agony in the ,garden1 the desolation on the ,cross1 are all different emotions4 ,the perception of the beauty of the flowers of the field1 of the habits of plants and of birds1 of the varieties of the day's early and late cloud and sunshine1 of the effects of storm and rain2 and again of the psychology of various classes of character1 age1 temperament1 and avocation2 and indeed of so much more1 are all different observations4 ,the lonely recollection in the desert1 the nights spent in prayer upon the mountains1 the preaching from boats and on the lake-side1 the long foot-journeyings1 the many flights1 the reading and expounding in the ,synagogues1 the curing the sick and restoring them to their right mind1 the driving the sellers from the ,temple-court1 and so much else1 are all different activities4 ,and if we take what is or should be simplest in the spiritual life of the ,christian1 his intention and motive2 and if we conceive this according to the evidence of the practice of such ,saints as have themselves revealed to us the actual working of their souls1 and of the long and most valuable series of controversies and ecclesiastical decisions in this delicate matter1 we shall again find the greatest possible ,multiplicity in the deepest possible ,unity4 ,for even in such a ,saint as ,st4 ,john of the ,cross1 whose own analysis and theory of the interior life would often seem all but directly and completely to exclude the element of multiplicity1 it is necessary ever to interpret and supplement one part of his teaching by another1 and to understand the whole in the light of his actual1 deliberate1 habitual practice4 ,this latter will necessarily ever exceed his explicit teaching1 both in its completeness and in its authority4 ,now if in his formal teaching he never wearies of insisting upon detachment from all things1 and upon the utmost simplification of the intentions of the soul1 yet he occasionally fully states what is ever completing this doctrine in his own mind1--that this applies only to the means and not to the end1 and to false and not to true multiplicity4 8,the spiritual man10 he writes in one place1 8has greater joy and comfort in creatures1 if he detaches himself from them2 and he can have no joy in them1 if he considers them as his own40 8,he10 as distinct from the unspiritual man1 8rejoices in their truth10 8in their best conditions10 8in their substantial worth40 ,he 8has joy in all things40#cg ,a real multiplicity then exists in things1 and in our most purified apprehension of them2 varied1 rich joys related to this multiplicity are facts in the life of the ,saints2 and these varied joys may legitimately be dwelt on as incentives to holiness for oneself and others4 8,all that is wanting now10 he writes to ,donna ,juana de ,pedraa1 his penitent1 8is that ,i should forget you4 ,but consider how that is to be forgotten which is ever present to the soul40#ch ,an affection then1 as pure as it was particular1 was ever in his heart1 and fully accepted and willed and acknowledged to its immediate object1 as entirely conformable to his own teaching4 ,st4 ,teresa1 on the other hand1 is a character of much greater natural variety1 and yet it is she who has left us that most instructive record of her temporary erroneous ideal of a false simplicity1 in turning away1 for a number of years1 from the consideration of the ,humanity of ,christ4 ,and a constant1 keen interest in the actual larger happenings of her time1 in the vicissitudes of the ,church in her day1 was stamped upon all her teaching1 and remained with her up to the very end4 ,perhaps the most classic expression of the true ,unity is that implied by ,st4 ,ignatius of ,loyola1 when he tells us that 8,peace is the simplicity of order40 ,for order as necessarily implies a multiplicity of things ordered as the unity of the supreme ordering principle4 ,fnelon1 doubtless1 at times1 especially in parts of his condemned ,explication des ,maximes des ,saints1 too much excludes1 or seems to exclude1 the element of multiplicity in the soul's intention4 ,yet1 both before and after this book1 some of the clearest and completest statements in existence1 as to the true unity and diversity to be found in the most perfect life1 are to be found among his writings4 ,in his ,latin ,epistle to ,pope ,clement ,,xi he insists upon the irreducible element of multiplicity in the motives of the very highest sanctity4 ,for he maintains first that1 though 8in the specific act of ,love1 the chief of the theological virtues1 it is possible to love the absolute perfection of ,god considered in ,himself1 without the addition of any motive of the promised beatitude10 yet that 8this specific act of love1 of its own nature1 never excludes1 and indeed most frequently includes1 this same motive of beatitude40 ,he asserts next that though1 8in the highest grade of perfection amongst souls here below1 deliberate acts of simply natural love of ourselves1 and even supernatural acts of hope which are not commanded by love mostly cease10 yet that in this 8habitual ,state of any and every most perfect soul upon earth1 the promised beatitude is desired1 and there is no diminution of the exercise of the virtue of hope1 indeed day by day there is an increase in this desire1 from the specific motive of hope of this great good1 which ,god ,himself bids us all1 without exception1 to hope for40 ,and he declares finally that 8there is no state of perfection in which souls enjoy an uninterrupted contemplation1 or in which the powers of the soul are bound by an absolute incapacity for eliciting the discursive acts of ,christian piety2 nor is there a state in which they are exempted from following the laws of the ,church1 and executing all the orders of superiors40#ci ,all the variety1 then1 of the interested and of the disinterested2 of hope and fear and sorrow2 of gratitude and adoration and love2 of the ,intuitive and ,discursive2 of ,recollection and external ,action1 is to be found1 in a deeper1 richer1 more multiple and varied and at the same time a more unified unity1 in the most perfect life2 and all this in proportion to its approach to its own ideal and normality4 ,indeed the same multiplicity in unity is finely traced by ,st4 ,bernard1 the great contemplative1 in every human act that partakes of grace at all4 8,that which was begun by ,grace1 gets accomplished alike by both ,grace and ,free ,will1 so that they operate mixedly not separately1 simultaneously not successively1 in each and all of their processes4 ,the acts are not in part ,grace1 in part ,free ,will2 but the whole of each act is effected by both in an undivided operation40#dj ,,vi4 ,,the ,,special ,,motives ,,operating ,,in ,,each ,,element ,,towards ,,the ,,suppression ,,of ,,the ,,other ,,elements4 ,now the elements of ,multiplicity and ,friction and of ,unity and ,harmonization1 absolutely essential to all life1 everywhere and always cost us much to keep and gain4 ,but there are also1 very special reasons why the three great constituents of religion should1 each in its own way1 tend continually to tempt the soul to retain only it1 and hence to an impoverishing simplification4 ,let us try and see this tendency at work in the two chief constituents1 as against each other1 and in combination against the third4 #a4 ,in the ,historical and ,institutional ,element1 as against all else4 ,we have seen how all religiousness is ever called into life by some already existing religion4 ,and this religion will consist in the continuous commemoration of some great religious facts of the past4 ,it will teach and represent some divine revelation as having been made1 in and through such and such a particular person1 in such and such a particular place1 at such and such a particular time2 and such a revelation will claim acceptance and submission as divine and redemptive in and through the very form and manner in which it was originally made4 ,the very peculiarity1 which will render the teaching distinctively religious1 will hence be a certain real1 or at least an at first apparent1 externality to the mind and life of the recipient1 and a sense of even painful obligation answered by a willing endorsement4 ,all higher religion ever is thus personal and revelational2 and all such personal and revelational religion was necessarily first manifested in unique conditions of space and time2 and yet it claims1 in as much as divine1 to embrace all the endless conditions of other spaces and other times4 ,and this combination of a clearly contingent constituent and of an imperiously absolute claim is not less1 but more visible1 as we rise in the scale of religions4 ,the figure of ,our ,lord is far more clear and definite and richly individual than are the figures of the ,buddha or of ,mahomet4 ,and at the same time ,christianity has ever claimed for ,him far more than ,buddhism or ,mahometanism have claimed for their respective1 somewhat shadowy founders4 ,for the ,buddha was conceived as but one amongst a whole series of similar revealers that were to come2 and ,mahomet was but the final prophet of the one ,god4 ,but ,christ is offered to us as the unique ,saviour1 as the unique revelation of ,god ,himself4 ,you are thus to take ,him or leave ,him4 ,to distinguish and interpret1 analyze or theorize ,him1 to accept ,him provisionally or on conditions1--nothing of all this is distinctively religious4 ,for1 here as everywhere else1 the distinctive religious act is1 as such1 an unconditional surrender4 ,nowhere in life can we both give and keep at the same time2 and least of all here1 at life's deepest sources4 ,with this acceptance then1 in exact proportion as it is religious1 a double exclusiveness will apparently be set up4 ,i have here found my true life3--,i will turn away then from all else1 and will either directly fight1 or will at least starve and stunt1 all other competing interests and activities--,i will have here a 7so to speak7 spacial1 a simultaneous exclusiveness4 ,religion will thus be conceived as a thing amongst other things1 or as a force struggling amongst other forces2 we have given our undivided heart to it1--hence the other things must go1 as so many actual supernumeraries and possible supplanters4 ,science and ,literature1 ,art and ,politics must all be starved or cramped4 ,religion can safely reign1 apparently1 in a desert alone4 ,but again1 ,religion will be conceived1 at the same time1 as a thing fixed in itself1 as given once for all1 and to be defended against all change and interpretation1 against all novelty and discrimination4 ,we get thus a second1 a 7so to speak7 temporal1 successive exclusiveness4 ,religion will here be conceived as a thing to be kept literally and materially identical with itself and hence as requiring to be defended against any kind of modification4 ,conceive it as a paste1 and all yeast must be kept out2 or as wine1 and fermentation must be carefully excluded4 ,and indeed ,religion here would thus become a stone1 even though a stone fallen from heaven1 like one of those meteorites worshipped in ,pagan antiquity4 ,and the two exclusivenesses1 joined together1 would give us a religion reduced to such a stone worshipped in a desert4 ,now the point to notice here is1 that all this seems not to be an abuse1 but to spring from the very essence of religion1--from two of its specific inalienable characteristics--those of externality and authority4 ,and although the extreme just described has never been completely realized in history1 yet we can see various approximations to it in ,mahometan ,egypt1 in ,puritan ,scotland1 in ,piagnone ,florence1 in ,spain of the ,inquisition4 ,religion would thus appear fated1 by its very nature1 to starve out all else1 and its own self into the bargain4 ,what will be the answer to1 the escape from1 all this1 provided by religion itself8 ,the answer and escape will be provided by the intrinsic nature of the human soul1 and of the religious appeal made to it4 ,for if this appeal must be conceived by the soul1 in exact proportion to the religiousness of both1 as incomprehensible by it1 as exceeding its present1 and even its potential1 powers of comprehension2 if again this appeal must demand a sacrifice of various inclinations felt at the time to be wrong or inferior2 if it must come home to the soul with a sense of constraining obligation1 as an act of submission and of sacrifice which it ought and must make3 yet it will as necessarily be conceived1 at the same time1 and again in exact proportion to the religiousness both of the soul and of the appeal1 as the expression of ,mind1 of ,spirit1 and the impression of another mind and spirit2 as the manifestation of an infinite ,personality1 responded and assented to by a personality1 finite indeed yet capable of indefinite growth4 ,and hence the fixity of the revelation and of the soul's assent to it1 will be as the fixity of a fountain-head1 or as the fixity of river-banks2 or again as the fixity of a plant's growth1 or of the gradual leavening of bread1 or as that of the successive evolution and identity of the human body4 ,the fixity1 in a word1 will be conceived and found to be a fixity of orientation1 a definiteness of affinities and of assimilative capacity4 ,only full trust1 only unconditional surrender suffice for religion4 ,but then religion excites and commands this in a person towards a ,person2 a surrender to be achieved not in some thing1 but in some one1--a some one who is at all1 only in as much as he is living1 loving1 growing2 and to be performed1 not towards some thing1 but towards ,some ,one1 ,whose right1 indeed ,whose very power to claim me1 consists precisely in that ,he is ,himself absolutely1 infinitely and actually1 what ,i am but derivatively1 finitely and potentially4 ,thus the very same act and reasons which completely bind me1 do so only to true growth and to indefinite expansion4 ,i shall1 it is true1 ever go back and cling to the definite spacial and temporal manifestations of this infinite ,spirit's personality1 but ,i shall1 by this same act1 proclaim ,his eternal presentness and inexhaustible self-interpreting illumination4 ,by the same act by which ,i believe in the revelation of the workshop of ,nazareth1 of the ,lake of ,galilee1 of ,gethsemane and ,calvary1 ,i believe that this revelation is inexhaustible1 and that its gradual analysis and theory1 and above all its successive practical application1 experimentation1 acceptance or rejection1 and unfolding1 confer and call forth poignant dramatic freshness and inexhaustible uniqueness upon and within every human life1 unto the end of time4 ,all this takes place through the present1 the hic et nunc1 co-operation of the living ,god and the living soul4 ,and this ever-to-be reconquered1 ever-costing and chequered1 ever-8deepenable0 interpretation1 is as truly fresh as if it were a fresh revelation4 ,for all that comes from the living ,god1 and is worked out by living souls1 is ever living and enlivening3 there is no such thing as mere repetition1 or differentiation by mere number1 place1 and time1 in this ,kingdom of ,life1 either as to ,god's action or the soul's4 ,infinite ,spirit ,himself1 ,he creates an indefinite number of1 at first largely but potential1 persons1 no one of which is identical with any other1 and provokes and supports an indefinite number of ever different successive acts on the part of each and all of them1 that so1 through the sum-total of such sources and streams of difference1 the nearest creaturely approach may be achieved to the ocean of ,his own infinite richness4 #b4 ,in the ,emotional and ,volitional ,element1 as against the ,historical and ,institutional ,element4 ,now the tendency of a soul1 when once awake to this necessary freshness and interiority of feeling with regard to ,god's and her own action1 will again be towards an impoverishing oneness4 ,it will now tend to shrink away from the ,external1 ,institutional altogether4 ,for though it cannot but have experienced the fact that it was by contact with this ,external that1 like unto ,antaeus at his contact with ,mother ,earth1 it gained its experience of the ,internal1 yet each such experience tends to obliterate the traces of its own occasion4 ,indeed the interior feeling thus achieved tends1 in the long run1 to make the return to the contact with the fact that occasioned1 and to the act that produced it1 a matter of effort and repugnance4 ,it seems a case of 8a man's returning to his mother's womb02 and is indeed a new birth to a fuller life1 and hence humiliating1 obscure1 concentrated1 effortful1 a matter of trust and labour and pain and faith and love1--a true death of and adieu to the self of this moment1 however advanced this self may seem1--a fully willed purifying pang4 ,only through such dark and narrow ,thermopylae passes can we issue on to the wide1 sunlit plains4 ,and both plain and sunshine can never last long at a time2 and they will cease altogether1 if they are not interrupted by this apparent shadow of the valley of death1 this concrete action1 which invariably modifies not only the soul's environment1 but above all the soul itself4 ,thus does a simply mental prayer readily feel1 to the soul that possesses the habit of it1 a complete substitute for all vocal prayer2 and a generally prayerful habit of mind readily appears an improvement upon all conscious acts of prayer4 ,thus does a general1 indeterminate consciousness of ,christ's spirit and presence1 easily feel larger and wider1 to him who has it1 than the apparent contraction of mind and heart involved in devotion to ,him pictured in the definite ,gospel scenes or localized in ,his ,eucharistic presence4 ,thus again does a general disposition of regret for sin and of determination to do better readily feel nobler1 to him who has it1 than the apparent materiality and peddling casuistry1 the attempting the impossible1 of fixing for oneself the kind and degree of one's actual sins1 and of determining upon definite1 detailed reforms4 ,yet1 in all these cases1 this feeling will rapidly lead the soul on to become unconsciously weak or feverish1 unless the latter manfully escapes from this feeling's tyranny1 and nobly bends under the yoke and cramps itself within the narrow limits of the life-giving concrete act4 ,the ,church's insistence upon some vocal prayer1 upon some definite1 differentiated1 specific acts of the various moral and theological virtues1 upon ,sacramental practice throughout all the states and stages of the ,christian life1 is but a living commentary upon the difficulty and importance of the point under discussion4 ,and ,history1 as we have seen1 confirms all this4 #c4 ,in the ,emotional and ,volitional1 singly or in combination with the ,historical and ,institutional1 as against the ,analytic and ,speculative ,element4 ,but just as the ,institutional easily tends to a weakening both of the ,intellectual and of the ,emotional1 so does the ,emotional readily turn against not only the ,institutional but against the ,intellectual as well4 ,this latter hostility will take two forms4 ,inasmuch as the feeling clings to historical facts and persons1 it will instinctively elude or attempt to suppress all critical examination and analysis of these its supports4 ,inasmuch as it feeds upon its own emotion1 which 7as so much pure emotion7 is1 at any one of its stages1 ever intensely one and intensely exclusive1 it will instinctively fret under and oppose all that slow discrimination and mere approximation1 that collection of a few certainties1 many probabilities1 and innumerable possibilities1 all that pother over a very little1 which seem to make up the sum of all human knowledge4 ,such ,emotion will thus tend to be hostile to ,historical ,criticism1 and to all the ,critical1 ,analytic stages and forms of ,philosophy4 ,it turns away instinctively from the cold manifold of thinking2 and it shrinks spontaneously from the hard opaque of action and of the external4 ,all this will again be found to be borne out by history4 ,a combination of ,institutionalism and ,experimentalism against ,intellectualism1 is another not infrequent abuse1 and one which is not hard to explain4 ,for if external1 definite facts and acts are found to lead to certain internal1 deep1 all-embracing emotions and experiences1 the soul can to a certain extent live and thrive in and by a constant moving backwards and forwards between the ,institution and the ,emotion alone1 and can thus constitute an ever-tightening bond and dialogue1 increasingly exclusive of all else4 ,for although the ,institution will1 taken in itself1 retain for the ,emotion a certain dryness and hardness1 yet the ,emotion can and often will associate with this ,institution whatever that contact with it has been found to bring and to produce4 ,and if the ,institution feels hard and obscure1 it is not1 like the ,thinking1 cold and transparent4 ,just because the ,institution appears to the emotional nature as though further from its feeling1 and yet is experienced as a mysterious cause or occasion of this feeling1 the emotional nature is fairly1 often passionately1 ready to welcome what it can thus rest on and lean on1 as something having a comfortable fixity both of relation and of resistance4 ,but with regard to ,thinking1 all this is different4 ,for thought is sufficiently near to ,feeling1 necessarily to produce friction and competition of some sort1 and seems1 with its keen edge and endless mobility1 to be the born implacable foe of the dull1 dead givenness of the ,institutional1 and of the equal givenness of any one ,emotional mood4 ,one of the spontaneous activities of the human soul1 the ,analytic and ,speculative faculty1 seems habitually1 instinctively to labour at depersonalizing all it touches1 and thus continually both to undermine and discrown the deeply personal work and world of the experimental forces of the soul4 ,indeed the thinking seems to be doing this necessarily1 since by its very essence it begins and ends with laws1 qualities1 functions1 and parts1--with abstractions1 which1 at best1 can be but skeletons and empty forms of the real and actual1 and which1 of themselves1 ever tend to represent all ,reality as something static1 not dynamic1 as a thing1 not as a person or ,spirit4 ,here again the true solution will be found in an ever fuller conception of ,personality1 and of its primary place in the religious life4 ,for even the bare possibility of the truth of all religion1 especially of any one of the characteristic doctrines of ,christianity1 involves a group of personalist convictions4 ,here the human person begins more as a possibility than a reality4 ,here the moral and spiritual character has to be built up slowly1 painfully1 laboriously1 throughout all the various stages and circumstances of life1 with their endless combinations of pleasure and pain1 trouble and temptation1 inner and outer help and hindrance1 success and failure4 ,here the simply ,individual is transformed into the truly ,personal only by the successive sacrifice of the lower1 of the merely animal and impoverishingly selfish self1 with the help of ,god's constant prevenient1 concomitant1 and subsequent grace4 ,and here this constantly renewed dropping and opposing of the various lower selves1 in proportion as they appear and become lower1 to the soul's deepest insight1 in the growing light of its conscience and the increasing elevation of the moral personality1 involves that constant death to self1 that perpetual conversion1 that unification and peace in and through a continuous inner self-estrangement and conflict1 which is the very breath and joy of the religious life4 ,only if all this be so1 to a quite unpicturable extent1 can even the most elementary ,christianity be more than an amiable intruder1 or a morbid surplusage in the world4 ,and at same time1 if all this be so1 then all within us is in need of successive1 never-ending purification and elaboration2 and the ,god who has made man with a view to his gradually achieving1 and conquering his real self1 must have stored means and instruments1 for the attainment of this man's true end1 constant readiness1 within himself4 ,now our whole ,intellectual nature is a great storehouse of one special class of such instruments4 ,for it is clear that the moral and spiritual side of our nature will1 more than any other1 constantly require three things3 ,rest1 ,expression1 and ,purification4 ,and the intellectual activities will1 if only they be kept sufficiently vigorous and independent1 alone be in a position sufficiently to supply some forms of these three needs4 ,for they can rest the moral-spiritual activities1 since they1 the intellectual ones1 primarily neglect emotion1 action1 and persons1 and are directly occupied with abstractions and with things4 ,they can and should express the results of those moral1 spiritual activities1 because the religious facts and experiences require1 like all other facts1 to be constantly stated and re-stated by the intellect in terms fairly understandable by the civilization and culture of the successive ages of the world4 ,above all1 they can help to purify those moral-spiritual activities1 owing to their interposing1 by their very nature1 a zone of abstraction1 of cool1 clear thinking1 of seemingly adequate and exhaustive1 but actually impoverishing and artificial concepts1 and of apparently ultimate1 though really only phenomenal determinism1 between the direct informations of the senses1 to which the ,individual clings1 and the inspirations of the moral and spiritual nature1 which constitute the ,person4 ,thus this intellectual abstractive element is1 if neither minimized in the life of the soul1 nor allowed to be its sole element or its last1 a sobering1 purifying1 mortifying1 vivifying bath and fire4 ,,vii4 ,,three ,,final ,,objections ,,to ,,such ,a ,,conception ,,of ,,religion1 ,,and ,,their ,,answers4 ,now there are three obvious objections to such a conception3 with their consideration1 this ,introduction shall conclude4 #a4 ,this conception not excessively intellectual4 ,does not1 in the first place1 such a view of life appear preposterously intellectual8 ,what of the uneducated1 of the toiling millions8 ,what of most women and of all children8 ,are then all these1 the overwhelming majority of mankind1 the objects of ,christ's predilection1 the very types chosen by ,himself of ,his spirit and of ,god's ideal for man1 precluded from an essential element of religion8 ,or are we1 at the least1 to hold that an ethical and spiritual advantage is necessarily attached1 and this too for but a small minority of mankind1 to a simply intellectual function and activity8 ,if there was a thing specially antagonistic to ,christ and condemned by ,him1 it was the arrogance of the ,schools of ,his day2 if there is a thing apparently absent from ,christ's own life it is all philosophizing3 even to suggest its presence seems at once to disfigure and to lower ,him4 ,is then ,reasoning1 the ,school1 to be declared not only necessary for some and for mankind at large1 but necessary1 in a sense1 for all men and for the religious life itself8 ,the answer to all this appears not far to seek4 ,the element which we have named the intellectual1 is but one of the faculties of every living soul2 and hence1 in some degree and form1 it is present and operative in every one of us4 ,and there is probably no greater difference between these degrees and forms1 with regard to this element1 than there is between the degrees and forms found in the other two elements of religion4 ,for this intellectual1 determinist element would be truly represented by every however simple mental attention to things and their mechanism1 their necessary laws and requirements4 ,hence1 the ,venerable ,anna ,maria ,taigi1 the ,roman working-man's wife1 attending to the requirements and rules of good washing and of darning of clothes2 ,st4 ,jean ,batiste de la ,salle1 the ,breton gentleman1 studying the psychology of school-children's minds1 and adapting his school system to it2 ,st4 ,jerome labouring at his minute textual criticism of manuscripts of all kinds2 ,st4 ,anselm and ,st4 ,thomas toiling at the construction of their dialectic systems1--all these1 amongst endless other cases1 are but illustrations of the omnipresence and endless variety of this element1 which is busy with the rules and processes that govern things4 ,and it is impossible to see why1 simply because of their superior intellectual gifts and development1 men like ,clement of ,alexandria and ,origen1 ,cassian and ,duns ,scotus1 ,nicolas of ,coes and ,pascal1 ,rosmini and ,newman1 should count as necessarily less near to ,god and ,christ1 than others with fewer of such gifts and opportunities4 ,for it is not as though such gifts were considered as ever of themselves constituting any moral or spiritual worth4 ,nothing can be more certain than that great mental powers can be accompanied by emptiness or depravity of heart4 ,the identical standard is to be applied to these as to all other gifts3 they are not to be considered as substitutes1 but only as additional material and means for the moral and spiritual life2 and it is only inasmuch as they are actually so used1 that they can effectively help on sanctity itself4 ,it is only contended here that such gifts do furnish additional means and materials for the devoted will- and grace-moved soul1 towards the richest and deepest spiritual life4 ,for the intellectual virtues are no mere empty name3 candour1 moral courage1 intellectual honesty1 scrupulous accuracy1 chivalrous fairness1 endless docility to facts1 disinterested collaboration1 unconquerable hopefulness and perseverance1 manly renunciation of popularity and easy honours1 love of bracing labour and strengthening solitude3 these and many other cognate qualities bear upon them the impress of ,god and of ,his ,christ4 ,and yet they all as surely find but a scanty field of development outside of the intellectual life1 as they are not the only virtues or class of virtues1 and as the other two elements each produce a quite unique group of virtues of their own and require other means and materials for their exercise4 #b4 ,such a conception not ,pelagian4 ,but1 in the second place1 is not such a view of life ,pelagian at bottom8 ,have we not argued throughout1 as if the religious life were to be begun1 and carried on1 and achieved simply by a constant succession of efforts of our own2 and as though it could be built up by us1 like to some work of art1 by a careful1 conscious balancing of part against part8 ,is not all this pure ,naturalism8 ,is not religion a life1 and hence an indivisible whole8 ,and is not this life simply the gift of ,god1 capable of being received1 but not produced by us2 of being dimly apprehended as present1 but not of being clearly analyzed in its process of formation8 ,here again there is a true answer1 ,i think4 ,simply all and every one of our acts1 our very physical existence and persistence1 is dependent1 at every moment and in every direction1 upon the prevenient1 accompanying and subsequent power and help of ,god2 and still more is every religious1 every truly spiritual and supernatural act of the soul impossible without the constant action of ,god's grace4 ,yet not only does all this not prevent the soul from consciously acting on her own part1 and according to the laws of her own being2 but ,god's grace acts in and through the medium of her acts1 inasmuch as these are good3 so that the very same action which1 seen as it were from without1 is the effect of our own volition1 is1 seen as it were from within1 the effect of ,god's grace4 ,the more costly is our act of love or of sacrifice1 the more ethical and spiritual1 and the more truly it is our own deepest self-expression1 so much the more1 at the same time1 is this action a thing received as well as given1 and that we have it to give1 and that we can and do give it1 is itself a pure gift of ,god4 ,what then is wanted1 if we would really cover the facts of the case1 is evidently not a conception which would minimize the human action1 and would represent the latter as shrinking1 in proportion as ,god's action increases2 but one which1 on the contrary1 fully faces1 and keeps a firm hold of1 the mysterious paradox which pervades all true life1 and which shows us the human soul as self-active in proportion to ,god's action within it1 according to ,st4 ,bernard's doctrine already quoted4 ,grace and the ,will thus rise and fall1 in their degree of action1 together2 and man will never be so fully active1 so truly and intensely himself1 as when he is most possessed by ,god4 ,and since man's action is thus in actual fact mysteriously double1 it should ever be so considered by him2 and he should1 as ,st4 ,ignatius of ,loyola says1 8pray as if all depended on his prayer1 and act as if all depended on his action40 ,hence all man's action1 though really incapable of existing for an instant without the aid of ,god1 and though never exclusively his own1 can be studied throughout1 preliminarily as though it were his exclusive production on its analyzable1 human side4 ,and man not only can1 he ought to be as thoughtful and careful1 as reasonably analytic and systematic about this study of his action as he was careful and consistent in its production1--in both cases1 whilst praying and believing as though it were all from ,god1 he can and should behave also as though this action were exclusively his own4 ,as ,st4 ,thomas admirably says3 8,we attribute one and the same effect both to a natural cause and to a divine force1 not in the sense of that effect proceeding in part from ,god1 and in part from the human agent4 ,but the effect proceeds entire from both1 according to a different mode3 just as1 in music1 the whole effect is attributed to the instrument1 and the same entire effect is referred to man as the principal agent40#da #c4 ,such a conception not ,epicurean4 ,but1 in the last place1 is not such a view of life ,epicurean8 ,where is the ,cross and ,self-,renunciation8 ,is it not ,christ ,himself ,who has bidden us cut off our right hand and pluck out our right eye1 if they offend2 ,who has declared that he who hateth not his own father and mother for ,his sake is not worthy of ,him2 ,who has asked1 8,what doth it profit a man1 if he gain the whole world1 and suffer the loss of his own soul80 and ,who has pronounced a special woe upon the rich1 and a special blessing upon the poor in spirit8 ,does not our view1 on the contrary1 bid a man attend to his hands and eyes1 rather than to their possible or even actual offending1 euphemistically described here as 8friction02 bid him love his father and mother1 even though this introduce a conflict into his affections2 bid him take care to gain1 as far as may be1 the whole of his own possible interior and exterior world1 as though this would of itself be equivalent to his saving his soul2 and thus bid him become rich and full and complex1 an aesthete rather than a man of ,god8 ,in a word1 is not our position a masked ,paganism1 a new ,renaissance rather than the nobly stern old ,christianity8 ,now here again a true answer is found in a clear intelligence of the actual implications of the position4 ,for if the ,intellectual action were here taken as capable of alone1 or in any degree directly1 forming the foundation of all our other life1 so that on a mathematically clear and complete system1 appealing to and requiring the abstractive powers alone1 would1 later on1 be built1 according to our own further determination1 the ,institutional and ,experimental1 or both or neither2 then such a position1 if possible and actualized1 would indeed save us the simultaneous energizing of our whole complex nature1 and would1 so far1 well deserve the accusation of unduly facilitating life2 it might be taken as1 at least1 not beginning with the ,cross4 ,but here this is not so4 ,for from the first the ,external and the ,mystical elements are held to be at least as necessary and operative as the ,intellectual element2 and it is impossible to see how the elimination of this latter1 and of the ever-expensive keeping it and its rivals each at their own work1 could deepen the truly moral sufferings and sacrifices of the soul's life4 ,if again the ,intellectual action were taken1 as by ,gnosticism of all sorts1 as the eventual goal of the whole1 so that the ,external and ,mystical would end by being absorbed into the ,intellectual1 our ,knowledge becoming coextensive with ,reality itself1 then we might again1 and with still deeper truth1 be accused of eliminating the element of effort and of sacrifice1--the ,cross4 ,but here1 on the contrary1 not only the ,intellectual alone does not begin the soul's life or build up its conditions1 but the ,intellectual alone does not conclude and crown it4 ,eternally will different soul-functions conjoin in a common work1 eternally will ,god and the souls of our fellows be for us realities in diverse degrees outside and beyond of our own apprehension of them1 and eternally shall we apprehend them differently and to a different degree by our intelligence1 by our affection1 and by our volition4 ,hence1 even in eternity itself we can1 without exceeding the limits of sober thinking and of psychological probability1 find a field for the exercise by our souls of something corresponding to the joy and greatness of noble self-sacrifice here below4 ,the loving soul will there1 in the very home of love1 give itself wholly to and be fulfilled by ,god1 and yet the soul will possess an indefinitely heightened apprehension of the immense excess of this its love and act above its knowledge1 and of ,god ,himself above both4 ,and here again it is impossible to see how the elimination of the intellectual element1 which becomes thus the very measure of the soul's own limitations1 and of the exceeding greatness of its love and of its ,lover1 would make the conception more efficaciously humbling and ,christian4 ,both at the beginning1 then1 and throughout1 and even at the end of the soul's life1 the intellectual element is necessary1 and this above all for the planting fully and finally1 in the very depths of the personality1 the ,cross1 the sole means to the soul's true ,incoronation4 ,,part ,,ii ,,biographical ,,chapter ,,iii ,,catherine ,,fiesca ,,adorna',s ,,life1 ,,up ,,to ,,her ,,conversion2 ,,and ,,the ,,chief ,,peculiarities ,,predominant ,,throughout ,,her ,,convert ,,years ,,introductory4 ,each of the three ,elements of ,religion1 again multiple4 ,the two main functions of each4 ,we have so far considered religion as constituted1 on its human side1 by the interaction of three modalities1--the ,historical1 the ,intellectual1 the ,experimental4 ,but it is of course clear that each of these is again1 just because it is a living force1 a ,multiplicity in ,unity4 ,the first distinction we can find in each would break each up into two parts4 ,the ,historical modality readily gives us the function busy with the ,historical ,person and the function occupied with the ,historical ,thing4 ,the former function will insist upon all the temporal and local sayings1 doings1 and happenings1 that together make up the picture and memory of the ,prophet or ,founder2 the latter will transmit certain rites and symbols instituted or occasioned by him4 ,and either the suppression of these latter things1 or the taking them apart from the person from whom they issued and to whom they ever should lead back1 will turn out equally impoverishing3 the very friction of this ,thing1 coming from a ,person1 and leading to a ,person1 and operating within our own personality1 will be found to help to make the latter truly such4 ,the ,intellectual modality will as readily split up into the ,analytic and the ,synthetic4 ,the former will busy itself with distinguishing and weighing1 and with reducing everything as far as possible to its constituent elements4 ,the latter will attempt to reconstitute the living whole1 as far as may be1 in such terms of clear reason4 ,the former will have more affinity with the discursive reason1 the second with the contemplative2 the former with religious ,history1 and the approaches to religious ,philosophy1--,physiology and ,experimental ,psychology and the ,theory of ,knowledge2 the latter with ,religious ,philosophy proper1--the ,metaphysics of ,religion4 ,the ,experimental modality1 finally1 will as readily break up into ,intuitions and ,feelings of every mental and moral kind1 and ,willings1 the determinations of which1 close as they are to the feelings1 are not identical with them1 but often exist more or less without or even against them4 ,and this whole series of six movements exists only in ,persons2 it begins with an at least incipient ,person and ends in the fullest self-expression of ,personality1 the determination of the will4 ,and ,things--both external 7,institutions7 and internal 7analytic and synthetic ,abstractions7--are but ever operative1 necessary means towards the firm constitution and expansion of that rich life of the living soul within which the first apprehension and ordering of such thinkings and doings took their rise4 ,i4 ,,proposed ,,study ,,of ,,the ,,mystical-,,volitional ,,element ,,in ,a ,,particular1 ,,concrete ,,instance3 ,,st4 ,,catherine ,,of ,,genoa4 ,now it is the fact of the ,multiplicity in ,unity1 to be found in each of these modalities of religion1 that makes it desirable to study each of them1 as far as may be1 separately4 ,and of these the deepest and most near to our living selves1 and hence also most far away from our clear analysis1 is the ,experimental4 ,it is this ,element then that ,i propose to study in a particular concrete instance3 ,st4 ,catherine of ,genoa4 #a4 ,disadvantages of such a method and of this particular instance4 ,the disadvantage arising from such a method of procedure is obvious3 no one life1 even were it the richest and most completely knowable1 can exhaust1 can indeed do more than simply suggest1 the true questions1 let alone the adequate answers4 ,but such a biographical study can hope to arouse attention and interest in the living facts of religion1 in a manner in which no simple theory or generalization can do2 and it can stand out1 in the midst of any such attempt at explanation1 as an emphatic reminder1 to both writer and reader1 of the inexhaustible richness and mystery1 of the awe-inspiring and yet stimulating surplusage which is ever furnished by reality over and above all our best endeavours at commensurate presentation or analysis4 ,and quite special disadvantages attach to the study of this particular ,saint4 ,her character1 for one thing1 is distinctly wanting in humour1 in that shrewd mother-wit which is so marked a feature in some of the great ,spanish ,mystics1 in ,st4 ,teresa especially1 but which is not quite absent even in the less varied and very austere ,st4 ,john of the ,cross4 ,there is1 on the contrary1 a certain monotony1 a somewhat wearying vehemence1 about our ,genoese4 ,her experience1 again1 is without the dramatic vicissitudes of the reform of an ,order or the foundation of ,monasteries1 as with ,st4 ,teresa2 or of contact and even conflict with the temporal and spiritual officiality of her time1 as with ,st4 ,catherine of ,siena4 ,nor is her life lit up by the beautiful warmth of happy1 requited domestic affection1 nor is it varied and extended by the rich possession of children of her own4 ,and again her life is obscured and complicated1 at least for our comprehension of it1 by a nervous ill-health which it is impossible for us to care about1 in itself4 ,and1 finally1 special difficulties attach to the understanding of her4 ,unlike ,st4 ,teresa1 ,st4 ,john of the ,cross1 and many other ,saints1 she did not herself write one line of her so-called 8,writings02 and yet it is these1 mostly very abstruse and at times all but insuperably difficult1 8,writings10 records which did not attain their present form and bulk till a good forty years after her death1 that contain the most original part of her legacy to the ,church4 #b4 ,the drawbacks of the instance outweighed by its rare combination of characteristics4 ,yet all this is balanced if not exceeded by a rare and stimulating combination of characteristics4 ,the very ordinariness of her external lot1--a simple wife and widow1 at no time belonging to any ,religious ,order or ,congregation2 the apparently complete failure of her earthly life1 which gives occasion to the birth within her of the heavenly one2 the rich variety and contrasts of her princely birth and social position1 and the lowly1 homely activity and usefulness of her forty years of devotedness2 the unusually perfect combination of a great external action and administrative capacity with a lofty contemplation2 the apparent suddenness and whole-hearted swiftness of her ,conversion1 succeeded by the long years of interior conflict and painful growth1 unhelped1 practically unknown1 by any one but ,god's inspiring ,spirit1 and these years again followed by a period of requiring and practising the ordinary mediate docilities2 the strange nervous health of especially her later years1 so carefully and truthfully recorded for us1 a psychic condition interesting if but for her own lofty superiority to attaching any direct importance or necessarily miraculous meaning to it3 all this1 even if it were all1 helps to give an extraordinary richness and instructiveness to her life4 ,but stimulating1 transfiguring1 embracing all this1 appears her special spiritual apprehension and teaching1 of a quite extraordinary depth1 breadth and balance1 distinction and refinement4 ,the central oneness of the soul's nature and sufferings and joys here and hereafter1 and the resultant psychological character and appeal1 to be found in all true experience or forecasting of such things2 the never-ceasing difference between ,spirit and ,matter2 the incomprehensibility1 but indefinite apprehensibleness1 for the clean of heart1 of ,god and spiritual realities2 the pure disinterestedness of ,his love for us1 and the corresponding disinterestedness of all true love for ,him2 the universality of ,his light and love1 and the excess of ,his mercy above ,his justice2 the innate affinity between every human soul and ,him1 and the immanence of ,himself within us2 the absence of all arbitrary or preternatural action in the forces and realities constitutive of the spiritual world and life2 the constant union of right suffering with deep peace1 and the final note of joy and of self-conquering triumph issuing from complete self-renunciation3 all this and much more appears in her teaching with a spontaneity1 breadth1 and balance peculiarly its own4 #c4 ,men who have been devoted to her spirit4 ,its vitality4 ,no wonder then that1 from the contemporary circle of her devoted friends and disciples onwards1 ,catherine should have attracted1 throughout the centuries and in many lands1 a remarkable number of deep minds and saintly characters4 ,the ardent young ,spaniard1 ,st4 ,aloysius ,gonzaga1 and the shrewd and solid ,savoyard ,bishop1 ,st4 ,franois de ,sales1 love to quote and dwell upon her example and her doctrine4 ,mature theologians1 such as ,cardinal ,bellarmine1 the hard-headed controversialist2 ,cardinal ,bona1 the liturgical and devotional writer2 and ,cardinal de ,berulle1 the mystical-minded founder of the ,french ,oratory2 and again1 such varied types of devotedness as ,madame ,acarie1 the foundress of the ,french ,reformed ,carmelites2 the ,baron de ,rent1 that noble ,christian soldier2 ,bossuet1 the hard and sensible2 and ,fnelon1 the elastic and exquisite1--all love her well4 ,such thoroughly representative ascetical writers again as the ,spanish ,jesuits ,francisco ,arias and ,alfonzo ,rodriguez2 the ,french ones1 ,saint-,jure and ,jean ,joseph ,surin2 the ,italian1 ,paolo ,segneri2 the ,pole1 ,lancisius2 and the ,german1 ,drexel1 all drew food and flame from her character and doctrine4 ,then at the beginning of the ,nineteenth ,century1 ,friedrich von ,schlegel1 the penetrating1 many-sided leader of the ,german ,romantic school1 translated her ,dialogue4 ,in our own time ,father ,isaac ,hecker1 that striking ,german-,american1 loved her as a combination of contemplation and external action2 ,father ,faber strongly endorsed her conception of ,purgatory2 ,cardinal ,manning occasioned and prefaced an admirable translation of her ,treatise2 and ,cardinal ,newman has incorporated her ,purgatorial teaching in the noblest of his poems1 8,the ,dream of ,gerontius40 ,indeed1 ,general ,charles ,gordon also can not unfairly be claimed as her unconscious disciple1 since her teaching1 embodied in ,cardinal ,newman's poem1 was1 besides the ,bible and 8,imitations10 his one written source of strength and consolation1 during that noble ,christian captain's heroic death-watch at ,khartoum4 ,and among quite recent or still living writers1 ,mr4 ,aubrey de ,vere has given us a refined poetic paraphrase of her ,treatise1 and ,father ,george ,tyrrell has developed its theme in one of his most striking ,essays4#db ,i too have1 in my own way1 long cared for her example and teaching1 and for the great questions and solutions suggested by both4 ,a dozen times and more have ,i visited and lingered over the chief scenes of her activity2 and the literary sources of all our knowledge of her life have been dwelt upon by me for twenty years and more4 ,i have but very few new details and combinations to offer1 in so far as her external life is concerned4 ,it is with regard to the growth of her historic image and the curious vicissitudes which ,i have been able to trace in the complication of her 8,writings02 as to her spirit and teaching2 and as to the place and function to be allotted in the religious life to such realities and phenomena as those presented by her1 that ,i hope to be able to contribute something of value4 ,for although the substance and the primary phenomena of religion are eternal1 they appear in each soul with an individuality and freshness pathetically unique2 and their attempted analysis and apprehension1 and their relations to the other departments of human life1 necessarily grow and vary4 ,indeed it would be truly sad1 and would rightly tempt to disbelief in an overruling ,providence and divine education of the human race1 if the four centuries that intervene between our ,saint and ourselves had taught us little or nothing of value1 in such matters of borderland and interpretation as nervous health1 the psychology of religion1 and the distinguishing differences between ,christian and ,neo-,platonic ,mysticism4 ,whole ,sciences1 indeed the ,scientific1 above all the ,historic spirit itself1 have arisen or have come to maturity since her day4 ,hence the realities of her life1 as of every religious life1 remain fresh indeed with the deathless vitality of love and grace1 and but very partially explicable still2 and yet the highest intellectual honour of each successive period should be found in an ever-renewed attempt at an ever less inadequate apprehension and utilization of these highest and deepest manifestations of ,authority1 ,reason1 and ,experience1--of the ,divine in our poor human life4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,materials ,,and ,,aids ,,towards ,,such ,a ,,study4 #a4 ,the 8,vita e ,dottrina10 #aeea4 ,all the biographies of ,st4 ,catherine1 and all the editions or translations of her 8,works10 are based upon the ,vita e ,dottrina published in ,genoa1 by ,jacobo ,genuti1 in #aeea4 ,i work from the thirteenth ,genoese edition1 a reprint of that of #ahdg 7,tipi dei ,sordo-,muti74 ,all our knowledge of her mental and physical condition1 and of her spiritual doctrine1 is practically restricted to this book1 and indeed1 as we shall see1 to its first two parts1 the 8,vita0 and the 8,trattato40 ,the ,vita is1 in its fundamental portions1 the joint production of her devoted disciples1 ,cattaneo ,marabotto1 a ,secular ,priest1 her ,confessor2 and ,ettore ,vernazza1 a ,lawyer1 her 8spiritual son40 ,its fifty-two chapters 7#aff octavo pages7 are only in small part narrative2 quite thirty-five of them are filled with discourses and contemplations of the ,saint1 evidently1 in the simpler of the many parallel versions accumulated here1 taken down1 at the time of the ,saint's communication of them1 with quite remarkable fidelity4 ,but the whole suffers from the inclusion of much secondary1 amplifying1 repetitive matter2 is badly arranged2 is kept1 almost throughout1 above all definite indications of the precise successions1 dates1 and places2 and is deficient in unity of view and literary organization4 ,the result is1 of necessity1 largely insipid and monotonous4 ,the first of the 8,works0 is the ,treatise on ,purgatory1 the seventeen chapters of which 7#ag pages7 are again hard reading1 owing to their evidently consisting of but a mosaic of detached1 sometimes parallel sayings1 spoken on various occasions and according to the experience and fulness of the moment1 and without any reference to the previous one4 ,i shall show reason for holding that this little collection of sayings was originally shorter still 7consisting probably of but the matter which now makes up the first seven of its seventeen chapters72 that the original chronicler and first redactor of these sayings was ,vernazza2 and that certain obvious and formal contradictions which appear in the present text must be theological glosses introduced some time between #aebj 7or rather #aebf7 and say #aecj 7at latest #aedg74 ,the second of the 8,works10 the ,spiritual ,dialogue between the ,soul1 the ,body1 ,self-love1 the ,spirit1 the ,natural ,man1 and the ,lord ,god1 is divided into three parts1 and fills forty-five chapters 7#abj pages74 ,i hope to show conclusively that this ,dialogue was at first no longer than its present ,part ,i2 that even this did not exist before #aedg2 that the whole was written by one and the same person1 some one who had never 7at least intimately7 known the ,saint1 and who had no other direct material than our present ,vita and ,trattato2 that this person was the ,augustinian canoness1 ,battista ,vernazza1 ,ettore's eldest daughter2 and that the whole has been written for the purpose of attempting some unification and systematization of what in the ,vita appeared to the writer as wanting in unity and in correctness of wording or of feeling4 ,in this case we get a fairly continuous re-statement1 in part a heightening1 in part a minimizing of the historical facts of ,catherine's life1 which1 just because we have thus a pragmatic1 theological transfiguration of the older materials1 caused by a penetrating admiration1 and resulting in some true increase of insight into its subject-matter1 forms a precious document for the psychology and the effect of such states of mind4 ,the ,oratorian ,giacinto ,parpera's book3 ,b ,caterina da ,genova ''' ,illustrata1 ,genova1 #afhb1 gives1 in its three parts1 respectively the opinions of ,saints and ,theologians concerning the ,saint2 a systematic analysis of her doctrine2 and an explanation of certain terms and declarations more or less peculiar to her4 ,it is decidedly learned and in parts still useful2 but pompously rhetorical and full of 8anatomia10 i4e4 much wearisome numbering and indefinite sub-division4 ,the ,jesuit ,padre ,maineri's ,vita de ,s4 ,caterina di ,genova1 ,genova1 #agcg1--written on occasion of her canonization1--contains nothing new4 #b4 ,later books on ,catherine4 ,a sensible discussion of difficult or obscure points connected with her life occurs in the ,bollandists' ,life of the ,saint1 written by ,father ,sticken in #ageb 7,acta ,sanctorum1 ,september1 ,vol4 ,v1 ed4 #ahff1 pp4 #abc-aie74 ,but the greater part of the discussion is vitiated by the assumption of the independent value1 indeed of ,catherine herself being the author1 of the entirely secondary ,dialogo2 ,sticken had not seen a single ,,ms4 life or document2 and the most important part of her entire personality1 her doctrine1 had1 according to the general plan of the work1 to be passed over by him4 ,i have also had before me ,alban ,butler's accurate compilation2 ,monseigneur ,paul ,fliche's disappointing book1 which1 though he declares that he has consulted the ,,mss4 ,lives1 is but a rhetorical amplification of the ,life of #aeea1 with here and there a useful date or other detail added by himself 7,paris1 #ahha72 and the ,rev4 ,baring ,gould's hasty and slipshod account1 which completely ignores the 8,works0 7,lives of the ,saints1 ,vol4 ,x1 ed4 #ahih74 ,but by far the most important printed matter which has hitherto appeared since #aeea1 indeed the only one which contains anything at all significant that is not already in the ,vita ed ,opere1 is ,sebastiano ,vallebona's booklet1 ,la ,perla dei ,fieschi1 ,genova1 #bnd ed41 #ahhg1 #aji pp4 ,it publishes many a painstaking recovery and identification of various dates and sites1 relationships1 family documents and contemporary events2 and has helped me greatly in such matters4 #c4 ,the ,manuscripts4 ,it is1 however1 to the careful analysis of the important still extant ,,ms4 material1 that ,i owe far more than to all the printed matter subsequent to #aeea4 ,and indeed ,i can say without exaggeration that this is the first serious attempt at a critical presentation of ,catherine's ,life and ,teaching4 ,a detailed account of my materials and method will be given in the ,appendix to this volume4 ,,iii4 ,,peculiarities ,,of ,,the ,,genoese ,,climate ,,and ,,geographical ,,position2 ,,of ,,the ,,ligurian ,,character2 ,,and ,,of ,,the ,,times ,,into ,,which ,,catherine ,,was ,,born4 ,,her ,,family1 ,,father ,,and ,,mother4 ,catherine ,fiesca was born in ,genoa1 towards the end of the year #addg4dc ,she thus belonged to a race and a time full indeed of violence and conflict1 intrigue and cruelty1 excessive in all things2 but hence full too of courage and of daring1 of boundlessly expansive energies1 and of throbbing life4 #a4 ,the ,genoese country and character4 ,lying at the foot of imposing mountain terraces1 at the great central bend and chief natural harbour of the rocky1 sun-baked1 mountain-backed ,riviera1 ,genoa formed1 from early1 pre-,roman days1 the natural capital of this thin strip of territory which1 eastward from ,spezia and westward from ,nice1 looks all along towards the sea1 and towards the broad blue sea alone4 ,and the natural influences of the country seem ever to have been met and doubled by a fierce1 explosive strain in the characters of the successive races that peopled this narrow1 steep1 hot sea-board4 ,the ferocious1 wild ,ligurians gave the ,romans trouble1 right up to the end of their dominion2 and the subsequent ,lombard invasion and subjugation did little to change their character4 ,the keen rivals of ,venice1 in her trade and power in the ,east1 and the mortal foes of their competitor ,pisa1 so near to their own gates1 the ,genoese did much for trade and commerce1 but little for science and art1 and were feared and hated by the ,tuscans1 in their rich and fertile lands1 and with their large and liberal culture4 ,sailors1 adventurers1 free-booters2 great merchants and carriers and bankers2 conspirators and revolutionaries1--they have produced great admirals1 such as ,andrea ,doria2 great administrative and warlike ,popes1 in the persons of the two masterful1 irascible della ,roveres1 from the twenty miles distant ,savona1--,sixtus ,,iv1 and ,michael ,angelo's friend and patron1 ,julius ,,ii2 a great navigator1 in ,christopher ,columbus2 a fierce and fanatical1 but lofty and utterly disinterested revolutionary1 in ,mazzini2 and a brave1 reckless condottiere in ,garibaldi1 born as far away as ,nice1 but whose mother came from the near ,chiavari4 #b4 ,the times into which ,catherine was born4 ,and our ,saint was born in the midst of singularly active1 changeful1 far-outward-looking1 swift-onward-moving times4 ,columbus had been born the year before2 ,fust and ,gutenberg were printing the first printed books three years later2 ,constantinople was taken by the ,turks when she was six years old4 ,the ,mediaeval system was1 at last1 breaking up fast4 ,that whole conception of life and polity of peoples had rendered services too great1 indeed too unique1 to civilization and religion2 they had been for too long the faithful instrument1 expression and result of a certain stage and aspect of human and ,christian character and development1 for this break-up not to have been slow1 reluctant1 and intermittent at first1 notwithstanding the heavy blows levelled1 often unconsciously1 at the system from both within and without the ,church4 ,pope ,boniface's ,bull1 ,unam ,sanctam1 which stretched and strained the ,mediaeval conception to breaking-point 7#acjb72 the dreary blank and confusion of the seventy years of the ,avignon exile of the ,papacy 7#acji-acgg72 the thirty years' distraction of the great ,papal ,schism 7#acgh-adji72 the fierce revolts and tragic fates of ,wycliffe and of ,hus1 in #achd and #adae2 the ineffectual ,council of ,constance 7#adad-adah71--;all this had already taken place4 ,and not even such saintly figures as ,tauler and ,blessed ,henry ,suso in ,germany1 and ,st4 ,catherine of ,siena in ,italy and ,france2 or such nobly reforming characters as the ,french ,chancellor ,gerson1 who had died eighteen years before our ,saint's birth 7#adbi72 or the bold and spiritual ,german ,philosopher-,cardinal ,nicolas of ,coes1 who died when she was seventeen 7#adfd71--;could achieve more than to announce and prepare the transition to a great modification of ,christendom1 and to indicate the eternal and necessary source from which it must spring1 and the new temporal1 contingent form which it might take4 ,but the scandals1 revolts1 and repressions1 on a scale and with results which turned ,reform into ,revolution1 and broke up ,western ,europe into those two hostile camps1 which1 towards the end of four centuries1 we see1 alas6 hostile still--these things were yet to come4 ,roderigo ,borgia was to be ,pope 7#adib-aejc7 only towards the end of her life4 ,and only after she had been seven years dead1 was ,luther to nail his theses on the ,university-,church door at ,wittenberg 7#aeag71 and more than a generation later were ,mary ,tudor in ,england and ,philip ,,ii in ,spain 7#aeec-aeih7 to attempt1 for the last time on so large a scale1 the task of keeping and winning minds and souls1 by ruthless physical repression4 ,catherine lived thus within a period which1 in its depths1 was already modern1 but not yet broken up into seemingly final1 institutionalized internecine antagonisms4 ,and hence we can get in her a most restful and bracing pure affirmativeness1 an entire absence of religious controversy1 such as1 of necessity1 cannot be found in even such predominantly interior souls as the great ,post-,reformation ,spanish ,mystics4 ,her whole religion can grow and show itself as simply positive1 and in rivalry and conflict with her own false self and with that alone4 #c4 ,the ,fieschi family4 ,and the particular family from which she sprang1 and the period of its history at which she appeared1 each helped to bring right into her blood and immediate surroundings the more general conditions of her race and time4 ,the ,fieschi had indeed a long past story1 securely traceable through a good two centuries and a half before ,catherine's birth4 ,they sprang from the little seaside town of ,lavagna1 twenty ,english miles east of ,genoa1 where shipbuilding is still carried on4 ,here it was that ,sinibaldo de' ,fieschi1 the first of the two ,popes of the family1 ,innocent ,,iv 7#abdc-abed71 was born1 whose whole ,pontificate was one long vehement struggle with his former friend1 the masterful and sceptical ,emperor ,frederic ,,ii of ,germany4 ,his nephew was ,pope1 under the title of ,hadrian ,v1 for but a few months 7#abgf74 ,it was from ,pope ,innocent's brother ,robert that ,st4 ,catherine was descended4 ,the ,fieschi were the greatest of the great ,guelph families of ,genoa1 such as the ,grimaldi1 ,guarchi1 and ,montaldi4 ,the great ,doria family1 with the ,spinola1 ,fregosi1 and ,adorni was as strongly ,ghibelline4 ,and the endless1 fierce conflict between these two factions1 in ,genoa itself and along both ,rivieras1 led to the calling in1 and to the temporary supremacy over ,genoa1 of the ,dukes of ,milan1 the ,counts of ,montferrat1 and of the ,kings of ,naples and of ,france4 ,the ,revolution of #acci1 which put an end to the exclusive rule of the ,nobles1 and introduced elective ,doges or ,dukes as life-long heads of the ,republic1 really altered little or nothing of all this4 ,indeed the ,fieschi had1 just now at ,catherine's birth1 reached the full height of their power and worldly splendour4 ,for the two ,popes of the family had already reigned two centuries before1 and ,cardinal ,luca ,fieschi lay buried in the ,cathedral for over a hundred years2 but the ,fieschi now possessed numerous fiefs in ,liguria1 ,piedmont1 ,lombardy1 and even in the ,kingdom of ,naples2 ,nicol ,fieschi1 a cousin of the ,saint1 was1 in ,catherine's time1 a prominent member of the ,college of ,cardinals2 and her own father was ,viceroy of ,naples to ,king ,ren of ,anjou4 ,there was indeed exactly a century yet to run1 up to the beginning of the downward course of the family1--the disastrous conspiracy of the ,fieschi against the ,dorias 7#aedg71 which forms the subject of ,schiller's well-known play4 ,catherine's father had been ,viceroy of ,naples to that ,ren ,duc of ,anjou1 ,count of ,provence1 ,duke of ,lorraine1 and titular ,king of ,naples1 whose adventurous career and immensely popular character still stand out so vividly in history4 ,the 8roi dbonnaire10 the friend of the ,troubadours and father of ,margaret of ,anjou1 ,consort to ,king ,henry ,,vi of ,england1 figures life-like in ,scott's ,anne of ,geierstein2 and his strikingly bourgeois profile may still be seen1 as part of the vivid portraiture of his kneeling figure which faces the corresponding one of his ,queen1 upon the great contemporary triptyche picture1 representing in its central division the ,madonna and ,child in the branches of a tree 7in allusion to the ,burning ,bush and the ,rod of ,jesse71 which hangs in the choir of the cathedral of ,aix1 ,king ,ren's old wind-swept and now sleepy ,provenal capital4 ,since ,charles ,i of ,anjou 7#abfe-abhe71 the ,angevine ,kings had made ,naples the capital of their ,kingdom2 ,duke ,ren was the last of the ,angevines to hold or seriously to claim it4 ,he lost it in #addb to the ,spaniards2 but still in #adei he attempted1 by means of a ,genoese fleet1 to repossess himself of his old kingdom1 so that ,catherine's father could1 even up to the time of his death in #adfb1 retain the title of ,vice-,roy of ,naples4 ,her mother1 ,francesca di ,negro1 also belonged to an ancient and noble ,genoese family4 ,,iv4 ,,catherine',s ,,life1 ,,up ,,to ,,the ,,preliminaries ,,of ,,her ,,conversion3 ,,autumn #addg-,,mid-,,march #adgd4 #a4 ,the house where she was born2 her brothers and sister4 ,catherine was born in one of the many palaces of the ,fieschi1 in the one which stood in the ,vico ,filo1 close to the dark grey limestone faade of the ,cathedral of ,san ,lorenzo4 ,the palace was hemmed in1 on its two sides and at its back1 by the houses of ,urbano and ,sebastiano di ,negri1 and was demolished when the then ,piazza dei ,fieschi was enlarged and became the present ,piazza di ,san ,lorenzo4 ,the house now facing the ,cathedral doorway occupies approximately the site of that old palace4 ,she was the youngest of five children4 ,there were three sons3 ,giacomo1 named after his father2 and ,lorenzo and ,giovanni1 no doubt named respectively after the great ,roman deacon1 the titular saint of the ,cathedral1 and who already appeared upon his gridiron1 on the quaint ,mediaeval relief over its portal2 and after the ,baptist1 whose reputed relics lay there1 in the great ,chapel1 rebuilt for them soon after this time 7#adea-adif74 ,last came the two daughters3 ,limbania1 named after a beatified virgin and contemplative1 a ,genoese ,augustinian ,nun of the thirteenth century1 and ,catherine1 christened and in all the legal documents always called by this diminutive1 presumably after ,st4 ,catherine of ,alexandria1 who had an altar in the ,cathedral4 ,and the ,cathedral was their ,parish ,church4 #b4 ,catherine's physical appearance2 her qualities and habits of body and of mind4 ,in this house1 then1 ,catherine grew up and lived till she was sixteen4 ,the beautiful1 tall figure2 the noble oval face with its lofty brow1 finely formed nose1 and powerful1 indeed obstinate chin2 the winning countenance with its delicate complexion and curling1 sensitive1 spiritual mouth-line2 deep grey-blue spiritual eyes2 the long1 tapering fingers2 the massive dark brown or black hair2 still more the quickly and intensely impressionable1 nervous and extremely tense and active physical and psychical organization2 and then the very affectionate1 ardent1 aspiring1 impatient and absolute qualities and habits of her mind and heart and will1--all these things we are not merely told1 we can still see them and find them1 in part1 even in her remains1 but more fully in her portrait1 and above all1 in her numerous authentic utterances4#dd #c4 ,the few certain details concerning her early years4 ,santa ,maria delle ,grazie4 ,we have1 as only too often in such older biographies1 but very few precise and characteristic details concerning her early years4 ,she had in her room a ,piet1 a representation of the ,dead ,christ in ,his ,mother's arms1 and we are told how deeply it affected her every time she entered this room1 and raised her eyes up to it4 ,the other points mentioned1 her early bodily penances1 silence1 and gift of prayer 7the latter said to have been communicated to her at twelve years of age71 read suspiciously like simple assumptions made by her biographers1 and in any case do not help to individualize her1 in these years of uncertain1 tentative1 or as yet but little characteristic1 forms of goodness4 ,but from thirteen1 for three years onwards1 the young girl is very certainly and deeply drawn to the ,conventual life1 as she sees it practised by her sister ,limbania1 who1 true to the example of her own ,genoese ,augustinian ,patron ,saint1 had become a member of the ,augustinian ,canonesses of our ,lady of ,graces1 and now lived there happy and devoted in the midst of that very fervent and cultivated ,community4 ,limbania was one of the nineteen ,foundresses of this ,convent1 who1 on ,august #e1 #adea1 received the habit of ,canonesses ,regular of the ,lateran1 from the hands of ,padre ,giovanni de' ,gatti1 at that time ,superior of ,s4 ,teodoro outside the walls of ,genoa1 a house of the same ,order4 ,among these ,novices occur a ,simonetta di ,negro1 no doubt a cousin of ,catherine1 and ,nicola and ,lucia da ,nove1 two sisters2 these facts will have helped ,catherine to hope for admission together with her own sister ,limbania4#de ,the ,convent and its ,chapel1 both secularized1 are still in existence1 at a quarter of an hour's walk from ,catherine's palace-home4 ,moving from here1 along the ,vico ,chiabrera1 up the ,via dei ,maruffi 7now ,san ,bernardo71 and across the latter1 up one of the many steep1 very narrow little alleys1 to the ,piazza dei ,embriaci1 and again up by the tall1 slim1 grey tower of the ,crusader ,guilielmo ,embriaco1 we arrive at last at a level1 all but deserted1 sun-baked piazza1 called1 after its ,church1 ,sta ,maria in ,passione4 ,face this ,church1 and the long1 tall house on your left hand1 covered with dim1 faded frescoes1 is ,limbania's ,convent1 so loved by ,catherine4 ,the right door leads into the ,chapel1 which ,vallebona#df found in #ahhg in use as a wood-store1 and which ,i saw in ,may #aijj turned into a music-hall3 where the altar had stood1 were a dingy stage1 and tawdry wings4 ,the pompous frescoes and stuccos on the walls and ceiling are evidently of the seventeenth century or even later4 ,the adjoining ,convent still retains a small figure of ,st4 ,augustine sculptured on a corbel on the vault of the first landing4 ,the ,byzantine1 dark brown ,madonna-and-,child picture1 which ,catherine so often prayed before in the ,chapel1 can still be seen1 on the left-hand wall of the ,chapel of ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 in the ,church of ,s4 ,maria di ,castello1 which is close by1 at a lower level than the ,piazza of the ,convent4 #d4 ,catherine's marriage4 ,the ,adorni family4 ,the ,convent ,chaplain was ,catherine's ,confessor1 and through him she attempted to gain the permission of the ,nuns to enter their ,community4 ,but whilst they hesitated and put her off1 on the very reasonable ground of her unusual youth1 her father died 7end of #adfa72 and a particular combination1 from amongst the endless political rivalries and intrigues of ,genoa1 soon closed in upon the beautiful girl1 member of the greatest of the ,guelph families of that turbulent time4 ,it was a bad and sorry business1 and one likes to think that the father1 had he lived1 would not thus have sacrificed his daughter4 ,for if in ,shakespeare's ,romeo and ,juliet we have two youthful lovers joining hands and hearts1 in spite of the secular enmity of their respective houses2 here1 alas6 in real life1 we have the contrary spectacle1 the deep because dreary tragedy of two great rival factions making--rather1 hoping to make--peace1 by the enforced union of two mutually indifferent and profoundly unsuited young people4 ,not but that socially the two were admirably matched4 ,for ,giuliano ,adorno belonged to a family hardly inferior in antiquity and splendour to ,catherine's own4 ,six different ,adorni had been ,doges of ,genoa in #acfc1 #ache1 #adac1 #addc1 #addg1 #adfa2 and the one of #adac had been ,giuliano's own grandfather4 ,they were ,lords of the ,greek ,island of ,chios 7,scio71 which they had helped to conquer for ,genoa in #acdi4 ,and now the last ,doge of the family1 ,prospero ,adorno1 had just been driven from the ,ducal throne by ,paolo ,campofregoso1 the strong-willed representative of the great rival1 though also ,ghibelline1 family of the ,fregosi4 ,campofregoso was now both ,duke and ,archbishop of ,genoa4 ,by an alliance with the ,fieschi1 the most powerful of the ,guelph families1 the ,adorni could hope1 in their turn1 to oust the ,fregosi1 and to reinstate themselves at the head of the great ,republic4 ,the ideals1 antipathies or indifference of a girl of sixteen were not allowed to stand in the way2 and so the contract was signed on ,january #ac1 #adfc4 ,the marriage was celebrated soon afterwards in the ,cathedral of ,san ,lorenzo1 in the ,chapel of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist1 since the ,campanaro family1 which had built it in #abii1 and the ,adorni1 who had married into and succeeded the ,campanaro1 were excepted from the rule prohibiting the access of women to this ,chapel4 ,since ,cardinal ,giorgio ,fieschi had recently died1 ,bishop ,napoleone ,fieschi1 of ,albenga1 presided at the ceremony4 #e4 ,giuliano's character4 ,catherine's pre-conversion married life4 ,giuliano's father was dead2 only his widowed mother1 ,tobia dei ,franchi1 remained4 ,it was1 however1 with ,catherine's mother1 in the old ,palazzo near the ,cathedral1 that the young couple were to live1 and actually stayed1 during the first two years4 ,giuliano was young and rich2 his two elder brothers occupied high naval posts2 his first cousin1 ,agostino ,adorno1 was a man of noble character and great initiative2 and a descendant of this cousin1 also ,agostino1 was later on ,beatified4 ,but ,giuliano himself did at first worse than nothing1 and never did much throughout his life4 ,a man of an undisciplined1 wayward1 impatient1 and explosive temper2 selfish and self-indulgent2 a lover of obscure and useless1 in one instance criminal1 squandering of his time1 money1 health1 and affections1 he did not deserve the rare woman who had been sold to him2 and would possibly indeed have managed to be a better man with a wife he had really loved1 or with one of a temperament and outlook more ordinary and nearer to his own4 ,as it was1 he was hardly ever at home1 and1 according to his own later penitent admission and testamentary provisions1 he was1 some time during the first ten years of his marriage1 gravely unfaithful to his wife4 ,catherine1 on her part1 spent the first five of these dreary years in sad and mournful loneliness1 at first in her mother's house1 and afterwards1 at least in the winter-time1 in ,giuliano's own palace1 a building which stood exactly where now stands the ,church of ,saint ,philip ,neri1 in the ,via ,lomellina 7at that time1 ,via ,sant' ,agnese71 and near the ,piazza ,annunziata4 ,in the summer-time she would stay1 mostly alone again1 at ,giuliano's country seat at ,pr on the ,western ,riviera1 just beyond ,pegli1 and six ,english miles from ,genoa4 ,this latter property is still in existence1 but was1 some twenty years ago1 on the extinction of the male line of the ,adorni1 sold to the ,piccardo family4 ,the present moderate-sized house1 standing close to the high-road and sea-beach1 although evidently rebuilt 7probably on a considerably smaller scale7 since ,catherine's time1 no doubt occupies part at least of the old site4 ,but the ,chapel which1 in the ,saint's days1 adjoined the house1 was described by ,vallebona 7in #ahhg7 as turned into a stable2 and in ,april #aijb an elderly serving-man of the ,piccardo family showed me the precise spot1 on a now level meadow expanse closely adjoining the house1 where he himself1 some fifteen years since1 had helped to pull down this chapel-stable4 ,he showed me the 7probably seventeenth-century7 picture representing the scene of the ,saint's conversion1 which had1 at that time1 been still in this building1 and which is now hung up in a small ,confraternity-,chapel near by in ,pr4 ,as to money of her own1 ,catherine had1 as we shall see later on1 her dowry of #a1jjj1 to which ,giuliano had contributed #bjj4 ,but we have no evidence of any good works performed by her in this decade1 although1 as we shall find1 it must have been during these summers that she1 at least occasionally1 walked or rode over the wooded hill-path to the old ,benedictine ,pilgrimage ,church and ,monastery of ,san ,nicol in ,boschetto1 three or four ,english miles away4 ,these buildings are now secularized and empty1 but1 even so1 impressive still4#dg ,it is but natural to suppose that she was as yet too little at one with her true self1 to be able to surmount her lot1 or even seriously to attempt such a task1 by escaping from the false self and from all attempts at finding happiness within the four corners of the demands of her most sensitive and absolute disposition4 ,to learn to do things well takes time1--and even if it be but the finding out that those things to do are there1 ready and requiring to be done2 or the seeing that we are doing them badly4 ,hence above all does the learning to suffer well1 the turning pain into self-expansion and self-escape1 as well as into fruitful action1 require time1 special graces1 and unusual fidelity of soul4 ,and even the noblest nature will usually begin by thinking of getting1 rather than of giving2 it will simply thirst to be loved1 and to find its happiness in its own heart's perfect 8comprehendedness40 ,catherine tried to find relief1 first in one attitude on her life's sad couch of mental suffering1 and then in another2 and neither brought her any alleviation4 ,during the first five years she had hidden herself away1 and had moped in solitude2 the last five1 she had given herself to worldly gaieties and feminine amusements1 short1 however1 of all grave offence against the moral law4 ,and at the end of these experiences and experiments she1 noble1 deep nature that she was1 found herself1 of course1 sadder than ever1 with apparently no escape of any kind from out of the dull oppression1 the living death of her existence and of herself4 ,v4 ,,her ,,conversion1 ,,with ,,its ,,immediate ,,preliminaries ,,and ,,consequences1 ,,march #adgd4 #a4 ,her prayer1 ,march #bj1 #adgd4 ,her conversion1 ,march #bb4 ,from after ,christmas-time in #adgb1 ,catherine's affliction of mind had become peculiarly intense1 and a profound aversion to all the things of this world made her fly anew from all human intercourse2 and yet her own company had become insupportable to her1 as nothing whatsoever attracted her will4 ,and at the end of three months1 on the #bjth of ,march #adgd--;it was the eve of the ,feast of ,st4 ,benedict--she was praying in his little church still standing close to the sea1 at the western end of ,genoa1 not far beyond ,andrea ,doria's ,palace1 built so soon after her death4 ,and in her keen distress she prayed3 8,st4 ,benedict1 pray to ,god that ,he make me stay three months sick in bed40#dh ,and two days later1 when ,catherine was visiting her sister at her ,convent1 ,limbania proposed to her1 since she declared herself indisposed to go to confession 7although the ,feast of the ,annunciation was at hand71 at least to go and recommend herself in the ,chapel to the chaplain of the ,convent1 who was indeed a saintly ,religious4 ,and1 at the moment that she was on her knees before him1 her heart was pierced by so sudden and immense a love of ,god1 accompanied by so penetrating a sight of her miseries and sins and of ,his goodness1 that she was near falling to the ground4 ,and in a transport of pure and all-purifying love1 she was drawn away from the miseries of the world2 and1 as it were beside herself1 she kept crying out within herself3 8,no more world2 no more sins60 ,and at that moment she felt that1 had she had in her possession a thousand worlds1 she would have cast them all away4#di #b4 ,views and truths concerning this ,experience4 ,one of the various writers who have successively1 and in great part differently1 moralized upon the chief events of her life1 dwells on this great moment as achieving in her soul all the usually lengthy and successive effects of the purgative1 illuminative1 and unitive progression1 and as1 in that one instant1 bringing her soul to that highest state of transformation1 in which the will is wholly united to ,god4#ej ,but having regard to the fact1 patent on every page of her biography and 8,works10 that1 for the remaining thirty-seven years of her life1 her interior history represents one continuous widening and deepening and moving onwards of efforts1 trials and pains1 of achievements and ideals--a fact actually schematized by another writer 7who1 as ,i shall show1 is the penultimate ,redactor of the ,life7 not two pages lower down--it is clear that we must be careful to conceive this perfection as relative to her previous state or even to the final goodness of many saintly souls4 ,we must1 in a word1 try to realize vividly1 and constantly to recall1 certain complex truths1 without which the very greatness of the experience here considered will but help to check or deflect our apprehension of the spiritual life4 ,for one thing1 the deeper and the more unique the soul's experience1 and the richer such experience is1 the more entirely does all that the soul is1 and ever was1 wake up and fuse itself in one indivisible act1 in which much of the old is newly seen to be dross and is so far forth excluded2 and in which the old that is retained reappears in a fresh context1 a context which itself affects and is itself affected by all the other old and new ideas and feelings4 ,it thus clearly bears the stamp upon it of the profound difference between ,time1 conceived as a succession of moments of identical quantity and quality1 each in juxtaposition and exterior to the other1 mathematical time1 such as our clocks register on the dials1--a conception really derived from space-perception and exterior1 measurable things--and ,duration1 with its variously rapid succession of heterogeneous qualities1 each affecting and colouring1 each affected and coloured by1 all the others1 and all producing together a living harmony and organic unity1 all which constitutes the essentially unpicturable experience of the living person4 ,such a moment is thus incapable of adequate analysis1 in exact proportion as it is fully expressive of the depths of the personality and of its experience3 for each element here1 whilst1 in its living context1 an energy and a quality which at each moment modifies and is modified by all the other elements1 becomes1 in an intellectual analysis1 when each is separated from the others1 a mere dead thing and a quantity4 ,and secondly1 such an experience is throughout as truly a work of pure grace1 a gift1 as it is a work of pure energy1 an act4 ,and here again1 the grace and the energy1 the gift and the act are not juxtaposed1 but throughout they stimulate and interpenetrate each other1 with the most entirely unanalyzable1 unpicturable completeness4 ,it is indeed in exact proportion to the fulness of this interstimulation and penetration1 to the organic oneness of the act1 that such an act is this one particular soul's very own act and yet the living ,god's own fullest gift4 ,grace does not lie without1 but within2 it does not check or limit1 but constitutes the will's autonomy4 ,and thirdly1 it is an experience which leaves the soul different forever from what it was before2 which purifies her perfectly1 in and for that moment1 from all her stains of actual sin committed up to that moment2 and which materially strengthens her inclinations towards good and weakens her tendencies towards evil4 ,but the soul herself lives on2 and she lives but in and through successive acts of all kinds4 ,hence it is not an act1--there is none such1 here below at least1--which takes or can take the place of fresh acts to be produced again and again throughout her life1 ,the soul has not1 in any sense or any degree1 been approximated to that utterly paradoxical thing1 a saintly automaton4 ,she is not raised above the limitations and imperfections1 the obscurities and conflicts1 the failings and sins of humanity4 ,she could fall away and commit grave sin2 she actually does commit minor sins of frailty and surprise4 ,her interior efforts and experiences are now but on a larger1 deeper scale1 and on a higher plane1 and take place from a new vantage-ground1 a position which has1 however1 itself to be continually actively defended and reinforced4 ,temptation1 trial1 sorrow1 pain2 hope1 fear1 self-hatred1 love and joy1 with ever-renewed and increased aspiration and effort1 all variously change and deepen their combinations and qualities1 outlook and ideals4 ,but they do not for one moment cease4 ,all things but grow in depth and significance1 in variety within unity1 in interiority and interpenetration4 ,and finally1 although conversions of the apparent suddenness and profound depth and perseverance of the one here studied1 are rightly taken to be very special and rare graces of ,god1 yet it would be but misinterpreting and depreciating their true significance to make their suddenness the direct proof and measure of their own supernaturalness or the standard by which to appraise the altitude of the goodness of other lives4 ,god is as truly the source of gradual purification as of sudden conversion1 and as truly the strength which guards and moves us straight on1 as that which regains and calls us back4 ,hence such acts as ,catherine's should not be entirely separated off from those acts of love1 contrition and self-dedication which occur1 as so many free graces of ,god in and with the free acts of man1 more or less frequently in the secret lives of human beings throughout the world4 #c4 ,the ,second ,experience1 in the ,palace4 ,catherine then was kneeling on1 in these great moments of her true self's self-discovery and self-determination1 with her true ,life now at last felt so divinely near and yet still so divinely far3 she was kneeling on1 oblivious of time and space1 incapable of speech--throughout a deep1 rich age of growth1 during but some minutes of poor clock-time--whilst the chaplain was called away by some little momentary matter4 ,and when he returned1 she was just able to utter3 8,father1 if you please1 ,i should like to let this confession stand over to another time40 ,and returning home1 she was so on fire and wounded with the love which ,god had interiorly manifested to her1 that1 as if beside herself1 she went into the most private chamber she could find1 and there gave vent to her burning tears and sighs4 ,and1 all instructed as she had suddenly become in prayer1 her lips could only utter3 8,o ,love1 can it be that ,thou hast called me with so much love1 and revealed to me1 at one view1 what no tongue can describe80 ,and her contrition for her offences against such infinite goodness was so great1 that1 if she had not been specially supported1 her heart would have been broken1 and she would have died4#ea ,and yet1 though her biographer1 no doubt rightly1 represents her feeling and dispositions as now at their uttermost1--they may well have actually been so1 at that moment for that moment1--they were nevertheless evidently capable of indefinite subsequent increase4 ,indeed it must have been on this same day1 or on one of the next three days1 that1 in one of the rooms of the palace in the ,via ,s4 ,agnese1--7the approximate spot is marked in the ,church of ,st4 ,philip by a fine picture representing the scene1 hung over the altar of one of the left-hand-side chapels71--8,our ,lord1 desiring to enkindle still more profoundly ,his love in this soul1 appeared to her in spirit with ,his ,cross upon ,his shoulder dripping with blood1 so that the whole house seemed to be all full of rivulets of that ,blood1 which she saw to have been all shed because of love alone40 8,and filled with disgust at herself1 she exclaimed3 #8,o ,love1 if it be necessary1 ,i am ready to confess my sins in public4'0#eb #d4 ,two peculiarities of this ,experience4 ,here two things are remarkable4 ,this is1 to begin with1 her first and last vision 7visione71 which ,i can find1 in the sense of a picture produced indeed 8in the spirit10 but yet evidently apprehended with a sense of apparently complete passivity in the perceiving mind and of objectivity as to the perceived thing1 and remembered as such throughout her life4 ,for the frequent subsequent 8sights0 or picturings 7viste7 are avowedly only of the nature of profoundly vivid1 purely mental1 more or less consciously voluntary and subjective contemplations and intuitions2 whilst her only other 8visions10 those seen during the last stage of her last illness1 seem indeed to have been of an even more sensible kind than this visione1 but they were entirely fitful and left no permanent impression behind them4 ,and again1 this is the one only picture of any1 even of a voluntary1 meditational kind1 concerning the ,passion1 to be found throughout her life2 all her other contemplations and impressions of whatever kind are of other subjects4 #e4 ,her general confession4 ,it was after these fundamental experiences that1 once more in the ,chapel of the ,augustinianesses1 apparently four days later1 on the #bdth of ,march1 8she made her general confession1 with such contrition and compunction as to pierce her soul40#ec ,,vi4 ,,the ,,two ,,conceptions ,,concerning ,,the ,,character ,,and ,,rationale ,,of ,,her ,,penitential ,,period ,,and ,,of ,,her ,,whole ,,convert ,,life4 ,,the ,,position ,,adopted ,,here4 ,at this point of the ,life two successive reporters or redactors introduce1 respectively1 a general reflection on the character and rationale of the period of penitence now immediately ensuing1 and a scheme and forecast as to the stages in the ascensional movement of her entire convert life4 #a4 ,the older conception4 ,the first reporter1--evidently the same who1 in connection with the ,conversion scene1 had described her soul as1 there and then1 at the culmination of holiness1--here says3 8,and although ,god1 at the moment when10 four days before1 8,he had given her that love and pain1 had there and then pardoned her all her sins1 consuming them in the fire of ,his love2 yet ,he1 wishing her to satisfy the claims of justice1 led her by the way of satisfaction1 in such wise as to cause this special contrition1 illumination1 and conversion to last about fourteen months10 and it is no doubt implied by him that frequent confession was practised throughout this time4#ed ,thus we get an impressive instance of the rich and complex experience on which the ,catholic doctrine is built1 as to how1 on the one hand1 pure and perfect love ever instantly obliterates all sin2 how1 on the other hand1 such perfect love1 in those who explicitly know and accept the ,church's claims1 involves a determination to confess all such grave sins as may have been committed2 and how1 finally1 such subsequent confession is itself operative within the soul4 ,for as between the soul and the body1 so between the ,mystical and ,sacramental1 there is a real and operative connection1 though one which1 however inadequately known by us1 we know to be one not of simple identity or coextension4 ,and the experiences and doctrines here specially considered appear to require the conception of contrition and pardon as but the necessary expression and effect of true1 operative love2 and to demand the conclusion that purification participates in the essentially positive nature of love1 its cause4 ,the removal of bodily impurity is a negative act1 and1 as such1 is limited and unrepeatable2 but spiritual purification would thus1 as something positive1 be capable of indefinite increase and repetition4 ,and hence the deep philosophical justification of repeated contrition and confession for the same sins1 even though already pardoned4 ,we shall find that such a view is also to be found in ,st4 ,catherine's own doctrine1 though there is nothing to show that the thought of this paragraph is derived from ,catherine herself4 ,i take it to proceed from ,cattaneo ,marabotto4 #b4 ,the later conception4 ,the second writer1 the penultimate ,redactor of the book as we now have it1 finds three successive levels in her whole life's constant growth and upward movement1 and discovers a type of each in some love-impelled figure or scene of the ,bible4 ,and so the writer gets his periods symbolized respectively by the two ,new ,testament scenes of ,christ's feet1 and the ,penitent ,magdalen drawn by ,him to them1 and of ,christ's breast1 and the ,beloved ,disciple reposing peacefully upon it2 and by the ,old ,testament poetic picture1 and its allegorical interpretation1 of ,christ's 7the true ,solomon's7 mouth1 and the ,bride's kiss4 ,and some four years are assigned to the first period1 8many0 years to the second1 and her last years to the last3 #adgh and #adii would be the approximate dates dividing off these periods4 ,we shall find this scheme to proceed from ,battista ,vernazza4 ,time-honoured though it be1 this symbolism in no way fits ,catherine's case4 ,for1 excepting during the short first period1 her direct and formal occupation with the ,sacred ,humanity is1 throughout her convert life1 practically confined to the ,eucharistic ,presence2 and again1 her words and contemplations are 7as indeed the unhappiness of her marriage experience would lead one to expect and as the whole temper of her mind and devotion require7 quite remarkably free from all affinity to the ,canticle of ,canticles4 ,and yet this1 in so far inappropriate1 framework helps to emphasize the all-important fact of the constant growth and deepening ever at work within her life4 ,indeed1 the short1 general characterization of each of these successive periods which follows after each symbol here1 is derived from passages of the ,vita which are doubtless based upon direct communication by herself4 ,thus the detailed sight of her own particular sins and of ,god's particular graces towards herself1 characteristic of the relatively short first period1 is succeeded by the second1 long and profoundly lonely1 period of an apparent union of the divine and of the human personalities1 in which all distinct perception of her own acts appears to have usually been lost1--a union which can lead her to the point of saying3 8,i have no longer either soul or heart of my own2 but my soul and my heart are those of my ,love40 ,yet in her third and last period1 the consciousness of her own acts and of their differentiation is described as fully reappearing within her mind4 ,for though we are presented here with a kind of immersion in the ,divinity1 in which she appears so to lose herself interiorly and exteriorly as to be able to say with ,st4 ,paul3 8,i live no longer1 but ,christ lives in me02 and though we are told that she was no longer able to discern between the good and evil of her acts1 by means of any direct examination of them3 yet her acts are now again perceived to be her own2 to be some of them good and some of them faulty2 and are seen1 as several and as differing1 by her own self1 but 8in ,god40#ee ,so did the ,lady of ,shallot1 all turned away though she was from the world of sight1 see in her mirror the different figures as1 good and bad1 they moved on their way1 more truly and clearly than she had ever seen them formerly by any direct perception4 #c4 ,position adopted in this study concerning ,catherine's spiritual growth4 ,now these periods of interior1 experimental1 mystical vicissitude and growth have also their corresponding variations of religious analysis and speculation1 and of external actions and events2 and these variations are not only the concomitants and expressions of the inner growth1 but are also1 in part1 the subject-matter and occasion for the next stage of mystical experience4 ,and since ,catherine's special characteristic consists precisely in the richness and variety of her life at any one moment1 and in the successive1 ever-accelerated enrichment which it achieves almost up to the end1 any obliteration of this successive growth1 or any one-sided attention to any one aspect of her life during any one of its chief periods1 will readily take all life-likeness out of her portrait4 ,yet to achieve anything like this comprehension is most difficult1 if only because it has to be attempted with the aid of materials which1 where their registration is contemporary with the events chronicled1 belong1 all but the legal documents1 to the last fifteen years of her life2 and because1 even within this last period1 they are rarely furnished with any reference to their exact place within that period4 ,there is throughout the book a most natural and instructive1 indeed in its way most legitimate and even necessary1 insistence upon the apparently complete independence and aloofness1 the transcendence of her inner life4 ,and this insistence goes so far that a self-sufficing ,eternity1 a completely unchanging ,here and ,now1 floating outside and above even the necessary and normal affections1 actions1 and relations of human life and fellowship1 seems1 especially from after her conversion till up to the beginning of her physical incapacitation1#ef to have taken the place of the characteristically human struggle in and through time and space1 with and through our fellow-creatures4 ,as in ,leibniz we get a divinely pre-established harmony between the dispositions and the acts of the body and those of the soul1 which appear indeed as though indestructibly interrelated1 but which1 in reality1 operate throughout without one instant's direct interaction3 so here1 the external is not indeed represented as neglected by her1 nor as anything but in complete harmony with her inner life1 and as indeed inspired by ,god1 yet her own mind and soul are but reluctantly permitted to appear as expressing themselves in it1 as requiring and affected by it4 ,she appears as having got outside of1 and away from1 all the visible and purely human1 rather than deeper into and behind it2 to have achieved the ignoring of it rather than its conversion and transfiguration and its appointment to its own intrinsic place and function in the full economy of the soul's new life4 ,and yet all this is1 even in the minds of the authors1 but one aspect of this complex life1 and one which1 taken alone1 would at once do injustice to its other aspect1 the grand depth and range of its immanental quality4 ,and even in as much as the transcendental aspect is really attributable to the predominant trend of ,catherine's own character and teaching1 it in no way invalidates the fact of the actual astonishing many-sidedness and balance of her life1 especially before her last few years1 but will be found to proceed essentially from her rare mode of achieving this many-sidedness and balance1 or1 more strictly still1 from her own feeling as to this mode1 and her analysis and theory of it4 ,we have no direct concern with this her reflection at present3 what she actually did and directly was1 is all we would wish to try and sketch just now4 ,,vii4 ,,catherine ,,and ,,the ,,holy ,,eucharist4 #a4 ,a daily ,communicant from ,may #adgd onwards4 ,on the following day1 then1 on the ,feast of the ,annunciation1 #beth ,march1 #adgc1 8her ,lord gave her the desire of ,holy ,communion1 a desire which never again failed her throughout the whole course of her remaining life4 ,and ,he so disposed things that ,communion was given her1 without any care on her part2 she was often summoned to receive it1 without any asking1 by priests inspired by ,god to give it to her40#eg ,after trying every possible interpretation of this most annoyingly obscure text by the light of three or four other passages1 ,i have come to think it to mean that1 on this ,lady-,day1 she1 for the first time since now ten years1 received ,holy ,communion with a keen desire for its reception2 and that this desire remained from this day forward unintermittently with her1 till the end of her life3 but that this desire1 which at first may not have been set upon daily ,communion1 began to be satisfied by a daily reception only some time in ,may #adgd4 ,it is anyhow certain that from this latter date onwards she was a daily communicant up to ,september #ac1 #aeaj1 the day before her death4#eh ,the exceptions were most rare1--,i take it of an average of once or twice a year1--and were always owing to some insuperable obstacle1 mostly of ill-health4 #b4 ,her practice as regards the ,holy ,eucharist1 throughout her ,convert ,life4 ,since ,holy ,communion was the great source and centre of her love and strength1 and the one partially external experience and practice which was thus renewed day by day throughout her life1 and in the spiritual apprehension and effect of which we cannot trace any distinct periods1 ,i shall dwell here1 once for all1 upon the characteristics of this devotion of hers1 which were at all special to herself4 ,for one thing1 even her ardent love of ,holy ,communion did not suppress a bashful dislike of being noticed or distinguished in the matter3 8,at the beginning of her conversion she had at times a feeling as of envy towards ,priests1 because they communicated on as many days as they would1 without any one wondering at it40 8,once when1 for a few days1 the city was under an interdict1 she went every morning a mile's distance outside of the city walls1 so as to communicate2 and she thought that she would not be seen by any one40#ei ,next1 there is a most characteristic eagerness for interiorization1 for turning the ,holy ,eucharist1 perceived without1 into the heart's food within2 and a corresponding intensity of consciousness and tenderness at the moment of reception4 8,when she saw the ,sacrament on the altar in the hands of the priests1 she would say within herself3 #8,now swiftly1 swiftly convey it to the heart1 since it is the heart's true food4'0 ,and 8one night she dreamt that she would be unable to communicate during the coming day1 and waking up1 she found that tears were dropping from her eyes1 at which she wondered1 since hers was a nature very slow to weep40 ,and 8when at ,mass1 she was often so occupied with her ,lord interiorly1 as not to hear one word of it2 but when the time for ,communion arrived1 at that instant she would become conscious of exterior things40 ,and she would say3 8,o ,lord1 it seems to me1 that if ,i were dead1 ,i should return to life to receive ,thee2 and that if an unconsecrated host were given to me1 ,i should recognize it to be such by the mere taste alone1 as one discerns water from wine40#fj ,again1 her ,communion practice bears upon it the stamp of a staunch virility2 of a constant emulation between her own generous turning-away from its sensible consolations and the divine action1 which seems to have maintained these consolations throughout her life2 and of a determination to abstain even from such deeply consoling ,communions1 if such abstention were the more perfect practice for her4 8,one day1 when she had communicated1 there came to her so much odour and so much sweetness1 that she felt as though in ,paradise4 ,but turning at once towards her ,love she said3 #8,o ,love1 wouldest thou perchance draw me to ,thee with these savours 7sapori78 ,i desire them not1 since ,i desire but ,thee1 and ,thee whole and entire6'0 ,and 8one day a holy ,friar10--it was probably the ,observant ,franciscan1 ,father ,angelo of ,chiavasso 7near ,genoa71 beatified later on1--8said to her3 #8,you communicate every day3 what kind of satisfaction do you derive from it8' ,and she answered him simply1 explaining to him all her desires and feelings4 ,but he1 to test the purity of her intention1 said3 #8,there might possibly be some imperfection in such very frequent ,communion1' and then left her4 ,and ,catherine having heard this1 fearing such imperfection1 at once suspended her ,communions1 but at the cost of great distress4 ,and the ,friar1 hearing a few days later of how she cared more not to do wrong than to have all the consolation and satisfaction of ,communion1 sent her word by all means to return to her daily ,communions2 and she did so40#fa ,and finally1 her ,communions produced effects direct and indirect1 spiritual and psychical4 ,the indirect1 psycho-physical effects being variable1 and related to the varying conditions of her health1 will be noted as far as possible under the different periods of her life and1 collectively1 in the chapter on such psycho-physical questions4 ,the spiritual effects no doubt grew1 but this growth we have no sufficient materials for pursuing in detail4 ,yet they have throughout this peculiarity1 that1 central and all-permeating as this ,eucharistic influence no doubt was1 yet it nowhere takes the form of any specially ,eucharistic devotion or directly ,eucharistic meditation or doctrine1 outside of ,holy ,communion itself and of the immediate occupation with it4 ,some deep indirect effects on her general tone1 imagery1 and teaching will be studied in our second volume4 ,,viii4 ,,catherine ,,and ,,confession ,,and ,,direction4 #a4 ,catherine arouses criticism in the matter of ,direction4 ,now if ,catherine occasioned some criticism and testing of her spirit by the 7for that period7 very unusual frequency of her ,communions1#fb it is equally on record that she aroused some surprise and apprehension1 by the absence of all ,direction1 during the many years of the second period of her convert life4 ,and if1 in the matter of her daily ,communions1 she had readily entered into the suggestion that there might be imperfection in this her dearest habit1 and yet had to continue along her unusual way1 so too1 in this matter of ,direction1 she evidently was from the first ever ready to proceed in the ordinary manner1 and yet found herself compelled to follow a lonely course4 8,if she attempted to lean upon any one 7accostarsi ad alcuno71 ,love instantly caused her mental suffering so great that she was obliged to desist1 saying1 #8,o ,love1 ,i understand ,thee4' ,and when she was told that it would be well1 and more secure1 if she were to put herself under obedience to another1 and whilst she was in doubt as to what to do1 her ,lord answered her thus within her mind3 #8,confide in ,me1 and doubt not6'0#fc ,such suggestions will have been made and such scruples will have been suffered many a time1 during the long years in which1 in this matter1 her way was an extraordinary one4 #b4 ,the facts concerning ,catherine's confessions4 ,catholic obligations4 ,but in this matter of ,direction and ,confession1 the ,vita1 if we were to take its present constituents as of uniform value1 is astonishingly vague1 ambiguous1 and contradictory4 ,let us take the facts1 in the order of their certainty1 moving from the quite certain to the less and less certain ones2 and let us then try and appraise the upshot of the whole examination4 ,we are then1 first1 absolutely certain that ,catherine herself1 not later than #adii1--this date shall be justified later on1--said to ,don ,marabotto1 7and that he then and there1 or shortly afterwards1 wrote down17 the following words3 8,i have persevered for twenty-five years in the spiritual way1 without the aid of any creature40 ,and he1 in this matter which concerns his own ,confessing and ,directing of her during the last eleven years of her life 7#adii-aeaj71 twice over solemnly reaffirms and drives home the reality of the fact thus communicated to him by herself4 8,she was guided and taught interiorly by her tender ,love alone1 without the means of any fellow-creature1 either ,religious or ,secular02 8she was instructed and governed thus by ,god1 for about twenty-five years40#fd ,and conformably with this1 we get the short dialogue between herself and ,love1 as just given1 and such words as the following1 which she declared that ,love itself spoke to her mind1--evidently during1 and probably at the beginning1 of these many years3 8,take from the remainder of ,scripture this one word #8,love1' with which thou shalt ever walk straight ''' enlightened1 without error1 and 7all this7 without guide or means provided by any other creature40#fe ,in the next place1 it is equally certain that1 with all her biographers down to this day 7e4g4 ,monseigneur ,fliche1 pp4 #cej1 #cea71 her words must be understood to exclude at least all ,direction from those years4 ,and it is1 moreover1 practically certain that at least the second ,redactor 7,r4 #b7 of the ,vita understood her words to apply to ,confession also4 ,for whereas1 in the older tripartite scheme of ,r4 #a1 the four years of ,penance of her first period were filled by her labours for 8satisfying her conscience by means of contrition1 confession1 and satisfaction10 ,r4 #b breaks up those four years into two periods1--the first1 of 8a little over a year02 and the second1 of 7no doubt7 three years1--and does so with a view to thus making room for the 8about twenty-five years0 of ,catherine's affirmation4 ,now whereas ,r4 #b in his first period talks thus of ,confession2 in his second one1 he talks twice of ,contrition1 and twice of ,sorrow1 but nowhere of ,confession2 and again1 whereas in his third 7,r4 #a's second7 period 8many0 7no doubt twenty-one7 years1 there is still no reference to ,confession1 indeed here not even to ,sin or ,contrition in general2 in the fourth 7,r4 #a's third7 period 7of eleven years71 when she was being regularly confessed and directed by ,marabotto1 she1 it is true1 8was incapable of recognizing1 by direct examination1 the nature of her acts1 whether they were good or bad10 but still she was able to see1 and actually 8saw all things10 hence also these acts and their difference1 8in ,god40#ff ,thirdly1 it is certain that some reasonable doubt can be entertained as to whether ,catherine's words1 solemnly emphatic though they are1 were not understood too literally by ,marabotto and the second ,redactor4 ,nothing is1 indeed1 more obvious and striking throughout all the authentic memorials of her1 than the delightfully simple1 grandly fearless veracity of her mind4 ,she never speaks but according to the fulness of her conviction3 like with all souls most near unto the childlike ,master1 ,christ1 it can be said of her that 8one never knows what she is going to say next40 ,and we shall find her insight into herself at any given moment1 even with regard to such partly medical matters as her psycho-physical condition1 to be quite astonishing in its depth and delicacy4 ,yet the fact remains1 that she was as truly a person of intense and swiftly changing feelings1 exaltations1 and depressions1 as she was one of a rich balanced doctrine and of a quite heroic objectivity and healthy spiritual utilization of all such intensities4 ,this very heroism and objectivity of hers1 so constant and watchful in all her practical decisions and general doctrinal statements1 no doubt helped to make her feel both the need and the licitness of giving full and truthful utterance also to the intense and swiftly passing feelings of her heart4 ,one such utterance is specially to the point4 ,she had already been for eleven years the much-helped penitent of that utterly devoted priest-friend ,don ,marabotto1 when1 in ,january #aeaj1 he overheard her 7the extant report of the scene is certainly his own and contemporary with the event7 saying to ,god1 shut up alone1 as she thought1 in one of her rooms3 8,there is no creature that understands me4 ,i find myself alone1 unknown1 poor1 naked1 a stranger and different from all the world40 ,yet this does not prevent her finding comfort and1 indirectly1 even physical improvement1 in and from ,marabotto's sympathy and words1 when these are offered to her not many hours later on4#fg ,the abnormally rapid and complete change of feeling depicted here1 no doubt occurred during the last eight months of her life1 long after her health had begun to break up permanently2 and cannot directly illustrate her frame of mind during the years #adgd-adii1 when she was in health and relatively strong4 ,still1 she was clearly ever of a high-strung1 intense temperament2 and her health was already seriously impaired when1 in #adii1 she spoke the words concerning the utter loneliness of that whole quarter of a century4 ,and if the emphatic words1 spoken to ,god ,himself in #aeaj1 were compatible with confession1 and1 indeed1 a certain kind of continuous direction1 at the very time and during eleven years before they were spoken3 her words uttered in #adii to ,marabotto1 will have been compatible with at least some confession during a period of years of which the first lay almost a whole generation behind her4 ,and we shall find at least two other cases in which ,marabotto appears1 on ,catherine's own authority1 as having clearly misunderstood the nature of some phenomena connected with herself4#fh ,yet for all this1 the account which we shall have to give later on of the characteristics of her confessions to ,marabotto1--an account directly derived from himself1--makes it practically impossible to assume that even simple confession was practised1 at all or otherwise than quite exceptionally1 during those many years4 ,now we have1 as a fourth point1 to remember that although the ,fourth ,council of the ,lateran1 in the year #abae1 had decreed that 8,all the ,faithful of either sex1 after coming to years of discretion1 are bound to confess all their sins at least once a year03#fi yet already ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas had1 in his ,commentary on the ,sentences of ,peter ,lombard1 composed in #abeb-abeg1 taught that1 since the divine institution and obligation extends1 strictly speaking1 only to the confession of mortal sins1 8he that has not committed any mortal sins is not bound to confess venial sins1 but it is sufficient for the fulfilling of the ,church's precept1 for him to present himself to the priest1 and to declare himself free from the consciousness of mortal sin40#gj ,and nothing has changed1 as to the nature and extent of this obligation1 since ,catherine's time4 ,the ,council of ,trent1 the decrees of which were confirmed by ,pope ,pius ,,iv in #aefd1 more than half-a-century after her death1 carefully explains that 8all the sins0 of the decree of #abae means all 8mortal sins02 and further declares that 8the ,church did not1 by the ,lateran ,council1 decree that the faithful should confess1--a thing she knew to be instituted and necessary by divine right10 but had simply determined the circumstances and conditions under which this obligatory confession was to take place4#ga ,and ,father ,antonio ,ballerini1 ,s4,j4 7d4 #ahha71 gives us the conclusions1 identical with that of ,st4 ,thomas1 of those great authorities ,francis ,suarez 7d4 #afag71 ,cardinal ,john de ,lugo 7d4 #affj71 and ,hermann ,busenbaum 7d4 #affh71--;all three1 ,jesuits like himself1--and himself endorses their decision4 ,suarez indeed declares this view to be the common opinion of ,theologians4#gb #c4 ,probable course of ,catherine's confession-practice4 ,with these four points before us1 let us attempt to reconstruct some outline of what really happened in her own case1 and try and show what constituted the specifically ,catholic quality of this her practice1 so unusual in the middle and later ages of the ,church4 ,we shall1 then1 do wisely1 ,i think1 by considering that the 8twenty-five years10 alleged by her own self1 were1 as a strict matter of fact1 not more than twenty-one2#gc that during the four first convert years that preceded this middle period1 just as during the last eleven which succeeded it1 she had recourse to confession with the frequency considered normal in and for these times1 in the case of a daily communicant living in the world2 but that1 during the intervening period1 she was allowed to substitute that simple occasional1 perhaps only annual1 presentation of herself and declaration to the priest in the place of confession proper1 which we have seen to be considered1 in a case of such a purity of soul as hers1 as sufficient for fulfilling the ,church's precept1 by a practical consensus of all the great casuist authorities4 ,and thus we have here again a memorable1 and this time a long-persisting1 instance of how the intrinsic and operative connection between the ,individual and the ,social1 the ,mystical and the ,institutional elements of ,religion is not a simple identity or coextension1--a point which we already found exemplified during the first hours of her convert life4 ,and the ,catholic spirit in this her present course will consist in her full observance of all to which the ,church strictly obliges2 in her readiness at all times to walk in the ordinary way1 and in her repeated attempts1 even during this second period1 to do so2 in her actually and fervently following the ordinary course whenever she could1 i4e4 in the first and last period2 and finally in her ever faithfully obeying the promptings of ,god's ,spirit which1 by various converging spiritual peculiarities1 circumstances and means1 showed1 with practical plainness1 the kind and degree of extraordinary interior acts and habits which were to be1 in large part1 her form of the 8,mind of the ,church40 ,for it is indeed certain that the special characteristic of the ,catholic mind is not1 necessarily1 universally and finally1 the conception and practice of sanctity under the precise form of the devotional spirit and habits special to the particular part or period of the ,church in which that individual ,catholic's lot may be cast4 ,what is thus characteristic1 is the continuous and sensitive conviction that there is something far-reaching and important beyond the ,church's bare precepts1 for every soul that aims at sanctity1 to find out and to do2 that this something 7sc4 the ,church's mind7 is1 always and for all1 presumably1 the most fervent form and degree of the devotional temper and habits of the ,church1 as practised in that time and country2 and that it is for ,god ,himself1 if ,he so pleases1 to indicate to the soul that ,he now wants its fervour to consist in an observance of the ,church's precepts and spirit under a form and with an application partially different from the most fervent practice of the ordinary devotions of that time and place1 though this new observance will be no less costing or heroically self-renouncing than the other4 ,and this ,he does usually by slow1 often simply cumulative and indirect1 but always solid1 painful1 and practically unmistakable1 because unsought1 means and experiences1--all these attained to well within the ,church4 ,for the ,church's life and spirit1 which is but the extension of the spirit of ,christ ,himself1 is1 like all that truly lives at all1 not a sheer singleness1 but has a mysterious unity in and by means of endless variety4 ,even at any one moment that spirit expresses itself in numerous variations1 by means of various races1 rites1 orders1 schools1 and individuals4 ,and yet not the sum-total of all these simultaneously present variations is ever as rich as is the sum-total of that spirit's successive manifestations in the past4 ,nor once more can this latter sum be taken as anticipating all the developments and adaptations which that ever-living spirit will first occasion and then sanction in ,his special organ1 the ,church4 ,catherine's particular1 divinely impelled substitute for the ordinary devotional practice shall be described later on4 ,,ix4 ,,catherine ,,and ,,indulgences4 ,a further peculiarity1 somewhat analogous to the one just examined1 seems to have characterized her devotional practice--in this case1 throughout her convert life4 ,it had therefore1 perhaps1 best be described in this place4 #a4 ,the assertions of the 8,vita40 ,three items of information are furnished by the ,vita1 on one and the same half-page4 7#a7 8,she had such a hatred of self10 says the ,vita1 8that she did not hesitate to pronounce this sentence3 #8,i would not have grace and mercy1 but justice and vengeance shown to the malefactor4''''0 7#b7 8,for this reason it seemed that she did not even care to gain the ,plenary ,indulgences4 ,not as though she did not hold them in great reverence and devotion1 and did not consider them to be most useful and of great value4 ,but she would have wished that her own self-seeking part 7la sua propria parte7 should rather be chastized and punished as it deserved1 than to see it pardoned 7assoluta71 and1 by means of such satisfaction1 liberated in the sight of ,god40 7#c7 8,she saw the ,offended ,one to be supremely good1 and the offender quite the opposite4 ,and hence she could not bear to see any part of herself which was not subjected to the divine justice1 with a view to its being thoroughly chastized4 ,and hence1 so as not to give this part any hope of being liberated from the pains due to it1 she abstained from the ,plenary ,indulgences and also from recommending herself to the intercessions of others1 so as ever to be subject to every punishment and condemned as she deserved40#gd #b4 ,three points to be noted here4 ,here ,i would note three things4 ,for one thing1 there can be no serious doubt as to the authenticity of the saying that opens out this group of communications and as to the substantial accuracy of the two parallel1 and 7,i think7 mutually independent1 reports as to her practice3 since the saying belongs to the class of short declarations given in oratio directa1 which we shall find to be remarkably reliable throughout the ,vita2 and the reports testify to something so unusual1 so little sympathetic to the hagiographical mind1 so much in keeping with the remainder of her doctrine and practice1 that we cannot believe them misinformed4 ,the author of the ,dialogo evidently fully accepted these three passages1 when1 in about #aedi1 she paraphrases them thus3 8,she therefore made no account of her sins1 with respect to their punishment1 but only because she had acted against that ,immense ,goodness02 8,she found herself to be her who alone had committed all the evil1 and alone she wanted to make satisfaction1 as far as ever she could1 without the help of any other person40#ge ,for another thing1 we have absolutely final contemporary documentary evidence of the importance attached by herself both to ,indulgences1 and the gaining of them 7at least by other people71 and to ,masses and prayers for the ,dead1 inclusive of herself when she should be gone4 ,for as to ,indulgences1 we have entries in the ,cartulary of the ,hospital 7under the dates of ,march #aa1 ,april #aj1 ,may #bi1 and ,august #bc1 #aeaj7 of various considerable sums1 amounting in all to over #cjj1 paid by the ,hospital1 at the first date1 for ,catherine's nephew ,francesco1 at all the other dates for herself1 for the withdrawal of a suspension of the ,indulgences attached to the ,hospital ,church1 and for the transference1 in that year1 of the day appointed for their acquisition4 ,both these matters were carried out in ,rome by means of ,catherine's second nephew1 ,cardinal ,giovanni ,fiesco4 ,this1 it is true1 is evidence that only covers the last six months of her life4 ,but as to ,masses and ,prayers for her own soul after death1 we have 7#a7 her second ,will1 of ,may #ai1 #adih1 where she leaves one share in the ,bank of ,st4 ,george 7#ajj7 to the ,observant ,franciscans of the ,hospital ,church1 8who shall be bound to celebrate ,masses and ,divine ,offices for the soul of ,testatrix02 7#b7 her ,codicil1 of ,january #e1 #aejc1 where she leaves 7in addition7 #c apiece to two ,monasteries 8for the celebration of ,masses for her own soul02 7#c7 her third ,will1 of ,may #ah1 #aejf1 which confirms all this2 and 7#d7 her last ,will1 of ,march #ah1 #aeji1 where she leaves #c each to three ,monasteries1 which are each to 8celebrate thirty ,masses for her soul10 #c to a fourth ,monastery for ,prayers for her soul1 and #be to the ,franciscans of the ,hospital ,church for the celebration of ,masses to the same effect4#gf ,the reader will at once perceive that these facts are fully compatible with the attitude so emphatically ascribed to her in the ,vita1 only if we take these latter statements as expressive of certain intense1 emotional moods2 or of some relatively short penitential period2 or of what she did and felt with regard to herself alone and for whilst she was to live here below1 not of what others should do for themselves at all times and for herself when she was gone4 ,and finally1 we know exactly how and why the doctrine and practice described in those passages in the ,vita were accepted by the ,congregation of ,rites1 as forming no obstacle to her canonization4 ,pope ,benedict ,,xiv1 in his great classical work on ,beatification and ,canonization1 says1 8,after ,i had ceased to hold the office of ,promoter of the ,faith10 7the date will have been between #agbh and #agcc17 8,i know that a controversy arose as to the doctrine of a certain ,beata1 with regard to the truth of which it was possible to have different opinions40 ,and after giving this ,beata's doctrine and practice as these are presented by ,catherine's ,vita1 and citing the arguments used against their toleration1 he proceeds3 8,but the ,postulators answered 7#a7 that this ,beata had not omitted to gain ,plenary ,indulgences from any contempt for them1 since her veneration for them was demonstrated by most unambiguous documents0 7no doubt ,cardinal ,fiesco's action1 in her name and at her expense1 in ,rome in #aeaj1 is meant72 87#b7 that it is the doctrine of very many theologians1 that those do not sin1 who do not labour to gain ,indulgences because they desire to make satisfaction in their own persons in this world or to suffer in the next2 7#c7 that we should not confound safety with perfection3 it appears indeed to be safer to atone for one's fault both by one's own good works and by ,indulgences2 but not more perfect1 supposing that a man abstains from ,indulgences because his love of ,god and his detestation of having offended ,him are so great that he desires to make satisfaction to ,him1 by bearing the whole of the merited punishment2 and 7#d7 that examples are not wanting of perfect souls1 that have1 for a while1 desired to bear1 even for the sins of others1 the pains of ,hell itself1 although without falling away from the friendship and grace of ,god4 ,and hence the ,congregation of ,sacred ,rites considered that this doctrine did not militate against the holiness of the said ,beata or against the approbation of her virtues as heroic40#gg ,x4 ,,peculiarities ,,concerning ,,the ,,invocation ,,of ,,saints ,,and ,,intercessory ,,prayer4 ,and a third and last peculiarity is particularly instructive as showing how entirely an unusual1 at first sight quietistic1 practice is not restricted1 in her case1 to specifically ,catholic habits4 #a4 ,the facts4 ,this peculiarity has already appeared in part in the second of the two accounts as to her attitude towards ,indulgences4 8,she abstained from recommending herself to the intercession of others40 ,and this is borne out1 but 7as we shall find7 with certain unforeseeable restrictions1 by the rest of the ,vita4 ,as regards even the ,saints1 one only invocation of any one of them is on record1--that of ,st4 ,benedict in #adgd1 already given4 ,and if she did not ask others for prayers for herself in her own lifetime1 her own prayers for others were evidently rare1 were apparently always concerned with their spiritual welfare1 and were generally produced only under some special interior impulsion4 ,hence when asked1 in #adif or later1 by ,vernazza1 in the name of several of her spiritual children1 to pray that ,god might grant them 8some little drops of ,his ,love10 she answers that 8for these ,i cannot ask anything from this tender ,love2 ,i can but present them in ,his presence40 ,this is1 no doubt1 because she sees them to be already full of the love of ,god4 ,whereas in #adie the poor working man1 ,marco del ,sale1 is dying of a cancer in the face1 and is in a state of wild impatience3 so she prays most fervently for him4 ,it is true that the ,vita adds that she did so1 8having had an interior movement to this effect4 ,for she never could turn to pray for a particular object1 unless she had first felt herself called interiorly by her ,love40 ,still1 this did not prevent her1 in #adig1 from praying most fervently for patience for her husband1 7who was dying from a painful complaint17 simply 8because she feared that he might lose his soul10 and without any other more peculiar incentive than this4#gh #b4 ,the rich variety of her life4 ,evidently here again1 as with the ,confessions and ,indulgences1 her life and practice were indefinitely varied and spontaneous1 and incomparably richer than the preconceptions and logic of at least some of her biographers will admit1 or indeed than many of her own fervent sayings1 so vividly expressive of certain moments or sides of her career or character1 suggest or even seem to leave possible4 ,but the underlying meaning and ultimate harmonization of these apparent inconsistencies between her doctrine and her practice1 we can only gradually hope to find4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,catherine',s ,,life ,,from #adgc ,,to #aejf ,,and ,,its ,,main ,,changes ,,and ,,growth ,let us now attempt1 as far as the often scanty and obscure evidence permits1 to give1 in the following two chapters1 some general account of the changes and growth observable in her external surroundings1 her human intercourse and social occupation1 her physical health and psychical mood1 and above all of those inner experiences and spiritual apprehensions of hers which dominated all the rest1 during each of the three main periods of her convert life4 ,this general account will1 ,i trust1 suggest the main points for our later investigations1 and will show at once how largely artificial1 though necessary1 all such dividing into periods must be1 in the case of so deeply unified and diversified an inner life as ,catherine's4 ,i4 ,,first ,,period ,,of ,,catherine',s ,,convert ,,life3 ,,giuliano',s ,,bankruptcy ,,and ,,conversion2 ,,their ,,work ,,among ,,the ,,poor1 ,,march #adgc ,,to ,,may #adgg4 #a4 ,giuliano's affairs4 ,catherine's attitude4 ,the first six months of her first period 7this latter we take to have extended from ,march #adgc to ,may #adgg7 were still spent in ,giuliano's ,palace of the ,via ,agnese and in his country mansion at ,pr4#gi ,but all was now swiftly changing1 or already greatly changed1 both around her and within4 ,anxiety1 hope1 grief1 consolation--inasmuch as such feelings could still for her cluster around events external to her deepest spiritual life1 and could make themselves at all separately felt during this period of profound absorption in her new large life of love and penance--must all have centred in her husband4 ,for ,giuliano had by now got his affairs into such disorder as to be unable to keep up his great social position2 and by the autumn of #adgc he had sold his mansion at ,pr1 and had vacated and let his palace in ,genoa itself4#hj ,he was also by now a very sincere convert1 in his own manner and degree2 and it was no doubt now that he told ,catherine1 although she can hardly have failed to know already1 of the existence of a poor little girl whom1 with an apparently ominous indication of weak indulgence on the part of his widowed mother1 he had called ,tobia4 ,we shall be able to prove ,catherine's grand magnanimity and true1 cordial forgiveness--directly1 no doubt only for and at a later period2 but the documents will show that she knew all the decisive circumstances long before1 and there is no room for doubt that her dispositions had changed or grown as little as had her knowledge4 #b4 ,life in the little house outside the ,hospital4 ,catherine and ,giuliano had now1 in the autumn of #adgc1 moved into a humble little house1 in the midst of artisans1 mostly dyers1 and of the poor of various sorts1 close to the ,hospital of the ,pammatone1 even then already a vast ,institution4 ,this dwelling is probably identical1 as to the site1 with the house still standing at the junction of the ,via ,s4 ,giuseppe with the ,via ,balilla1 and which bears on its front a picture of ,saints ,catherine ,adorna and ,camillus of ,lellis#ha at the feet of the ,madonna4 ,since the income remaining to them still amounted1 up to ,giuliano's death in #adig1 to the equivalent of some #a1bjj a year1#hb this self-abnegation and humble identification with the lives of the toiling1 nameless poor1 must have been an act of deliberate choice1 and not one of any degree of necessity4 ,it was never suspended or revoked by either of them4 ,they now agreed together to a life of perpetual continence2 and ,giuliano became a ,tertiary of the ,order of ,st4 ,francis1#hc amongst those attached to the ,hospital-,church of the ,santissima ,annunciata in ,portoria1 itself served by ,observant ,franciscans4 ,their only little servant-maid1 ,benedetta ,lombarda1 was also a ,franciscan ,tertiary4 ,but ,catherine herself now shows1 in this matter of the ,religious ,state1 an interesting clearing-up of her own special way and form of sanctity4 ,we saw how much the fervent but inexperienced girl of sixteen had been moved and had longed to be an ,augustinian nun2 and now the sadly experienced wife of twenty-six1 even in the midst of her first convert days1 and though surrounded at home1 in ,church1 and in the ,hospital1 by ,religious of the popular and expansive type presented by the ,franciscans1 7a type which her own deep sympathy with1 indeed penetration by1 the teaching of the great ,franciscan ,mystic ,jacopone da ,todi1 will show to have been closely akin to her own17 manifests no thought of becoming a ,religious1 even in the slight degree represented by the ,third ,order4 ,and up to her death1 thirty-seven years later1 she never wavers on this point4 ,a highly characteristic scene and declaration illustrative of this attitude of hers will be given further on4 ,the ,hospital of ,pammatone had been founded by ,bartolommeo ,bosco1 one of those large-hearted merchant princes of whom ,genoa has had not a few1 in #adbd1 in the street of that name2 and only quite recently1 in #adgb1 the ,friars of the adjoining ,church of the ,annunciata had agreed to the incorporation of their own infirmary for sick poor with ,bosco's larger institution4 ,hence ,catherine and ,giuliano found #acj sick-beds always occupied by patients1 and over #ajj foundling girls1 who were being trained as silk-workers1 all ready to their hands and service4#hd ,catherine was besides gradually introduced to the poor of the district1 by the ,donne della ,misericordia--ladies devoted to such works of mercy--and betook herself to her tasks with characteristic directness and thoroughness4#he ,she must first1 and once for all1 completely master all squeamishness in this her lowly work4 ,so she betook herself to cleansing their houses from the most disgusting filth2 and she would take home with her the garments of the poor1 covered with dirt and vermin1 and1 having cleansed them thoroughly1 would herself return them to their owners4 ,and yet nothing unclean was ever found upon herself4 ,she also tended the sick in the ,hospital and in their homes1 with the most fervent affection1 speaking to them of spiritual things and ministering to their bodily wants1 and never avoiding any form of disease1 however terrible4#hf ,,ii4 ,,catherine ,,and ,,tommasa ,,fiesca3 ,,their ,,difference ,,of ,,character ,,and ,,attrait4 ,,peculiarity ,,of ,,catherine',s ,,penitence ,,and ,,health ,,during ,,this ,,time4 #a4 ,catherine's penances4 ,and throughout this first period of four years1 her penances were great4 ,she wore a hair-shirt2 she never touched either flesh-meat or fruit1 whether fresh or dried2 she lay at night on thorns4 ,and by nature courteous and affable1 she would do great violence to herself by conversing as little as possible with her relations when they visited her1 and1 as to anything further1 paying heed neither to herself nor to them2 and she acted thus for the purpose of self-conquest2 and if any one was surprised at it1 she took no notice4#hg #b4 ,catherine and ,tommasina4 ,but one visitor must1 even during this period1 have been treated by her with much of her natural spontaneity and ardent expansiveness4 ,she was a cousin of her own age1 a ,fiesca and a married woman like herself2 like herself1 too1 in the wish1 just now awakened1 to belong entirely to ,god1 and in her ultimate complete conversion and ardent love of ,god4 ,we can attempt to describe her here1 as throwing further light upon ,catherine's idiosyncrasies1 at this period in particular4 ,tommasina was different from ,catherine in the slow1 tentative character of her first turning to ,god2 and different1 too1 in the eventual form of her life2 for1 when later on a widow1 she became first1 in #adij1 an ,augustinian ,canoness at ,santa ,maria delle ,grazie2 and then1 in #adig1 a ,dominican ,nun at the ,monastero ,nuovo di ,san ,domenico4 ,this latter convent she had been given to reform and became its ,prioress4 ,in both houses she was known as ,suor ,tommasina 7,fieschi74#hh ,she was different again in that she there spent some of her time in painting many a religious picture1 chiefly of the ,piet1 and a highly symbolical composition1 illustrative of the moment of ,consecration at ,mass4#hi ,she executed also in exquisitely fine needlework a piece which represented1 above1 ,god the ,father surrounded by many ,angels1 and1 below1 ,christ with other figures of ,saints4 ,finally she occupied herself in writing and produced in original composition a treatise on the ,apocalypse1 and another on ,denys the ,areopagite4 ,and the future ,suor ,tommasa showed now some of that precious gift of humour1 denied to her otherwise greater cousin4 ,for1 no doubt with a bright twinkle in her eyes at the sight of ,catherine's characteristic vehemence of onslaught1 ,tommasa would declare that ,catherine was pushing her and giving her no quarter2 and that it would be a great humiliation for herself if1 after all said and done1 she were to turn back4 ,but any such feeling of even the possibility of such a relapse1 was amazing to ,catherine1 and she said3 8,if ,i were to turn back1 ,i would wish that my eyes might be put out1 and that ,i should be treated with every other kind of indignity40#ij #c4 ,peculiarity of ,catherine's penitence4 ,but such intercourse as this must1 during this first period1 have been the exception4 ,for her dominant1 closely interrelated characteristics were now a continuous striving to do things contrary to her natural bias and an alert looking to do the will of others rather than her own4 ,she moved about with her eyes bent upon the ground4 ,six hours a day were spent in prayer1 and this although--perhaps just now in part because--the body greatly felt the strain3 the strongly willing spirit had dominated the weak flesh4 ,indeed1 during this time she was so full of interior feeling and so occupied within herself1 that she was unable to speak1 except in a tone so low as to be barely audible2 she seemed dead to all exterior things4#ia ,and these external circumstances and practices are all only the setting1 material1 occasion and expression of this her first period's actively penitential spirit1 when she was persistently pursued by the detailed sight of her own particular inclinations1 her own particular sins against ,god1 and ,god's particular graces towards her own self4 ,her very acts of charity and of friendliness1 her very prayers1 get all restricted or prolonged1 willed or suffered1 as1 at least in part1 but so many occasions for a love-impelled1 yet still reflective self-mastery and mortification4 ,and it was no doubt during this time that1 when present one day at a sermon in which the conversion of the ,magdalen was recounted1 her heart seemed to whisper to her3 8,indeed ,i understand10 so similar did her own conversion appear to her to that of the ,magdalen4#ib #d4 ,her physical health4 ,as to her physical health1 the fire which she felt in her heart seemed to dry up and burn her interiorly4 ,and so great a physical hunger would possess her1 that she appeared insatiable2 and so quickly did she digest her food1 that it looked as if she could have consumed iron4 ,yet she had no inclination to other than ordinary food1 and did not fail to keep all the ordinary fasts and abstinences4#ic ,,iii4 ,,change ,,in ,,the ,,temper ,,of ,,catherine',s ,,penitence1 ,,from ,,may #adgd ,,onwards4 ,time wears on1 and ,catherine is still in the same house1 and with the same health1 and with the same companions and occupations1 penances and prayers4 ,but the interior dispositions and emotional promptings1 and the mental apprehension of them all1 are gradually changing and are growing wider and freer and less particularized4 8,she now began to experience a more affective way1 so that she was often as though beside herself2 and0 though still 8moved by a great interior thirst after self-hatred1 and by a penetrating contrition1 she would often lie prostrate on the ground02 she would do so1 8hardly knowing what she was doing1 yet somehow gaining thus some relief for her heart10 overflowing as it was with a boundless1 profound1 but now more and more general1 sorrow and tender love4#id ,the note of a spontaneous1 expansive1 instinctive love is now growing in predominance in her prayer and human intercourse2 and her very penances1 though still performed1 are now often practised from a general unreflective instinct of love-impelled self-hatred1 without any conscious application to any particular inclinations or sins4 ,for as to her intercourse with others1 she will probably already now have practised many an act of that beautiful and characteristic1 impulsive1 expansive tenderness1 of which we shall have a good many examples from the end of her second period4 ,and as to the character of her mortifications1 we hear the following3 8,whilst engaged on such great and numerous mortifications of all her senses1 she was sometimes asked1 #8,why are you doing this 7particular7 thing8' ,and she would answer1 #8,i do not know1 except that ,i feel myself interiorly drawn to do so1 without any opposition from within4 ,and ,i think that this is the will of ,god2 but it is not ,his will1 that ,i should propose to myself any 7particular7 object in so doing4'0#ie ,i take it that1 with this growing intermittence in the sight of her particular sins1 her ,confessions1 though still practised1 will have become less frequent1 and her ,holy ,communions more so4 ,,iv4 ,,catherine',s ,,great ,,fasts4 #a4 ,the assertions of the 8,vita40 ,and a little later on1 again on the ,feast of the ,annunciation 7,march #be1 #adgf71if another change took place1 a change primarily concerned with her health1 but one which brought out also the deep spirituality of her religion4 ,on this day she experienced one of those interior locutions1 which are so well authenticated in the lives of so many interior souls2 and 8her ,love said that ,he wanted her to keep the ,forty ,days1 in ,his company in the ,desert4 ,and then she began to be unable to eat till ,easter2 on the three ,easter ,days she was able to eat2 and after these she again did not eat1 till she had fulfilled as many days as are to be found in ,lent40#ig ,similarly with regard to ,advent4 8,up to ,martinmas0 7,november #ab7 8she would eat like all the world2 and then her fast would begin1 and would continue up to ,christmas-,day40 ,her subsequent ,lenten fasts are described as beginning with ,quinquagesima ,monday and ending on ,easter ,sunday morning4#ih #b4 ,substantial accuracy of these accounts4 ,three facts to be remembered4 ,i take it that there can be no reasonable doubt as to the substantial accuracy of this account4 ,but the following three facts must be borne in mind as regards the physical aspect of the matter4 ,the fast1 for one thing1 is not an absolute one4 ,the account itself declares that she now and then drank a tumblerful of water1 vinegar1 and pounded rock-salt4#ii ,and to this must be added both the daily reception of wine--,i suppose as much as a wineglassful--which was1 according to a ,genoese custom of that time1 received by her1 as a kind of ablution1 immediately after her ,communion2#ajj and such slight amount of solid food as1 when in company1 she would force herself to take and would sometimes1 though rarely1 manage to retain4#aja ,again1 the fast varies partly1 in different years1 in the date of its inception2 and partly it does not synchronize with the beginning of the ecclesiastical fast4 ,in the first year her ,lenten fast begins on ,lady-,day1 in the following years on ,quinquagesima ,sunday2 her ,advent fast begins throughout on ,martinmas1 ,november #ab4 ,and finally1 the number of such fasts cannot be more than twenty-three ,lents and twenty-two ,advents4 ,the ,,ms4 of #aedg has preserved the right tradition of a difference in the numbers of the ,lenten and ,advent fasts1 but has raised the number of the former to a round1 symmetrical one4 ,it gives twenty-five ,lents and twenty-two ,advents4 ,the printed ,vita of #aeea levels the numbers respectively down and up to twenty-three ,lents and as many ,advents4#ajb ,some further minor physical points will be considered in a later chapter4 #c4 ,effect of these ,fasts1 and her attitude towards them4 ,but two other matters are here of direct spiritual interest3 the effect of these fasts on her spiritual efficiency1 and her own two-fold attitude towards them4 ,for we are told1 again ,i think quite authentically1 that during these fasts she was more active in good works1 and felt more bright and strong in health1 than usual2#ajc answering thus to one of the tests put forward by ,pope ,benedict ,,xiv1 for discriminating supernatural1 spiritually valuable fasts from simply natural ones4 ,but with him we can find our surest tests in what is altogether beyond the range of the physical and psychical3 in her own moral estimate of all these matters4 ,for one thing1 there appears here again that noble shrinking from any singularity of this kind within herself1 and from all notice on the part of others4 8,this inability to eat gave her many a scruple at first1 ignorant as she was as to its cause1 and ever suspecting some delusion2 and she would force herself to eat1 considering that nature required it4 ,and though this invariably produced vomiting1 yet she would make the attempt again and again40 8,she would go to table with the others1 and would force herself to eat and drink a little1 so as to escape notice and esteem as much as possible40#ajd ,and again here1 as in all matters visible and tangible1 she shows an impressive loneliness in the midst of her more carnal-minded disciples4 8,she would say within herself1 in astonishment0 at their stopping to wonder at things so much on the surface3 8,if you but knew another thing1 which ,i feel within myself60 ,and she would declare3 8,if we would rightly estimate the operations of ,god1 we should wonder more at interior than at exterior things4 ,this incapacity to eat is indeed an operation of ,god1 but one in which my will has no part2 hence ,i cannot glory in it4 ,nor is there cause for our wondering at it1 since for ,god this is as though a mere nothing40#aje #d4 ,the fasts form no part of her penitence4 ,these fasts1 although beginning within her first period are not characteristic of it2 and her biographers rightly put them into a chapter distinct from her penances1 properly speaking4 ,these penances will have continued alongside of1 and in between1 these fasts for about a year after the beginning of the latter4 ,and then at last1 at the end of this first period of four years1 8all thought of such 7active7 mortifications was1 in an instant1 taken from her mind in such guise that1 even had she wished to carry out such mortifications1 she would have been unable40 ,for 8the sight of her sins was now taken from her mind1 so that she henceforth did not catch a glimpse of them1--as though they had all been cast into the depths of the sea40#ajf ,v4 ,,second1 ,,central ,,period ,,of ,,catherine',s ,,convert ,,life1 #adgg-adii3 ,,its ,,special ,,spiritual ,,features4 ,we now come to the second1 longest1 and central period of her life1 #adgg-adii4 ,but though at first sight ,chapters ,,vi to ,,xlii1 and ,,xlv of the ,vita would seem exclusively to treat of these twenty-two years1 examination proves this to be far from the case4 ,if little or nothing from the first period is to be found there1 very much from the third is embedded in those pages4 ,and this scantiness of information springs from the simple fact that1 during these twenty-two years1 her inner life is led by herself alone1 without any direct human aid of companionship2 and her sufficient health1 and the correspondingly large amount of external activity among the sick and poor1 leave her but little or no time for those conferences and discourses amongst friends1 of which her last period is full4 ,this dearth of evidence is all the more to be regretted1 since these central years represent the culmination of her balance and many-sided power4 #a4 ,interior change4 ,for the first two years of this time she and ,giuliano continued to live in their small house of the ,portoria quarter1 very busy1 both of them1 amongst the sick and poor1 as well in the houses round about as in the ,hospital4 ,indeed1 externally1 little or no change can have been apparent4 ,it was the interior change1 the moving away from the actively and directly penitential state into one of expansive love and joy1 which alone1 as yet1 marked a new period4 #b4 ,the ,three ,rules of ,love4 ,the ,divine method of the soul's purification4 ,some time during these new beginnings it must have been that 8her ,love once said within her mind3 #8,observe1 little daughter1 these three rules4 ,never say 8,i will10 or 8,i will not40 ,never say 8mine10 but ever say 8our40 ,never excuse thyself1 but be ever ready to accuse thyself4'0 ,and another time ,he said3 8,when thou sayest the #8,our ,father1' take for thy foundation #8,thy ,will be done4' ,in the ,hail ,mary1 take #8,jesus4' ,in ,holy ,scripture take #8,love1' with which thou wilt ever go straightly1 exactly1 lightly1 attentively1 swiftly1 enlightenedly1 without error1 without guide1 and without the means of other creatures1 since ,love suffices unto itself to do all things without fear or weariness1 so that martyrdom itself appears unto it a joy40#ajg ,but this her love1 just because it is so real and from ,god1 appears indeed to fill her at any given moment1 yet it grows and shows her1 at each fresh stage1 both its own incompleteness and her own imperfection1 in her and its former stages4 8,at any one moment the love of that moment seemed to me to have attained to its greatest possible perfection4 ,but then1 in the course of time1 my spiritual sight having become clearer1 ,i saw that it had had many imperfections40 8,day by day ,i perceive that motes have been removed1 which this ,pure ,love casts out and eliminates4 ,this work is done by ,god1 and man is not aware of it at the time1 and cannot then see these imperfections2 indeed ,god continuously allows man to see his 7momentary7 operation as though it were without imperfection1 whilst all the time ,he1 before ,whom the heavens are not pure1 is not ceasing from removing imperfections from his soul40#ajh ,as ever throughout her life so now also1 consolations are not the aim and end1 but only the actual effects of her devotedness1 and the ever fresh incentives to increased disinterestedness and self-surrender4 ,and1 with regard to these consolations1 she again strove to escape all notice4 8,she would at times have her mind so full of divine love1 as to be all but incapable of speaking2 and would be in so great a transport of feeling as to be obliged to hide herself so as not to be seen4 ,she would lose the use of her senses and remain like one dead2 and1 to escape the occurrence of such things1 she would force herself to remain in company as much as possible4 ,and she would say to her ,lord3 #8,i do not want that which proceedeth from ,thee1 but ,i want ,thee alone1 ,o tender ,love4' ,but just because her love was so sincere and she fled from consolations1 her ,lord gave her of them all the more40#aji #c4 ,her ,ecstasies4 ,if on one of the many occasions when she had hidden herself away in some secret spot1 she was ever discovered by any one1 they would find her walking up and down1 and seeming as though she would wish to do so without end2 or they would come upon her with her face in her hands1 prostrate on the ground1 entranced1 and with feelings beyond description or conception4 8,these ecstasies would almost always last three or four hours2 and if1 on coming to herself1 she spoke of the wonders she had seen1 there was no one to understand her1 and so she kept silence40 8,and if called during one of these trances1 she would not hear1 even though they did so loudly40#aaj ,this inattention would1 however1 occur only in case the call was simply one of curiosity4 ,for on other occasions 8she would remain as though dead for six hours2 but on being called to the doing of any duty1 however trifling it might seem1 she would instantly arise and respond and go about the doing of this her obligation4 ,and she would thus leave all1 without any kind of trouble1 according to her wont of flying from self-will as though it were the devil4 ,and coming thus forth from her hiding-place she would have her face flushed1 so as to look like a cherub1 and to seem to have upon her lips the #8who then shall separate me from the love of ,christ8' of the glorious ,apostle40 ,and 8on thus arising from those trances1 she seemed to feel stronger both in body and in soul10#aaa as in the case of the fasting4 ,even in the midst of her work absorptions would occur like unto these in all but their length of duration3 8,at times her hands would sink1 unable to go on1 and weeping she would say1 #8,o my ,love1 ,i can no more'2 and would thus sit for a while with her senses alienated1 as though she had been dead4 ,and this would occur oftener at one time than at another1 according to the varying fulness of experience present in that purified mind40#aab #d4 ,pure ,love1 independent of any particular state or form of life4 ,and she was full of the conviction1 and cared much for the formal acknowledgment on the part of others1 that the possession and the increase of the most perfect love is independent of any particular state or form of life1 and is directly dependent upon two things only1 the grace of ,god and the generosity of the human will4 8,one day a ,friar and ,preacher1#aac perhaps to test her or because of some mistaken notion1 told her that he himself was better fitted for loving than she1 because he having entered ,religion and renounced all things both within and without1 and she being married to the world as he was to ,religion1 he found himself more free to love ,god1 and more acted upon by ,him4 ,and the ,friar went on1 and alleged many other reasons4 ,but when had spoken much and long1 an ardent flame of pure love seized upon ,catherine1 and she sprang to her feet with such fervour as to appear beside herself1 and she said3 #8,if ,i thought that your habit had the power of gaining me one single additional spark of love1 ,i should without fail take it from you by force1 if ,i were not allowed to have it otherwise4 ,that you should merit more than myself1 is a matter that ,i concede and do not seek1 ,i leave it in your hands2 but that ,i cannot love ,him as much as you1 is a thing that you will never by any means be able to make me understand4' ,and she said this with such force and fervour1 that all her hair came undone1 and1 falling down1 was scattered upon her shoulders4 ,and yet all the while this her vehement bearing was full of grace and dignity4--,and when back at home1 and alone with her ,lord1 she exclaimed3 #8,o ,love1 who shall impede me from loving ,thee8 ,though ,i were1 not only in the world as ,i am1 but in a camp of soldiers1 ,i could not be impeded from loving ,thee4'0#aad ,there is probably no scene recorded for us1 so completely characteristic of ,catherine at her deepest3 the breadth and the fulness1 the self-oblivion and the dignity1 the claimlessness and the spiritual power--all are there4 ,,vi4 ,,catherine ,,and ,,giuliano ,,move ,,into ,,the ,,hospital ,,in #adgi1 ,,never ,,again ,,to ,,quit ,,it4 ,,she ,,is ,,matron ,,from #adij ,,to #adie4 ,the special character1 both in form and content1 of ,catherine's spiritual life and doctrine will occupy us in ,chapter ,,vi4 ,here we have as yet specially to busy ourselves with its external and social occasions and effects4 ,and these effects were both large and constant2 indeed they were on the increase up to #adig1 two years before this second period comes to a close4 #a4 ,catherine and ,giuliano occupy two small rooms in the ,hospital4 ,for in #adgi the couple shift their quarters from outside the ,hospital to within that great building1 and there1 for eleven years1 they together occupy two little rooms1 living without pay and at their own expense1 but entirely devoted to the care of the poor sick and dying and of the orphans collected there4#aae ,indeed ,catherine never again lived outside the walls of the ,hospital during the thirty-one years that still remained to her on earth4 #b4 ,catherine's double life here1 #adgi-adij4 ,and here in these rooms1 and for eleven years1 she worked among the sick1 as but one of their many nurses4 ,the spacious1 high1 white-washed1 stone-flagged wards1 with the great tall windows shedding floods of glaring light or cheering sunshine1 according to the season without and to the mood of the poor sick within1 stand still as they stood in ,catherine's day4 ,true1 new wards have been added2 the lay female ,nurses of her time have been in part replaced by ,nursing ,sisters1 and the ,observant ,friars by ,capuchins2 much1 very much has been discovered since1 both as to man's body and as to the facts and functions of his mind2 all things1 and man's interpretation of all things1 seem as though irretrievably changed4 ,and yet the mystery of devoted love1 its necessity1 difficulty1 and actual operative presence1 as an occasional pang and aspiration in us all1 as a visible1 dominant influence in some of us1 remain with and in us still unchanged1 with all the freshness of an elemental force1 indestructible1 inexhaustible4 ,this devoted work of ,catherine1 this her serving of the sick 8with the most fervent affection1 and immense solicitude10#aaf had also the remarkable circumstance about it that1 8notwithstanding all this her attentive10 outward-looking 8care1 she never was without the consciousness of her tender ,love2 nor again did she1 because of this consciousness1 fail in any practical matter concerning the ,hospital40#aag #c4 ,matron of the ,hospital1 #adij-adif4 ,and this double life continued thus1 and grew in depth and breadth4 ,and at the end of fourteen years of such humble service1 she was1 in #adij1 appointed ,matron 7,rettora7 of the whole ,institution1 apparently the same year as that in which her now widowed cousin ,tommasina entered the ,augustinian ,convent of ,santa ,maria delle ,grazie4 ,during the six years in which she held this office1 she had much administrative business and responsibility weighing upon her4 ,large sums of money passed through her hands1 and she always managed to spend and to account for them with the greatest care and success4 ,indeed 8her accounts were never found wrong by a single danaro 7farthing740#aah ,,vii4 ,,catherine ,,and ,,the ,,plague4 ,,the ,,outbreak ,,of #adic4 ,it must have been after she had thus shown a rare devotedness and talent in an ordinary ,nurse's work1 and had next1 as ,matron1 manifested1 for some years1 a remarkable administrative ability1 that1 in #adic1 she rose1 in both capacities1 to the very height of heroism and efficiency4 #a4 ,catherine's general activity4 ,early in ,january of that year1 quite exceptionally cold weather visited the city3 the harbour was frozen over2 and early in the spring the ,plague broke out so fiercely1 and raged so long--till the end of ,august--that of those who remained in the stricken city1 four-fifths succumbed to the terrible disease4 ,most of the rich and noble1 all those that did not occupy any official post1 fled from the town4 ,but ,catherine not only remained at her post1 but she it was no doubt who organized1 or helped to organize1 the out-of-door ambulance and semi-open-air wards which we know to have been instituted at this juncture on the largest scale4 ,the great open space immediately at the back of and above the ,hospital1 where now still stretch the public gardens of the ,acquasola1 she managed to cover with rows of sailcloth tents1 and appointed special ,doctors 7mostly ,lombards71 ,nurses1 and ,priests and ,franciscan ,tertiaries1 for the physical and spiritual care of their occupants4 ,throughout the weeks and months of the visitation she was daily in their midst1 superintending1 ordering1 stimulating1 steadying1 consoling1 strengthening this vast crowd of panic-stricken poor and severely strained workers4 #b4 ,the pestiferous woman4 ,and 8on one occasion1 she found0 here1 8a very devout woman1 a ,tertiary of ,st4 ,francis1 dying of0 this 8pestilential fever4 ,the woman lay there in her agony1 speechless for eight days4 ,and ,catherine constantly visited her1 and would say to her1 #8,call ,jesus4' ,unable to articulate1 the woman would move her lips2 and it was conjectured that she was calling ,him as well as she could4 ,and ,catherine1 when she saw the woman's mouth thus filled1 as it were1 with ,jesus1 could not restrain herself from kissing it with great and tender affection4 ,and in this way she herself took this pestilential fever1 and very nearly died of it4 ,but1 as soon as ever she had recovered1 she was back again at her work1 with the same great attention and diligence40#aai ,how much there is in this little scene6 ,beautiful1 utterly self-oblivious impulsiveness2 a sleepless sense of the omnipresence of ,christ as ,love1 and of this ,love filling all things that aspire and thirst after it1 as spontaneously as the liberal air and the overflowing mother's breast fill and feed even the but slightly aspiring or the painfully labouring lungs and the eager1 helpless infant mouth2 swift1 tender1 warm1 whole-hearted affection for this outwardly poor and disfigured1 but inwardly rich and beautiful fellow-creature and twin-vessel of election2 an underlying virile elasticity of perseverance and strenuous1 cheerful1 methodical laboriousness2 all these things are clearly there4 ,only when everything had again returned to its normal condition did she once more restrict herself to the administrative work of the ,hospital4#abj ,,viii4 ,,catherine ,,and ,,ettore ,,vernazza1 #adic-adie4 ,it must have been during this epidemic of #adic that ,catherine first got to know1 or at least first to work with1 a man hardly less remarkable than herself4 #a4 ,ettore's family1 marriage1 and philanthropic work4 ,the ,genoese notary ,ettore ,vernazza1 ,catherine's junior by some twenty-three years1 7as in the cases of his still greater contemporaries and compatriots1 ,columbus1 ,pope ,julius ,,ii1 and ,andrea ,doria1 the year of his birth remains uncertain1 but is probably #adgj17 was a scion of the ancient house of ,vernaccia1 which derived its name from a wine-producing village on the ,eastern ,riviera4 ,a ,riccobono ,vernaccia had been ,chancellor of ,genoa1 as far back as #acde4 ,ettore1 the first of the family to write his name ,vernazza1 was the son of the ,notary ,pietro ,vernaccia and of ,battistina ,spinola1 his wife4 ,a sister of his1 ,marietta1 married into the ,fieschi family4#aba ,and if ,catherine really did go among the pestiferous sick1 she can hardly have failed to meet ,ettore1 now twenty-three years old4 ,for his eldest daughter1 the ,augustinian ,canoness1 the ,venerable ,battista ,vernazza1 a most careful writer and one full of a life-long vivid remembrance of her father1 in an account of ,ettore1 written by her in ,genoa in #aeha 7she was born in #adig1 four years after the event she describes71 tells of 8a great compassion which he had conceived when still very young1 at the time that the pestilence raged in ,genoa1 and when he used to go around to aid the poor1 and when he found that1 by means of a preparation of cassia1 he could bring them back from 7certain7 death to life40#abb #b4 ,ettore's character2 ,catherine's chief biographer4 ,ettore was1 and he kept and made himself1 and rare graces fashioned him ever increasingly into1 a man of fine and keen1 deep and world-embracing mind and heart1 of an overflowing1 ceaseless activity1 and of a will of steel4 ,to him1 the earliest and perhaps up to the end the most intimate1 certainly the most perceptive1 of ,catherine's disciples and chroniclers1 we owe the transmission of many of the reminiscences of her conversion and early strivings 7no doubt primarily derived from her own self71 and of probably more than half of such authentic sayings and discourses of hers1 as were recorded contemporaneously with their utterance4 ,indeed all that remains to us of written testimony1 contemporaneous in this strict sense of the word1 and that is other than legal documents1 can1 up to #adii1 be safely attributed to him4 ,and all such constituents of the now sadly mixed up1 and most varyingly valuable1 materials and successive layers of the ,vita ed ,opere as can with probability be assigned to his composition1 are characterized by a remarkable clearness and consistency1 restraint and refinement1 elasticity and freshness of spiritual apprehension and sympathy4 ,thus ,ettore's influence back upon the formation of ,catherine's literary image and of our entire1 especially of our authentic1 conception of her1 was predominant1 and her influence upon his whole life was decisive2 and hence his life can be rightly taken as an indefinite extension and new application and necessary supplementation of her own life and doctrine4 ,i shall then1 for both these reasons1 try and work up what we can recover concerning the successive stages of his intercourse with ,catherine and of the growth of his own life up to her death1 into the corresponding vicissitudes of her remaining years4 ,it must have been two years later 7#adie7 that ,vernazza became her disciple2 and probably some two or three years still further on1 that ,ettore began to keep 7no doubt at first only quite occasional7 records of her ,sayings and ,doings4#abc ,,ix4 ,,catherine',s ,,health ,,breaks ,,down1 #adif2 ,,other ,,events ,,of ,,the ,,same ,,year4 ,the year #adif is marked by various events external and internal4 #a4 ,three external changes4 ,in ,june1 or some time before1 ,vernazza marries the beautiful ,bartolommea ,ricci1 of the distinguished family of that name4 ,on the #agth of ,june ,giuliano sells his ,palace in the ,via ,st4 ,agnese4 ,and1 probably at ,midsummer1 perhaps at ,michaelmas1 ,catherine1 forced to do so by increasing physical infirmities1 resigns her office of ,matron4#abd #b4 ,end of the extraordinary ,fasts4 ,catherine 8was now no more able to have a care of the government of the ,hospital or of her own little house0 7within its precincts7 8owing to her great bodily weakness4 ,she would now find it necessary1 after ,communion1 to take some food to restore her bodily strength1 and this even if it was a fast day40 ,we thus get the beginning of a third period with regard to such fasting powers4 ,in the first1 she had done as all the world1 but had been able to keep all the ,church fasts and abstinences4 ,in the second1 she had1 during ,lent and ,advent1 eaten little or nothing1 and had1 during the remainder of the time1 lived as she had done before4 ,and now1 for the rest of her life1 her eating and fasting are entirely fitful and intermittent1 and she has to abandon all 7at least systematic7 attempts to keep even the ordinary ,church fasts and abstinences4 ,if we are determined to insist on the accuracy of the 8twenty-three ,lents and twenty-two ,advents0 of her extraordinary fasts affirmed already by ,,ms4 8,a10 we shall have to understand this present inability to fast as applying1 till after ,lent #adif1 only to the times outside of ,lent and ,advent1 since this fasting period cannot be made to begin earlier than ,lent #adgf4 ,i take it that in this1 as certainly in most other cases1 there was1 in reality1 a much more gradual transition than the ,vita accounts would lead one to expect4 #c4 ,she continues within the ,hospital precincts4 ,her two maid-servants4 ,catherine had ceased to be ,matron1 but she did not leave the ample precincts of the ,hospital2 indeed she continued in the separate little house1 which she had1 probably since #adij1 been occupying with ,giuliano4 ,but it will be better to describe her abode a little later on1 when we can be quite sure as to its identity4 ,she had now1 as ,i think had been the case since soon after she had left her ,palace1 two maids in her service3 the widow and ,franciscan ,tertiary1 ,benedetta ,lombarda1 who appears1 already then as an old and valued servant1 in ,giuliano's will of ,october #adid1 and who never left ,catherine till her death2 and a younger1 unmarried maid1 either ,mariola ,bastarda or a certain ,antonietta4 ,argentina del ,sale1 too1 will have often1 perhaps continually1 been about ,catherine1 aiding her in various ways2 but she will not as yet have been living under the same roof with her4 ,as we shall find1 this little perfervid and untrained intelligence became the instrument1 or at least the occasion1 of the introduction of the largest legendary incident into the ultimate ,vita of her mistress4 ,x4 ,,events ,,of #adig4 ,the next year1 #adig1 is marked by two events1 of all but contradictory import and effect4 #a4 ,birth of ,tommasina 7,battista7 ,vernazza4 ,on ,april #ae ,vernazza's first child1 a daughter1 is born2 and ,catherine is her ,god-mother and holds her at the ,font4 ,dottore ,tommaso ,moro1 a learned lawyer friend of ,ettore1 is the ,god-father1 and the child is given his name and is called ,tommasina4 ,what would ,catherine have felt or said had she foreseen the vicissitudes--they will occupy us in due course--through which this1 her fellow ,god-parent1 was to pass1 during the storms of that ,religious ,revolution which were to break out so soon after her death8 ,she would1 we may be sure1 have at all events been glad at the action and influence of her ,god-daughter towards and upon her ,god-father1 in those sad and most difficult times4 #b4 ,giuliano's death4 ,and ,giuliano was gravely ill ever since the beginning of the year1 if not before2 and some time in ,august or ,september he died4#abe ,he had been suffering long from a chronic and most painful illness2 and towards the end1 8he became very impatient2 and ,catherine1 fearful lest he should lose his soul1 withdrew into another chamber1 and there cried aloud for his salvation unto her tender ,love1 ever repeating with tears and sighs these words alone3 #8,o ,love1 ,i demand this soul of ,thee2 ,i beg ,thee1 give it me1 for indeed ,thou canst do so4' ,and having persevered thus for about half-an-hour with many a plaint1 she was given at last an interior assurance of having been heard4 ,and returning to her husband1 she found him all changed and peaceful in his ways1 and giving clear indications1 both by words and signs1 that he was fully resigned to the will of ,god40 ,and 8some time after his death she said to a spiritual son of hers10 no doubt ,vernazza3 8#8,my son1 ,messer ,giuliano has gone2 and you know well that he was of a somewhat wayward nature1 whence ,i suffered much mental pain4 ,but my tender ,love1 before that he passed from this ,life1 certified me of his salvation4' ,and ,catherine1 having spoken these words1 showed signs of regret at having uttered them2 and he was discreet and did not answer this remark of hers1 but turned the conversation to other topics40#abf ,at all events this conversation is thoroughly authentic1 and ,catherine's reserve1 and her regret at having somewhat broken through her usual restraint1 are profoundly characteristic3 the contributors to and redactors of her ,life have been increasingly blind1 or even opposed1 to all such beautifully spontaneous and human little shynesses and regrets for momentary indiscretions4 #c4 ,giuliano's ,will4 ,giuliano had1 by his ,will of the #bjth ,october #adid1 ordered his body to be buried in the ,hospital ,church2 and this was now carried out by ,catherine4 ,a vault of some dimensions must have been made or bought1 since later both she herself and ,argentina del ,sale declared their wish to be buried in ,giuliano's 8monument40 ,perhaps the wish of the latter was carried out4 ,but ,giuliano had left two far more important and difficult matters to the management of ,catherine1--matters which1 indeed1 were respectively full of pain and of anxiety for her1--,thobia1 and his share in the ,island of ,scios4 ,as to ,thobia1 he had left #ejj to the ,protectors of the ,hospital1 among which were reckoned #bjj which he had already paid them through his late mother1 ,thobia ,adorna1 for the keep of this daughter of his1 and had warmly recommended her to their kind care2 and had arranged1 in case they refused this responsibility1 that ,thobia 7who must by now have been quite twenty-six years of age7 should be regularly paid the interest on this money4 ,he also left to ,catherine1 for payment to 8a certain person in ,religion10--possibly a member of a ,third ,order1 and whose identity is carefully concealed1 but who cannot fail to be ,thobia's mother--8#aej1 in repayment of the same sum1 borrowed from her by himself and the said ,catherine10--money which this poor mother will have spent on the child's keep1 up to the time when ,giuliano told his story to ,catherine4 ,as to his two carati 7shares7 in the lands of the ,island of ,scios1 farmed by the ,genoese ,merchant ,company 8,maona10 he desires that1 if sold1 his cousins ,agostino and ,giovanni ,adorno shall be able to buy these carati for a lower price than would be required of any other purchaser4 ,there are also elaborate conditions and alternatives attached to a legacy of #b1jjj to his unmarried nephew ,giovanni ,adorno1 with a view to his marrying and having legitimate children3 an anxiety which of itself would show how sincere had been ,giuliano's own conversion1 and which was evidently not far-fetched1 since in this very ,will he leaves #abe to a natural sister of his1 ,catherine1 daughter of his father ,jacobo1 for the boarding 7no doubt during the latter years of her life7 of his late mother1 ,thobia ,adorna4 ,giuliano had also left ,catherine herself #a1jjj1--;a return of her marriage dowry1 and #ajj from himself2 and in addition 8all garments1 trinkets1 gold1 silver1 cash1 furniture1 and articles of vertu1 which might be found either in his dwelling-place or elsewhere40 ,and he does so because he 8knows and recognizes that the said ,catherine1 his beloved wife and heiress1 has ever behaved herself well and laudably towards himself10 and 8wants to provide the means for her continuing to lead1 after his death1 her quiet1 peaceful1 and spiritual mode of life40 ,and he adds the condition that1 8if the said ,catherine were to proceed to a second marriage 7a thing which he does not think she will ever do71 then he deprives her of all the legacies and rights and duties of heirship mentioned in this ,will1 and confers them upon the honourable ,office of the ,misericordia of ,genoa10--a society with and for which1 as we have seen1 ,catherine had worked so much and so well4 ,altogether ,giuliano had left by this ,will about #f1jjj for ,catherine to allot and appropriate2 and quite #d1jjj of this sum-total demanded careful and even anxious consideration1 whilst #fej of it could not but provoke painful memories and make a call upon all her generosity4 ,and by his ,codicil of ,january #adig1 he had given her still greater latitude of action1 by declaring that1 as regarded his legacy to the ,hospital1 ,catherine should have full power and leave to abrogate or to modify it1 according to her will and pleasure4#abg ,thus these documents constitute an impressive proof of ,giuliano's full trust in the wisdom1 balance of mind and magnanimity of his wife1 now herself already so broken in health4 #d4 ,catherine's execution of ,giuliano's ,will4 ,it is nine months after ,giuliano's death1 on ,may #ai1 #adih1 that we can watch and see how ,catherine has been attempting to execute her trust1 and how her nature has responded to these various difficult calls upon it1 and to the claims of her own family4 ,she first of all1 then1 orders her body to be buried in the same grave with her husband1 in the ,hospital ,church2 and that only the ,friars and ,clergy of the ,hospital shall be present at the funeral2 and leaves #aj for her obsequies and #ej for ,masses for herself4 ,she next leaves to the ,priest ,blasio ,cicero four shares of the ,bank of ,st4 ,george 7about #bjj71 of which he is to pay #aej to a certain female ,religious1 in satisfaction for a certain debt4 ,and she abrogates ,giuliano's legacy to the ,hospital1 and1 in its place1 herself leaves it four shares of ,st4 ,george's 7at the time about #bjj1 but always tending to increase in value71 in liquidation of the #cjj that remained unpaid from among the #ejj of that legacy4 ,she next leaves to ,benedetta ,lombarda one share of ,saint ,george's1 in addition to the similar share left her by ,giuliano2 and to 8,antonietta1 dwelling with ,testatrix1 #be1 in case she shall live with her up to her death40 ,as to the two carati1 she leaves them to ,giovanni ,adorno1 in lieu of the money bequeathed to him by ,giuliano4 ,as to her own relations1 she leaves two shares of ,st4 ,george's apiece to her two nieces ,maria and ,battista1 the daughters of her eldest brother ,jacobo1 for their marriage portions2 and1 if they all die before marriage1 then all this money is to go to their father4 ,she leaves #aj to her ,augustinian ,canoness sister ,limbania2 and institutes her three brothers ,jacobo1 ,giovanni and ,lorenzo1 and their heirs1 her residuary legatees4 ,here four things are noticeable4 ,catherine has herself undertaken the expenses of ,thobia's keep2 the apparent lessening on her part of the sum originally apportioned for the purpose by ,giuliano is doubtless only apparent1 and must proceed from the same cause which has produced a similar apparent diminution in the amount of ,giuliano's legacy to his nephew from #b1jjj to #a1ejj4 ,in the next place1 this is the only one out of the couple's four ,wills1 in which the second maid is not ,mariola ,bastarda1 but a certain ,antonietta4 ,catherine feels uncertain as to whether ,antonietta will persevere in her service to the end2 and we shall find that she has again disappeared in ,catherine's next ,will of #aejf1 and that ,mariola has again taken up her old place4 ,we shall find that a story1 of which the authenticity and significance are most difficult to fix1 attaches without doubt to one or the other of these maids4 ,in the third place1 ,catherine does not sell the two carati1 but leaves them1 in lieu of the money bequeathed to him1 to ,giovanni ,adorno2 no doubt from the feeling that thus1 at her death1 this her share in the government and exploitation of the ,greek island would be in the hands of a man in the prime of life1 who could help to check malpractices4 ,and lastly1 she shows a generous forgiveness of ,giuliano1 a delicate magnanimity towards ,thobia and ,thobia's mother1 and a thoughtful affection for all her own near and grown-up relations1 by ordering her body to be buried in the same grave with ,giuliano2 by herself undertaking the charges of ,thobia's keep1 and appointing a priest by name for handing over ,giuliano's legacy to the still unnamed mother of ,thobia2 and by remembering her sister1 although she had long been provided for in her ,convent1 her three brothers1 who were no doubt indefinitely richer than herself1 and especially her two marriageable nieces4 ,altogether1 of the #b1cjd definitely accounted for in the ,will1 she leaves #fi for her own funeral and for ,masses for herself2 #djj for ,thobia and her mother2 #baj to her own relations2 #abe to servants2 and #a1ejj to her husband's nephew4 ,there is no trace here of any indifference to the natural ties of kindred1 or of an abstraction of mind rendering her incapable of a careful consideration and firm decision in matters of business3 a point which we shall find to be of much importance1 later on4 #e4 ,ettore's 8,mandiletto0-work4 ,in this year1 too1 if not already in the previous one1 ,vernazza founded the institution of the 8,mandiletto40 ,still a young man--for he was now at most but twenty-eight--,ettore had been noticing1 in his work among the poor1 how much misery of all kinds obtained in commercial1 money-making1 hazard-loving ,genoa1 amongst persons who1 even though ill1 refused to take refuge in the hospitals2 and who1 however poor at present1 had known better1 even brilliant days1 and were too proud to beg1 or even to accept alms from any one who could recognize them4 ,and hence he now organized a system for discovering and visiting such persons in their own homes and for minimizing their pain in accepting help1 by arranging that the members of this little fraternity should never visit such houses1 except with some kind of little veil or handkerchief 7fazzoletto1 mandiletto7 applied to their faces4#abh ,catherine1 who had helped the ,uffizio della ,misericordia so much1 and who herself so greatly disliked being noticed or even simply seen whenever she was doing or suffering anything at all out of the common1 had no doubt1 at least in a general way1 inspired this beautifully delicate means of preserving and sparing the bashfulness of the giver and the dignity of the recipient4 ,throughout the remaining years of her life she must have cared to hear ,vernazza's report as to the progress of this work4 ,,xi4 ,,beginning ,,of ,,her ,,third1 ,,last ,,period2 ,,end ,,of ,,the ,,extraordinary ,,fasts2 ,,first ,,relations ,,with ,,don ,,marabotto4 ,but it is in the next year1 #adii1 that we reach the actual beginning of the third and last period of ,catherine's ,convert life4 #a4 ,end of the ,fasts2 transfer of the 8carati40 ,some of the events of this year are again predominantly external1 or but continuations or consequences of previous inclinations of her will4 ,it must have been at the end of the ,lent of this spring-time that all extraordinary fasting-power1 of a kind that could be foreseen and that more or less synchronized with the ecclesiastical season1 left her for good and all4 ,and she had gone on feeling strongly her share of responsibility for the government of that far-off island4 ,hence she betook herself1 on ,september #ah of this year1 with the ,notary ,battista ,strata1 who has drawn up nine out of the fourteen ,legal ,acts of ,giuliano and herself1 to the great palace of the ,cardinal ,giuliano della ,rovere1 who1 four years later1 became ,pope ,julius ,,ii4 ,this palace stood by the 7now destroyed7 ,church of ,san ,tommaso1 and was at this time the residence of ,giovanni ,adorno4 ,and there1 in the great ,loggia looking south1 ,catherine dictated the substance of an ,act of ,cession then and there to her husband's nephew of those two carati1 which weighed so heavily on her mind4 ,perhaps ,giovanni was in poor health1 and ,catherine was too eager to eschew her responsibility in the matter to be willing to wait any longer4#abi #b4 ,beginning of ,catherine's relations with ,don ,marabotto4 ,the chief event1 however1 from the point of view of her inner life1 and which gives us a second close and most important eyewitness for her last period1 was the beginning of her spiritual relations with ,don ,marabotto4#acj 8,at the end of the twenty-five years during which she had persevered the way of ,god without the means of any creature10 says the ,vita1 8the ,lord gave her a priest1 to take care both of her soul and of her body2 a spiritual man and one of holy life1 to whom ,god gave light and grace to understand ,his operations within her4 ,he had been appointed ,rector of the ,hospital2 and hence was in a position to hear her ,confession1 say ,mass for her1 and give her ,holy ,communion according to her convenience40#aca ,now the rare and profound isolation and independence of her middle period render this turning to and finding of human help specially significant2 the numerous sayings addressed to her ,confessor to be found throughout the ,vita were all1 with the sole exception of those contained in the ,conversion-scene1 spoken to ,marabotto and transmitted by him to us2#acb and probably at least half of the narrative of her ,life and well-nigh all her ,passion are due to ,don ,marabotto's pen4 ,it is then important1 and it is possible to get a fairly clear idea as to the sort of man he was4 #c4 ,don ,marabotto's family and character2 ,catherine's attitude towards him4 ,don ,cattaneo came from a stock even more ancient and distinguished than that of ,vernazza4 ,a ,marabotto had had a lawsuit with the ,bishop of ,genoa in #aabh2 ,roggiero ,marabotto had lent money to the ,king of ,sardinia in #aafd2 ,martino ,marabotto had been ,ambassador to ,rome1 ,florence1 and ,lucca in #abef2 ,pelagio of that name had been ,notary to the ,mint in #adce2 ,giorgio1 a ,doctor of ,medicine in #adbd2 ,ambrosio1 ,lieutenant-,governor of ,corsica in #adei4 ,and the family1 like the ,fieschi1 had always been ,guelph3 ,federico ,marabotto had armed nine galleys against the ,ghibellines and had had a narrow escape from the latter1 during a dark night of #accj2 and ,antonio and ,domenico were known ,guelph leaders in #adej and #adeb4 ,indeed the latter was ,procurator to the ,fieschi family in #addc1 and thus anticipated1 by sixty years and on a larger scale1 ,don ,cattaneo's management of ,catherine ,fiesca's modest affairs4#acc ,don ,cattaneo himself we find ever gentle1 patient1 devoted and full of unquestioning reverence towards ,catherine2 most valuably accurate and detailed in his reproduction of things1 in proportion to their tangibleness2 naf and without humour1 thoroughly matter of fact1 readily identifying the physical with the spiritual1 and thus often1 unconsciously1 all but succeeding in depriving ,catherine's spirit1 for us who have so largely to see her with his eyes1 of much of its specially characteristic transcendence and of its equally characteristic ethical and spiritual immanence4 ,such a mind would appear better fitted to follow1--at a respectful distance1--than to lead such a spirit1 as ,catherine's2 and1 indeed1 to be more apt to help her as a man of business than as a man of ,god4 ,as a matter of fact1 however1 he was quite evidently of very great help and consolation1 even in purely spiritual matters1 to ,catherine1 during these last eleven years of her life4 ,not as though there were any instances of his initiating1 stimulating1 or modifying any of her ideals or doctrines3 she entirely remains1 in purely spiritual matters1 her own old self1 and continues to grow completely along the lines of her previous development4 ,and again he did attend1 with an all but unbroken assiduity1 to matters not directly belonging to his province qua priest1--to her much-tried1 ever-shifting bodily health1 and1 probably some three or four years later on1 to her financial affairs1 which latter were still of some variety and complication1 owing to her generous anxiety to do much for others1 with but little of her own4 ,but between these two opposite extremes of possible help or influence lay another middle level1 in which his aid was considerable4 ,for 8whenever ,god worked anything within her1 which impressioned her much either in soul or body1 she would confer about it all with her ,confessor2 and he1 with the grace and light of ,god1 understood well-nigh all1 and would give her answers which seemed to show that he himself felt the very thing that she was feeling herself40 8,and she would say1 that even simply to have him by1 gave her great comfort1 because they understood each other1 even by just looking each other in the face without speaking40#acd ,marabotto's ,direction consists1 then1 in giving her the human support of human understanding and sympathy1 and1 no doubt1 in reminding her1 in times of darkness1 of the lights and truths received and communicated by her in times of consolation4 ,never does ,marabotto see1 or think he sees1 as far or as clearly as she sees1 when she sees at all2 and it is the light derived by him from herself at one time1 which he administers to her soul at another4 #d4 ,catherine's first ,confession to ,don ,cattaneo4 ,the general tone and character of her first ,confession to him are described to us1 no doubt from his own contemporary record4 8,she said3 #8,father1 ,i know not where ,i am1 either as to my soul or as to my body4 ,i should like to confess1 but ,i cannot perceive any offence committed by me4'0 8,and as to the sins which she mentioned10 adds ,marabotto1 8she was not allowed to see them as so many sins1 thought or said or done by herself4 ,but her state of soul was like unto that of a small boy1 who would have committed some slight offence in simple ignorance2 and who1 if some one told him3 ,you have done evil1 would at these words suddenly change colour and blush1 and yet not because he has now an experimental knowledge of evil40 8,and many a time she would say to her ,confessor3 #8,i do not want to neglect ,confession1 and yet ,i do not know to whom to give the blame of my sins2 ,i want to accuse myself1 and cannot manage it4' ,and yet1 with all this1 she made all the acts appropriate to ,confession40#ace ,we shall see1 indeed1 how keen1 right up to the end1 was her sense of her frailty and of her general and natural inclination to evil4 ,and her teaching as to numerous positive and active imperfections remaining in the soul1 in every soul1 up to the very end1 is so clear and constant1 and so admittedly derived from her own experience1 that we can explain the above only by the supplementary part of her doctrine 7also derived from her own experience71 which insists that some greatly advanced souls do not1 at the time of committing them1 as yet see these their imperfections1 and that1 by the time they have so far further advanced as to see these imperfections1 they are no more inclined to commit them4 ,in this way1 then1 there would be no fully formal sin or deliberate imperfection to confess4 ,,xii4 ,,her ,,conversations ,,with ,,her ,,disciples2 8,,caterina ,,serafina40 ,,don ,,marabotto ,,and ,,the ,,possessed ,,maid4 #a4 ,pure ,love and ,heaven4 ,it is probably during the next two years of her life1 that occurred the beautiful scene and conversation1--so typical of her relations with her disciples during this first part of her last period 7#adii to #aeja71 which we can think of as her spiritual ,indian summer1 her ,aftermath4 ,the scene has been recorded for us by her chief interlocutor1 ,vernazza4 ,probably ,bartolommea1 ,ettore's wife1 was present1 and possibly also ,don ,marabotto4 8,this blessed soul10 he writes1 8all surrounded though she was by the deep and peaceful ocean of her ,love1 ,god1 desired nevertheless to express in words1 to her spiritual children1 the sentiments that were within her4 ,and many a time she would say to them3 #8,o would that ,i could tell what my heart feels6' ,and her children would say3 #8,o ,mother1 tell us something of it4' ,and she would answer3 #8,i cannot find words appropriate to so great a love4 ,but this ,i can say with truth1 that if of what my heart feels but one drop were to fall into ,hell1 ,hell itself would altogether turn into ,eternal ,life4'0#acf 8,and one of these her spiritual children1 an interior soul 7un ,religioso710--,vernazza1 present on this occasion1--8dismayed at what she was saying1 replied3 #8,mother1 ,i do not understand this2 if it were possible1 ,i would gladly understand it better4' ,but ,catherine answered3 #8,my son1 ,i find it impossible to put it otherwise4' ,then he1 eager to understand further1 said3 #8,mother1 supposing we gave your word some interpretation1 and that this corresponded to what is in your mind1 would you tell us if it was so8' #8,willingly1 dear son1' rejoined ,catherine1 with evident pleasure40 8,and the disciple continued3 #8,the matter might perhaps stand in this wise4' ,and he then explained how that the love which she was feeling united her1 by participation1 with the goodness of ,god1 so that she no more distinguished herself from ,god4 ,now ,hell stands for the very opposite1 since all the spirits therein are in rebellion against ,god4 ,if then it were possible for them to receive even a little drop of such union1 it would deprive them of all rebellion against ,god1 and would so unite them with ,love1 with ,god ,himself1 as to make them be in ,life ,eternal4 ,for ,hell is everywhere where there is such rebellion2 and ,life ,eternal1 wheresoever there is such union4 ,and the ,mother1 hearing this1 appeared to be in a state of interior jubilation2 whence with beaming face she answered3 #8,o dear son1 truly the matter stands as you have said2 and hearing you speak1 ,i feel it really is so4 ,but my mind and tongue are so immersed in this ,love1 that ,i cannot myself either say or think these or other reasons4' ,and the ,disciple then said3 #8,o ,mother1 could you not ask your ,love1 ,god1 for some of these little drops of union for your sons8' ,she answered1 and with increased joyousness3 #8,i see this tender ,love to be so full of condescension to these my sons1 that for them ,i can ask nothing of ,it1 and can only present them before ,his sight4'0#acg ,i sincerely know not where to look for a doctrine of grander depth and breadth1 of more vibrating aliveness2 for one more directly the result of life1 or leading more directly to it1 than are those few half-utterances and delicately strong indications of an overflowing interior plenitude and radiant1 all-conquering peace4 ,and even one such scene is sufficient to make us feel that the following passage of the ,dialogo is1 in its substance and tone1 profoundly true to facts3 8,this soul remained henceforth0 7in this third period7 8many a time in company with its many spiritual friends1 discoursing of the ,divine ,love1 in such wise that they felt as though in ,paradise1 both collectively1 and each one in his own particular way4 ,how delightful were these colloquies6 ,he who spoke and he who listened1 each one fed on spiritual food of a delicious kind2 and because the time flew so swiftly1 they never could attain satiety1 but1 all on fire within them1 they would remain there1 unable at last to speak1 unable to depart1 as though in ecstasy40#ach #b4 8,caterina ,serafina04 ,five times the ,vita compares her countenance1 which1 when she was deeply moved1 had a flushed1 luminous and transparent appearance1 to that of an ,angel or ,cherub or ,seraph2#aci and it even gives a story1 which purports to explain how she came to be called the latter4 ,and though this anecdote may be little more than a literary dramatization of this popular appellation of ,catherine2 and although1 even if the scene be historical1 ,catherine has no kind of active share in bringing it about2 yet the passage is1 in any case1 of some real interest1 since it testifies to and typifies ,catherine's abundance of moral and mental sanity and strong1 serene restorative influence over unbalanced or tempted souls1 and this at a time when she herself had already been in delicate health for about five years4 ,the story is interesting also in that it shows how strikingly like the superficial psycho-physical symptoms of persons described as possessed by an evil spirit were1 and were thought to be1 to those of ecstasy1 hence to ,catherine's own4 ,thus when an attack seized this 8spiritual daughter of ,catherine1--a woman of large mind 7alto intelleto71 who lived and died in virginity1 and under the same roof with ,catherine0 7no doubt ,catherine's second1 unmarried servant ,mariola ,bastarda is meant1 and each must have had experience of the other's powers and wants from or before #adij till #adig1 and again from #aejj onwards71--8she would become greatly agitated and be thrown to the ground4 ,the evil spirit would enter into her mind1 and would not allow her to think of divine things4 ,and she would thus be as one beside herself1 all submerged in that malign and diabolic will40--,and similarly we are told that ,catherine would 8throw herself to the ground1 altogether beside herself10 8immersed in a sea10--in this case1 8of the deepest peace02 and 8she would writhe as though she were a serpent40#adj ,yet this superficial likeness between these two states1--a likeness apparent already in the similar double series of phenomena described in ,st4 ,paul's ,epistles and in the ,acts of the ,apostles1--serves1 here also1 but to bring out in fuller relief the profound underlying spiritual and moral difference between the two conditions of soul4 ,for it is precisely in ,catherine's company that1 when insufferable to her own self1 the afflicted ,mariola would recover her peace and self-possession1 so that 8even a silent look up to ,catherine's face would help to bring relief40#ada ,it is in #aejj1 soon after ,mariola's return to her mistress 7,i take the maid's state of health to have occasioned her absence from ,catherine for two years or so71 that this spiritual daughter is represented as declaring in the first stage of one of these attacks1--or rather 8the unclean spirit0 possessing her is said to have exclaimed to ,catherine 8,we are both of us thy slaves1 because of that pure love which thou possessest in thy heart02 and 8full of rage at having made this admission1 he threw himself on the ground1 and writhed with the feet40 ,and then when1--all this is supposed to take place in the presence of both ,catherine and ,don ,marabotto1--the possessed one has stood up1 the ,confessor forces the spirit step by step to speak out and to declare successively that ,catherine is 8,caterina10 8,adorna or ,fiesca10 and 8,caterina ,serafina10 the latter being uttered amidst great torment4#adb ,,xiii4 ,,catherine',s ,,sympathy ,,with ,,animal- ,,and ,,plant-,,life3 ,,her ,,love ,,of ,,the ,,open ,,air4 ,,her ,,deep ,,self-,,knowledge ,,as ,,to ,,the ,,healthiness ,,or ,,morbidness ,,of ,,her ,,psycho-,,physical ,,states4 #a4 ,increase of suffering and of range of sympathy4 ,it is indeed in this last period of her life that we can most clearly see a deeply attractive mixture of personal suffering and of tender sympathy with even the humblest of all things that live4 ,and this is doubtless not simply due to the much fuller evidence possessed by us for these last years1 but is quite as much owing to the actual increase of these twin things within herself4 8,she was most compassionate towards all creatures2 so that1 if an animal were killed or a tree cut down1 she could hardly bear to see them lose that being which ,god had given them40#adc ,and a beautiful communion of spirit can now be traced even between plant-life and herself2 and an innocent self-diversion from a too exciting concentration1 and help towards a patient keeping or a bracing reconquering of calmness1 is now found by her1 ,franciscan-like1 in the open air and amidst the restful flowers and trees4 ,thus 8at times she would seem to have her mind in a mill2 and as if this mill were indeed grinding her1 soul and body02 and then 8she would walk up and down in the garden1 and would address the plants and trees and say3 #8,are not you also creatures created by my ,god8 ,are not you1 too1 obedient to ,him8'0--even though1 ,i think she meant to say1 your life moves on so instinctive1 calm1 and freely expansive in the large1 liberal air1 as ,i feel it to do1 by its very contrast to my own eager1 crowded life1 struggling in vain for a sustained perfection of equipoise and for an even momentary adequacy of self-expression4 8,and doing thus1 she would gradually be comforted40#add ,indeed she would1 in still intenser moods1 use plants and other creatures of ,god in a more violent fashion4 ,but this is now no more done as of old1 for direct purposes of mortification2 but1 at one time1 from an unreflective transport of delight1 delight which itself seems ever to impel noble natures to seek to mix some suffering with it2 and1 at another time1 for the purpose of producing strong physical impressios1 counter-stimulations and escapes from a too great intensity of interior feeling4 8,she would at times1 when in the garden1 seize hold of the thorn-covered twigs of the rose-bushes with both her hands2 and would not feel any pain whilst thus doing it in a transport of mind4 ,she would also bite her hands and burn them1 and this in order to divert1 if possible1 her interior oppression40#ade #b4 ,she alone keeps the sense of the truly spiritual1 in the midst of her psycho-physical states4 ,indeed nothing is more characteristic of her psychic state1 during these years1 than the ever-increasing intensity1 shiftingness and close interrelation between the physical and mental4 ,but we shall find that1 whereas those who surround her1 ,confessor1 ,doctors1 ,disciples1 ,attendants1 all1 in various degrees and ways1 increasingly insist upon and persist in finding direct proofs of the supernatural in the purely physical phenomena of her state even when taken separately1 and indeed more and more in exact proportion to their non-spiritual character3 ,catherine herself1 although no doubt not above the medical or psychical knowledge of her time1 remains admirably centred in the truly spiritual1 and continually awake to the necessity of interior spiritual selection amongst and assimilation and transformation of all such psycho-physical impressions and conditions4 ,even in the midst of the extreme weaknesses of her last illness we shall see her only quite exceptionally1 and ever for but a few instants1 without this consciousness of the deep yet delicate difference in ethical value and helpfulness between the various psycho-physical things experienced by herself1 and of the requirements1 duties and perceptions of her own spirit with regard to them4 ,and this attitude is all the more remarkable because1 to the outer difficulty arising from the persistent1 far more immediate1 and apparently more directly religious1 view of all her little world about her1 came two peculiarities working in the same direction from within her own self4 ,there was the old constitutional keenness and concentration of her highly nervous physical and psychical temperament1 and the rarely high pitch and swift pace of her whole inner life1 which must1 at all times1 have rendered suspense of judgment and detachment with regard to her own sensations and quasi-physical impressions specially difficult4 ,and there was now the new intensity and closeness of interaction between soul and body1 which must have made such lofty detachment from all but spiritual realities a matter of the rarest grace and of the most heroic self-conquest4 #c4 ,catherine's health does not break up completely till #aejg4 ,the ,vita1 indeed1 as we now have it1 tells us that 8about nine years before her death10 hence in #aeja1 8an infirmity came upon her1 which neither her attendants nor the doctors knew how to identify02 and that 8there was confusion1 not on her own part1 but on the part of those who served her40#adf ,but this whole ,chapter ,,xlvii 7pp4 #abg-acb7 of the present ,vita1 which opens out thus1 is wanting in ,,mss4 8,a0 and 8,b02 and is composed of documents which appear1 in a fuller and more primitive form and in their right chronological place1 in the next three chapters 7pp4 #acb-afj71 chapters without doubt predominantly due to ,marabotto2 and of the documents making up the present ,chapter ,,xxxviii 7pp4 #ih1 #ii71 which are earlier again1 in both contents and composition1 and are very certainly the work of ,vernazza4 ,and this means that1 though the present ,chapter ,,xlvii claims to give a general account of her condition during #aeja-aeaj1 it does not1 as a matter of fact1 give us anything but details belonging without doubt to #aejg-aeaj4 ,the manner in which this late compiler insists upon the directly spiritual1 indeed supernatural1 character of even the clearly secondary and physical phenomena of her state1 make it highly probable that1 having once exaggerated the quality1 he readily snatched at any indications 7possibly a slip of the pen in some ,,ms41 writing #aeja instead of #aejg2 we have a similar slip in ,,ms4 8,a0 which on p4 #aic twice writes #aejf for #aeji71 which favoured an early date for the beginning of her last illness4 ,certainly the legal documents at our disposal show her to us still variously interested and active1 right up to #aejg4 ,it will1 then1 be better first to describe this activity up to #aejg1 and to take even the general questions concerning her illness in connection with her last four years1 #aejg-aeaj4 ,,xiv4 ,,catherine',s ,,social ,,joys ,,and ,,sorrows1 #aeja-aejg4 #a4 ,birth of ,ettore's last two daughters4 ,it will have been during these years #aeja to #aejg1 unless indeed already between #adig and #aeja1 that ,vernazza's second and third daughters were born2 and if ,catherine had stood ,god-mother to his eldest child1 ,tommasina1 it is inconceivable that she should not have cared for ,tommasina's sisters1 ,catetta and ,ginevrina4 ,certainly their father1 ,catherine's closest friend and disciple1 gave detailed attention1 right up to the end of his strenuous life1 to all three children2 and made most thoughtful particular provision1 in his still extant remarkable ,will of #aeag1 for the youngest1 ,ginevrina1 who at that time was the only one not yet settled in life4#adg ,thus ,vernazza knew how to combine all this detailed thought for his own children with the spacious public spirit of which his ,dispositions are a still extant1 most impressive monument2 and ,catherine1 who was his deepest inspirer1 clearly led the way here1 right up to the last four years of her life4 ,for we have already seen how she managed to conjoin1 in a fashion similar to ,ettore's1 a universalist love for ,love ,transcendent1 with a particularism of attachment to individual souls1 in which that ,love is immanent4 #b4 ,deaths of ,limbania1 ,jacobo1 and ,giovanni4 ,and if she had joy over souls coming into the world1 she had sorrow over souls leaving it4 ,for in the single year #aejb she lost her only sister1 ,limbania1 and her two elder brothers ,jacopo and ,giovanni4 ,it is true that the ,vita says3 8,there died several of her brothers and sisters2 but1 owing to the great union which she had with the tender will of ,god1 she felt no pain1 as though they had not been of her own blood40#adh ,but then we have already often found how subject to caution and rebate are all such general1 absolute statements2 this passage in particular is1 by its vagueness and ambiguity 7she had but one sister of her own71 stamped as late and more or less secondary2 and we shall trace1 later on1 a similar even more extensive a priori modification of her authentic image in the ,dialogo4 ,certainly her ,wills show no kind of indifference to her own relations4 ,in that of #adih she specially and carefully remembered these very three relations2 and in proportion as these two brothers' children grow up and at all require her help1 ,catherine specially refers to and plans for them1--so for ,jacobo's eldest daughter ,maria1 in view of getting her married 7,wills of #adih1 #aejc1 #aejf1 #aeji72 and for ,giovanni's three sons 7,wills of #aejc1 #aejf1 #aeji74 ,jacobo's second daughter seems also to have died at this time1 as she no more appears after the ,will of #adih4 ,we shall see how exactly the same affectionate interest is shown by her towards her still remaining brother and his two sons4#adi #c4 ,the ,triptych 8,maest40 ,and she evidently still went on increasing the number of the objects of her interest and affection1 and the degree of her attachment to such objects as she already loved4 ,for in her ,codicil of the next year1 ,january #aejc1 she gives a careful description of a picture now belonging to herself1 8a #8,majesty1' representing the ,virgin ,mary with ,saint ,joseph1 and the ,lord ,jesus at their feet1 with her0 7,fieschi-,adorni7 8coat-of-arms painted within and without40 ,the picture evidently represented the ,adoration of the ,infant ,jesus1 and was painted on wood1--a triptych3 with ,catherine's arms painted both inside and outside the two wings4 ,she again describes it thus fully in her ,wills of #aejf and #aeji1 leaving it1 on all those occasions1 to a certain ,christofero de ,clavaro 7,christofer of ,chiavari874 ,it is then quite clear both that this picture had been specially painted by some one for ,catherine1 and that ,catherine1 for some reason or reasons1 greatly treasured it4 ,who then was the painter and what was the reason8 ,i think both are not difficult to find4 ,we have seen how ,catherine's much-loved cousin1 the widowed ,tommasina ,fiesca1 had in #adig moved into the ,monastero ,nuovo in the ,aquasola quarter1--close to ,catherine's abode2 so that the cousins will have met constantly from that time forward4 ,we have also seen that this distinguished artist painted many a 8,piet0 7the dead ,christ on ,his ,mother's lap1 possibly with ,angels on each side71 and executed a piece of needlework again representative of a group1--this time ,god the ,father with many ,angels above1 and ,christ below4 ,indeed ,federico ,alizeri has succeeded in rediscovering one of her works1 a representation of ,christ crowned with thorns and surrounded by the ,instruments and ,mysteries of ,his ,passion1 painted in fine outline upon sheepskin mounted on a wood-panel4#aej ,and we have seen how much ,catherine had1 as a child1 been affected by a 8,piet10 and shall find her1 even after this date1 still affected by a religious picture4 ,there can then be no reasonable doubt that ,suor ,tommasina was the painter and giver of this picture1--again a group1 a 8,maest10 instead of the usual 8,piet40 ,and the facts of ,catherine caring to possess1 to preserve1 and to transmit something thus specially appropriated to herself1 with her family arms upon a religious picture1 are all deeply significant touches1 and quite unlike what all the secondary1 and even some of the primary1 parts of the ,vita would lead one to expect4 #d4 ,increasing care for ,thobia4 ,and this same ,codicil shows us how her care1 and no doubt her genuine affection1 for ,thobia was growing4 ,for she now leaves her the income on two shares of the ,bank of ,st4 ,george 7no doubt only a slight gift1 about #b #ajs4 a year2 but ,catherine possesses but very little that she is free to leave as she likes1 the claims upon her are very many1 and the young woman is already well provided for1 considering her social station71 her better silk gown1 a skirt1 and various veils4 ,the poor girl died in #aejd or #aeje1 for in ,catherine's ,will of #aejf she appears as 8the late ,thobia40 ,she must have been about thirty years old at the time4 #e4 ,argentina del ,sale2 story of ,marco del ,sale's death4 ,but in lieu of poor ,thobia1 ,catherine was now given by ,providence a new lowly object of affection and interest4 ,for it was doubtless in the late spring of #aeje that occurred the incident1 of which we have the beautifully simple and naf record in ,chapter ,,xlvi of the ,vita2 a record certainly based upon information supplied by ,argentina1 but which ,i take to be the literary work of ,vernazza1 and to be more or less contemporary with the events described4 ,a humble young friend or acquaintance of ,catherine's1 who had perhaps already been her occasional little day-servant1 one ,argentina de ,ripalta1 had now been away from her and married1 for a year1 to a poor navvy working in the ,molo 7,quay7 quarter of the town2 and this her husband1 ,marco del ,sale1 was now dangerously ill1 indeed he was dying of a cancer in the face4 ,and1 having tried every kind of remedy1 and seeing himself incurable1 and being thus in great and hopeless pain1 ,marco had lost all patience and was as one beside himself4 ,and then ,argentina bethought herself of ,catherine1 and came to the ,hospital1 and begged her to come and see her husband1 and pray to ,god for him4 ,and ,catherine was at once at ,argentina's disposal1 and straightway went off with her4 ,and having come into ,marco's room1 she greatly comforted him with her few but homely and fervent words4 ,then starting off again in company with ,argentina1 ,catherine entered1 near to the house and still close to the sea1 into the little ,church of ,santa ,maria delle ,grazie la ,vecchia1--so called to distinguish it from the more recent ,chapel of the ,augustinianesses1 which bore the same general title1--and there1 kneeling in a corner1 ,catherine prayed for ,marco4 ,the little seamen's ,church is still in use1 with its many mementoes of four centuries and more of ships foundered and of ships safely come to port4 ,and having here finished her prayer1 ,catherine returned with ,argentina to the ,hospital4 ,there ,argentina left her1 and returned to ,marco1 and found him so changed that from a ,devil he seemed turned into an ,angel4 ,and with joyous tender feeling he asked3 8,o ,argentina1 come1 tell me who is that holy soul that you brought me80 ,but ,argentina answered3 8,why1 that is ,madonna ,caterinetta ,adorna1 a woman of most perfect life40 ,and the sick man replied3 8,i beg of thee1 by the love of ,god1 to take care to bring her here a second time to me40 ,and so the next day ,argentina returned to the ,hospital and told all to ,catherine4 ,and ,catherine again promptly came back with ,argentina4 ,but when ,catherine had entered the room and approached the bed1 ,marco threw his arms round her1 and wept for a long space of time4 ,and then1 still weeping1 but with great relief1 he said to her3 8,madonna1 the reason why ,i wished you to come is1 first to thank you for the kindness you have shown me2 and next to ask a favour of you1 which ,i beg you not to refuse me4 ,for when you had left this room1 ,our ,lord ,jesus ,christ came to me visibly and in the form in which ,he appeared to the ,magdalen in the garden1 and gave me ,his most holy blessing1 and pardoned me all my sins1 and told me that ,i should prepare for death1 because that ,i shall go to ,him on ,ascension-,day4 ,hence ,i pray you1 most tender ,mother1 deign to accept ,argentina as your spiritual daughter1 and to keep her with you constantly4 ,and thou1 ,argentina1 ,i pray thee1 be content with this plan40 ,they both gladly declared themselves ready and content4 ,when ,catherine had gone away1 ,marco sent for a certain ,augustinian ,friar of the ,monastery of the ,consolation1 and carefully confessed his sins and received ,holy ,communion2 and then ordered all his worldly affairs with a notary and with his relations4 ,and he did all this in spite of them all1 who thought that his intense pain had driven him off his head1 and who kept saying3 8,take comfort1 ,marco1 soon you will be well again2 there is no occasion as yet for you to attend to these things40 ,and the ,eve of the ,ascension having come round1 he again sent for the same ,confessor1 and again confessed and communicated1 and got him this time to add ,extreme ,unction and the ,recommendation of the ,dying1 and all this with great composure and devotion4 ,but as the night came on1 he said to the ,friar3 8,return to your ,monastery2 and when the time comes1 ,i will give you notice40 ,and then1 alone with ,argentina1 he took his crucifix in his hand1 and turning towards his wife he said3 8,argentina1 see1 ,i leave thee ,him for thy husband2 prepare thyself to suffer1 for ,i declare to thee that suffering is in store for thee40 ,this did not fail to come about1 for she suffered later on1 both mentally and physically4 ,and for the rest of the night he continued to comfort her1 and to encourage her to give herself to ,god and to accept suffering as the ladder for mounting up to ,heaven4 ,then when the dawn had come he said3 8,argentina1 abide with ,god2 the hour has come40 ,and having finished these words1 he expired2 and his spirit straightway went to the window of the cell of his ,confessor1 and tapping against the pane said3 8,ecce homo40 ,but the ,friar hearing this1 at once knew that ,marco had passed to his ,lord4 ,and as soon as ,marco's body had been buried1 ,catherine took ,argentina to live with her as her spiritual daughter1 and thus kept her promise4 ,and since she loved this daughter much1 she was wont to take her with her when she went out4 ,and hence one day1 when once more passing by the little ,church on the little square by the ,quay1 she and her young daughter again went in and prayed4 ,and on coming out1 ,catherine said to ,argentina3 8,this is the place1 where grace was gained in prayer for thy husband40#aea #f4 ,catherine's social interests in #aejf4 ,and in the following year1 #aejf1 we still find ,catherine full of interest and activity of the most varied kind4 ,on ,march the #acth and #afth ,catherine was again busy for the ,hospital1 by receiving the ,foundlings and the various articles and monies anonymously deposited there for their keep4 ,and these can hardly have been altogether exceptional acts1 even for this period of her life4#aeb ,and on the #bast of ,may she made her third ,will1 which is interesting for various reasons4 ,for it is in this document that we first hear of the deaths of her two elder brothers and of ,thobia1 and 7by implication7 of that of her sister ,limbania and of her second niece ,battista4 ,and we can once more trace here the continuity of her interests and attachments4 ,her elder niece ,maria is again provided with a marriage dowry2 her brother ,lorenzo remains 7now sole7 residuary legatee2 ,thobia's mother gets her legacy compounded for an immediate settlement and payment2 the maids ,benedetta and ,mariola have their legacies somewhat increased2 the 8,maest0 is again carefully described and allotted2 and she again orders her body to be buried alongside of that of her husband4#aec ,indeed fresh interests appear here4 ,for the three sons of her second brother and the eldest son of her third brother are now grown up2 and so she makes these four nephews her residuary legatees1 should her brother ,lorenzo die before herself4 ,don ,marabotto has now been her ,confessor and ,chaplain for seven1 and her ,almoner for three years2 and so she leaves him the income of eight shares of ,st4 ,george's for his lifetime1 which1 at #d per cent4 would make #af a year1--the capital to go1 at ,marabotto's death1 to her heirs4 ,and ,argentina del ,sale has been with her for just about a year2 and so she leaves her various articles of personal linen and bedding4#aed ,but1 above all1 the place of this ,will's redaction is new amongst the memorials of her life1 and directly indicative of a still further enlargement of her influence and interests4 ,for if of the fourteen legal documents drawn up for1 and in the presence of1 ,giuliano or herself1 eleven were composed in the small house within the great ,hospital of the ,pammatone1 and only two others1--the ,marriage-,settlement1 and the ,deed of ,transfer in favour of ,giovanni ,adorno1--had hitherto been written elsewhere1 this ,will was executed in the ,refuge for ,incurables1 in the ,portorio quarter1 in the evening of the day mentioned1 in the presence of three weavers and one dyer1--two trades strongly represented in this poor and populous quarter4 ,now the choice of this place is deeply suggestive1 because it became the chief care and final home of ,ettore ,vernazza's later years4 ,indeed it is certain that1 on the death of his wife1 ,vernazza came and lived in the midst of these poor ,incurables2 and that this residence here of ,catherine's closest friend did not begin later than three years from this date--hence still during ,catherine's lifetime1 in #aeji4 ,his far-reaching ,wills of #aeab and #aeag are both dated from this ,refuge1 of which he was1 by then1 manager and chief supporter2 and it is there that he died his heroic death in #aebd4 ,hence it is certain that now already ,vernazza must have been deeply interested in this fine1 but at that time still languishing1 work 7its fixed income did not as yet amount to fully #djj a year71 and he must often have been there2 possibly he had even already a room of his own in the house4 ,there can1 in any case1 be no doubt1 that in the choice of this place for the drawing-up of this ,will1 we have an indication1 all the more interesting because entirely incidental1 of the wide and ever-widening range1 and of the entirely solid1 indeed heroic character of ,catherine's interest and influence4 ,it also shows us that she was still able to get about1 although this ,refuge1 now the ,spedale dei ,chronici1 is1 no doubt1 not far away from her ,pammatone home4 ,if she could still go there1 she no doubt still could and did go to her cousin ,suor ,tommasina's ,convent1 which was certainly no further off4 ,and ,i surmise that many a spiritual colloquy will have taken place1 with ,catherine as chief interlocutor1 and ,suor ,tommasina and ,ettore ,vernazza as chief questioners and listeners1 in the parlour of ,san ,domenico and in that of the ,refuge respectively4 ,,chapter ,v ,,catherine',s ,,last ,,four ,,years1 #aejf ,,to #aeaj--,,sketch ,,of ,,her ,,character1 ,,doctrine1 ,,and ,,spirit ,i4 ,,catherine',s ,,external ,,interests ,,and ,,activities ,,up ,,to ,,may #aeaj4 ,,occasional ,,slight ,,deviations ,,from ,,her ,,old ,,balance4 ,,immensely ,,close ,,interconnection ,,of ,,her ,,whole ,,mental ,,and ,,psycho-,,physical ,,nature4 ,,impressions ,,as ,,connected ,,with ,,the ,,five ,,senses4 #a4 ,indications of external interests4 ,even during the next four years1 up to ,may #aeaj1 we still find various most authentic and clear indications of external interests and activities in ,catherine's life4 ,thus1 on the #bast ,june #aejg1 the ,protectors of the ,hospital address a letter to ,don ,giacobo ,carenzio 7who had1 as they tell him1 been elected ,master--,rettore--already fifteen months previously71 urging him to come and take up his post2 and ,catherine1 who1 as we shall see1 was later on variously helped by this ,priest1 and who cared so much for the ,hospital1 cannot have remained indifferent to that first election and to this present reminder4 ,again on the #fth ,december #aejg1 the ,protectors1 ,lorenzo ,spinola1 ,manfredo ,fornari1 and ,emmanuele ,fiesco1 met in ,catherine's room1 and decided1 no doubt with her advice and co-operation1 to allow another widow-lady and devotee of the ,hospital1 ,brigidina1 wife of the late ,giacomo ,castagneto1 to settle within its precincts4#aee ,then on #bgth ,november #aejh she makes a ,codicil1 leaving an additional #be to ,mariola1 and a further article of dress to ,argentina2 and declaring that she is 8entirely content0 with ,don ,marabotto's administration of her monies and charities4 ,don ,cattaneo has then now become her ,almoner1 and her charitable activity continues large4 ,the document is drawn up by ,ettore ,vernazza1 an unimpeachable witness to ,marabotto's rectitude and exactness4#aef ,indeed as late down as #ahth ,march #aeji her long ,will of that date shows an admirable persistence of her old attachment for and interest in her surviving brother1 niece 7the provision for ,maria's possible marriage is particularly careful and detailed71 and nephews 7the youngest of the latter1 ,giovanni1 is omitted1 no doubt because he had now become a ,cardinal1 with a corresponding income72 in ,don ,marabotto1 who retains the same little pension2 in her three maids ,benedetta1 ,mariola1 and ,argentina1 all of whose legacies get somewhat increased2 and in the fortunes of the ,hospital and of ,thobia's mother 7she repeats her account of what she has already done for them74#aeg #b4 ,occasional imperfection of judgment4 ,yet now at last we can find symptoms of the final break-up of her health1 and of an occasional slight or momentary deviation from1 or diminution of1 her old completeness of balance in both judgment1 taste1 and feeling1--although even now this occurs only in matters of relatively secondary importance1 and but heightens the impressiveness of the still unbroken front which she maintains1 in all her fully deliberate acts1 with regard to all essential matters4 ,indeed1 it is not difficult to feel1 even where one cannot directly trace1 in all such acts and matters1 a still further deepening of the heroic watchfulness and childlike spontaneity1 and of the humility and tender navet and creatureliness1 of her general tone and attitude4 #c4 ,close-knittedness of her psycho-physical organism3 her spiritual utilization of this4 ,but before recounting the few instances in which we can trace an indication of partly physical depression1 or of some lessening of mental alertness or volitional power in secondary matters1 or of slight passing unwilled maladif impressions1 let us attempt a somewhat methodic description of the extreme sensitiveness and immensely close interconnection of her whole psycho-physical nature1 and of the general modifications1 both in quality and in quantity1 which these impressions were wont to go through2 and all this1 just now1 on occasion of incidents closely similar to those already experienced in her past life4 ,it would indeed be altogether mistaken to class all this sensitiveness as necessarily but a form of illness2 for the great majority1 and all the most characteristic1 of her apparently physical pains and troubles1 are but varieties and heightenings of the always unusually swift and profound impressionableness of her whole psycho-physical organism4 ,with the sole exception of that attack of pestilential fever 7probably in the year #adic71 ,i can nowhere1 right up to three days before her death1 find any trace in her life of illnesses or disturbances of any but a psycho-physical1 nerve-functional type4 ,indeed her psychic self is throughout so impressionable1 and the mind is1 ever since her ,conversion1 so active1 dominant1 and absorbed in the actual and attempted apprehension of the great realities which1 though invisible1 require for their vivid apprehension an imaginative pictorial embodiment3 that we shall have1 in a later chapter1 to ask ourselves the question whether it was not the mind1 or the imagination at the mind's bidding1 which thus affected the psycho-physical life1 rather than the psycho-physical life which1 primarily independent of the former1 offered itself as but so much raw1 still unrelated material1 to the fashioning1 transforming mind4 ,especially will it be necessary to consider carefully the influence upon her mind1 and upon the chronicler's accounts of her state1 which may have been exercised by the writings of the ,areopagite and of ,jacopone4 ,it will then become clear that these authors have undoubtedly contributed to the form in which these truths and realities were1 if not actually apprehended by ,catherine1 at least described by her disciples4 ,yet even this point remains1 in ,catherine's case1 7and indeed in that of all the great ,saints17 of no real spiritual or moral importance1 since all these great and generous souls persist in ever using these psycho-physical things1 whether they be projections or 8givennesses10 as but so many instruments and materials for the apprehension1 illustration1 acquisition1 and purification of spiritual truth and of the spirit's own fulness and depth4 ,and ,catherine's persistence in this attitude of utilization and transcendence of what the natural man so continuously tends to make his direct aim and final limit continues practically unbroken to the end4 ,i will group these psychic impressions according to the five senses4 #d4 ,impressions connected with the sense of touch4 ,the earliest1 and up to the end the most marked and general1 of all such unusual impressions appears to have been one connected with the sense of touch1--that feeling of mostly interior1 but later on also of exterior1 warmth1 indeed often of intense heat and burning1 which comes to her1 the first as though sunshine were bathing her within or without1 the second sometimes as though a great fire were enveloping her1 and sometimes as though a living flame were piercing her within4 ,already in #adgc1 on occasion of her ,conversion1 we find unmistakable indications of such sensations2 they are1 however1 of a predominantly pleasurable kind4 ,and ,i take it that during her great lonely middle-period they will1 in so much as present1 have been of a similar nature4 ,but later on1 from after #adii onwards1 these sensations and attacks become increasingly painful1#aeh and are specially described1 and variously alluded to1 under the terms of operation1 assault1 siege4 ,when specially keen and concentrated1 and accompanied by some piercing psycho-spiritual perception1 they appear under the terms of arrow1 wound2 and the perception itself bears then the name of ray or spark 7of divine love74#aei ,now we lookers-on can1 of course1 with more or less ease1 mentally separate1 in a general way1 the latter1 the spiritual apprehension1 creation and content1 from the former1 the psycho-physical occasion1 material and form2 although it is certainly difficult1 and probably impossible1 to decide1 at least in any one case1 how far it is her mental activity that occasions her psycho-physical condition1 or how far it is the latter which occasions the former4 ,but what actually and demonstrably happened in ,catherine's case1 was something incomparably beyond the range to which such psycho-physical considerations apply4 ,for to her1 psychically1 a keenly sentient2 rationally1 a deeply thinking1 feeling1 and willing creature1--these experiences1 howsoever classable1 were most real1 and1 in course of time1 more and more penetrating and painful2 and they were1 to her own consciousness1 entirely prior to any interpretation or utilization of them4 ,hence1 for the present at all events1 we had better take these states as they presented themselves to her immediate and ordinary consciousness4 ,and this very same immensely sentient soul was so firmly centred1 deep down below and beyond the psycho-physical1 in the ,moral and ,spiritual1 that these experiences were welcomed and actively used but as so many means and materials for ethical purification and character-building1 and for the analogical apprehension and illustration of spiritual truths4 ,thus it is that these sensations of burning which1 during her years of health1 were themselves so pleasurable and peaceful1 helped1 as we shall find when we come to consider her doctrine1 to suggest and illustrate for her the joys and health-giving influence of the presence of ,god1 both here and in ,paradise1 and of the soul's apprehension of ,god1 as light for the understanding and warmth for the affections and the will4 ,and when1 with her failing health1 these sensations turned into painful1 in part seemingly physical attacks1--attacks which1 however1 left the mind in an increased and ever-increasing peace and contentment1--they again helped her to gain and develop her doctrine concerning ,purgatory4 ,in both cases her teaching gained thus a vividness of quasi-directly sensible experience1 of something in a manner actually seen and felt1 since it was built up out of suggestions derived from direct sensations and psycho-physical states4 ,and yet in both cases not all such sensations1 of themselves quite valueless and uninstructive from an ethical and religious point of view1 could have helped towards anything of spiritual significance1 had they not been sifted1 taken up1 organized and transformed in and into a large and deep spiritual experience and personality4 ,there is absolutely nothing automatic or necessary in the crowning1 ethically significant stages of this whole process1 however rapid and instinctive and effortless1 and simply of a piece with the psycho-physical occasions1 these utilizations and grace-impelled and grace-informed creations may appear4 ,we shall1 in proof of this1 soon see how physical and literal and spiritually insignificant remained1 during the last four months of her life1 the apprehensions of her disciples as to these heats and piercing sensations3 these good1 indeed devoted1 people seem incapable of measuring spiritual love by anything higher than thermometer-readings or other physical tangibilities4 ,and we shall also have to record one or two momentary instances when this heat-feeling and apprehension clearly assumed a maladif character in ,catherine herself4 #e4 ,impressions connected with taste and smell4 ,the unusual sense-perceptions which were the next to be aroused were apparently those of taste and smell3 although the one certain indication ,i can find of such an unusual psycho-physical taste-and-smell impression1 of a pleasurable and not clearly maladif character1 is not earlier than #adii4afj ,it came to her in connection with the one great devotion of her whole convert life1--the ,holy ,eucharist4 8,having on one occasion received ,holy ,communion1 so much odour and sweetness came to her1 that she seemed to be in ,paradise4 ,whence1 feeling this1 she straightway turned towards her ,love and said3 #8,o ,love1 dost ,thou perhaps intend to draw me to ,thyself with these savours8 ,i want them not1 since ,i want nothing but ,thee alone1 and all of ,thee4'0#afa ,here1 then1 she turns away from and transcends1 precisely as ,st4 ,john of the ,cross was soon to insist so strongly that we should do1 the sensible and immediate1 and reaches on to the spiritual1 ultimate1 and personal4 ,and similarly some such psycho-physical experience seems presupposed in her declaration3 8,if a ,consecrated ,host and unconsecrated ones were to be given to me1 ,i should distinguish the former from the latter as ,i do wine from water40#afb ,yet her biographer can truthfully insist upon love being the original cause of such recognition3 8,she said this1 because the ,consecrated ,host sent forth a certain ray of love which pierced her heart40 ,and she herself gives a still more spiritual parallel instance and explanation of such recognition3 8,if ,i were to be shown the ,court of ,heaven1 with all its members robed in one and the same manner1 in suchwise that there would1 so far1 be no perceptible difference between ,god and the ,angels3 the love which ,i have in my heart would still recognize ,god1 as readily as the dog recognizes his master40 ,this love indeed would move out to ,him even more swiftly and easily1 because 8love1 which is ,god ,himself1 finds in an instant1 without any means1 its own end and ultimate repose40#afc ,clearly maladif over-sensitiveness and shiftingness of the senses of taste and scent will appear presently1 during the last months of her life4 #f4 ,hearing and ,sight4 ,the most important and mental of the senses1 hearing and sight1 appear1 on the contrary1 with little or nothing particularly unusual about them1 throughout her life4 ,for as to her sense of hearing1 the inner voices already described as heard by her at different times1 cannot fairly be classed under this or any other sense-perception1 healthy or otherwise2 since they appear to have been most vivid and clear thoughts presented to her mind1 with in each case the consciousness that they were the suggestions of ,mind1--of a ,spirit other than her own4 ,they appear to have always been described by herself as 8words spoken to the mind10 8words as it were heard40#afd ,traces of any maladif affection of this sense will be difficult or impossible to find1 even during her last illness4 ,and as to sight1 always so closely akin to mental processes1 anything at all really exceptional cannot1 ,i think1 be found in her life so far at all4 ,for her evidently great impressionableness to certain religious pictures1--so as a child1 in regard to the 8,piet10 and now again apparently with the 8,maest10--and to certain sights of nature1 cannot fairly be considered abnormal4 ,and as to ,visions1 the only one recorded so far1 that of the ,bleeding ,christ1 was primarily a mentally mediated experience3 8the ,lord showed ,himself to her in the spirit10 says the account1 no doubt in full accordance with her own analysis of such experiences4#afe ,some few disturbances of this sense will1 however1 appear during the course of her last illness4 ,,ii4 ,,more ,,or ,,less ,,maladif ,,experiences ,,and ,,actions4 ,the amplest proof of the deep and delicate impressionableness of her nature is probably1 however1 to be found in that profound melancholy1 that positive disgust with everything within her and without1 and that strong desire for death which we found to have possessed her during the three months previous to her ,conversion in ,march #adgc4 ,for we should note that that melancholy did not directly spring from spiritual motives or considerations3 it was previous to all definite sorrow for sin and to all full and willed sense of things religious and eternal4 ,indeed1 with the appearance of the religious standards and certitudes1 that crushing universal feeling of melancholy and of positive disgust breaks up1 and yields to contrasted joys and sorrows1 and to a buoyant energy in the very midst and through the very means of suffering and of sacrifice4 ,thus the dawn of her spiritual re-birth was indeed dark and oppressive2 but this oppression did not directly proceed from any clear consciousness of the ,perfect and ,eternal which arose within her only as part and parcel of this explicit ,conversion4 ,the oppression simply indicated1 of itself1 a nature so sensitive and claimful1 as to require1 in order to achieve any degree of contentment1 a spiritual1 regenerative1 re-interpretative power capable of responding to and matching the deepest realities of life4 ,that nature was thus full of the need of such realities and of such contact with them1 but was without the power of producing1 or of adequately responding to1 such realities1--or indeed of imaginatively forecasting them4 ,and similarly in #aejg1 the dawn of her painful1 joyful-sorrowful birthday to eternity was again dark and oppressive and productive of an intense desire for death1 a desire which had1 apparently1 been entirely absent from her soul ever since #adgc4 ,here again this oppression was not directly religious or moral1 but1 taken in itself1 was simply psycho-physical4 ,indeed this oppression marks the beginning of the special limitations1 difficulties1 and slightly deflecting influences now introduced into her life by henceforth steadily increasing positive illness4 ,i propose1 then1 to begin with this opening depression of hers1 and next to go through the main incidents of her remaining life1 as far as possible1 in strictly chronological order4 ,i will group all this around six main facts and dates4 #a4 ,desire for death1 #aejg4 8,in the year #aejg she on one occasion was present at the recitation of the ,offices for the ,dead4 ,and a desire to die came upon her4 ,and she said3 #8,o ,love1 ,i desire nothing but ,thee1 and ,thee in ,thine own manner3 but1 if it pleases ,thee1 allow me at least to go and see others die and be buried1 in order that ,i may see in others that great good1 which it does not please ,thee should as yet be in myself4' ,and her ,love consented to this2 and consequently1 for a certain space of time1 she went to see die and be buried all those who died in the ,hospital4 ,and as1 later on1 her union with this her tender ,love increased1 her desire for death disappeared little by little40#aff ,she is1 then1 still active1 and moves about in the spacious ,hospital and in the adjoining ,church4 ,and this desire1 as it gradually disappeared1 will1 doubtless1 not have left mere blanks in her consciousness1 or have reduced the sum-total of her feelings2 but1 with that diminution1 some of her old tenderness for and interest in others1 will have reappeared4 ,and again we see how no one set of feelings1 one 8psychosis10 ever simply repeats itself1 in even one and the same soul3 for ,catherine's positive disgust with all things1 which prepared and accompanied her desire for death in #adgc1 is absent from the otherwise similar desire of #aejg4 ,in both cases there is the same sheer 8givenness0 and isolation of the feeling4 ,then1 she did not desire death to escape temptation or sin2 now1 she does not desire it1 directly and within her emotional nature1 in order to get to ,god3 in each case the feeling stands simply by itself1 and is not immediately connected with religion at all4 ,and finally1 this incident1 and its later equivalent repetitions in ,november #aeji and ,september #aeaj1 prove once again on what a veritable bed of ,procrustes those determined a-priorists1 the ,redactors of the ,vita1 have placed1 pulled about and mutilated1 as far as in them lay1 the immensely spontaneous and rich personality of ,catherine1 in their determination to find her ever all-perfect1 and perfect after their own fixed pattern4 ,for it proves to demonstration1 either that ,catherine continued liable to human imperfections1 or that not all desires are imperfect4 ,and both these things are true1 beyond the possibility of doubt4 #b4 ,the scent-impression from ,don ,cattaneo's hand4 ,and next we get an instance of clearly abnormal sense-perception1 which is deeply interesting because of the vivid1 first-hand form in which the fact has come down to us1 and still more on account of its impressive illustration of the two possible mental attitudes towards such matters4 ,it will have occurred in #aejh2 and ,don ,marabotto is1 in any case1 the other interlocutor in the scene1 and its chronicler4 ,and if there is undoubtedly a somewhat ludicrous navet about his attitude at the time of the occurrence1 there is also a striking simplicity and self-oblivion in the perfectly objective manner in which he chronicles the scene in all its bearings1 and ,catherine's marked superiority to himself4 ,it is this complete directness and simplicity of motive which1 on the side of character1 will have bound these otherwise strangely diverse souls together2 and which rendered ,don ,marabotto1 even simply as a character1 not unworthy of his close intimacy with ,catherine4 ,the abnormality here concerns the sense of smell alone2 the impression here lasts a considerable time3 and now she acquiesces in it1 but only for the purpose of moving through it1 as a mere means4 8,having been infirm for many days1 ,catherine one day took the hand of her ,confessor and smelt it3 and its odour penetrated right to her heart10 so that 8for many days this perfume restored and nourished her1 body and soul40 ,don ,marabotto then asks her what kind of thing this odour is that she is smelling4 ,and she tells him that it is an odour so penetrating and sweet1 as to seem capable of bringing the dead to life2 that ,god had sent it to her1 to strengthen her soul and body1 now that these were so much oppressed2 and hence 8since ,god grants me this odour1 ,i am determined to derive strength from it1 as long as ,he shall please that ,i shall do so40 ,but ,marabotto1 8thinking that he must surely be able to perceive what was being transmitted by himself1 went smelling his own hand1 but to no effect40 ,and ,catherine gently rebuked his action by declaring3 8,the things which depend entirely upon ,god's own free gift1 ,he does not give to those that seek them4 ,indeed ,he gives such things at all1 only in cases of great necessity1 and as an occasion of great spiritual profit40#afg ,the impression and consolation are here still connected with the ,holy ,eucharist3 for the hand which she smells is no doubt the right one1--the hand which was wont daily to consecrate in her presence and daily to communicate her4 ,the declaration as to the odour's power to raise the dead to life has occurred already in connection with the ,holy ,eucharist1 and will have been in part suggested to her by such ,johannine passages as 8,i am the ''' ,life10 8,i am the ,living ,bread10 8he that eateth this ,bread shall live10 shall be made to live1 8for ever40 ,and although the odour is here the prominent impression1 and 8savours0 are wanting1 yet 8sweetness0 still occurs1 probably as a sort of sensation of tasting4--,marabotto's mind has in it1 on this occasion1 two plausible assumptions1 each strengthening the other2 and ,catherine controverts both4 ,he evidently thinks3 8,catherine's states are all most valuable1 hence real1 hence objective3 if then she says she smells this or that1 others will be able to do so too40 ,and3 8,what a man transmits1 that he can himself experience3 hence1 on this ground also1 ,i should be able to smell this perfume40--,and ,catherine's mind evidently also contains two very different convictions3 the first1 that experiences1 even when thus but semi-spiritual1 are1 for all their reality1 not directly transferable from soul to soul2 and the second1 that all such sensible and semi-sensible experiences1 whether normal or exceptional1 are all but means at the disposal of the free-willing spirit1 means which become limits and obstacles as soon as they are treated as ends4 ,thus if this experience points to a certain abnormality of condition in the peripheral1 psycho-physical regions of the soul1 ,catherine's attitude towards it1 and towards the whole question occasioned by it1 has got a massive depth of sanity about it1 perhaps unattainable by1 certainly untested in1 the always and simply1 even peripherally1 healthy soul4 #c4 ,shifting of her burial-place4 ,and in her ,will of ,march #aeji we find traces of a certain weakening of her former ample business capacity1 and of her vigilance1 perseverance1 and balance1 in spite of friendly pressure or criticism1 with regard to matters of practical import4 ,for1 as to her general incapacity for business1 the ,will contains a clause exempting ,marabotto from all future challenge of his administration of her monies1 up to the date of the making of this ,will4 ,and this clause finds its explanation in the admission of the ,vita1 with regard to her life during these last years1 that1 owing to the mysterious and shifting nature of her infirmity1 8there was confusion in governing her10 8confusion not on her own part1 but on that of those who served her10#afh words which will grow still clearer in our account of her last four months4 ,for this state of her health must have rendered the administration of her affairs by another both necessary and difficult4 ,and as to the diminution of her vigilance and perseverance in matters of not directly spiritual or moral import1 we have here1 for the first time1 a departure from her resolution1 emphatically expressed in the ,wills and ,codicil of #adih1 #aejc1 #aejf1 of being buried beside her husband4 ,she now orders herself to be buried in the ,church of ,san ,nicol in ,boschetto1 and that so much is to be spent on the funeral as shall seem fit to ,don ,marabotto4 ,three points should here be borne in mind4 ,for one thing1 ,catherine had a long-standing affection for that beautifully situated ,pilgrimage-,church1 partly no doubt from associations dating back to her summer villegiatura days at the neighbouring ,pr1 and partly1 probably1 from memories connected with her sister ,limbania1 since1 as we have already seen1 ,limbania's ,convent of ,santa ,maria delle ,grazie was the joint foundation of the two ,genoese ,monasteries of ,san ,teodoro fuore le ,mura and of ,san ,nicol in ,boschetto4 ,limbania had died in that ,convent in #aejb1 and ,catherine had1 in her ,codicil of #aejc1 left a small sum for mortuary ,masses for herself to the ,monastery of ,san ,nicol4 ,but1 next1 it was doubtless the growing conviction as to her sanctity amongst her immediate friends1 and their desire to keep her grave and remains1 as an eventual place and object of veneration1 distinct from any others1 perhaps specially from those of her husband1 whose defective reputation might otherwise damage or delay the growth of such a cultus of his wife1 which was the determining cause of this change in the place of sepulture4 ,these friends were able to prevail1 no doubt because her interest and determination in such matters had become weakened by ill-health of now thirteen years' duration4 ,and they will have fixed upon this place some four ,english miles away1 partly because it happened to be one she loved1 but also because thus no question of separating her remains from those of ,giuliano would formally arise4 ,her later ,codicil will prove the presence of both these motives1 and ,catherine's unconsciousness as to the situation1 and the vagueness of her acquiescence4 ,and1 finally1 we must note that1 if this action of her entourage offends our present-day tastes and susceptibilities1 it was yet thoroughly in accordance with a quite hoary tradition and feeling in such matters1 and was in no sense an idea special to1 or originated by1 this group of persons2 and again1 that the four ,protectors of the ,hospital 7the trustees and executors of the ,will71 her sole surviving brother ,lorenzo 7the residuary legatee71 and above all her closest1 great-souled friend ,vernazza 7one of the six witnesses71 are all parties to the pious stratagem1 and share its responsibility with ,marabatto4 #d4 ,the 8scintilla0-experience2 spiritual refreshment derived from a picture4 ,we have next an important group of experiences and convictions in ,november #aeji4 8,on the #aath ,november #aeji1 there came upon her an insupportable fire of infinite love2 and she declared that there had been shown to her one single spark 7scintilla7 of ,pure ,love1 and that this had been but for a short moment2 and that1 had it lasted even a little longer1 she would have expired because of its great force4 ,she could hardly eat1 nor speak so as to be heard1 in consequence of this penetrating wound of love that she had received in her heart40#afi ,few events of her life have left such profound traces1 so many echoes and waves and wavelets as it were1 throughout both her authentic sayings and the various secondary and tertiary imitations1 re-castings1 and expansions of her original account as has this scintilla-experience4 ,i will here translate the nine varying impressions and exclamations which1 proceeding from different minds and different dates1 have1 all but one1 been worked up by the ,vita into a single paragraph1 which1 by its very multitude of flickerings as to meaning and of experimentations as to form1 gives us a striking picture of the deep and many-sided influence of this single event1 so short in its clock-time duration4 8,this creature1 all lost in her own self1 found her true self in one instant in ,god40 8,although she reputed herself to be very poor1 yet she remained rich in the divine love40 8,she1 knowing the grace and operation to be all from ,god1 remained lost in herself1 and living only in ,god40 8,she gave her free-will to ,god1 and ,god then restored it to her40 8,she gave her free-will to ,god1 and ,god thereupon worked with its means40 8,o the great wonder1 to see a man established in the midst of so many miseries1 and yet ,god having so great a care of him6 ,all tongues are incapable of expressing it1 all intellects of understanding it40 8,that man becomes foolish in the eyes of the world1 to whom ,thou1 ,o ,lord ,god1 dost manifest even but the slightest spark of ,thine unspeakable ,love40 8,thou1 ,o ,god1 desirest to exalt man1 and to make him as though another ,god1 by means of love40 ,of later date or type3 8,in ,god she saw all the operations1 by means of which ,he had caused her to merit 7in the past740 ,and of still later1 clearly secondary1 character3 8,god showed her in one instant the succession of ,his 7future7 operation1 as though she would have to die of a great martyrdom40#agj ,and this great experience of hers led on to a scene which1 whilst emphasizing the psycho-physical effect1 occasion or concomitant of such spiritual experiences1 also gives us the strongest instance of her impressionableness to pictures in particular4 8,finding herself in such ardour1 she felt herself compelled to turn to a figure of the ,woman of ,samaria at the well with her ,lord2 and in her extreme distress ,catherine addressed ,him thus3 #8,o ,lord1 ,i pray ,thee1 give me a little drop of this water1 which of old ,thou didst give to the ,samaritan woman1 since ,i can no more bear so great a fire4' ,and suddenly1 in that instant1 there was given her a little drop of that divine water2 and by it she was refreshed within and without1 and she had rest for some appreciable time40#aga ,but1 above all1 this experience and its precursor were1 if not the actual beginning1 at least the culminating point in the experiences or projections which led to or articulated her doctrine on ,purgatory4 ,in a later chapter ,i hope to trace the connection between those experiences and this doctrine4 ,here we must add two other vivid interior experiences and convictions of hers which are placed by the ,vita1 no doubt rightly1 in direct succession to1 and in more or less connection with1 the great 8scintilla0-operation1 although neither of them appears amongst the images and conceptions which make up the ,trattato del ,purgatorio4 8,one day0 7she recounted this herself7 8she appeared to herself to abide suspended in mid-air4 ,and the spiritual part wanted to attach itself to heaven2 but her other part wished to attach itself to earth3 yet neither the one nor the other managed to become possessed of its object1 and simply abode thus in mid-air1 without achieving its desire4 ,and after abiding thus for a long time1 the part which was drawing her to heaven seemed to her to be gaining the upper hand 7over the other part71 and1 little by little1 the spiritual part forcibly drew her upwards1 so that at every moment she saw herself moving further and further away from earth4 ,and although this at first seemed to be a strange thing to the part that was being drawn1 and this part was ill content to be thus forced2 yet when it had been so far removed1 as no more to be able to see the earth1 then it began to lose its earthly instinct and affection1 and to perceive and to relish the things which were relished by the spiritual part4 ,and this spiritual part never ceased from drawing it heavenward4 ,and so at last these two parts came to a common accord40#agb ,and again on another occasion3 8,the soul is so desirous of departing from the body to unite itself with ,god1 that its body appears to it a veritable ,purgatory1 which keeps it distant from its true object40#agc ,this group of experiences straightway enforces some important spiritual laws4 ,for one thing1 this scintilla-experience1 since her ,conversion the deepest of her life1 is clearly also the richest and most complex1--witness the numerous1 mutually supplementary or critical1 attempts at analysis furnished by even her immediate companions4 ,and this experience is only simple in the sense in which white light1 which combines all the prismatic colours1 or a living healthy human body1 composed of numberless constituents1 is simple4 ,and next1 nothing indicates that this experience was of a character essentially different from that of her older contemplations2 and everything appears to show that it was1 substantially1 a grace addressed to1 and an act performed by1 her spiritual nature1--her intelligence and free will1 ,god's ,spirit stimulating and sustaining hers in a quite exceptional degree1 and hence less than ever weakening or supplanting this her spirit's action4 ,it was as much a gift of herself by herself to ,god1 as if it had not been a pure grace from ,him2 and yet her very power and wish and determination to give herself1 were rendered possible and became actual through that pure prevenient1 accompanying and subsequent gift of ,god4 ,again1 it is certain that either there was no clear mental scheme1 reasoning1 or picture during the experience1 or that1 if there was1 it consisted of a spacial simultaneity rather than of a temporal succession1 and that it showed her1 if her own soul at all1 then that soul in its most universally human1 typical aspects and relations4 ,in no case was there anything historical or prophetical1 strictly biographical about it4 ,and then we have1 even though she could give no kind of definite account of it1 the most solid reasons for accepting this experience as genuine1 wholesome1 and valuable4 ,for she evidently fully believed in it herself2 and we shall see how clearly and readily she continued1 even after this experience1 to distinguish between wholesome and mental1 and maladif and simply psychic1 states of abstraction4 ,again it became the occasion and material of most deep and fruitful spiritual doctrine2 whereas nothing is more empty and unsuggestive than are the bare1 brute 8facts0 of all merely nervous or hysterical hallucinations4 ,it also demonstrably strengthened her will for the last deep sufferings and sacrifices yet to be gone through1 and no doubt added a fresh stimulus to her already profound influence over ,vernazza1 and pricked him onwards on his career of the most solid1 heroic philanthropy and self-sacrifice4 ,and yet we can see that her psycho-physical organism is now functionally weak and ill4 ,for great physical exhaustion now follows upon an experience substantially the same as those which used to strengthen her so markedly even in physical respects4 ,as to the scene with the picture1 we again get a case not unlike the odour of ,marabotto's hand1 in so much as here too the experience hovers between the mental and physical1 and there is a sensible impression as from a physical substance with reference to a ,person1--this taste of a 8divine water0 moving here on to ,christ1 to ,god1 the ,living ,water1 as that smell of sweetness moves on to the 8,living ,bread10 ,christ1 and ,god4 ,it is1 unfortunately1 impossible to identify that picture1 which may well have been a fresco-painting in some building or passage of the ,hospital1 since destroyed1 or on some extant wall1 white-washed since those days4 ,the vivid picturings of the soul in mid-air1 and of the soul in the purgatory of its body1 will be considered in connection with her psycho-physical states and her doctrine4 ,but before leaving this ,november experience1 we must give two significant conversations held by her with ,vernazza at the time1 and which have been no doubt handed down to us by himself4 8,one day1 speaking of this0 7the scintilla-7 8event with a spiritual person 7,religioso7 she called it #8a giddiness' 7vertigine74 ,but that person said to her3 #8,mother1 ,i beg of you that you will yourself select a person who may happen to suit your mind 7soddisfaccia alla mente vestra71 and will narrate to this person the graces which ,god has granted to you1 so that1 when you come to die1 these graces may not remain hidden and unknown1 and an opportunity for ,god's praise and glory may not thus be lost4' ,and she then answered that she was entirely willing 7ben contenta71 if this be pleasing to her tender ,love2 and that1 in that case1 she would not choose another person than himself1 although she was convinced that it was impossible to describe even a small fragment of such interior experiences as occurred between ,god and her soul2 and that as to exterior things1 few or none had taken place in her case40 ,here again we have evidence as to her habit of making light of and transcending all psycho-physical phenomena1 however striking and mysterious2 and we get a positive authorization conferred by herself upon ,vernazza1 such as is claimed by no other contributor to the ,vita4 ,and 8speaking with him some days later1 she said3 #8,son1 ,i have had a certain prick of conscience1 of which ,i will tell you4 ,the other day1 when you told me that ,i might possibly remain dead some day during one of those giddinesses1 there seemed to arise in me1 at that moment1 a feeling of joy1 a profound aspiration which said3 0,o1 if that hour would but come68 ,and then this feeling suddenly ceased4 ,now ,i declare to you1 that ,i do not wish that in this matter there should be any glimpse 7scintilla7 of a desire of my own for earth or heaven1 or for any other created thing2 but that ,i wish to leave all things to the disposition of ,god4' ,then this person answered1 that there was no occasion for her to have a prick of conscience1 because1 although joy had awaked in her mind1 and a sudden exclamation had occurred there1 at the mention of the word #8death1' yet that nothing of this had proceeded from the will1 nor had it been endorsed by the reason2 but that it had proceeded solely from the instinct of the pleasure-loving soul 7anima71 which ever1 according to its nature1 tends to such an end4 ,and how the proof that this was a correct account1 lay in this1 that her prick of conscience had not really penetrated to the depths of her heart1 but had remained on the surface1 at the same slight depth at which the movement of joy had remained4 ,and she confessed that the matter really stood thus1 and remained satisfied40#agd ,here three points are of interest4 ,i take her impulse of deep longing to die in one of those trances1 to have arisen1 not simply from joy at the thought of dying1 but from joy at the prospect of dying of joy1--of dying with the joy fixed in that moment in the soul for ever4 ,for heaven itself appears here not as a synonym for ,god1 but as a creature1 as the summing up of infinite and endless consolation of all right kinds1 spiritual and psycho-physical4 ,and it is this that makes her scruple thoroughly understandable1 and but one more instance of her virile fight with all direct attachment to the consequences and concomitants of devotedness4--,and next we should note her deep trust in the spiritual experience and wisdom of ,vernazza1 the layman and lawyer1 some twenty-five years her junior2 and her asking his advice on a matter which we would readily suppose her to reserve for ,don ,marabotto1 who by now had been her ,confessor and ,spiritual ,adviser for many years4--,and lastly1 the depth and delicacy of ,vernazza's analysis are most striking1 with their clear perception of the various levels and degrees of true selfhood and volition within the human soul3 she had really had neither a full will1 nor a deliberate wish1 nor indeed any penetrating1 spontaneous reproach of conscience2 she had1 in fact1 been suffering from a scruple1 and he was required1 and was able1 to make her see that this had been the case4 #e4 ,catherine's sense of intense cold1 and her attitude towards ,don ,marabotto4 ,and in ,december #aeji and ,january #aeaj we come across a group of experiences and actions1 in some respects different from1 and supplementary of1 the set just concluded4 ,for 8in the month of ,december she suffered from great cold10--,i take this cold to have been1 at least partially1 special to her state1 and not to have proceeded primarily from the winter temperature1--8but she paid no attention to it40 8,and behold one night there came so great an attack 7assalto7 upon her1 that she could not conceal it4 ,there was a great heaving of the body1 much bile was evacuated1 and the nose bled4 ,and she then sent for her ,confessor1 and said to him3 #8,father1 it seems to me that ,i must die1 because of the many weakenings of various sorts 7accidenti7 that have happened to me4'0 8,and this attack 7assalto7 lasted for about three hours10 8her body trembling like a leaf40 8,and then her body became quiet again1 but was now so broken and weak that it was necessary to give her minced chicken to revive her2 and a good many days had to pass before she returned to her 7latter-day7 vigour40#age ,and 8on the #ajth of ,january #aeaj1 she appeared determined to see her ,confessor no more1 either as to help and comfort for her soul or as to her bodily health4 ,it seemed to her that he was too indulgent to herself1 in her sayings and doings4 ,but the fact was1 that he saw it to be necessary that she should do all that her instinct prompted her to say or do2 and it would indeed have been well-nigh impossible to force her to act against these interior movements of hers4 ,yet since she was herself in cause1 she did not acknowledge such necessities 7ordinazioni72 rather these actions of hers appeared to her but as so many disordered doings1 and she went forcing herself to try and not give trouble to those who were good enough to put up with her 7chi la comportava74--,and when night came1 she locked herself up alone into a separate room1 refusing food or conversation or comfort from any one4 ,but after a while she had to come out1 with a view to rendering a certain service1 and her ,confessor managed to slip into the room unobserved and to hide himself there4 ,and she1 having returned and locked herself in1 and thinking herself quite alone1 said with a sobbing voice to her ,lord3 #8,o ,lord1 what wouldest ,thou have me do further in this world8 ,i neither see nor hear1 nor eat nor sleep2 ,i do not know what ,i do or what ,i say4 ,i feel as though ,i were a dead thing4 ,there is no creature that understands me2 ,i find myself lonely1 unknown1 poor1 naked1 strange1 and different from the rest of the world2 and hence ,i know not any more how to live with 7my fellow-7 creatures upon earth4' ,these and such-like words she spoke so piteously1 that her ,confessor could bear it no longer2 and he discovered himself1 and came up to and spoke to her4 ,and ,god gave him grace1 so that she remained comforted in mind and body by his words1 and was in fair health for a good many days after40#agf ,nevertheless 8her ,confessor1 since his continual intercourse and close familiarity with ,catherine gave occasion to murmurs on the part of some who did not fully understand his special work and its necessity1 left her and was absent for three days0 7probably shortly after the scene just related71 8for the purpose of testing that work of his1 and seeing whether it was indeed all from ,god1 and thus to escape all scruple in the matter4 ,but when1 three days later1 he returned to her house and had learnt and considered the various accidents and incidents which had occurred meanwhile1 he was so entirely satisfied with the evidence afforded by experiment1 that he lost all scruple in the matter1 and indeed regretted having made the trial1 because of the great distress which she had suffered from it40 ,it will have been on this occasion that she said to him3 8,i seem to see that ,god has given to you this one care of myself1 and hence that you should not attend to anything else4 ,for now ,i can no longer support alone so many exterior and interior oppressions 7assedi74 ,when you leave me1 ,i go lamenting about the house1 saying that you are cruel and do not understand my extreme necessity2 for if you did1 you would pay greater attention to it40#agg ,and it will have been later on again1 in ,february and ,march1 that she intimated1 during two of her violent attacks 7on the first occasion by signs1 on the second by words71 her impression that she would succumb1 and her wish to receive ,extreme ,unction4 ,but ,don ,marabotto correctly judged that she would safely get through these seizures1 and the anointing was put off for the present4#agh ,this group is again interesting4 ,for it gives us evidence as to how dependent this character and career of the rarest loneliness and independence had now become upon human help and sympathy2 and lets us see how illness had now introduced an excessive suddenness1 absoluteness1 and shiftingness into her feelings and minor actions1 and an occasional slight querulousness into her remarks4 ,it shows us her old social1 altruistic instincts and standard still at work within her2 for she still suffers from the consciousness1 whenever she is thrown back upon herself1 of being different from other people2 she still longs to attend to the wants of others1 regrets the trouble she gives them1 and feels grateful for the services they render2 and she still busies herself1 in the reduced measure now possible to her1 with services of her own to others1--a 8certain service10 which she had to render1 had sufficed to break through her self-imposed seclusion4 ,it lets us see how watchful against and suspicious of self1 and of what could flatter and indulge it1 she still remained2 and how independent her judgment continued1 even with regard to her ,confessor4 ,and this her judgment we shall have good reason to hold to have been remarkably well-grounded1 in so far as this1 that had only ,marabotto possessed a deeper insight into her psycho-physical state and less of a determination to treat all her states and impulses as equally solid and spiritual1 or at least as equally to be yielded to1 he could have helped her more2 and she would then1 thus helped1 have been able1 even now1 fully to resist or to give way1 in proportion to the healthiness or the morbidness of the attack4 ,and finally we see how truly serviceable and necessary1 and indeed repeatedly right where her own estimate was wrong1 was the help and sympathy and judgment of her ,confessor2 and how difficult1 entirely unselfish1 and devoted was his action and attitude4 ,it is interesting to note that ,catherine was probably always right in her instinct as to matters directly affecting herself1 where the will came in1 or could be made to come in2 and that she was wrong only in such a point of mere physical fact and determinism as whether or not1 and how long1 her physical strength would hold out4 #f4 ,events from ,january to ,may #aeaj4 ,i will here try and put together1 in their actual succession from ,january to ,may #aeaj1 the chief psycho-physical phenomena and their parallel utilizations1 together with such mental and spiritual experiences and actions as seem to have been only quite indirectly1 or not all1 occasioned by her state of health4 ,in a later chapter ,i propose to study all this health matter in some detail4 ,here ,i would simply warn the reader against treating1 with certainly most of her chroniclers1 these psycho-physical phenomena as separately and directly spiritual or miraculous or ethically significant4 ,found alone1 they would now1 on the contrary1 directly suggest simply nervous disorder of some kind or other1 a thing which1 in itself1 is always an evil4 ,their interest and spiritual importance arises for us entirely from their predominantly mental qualities2 from their appearance in a person of such powerful mind and large and efficient character2 and from their splendidly ethico-religious utilization by that same person4 ,on one day 8she had an impression 7#8wound1' ferita7 which was so great1 that she lost her speech and sight1 and abode in this manner some three hours4 ,she made signs with her hands1 of feeling as it were red-hot pincers attacking her heart and other interior parts4 ,but for all this1 she did not lose her full consciousness 7intelletto740 ,this was the second occasion on which she indicated her wish to be anointed4#agi ,on another day 8it was impossible to keep her in bed3 she seemed like a creature placed in a great flame of fire1 and it was impossible to touch her skin1 because of the acute pain which she felt from any such touch40#ahj ,a little later on 8she abode in so great a peace and interior contentment that she was0 in all respects 8considerably relieved and reinvigorated 7ristorata74 ,but she did not long remain in this condition4 ,for very soon she was in a state of interior nudity and aridity1 and she prayed3 #8,never hitherto1 ,o my ,lord1 have ,i asked ,thee for anything for myself3 now ,i pray ,thee with all my might1 that ,thou mayest not will to separate me from ,thee4 ,thou well knowest1 ,o ,lord1 that ,i could not bear this4' ,and to her disciples she said1 in connection with this desolation3 #8,if a man were to take a soul from ,paradise1 how do you think such a soul would feel8 ,you might give it all the pleasures in the world1 and as much more as you can imagine3 and yet all would be but ,hell1 because of the memory of that divine union' 7formerly possessed and now lost740#aha ,again a little later on 8she had another attack 7assalto71 when all her body trembled1 especially her right shoulder4 ,it was impossible to move her from her bed2 she did not eat1 drank next to nothing1 and did not sleep40#ahb ,on another day1 8she had another attack10--this was the occasion of her third indication of a wish to receive ,extreme ,unction1--8a spasm in the throat and mouth1 so that she could not speak1 nor open her eyes1 nor keep her breath except with extreme difficulty40 8,they applied cupping-glasses1 with a view to aiding her to find her breath and to regain speech1 yet these helped but little40#ahc ,for another day we are told that 8in her flesh were certain concavities1 as though it were dough1 and the thumb had been pressed into it4 ,and she called out in a loud voice1 because of the great pain40#ahd ,on another day 8her pains made her call out as loudly as she could1 and she dragged herself about on her bed4 ,and those that stood by were dumfounded1 at seeing a body1 which appeared to be healthy1 in such a tormented state4 ,and then she would laugh1 speak as one in health1 and say to the others1 not to be sorrowful on her account1 since she was very contented4 ,and this 8set of attacks0 lasted four days2 she then had a little rest2 and1 after this1 those attacks returned as before40#ahe ,this group is in so far particularly difficult1 as we have to try and decide whether1 and if so how far1 these pains of hers were primarily psychical1 and1 in some way and degree1 originally1 and by force of long habits of concentrated religious thinking and picturing1 suggested1 or at least stimulated1 by the mind itself2 or whether these pains were primarily physical1 although evidently only functional and preponderantly nervous4 ,for on the answer to that question depends1 if not our selection from amongst1 at least our interpretation of1 the largely contradictory1 successively 8doctored10 and more or less violently schematized evidence1 of which the above passages give the most characteristic and primitive parts4 ,if it was the mind itself which1 unconsciously to its owner1 suggested these pains1 then we can and must accept1 as quite contemporary and indeed fully exact1 those passages which make her peace and even sensible consolation arise during the same moments as1 and in exact proportion to1 the presence of the pains4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the pains arose independently of the subconscious mind1 and were merely mastered by the conscious intelligence and will1 then it seems reasonable to assume that we have here1 as is certainly the case in other matters and places in the ,vita1 an ideal foreshortening1 juxtaposition1 and unification of what1 in the actual experience1 occurred more lengthily and successively4 ,it is certainly remarkable in this connection1 that1 whereas we have had a clearly marked case of mental1 spiritual desolation1 outside of one of these attacks1 it is at least very difficult to find anything certainly of the kind during one of them2 indeed the juxtaposition of1 not simply profound spiritual peace1 but of sensible1 also psychic or quasi-psychic1 consolation with those pains1 is so constant and apparently spontaneous1 that secondary1 or at least schematic and a priori1 reporting seems to have been at work rather in the passages which affirm the excessiveness of those pains1 than in those which insist that those pains were1 so to speak1 not pains4 ,all her own authentic sayings leave the impression of immense psycho-spiritual sensitiveness1 of much actual mental and emotional suffering as well as joy1 but not1 ,i think1 of purely physical suffering4 8,i find so much contentment on the part of my spirit and so much peace in my mind1 that tongue could not tell nor reason comprehend it2 but on the part of my humanity0 7her psycho-physical organism7 8all my pains are1 so to say1 not pains10 she says1 shortly after a particularly violent attack1 with four 8accidents40 ,and a contributor declares that the joy and the torment ever arose together4 ,it is true that another passage says that1 during such attacks1 8her disciples1 seeing her suffer so much1 desired that she should expire1 so as no more to have to see her in such great and continuous torment02 but then this desire of theirs was evidently rather a sympathetic feeling than a deliberate judgment1 for1 once she has got over the attack1 all this desire of theirs disappears as rapidly as it had come4#ahf ,,iii4 ,,catherine',s ,,history ,,from ,,may ,,to ,,september #i1 #aeaj4 #a4 ,catherine and the ,physicians4 ,it is at the end of the preceding months that we are told how 8the ,physician0 7possibly the ,hospital ,house-,surgeon7 8attempted to administer medicine to her4 ,but it gave rise to such repeated #8accidents' 7vomitings71 that she all but died of it1 and remained very weak40#ahg 8,and four months before she died10 hence in mid-,may1 8many physicians were called together4 ,and they saw and examined the patient1 but failed to find any trace of bodily infirmity1 in spite of the care and attention bestowed by them on the case4 ,and she declared her conviction that her infirmity was not of a kind requiring physicians or bodily physic4 ,but on the physicians persevering and ordering her1 she obediently took all that they prescribed1 although with great difficulty and to her hurt4 ,until at last those same physicians concluded that there was no remedy within the art of medicine applicable to the case1 and that the infirmity was supernatural40#ahh 8,but now there supervened1 on his return from ,england1 an excellent ,genoese physician1 ,maestro ,giovan ,battista ,boerio1 who1 for many years1 had been in the service of the ,english ,king1 ,henry ,,vii4 ,and ,boerio visited ,catherine1 and warned her to beware of giving scandal by refusing medical treatment4 ,and she1 in return1 assured him that it grieved her much if she scandalized any one2 and that she was prepared to use any remedy for her ailment1 if such could be found40 ,and indeed 8joy arose within her1 at the hope of being cured by him4 ,but in the following night much0 psycho-physical 8pain and trouble came upon her10 and 8she then reproved her natural self 7umanit71 saying3 #8,thou sufferest this1 because thou didst rejoice without 7just7 cause4'0 ,yet after about three weeks' trial of every kind of remedy1 a trial which left her as it found her1 ,boerio abandoned the task1 but 8henceforward held ,catherine in esteem and reverence1 calling her #8,mother1' and often visiting her40#ahi ,here we have an interesting group of facts4 ,for one thing1 we know how ,king ,henry 8had for years been visited by regular fits of the gout2 his strength visibly wasted away1 and every spring the most serious apprehensions were entertained of his life40 8,he had also pains in the chest and difficulty of respiration40 ,and1 8in the spring of #aeji the ,king sank under the violence of the disease40#aij ,and thus ,boerio will1 a year after the death of his royal master1 have been called in to the sick-bed of the ,viceroy's daughter1 not simply as a court physician or as a generally skilful doctor1 but as a man known to have had long experience of a case which prima facie was not all unlike ,catherine's4 ,then it is impossible not to feel throughout these and other passages of the ,vita which are concerned with physicians1 a curious combination of contradictory feelings4 ,there is reproof of the doctors' presumption in venturing to begin by treating her illness as though it were a simply natural one2 and there is the proud pleasure at thus getting1 through the breakdown of this their presumptuous undertaking1 professional testimony to the supernatural character of her infirmity4 ,and the two motives lead to the self-contradictory over-emphasizing both of the ,physicians' moral worth and finality of testimony at the end of each experience1 and of their rationalistic rashness in being willing to try again1 a rashness assumed to be apparent to every one but themselves before each new attempt4 ,for they must be represented as worthy and skilful men2 else what value has their testimony8 ,and their action must be intrinsically foolish from the outset2 else what becomes of the transparently and separately supernatural character of her illness8#aia ,and then we can still see fairly clearly that ,catherine does not share the views of practically all her attendants1 and of certainly all the later contributors to and revisers of the ,vita4 ,for even now the book still leaves intact the passages which show her as hoping to be cured by ,boerio1 and as then condemning herself for having rejoiced without cause1--evidently1 without supernatural justification2 as prepared to believe that the physicians might be able to find an appropriate remedy1 and as willingly trying the remedies they actually offer her2 and as indeed declaring her doubt whether any physic would do her any good1 yet nowhere announcing a conviction as to the directly and separately supernatural character of her illness4 8,her attendants10 says the obviously most authentic continuation of the passage concerning the cupping-glasses given further back1 8let these attacks come and go1 with as little damage as possible4 ,her body had to be and was sustained without the aid of medicine1 and solely by means of great care and great vigilance40#aib #b4 ,catherine and ,don ,carenzio1 ,argentina1 and ,ettore ,vernazza4 ,it will have been the end of ,june1 or the beginning of ,july1 when these medical experiments ceased4 ,but before them 7on ,march #aa and twice in ,april71 and again three times during them 7in ,may and ,june71 monies were paid1 in ,catherine's name1 by ,don ,giacomo ,carenzio1 now resident as ,rettore in the ,hospital1 in the matter of the granting of ,indulgences to the ,church attached to the ,hospital4 ,and although this affair1 occurring thus so late on in her illness1 in which we have already found her not always to have dominated the plans of her attendants1 cannot well be pressed as necessarily characteristic of her1 yet ,i take it to be quite likely that she still took some active part in the matter4#aic ,catherine certainly still attended to business1 even two months later2 for1 on ,august #c1 ,vernazza drew up a ,codicil in her presence 8in the bedroom of ,argentina del ,sale10 says the document itself4 ,since the ,inventory1 still extant1 of the things found in ,catherine's rooms at the time of her death1 gives a list of the bedclothes of only two beds1 and these two beds are then both in the same room1 and the one bed is ,catherine's1 and the other is that of the famiglia 7the servant7 ,argentina3 it is clear that1 for at least the last six weeks of her life1 ,catherine had only one person sleeping in her little house with her1 and that this person was the navvy ,marco's little widow4 ,i take it1 with ,vallebona1 that the room was really ,catherine's ordinary bedroom2 but that1 as ,argentina now slept there as regularly as her mistress herself1 ,catherine preferred1 whether from humility or affection 7the latter motive seems the more probable71 to think of the room as belonging to ,argentina4#aid ,for some reason unknown to us1 ,vernazza1 ,catherine's closest friend1 must have left ,genoa soon after drawing up this ,codicil4 ,for he did not draw up or witness her final ,codicil of ,september #ab1 although1 when in ,genoa at all1 he now lived close by1 and although this final ,codicil but gave effect to the plan regarding her sepulture which underlay the change introduced into the ,will of ,march #aeji1 a ,will which had been witnessed by himself4 ,and1 as we shall see1 he was absent1 indeed far away 7lontano71 from her death-bed1 some six weeks after the date at which we have now arrived4 ,i think we can only explain this departure by assuming that already now1 before his inspirer's death1 his zeal and activity had expanded beyond the limits of the ,genoese ,republic2 and that1 dying as she already was1 and devoted to her as he ever remained1 he nevertheless 7since there was now so little that he could hope to do for her own person1 and there was so much to do elsewhere in the way of developing and applying her spirit and teachings7 now rode off to ,venice or to ,rome1 as we know him to have done1 so often and for so long1 during the fourteen remaining years of his life4 ,and we have in this a fact peculiarly characteristic of these two expansive souls1--of the influence of the one1 the frail woman1 dying in her little sick-room1 and of the execution of her world-embracing aspirations by the other1 the strong man1 battling1 often at the risk of his very life1 for the poor and oppressed1 outside1 on the great trysting-field of men's passions and requirements4 #c4 ,psycho-physical condition and its utilization1 ,august #aj to #bg4 ,but ,catherine1 lying in her sick-room1 suffered on ,august #aj from one of her great burnings4 8,and next day1 whilst her body was still in pain and trouble1 ,god drew her mind upwards to ,himself4 ,and she fixed her eyes on the ceiling1 and remained thus almost immovable for an hour1 and spoke not but laughed joyously4 ,and when she had returned to her more ordinary consciousness1 she said this one thing only3 #8,o ,lord1 do with me whatsoever ,thou wilt4'0#aie ,on ,august #ae1 she1 8when about to communicate1 addressed many beautiful words to the ,blessed ,sacrament1 so that every one present was moved to tears40#aif ,during the following day and night she suffered so greatly1 that 8all considered she would certainly die4 ,she asked10--this was the third or even fourth time1--8for ,extreme ,unction1 and0 this time 8it was given her1 and she received it with great devotion40 8,on the day following10 the #agth1 8she was in a state of jubilation of heart 7giubilo di cuore71 which manifested itself exteriorly in merry laughter4 ,and1 having been asked as to the cause1 she said that she had seen various most beautiful1 merry1 and joyous countenances1 so that she had been unable to refrain from laughing4 ,and this impression continued throughout several days1 during which she appeared to be improved in health40#aig ,but on ,august #bb or #bc1 8she again had a day of much heat and trouble4 ,she remained maimed 7paralyzed7 in her right hand and in one finger of the left hand4 ,and then she remained as though dead for about sixteen hours40#aih ,in the night of the #bcrd or #bdth 7,feast of ,st4 ,bartholomew7 she had 8a great attack in mind and body2 and being unable to speak1 she made the sign of the ,cross upon her heart4 ,and1 later on1 she was understood to have been molested by a diabolical temptation40#aii ,on the #beth 8she was in great weakness4 ,and she caused her windows to be opened1 so as to be able to see the sky4 ,and1 as the night came on1 she had many candles lit2 and she chanted1 as well as she could1 the #8,veni1 ,creator ,spiritus4' ,and when she had finished she fixed her eyes upon the sky1 and remained thus an hour and a half1 making many gestures with her hands and eyes4 ,and when she had resumed her ordinary consciousness 7quando f ritornata in s71 she said repeatedly3 #8,let us go'2 and then added3 #8,no more earth1 no more earth4' ,and her body remained greatly shaken from this contemplation 7vista740 ,and on ,august #bg 8she saw herself as though bereft of her body and of its animating soul1 and her spirit alone in ,god above4 ,and after this she addressed those present and said3 #8,let only those come in who may be necessary4'0#bjj ,this particular group is specially interesting4 ,for it shows us ,catherine's love of the large and expansive1 of the spiritually simple and interior1 and of the supernatural and transcendent in her look-out into the open2 in her vivid apprehension of her spirit bereft of all things except the ,supreme ,spirit1 that spirit's native element and home2 and in her gaze into the starlit ,italian ,august sky above4 ,and it gives us indications1 elsewhere so rare in her life1 of her attachment to the visible1 audible1 tangible vehicles and expressions of religion1 as so many helps and occasions of its immanence in our minds and hearts1 in her signing her heart with the sign of the ,cross1 her having the candles lit and her chanting a definite traditional ,church hymn1 and in her fourth demand of ,extreme ,unction and devout reception of it4 ,it is also noticeable how vivid and yet how undefined are her impressions of those countenances1 since neither she herself anywhere1 nor even her chroniclers in this place1 explicitly identify them with ,angels2 and how still more general and indefinite remains the 8diabolic temptation10 since in this case1 only when it was over1 was she 8understood0 to have been thus tempted4 ,indeed any directly diabolical temptation would be profoundly uncharacteristic of her special call and way3 all through the records of her life and teaching it is the selfish1 claimful ,self that she fears 8more than a demon10 8worse than the devil02 she is1 in a very true sense1 too busy watching1 fighting1 ignoring1 supplanting ,self1 and ever putting1 keeping1 and replacing ,god1 ,love1 in ,self's stead1 to give or find occasion for what1 in this her immensely strenuous inner life1 would have been a remoter conflict4 #d4 ,persistent self-knowledge and excessive impressionableness4 ,the ,vita next gives us five most vivid but undated paragraphs as to her health4 ,i will take them together with such other dated occurrences as will bring us down to ,september #aj4 ,there is first a characteristic general fact1 and a probably often repeated remark of ,catherine's4 8,at times she would have no pulse1 and at other times she would have a good one2 often she would seem to sleep2 and from this state she would awake1 at one time completely herself again1 and at other times so limp1 oppressed1 and shattered as to be unable to move4 ,and those that attended on her did not know how to distinguish one state from the other4 ,and hence1 on coming to1 she would sometimes say1 #8,why did you let me remain in this quietude1 from which ,i have almost died8'0#bja ,thus ,catherine's attendants are helplessly at sea concerning her psycho-physical condition1 and they identify1 and directly supernaturalize1 each and all of her successive and simultaneous states4 ,but ,catherine herself remains clearly conscious of different levels and values in these states3 of normal1 grace-impelled1 freely-willed1 strength-bringing contemplations and quietudes2 and of sickly1 weakening1 more or less hysterical1 lassitudes and failures4 ,and she is thus aware of the deep difference between the two sets of states1 that are externally so similar1 at the very time of experiencing the one or the other of them2 and is conscious1 at the same time1 both of being unable1 by her own unaided will1 to give effect1 from within1 to this her own knowledge1 and of being able and willing1 indeed anxious1 to follow the lead and the pressure of wisely discriminating will-acts1 proceeding from without1 and1 as it were1 meeting her own wishes half-way1 and thus turning them into effective willings4 ,she herself has still the knowledge1 but1 now she is ill1 she has no more the power4 ,they have the power1 but not the knowledge4 ,and she knows all this1 through ,god's illumination working in and upon her own long and rich experiences1 sound good sense1 severe self-detachment1 close self-observation1 and incorruptible veracity of mind2 and she knows it in spite of1 and in direct opposition to1 the far more flattering misconceptions1 and entirely well-meant and sincere opinions 7representative of the traditional and contemporary consensus of view on these obscure matters7 of the servants1 lawyers1 physicians1 relatives1 and priests about her4 ,the incident is closely parallel to her scruple as to ,marabotto's spoiling her2 and one more similar detail will be mentioned later on4 ,but next1 we get now abundant evidence that she was ill indeed4 ,there is the rapidly shifting fancifulness of the senses of taste and smell1 together with an ever-increasing difficulty of swallowing4 8,she would1 at times1 be so thirsty as to feel capable of drinking all the water of the sea1 and yet she could not1 as a matter of fact1 manage to swallow even one little drop of water40 8,seeing on one occasion a melon1 and conceiving a great desire to eat it1 she had it given to her4 ,but hardly had she a piece of it in her mouth1 but she rejected it with great disgust40 8,she often bathed her mouth with water1 and then suddenly she would reject it40 8,to-day the smell of wine would please her1 and she would bathe her hands and face in it1 with great relish2 and to-morrow she would dislike it so much1 as to be unable any longer to see or smell it in her room40#bjb ,and1 in strict conformity with this detail1 ,i find an entry in the ,hospital account-book for this time1 of money disbursed to the account of ,catherine1 for a cask of wine for her use4#bjc ,yet her biographers are evidently only stating the simple truth when they declare that she continued to receive ,holy ,communion with ease and safety2 for not only are there three quite unsuspicious passages1 descriptive of her receptions of ,it1 under most difficult circumstances2 but we find1 on counting up the incidental and bare mentions of her ,communions1 that1 during the fourteen days from ,september #b to #ae1 her death-day1 she communicated ten times1 and one or two further ,communions may have been accidentally omitted4 ,there is1 again1 an occasional abnormal sensitiveness to colours1 and their mental connotations1 at least in connection with red4 8,on ,september #b1 a ,physician1 a friend of hers10--no doubt ,maestro ,boerio1--8came to visit her1 robed in his ,doctor's #8scarlet1'0 as was no doubt the custom when visiting patients of quality4 8,and she bore this sight for a little1 so as not to hurt his feelings4 ,but when she could bear it no longer1 she said to him3 #8,sir1 ,i can no further bear the sight of this gown of yours1 because of what it represents 7suggests7 to me4' ,the ,physician departed at once and returned clad in another10 a black 8gown40 ,the ,chronicler1 probably ,boerio's priest-son1 is no doubt substantially right in interpreting this as meaning that the scarlet suggested to her a seraph aflame with divine love4 ,yet ,i find1 from the inventory of her final possessions1 that she possessed1 and doubtless used1 among her bedclothes a vermilion silk coverlet and a vermilion blanket1--an undoubted indication of her love for this colour4#bjd ,these two vicissitudes of her colour-affection no doubt mutually supplement and explain each other3 when not over-impressionable and not already stimulated to the full of her capacity1 this colour would suggest her central doctrine and experience1 and would be pleasurable2 when over-impressionable and already stimulated as much as1 then and there1 she could bear and utilize1 the colour would but strain and disturb her4 ,and1 finally1 there are sensations and impressions of extreme heat and cold1 and excessive sensibility or insensibility in tactual matters4 8,at one time she was cold2 and at another1 burning hot40 8,on one day10 early in ,september1 8she suffered great cold in her right arm1 followed by acute pain02 and on ,september #g1 8her body felt all on fire2 and1 since it seemed to her as though the whole world were aflame1 she asked whether this were the case1 and had her windows opened1 so as to be reassured as to the real facts40#bje 8,at times she would be sensitive to such a degree1 that it was impossible to touch her sheets or a hair of her head2 she would1 if this were done1 cry out as though she had been grievously wounded40#bjf ,the temporary paralysis and anaesthetic conditions have been already described4 #e4 ,three spiritually significant events1 ,september #d-i4 ,we can next consider together three spiritually significant incidents which occurred during these penultimate days of hers4 8,on ,september #d she lay there in her bed1 in great pain1 her arms stretched out in suchwise that she appeared like a body nailed to a cross2 as she was within1 so did she appear without40 ,here1 then1 she finds a certain attraction and help in an external1 quasi-ritual attitude and act2 for this attitude1 however spontaneous and but subconscious1 was doubtless not simply accidental or the mere result of pain4 ,it is1 with the ,piet-picture of her childhood and the ,conversion-vision of the ,bleeding ,christ1 one of the only three direct references to the ,passion which ,i can find throughout her whole life and teaching4 ,this little act gave occasion to the 8,spiritual ,stigmata0-legend1 which is inserted here1 in two paragraphs1 by the ,vita1 on the alleged1 and ,i think actual1 authority of the credulous and long-lived ,argentina4 ,the legend is wanting in all the ,,mss42 its late genesis and growth is clearly traceable4#bjg 8,on ,september #e1 some time after her ,communion1 she suddenly had a sight 7vista7 of herself1 as dead and lying in a truckle-bed1 with many ,religious1 robed in black1 around her4 ,and she rejoiced greatly at this sight4 ,but afterwards1 having a prick of conscience because of this rejoicing1 she confessed it to her ,confessor40#bjh ,here we have once more a particular desire within ,catherine's soul1 and a scruple consequent upon it2 and all this but ten days before her death4 ,and on the #ith1 after ,communion1 there was 8suddenly shown her a sight of her 7spiritual7 miseries2 and this gave great annoyance 7noia7 to her mind4 ,and1 as soon as she was able to tell 7confess7 them1 she did so2 and the sight then departed from her40#bji ,here1 then1 we have clear testimony to imperfections perceived by herself as still within her1 and to her ,confession of them as such2 things characteristic of her third as against her second period1 but which most of the contributors to the ,vita try hard to obscure even here4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,last ,,six ,,days ,,of ,,catherine',s ,,life1 ,,september #aj-ae4 ,and now the events of real significance which occurred during the last six days of her life can be grouped under six heads4 #a4 ,a great consultation of ,physicians1 ,september #aj4 ,on the #ajth there occurred a second1 and last1 great consultation of ,physicians4 ,the number is this time given--they were ten3 8of whom several are still alive10 writes the final ,redactor of the printed ,vita of #aeea4 ,and1 in this case1 they did not prescribe any remedies2 but 8examining her and inspecting everything with great diligence1 they finally concluded that such a case was 7must be7 a supernatural and divine thing1 since neither the pulse1 nor any of the secretions1 nor any other symptom1 showed any trace of any infirmity4 ,they were astounded1 and departed recommending themselves to her prayers40 8,when she was not oppressed or tormented by her attacks 7accidenti71 she seemed well2 when she was being stifled by them 7suffocata71 she seemed dead3 and again1 suddenly1 the opposite condition would be seen4 ,and hence it was most clearly understood1 that all this operation was produced 7ordinata7 by the divine goodness itself40#baj ,here we have a clear exposition of the two sets of phenomena which specially impressed her entourage1 and of the reasoning by which these appearances were turned into direct proofs of the ,metaphysical1 indeed of the ,supernatural4 ,there are three assumptions at work here4 ,what exceeds the knowledge of the ,physicians of any one period1 can be safely held to exceed not only human knowledge throughout all coming ages1 but the powers of nature itself4 ,all purely natural illness is either simply physical or simply mental1 and always shows traces of a simply physical or of a simply mental kind4 ,and all purely natural illness is either slow in its transitions1 or1 at least1 not sudden in its transitions back and up to apparent health4 ,and these assumptions must have lain in those minds as part and parcel of their hereditary furniture1 in so far as they did not energize and aspire1 and did not1 by moving out and up into the regions of ,action and of the ,spiritual1 of the ,dynamic and of ,love1 transcend all that is mechanically transmissible1 and1 with it1 all that was bound to change and be proved inadequate in the knowledge of their time4 ,it was their very religion which1 with its strong predisposition and determination to find immediate1 independent1 tangible1 medically certified proofs for an exceptional1 indeed exclusive action of ,god1 kept these ,physicians thus1 even religiously1 tied down in and by the ,contingent and ,transitory4 ,and it was her very religion which1 by its grandly ethico-spiritual ,transcendence1 kept ,catherine above and outside the very possibility of growing obsolete or old4 ,we now see1 with even painful clearness1 how inadequate1 indeed how directly suggestive of the contrary1 were those ,physicians' and ,redactors' treasured proofs4 ,for neither the absence of all symptoms of physical or of clearly mental disease1 nor the presence of an astounding frequency1 abruptness1 and completeness of change in the psycho-physical actions and functions of the living person1 nor1 above all1 the conjunction of these two peculiarities1 are for us now1 taken by themselves1 anything but indications of nervous1 hysterical derangement4 ,it is in spite of these things1 or at least only on occasion of them1 that ,catherine is great4 ,indeed one fails to see how1 in any case1 such purely psycho-physical phenomenal data could1 of themselves and directly1 ever compel any such metaphysical and spiritual conclusions4 ,and1 be it noted1 only in proportion as men abandon such impossible enterprises1 do they become sufficiently detached from these phenomena to be able accurately to gauge their nature4 ,these attendants who build so much on these phenomena1 do not see them as they are2 ,catherine1 who builds nothing on them1 and who simply uses them as fresh means and occasions of ethico-spiritual growth1 sees them1 to an astonishing extent1 as they really are4 #b4 ,the final ,codicil1 ,september #ab4 ,on the #abth1 8she communicated as usual1 but tasted no other food1 and after this she remained a very long time without speaking4 ,and after they had been bathing her mouth for some time1 she exclaimed1 #8,i am suffocating' 7io affogo74 ,she said this because a little drop of water had trickled into her throat1 and she could not gulp it down40 ,and in the evening the ,notary ,saccheri drew up in her presence1 with her nephew ,francesco ,fiesco and the maid ,argentina del ,sale as two of the seven witnesses1 a last ,codicil1 in which she1 8although languishing in body1 yet possessed of her faculties 7in sua sana memoria esistente71 ordained that her body should be buried in such a place and ,church as should be ordained by ,don ,jacobo ,carenzio1 the present ,rector of the ,hospital1 and ,don ,cattaneo ,marabotto40 ,and 8at ten o'clock at night she complained of a very great heat 7fire71 and then ejected from the mouth much black blood4 ,and black spots appeared all over her body1 with very severe suffering4 ,and her sight became so weak that she could barely distinguish one person from the other40#baa ,here at last we can plainly see the object which had moved her friends1 eighteen months before1 to get her to fix upon ,san ,nicol in ,boschetto as her burial-place4 ,they now1 when she is at the point of death1 and in the last moment of fairly lucid mind1 get her finally to declare1--not that she is to be buried in the ,hospital ,church apart from her husband1 though this is what they themselves intend to do1 but simply that her grave is to be wheresoever ,dons ,marabotto and ,carenzio shall decide4 ,it is interesting to note to how late a date her friends thought it wise to postpone such a move1 and in how indirect and roundabout a fashion they had to attain their end4 ,yet it is again plain that the whole scheme was willed and executed by her family and friends unanimously2 for1 if ,vernazza had been a witness to the previous ,will1 so was ,francesco ,fiesco now a witness to this ,codicil4--,we should also note that1 if the difficulty in swallowing of the early day is still entirely in keeping with her life-long psycho-physical peculiarities1 the attack at night is the first in her life when the blood lost is described as of bad quality and where spots appear on her person1 indeed where any symptom of definite illness is recorded4 ,but now at last it is evident that downright physical mischief is at work4 #c4 ,symptoms of organic lesion and delirium1 ,september #ac4 ,before dawn 8on the #acth1 she evacuated much blood of a bad quality and great heat1 so that she remained even weaker than before4 ,nevertheless she again communicated at her usual hour40 ,and later on 8she fixed her gaze immovably upon the ceiling1 and made many gestures with her mouth and hands4 ,the bystanders asked her what it was that she was seeing1 and she said3 #8,drive away that beast that wants to eat'''1' and the remainder of the words could not be made out40#bab ,here two points are of pathetic interest4 ,this great heat of her blood was considered1 no doubt from the first by at least some of her attendants1 and then later on more and more by the ,redactors1 as so directly marvellous1 spiritually significant1 and confirmatory of sayings of her own as to her interior ardours1 that three various though parallel anecdotes and proofs as to the intensity of its heat are solemnly printed here by the ,vita1 only the first of which appears in the ,,mss4 ,purely secondary1 physical matters are thus1 with a short-sighted good faith and admiration1 eagerly utilized to naturalize and obscure a soaringly spiritual personality4 ,truly1 she was not simply mistaken as to her isolation3 she too had the privilege to share some of the piercing loneliness of ,christ4 ,and next1 we have here her last coherent utterance2 and the care and fearless honesty with which it has been chronicled and printed as such--and as the concluding words of a chapter 7,chapter ,l71 up to at least the fourth edition1 ,venice #afja--;are truly admirable4 ,the words1 8that wants to eat10 appear in ,,mss4 8,a0 and 8,b10 and are1 ,i think1 authentic4 ,they may mean that the beast was looking about for some unspecified food1 or that it was wanting to devour her 7the former is1 ,i think1 the more likely meaning1 for there is no indication of fright1 and devorare would1 in the latter case1 be the more natural word74 ,we have1 in any case1 a quasi-physical1 distinctly maladif impression2 one which1 as regards at least its apparently sensible embodiment1 was the simple projection of her own mind4 ,and indeed there is nothing to show that she had any consciousness of any spiritual significance about it4 ,it has got all the opaque1 uninteresting character of mere1 given1 unrelated1 and unsuggestive fact1 which all such purely nervous projections always have2 and stands thus in complete and instructive contrast to her finely suggestive and transparent1 spiritually significant ,viste1 which contributed so largely to the volitional stimulation and moral and religious witness and truth of her life4 #d4 ,catherine's death1 dawn of ,september #ae1 #aeaj4 ,during the early night hours of 8the #adth1 she again lost much blood1 and she weakened much in her speech4 ,yet she once more1 and it was the last time1 communicated as usual4 ,and throughout this day she lay there1 with her pulse so slight as to be unfindable40 ,and 8many devoted friends were present40 ,and as the subsequent night ceased to be ,saturday and became ,sunday1 the #aeth1 8she was asked whether she wished to communicate4 ,but she then pointed with her right index-finger towards the sky40 ,and her friends understood that she wished to indicate by this that she had to go and communicate in heaven4 8,and at this moment1 this blessed soul gently expired1 in great peace and tranquillity1 and flew to her tender and much desired ,love40#bac ,here three points are of interest4 ,catherine undoubtedly died at1 or shortly before1 dawn on the #aeth ,september1 as is clearly required by the older account on page #afj;c of the ,vita4 ,yet a second account1 sufficiently early to appear in all the ,,mss41 is given on page #afa;c1 according to which she died on the #adth4 ,the reason of this latter pragmatic 8correction0 is obvious3 the #aeth is but the ,octave of the ,nativity of the ,blessed ,virgin1 the #adth is the ,feast of the ,exaltation of the ,cross4 ,the temptation to find a final1 strikingly appropriate synchronism1 when1 to do so1 her death need only be pushed back some six hours at most1 was too great to be resisted to the end2 and an untrained1 enthusiastic1 imaginative mind like ,argentina's would1 probably from the very first1 have almost unconsciously helped to establish1 or perhaps she single-handedly fixed1 this date4 ,and next1 the 8many friends0 present will no doubt have included her sole surviving brother ,lorenzo and his son ,francesco1 who1 only three days before1 had witnessed her ,codicil2 one or other of the four 8,protectors0 of the ,hospital2 ,don ,carenzio1 the ,rector2 and ,argentina del ,sale4 ,but ,vernazza1 as we already know1 was far away2 and1 as we shall find in a moment1 ,mariola1 and1 above all1 ,marabotto1 though both in ,genoa1 were both absent from her death-bed4 ,now it is certain that the absence of ,marabotto cannot have been accidental1 for death had evidently been recognized by all to be imminent1 ever since the #abth at least2 and he himself would certainly not have put anything in the world before attending ,catherine at the moment of her death4 ,nor1 as we shall find1 was he ill just now4 ,yet we must1 ,i think1 suppose him to have been 7at least off and on7 about her person1 during the #abth1 up to the drawing up of the ,codicil1 which directly concerns himself together with ,carenzio4 ,his own name appears second1 no doubt because1 as the document itself mentions1 ,carenzio and not he is now ,rector of the ,hospital in which the document is being drawn up4 ,marabotto will have withdrawn after the attack on that night which left ,catherine hardly capable of any further distinguishing one person from another2 and he will have retired because ,carenzio1 from some little jealousy or feeling of punctilio1 cared to claim the right1 as ,rector1 alone to attend her at the last2 or for some other slight reason such as this4 ,in any case1 there is here one more indication of a certain friction and rivalry amongst her attendants and chroniclers1 which1 however painful1 will help us in our study of the peculiarities of her biography4 ,there is1 however1 nothing to show that ,marabotto's final withdrawal took place at the instigation1 or even with the knowledge1 of ,catherine2 and the cause of that withdrawal can certainly not have been a grave one4 ,and finally1 there appeared eventually1 at earliest in the fifth edition1 #afae1 but possibly not till the sixth1 in #afde1 or even later1 a gloss which effectually prevents her 8unedifying0 remark of the #acth from being her last utterance4 ,after the words1 8and at this moment1 this blessed soul10 there then appears the clause3 8saying3 #8,into ,thy hands1 ,o ,lord1 ,i commend my ,spirit4'0 ,the passage occurs in the late and entirely secondary ,,ms4 8,f10 which contains also other demonstrably legendary 8embellishments40 #e4 ,intimations of her death vouchsafed to friends4 ,the ,vita gives an account of seven intimations or apparitions1 vouchsafed at the moment of her death to as many chosen friends and disciples1--so many communications of her passage and instant complete union with ,god4 ,although no names are given1 it is easy to identify the first six persons as ,argentina del ,sale1 8a spiritual daughter of hers1 present at her death02 ,mariola ,bastarda1 8another spiritual daughter of hers1 who had an evil spirit upon her 7il demonio adosso702 ,maestro ,boerio1 8a physician1 her devotee02 ,ettore ,vernazza1 8a very spiritual man and her devotee02 ,tommasa ,fiesca1 8a holy ,religious woman1 most devoted to her02 and ,benedetta ,lombarda1 8another ,religious woman1 who had been a member of her household 7sua famigliare740 ,the seventh and last1 8a nun0 7una monaca71 is so little characterized1 as to be incapable of certain identification3 possibly ,battista ,vernazza is meant1 who1 though but thirteen years old1 was already an ,augustinian ,novice4#bad ,the order in which the first six names appear is evidently determined partly by the degree of physical proximity to ,catherine--,argentina by her bedside1 comes before ,boerio in another house in ,genoa1 and ,boerio comes before ,vernazza1 since the latter is far away 7lontano72 partly by sex--,boerio and ,vernazza1 though simple laymen1 appear before the three ,religious women2 and partly by the abnormal spiritual condition1 and consequent increase in the value of the testimony1 of the souls concerned--,mariola the ,possessed comes first among all those not actually present at the death4 ,even this order1 and still more the form of all these little notices1 show plainly that the stress is laid1 not so much on the intimation of the death1 as on that of the immediate entrance into glory4 ,note that there is no reference anywhere to ,don ,carenzio1 certainly as much present at the death as ,argentina2 nor1 within this particular list1 to ,don ,marabotto1 as certainly absent as ,ettore ,vernazza4 ,it is disappointing to find that1 whereas such intimations1 or at least communications as to death at the moment of its occurrence1 belong to the best authenticated of the more mysterious human experiences1 and although we would expect to find some such unmistakably vivid and first-hand accounts at this point in the life of one so spiritually great and so deeply loved as was ,catherine1 the accounts are all1 with the possible exception of that concerning ,boerio1 very general and colourless4 ,as to ,boerio we are told3 8,a ,physician1 her devotee1 was asleep1 but awoke at the moment of her passing1 and heard a voice which said to him3 #8,abide with ,god2 ,i am now going to ,paradise4' ,and he called his wife and said to her3 #8,madonna ,caterina has died at this moment'2 and this turned out to have been the case40#bae ,two insipid1 vague1 and gossipy fragments concerning ,don ,marabotto strive to make up for his absence from the list of the seven recipients of synchronizing intimations4 8,her ,confessor during that night 7#adth to #aeth7 and throughout the following day 7#aeth71 had no notice whatever concerning her40 ,this is told as if it had been something spiritually remarkable1 whereas it was evidently but strangely unkind on the part of the other friends of ,catherine4 8,the next day 7#afth7 he attempted to say a ,mass for the ,dead for the soul of ,catherine40 ,he evidently had been told on the evening of the #aeth1 or quite early on the #afth1 for there is here no claim to any supernatural intimation4 8,and he found himself unable to pray for her in particular4 ,and again on the following day1 whilst saying a ,mass in honour of several ,martyrs1 his mind was suddenly1 from the ,introit onwards1 fixed upon ,catherine's spiritual martyrdom1 so that his abundant weeping made it difficult for him to finish his ,mass40#baf ,there is1 as so often with ,marabotto1 something slightly comical1 and yet respectable1 because thoroughly genuine1 loyal1 and truthful1 about this his eager desire to experience something unusual1 the careful registration of something quite commonplace1 and the wistful attempt to make it out extraordinary after all4 #f4 ,alleged miraculous condition of ,catherine's skin and heart4 ,there remain two more medical details1 which are1 however1 of some significance in connection with the spirit of her entourage4 ,her skin is declared to have been1 after death1 of a yellow colour throughout4 ,indeed in various places of the ,vita yellow or red colour is noted in connection with her person1 but generally as localized about the region of the heart4 ,but the accounts vary1 indeed contradict each other1 so much1 that ,i shrink from finally adopting any one account4#bag ,the action of her heart was often laborious or even acutely painful3 8,at the last1 owing to the great fire of pure and penetrating love1 that burnt within her heart1 the skin over it became so tender as to be unable to be touched4 ,it seemed as though she had a wound right through her heart4 ,and she often held her hand over it2 and it would pant like a pair of bellows1 on one day more than on another40#bah ,and how often had not ,catherine spoken of the wondrous things1 the spiritual joys and sufferings1 that she felt within her heart6 ,and so some of her materializing biographers1 probably some of her attendants before them1 doubt not that 8if only her 7physical7 heart had been examined after death1 some marvellous sign would have been found upon it40#bai ,we even find a report that 8this holy soul1 several months before her death1 left an order that1 after her death1 her body should be opened and her heart examined1 because they would find it all consumed 7burnt up7 by love4 ,nevertheless her friends did not dare to do so40#bbj ,this sheer legend will have been due to ,argentina1 and will have become articulate long after the first deposition of ,catherine's remains4 ,there is certainly no other1 indeed no kind of authentic1 evidence of any such wish or hesitation on the part of any one at the time4 ,it is sad to note how rapidly and easily1 all but inevitably1 the vivid1 spiritual ideas and experiences of ,catherine were thus materialized and spoilt4 ,v4 ,,sketch ,,of ,,catherine',s ,,spiritual ,,character ,,and ,,significance4 ,before proceeding further to what is really still a necessary part and elucidation of ,catherine's spiritual character and special significance1--her doctrine and the posthumous effect1 extension1 and application of her life and teaching upon and by means of her greatest disciples1--it may be well to pause a little1 and to try and give1 as far as the largely fragmentary and vague evidence permits1 a short and vivid picture and summary1 in part retrospective and in part prospective1 of the special type1 meaning and importance of ,catherine's personality and spiritual attitude1 and of the interrelation of the two4 ,in so doing ,i propose to move1 as far as possible1 from the psycho-physical and temperamental peculiarities and determinisms of her case1 up to the spiritual characteristics and ethical self-determinations2 and to try and note everywhere what she was not as definitely as what she was4 ,for only thus shall we have some adequate apprehension of the 8beggarly elements0 which she found1 and of the spiritual organism and centre of far-reaching influence which she left4 ,and only thus too will it be possible to see at all clearly the cost1 the limitations1 and the special functions1 temporary and permanent1 of her particular kind of soul and sanctity4 #a4 ,her special temperament4 ,it is clear then1 first1 that in her we have to do with a highly nervous1 delicately poised1 immensely sensitive and impressionable psycho-physical organism and temperament4 ,it was a temperament which1 had it been unmatched by a mind and will at least its equals2 had these latter not found1 or been found by1 a definite1 rich1 and supernaturally powerful1 historical1 and institutional religion2 and had not the mind and will1 with this religious help1 been kept in constant operation upon it1 would have spelt1 if not moral ruin1 at least life-long ineffectualness4 ,yet1 as a matter of fact1 not only did this temperament not dominate her1 with the apparently rare and incomplete exceptions of some but semi-voluntary1 short impressions and acts during the last months of her life2 but it became one of the chief instruments and materials of her life's work and worth4 ,only together with such a mind and will1 is such a temperament not a grave drawback2 and even with them it is an obvious danger1 and requires their constant careful checking and active shaping4 ,and this temperament involved an unusually large subconscious life4 ,all souls have some amount of this life1 but many have it but slight and shallow3 she had it of a quite extraordinary degree and depth4 ,a coral reef1 growing up from1 and just peering above1 a hundred fathom-deep ocean1 would be an appropriate picture of the large predominance of subconsciousness in this spacious soul4 ,and even this circumstance alone would cause her spiritual lights and fully conscious experiences to come abruptly1 and in the form of quasi-physical seizures and surprises4 ,continuous1 and possibly long1 incubations of ideas and feelings would thus be taking place in the subconscious region1 and these feelings and ideas would then1 when fully ripe1 or on some slight stimulation from the conscious region or directly from the outer world1 make sudden irruptions into that full consciousness4 ,nor would such natural suddenness of full consciousness really militate against the claim to supernaturalness of the ideas and feelings thus revealed4 ,for they would still be most rightly conceived as the work of ,god's ,spirit in and through the action of her own spirit3 not their causation and their source1 but simply the suddenness of their revelation and the channel of their outlet would lose in supernaturalness4 ,and hers was a soul with habitually large fields of consciousness4 ,apparently from her conversion onwards1 and certainly during the last fourteen years of her life1 the moments or days of narrow fields were1 till quite the last weeks or even days1 comparatively rare2 and their narrowness was evidently always felt as most painful and oppressive4 ,and the interior occupation was so intense2 the several fields succeeded each other with such an apparent automatism and quality of even physical seizure2 and they were either so entrancing by their largeness or so depressing by their narrowness3 that to souls not in tune with hers1 she must1 in the former moods1 have appeared as egoistic1 as 7in a sense7 too much of a man1 as one absorbed in great but purely general1 super-personal ideas which were making her forget both her own and her fellow-creature's minor wants2 and1 in the latter moods1 as downrightly egotistic1 as 7in a way7 too much of a woman1 as one engrossed in her own purely individual1 small and fanciful troubles and trials4 ,yet the 8,egoism0 is not dominant during her middle period1 since it is certain that her charitable and administrative activities1 and close affective interest in the daily1 physical and emotional lot and demands of the poor and lowly1 were most real and considerable4 ,and1 in her third period1 it was this very 8,egoism0 which1 as we shall see1 was the form and means of the interior apprehension and exterior elaboration of her most original and suggestive doctrines1 and became the occasion for her stimulation of other intensely active souls on to great nation-wide enterprises of the most practical1 permanent1 and heroic kind4 ,and the 8,egotistic0 moods are unapparent before the last two years or less of her life2 and they then are clearly but the occasional1 involuntary suspensions or partial yieldings of her normally iron will1--rare checks and intermittences which1 with little or no preventible faultiness on her own part1 give us pathetically vivid glimpses of what that normal life of hers cost her to achieve and to maintain1 and of what she would have been1 if bereft of ,god's generosity ever awakening1 deepening1 and operating through her own4 ,all this sensitiveness1 subconsciousness1 spaciousness1 variety1 and suddenness of apprehension and feeling2 all this largely chaotic1 mutually conflicting1 raw material of her spiritual life1 even if it had existed alongside of but feeble and inert powers of organization and transformation1 would not have failed to produce considerable suffering2 although1 in such a case1 that suffering would have remained largely inarticulate1 and would have left the soul checked and counterchecked by various tyrannous passions and fancies4 ,the soul would thus have been less efficient and persuasive than the least subconscious and sensitive specimens of average and 8common-sense0 humanity4 ,but1 in her case1 all this unusually turbulent raw material was in unusually close contiguity to powers of mind and of will of a rare breadth and strength4 ,and this very closeness of apposition and width of contrast1 and this great strength of mind and will1 made all that disordered multiplicity1 distraction1 and dispersion of her clamorous1 many-headed1 many-hearted nature1 a tyranny impossible and unnecessary to bear4 ,and yet to achieve the actual escape from such a tyranny1 the mastering of such a rabble1 and the harmonization of such a chaos1 meant a constant and immense effort1 a practically unbroken grace-getting and self-giving1 an ever-growing heroism and indeed sanctity1 and1 with and through all these things1 a corresponding expansion and virile joy4 ,it can thus be said1 in all simple truth1 that she became a saint because she had to2 that she became it1 to prevent herself going to pieces3 she literally had to save1 and actually did save1 the fruitful life of reason and of love1 by ceaselessly fighting her immensely sensitive1 absolute1 and claimful self4 #b4 ,catherine and ,marriage4 ,catherine's mind was without humour or wit2 and this was1 of course1 a serious drawback4 ,and her temperament was of so excessive a mentality1 as to amount to something more or less abnormal4 ,for not only is there no trace about her1 at any time1 of moral vulgarity of any kind1 or of any tendency to it2 and this is1 of course1 a grand strength2 but she seems at all times to have been greatly lacking in that quite innocent and normal sensuousness1 which appears to form a necessary element of the complete human personality4 ,it is true that in the anecdotes of her impulsive and yet reverent affection for the pestiferous woman and the cancerous workman1 with the finely self-oblivious sympathy which moves her to kiss the mouth of the first1 and long to remain with her arms around the neck of the other1 there is the beautiful tenderness and daring of a great positive purity1 of the purity of flame and not of snow4 ,and her love of her servants1 ,argentina in particular1 and of poor ,thobia1 is exquisitely true and constant4 ,yet even all this can hardly be classed with the element referred to1 with that love of children and of women as the bearers of them1 that instinct of union with all that is pure and fruitful in the normal life of sex1 such as is so beautifully present throughout ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel1 but which is1 at least relatively1 absent from ,st4 ,john's4 ,possibly her unhappy and childless marriage determined the non-development or the mortification of any tendencies to such a temper4 ,but the absence referred to was more probably caused by her congenital psychical temperament and state themselves2 and1 if so1 it would point to her as a person hardly intended for marriage1 and as one who1 through no fault of her own1 could not satisfy the less purely mental of the perfectly licit requirements which make up the many-levelled wants of a normal1 or at least ordinary1 man's and husband's nature4 ,pompilia's dying words1 in ,browning's 8,ring and the ,book10 would1 probably at any time after her premature involuntary marriage1 have found an appropriate place upon ,catherine's lips1 had she ever thought it loyal or kind to utter them3 8#8,in heaven there is neither marriage nor giving in marriage4' ,how like ,jesus ,christ to say that60 ,yet it is at least as difficult to think of her as really intended for the cloister4 ,that early wish of hers to join a religious community1 sincere and keen as it no doubt was at the time1 evidently faded away completely1 probably already before her conversion thirteen years later1 and certainly before her widowhood4 ,perhaps she would have been best suited1 throughout her adult years1 to the life of an unmarried woman living in the world1--to the kind of life which she actually led during her widowhood1 with such changes in it as her earlier1 robuster health would have involved for those earlier years4 ,she would thus1 throughout her life1 have divided her energies1 in various degrees and combinations1 between attention to the multiform1 practical1 physico-emotional wants of the poor2 the give and take of stimulation and enlightenment to and from some few large-hearted1 heroically operative friends2 and1 as source and centre of all such actual achievements and of indefinitely greater possibilities1 indeed as a life already largely eternal and creative1--contemplative prayer of various degrees and kinds4 ,but such a life1 if it would have left out much disappointment and suffering1 and not for herself alone1 yet would also have been without the special occasions and incentives to her sudden conversion and long patience and detailed magnanimity4 ,her life1 in appearing on the surface as less of a failure1 would at bottom have been less of a spiritual success4 ,indeed the failures and fragmentarinesses of her life1 even if and where more than merely apparent to us or even to herself1 helped and still help to give a poignant forcefulness to her example and teaching4 ,there is nothing pre- or post-arranged1 nothing artificial or stagey1 nothing1 in the deliberate occupations of her convert life1 that is simply brooding about this woman3 when she thinks or prays1 she does so2 when she acts1 she acts2 when she suffers1 she suffers2 and there is an end of it4 ,the infinitely winning qualities of a simple veracity2 of a successive livingness1 because ever operative occupation with the actual real moment1 and not with the after-shadow of the past nor with the fore-shadow of the future2 and1 through all this1 of a healthy creatureliness are thus spread over all she does1--over her virtues1 which are never reflected as such within her own pure mind1 and over her very weaknesses and failings which1 summed up in their source1 her false self1 are ever being acknowledged1 feared1 and fought1 with a heroism not less massive because its methods are so wisely indirect4 #c4 ,catherine and ,friendship and the ,poor4 ,it is plain that ,catherine's temperament was naturally a profoundly sad one1 although her acutest attacks of melancholy were generally succeeded by some unusually great expansion1 illumination or consolidation of soul4 ,she had1 to adopt a term of recent psychology1 a very low 8difference-threshold03 easily and swiftly would her consciousness be affected by every kind of irritant3 even a slight stimulation would at once produce pain1 anxiety1 or oppression of mind or soul4 ,she was thus evidently made for a few life-long friends1 for such as would deserve the privilege of giving much sympathy and patience1 and of getting back helps and stimulations indefinitely greater both in quality and kind2 and was not fitted for many acquaintances of the ordinary kind1 with their hurry of disjointed1 hand-to-mouth1 half-awake thinking1 feeling1 and doing4 ,and it is very noticeable that her friendships and attachments of all kinds were of a steadiness and perseverance to which there are no real exceptions4 ,to ,giuliano1 markedly inferior in nature though he evidently was to her1 and positively unfaithful during the early years of their long1 ill-assorted marriage1 she remained faithful even during those first years which she herself never ceased to condemn as her pre-conversion period2 she behaved with true magnanimity towards himself and ,thobia and ,thobia's mother2 and she even evinced a certain affective attachment to him and to his memory4 ,and it would hardly be fair to quote the change in the dispositions as to her place of burial in proof of a change in her dispositions towards him4 ,she whose affectionate interest in ,thobia is shown1 by irrefragable documentary proof1 to have persevered1 indeed increased1 to the end of the poor young woman's life1 will not have changed in her feelings towards her own dead husband4 ,towards her brothers and sister1 her nephews and nieces1 her numerous ,wills and ,codicils show that she entertained a constant and operative affection4 ,these same documents prove that her affection and gratitude towards ,don ,marabotto were equally sincere and provident4 ,it is true that she twice broke off relations with him1 although only for a day and three days respectively2 and1 at the last1 this devoted friend of the last eleven years of her life was no more about her4 ,yet we have remarked that those two former absences were but caused by reasonable fears of getting spoilt by him2 and that the final absence was no doubt in no way her doing4 ,and perhaps the most impressive of all her attachments were that to the ,hospital1 as representative of the sick poor whom she had served1 so actively and at such cost to self1 for twenty-five years and more1--all her legal dispositions and her very domicile for the last thirty years of her life proclaim the permanent prominence of this interest2 and her affection towards her servants1 since nothing could be more considerate1 thoughtful1 equable1 and persevering than her care and love for ,benedetta1 ,mariola1 and ,argentina4 ,here again ,i cannot find any certain exceptions3 for we know nothing of the history of the servant ,antoinetta except that1 even on the one occasion of her mention1 it appeared already doubtful whether the girl herself would care to remain with her mistress to the end4 ,there is but one apparent1 and indeed a startling1 exception to this unbroken continuity of affection4 ,ettore ,vernazza1 certainly the greatest and closest1 the most docile and the most influential1 of her disciples1 he to whom we owe the transmission of the larger and the most precious part of her teaching and spirit1 and who1 as will be seen1 became1 after her death even more than before it1 and more and more right up to his own heroic end1 the living reproduction and extension of the very deepest and greatest experiences and influences of her life3 ,vernazza appears nowhere in her ,wills1 except as1 on one occasion1 the actual drawer of the document1 and1 on another1 as a witness4 ,and he was far away1 and clearly not accidentally1 at the time of her death4 ,i take it to be quite certain that we have here not an exception1 at the point of her fullest sympathy1 to that gratitude and permanence of feeling which obtained demonstrably in the other1 lesser cases2 but that this silence and this departure are to be explained1 the former entirely1 and the latter in part1 by the special character as much of ,ettore as of ,catherine1 and by the special form which their friendship assumed in consequence4 ,i shall return to this point in my chapter on ,vernazza4 #d4 ,her ,absorptions and ,ecstatic ,states4 ,catherine's states of absorption in prayer1 such as we find ever since her conversion1 were transparently real and sincere1 and were so swift and spontaneous as to appear quasi-involuntary4 ,they were evidently1 together with1 and largely on occasion of1 her reception of the ,holy ,eucharist1 the chief means and the ordinary form of the accessions of strength and growth to her spiritual life4 ,possibly throughout the four years of the first period of her convert life1 certainly and increasingly throughout the twenty-two years of the second1 middle period1 these absorptions occurred frequently1 indeed daily2 they were long1 and lasted up to six hours at a stretch2 and they were apparently timed by herself1 and never rendered her incapable of hearing or attending to any call to acts of duty or of charity1 and of breaking off then and there4 ,and throughout these years she seems to have known but one kind of absorption1 this primarily spiritual one1 which appears to have been a particularly deep ,prayer of ,quiet2 and she appears to have always been1 if exercised1 yet also profoundly sustained and strengthened1 by it1 even physically1 for the large activity and numerous trials and sufferings awaiting her on her return to her ordinary life4 ,and these were the years during which she lived with no mediate guidance4 ,during the last eleven1 perhaps even thirteen years of her life1 first one1 and then1 considerably later1 a second change occurs in these respects4 ,first these profound1 healthy1 and fruitful absorptions1 and the power to occasion or effect1 to bear or endorse them1 diminish greatly1 though apparently gradually1 in length1 regularity1 and efficiency2 indeed they do so almost as markedly as does the capacity for external work1 their former complement and correlative4 ,the spiritual life now breaks up into a greater variety of shorter and more fitful incidents and manifestations4 ,the sympathy of friends1 the sustaining counsel of priests1 and the communication on her part of many spiritual thoughts and experiences take1 in large part1 the place of those long spells of the ,prayer of ,quiet or of ,union1 and still more of that external activity which are both now becoming more and more impossible to her4 ,and next1--though not1 as far as our evidence goes1 before the last six months or so of her life1--there arises a second series of absorptions1 externally closely similar1 yet internally profoundly different4 ,these latter absorptions are primarily psychical and involuntary1 indeed psychopathic4 ,and she herself shows and declares her knowledge of this their pathological character1 her ability to distinguish them from their healthy rivals1 her inability to throw them off unaided1 her wish that others should rouse her from them1 and her power to accept and second such initiation coming to her from a will-centre other than her own4 ,now her attendants and biographers1 possibly all of them and even during her lifetime1 considered and called those healthy absorptions 8ecstasies02 and though we have clear evidence of her ever having shrunk from so naming them herself1 and though1 here as everywhere1 she habitually turned away from considering the form and psycho-physical concomitants of her spiritual experiences1 and concentrated her attention on their content and ethico-religious truth and power1 there seems to be no special reason for quarrelling with their application of this term4 ,yet it is of great importance to observe that none of her teaching can with propriety be called directly ,pneumatic4 ,for ,i can find nothing that even purports to have been spoken in a state of trance1 nor anything authentic that claims to convey1 during her times of ordinary consciousness1 anything learnt during those states of absorption other than what1 in a lesser degree1 is probably experienced1 during at least some rare moments1 by all souls that have attained to the so-called ,prayer of ,quiet4 ,it is quite clear1 ,i think1 that in all these authentic passages1 the states of absorption are treated substantially as times when the conscious region of her soul1 a region always relatively shallow1 sinks down into the ever-present deep regions of subconsciousness2 and hence as experiences which can only be described indirectly1--in their effects1 as traced by and in the conscious soul1 after its rising up again1 from this immersion in subconsciousness1 to its more ordinary condition of so-called 8full consciousness10 i4e4 as full a consciousness as is normal1 for this particular soul1 in the majority of moments as are not devoted to physical sleep4 ,but if apparently none of ,catherine's contemplations are derived directly from things learnt during these times of absorption2 those contemplations are1 none the less1 all indirectly influenced1 in the most powerful and multiform manner1 by these absorptions4 ,for these absorptions constituted the moments of the soul's feeding and harmonization1 and they enriched and concentrated it1 for the service of its fellows1 the occasion of further self-enlargement4 ,and these absorptions1 with their combination of experienced fruitfulness and undeniable obscurity1 for the very soul that has passed through them1 when this soul has returned to ordinary consciousness1 give to all1 even to the most lucid of her sayings1 a beautiful margin of mist and mystery1 a never-ceasing sense of the incomprehensibility1 and yet of the soul's capacity for an intellectual adumbration1 of the realities and truths in which our whole spiritual life is rooted1--realities and truths which she is thus1 without even a touch of inconsistency1 ever struggling to apprehend and to communicate a little less inadequately than before4 #e4 ,catherine's teaching4 ,catherine's teaching1 as we have it1 is1 at first sight1 strangely abstract and impersonal4 ,god nowhere appears in it1 at least in so many words1 either as ,father1 or as ,friend1 or as ,bridegroom of the soul4 ,this comes no doubt1 in part1 from the circumstance that she had never known the joys of maternity1 and had never1 for one moment1 experienced the soul-entrancing power of full conjugal union4 ,it comes1 perhaps1 even more1 from her somewhat abnormal temperament1 the 7in some respects7 exclusive mentality which we have already noted4 ,but it certainly springs at its deepest from one of the central requirements and experiences of her spiritual life2 and must be interpreted by the place and the function which this apparently abstract teaching occupies within this large experimental life of hers which stimulates1 utilizes1 and transcends it all4 ,for here again we are brought back to her rare thirst1 her imperious need1 for unification2 to the fact that she was a living1 closely knit1 ever-increasing spiritual organism1 if there ever was one4 ,this unification tended1 in its reasoned1 theoretic presentation1 even to overshoot the mark3 for it would be impossible to press those of her sayings in which her true self appears as literally ,god1 or her state of quiet as a complete motionlessness or even immovability4 ,yet in practice this unification ever remained admirably balanced and fruitful1 since1 in and for her actual life1 it was being ever conceived and applied as but a whole-hearted1 constantly renewed1 continuously necessary1 costing and yet enriching1 endeavour to harmonize and integrate the ever-increasing elements and explications of her nature and experience4 ,and even on the two points mentioned1 her theory gives an admirably vivid presentment of the prima facie impression produced by its deepest experiences upon every devoted soul4 ,and on other points her theory is1 even as such1 admirably sober1 closely knit1 and stimulating4 ,for1 as to the cause of ,evil1 she ever restricts herself to finding it in her own nature1 and to fighting it there3 hence the personality of ,evil1 though nowhere denied1 yet rarely if ever concerns her1 and never does so directly in her strenuous and practical life4 ,yet1 on the other hand1 this fight takes1 with her1 the form not primarily of a conflict with this or that particular fault1 these several conflicts then summing themselves up into a more or less interconnected warfare2 but it makes straight for the very root-centre of all the particular faults1 and1 by constantly checking and starving that1 suppresses these4 ,and hence the ,positive1 ,radical character of ,evil is1 in practice1 continuously emphasized by her4 ,yet this root-centre of ,evil within her was most certainly not conceived by her as a merely general and abstract false self or self-seeking4 ,her biographers1 mostly over-anxious to prove the innocence of her nature1 even at the expense of the heroism of her life and of the reasonableness and truthfulness of her statements1 are no doubt responsible for the constant air of would-be devout and amiable 767 exaggeration which she wears on all this self-fighting side of her4 ,yet we have1 ,i think1 but to take the simplest and most authentic of the rival accounts1--those which give us the smallest quantity of self-denunciation1 and we can understand the quality of this self-blame1 and can fix its special1 entirely concrete and pressing1 occasion and object4 ,for considering the immense claimfulness1 the cruel jealousy1 the tyrannous fancifulness1 the brooding inventiveness1 the at last incurable absoluteness of the weak and bad side and tendency of a temperament and natural character such as hers1 had it been allowed to have its way1 there is1 ,i think1 nothing really excessive or morbid1 nothing that is not most healthy and humble1 and hence sensible and admirably self-cognitive and truthful1 about this heroic strenuousness1 this ever-watchful1 courageous fear of self1 and those declarations of hers that this false self was as bad as any devil4 ,to such a temperament and attrait as hers only one master could be deliberately taken1 or could be long borne1 as centre of the soul3 ,god or ,self2--not two3 ,god and ,self4 ,and hence all practice on even tolerance of1 as it were1 separate compartments of the soul2 all 8a little of this1 and not too much of that0 spirit2 all 8making the best of both worlds0 temper2 all treatment of religion as a means to other ends1 or as so much uninterpreted inheritance and dead furniture or fixed and frozen possession of the mind1 or as a respectable concomitant and condiment or tolerable parasite to other interests3 all such things must have been more really impossible to her than would have been the lapse into self-sufficiency and self-idolatry1 and the attempt to find happiness in such a downward unification4 ,and the one true divine root-centre of her individual soul is ever1 at the same time1 experienced and conceived as present1 in various degrees and ways1 simply everywhere1 and in everything4 ,all the world of spirits is thus linked together2 and a certain slightest remnant of a union exists even between ,heaven and ,hell1 between the lost and the saved4 ,for there is no absolute or really infinite ,evil existent anywhere2 whilst everywhere there are some traces of and communications from the ,absolute ,good1 the ,source and ,creator of the substantial being of all things that are4 ,and to possess even ,god1 and all of ,god1 herself alone exclusively1 would have been to her1 we can say it boldly1 a truly intolerable state1 if this state were conceived as accompanied by any consciousness of the existence of other rational creatures entirely excluded from any and every degree or kind of such possession4 ,it is1 on the contrary1 the apprehension of how she1 as but one of the countless creatures of ,god1 is allowed to share in the effluence of the one ,light and ,life and ,love1 an effluence which1 identical in essential character everywhere1 is not entirely absent anywhere3 it is the abounding consciousness of this universal bond and brotherhood1 this complete freedom from all sectarian exclusiveness and from all exhaustive appropriation of ,god1 the ,sun of the ,universe1 by any or all of the just or unjust1 upon all of whom ,he shines3 it is all this that constitutes her element of unity1 saneness1 and breadth1 the one half of her faith1 and the greater part of her spiritual joy4 ,and the other half of her faith constitutes her element of difference1 multiplicity and depth1 and is itself made up of two distinct convictions4 ,no two creatures have been created by ,god with the same capacities2 and1 although they are each called by ,him to possess ,him to the full of their respective capability1 they will necessarily1 even if they all be fully faithful to their call1 possess ,him in indefinitely and innumerably various degrees and ways4 ,and1 so far1 there is still nothing but joy in her soul4 ,indeed we can say that the previous element of unity and breadth calls for this second element of diversity and depth2 and that only in and with the other can each element attain to its own full development and significance1 and thus the two together can constitute a living whole4 ,but the second conviction as to difference is a sombre and saddening one4 ,for she holds further that the diversity is not only one of degrees of goodness and a universal fulness of variously sized living vessels of life and joy2 but that there is also a diversity in the degree of self-making or self-marring on the part of the free-willing1 self-determining creatures of ,god4 ,here too she still1 it is true1 finds the omnipresent divine ,goodness at work1 and in a double fashion and degree4 ,the self-marring of some1 probably1 in her view1 of most souls1 gets slowly and blissfully albeit painfully unmade by the voluntary acceptance1 on the part of these souls1 of the suffering rightly attaching1 in a quite determinist manner1 to all direct1 deliberate1 and detached pleasure-seeking of the false self4 ,and this is ,purgatory1 which is essentially the same whether thus willed and suffered in this world or in the next4 ,and the self-marring of other1 probably the minority of1 sinful souls1 though no longer capable of any essential unmaking1 is yet in so far overruled by the divine ,goodness 7which1 here as everywhere1 is greater than the creature's badness71 that even here there ever remains a certain residue of moral goodness1 and that a certain mitigation of the suffering which necessarily accompanies the remaining and indeed preponderant evil is mercifully effected by ,god4 ,and this is ,hell1 which is essentially the same1 whether thus1 as to its pain1 not willed but suffered here or hereafter4 ,thus she neither holds an ,apocatastasis1 a ,final ,restitution of all things1--what might be called a ,universal ,purgatory1 nor a ,gradual ,mitigation of the sufferings of the lost2 but the eventual complete purgation and restitution applies only to some1 though probably to most1 souls1 and the mitigation of this suffering1 in the case of the lost1 is not gradual but instantaneous4 ,here again1 then1 we find her thirst for unification strikingly at work4 ,for she discovers one single divine ,goodness as active and efficient throughout the universe2 and she everywhere finds spiritual pain to consist in the discordance felt by the rational creature between its actual contingent condition and its own indestructible ideal1 and such pain to be everywhere automatically consequent upon deliberate acts of self-will4 ,hence the suffering is nowhere separately willed or separately sent by ,god2 and1 in all cases of restoration1 the suffering1 in proportion as it is freely willed by the sufferer1 is ever medicinal and curative and never vindictive4 ,it is these considerations which make her able to endure this sombre side of reality4 ,now it is all this second set of beliefs1 all this faith in diversity1 multiplicity1 and depth1 which prevents any touch of real ,pantheism or ,indifferentism from defacing the breadth of her outlook1 and effectually neutralizes any tendency to a sheer ,optimism or ,monism4 ,she loves ,god's ,light and ,love so much1 that she is indefatigable in seeking1 and constantly happy in finding1 and incapable of not loving1 even the merest glimpses of it1 everywhere4 ,and yet1 precisely on that same account1 everywhere the central passion of her soul is given to fostering the further growth of this ,light and ,love1 to already loving it even more as it will or may be than as it already is1 and thus deeply loving it already1 in order that it may be still more lovable by and by4 ,and thus the universality1 and what we may call the particularity1 of ,god's self-communication and of the creature's response1 are equally preserved1 and in suchwise that each safeguards1 supplements1 and stimulates the other4 ,and thus her grace-stimulated craving1 both for indefinite expansion and breadth and for indefinite concentration and depth1 is met and nourished by this width and distance1 this clarity and dimness of outlook on to the rich and awe-inspiring greatness of ,god and of ,his world of souls4 ,and union with this one ,centre is1 for all rational free-willing creatures1 to be achieved1 at any one and at every moment1 by the whole-hearted willing and doing1 by the full endorsing1 of some one thing1--some one unique state and duty offered to the soul in that one unique moment4 ,thus life gets apparently broken up into so many successive steps and degrees of work1 each to be attended to as though it were the first and last2 and as so much special material and occasion for the practice of unification1 ostensibly in the matter supplied and for the moment which supplies it1 but really in the soul to which it is offered and for the totality of its life4 ,her soul is1 even if taken at any one moment1 and still more1 of course1 if considered in its successive history1 overflowing with various acts1 with 7as it were7 so many numberless waves and wavelets1 currents and cross-currents of volition2 and the warp and woof of her life's weaving is really close-knit with numberless threads of single willings1 preceded and succeeded by single perceptions1 conceptions1 and feelings of the soul4 ,yet the very fulness of this flow and the closeness of this weaving1 their great and ever-increasing orderliness and spontaneity1 such as we can and must conceive them to have been present during the majority of the moments of her convert and waking life1 tended1 during such times1 to obliterate any clear consciousness of their different constituents1 and to produce the impression of one single state1 even one single act4 ,and this very action1 even inasmuch as thus felt to be simple and one1 is furthermore experienced psychically as a surprise and seizure from without1 rather than as a self-determination from within4 ,and this psychic peculiarity is taken by her as but the occasion and emotional1 quasi-sensible picturing of the ever-present and ever-growing experience and conviction that all right human action1 the very self-donation of the creature1 is the ,creator's best gift1 and that the very act of her own mind and heart1 in all its complete inalienableness and spontaneity1 is yet1 in the last resort1 but an illumination and stimulation coming from beyond the reaches of her own mind and will1 from the mind and will of ,god4 ,and thus ,ethics are englobed by ,religion1 ,having by ,doing1 and ,doing by ,being3 yet not so that1 in her fullest life1 any of the higher things suppress the lower1 but so that each stimulates the very things that it transcends4 #f4 ,catherine's literary obligations4 ,her corrections of the ,neo-,platonist positions4 ,we shall trace further on how largely and spontaneously she has1 from out of the many different possible types and forms of spirituality1 chosen out1 assimilated and further explicated certain ,platonic and especially certain ,neo-,platonic conceptions4 ,we shall be unable to suggest any likely intermediary1 or to assume with certainty a direct derivation1 for these conceptions from ,plato1 or indeed from ,plotinus or ,proclus2 and shall nevertheless be obliged to postulate some now untraceable communication1 on some most important points1 between ,plato and herself4 ,besides this1 she derives one ,platonic conception from the ,book of ,wisdom and a corresponding passage in ,st4 ,paul2 and a certain general ,platonic tone and imagery from the ,joannine ,gospel and ,first ,epistle4 ,her ,neo-,platonism1 on the contrary1 she derives1 massively and all but pure1 through two of the ,pseudo-,dionysian books and her dearly loved ,franciscan ,mystic ,poet1 ,jacopone da ,todi4 ,it is indeed to the ,pauline1 ,joannine1 ,dionysian1 and ,jacopone writings that she owes1 with the exception of a certain group of ,platonic conceptions1 practically all that she did not directly derive from her own psychical and spiritual experiences4 ,now her assimilation of this particular strain of doctrine has remained but partial and theoretical with respect to those parts of ,dionysian ,neo-,platonism which were not borne out by the facts of her own ,christian experience2 but it has extended even to her emotional attitude and practice1 in cases where the doctrine was borne out by these facts4 ,thus we shall find that she often speaks theoretically of ,evil as simply negative1 as the varyingly great absence of ,good4 ,yet1 in practice and in her autobiographical picturings1 she fights her bad self1 to the very last1 as a truly positive force4 ,the force of ,god is everywhere conceived as indefinitely greater1 as1 indeed1 alone infinite2 yet the force of ,evil is practically experienced and pictured as real and positive also1 in its kind and degree4 ,again1 she often speaks as though her spiritual life had1 at some one particular moment1 simply arrived at its final culmination1 and had attained ,god and perfection with complete finality1--such1 at least1 as this particular soul of hers can achieve4 ,yet1 very shortly after1 we find her unmistakably in renewed movement and conflict1 and observe her mind to be now fully aware of that past 8perfection0 having been but imperfect1 because that act or state is now seen from a height higher than that former level3 hence that 8perfection0 was perfect1 at most1 in relation to its helps and opportunities in and for its own special moment4 ,again1 it is at times as though she conceived her body to be a sheer clog and prison-house to the soul1 and as though the soul's weakness and sinfulness were essentially due to its union with the flesh4 ,but here especially her later commentators have amplified and systematized her teaching almost beyond recognition2 the authentic sayings of this kind1 though too strong to be pressed1 are few1 and belong exclusively to the last stages of her illness2 and1 above all1 these declarations are checked and entirely eclipsed by her normal and constant view as to the specific nature of ,moral ,evil4 ,for this ,evil consists1 for her1 essentially in the self-idolatry1 the claimful self-centredness of the natural man1 ever tending1 in a thousand mostly roundabout ways1 to make means and ends1 centre and circumference1 ,sun and ,planet change places1 and to put some more or less subtle wilfulness and pleasure-seeking in the place of ,duty1 ,happiness1 and ,god4 ,few1 even amongst the ,saints1 can have realized and exemplified more profoundly the indelible difference between pleasure and happiness1 between the false and the true self2 and few have more keenly1 patiently felt and taught that the soul's true life is1 even eventually1 not a keeping or a getting what the lower instincts crave3 but that1 on the contrary1 a whole world of pleasures which1 however base and short and misery-productive1 can be intensely and irreplaceably pleasurable while they last1 has successively to be sacrificed1 for good and all2 and that what is retained has gradually to proceed from other motives1 to be grouped around other centres1 and be ever only a part and a servant1 and never a master or the whole4 ,the gulf between every kind of ,auto-centricism and the ,theo-centric life1 between mere ,eudaemonism and ,religion1 could not be found anywhere more constant or profound4 ,again1 it is at times as though the absence or suppression of even the noblest of human fellow-feelings and of particular parental and friendly1 attachments1 and not their purification and deepening1 multiplication and harmonization1 were the end and aim of perfection4 ,but little or nothing of this belongs1 ,i think1 to any deliberate and enduring theory of hers1 still less to her full and normal practice2 and the impression of such inhumanity is1 in so far as it is derived from authentic documents1 entirely caused by and restricted to her early convert reaction1 and her late over-strained or worn-out psycho-physical condition4 ,again1 it is sometimes as though she believed indeed in an energizing and progress of the soul1 yet held this progress to be1 after conversion1 an absolutely unbroken1 equable1 necessary and automatic increase in perfection2 and that such a soul's last state is1 necessarily and in all respects1 better than were its previous stages4--,the ,redactors of her life most undoubtedly think this4 ,because1 for instance1 she was ,matron from #adij to #adif1 and could no more fill the post from #adif to #aeaj3--therefore 8not to give part of her activity to such external work was more perfect than to give it10 is the argument that underlies their scheme for these two periods4--,yet ,i can find nothing in her teaching to show that she held any such view4 ,she was1 indeed1 ever too much absorbed1 by the experiences and duties of her successive moments1 to find even the leisure of mind requisite for the manufacture of so doctrinaire a system4 ,and indeed there is nothing in the conception of sanctity1 or in that of a gradual and general increase in generosity and purity of the saintly soul's dispositions and intentions1 which requires us to hold that such a soul's last state and efficiency is1 in every respect1 better than the first4 ,for the range and volume of the efficiency1 wisdom1 balance1 appropriateness of even our goodness is not determined by our will and the graces given to our will alone4 ,physical and psychical health and strength1 illness and weakness2 helps and hindrances from friends and foes2 the changing influences and limitations of growing age2 and the ever-shifting combinations of all these and of similar things1--things and combinations which are all but indirectly attainable by our wills in any way3 all this is ever as truly at work upon us as our wills and ,god's spiritual graces are in operation directly within ourselves4 ,and if ,catherine's richness1 breadth and balance of soul are1 considering her special and successive health and circumstances1 remarkable up to the very end1 and probably actually grew to some extent with the growing obstacles1 yet those qualities hardly grew or could grow pari passu with these obstacles4 ,the manifold efficiency and the unity in multiplicity were distinctly greater before #adif than after4 ,and thus the ,saints too join their lowlier brethren in paying the pathetic debt of our common mortality4 ,they too can be called upon to survive the culmination of their many-sided power1 and to retain perpetual youth only as regards their intention and the central ideas and the spiritual substance of their soul4 ,once more she seems as though1 to make up for this apparent suppression of the element of time1 unduly to press the category of space1 at least in her contemplations4 ,we shall see how often in these contemplations ,god ,himself1 and the soul1 or at least its various states1 appear as places2 so that the whole spiritual life and world come thus to look rather like an atomic co-ordination1 a projection on to space and a static mechanism1 than an interpenetrative subordination1 a production in time or at least in duration1 and a dynamic organism4--,yet it will be found that all this imagery is consciously1 though no doubt quite naturally1 used only as imagery1 and that it is thus used both because it was spontaneously presented to her mind by her psychic peculiarities and because it readily adapted itself as a vehicle to express one of the deepest experiences and convictions of her spirit4 ,for her psychic peculiarities involved1 on the one hand1 a curiously rapid and complete change and difference of states of consciousness1 and1 on the other hand1 a remarkable absence 7or at least dimness7 of consciousness as to this transition itself1 which1 however abrupt1 was of course as truly a part of her inner life as were the several completed states and outlooks4 ,now the apparently static element and harmony in any one of these states could1 of course1 be at all clearly presented in no other form than that of a spacial image2 whereas the changing element in all these states seems to have accumulated chiefly in the subconscious region1 to have at last suddenly burst into the conscious sphere1 and to have there effected the change too rapidly to permit of1 or at least to require1 the presentation of this element as such1 a presentation which could only have taken the form of a consciousness of time or of duration4 ,from all this it follows that1 to her immediate psychic consciousness1 each of her successive experiences presented itself as ever one spacial picture1 as one 8place40 ,and the imagery1 thus quasi-automatically presented to her1 could not fail to be gladly used and emphasized by her to express the deepest experiences of her spiritual life4 ,for it was the element of simultaneity1 of organic interpenetration1 of the ,god-like ,totum ,simul1 which chiefly impressed her in these deepest moments4 ,and hence the soul is conceived by her as1 in its essence1 eternal rather than an as immortal--as1 in its highest reaches and moments1 outside of time and not as simply wholly within it2 and as1 on such occasions1 vividly though indirectly conscious of the fact4 ,heaven itself is thought of not as eventually succeeding1 with its own endless succession1 to the finite succession of these our fleeting earthly days2 but as already forming the usually obscure1 yet ever immensely operative1 background1 groundwork1 measure and centre of our being1 now and here as truly as there and then4 ,and hence again1 ,heaven1 ,purgatory1 and ,hell are for her three distinct states of the soul1 already effected in their essence here below1 and experienced as what they are1 in part and occasionally here1 and fully and continuously hereafter4 ,thus the fundamental cleavage in the soul's life is not between things successive1--between the ,now and the ,then1 and at the point of death2 but between things simultaneous1 between the ,this and the ,that1 and at the point of sin and of self-seeking4 ,and finally1 she seems at times to speak ,greek-wise1 as though the soul's life consisted essentially1 or even exclusively1 in an intellection1 a static contemplation4 ,yet we have already seen how robust and constant is her ethical dualism1 how essentially1 here below at least1 happiness consists for her in a right affection and attachment1 in the continuous detaching of the true self from the false self1 and the attaching of the true self unto ,god4 ,and we should note how that intellection itself is conceived as ever accompanied by a keen sense of its inferiority to the ,reality apprehended1 and as both the result and the condition and the means of love and of an increase of love4 ,and again we should note that this sense of inferiority does not succeed the intellection1 as the result of any reasoning on the disparity between the finite and ,infinite1 but accompanies that intellection itself1 and corresponds to the surplusage of her feelings over her mental seeings1 and of her experience over her knowledge4 ,and we should add the fact that1 in the most emphatic of her sayings1 she makes the essence of ,heaven to consist in the union of the finite with the ,infinite ,will2 and that this doctrine alone would seem readily to harmonize with her favourite teaching as to ,heaven beginning here below4 #g4 ,her attitude towards ,historical and ,institutional ,religion4 ,if the ,platonic and ,neo-,platonic elements appear1 at first sight1 as massive and even excessive constituents of ,catherine's doctrine1 ,historical and ,institutional ,christianity seems1 on a cursory survey1 to contribute strangely little even to her practice4 ,not one of her ordinary contemplations is directly occupied with any scene from ,our ,lord's life4 ,the picture of the 8,piet10 so impressive to her in her nursery-days2 the great ,conversion-,vision of the ,bleeding ,christ2 and the slighter cases of the signing of herself with the sign of the ,cross and of her lying with outstretched arms1 which occurred during the last stage of her illness1 are the sole indications of any immediate occupation with the ,passion2 whilst the two cases of the ,triptych 8,maest0 and the painting representative of ,our ,lord at the well1 7cases which indicate an attraction to the ,infancy and to at least one incident of the ,public ,life17 complete the list of all direct attention to any incidents of ,our ,lord's earthly existence4 ,as to occupation with or invocation of the ,saints1 inclusive of the ,blessed ,virgin1 ,i can find but one instance1 the invocation of ,st4 ,benedict1 two days before her ,conversion4 ,we have seen1 as to ,sacramental ,confession1 how little there can have been of it1 throughout the long middle period of her ,convert ,life2 and how she was1 during this time1 simply without any priestly guidance4 ,and she never was a ,tertiary1 nor did she belong to any ,confraternity1 nor did she attempt to gain ,indulgences1 nor did she practise popular devotions1 such as the ,rosary or ,scapular4 ,nor could these facts be quite fairly met1 except to a certain relatively small extent with regard to ,confession1 by insistence upon the changing character of the ,church's discipline1 if we thus mean to assert that she did not1 in these matters1 act exceptionally with regard to the practice and theory of fervent souls of her own time4 ,for1 on all the points mentioned1 the ordinary fervent practice was already1 and had been for centuries1 different2 and1 in the matter of priestly guidance1 her chroniclers have not failed to transmit to us the wonders and murmurs of more than one contemporary4 ,yet here again the prima facie impression is but very incompletely borne out by a closer study4 ,for first1 none of these historical and institutional elements are ever formally excluded1 or attacked1 or slighted4 ,indeed1 in the matter of ,indulgences1 we have seen how she arranged or allowed that monies of her own should be spent in procuring certain facilities for gaining them by others4 ,and next1 special practices1 more than equivalent in their irksomeness1 are throughout made to take the place of ordinary practices1 in so far and for so long as these latter are abstained from4 ,an unusually severe ascetical penitential time1 and then the rarest watchfulness and continuous self-renouncement1 take thus1 for a considerable period1 the place of the sacramental forms of ,penance4 ,and thirdly1 if there is an unusual rarity in ,confession there is an almost as rare frequency of ,communion2 and authentic anecdotes show us how she scandalized some good souls as truly-by this frequency as by that rarity4 ,indeed throughout her convert life1 an ardent devotion to the ,holy ,eucharist forms the very centre of her daily life2 during probably thirty-five years she only quite exceptionally misses daily ,communion2 and she has the deepest attraction to the ,mass1 and a holy envy of priests for their close relation to the ,blessed ,sacrament4 ,and though there are no contemplations of hers directly occupied with the ,holy ,eucharist1 yet we shall find this experience and doctrine to have profoundly shaped and coloured teachings and apprehensions which1 at first sight1 are quite disconnected with ,it4 ,we can already see how all-inclusive a symbol and stimulation of her other special attractions and conceptions this central devotion could not fail to be4 ,she found here the ,infinite first condescending to the finite2 so that the finite may then rise towards the ,infinite2 the soul's life1 a hunger and a satisfaction of that hunger1 through the taste of feeling rather than through the sight of reason2 ,god giving ,himself through such apparently slight vehicles1 in such short moments1 and under such bewilderingly humble veils2 and our poor a priori notions and a posteriori analyses thus proved inadequate to the living soul and the living ,god4--,extreme ,unction also was highly esteemed3 she spontaneously demanded it some four times and finally received it with great fervour4 ,church hymns too--witness the 8,veni1 ,creator10 chanted on her death-bed--and liturgical lights are spontaneously used4 ,and lastly1 her practice in the matter of ,confession and of priestly advice became1 during her last thirteen years identical in frequency with that of her devout contemporaries2 and thus her life ended with the practice1 on all the chief points1 of the average1 ordinary devotional acts and habits of her time4 ,and this final practice of the ordinary means1 together with her life-long dislike of singularity and of notice2 her humble misgivings in the midst of her most peaceful originalities1 and the utter absence of any tendency to think her way1 inasmuch as it was at all singular1 the only way or even the best way1 except just now and here for her own self alone2 her complete freedom from the spirit of comparing self with others1 of dividing off the sheep from the goats1 or of having some short1 sure1 and universal means or test for holiness3 all this shows us plainly how ,catholic and unsectarian1 how truly free1 not only from slavish fear and pusillanimous conformity1 but also from all enthralment to merely subjective fancies1 from all solipsism or conceit was her strong soul4 #h4 ,three stages of the ,spiritual ,life2 ,catherine represents the third4 ,it has been well said that there are three stages of the spiritual life1 and three corresponding classes of souls4 ,there are the souls that are characterized1 even to the end of their earthly lives1 by that1 more or less complete1 naturalistic ,individualism1 with which we all in various degrees begin4 ,catherine's own time and country were full of such thoroughly ,individualistic1 unmoral or even anti-moral men1 who1 however gifted and cultivated as artists1 scholars1 philosophers1 and statesmen1 must yet be counted as essentially childish and as clever animals rather than as spiritual men4 ,and she herself had1 during the five years which had preceded her conversion1 tended1 on the surface of her being1 towards something of this kind4 ,next come the souls that have recognized and have accepted ,duty and ,obligation1 that are now striving to serve ,god as ,god1 and that are attempting1 with a preponderant sincerity1 to live the common and universal life of the ,spirit4 ,these of necessity tend to suspect1 or even to suppress and sacrifice1 whatever appears to be peculiar to themselves1 as so much individualistic subjectivity and insidious high treason to the objective law of ,him who made their souls1 and who now bids them save those souls at any cost4 ,the large majority of the souls that were striving to serve ,god in ,catherine's times belonged1 as souls belong in these our days1 and will necessarily and rightly belong up to the end1 to this second1 universalistic1 uniformative type and class4 ,and ,catherine herself evidently belonged prominently to this type and class1 during her first four convert years4 ,and there are1 finally1 an ever relatively small number of souls that are called1 and a still smaller number that attain1 to a state in which the ,universality1 ,obligation1 ,uniformity1 and ,objectivity1 of the second stage and class1 take the form of a ,spiritual ,individuality1 ,liberty1 ,variety1 and ,subjectivity3 ,personality in the fullest sense of the term has now appeared4 ,and this fullest ,spiritual ,personality is the profoundest opposite and foe of its naturalistic counterfeit1 of those spontaneous animal liberalisms which reigned1 all but unrecognized as such because all but uncontrasted by the true ideal and test of life1 prior to that prostration before absolute obligation1 that poignant sense of weakness and impurity1 and that gain of strength and purity from beyond its furthest reaches1 experienced by the soul at its conversion4 ,yet that merely subjective1 liberalistic ,individualism of the first stage can only be kept out1 even at the third stage1 by retaining within the soul all the essential characteristics of the second stage1--by a continuous passing and re-passing under the ,caudine ,forks of the willed defeat of wayward1 self-pleasing wilfulness1 and of the deliberate acceptance of an objective system of ideas and experiences as interiorly binding upon the self4 ,for if the second stage excludes the first1 the third stage does not exclude the second4 ,yet now all this1 in these rare souls1 leads up to and produces a living reality bafflingly simple in its paradoxical1 mysterious richness4 ,for now the universality1 obligation1 and objectivity of the ,law become and appear greater1 not less1 because incarnated in an eminently unique and unreproduceable1 in a fully personal form4 ,and at this stage only do we find a full persuasiveness4 ,catherine attained unmistakably1 after her four years of special penitence1 to this rare third stage4 ,for not only is she essentially as individual and unique as if she were not universal and uniform2 and essentially as universal and uniform as if she were not individual3 but she is indefinitely more truly original and subjective1 because of her voluntary boundness and objectivity4 ,indeed she is solidly and really free and personal1 because the continuous renunciation and expulsion of all naturalistic individuality remains1 to the very end1 one of the essential functions of her soul4 ,from all this it is clear how easy it would be to misread the lesson of her manifold life1 and to turn such examples as hers from a help into a hindrance4 ,for her melancholy temperament1 her peculiar psychic health1 her final external inefficiency3 all this is too striking not to tempt the admiration1 perhaps even1 the hopeless and ruinous imitation1 of such crude and inexperienced souls as know not how to distinguish between the merely given materials and untransferable determinisms of each separate soul's psychical and temperamental native outfit1 and the free1 grace-inspired and grace-aided use made by each soul of these its1 more or less unique1 occasions and materials4 ,those materials were1 of themselves1 of no moral worth1 and lent themselves only in part with any ease to the upbuilding and realization of her spirit's ideal4 ,and it is only this1 her wise and heroic use of her materials1--though this also1 of course1 is not directly transferable1--that represents the spiritually valuable constituent of the life4 ,similarly with the form1 and the psychic occasions or accompaniments of her very prayer and spiritual absorptions1 and with some of the constituents of her doctrine1 if taken as speculative and analytic and final1 rather than as psychological and descriptive and preliminary4 ,these things again could easily be misused4 ,for the former are largely quite special and1 in themselves1 morally indifferent peculiarities1 transformed and utilized by quite special graces and life-long spiritual heroisms4 ,and the latter1 we shall find1 were never intended to be systematic1 complete or ultimate2 and indeed they owe their true force and value to their being the occasional1 spontaneous and immediate expressions and adumbrations of an experience indefinitely richer and more ultimate than themselves4 ,and finally1 it would of course be absurd to take the limitations of her activity and interests1 even if we were to restrict ourselves to those common to all the stages of her life1 as necessarily admirable1 or as universally inevitable4 ,for there is1 in the very nature of things1 no equation between her one soul1 however rich and stimulating1 or even all the souls of her class and school1 or of her age or country1 on the one hand1 and the totality of religious experience1 and its means and incorporations1 on the other hand1 even if1 by totality1 we but mean that part of it already achieved and accepted by grace-impelled mankind4 #i4 ,the lessons of ,catherine's life4 ,and yet ,catherine's life and teaching will be found full of suggestion and stimulation1 if they are taken in their interpenetration1 and if due regard is paid to their fragmentary registration1 to the necessary distinction between what1 amongst all these facts1 was mere means1 occasion1 and temporal setting1 and what amongst them was aim and end1 utilization and abiding import1 and to the fact that all this experience is but one out of the indefinitely many applications1 extensions1 and mutually corrective and supplementary exemplifications of the spirit and life of ,christ1 as it lives itself out throughout the temperaments1 races and ages of mankind4 ,above all it can teach us1 ,i think1 with a rare completeness1 wherein lies the secret of a persuasive holiness4 ,for ,catherine lets us see1 with unusual clearness1 how this winningness lies in the pathetically dramatic spectacle and appeal presented by a life engaged in an ever-increasing ethical and spiritual energizing1--whether in a slow shifting and pushing of its actual centre1 down and in from the circumference of the soul to its true centre1 and from this true centre enlarging and reorganizing its whole ever-expanding being again and again2 or in an apparently sudden finding itself placed1 and loyally placing itself1 in this true centre1 and then from there prosecuting and maintaining the organization and transformation of its varyingly peripheral life1 a life treated at one time as central and complete4 ,and this persuasiveness can here be discovered to be greater or less in proportion to the thoroughness and continuousness of this centralization and purification2 to the degree in which this issues in a new1 spontaneously acting ethico-spiritual personality2 and to the closeness and costingness of the connection between those means and this result4 ,such a soul will be persuasive because of its ever seeking and finding a purifying intermediacy1 a river of death1 to all its merely naturalistic self-seeking4 ,and it is this nobly ascetic requirement and search and end which no doubt explain what1 at first sight1 is strange1 both in its presence and in its attractiveness1 in her own case and more or less in that of all the mature and complete ,saints1--,i mean1 the large predominance of an apparently ,pantheistic element in her life1 the strong emphasis laid upon an apparent ,thing-,conception of ,god and of the human spirit4 ,it was clearly not alone because of the ,neo-,platonist element and influence of the books she chiefly used that she1 in true ,greek fashion1 finds and allows so large a place for conceptions of things1 for images derived from the natural elements1 and for mental abstractions1 in her religious experiences and teachings3 ,god appearing in them predominantly as ,sun1 ,light1 ,fire1 ,air1 ,ocean2 ,beauty1 ,truth1 ,love1 ,goodness4 ,for1 after all1 other elements could be found in these very books1 and other writings were known to her besides these books3 hence this her preference for just these elements still demands an explanation4 ,nor was it ultimately because1 nervously high-pitched and strained as she was by nature1 she even physically craved and required an immense expansion for this her excessive natural concentration4 ,she thus evidently longed first to move through1 and to bathe and rest and spread out her psychic self1 in an ample region1 in an enduring state of quasi-unconsciousness1 in an 7as it were7 innocently animal or even simply vegetative objectivity1 indeed in an apparent bare element and mere ,thing1 before1 thus rested1 braced1 and as it were now healthily reconcentrated1 she more directly met the ,infinite ,concentration and ,determination1 the ,personal ,spirit1 ,god4 ,for1 after all1 hers was so heroic a spirit1 and so self-distrustful1 indeed self-suspecting1 a heart1 that a mere psychic affinity or requirement would have failed so permanently and deliberately to captivate her mind4 ,nor1 finally1 was it ultimately because her domestic sorrows or inexperiences1 or even her very psychic peculiarities and apparent lack of all even innocent sensuousness1 left the images of ,bride and ,bridegroom1 of ,parent and ,child1 perhaps even of ,friend1 respectively painful1 empty1 or pale to her consciousness4 ,for1 even so1 she could and did care1 with a beautiful affectiveness of her own1 for her brothers and sister1 for ,vernazza1 her 8spiritual son10 and for many a humble toiler or domestic4 ,and indeed her whole tendency is ultimately to find ,god's special home1 the only one of ,his dwelling-places which we men really know1 in the human heart of hearts4 ,the ultimate and determining reason was no doubt her deep spiritual experience and conviction 7as vivid as ever was the psychic tendency which gave it form and additional emotional edge and momentum7 that she must continuously first quench and drown her feverish immediacy1 her clamorous1 claimful false self1 and must lose herself1 as a merely natural ,individual1 in the river and ocean of the ,thing1 of ,law1 of that apparently ruthless ,determinism which fronts life everywhere1 before she could find herself again as a ,person1 in union with and in presence of an infinite ,spirit and ,personality4 ,thus ,greek ,fate is here retained1 but it is transformed through being transplaced4 ,for ,fate has here ceased to be ultimate and above the very gods1 the poor gods who were so predominantly the mere projections of man's ,individualism3 ,fate is here intermediate and a way to ,god--the great ,god1 the source and ideal of all ,personality4 ,and indeed this ,fate is not1 ultimately1 simply separate from ,god2 it is indeed omnipresent1 but everywhere only as the preliminary and subaltern1 expression1 for us men1 of the ,divine ,freedom that lies hidden and operating behind it4 ,and we men attain to some of this ,freedom only by the inclusion within our spiritual life of that ,fate-passage and of our actual constant passing through it1 on and on4 #aj4 ,three points where ,catherine is comparatively original2 and a fourth point where she is practically unique4 ,in the general tendency and form of her inner life and conviction ,catherine has1 of course1 substantially nothing but what she shares with all the ,mystics1 in proportion as these retain ,law1 ,ethics1 and ,personality2 and she has much that forms part of the convictions of all ,christians1 indeed of all ,theists4 ,yet in the degree and precise manner of her elaboration and application of those things1 and again in the circumstances of their documentary transmission1 ,catherine will1 ,i think1 be found in three points comparatively original1 and in a fourth point practically unique4 ,first she has1 as we have seen1 not only a strikingly persistent attitude of transcendence and detachment with regard to her psycho-physical state in general 7this is indeed an attitude common to all ethically sound and fruitful ,mystics3 witness in particular ,st4 ,john of the ,cross72 but she has also a most remarkable faculty and activity of discrimination between her own healthy and morbid states4 ,even this latter power she probably shares1 in various degrees1 with all such ethical-minded ,mystics as nevertheless suffered from a partially maladif psycho-physical condition3 witness especially ,st4 ,teresa4--,yet contemporary documentary evidence1 for not only such actual variations between healthy and unhealthy states1 but also for the ,mystic's knowledge of and witness to the existence of both and to the difference between the two1 is necessarily rare4 ,i know of no evidence more vivid and final1 although of much that is larger in amount1 than the evidence furnished by ,catherine's ,vita4 ,and next she has both a constant1 deep sense that religion never consists simply in ends but in means as well1 and never ceases to use and practise the latter2 and a concomitant keen apprehension of the difference between means and ends1 and ever illustrates this sense of difference by the striking variety and liberty of the practical attitude which she is successively moved to take1 and actually does take1 towards this or that of the ,institutional helps of the ,church4 ,here again she but exemplifies a principle which underlies the practice of all the ,saints1 in proportion to their maturity and full normality4 ,and indeed our ,lord ,himself1 the ,model and the ,king of ,saints1 when asked which was the greatest of the ,commandments1 did not answer that ,he could not and would not tell1 since to distinguish at all between greater and lesser ,commandments would be liberalism2 but1 on the contrary1 fully endorsed and canonized such a distinction and discrimination1 by actually pointing out two ,commandments as the greatest1 and by declaring that from them depended all the law and the prophets4 ,hence to organize1 and more and more to find and give their right1 relative place and influence to all the different things practised and believed1 is as important as is the corresponding practice and acceptance of all these different things4 ,yet1 here again1 full evidence both for such fidelity and docility and for such variety and liberty of soul1 with regard to the means of religion1 is rare3 the records of the modern ,saints mostly give us but the docility2 those of the ,fathers of the desert generally give us but the liberty3 ,catherine's ,vita gives us both4 ,and thirdly1 she is1 amongst formally canonized ,saints1 a rare example of a contemplative and mystic who1 from first to last1 leads at the same time the common life of marriage and of widowhood in the world4 ,here again any misapprehension of the importance or significance of this fact would readily lead to folly4 ,for it is undeniable that it has been the monastic life which1 in however great variations of degree1 form and lasting success1 has furnished ,christendom at large with an impersonation of self-renunciation sufficiently isolated1 massive and continuous1 to be deeply impressive upon the sluggish spiritual apprehension of the average man4 ,and indeed self-renunciation is so universally necessary and so universally difficult2 upon its presence and activity religion1 and all and every kind of rational human life depend so largely2 without its tonic presence they are so necessarily but a dilettantism1 a delusion or an hypocrisy3 that to body it forth for all men must ever remain an honour and a duty specially incumbent upon some kind of ,monasticism4 ,for it is but right1 and indeed alone respectful1 to the ,spirit of ,god1 so manifold and mysterious in its gifts and inspirations1 that every degree and kind of healthy and heroic self-renunciation should be practised and embodied2 and that special honour should attach to its most massive manifestations4 ,yet our general knowledge of poor1 rarely balanced human nature and our detailed historical experience respectively anticipate and demonstrate how easy it is1 on this point also1 to confound the means with the end1 and a part with the whole4 ,and by such confusion either self-renunciation1 that very salt of all truly human existence1 gets actually stapled up in one corner of the wide world and of multiform life2 or this apparent stapling becomes but a pedantic pretence and would-be monopoly1 the salt meanwhile losing all its savour4 ,and these two abuses and errors easily coalesce and reinforce each other4 ,the fact is that the total work and duty of collective humanity1--the production of a maximum of true recollection1 rest and detachment1 effected in and through a maximum of right dispersion1 action1 and attachment2 above all a maximum of ethico-spiritual transformation of the world and1 in and through such work1 of each single worker1--is too high for any single soul1 or even class or vocation1 to hope to exhaust4 ,only by all and each joining hands and supplementing each other can all these numberless degrees and kinds of call and goodness1 together1 slowly1 throughout the ages1 get nearer and nearer to that inexhaustible ideal which lies so deep and ineradicable within the heart of each and all4 ,and thus will the two fundamental movements of the soul1 as it were its expiration and its inspiration1 the going out to gather and the coming home to garner1 be kept up1 in various degrees1 by every human soul1 and each soul and vocation will as keenly feel the need of supplementation1 as it will apprehend the beauty and importance of the special contribution it is called to make to the whole1 a whole1 here as everywhere1 greater than any of its parts1 although requiring them each and all4--,now ,catherine suggests and illustrates such a doctrine with rare impressiveness3 for the pure and efficient love of ,god and man1 the one end and measure for us all1 ever consciously dominates all and every means within her admirably balanced and unified mind2 and the renunciative element is1 under mostly quite ordinary exterior forms1 as complete and constant as it could be found anywhere4 ,and lastly1 her doctrine contains one conviction1 or group of convictions1 as original as1 in such matters1 one can expect to find4 ,we get here the soul's voluntary plunge into ,purgatory1 its seeking and finding relief1 from the now painful pleasure of sin1 in the now joy-producing pain of purification2 and the soul's discovery and acquisition1 if and when in predominantly good dispositions1 of its ever-fuller peace and bliss1 because its ever-increasing harmonization1 in freely willing the suffering intrinsically consequent upon its own past evil pleasures and the resulting present imperfections of its will4 ,and this cycle of facts and laws here springs from1 and begins with1 the soul's life ,here and ,now1 and is held to extend 7on the ever-present assumption of the substantial persistence of the spirit's fundamental spiritual properties and laws7 to the soul's life ,then and ,there4 ,thus these two lives differ with her rather in extent and intensity than in kind4 ,i think that1 taken just thus1 and with this degree of explicitness1 this group of convictions is practically unique4 ,we shall study and illustrate this particular cycle of doctrine in full detail4 ,but it is indeed time now to move on to a more systematic and general account of her teaching4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,catherine',s ,,doctrine ,the attentive reader will no doubt have perceived how great have been the difficulties at every step taken1 in the previous chapters1 towards a critically clear and solid account of ,catherine's life4 ,he will1 then1 be quite prepared again to find difficulties1 though largely of another order1 in the task that now lies before us1--the attempt at a clear and authentic reproduction of her teaching4 #a4 ,four difficulties in the utilization of the sources4 ,the sources are1 it is true1 at first sight1 fairly abundant1--altogether about one hundred of the two hundred and eighty pages of the ,vita ed ,opere4 ,but four peculiarities render their utilization a matter of much labour and caution4 ,for one thing1 they certainly include no piece written by herself1 and probably none written down before #adig4 ,catherine's memory can no doubt be trusted1 and with it much of the oldest version of those great turning-points of her inner life which occurred long before that date1 and which she thus1 later on1 communicated to her two closest friends4 ,yet hers was a mind so constantly absorbed in present experiences and in self-renewal as to be all but incapable of dwelling1 in any detail1 upon her past experiences or judgments4 ,and next1 within and for this her 8doctrinal10 her 8widowed0 and 8suffering0 period1 we are perplexed by the total absence of logical or indeed of any other order in the presentation of these discourses and contemplations4 ,we have either to do without any order at all1 or to construct one for ourselves1--which latter course of itself already means a reconstruction of the book4 ,but far more delicate is the task presented by the third peculiarity1--the fact1 demonstrated both by the internal evidence and analysis and by the external evidence of the ,,mss41 of the bewildering variety of forms and connections in which one and the same doctrine1 sometimes an obviously unique saying1 will appear4 ,six1 ten1 even twelve or more variants are the rule1 not the exception4 ,and ,i am specially thinking1 under this heading1 of contemporary variations--that is1 variations of form that can reasonably be attributed either to her own initiative at work under differences of mood and of starting-point2 or to the variety of the minds who apprehended and registered this teaching at the time of its delivery2 or to both influences simultaneously4 ,in the first case we get1 say1 her doctrine as to man's weakness and sinfulness1 in two moments of depression and consolation respectively1 registered by one and the same disciple1--say1 by ,vernazza or by ,marabotto4 ,in the second case we get some such two sayings as rendered the one by ,vernazza and the other by ,marabotto severally4 ,and in the third case we get both the depressed and the joyful original sayings1 as they have passed through the minds of both ,vernazza and ,marabotto4 ,and lastly1 we get another class1 redactional variations2 and these it is often as difficult as it is always necessary to detect4 ,i mean the parallel passages1 evolved in course of time by her attendants or constructed by successive redactors1 more or less on the model of1 but also with more or less of departure from1 her own authentic sayings3 blurred1 partly inaccurate echoes1 as it were1 of her own living voice4 ,these will generally have grown up but semi-consciously1 or at least have arisen from simple motives of her glorification or of literary filling-in or rounding-off4 ,for we must not forget the forty years which passed between her death and the ,vita4 ,i am thinking here too of the theological limitations and corrections1 introduced into the older text in the form of definite counter-statements1 which we shall find to be especially visible in the ,trattato2 and of the1 doubtless preponderatingly unconscious1 modifications of an analogous kind which determined the composition of the ,dialogo1 and are traceable throughout that whole long work4 ,for here again we have to remember how1 between her living teachings1 so ardent and familiar1 so entirely from within and unoccupied with the world without1 which reached up to #aeaj1 and even the earliest ,,ms4 redaction of the contemporary jotting down of those sayings which we still possess1--that of #aedg1--runs the great upheaval of the ,protestant ,reformation1 beginning with ,luther's ,theses of #aeag4 ,catherine's own fellow ,god-parent to ,vernazza's eldest daughter1 the ,doctor of ,laws ,tommaso ,moro1 had meanwhile become a ,calvinist 7#aecg71 and then had returned to the ,catholic ,obedience in #aeci1 first under this his ,god-daughter's influence4 ,no wonder that what1 under the magic suasion of her living personality1 in times as yet free from the controversial and polemical tone and temper1 and through and for her friends already won to and comprehensive of her teachings1 had been certainly registered1 and perhaps for a while transmitted1 in its own pristine1 winningly daring and unguarded1 form1 would1 with her old friends dead and a new generation grown up and engrossed in attack and defence of various points of the ,catholic position1 be felt to require tempering and safeguarding1 rewriting and controversial utilization4 ,hence we get three successive steps4 ,the theological counter-statements in the ,trattato1 probably introduced between #aebd and #aecj4 ,the controversial point and utilization attempted in the very title of the ,vita which promises1 8una utile e cattolica dimostrazione e declarazione del ,purgatorio10 and in the ,preface1 which declares the book to contain things 8specially necessary in these our turbulent times10 touches which go back probably to #aecf1 perhaps even to #aebd-aecj4 ,and the composition of the entire ,dialogo1 hardly begun before #aedf4bba ,it is interesting to note how neither for the approbation of the first edition in #aeea 7by the ,dominican ,fra ,geronimo of ,genoa71 nor during the examination by the ,congregation of ,rites and the final approbation by ,pope ,innocent ,,xi1 #afgg-afhc1 was any additional correction required or 7as far as ,i know7 even suggested4 ,the latter point is particularly striking2 for we have thus the very ,pope who1 in #afhg1 condemned ,molinos' teaching1 solemnly approving ,catherine's doctrine four years before1 after a seven years' examination4 #b4 ,catholic principles concerning the teaching of ,canonized ,saints4 ,now it is a well-known principle of ,catholic theology1 propounded with classic clearness and finality by ,pope ,benedict ,,xiv1 in his standard work ,on the ,beatification and ,canonization of the ,servants of ,god1 that such an approbation of their sayings or writings binds neither the ,church nor her individual members to more than the two points1 which are alone necessary with respect to the possibility and advisability of the future ,beatification and ,canonization of the author of the sayings or writings in question4 ,the ,church and her individual members are thus bound only to hold the perfect orthodoxy and ,catholic piety of such a saintly writer's intentions1 and again the 7at least interpretative7 orthodoxy of these his writings1 and their spiritual usefulness for some class or classes of souls4 ,but every kind and degree of respectful but deliberate criticism and of dissent is allowed1 if only based upon solid reasons and combined with a full acceptance of those two points4 ,and indeed it is plain that heroism in action and suffering is one thing1 and philosophical genius1 training and balance is another2 and even1 again1 that deep and delicate experiences on the one hand1 and the power of their at all adequate analysis and psychological description1 are two things and not one4 ,still1 it is also evident that in proportion as a ,saint's doctrine is1 professedly or at all events actually1 based upon or occasioned by his own experience will it rightly demand a double measure of respectful study4 ,for1 in such a case1 we can be sure not only of the saintly intentions of the teacher1 but also of his doctrines being an attempt1 however partially successful1 at expressing certain first-hand1 unusually deep and vivid experiences of the religious life1 experiences which1 taken in their substance and totality1 constitute the very essence of his sanctity4 ,now this is manifestly the case with ,catherine4 ,and hence she furnishes us with those very conditions of fruitful discussion1 so difficult to get in religious matters4 ,on the one hand1 her undoubted sanctity and the personal experimental basis of her doctrine gain for her our willingness1 indeed determination1 first of all patiently to study and assimilate and sympathetically to reconstruct her special spiritual world from her own inner starting- and growing-point1 and all this1 at this first stage1 without any question as to the completeness or final truth and value of the intellectual analyses and syntheses of these experiences elaborated by herself4 ,and1 on the other hand1 we find ourselves driven1 at our second stage1 to examine the literary sources and philosophical and theological implications of this her teaching--if pressed2 and to make various respectful1 but firm and free distinctions and reservations1 with regard to these sources and affinities4 ,for here1 in these her analyses and syntheses1 a special quality of her own temperament is ever at work1 and causes her to express1 as best she can1 a concentration of a whole host of the strongest feelings concerning just the one point of that one moment's experience1 with a momentary complete exclusion of all the rest4 ,here1 again1 her dependence1 for her categories of thought and general language1 imagery and scheme of doctrine1 upon ,fra ,jacopone da ,todi and upon the ,pseudo-,dionysian writings is readily traceable1--the latter1 compositions which we have only now succeeded in tracing1 with final completeness and precision1 to their predominantly ,neo-,platonist source4 ,and here we cannot but carefully consider the impressive series of ,church pronouncements which have occurred since ,catherine spoke and her devotees wrote4 ,all these matters shall be carefully studied in the second volume4 #c4 ,the fortunate circumstances of ,catherine's teaching4 ,it was a rare combination of numerous special circumstances1--several of them unique1--which rendered possible the retention and indeed solemn approbation of the difficult and daring doctrine and language not rarely to be met with in the ,vita 7in contradistinction to the so-called ,opere74 ,for one thing1 the originator1 the subject-matter and form1 above all the school of her doctrine1 all combined to secure it the largest possible amount of liberty and sympathetic interpretation4 ,the originator1 the soul from whom the doctrine had proceeded1 had not herself written down one word of it2 but she had spoken it all1 warm from the very heart which loved and lived it3 the cold and chilling process of deliberate composition had but little part in the whole matter1 and that part was not hers4 ,the subject-matter was not primarily dogmatic1 and not at all political or legal2 it dealt not with theological systems or visible institutions1 but with the experiences of single souls3 and at all times a great latitude has been allowed in such subject-matter1 when proceeding1 as here1 from some saintly soul as the direct expression of its own experience4 ,the form was not systematic1 and aimed at no completeness2 all was incidentally addressed to a few devoted disciples1 in short monologues or homely conversations4 ,the title ,trattato1 given later on to the collection of her detached thoughts on ,purgatory1 is thoroughly misleading2 her whole spirit and form were precisely not that of the treatise4 ,and the school to which she so obviously belonged was probably her chief protection4 ,indeed1 the doctrinally difficult passages are1 in a true sense1 the least personal of her sayings3 we shall find all their doctrinal presuppositions1--as to the immobility1 indefectibility1 deification of the soul2 the possession by the soul of ,god without means or measure2 and the like1--to go back to the writings which1 purporting to be by the ,areopagite ,dionysius1 the ,convert of ,st4 ,paul1 but composed in reality between ,a4,d4 #dij-ebj1 so profoundly influenced all mystical thinking and expression for one thousand years and more of the ,church's life4 ,and again1 the period during which the corpus of ,catherine's doctrine was in process of formation was specially favourable to such large toleration4 ,for if she died in #aeaj1 ten years before the outbreak of the ,protestant ,reformation1 with its inevitable reaction1 her chief chronicler1 the saintly philanthropist ,vernazza1 did not die1 a true martyr to that boundless love of souls which he had derived from his great-souled friend1 till #aebd2 and her ,confessor ,marabotto did not depart till #aebh4 ,thus her doctrine would remain substantially untouched and treasured up till some twenty years after her death1 and thirteen years after the great upheaval4 ,we have already noted that 7somewhere about #aebh1 and on to #aeea7 her teaching did meet with some opposition4 ,it will be interesting to study 7in the ,appendix7 how the objection arose and was met4 ,here it must suffice to point out that1 whereas ,catherine's ,purgatorial doctrine is free from any final difficulty on the score of orthodoxy1 it is just that doctrine which was hedged in and glossed before all the rest2 and that whereas other parts of her teaching1 in the form given in the ,vita1 are full of such difficulty1 they remain strangely unmodified to this very day4 ,it will appear that the ,dialogo was in part composed to perform an office towards those doctrinal chapters of the ,vita1 similar to that performed by the glosses in and towards the text of the ,trattato4 ,hence the glosses of the ,trattato will have1 in the following collection of sayings1 to be removed from my text1 and the statements of the ,dialogo will have to be ignored in my text4 ,these glosses or re-statements shall be considered later on1 whenever these additions or substitutions are of sufficient interest4 #d4 ,the theological order of presentation adopted4 ,then again1 it is far from easy to settle upon the right order and method of presentation4 ,the more closely we study the chapters in question the more do we find that the strange discomfort and disgust1 engendered by any lengthy reading of them1 proceeds from the curiously infelicitous manner of their composition4 ,these chapters1 in so much as they supply genuine materials1 consist of a large number of detached1 usually short sayings1 of every kind of tone and mood1 occasion and mental and emotional context and connotation1 and yet all concerning but a few great central realities and truths4 ,these sayings in themselves do not at all represent links in a chain of reasoning2 they are numberless variations on some few fundamental experiences of the soul4 ,hence they require to be given in loose co-ordination1 or in free grouping around some great central truth2 somewhat like what is done1 with such marked felicity1 for ,our ,lord's own sayings1 which also are occasional and freely various1 by the oldest of our ,gospels1 ,st4 ,mark4 8,and10 8and again10 can be used to join these recurrent similitudes1 aspirations1 emotional reflections2 not 8because0 nor 8therefore10 still less 8firstly10 8secondly10 8thirdly10 as the ,redactors have been so fond of doing4 ,hence the reader in the ,vita feels himself in a constant state of abortive motion1 and is ever being promised a precision which usually ends in vagueness4 ,let us then group these parallel sayings around some few great central truths or dispositions4 ,but what is the order of these great centres to be8 ,here again a difficulty occurs1 and this time from the very nature of the doctrine concerned4 ,for the special characteristic of her teaching1 a teaching so largely derived both from her own intensely unitive character and 7through the ,dionysian writings1 ,proclus and ,plotinus7 from ,plato himself1 is precisely an infinitely close-woven organization1 in which part vibrates in sympathy with part1 in which each point carries with it the whole1 and in which each one idea and feeling passes1 as it were1 right through1 and colours and is coloured by all the rest4 ,it would be almost as satisfactory to turn the impassioned discourse of ,diotima in the ,symposium into a series of numbered propositions1 as here to try and detach any one feeling or idea from out of the living network of its fellows1 in and through which it is1 and gets and gives1 its special self4 ,the historical order 7i4e4 the order in which1 successively1 each doctrine grew up and dominated her thinking7 is1 alas6 as we have seen1 out of the question4--,the psychological order 7i4e4 the order in which the doctrines1 such as we have them1 would reproduce themselves within her own mind during that last period of her life1 #adif-aeaj7 would doubtless throw most light upon the special characteristics of her spirituality1 and upon the hidden springs of her doctrine4 ,but it is far too difficult1 and must remain too largely hypothetical1 to be even distantly aimed at here and now3 some such attempt will be made in a later chapter1 with the help of the materials first collected and grouped here in a more conventional way4--,the theological order 7i4e4 the order in which these doctrines would appear if made to find their places in an ordinary manual of scholastic theology7 is the one that ,i shall here endeavour to follow as far as possible4 ,for thus ,i can start with a scheme so thoroughly familiar as nowhere itself to require any explanation2 and ,i can thus help to bring out1 from the first1 the characteristic peculiarities of the mystical position generally1 and of her own variety of it in particular4 ,i will then take here1 successively1 her teachings as to ,god in ,himself1 and ,creation2 ,sin1 ,redemption1 and ,sanctification2 and the ,last ,things4 ,but ,i do so quite loosely1 for ,i shall try nowhere to break off any bridge that she herself has thrown across from one subject to the other1 and shall be satisfied if ,i can succeed in grouping her doctrine even approximately within those three divisions1 according to the predominance of this or that point of her teaching4 ,and1 for this1 ,i shall not shrink from a repeated utilization of one and the same text1 when 7as happens so often7 it looks in many directions1 and becomes fully clear only in juxtaposition with various parts of her teaching4 #e4 ,literary sources of ,catherine's teaching4 ,we have evidence1 as regards literary influences1 that ,catherine fed her mind on three books or sets of books3 the ,bible1 the ,pseudo-,dionysian ,treatises1 and the ,lode of ,jacopone da ,todi4 ,the allusions to passages of ,scripture are continual1 but mostly of a swiftly passing1 combinatory1 allegorizing kind4 ,direct quotations and attempts at penetrating the objective sense of particular passages are rare1 for most of the direct quotations are clearly due to her historians1 not to herself2 yet they exist and put her direct study of ,scripture beyond all doubt4 ,her favourite ,bible books were evidently ,isaiah and the ,psalms1 and the ,pauline and ,joannine writings4 ,some touches 7remarkably few for a mystic7 are derived from the ,canticle of ,canticles1 and many less obvious ones from the ,synoptic ,gospels2 but there are no certain traces1 ,i think1 of any other ,old ,testament books1 nor1 in the ,pauline group1 of any passage from the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,the evidence for her direct knowledge and use of ,dionysius is1 it is true1 but circumstantial4 ,but the following three facts seem1 conjoined as they are in her case1 sufficient to prove this knowledge4 7i7 ,we have already seen how her cousin and close spiritual friend1 ,suor ,tommasa1 wrote a devotional treatise on ,denys the ,areopagite1 presumably before ,catherine's death1 since ,tommasa was sixty-two years of age in that year #aeaj2 it would be strange indeed if ,catherine did not1 even if but from this quarter1 get to know some of the ,dionysian writings1 perhaps even whilst they could still only be read in ,,ms4 form4 7ii7 ,marsilio ,ficino published in ,florence1 in #adib1 his ,latin translation of the ,mystical ,theology and of the ,divine ,names1 with a copious commentary2 and the book1 dedicated to ,giovanni de' ,medici1 ,archbishop of ,florence and future ,pope ,leo ,x1 found its way at once to all the larger centres of life1 learning and devotion in ,italy4 ,thus ,catherine lived still eighteen years after the publication of this1 the first printed1 edition of any part of ,denys 7original or translation72 even if she did not know these writings before1 it seems again very unlikely that she would not get to know them now4 7iii7 ,there are1 it is true1 no direct quotations from ,denys1 nor does his name appear in the ,vita ed ,opere1 except in that account of ,suor ,tommasa4 ,but numerous sayings of ,catherine bear1 as we shall see later on1 so striking a resemblance to passages in those two books of ,denys1 that it is difficult to explain them by merely mediate infiltration2 and that those sayings ultimately1 as to their literary occasion1 go back to the ,areopagite1 is incontestable4 ,i quote ,denys from the usually careful translation of the ,rev4 ,john ,parker3 ,the ,works of ,dionysius the ,areopagite1 ,pt4 ,i1 ,london1 ,oxford1 #ahig1 with certain corrections of my own4 ,the proofs for her knowledge and love of ,jacopone da ,todi's ,italian 8,praises0 is1 on the other hand1 direct and explicit4 ,the ,vita1 p4 #cg1 makes her say3 8,listen to what ,fra ,jacopone says in one of his ,lode1 beginning3 #8,o amor di povertade1'0 and then gives her word-for-word commentary on verse #bc of this his ,loda ,,lviii4 ,words from this same verse are again quoted by her on p4 #fb2 the opening line of this ,loda is put into her mouth on p4 #hc2 and another verse1 the sixth1 is quoted by her1 as by the ,blessed ,jacopone1 on p4 #ib4 ,i have been able to find many other sayings of hers which are hardly less directly suggested by the great ,umbrian than these4 ,here1 again1 she probably knew the ,lode in ,,ms4 form1 before they appeared in print in #adij2 but will in any case have known them in this their printed form4 ,i have carefully studied in this1 the first printed edition 7,florence3 ,bonaccorsi71 all the ,lode bearing upon subjects and doctrines dear to ,catherine4 ,they are twenty in all1 from among the hundred and two numbers of that collection4#bbb #f4 ,the ,psycho-physical ,occasions or ,reflexes of her ,doctrine4 ,her special reaction under and use of her literary sources shall be examined in a later chapter4 ,the psycho-physical occasions or reflexes of her various teachings1 as far as the interconnection can be traced with probability1 shall also be studied in the second volume4 ,but already here ,i would have the reader clearly to understand1 that nowhere are such psycho-physical conditions and experiences to be considered the causes of her doctrine1 as though the lower produced the higher1 and as though the spiritual were the automatic resultant and necessary precipitate of certain accidental1 involuntary conditions in time and space4 ,for everywhere such conditions can only1 at best1 be accepted as the occasions or materials for the development or illustration of some spiritual doctrine1 or1 contrariwise1 as the psychic effects and embodiments of some vividly realized invisible truth or law2 whilst this spiritual teaching itself is derived from far other and deeper causes1--the interaction of her own experience and free spiritual powers and of ,god's grace1 and the conflict of these with her own passions1 the whole helped or hindered by the world without4 ,i4 ,,god ,,as ,,creative ,,love4 ,,the ,,creature',s ,,true ,,and ,,false ,,self2 ,,true ,,and ,,false ,,love4 #a4 ,creation1 an overflow of ,goodness4 ,first1 then1 we will take the sayings about ,creation1 and the original1 substantially indelible character of all created beings4 8,i saw a sight which satisfied me much4 ,i was shown the ,living ,fountain of ,goodness1 which was 7as yet7 all within ,itself alone1 without any kind of participation4 ,and next ,i saw that ,it began to participate with the creature1 and made that very beautiful company of ,angels1 in order that this company might enjoy ,his ineffable glory1 without asking any other return from the ,angels than that they should recognize themselves to be creatures created by ,his supreme goodness4''' ,and hence1 when they were clothed in sin by their pride and disobedience1 ,god suddenly subtracted from them the participation of ,his goodness4''' ,yet ,he did not subtract it all1 for in that case they would have remained still more malign than they 7actually7 are1 and they would have had ,hell infinite in pain1 as they now have it in time40 ''' 8,when we ourselves shall depart from this life1--supposing we are in mortal sin1--then ,god would subtract from us ,his goodness and would leave us in our own selves1 yet not altogether1 since ,he wills that in every place there should be found ,his goodness accompanied by ,his justice4 ,and if any creature could be found that did not participate in ,his goodness1 that creature would be as malignant as ,god is good40#bbc #b4 ,natural conformity between ,god and all rational creatures4 ,from her sayings as to ,creation and ,pure ,love1 ,creation's cause1 we come to those as to the ,natural ,conformity between ,god and ,rational ,creatures2 ,his constant care for the human soul2 and the consequent law of imitative love incumbent upon us4 8,i see ,god to have so great a conformity with the rational creature1 that if the ,devil himself could but rid himself of those garments of sin1 in that instant ,god would unite ,himself to him1 and would make him into that which he1 the ,devil1 attempted to achieve by his own power4 ,so too with regard to man3 lift off sin from his shoulders1 and then allow the good ,god to act1--,god who seems to have nothing else to do than to unite ,himself to us40--8,it appears to me1 indeed1 that ,god has no other business than myself40--8,if man could but see the care which ,god takes of the soul1 he would be struck with stupor within himself40--8,i see that ,god stands all ready to give us all the aids necessary for our salvation1 and that ,he attends to our actions solely for our good4 ,and1 on the contrary1 ,i see man occupied with things that are opposed to his true self and of no value4 ,and at the time of death ,god will say to him3 #8,what was there that ,i could do for thee1 ,o man1 that ,i did not do8' ,and man himself will then see this clearly40--8,when ,god created man1 ,he did not put ,himself in motion for any other reason than ,his pure love alone4 ,and hence1 in the same way as ,love ,itself1 for the welfare of the loved soul1 does not fail in the accomplishment of anything1 whatever may be the advantage or disadvantage that may accrue from thence to the ,lover1 so also must the love of the loved soul return to the ,lover1 with those same forms and modes with which it came from ,him4 ,and then such love as this1 which has no regard for aught but love itself1 cannot be in fear of anything40#bbd #c4 ,relations between ,love1 ,god2 love of our true self2 and false self-love4 ,we can take next her teachings as to the relations between the love of ,god1 love of our true self1 and false self-love4 8,the love of ,god is our true self-love1 the love characteristic of and directed to our true selves1 since these selves of ours were created by and for ,love ,itself4 ,the love1 on the other hand1 of every other thing deserves to be called self-hatred1 since it deprives us of our true self-love1 which is ,god4 ,hence #8,him love1 ,who loveth thee1' that is1 ,love1 ,god2 and #8him leave who doth not love thee1' that is1 all other things1 from ,god downwards40#bbe 8,god so loves the soul1 and is so ready to give it ,his graces1 that1 when ,he is impeded by some sin1 then men say3 #8,thou hast offended ,god1' that is1 thou hast driven away ,god from thee1 ,who1 with so much love1 was desiring to do thee good4 ,and men say this1 although it is really man who then suffers the damage and who offends his own true self4 ,but because ,god loves us more than we love our own selves1 and gives more care to our true utility than we do ourselves1 therefore does ,he get designated as the one who is offended4 ,and1 indeed1 if ,god could be the recipient of suffering1 it would be when1 by sin1 ,he is driven away by and from us40 8,this corrupt expression3 #8,thou hast offended ,god4'0 8,thou couldst discover1 7,o soul17 that ,god is continually willing whatsoever our true selves are wishing2 ,he is ever aiming at nothing but at our own true spiritual advantage40#bbf ,hence happiness and joy1 different from all mere pleasure1 ever accompany this reconquest of our true self-love and this our re-donation of it to its true source4 8,man was created for the end of possessing happiness4 ,and having deviated from this his end1 he has formed for himself a false1 selfish self1 which in all things struggles against the soul's true happiness40 8,this divine love is our proper and true love40 8,man can truly know1 by continual experience1 that the love of ,god is our repose1 our joy1 and our life2 and that 7false7 self-love is but constant weariness1 sadness1 and a 7living7 death of our true selves1 both in this world and in the next40 8,all sufferings1 displeasures1 and pains are caused by attachment to the false self4 ,and although adversities many a time seem to us to be unreasonable1 because of certain considerations which we believe to be true and indeed quite evident2 yet the fact remains that it is our own imperfection which is preventing us from seeing the truth1 and this it is which causes us to feel pains1 suffering1 and displeasure40 8,o ,love6 if others feel an obligation to observe ,thy commandments1 ,i1 on my part1 freely will to have them all ten1 because they are all delightful and full of love4''' ,this is a point which is understandable only to him who himself experiences it2 for in truth the divine precepts1 although they are contrary to our sensuality1 are nevertheless according to our own spirit which1 of its very nature1 is ever longing to be free from all bodily sensations1 so as to be able to unite itself to ,god through love40#bbg #d4 ,the true self instinctively hungers after ,god4 ,the sayings as to the close correspondence between the true self and ,god lead us on easily to those about the true self's instinctive recognition of ,god1 and its hunger for the possession1 for the interiorization of ,god4 8,if ,i were to see the whole court of heaven all robed in one and the same manner1 so that there would be no apparent difference between ,god and the ,angels3 even then the love which ,i have in my heart would recognize ,god1 in the same manner as does a dog his master4 ,love knows how1 without means1 to discover its ,end and ultimate ,repose40 8,if a consecrated ,host were to be given me together with other non-consecrated ones ,i would1 ,i think1 distinguish ,it by the taste1 as wine from water40--8,when she saw the ,sacrament upon the ,altar in the hand of the priest1 she would exclaim within herself 7as it were1 addressing the priest73 #8,o swiftly1 swiftly speed ,it to the heart1 since ,it is the heart's own food4'0#bbh #e4 ,superiority of interior graces over exterior manifestations4 ,no good within herself apart from divine grace4 ,catherine's hunger for the interiorization of all the external helps of religion1 even1 indeed specially1 of the ,holy ,eucharist ,itself1 leads us on to her statements as to the superiority of interior graces and dispositions over all exterior manifestations and sensible consolations1 and as to the nature of acts produced by the false self or apart from the grace of ,god4 8,if we would esteem the operations of ,god0 as they truly deserve1 8we should attend more to things interior than to exterior ones4''' ,the true light makes me see and understand that we must not look to what proceedeth from ,god to aid us in some special necessity and for ,his glory1 but that we must look solely to the pure love with which ,he performs ,his work with regard to us4 ,when the soul perceives how direct and pure are the operations of love1 and that this love is not intent upon any benefit that we could confer upon ,it1 then indeed the soul also desires1 in its turn1 to love with a pure love1 and from the motive of the divine love alone40#bbi 8,this not-eating of mine is an operation of ,god1 independent of my will1 hence ,i can in nowise glory in it2 nor should we marvel at it1 for to ,him such an operation is as nothing40--,and to her ,confessor ,don ,marabotto she says reprovingly1 when he too wanted to smell the strange1 strengthening odour which she smelt on his hand3 8,such things as ,god alone can give0 7i4e4 states and conditions in the production of which the soul does not co-operate7 8,he does not give to him who seeks them2 indeed1 ,he gives them only on occasion of great need1 and in order that we may draw great spiritual profit from them40#bcj 8,if ,i do anything that is evil1 ,i do it myself alone1 nor can ,i attribute the blame to the ,devil or to any other creature but only to my own self-will1 sensuality1 and other such malign movements4 ,and if all the ,angels were to declare that there was any good in me1 ,i would refuse to believe them1 because ,i clearly recognize how that all good is in ,god alone1 and that in me1 without divine grace1 there is nothing but deficiency40--8,i would not that1 to my separate self1 even one single meritorious act should ever be attributed1 even though ,i could at the same time be certified of no more falling from henceforward and of being saved2 because such an attribution would be to me as though a ,hell40 8,rather would ,i remain in danger of eternal damnation than be saved by1 and see1 such an act of the separate self40 8,the one sole thing in myself in which ,i glory is that ,i see in myself nothing in which ,i can glory40 8,yet it is necessary that we should labour and exercise ourselves1 since divine grace does not give life nor render pleasing unto ,god except that which the soul has worked2 and without work on our part grace refuses to save40--8,we must never wish anything other than what happens from moment to moment1 all the while1 however1 exercising ourselves in goodness4 ,and to refuse to exercise oneself in goodness1 and to insist upon simply awaiting what ,god might send1 would be simply to tempt ,god40#bca #f4 ,god is ,pure ,love1 ,grace1 ,peace1 and the ,soul's ,true ,self4 ,the passages concerning the close relations between man's pure love and instinct for ,god1 and ,pure ,love1 ,god ,himself1 easily lead us on to those in which ,pure ,love1 ,peace1 ,grace1 the ,true ,self1 indeed the ,essence of all things are positively identified with ,god4 8,hearing herself called0 to any office of her state or of charity1 8she would10 even though apparently absorbed in ecstatic prayer1 8arise at once1 and go without any contention of mind4 ,and she acted thus1 because she fled all self-seeking as though it were the devil4 ,and she felt at such times as though she could best express her feelings by means of the glorious ,apostle's words3 #8,who then shall separate me from the love of ,god8' and the remainder of the great passage4 ,and she would say3 #8,i seem to see how that immovable mind of ,st4 ,paul extended much further than he was able to express in words2 since ,pure ,love is ,god ,himself3 who then shall be able to separate ,him from ,himself8'0 ,elsewhere and on other occasions we find her declaring3 8,love is ,god ,himself02 8,pure ,love is no other than ,god02 8the ,divine love is the very ,god1 infused by ,his own immense ,goodness into our hearts40#bcb ,she also declares that3 8,grace is ,god02 that 8,peace is ,god10--8wouldest thou that ,i show thee what thing ,god is8 ,peace1--that peace which no man finds1 who departs from ,him40 ,and further still3 8,the proper centre of every one is ,god ,himself02 8my ,me is ,god1 nor do ,i recognize any other ,me1 except my ,god ,himself20 8my ,being is ,god1 not by simple participation but by a true transformation of my ,being40 8,god is my ,being1 my ,me1 my ,strength1 my ,beatitude1 my ,good1 my ,delight40 ,indeed 8the glorious ,god is the whole essence of things both visible and invisible40#bcc ,all these startling statements are but so many expressions of one of the most characteristic moods and attitudes of her mind and heart4 ,for in her vehemence of love and thirst for unification she would exclaim3 8,i will have nothing to do with a love that would be for ,god or in ,god2 this is a love which pure love cannot bear3 since pure love is 7simply7 ,god ,himself02 8,i cannot abide to see that word for1 and that word in1 since they denote to my mind a something that can stand between ,god and myself40#bcd ,all this doctrine would be summed up by her in certain favourite expressions4 8,she was wont often to pronounce these words3 #8,sweetness of ,god1 ,fulness of ,god1 ,goodness of ,god1 ,purity of ,god'02 and at a later time 8she had continually on her lips the term #87clear7 ,fulness'0 7,self-adequation1 nettezza74#bce ,,ii4 ,,sin1 ,,purification1 ,,illumination4 #a4 ,the soul's continuous imperfection4 ,self-love and ,pure ,love1 their contradictory characters4 ,every man capable of ,pure ,love4 ,catherine's extreme sensitiveness is no doubt a chief cause of the peculiar form in which she experiences her sinfulness and faults and their actually slow purification1 as expressed in those of her sayings which refer to the growth of love and to the continuous imperfections of the soul4 8,from the time when ,i began to love ,him1 that love has never failed me02 8indeed it has continually grown unto its consummation in the depths of my heart40 ,this growth takes place only step by step2 and is in reality never complete1 and never without certain imperfections4 8,the creature is incapable of knowing anything but what ,god gives it from day to day4 ,if it could know 7beforehand7 the successive degrees that ,god intends to give it1 it would never be quieted40 8,when from time to time ,i would advert to the matter1 it seemed to me that my love was complete2 but later1 as time went on and as my sight grew clearer1 ,i became aware that ,i had had many imperfections4''' ,i did not recognize them at first1 because ,god-,love was determined to achieve the whole only little by little1 for the sake of preserving my physical life1 and so as to keep my behaviour tolerable for those with whom ,i lived4 ,for otherwise1 with such other insight1 so many excessive acts would ensue1 as to make one insupportable to oneself and to others40 8,every day ,i feel that the motes are being removed1 which this ,pure ,love casts out 7cava fuori74 ,man cannot see these imperfections2 indeed1 since1 if he saw these motes1 he could not bear the sight1 ,god ever lets him see the work he has achieved1 as though no imperfections remained in it4 ,but all the time ,god does not cease from continuing to remove them40 8,from time to time1 ,i feel that many instincts are being consumed within me1 which before had appeared to be good and perfect2 but when once they have been consumed1 ,i understand that they were bad and imperfect4''' ,these things are clearly visible in the mirror of truth1 that is of ,pure ,love1 where everything is seen crooked which before appeared straight40#bcf ,and yet the slowness of this purification is1 in the last resort1 caused1 if not by the incomplete purity of her love1 at least by the deep-rootedness and evasive character of the wrong self-love that has to be extirpated4 8,this our self-will is so subtle and so deeply rooted within our own selves1 and defends itself with so many reasons1 that1 when we cannot manage to carry it out in one way1 we carry it out in another4 ,we do our own wills under many covers 7pretexts71--of charity1 of necessity1 of justice1 of perfection40 ,but pure love sees through all these covers3 8,i saw this love to have so open and so pure an eye1 its sight to be so subtle and its seeing so far-reaching1 that ,i stood astounded40 8,true love wills to stand naked1 without any kind of cover1 in heaven and on earth1 since it has not anything shameful to conceal40 ,and 8this naked love ever sees the truth2 whilst self-love can neither see it nor believe in it40 8,pure love loves ,god without any for 7any further motive740#bcg ,and man1 every man1 is capable of this pure love and of the truth which such love sees3 8,i see every one to be capable of my tender ,love40 8,truth being1 by its very nature1 communicable to all1 cannot be the exclusive property of any one40#bch #b4 ,exactingness of ,pure ,love4 ,the next group of sayings deals with the purity of ,love1 and the severity with which this purity progressively eliminates all selfish motives and attachments1 whilst itself becoming increasingly its own exceeding great beatitude4 8,pure ,love loves ,god without why or wherefore 7perch70 8,since ,love took over the care of everything1 ,i have not taken care of anything1 nor have ,i been able to work with my intellect1 memory and will1 any more than if ,i had never had them4 ,indeed every day ,i feel myself more occupied in ,him1 and with greater fire40 8,i had given the keys of the house to ,love1 with ample permission to do all that was necessary1 and determined to have no consideration for soul or body1 but to see that1 of all that the law of pure love required1 there should not be wanting the slightest particle 7minimo ch74 ,and ,i stood so occupied in contemplating this work of ,love1 that if ,he had cast me1 body and soul1 into hell1 hell itself would have appeared to me all love and consolation40#bci ,yet the corresponding1 increasing constraint of the false self is most real4 8,i find myself every day more restricted1 as if a man were 7first7 confined within the walls of a city1 then in a house with an ample garden1 then in a house without a garden1 then in a hall1 then in a room1 then in an ante-room1 then in the cellar of the house with but little light1 then in a prison without any light at all2 and then his hands were tied and his feet were in the stocks1 and then his eyes were bandaged1 and then he would not be given anything to eat1 and then no one would be able to speak to him2 and then1 to crown all1 every hope were taken from him of issuing thence as long as life lasted4 ,nor would any other comfort remain to such an one1 than the knowledge that it was ,god who was doing all this1 through love with great mercy2 an insight which would give him great contentment4 ,and yet this contentment does not diminish the pain or the oppression40#bdj #c4 ,blinding effect of all self-seeking4 ,the gradual transformation of the soul4 ,there is next a group of sayings as to the immense1 blinding and staining effect of even slight self-seekings1 and as to how ,god gradually transforms the soul4 8,god and ,sin1 however slight1 cannot live peaceably side by side 7stare insieme74 ,since some little thing that you may have in your eye does not let you see the sun1 we can make a comparison between ,god and the sun1 and then between intellectual vision and that of the bodily eye40 8,after considering things as they truly are1 ,i find myself constrained to live without self40 8,since the time when ,god has given the light to the soul1 it can no more desire to operate by means of that part of itself which is ever staining all things and rendering turbid the clear water of ,god's grace4 ,the soul then offers and remits itself entirely to ,him1 so that it can no more operate except to the degree and in the manner willed by tender ,love ,himself2 and henceforth it does not produce works except such as are pure1 full and sincere2 and these are the works that please ,god-,love40#bda 8,i will not name myself either for good or for evil1 lest this my 7selfish7 part should esteem itself to be something40 8,being determined to join myself unto ,god1 ,i am in every manner bound to be the enemy of ,his enemies2 and since ,i find nothing that is more ,his enemy than is self in me1 ,i am constrained to hate this part of me more than any other thing2 indeed1 because of the contrariety that subsists between it and the spirit1 ,i am determined to separate it from all the goods of this world and of the next1 and to esteem it no more than if it were not40#bdb 8,when she saw others bewailing their evil inclinations1 and forcing themselves greatly to resist them1 and yet the more they struggled to produce a remedy for their defects1 the more did they commit them1 she would say to them3 #8,you have subjects for lamentation 7tu hai li guai7 and bewail them1 and ,i too would be having and bewailing them2 you do evil and bewail it1 and ,i should be doing and be bewailing it as you do1 if ,god ,almighty were not holding me4 ,you cannot defend yourself1 nor can ,i defend myself4 ,hence it is necessary that we renounce the care of ourselves unto ,him1 ,who can defend this our true self2 and ,he will then do that which we cannot do4'0#bdc 8,as to the annihilating of man1 which has to be made in ,god1 she spoke thus3 #8,take a bread1 and eat it4 ,when you have eaten it1 its substance goes to nourish the body1 and the rest is eliminated1 because nature cannot use it at all1 and indeed1 if nature were to retain it1 the body would die4 ,now1 if that bread were to say to you3 8,why dost thou remove me from my being8 if ,i could1 ,i would defend myself to conserve myself1 an action natural to every creature03 you would answer3 8,bread1 thy being was ordained for a support for my body1 a body which is of more worth than thou2 and hence thou oughtest to be more contented with thine end than with thy being4 ,live for thine end1 and thou wilt not care about thy being1 but thou wilt exclaim 7to the body73 #8,swiftly1 swiftly draw me forth from my being1 and put me within the operation of that end of mine1 for which ,i was created4'0 ''' ,the soul1 by the operation of ,god1 eliminates from the body all the superfluities and evil habits acquired by sin1 and retains within itself the purified body1 which body thenceforth performs its operations by means of these purified senses4''' ,and1 when the soul has consumed all the evil inclinations of the body1 ,god consumes all the imperfections of the soul4'0#bdd ,in each particular instance1 the process was wont to be as follows3 8,when her selfish part saw itself tracked down by ,love1 ,catherine would turn to ,him and say3 #8,even though it pain sense1 content ,thy will3 despoil me of this spoil and clothe me with ,love full1 pure and sincere4'0#bde #d4 ,suddenness and gratuitousness of ,god's light2 the obstacles to its operation4 ,we get next a set of apparently contrary sayings1 concerning the suddenness of ,god's illumination2 how the degree of this light cannot be determined by man2 and what are1 nevertheless1 the conditions under which it will not act4 ,in some cases1 8the soul is made to know in an instant1 by means of a new light above itself1 all that ,god desires it to know1 and this with so much certainty that it would be impossible to make the soul believe otherwise4 ,nor is more shown it than is necessary for leading it to greater perfection40 8,this light is not sought by man1 but ,god gives it unto man when ,he chooses2 neither does the man himself know how he knows the thing that he is made to know4 ,and if perchance man were determined to seek to know a little further than he has been made to know1 he would achieve nothing1 but would remain like unto a stone1 without any capacity40#bdf ,and she would pray3 8,be ,thou my understanding2 7thus7 shall ,i know that which it may please ,thee that ,i should know4 ,nor will ,i henceforth weary myself with seeking2 but ,i will abide in peace with ,thine understanding1 which shall wholly occupy my mind40 8,if a man would see properly in spiritual matters1 let him pluck out the eyes of his own presumption40 8,he who gazes too much upon the sun's orb1 makes himself blind2 even thus1 ,i think1 does pride blind many1 who want to know too much40 8,when ,god finds a soul that does not move1 ,he operates within it in ,his own manner1 and puts ,his hand to greater things4 ,he takes from this soul the key of ,his treasures which ,he had given to it1 so that it might be able to enjoy them2 and gives to this same soul the care of ,his presence1 which entirely absorbs it40#bdg #e4 ,god's way of winning souls and raising them towards pure love4 ,the fruits of full trust4 ,the next group can be made up of passages descriptive of the dealings adopted by ,god with a view to first winning souls as ,he finds them1 and then raising them above mercenary hope or slavish fear2 and of the childlike fearlessness inspired by perfect trust in ,god4 ,as to the winning them1 she says3 8,the selfishness of man is so contrary to ,god and rebellious against ,him1 that ,god ,himself cannot induce the soul to do ,his will1 except by certain stratagems 7lusinghe73 promising it things greater than those left1 and giving it1 even in this life1 a certain consoling relish 7gusto74 ,and this ,he does1 because ,he perceives the soul to love things visible so much1 that it would never leave one1 unless it saw four40#bdh ,and1 as to ,god's raising of the soul1 she propounds the deep doctrine1 which only apparently contradicts the divine method just enunciated1 as to the necessary dimness of the soul's light with regard to the intrinsic consequences of its own acts1 a dimness necessary1 because alone truly purificatory1 for the time that runs between its conversion1 when1 since it is still weak1 it requires to see1 and its condition of relative purity1 when1 since it is now strong1 it can safely be again allowed to see48 ,if a man were to see that which1 in return for his good deeds1 he will have in the life to come1 he would cease to occupy himself with anything but heavenly things4 ,but ,god1 desiring that faith should have its merit1 and that man should not do good from the motive of selfishness1 gives him that knowledge little by little1 though always sufficiently for the degree of faith of which the man is then capable4 ,and ,god ends by leading him to so great a light as to things that are above1 that faith seems to have no further place4--,on the other hand1 if man knew that which hereafter he will have to suffer if he die in the miserable state of sin1 ,i feel sure that1 for fear of it1 he would let himself be killed rather than commit one single sin4 ,but ,god1 unwilling as ,he is that man should avoid doing evil from the motive of fear1 does not allow him to see so terrifying a spectacle1 although ,he shows it in part to such souls as are so clothed and occupied by ,his pure love that fear can no more enter in40#bdi ,and as to the full trust of pure love1 we have the following3 8,god let her hear interiorly3 #8,i do not want thee henceforward to turn thine eyes except towards ,love2 and here ,i would have thee stay and not to move1 whatever happens to thee or to others1 within or without'2 #8he who trusts in ,me1 should not doubt about himself4'0#bej ,and this ,love gives of itself so fully to those that give themselves fully to ,it1 that when asked by such souls to impetrate some grace for them she would say3 8,i see this tender ,love to be so courteously attentive to these my spiritual children1 that ,i cannot ask of ,it anything for them1 but can only present them before ,his face40 ,in other cases1 as in those of beginners when sick and dying1 she would be 8drawn to pray for0 a soul1 and would 8impetrate0 some special 8grace for it40 8,lord1 give me this soul10 she would at times pray aloud1 8,i beg ,thee to give it me1 for indeed ,thou canst do so40 ,and 8when she was drawn to pray for something1 she would be told in her mind3 #8,command1 for love is free to do so4'0#bea ,,iii4 ,,the ,,three ,,categories ,,and ,,the ,,two ,,ways4 ,the next set of sayings so eminently constitutes the aggregation1 if not the system1 of categories under and with which ,catherine habitually sees her types and pictures1 and thinks and feels her experiences of divine things1 that it will require careful discrimination and grouping4 #a4 ,the ,three ,categories3 8,in0 ,concentration2 8,out0 ,liberation2 8,over10 ,elevation4 ,there is1 first1 the great category of in1 within1 down into2 that is1 recollection1 concentration4 8,the love which ,i have within my heart40 8,since ,i began to love ,it1 never again has that ,love diminished2 indeed ,it has ever grown to ,its own fulness1 within my innermost heart40 ,hence she would say to those who dwelt in admiration of her psycho-physical peculiarities3 8,if you but had experience 7sapeste7 of another thing which ,i feel within me60 ,and again18,if we would esteem 7aright7 the operations of ,god1 we must attend more to interior than to exterior things40 ,and1 with regard to the ,holy ,eucharist1 she would whisper1 when seeing at ,mass the ,priest about to communicate3 8,o swiftly1 swiftly speed ,it down to the heart1 since it is the heart's own food 02 and she would declare1 with regard to her own ,communion3 8,in the same instant in which ,i had ,it in my mouth1 ,i felt ,it in my heart40#beb ,there is1 next1 the category of out1 outside1 outwards2 that is1 liberation1 ecstasy4 8,the soul which came out from ,god pure and full has a natural instinct to return to ,god as full and pure 7as it came740 8,the soul finds itself bound to a body entirely contrary to its own nature1 and hence expects with desire its separation from the body40 8,god grants the grace1 to some persons1 of making their bodies into a ,purgatory 7already7 in this world40 8,when ,god has led the soul on to its last stage 7passo71 the soul is so full of desire to depart from the body to unite itself with ,god1 that its body appears to it a ,purgatory1 keeping it far apart from its 7true7 object40 8,the prison1 in which ,i seem to be1 is the world2 the chain is the body02 8to noble 7gentili7 souls1 death is the end of an obscure prison2 to the remainder1 it is a trouble1--to such1 that is1 as have fixed all their care upon what is but so much dung 7fango740 ,and1 whilst strenuously mortifying the body1 she would answer its resistances1 as though so many audible complainings1 and say3 8,if the body is dying1 well1 let it die2 if the body cannot bear the load1 well1 leave the body in the lurch 7,o soul740#bec ,and all this imprisonment is felt as equivalent to being outside of the soul's true home4 8,i seem to myself to be in this world like those who are out of their home1 and who have left all their friends and relations1 and who find themselves in a foreign land2 and who1 having accomplished the business on which they came1 stand ready to depart and to return home1--home1 where they ever are with heart and mind1 having indeed so ardent a love of their country 7patria71 that one day spent in getting there would appear to them to last a year40#bed ,and this feeling of outsideness1 seen here with regard to the relations of the soul to the body and to the world1 we find again with regard to sanctity and the soul4 ,in this latter case also the greater is felt to be 7as it were7 entrapped1 and contained only very partially within the lesser2 and as though this greater could and did exist1 in its full reality1 only outside of the lesser4 8,i can no more say #8blessed' to any saint1 taken in himself1 because ,i feel it to be an inappropriate 7deforme7 word02 8,i see how all the sanctity which the saints have1 is outside of them and all in ,god40 ,indeed she sums this up in the saying3 8,i see that anything perfect is entirely outside of the creature2 and that a thing is entirely imperfect1 when the creature can at all contain it40 ,hence 8the ,blessed possess 7hanno7 blessedness1 and yet they do not possess it4 ,for they possess it1 only in so far as they are annihilated in their own selves and are clothed with ,god2 and they do not possess it1 in so far as they remain 7si trovano7 in their particular 7proprio7 being1 so as to be able to say3 #8,i am blessed4'0#bee ,there is1 in the third place1 the category of over1 above1 upwards2 that is elevation1 sublimation4 ,we will begin with cases where it is conjoined with the previous categories1 and will move on into more and more pure aboveness4 8,i am so placed and submerged in ,his immense love1 that ,i seem as though in the sea entirely under water1 and could on no side touch1 see1 or feel anything but water40 ,and 8if the sea were the food of love1 there would exist no man nor woman that would not go and drown himself 7affogasse7 in it2 and he who was dwelling far from this sea1 would engage in nothing else but in walking to get to it and to immerse himself within it40#bef ,the soul here feels the water on every side of it1 yet evidently chiefly above it1 for it has had to plunge in1 to get under the water4 8,listen to what ,fra ,jacopone says in one of his ,lauds1 which begins1 #8,o ,love of ,poverty4' ,he says3 #8,that which appears to thee 7to be71 is not2 so high above is that which is4 7,true7 elevation 7superbia7 is in heaven2 earthy lowness 7umilt7 leads to the soul's own destruction4' ,he says then3 #8,that which appears to thee1' that is1 all things visible1 #8are not1' and have not true being in them3 #8so high' and great #8is ,he who is1' that is1 ,god1 in whom is all true being4 #8,elevation is in heaven1' that is1 true loftiness and greatness is in heaven and not on earth2 #8earthy lowness leads to the soul's own destruction1' that is1 affection placed in these created things1 which are low and vile1 since they have not in them true being1 produces this result40--8,i feel10 she says in explanation of what and how she knows1 8a first thing above the intellect2 and above this thing ,i feel another one and a greater2 and above this other one1 another1 still more great2 and so up and up does one thing go above the other1 each thing ever greater 7than its predecessors71 that ,i conclude it to be impossible to express even a spark 7scintilla7 as to ,it0 7the highest and greatest of the whole series1 ,god74 ,here it is interesting still to trace the influence of the same passage of ,jacopone 7again referred to in this place by the ,vita71 and to see why she introduced 8greatness0 alongside of 8loftiness0 into her previous paraphrase4#beg ,now this vivid impression of a strong upward movement1 combined with the feeling of being in and under something1 gives the following image1 used by her during her last illness3 8,i can no longer manage to live on in this life1 because ,i feel as though ,i were in it like cork under water40 ,and this 8above10 unlike to 8outside10 is accompanied by the image1 not of clothing but of nakedness2 the clothes are left below4 8,this vehement love said to her1 on one occasion3 #8,what art thou thinking of doing8 ,i want thee all for myself4 ,i want to strip thee naked1 naked4 ,the higher up thou shalt go1 however great a perfection thou mayest have1 the higher will ,i ever stand above thee1 to ruin all thy perfections'0--this1 of course1 inasmuch as she is still imperfect and falls short of the higher and higher perfections to which her soul is being led4#beh ,and as to man's faculties1 she says3 8,as the intellect reaches higher 7supera7 than speech1 so does love reach higher than intellect40 ,and again1 as a universal law3 8,when pure love speaks1 it ever speaks above nature2 and all the things which it does and thinks and feels are always above nature40#bei #b4 ,the ,two ,ways3 the ,negative ,way1 ,god's ,transcendence2 the ,positive ,way1 ,god's ,immanence4 ,now these three categories of within and inward1 outside and outward1 above and upward position and movement1 can lead1 and do actually lead in ,catherine's case1 to two separate lines of thought and feeling4 ,and these lines are each too much a necessary logical conclusion from the constant working of these categories1 and they are each again far too much1 and even apart from these categories1 expressive of two rival but complementary experiences1 for either of them to be able to suppress or even modify the other4 ,each has its turn in the rich1 free play of ,catherine's life4 ,i will take the negative line first1 and then the positive1 so as to finish up with affirmation1 which will thus1 as in her actual experience and practice1 be all the deeper and more substantial1 because it has passed1 and is ever re-passing1 through a process of limitation and purification4 ,first1 then1 if grace and ,god are only within1 and only without1 and only above1 she will and does experience contradiction and paradox in all attempts at explaining reality2 she will thus find things to be obscure instead of clear2 and she will end by affirming the unutterableness1 the unthinkableness of ,god1 indeed of all reality4 8,i see without eyes1 ,i understand without understanding1 ,i feel without feeling1 and ,i taste without taste40 8,when the creature is purified1 it sees the ,true2 and such a sight is not a sight40 8,the sight of how it is ,god0 who sends the soul its purifying trials 8gives the soul a great contentment2 and yet this contentment does not diminish the pain40 ,still1 8pure love cannot suffer2 nor can it understand what is meant by pain or torment40 8,the sun1 which at first seemed so clear to me1 now seems obscure2 what used to seem sweet to me1 now seems bitter3 because all beauties and all sweetnesses that have an admixture of the creature are corrupt and spoilt40 8,as to ,love1 only this can we understand about ,it1 that ,it is incomprehensible to the mind40 8,so long as a person can still talk of things divine1 and can relish1 understand1 remember and desire them1 he has not yet come to port40 ,for indeed 8all that can be said about ,god is not ,god1 but only certain smallest fragments which fall from 7,his7 table40#bfj ,and yet those experiences of ,god's presence as1 apparently1 in a special manner within us1 and without us1 and above us1 also lead1 by means of another connection of ideas1 to another1 to a positive result4 ,for those experiences can lead us to dwell1 not upon the difference of the 8places10 but upon the apparent fact that ,he is in a 8place0 of some sort1 in space somewhere1 the exact point of which is still to find2 and1 by thus bringing home to the mind this underlying paradox of the whole position1 they can help to make the soul shrink away from this false clarity1 and to fall back upon the deep1 dim1 true view of ,god as existing1 for our apprehension1 in certain states of soul alone1 states which have all along been symbolized for us by these different 8places0 and 8positions40 ,and thus what before was a paradox and mystery qua space1 because at the same time within and without1 and because not found by the soul 8within0 unless through getting 8without0 itself1 becomes now a paradox and mystery qua state1 because the soul at one and the same time attains to its own happiness and loses it1 indeed attains happiness only through deliberately sacrificing it4 ,and we thus come to the great central secret of all life and love1 revealed to us in its fulness in the divine paradox of our ,lord's life and teaching4 ,god1 then1 first seems to be in a place1 indeed to be a place4 8,i see all good to be in one only place1 that is ,god40 8,the spirit can find no place except ,god1 for its repose40#bfa ,if ,god be in a place1 we cannot well conceive of ,him as other than outside of and above the soul1 which itself1 even ,god being in a place1 will be in a place also4 8,god has created the soul pure and full1 with a certain ,god-ward instinct1 which brings happiness in its train 7istinto beatifico740 ,and 8the nearer the soul approaches0 7is joined1 si accosta7 8to ,god1 the more does the instinct attain to its perfection40 ,here the instinct within pushes the soul 8onwards1 outwards1 upwards40 ,and the nearer the soul gets to ,god in front1 outside and above of it1 the happier it becomes3 because1 the more it satisfies this its instinct1 the less it suffers from the distance from ,god1 and the more does it enjoy ,his proximity4#bfb ,this approach is next conceived of as increasingly conveying a knowledge to the soul of ,god's desire for union with it2 but such an approach can only be effected by means of much fight against and through the intervening ranks of the common enemies of the two friends2 and1 as we have already seen1 chief amongst these enemies is the soul's false self4 8,the nearer man approaches to 7si accosta7 ,god1 the more he knows that ,god desires to unite ,himself with us40 8,being determined to approach ,god1 ,i am constrained to be the enemy of ,his enemies40#bfc ,and then1 that 8place0 in which ,god was pictured as being1 is found to be a state1 a disposition of the soul4 ,now as long as the dominant tendency was to think ,god with clearness1 and hence to picture ,him as in space1 that same tendency would1 naturally enough1 represent this place ,he was in as outside and above the soul4 ,for if ,he is in space1 ,he is pictured as extended1 and hence as stretching further than1 and outside of1 the soul1 which itself also is conceived as spacially extended2 and if ,he is in a particular part of space1 that part can only1 for a geocentric apprehension of the world1 be thought of as the upper part of space4 ,but in proportion as the picture of physical extension and position gives way to its prompting cause1 and the latter is expressed1 as far as possible1 unpictorially and less clearly1 but more simply as what it is1 viz4 a spiritual intention and disposition1 she is still driven indeed1 in order to retain some clearness of speech1 to continue to speak as of a place and of a spacial movement1 but she has now no longer three categories but only one1 viz4 within and inwards4 ,for a physical quantity can be and move in different places and directions in space2 but a spiritual quality can only be experienced within the substance of the spirit4 8,god created the soul pure and full1 with a certain beatific instinct of ,himself0 7i4e4 of ,his actual presence74 ,and hence1 8in proportion as it 7again7 approaches to the conditions of its original creation1 this beatific instinct ever increasingly discovers itself and grows stronger and stronger40#bfd ,and ,god being thus not without1 nor indeed in space at all1 she can love ,him everywhere3 indeed the what she is now constitutes the where she is2 in a camp she can love ,god as dearly as in a convent1 and heaven itself is already within her soul1 so that only a change in the soul's dispositions could constitute hell for that soul1 even in hell itself4 8,o ,love10 she exclaims1 after the scene with the ,friar1 who had attempted to prove to her that his state of life rendered him more free and apt to love ,god1 8who then shall impede me from loving ,thee8 ,even if ,i were in the midst of a camp of soldiers1 ,i could not be impeded from loving ,thee40 ,she had1 during the interview1 explained her meaning3 8,if ,i believed that your religious habit would give me but one additional glimpse0 7spark1 scintilla7 8of love1 ,i would without doubt take it from you by force1 were ,i not allowed to have it otherwise4 ,that you may be meriting more than myself1 ,i readily concede1 ,i am not seeking after that2 let those things be yours4 ,but that ,i cannot love ,him as much as you can do1 you will never succeed in making me even understand40 8,i stood so occupied in seeing the work of ,love 7within my soul71 that if it had thrown me with soul and body into hell1 hell itself would have appeared to me to be nothing but love and consolation40 ,and1 on another occasion1 she says to her disciples3 8,if1 of that which this heart of mine is feeling1 one drop were to fall into hell1 hell itself would become all life eternal02 and she accepts with jubilation this interpretation of her words1 on the part of one of them 7no doubt ,vernazza73 8,hell exists in every place where there is rebellion against ,love1 ,god2 but ,life ,eternal1 in every place where there is union with that same ,love1 ,god40#bfe ,and she now cannot but pray to possess all this love1--love being now pictured as a food1 as a light1 or as water1 bringing life to the soul4 8,o tender ,love1 if ,i thought that but one glimpse of ,thee were to be wanting to me1 truly and indeed ,i could not live40 8,love1 ,i want ,thee1 the whole of ,thee40 8,never can love grow quiet1 until it has arrived at its ultimate perfection40 ,and1 in gaining all ,god1 she gains all other things besides3 8,o my ,god1 all mine1 everything is mine2 because all that belongs to ,god seems all to belong to me40#bff ,but if she loves all ,god1 she can1 on the other hand1 love only ,him3 how1 then1 is she to manage to love her neighbour8 8,thou commandest me to love my neighbour10 she complains to her ,love1 8and yet ,i cannot love anything but ,thee1 nor can ,i admit anything else and mix it up with ,thee4 ,how1 then1 shall ,i act80 ,and she received the interior answer3 8,he who loves me1 loves all that ,i love40#bfg ,but soon her love1 as generous as it is strong1 becomes uneasy as to its usual consequences1--the consolations1 purely spiritual or predominantly psychical or even more or less physical1 which come in its train4 ,and even though she is made to understand that at least the first are necessarily bound up with love1 in exact proportion to its generosity1 she is determined1 to the last1 to love for love itself1 and not for love's consequences1 battling thus to keep her spirituality free from the slightest1 subtlest self-seeking4 8,this soul said to its ,love3 #8,can it really be1 ,o tender ,love1 that ,thou art destined never to be loved without consolation or the hope of some advantage in heaven or on earth0 accruing to ,thy lover8'0 8,and she received the answer1 that such an union could not exist without a great peace and contentment of the soul40 ,and yet she continues to affirm3 8,conscience1 in its purity1 cannot bear anything but ,god alone2 of all the rest1 it cannot suffer the least trifle40#bfh ,and she practices and illustrates this doctrine in detail4 8,one day1 after ,communion1 ,god gave her so great a consolation that she remained in ecstasy4 ,when she had returned to her usual state1 she prayed3 #8,o ,love1 ,i do not wish to follow ,thee for the sake of these delights1 but solely from the motive of true love4'0 ,on another similar occasion she prays3 8,i do not want that which proceedeth from ,thee2 ,i want ,thyself alone1 ,o tender ,love40 ,and again1 8on one occasion1 after ,communion1 there came to her so much odour and so much sweetness that she seemed to herself to be in ,paradise4 ,but instantly she turned towards her ,lord and said3 #8,o ,love1 art ,thou perhaps intending to draw me to ,thee by means of these sensible consolations 7sapori78 ,i want them not2 ,i want nothing except ,thee alone4'0#bfi ,,iv4 ,,the ,,other ,,worlds4 ,we have now gone through ,catherine's contemplations and conceptions as regards the soul's relations with its true ,life and ,love1 here and now1 on this side the veil4 ,we have1 in conclusion1 to try and reproduce and illustrate her teaching as to these relations on the other side of death4 #a4 ,no absolute break in the spirit's life at the body's death4 ,now here especially is it necessary ever to bear in mind her own presupposition1 which runs throughout and sustains all her doctrine4 ,for she is sure1 beyond ever even raising a question concerning the point1 that her soul and ,god1 her two great realities and experiences1 remain substantially the same behind the veil as before it1 and hence that the most fundamental and universal of the soul's experiences here can safely be trusted to obtain there also4 ,hence1 too1 only such points in the ,beyond are dwelt on as she can thus experimentally forecast2 but these few points are1 on the other hand1 developed with an extraordinary vividness and fearless1 rich variety of illustration4 ,and it is abundantly clear that this assumption of the essential unity and continuity of the soul's life here and hereafter1 is itself already a doctrine1 and a most important one4 ,we will then take it as such1 and begin with it as the first of her teachings as to the ,beyond4 8,this holy soul10 says the highly authoritative prologue to the ,trattato1 in close conformity with her constant assumptions and declarations1 8finding herself1 whilst still in the flesh1 placed in the ,purgatory of ,god's burning love1--a love which consumed 7burnt1 abbrucciava7 and purified her from whatever she had to purify1 in order that1 on passing out of this life1 she might enter at once into the immediate presence 7cospetto7 of her tender ,love1 ,god3 understood1 by means of this furnace of love1 how the souls of the faithful abide in the place of ,purgatory1 to purge themselves of every stain of sin that1 in this life1 had been left unpurged4 ,and as she1 placed in the loving ,purgatory of the divine fire1 abode united to the divine ,love1 and content with all that ,it wrought within her1 so she understood it to be with the souls in ,purgatory40#bgj #b4 ,hell4 ,the details of her doctrine as to the ,beyond we can group under three heads3 the unique1 momentary experience and solitary1 instantaneous act of the soul1 at its passing hence and beginning its purgation there2 the particular dispositions1 joys and sufferings of the soul during the process of purification1 as well as the cause and manner of the cessation of that process2 and 7generally treated by her as a simple contrast to this her direct and favourite purgatorial contemplation7 the particular dispositions1 sufferings1 and alleviations of lost souls4 ,since her teachings on the last-named subject are more of an incidental character1 ,i shall take them first1 and make them serve1 as they do with her1 as a foil to her doctrine of the ,intermediate ,state3 whilst her conception of ,heaven1 already indicated throughout her descriptions of ,pure ,love1 is too much of a universal implication1 and too little a special department of her teaching1 to be capable of presentation here4 ,as to the cause of ,hell1 she says3 8,it is the will's opposition to the ,will of ,god which causes guilt2 and as long as this evil will continues1 so long does the guilt continue4 ,for those1 then1 who have departed this life with an evil will there is no remission of the guilt1 neither can there be1 because there can be no more change of will40 8,in passing out of this life1 the soul is established for good or evil1 according to its deliberate purpose at the time2 as it is written1 #8where ,i shall find thee1' that is1 at the hour of death1 with a will either determined to sin1 or sorry for sin and penitent1 #8there will ,i judge thee4'0 ,or1 in a more characteristic form3 8,there is no doubt that our spirit was created to love and enjoy3 and it is this that it goes seeking in all things4 ,but it never finds satiety in things of time2 and yet it goes on hoping1 on and on1 to be at last able to find it4 ,and this experience it is that helps me to understand what kind of a thing is ,hell4 ,for ,i see that man1 by love1 makes himself one single thing with ,god1 and finds there every good2 and1 on the other hand1 that when he is bereft of love1 he remains full of as many woes as are the blessings he would have been capable of1 had he not been so mad40#bga ,and yet1 and this is her own beautiful contribution to the traditional doctrine on this terrible and mysterious subject1 neither are the sufferings of the lost infinite in amount1 nor is their will entirely malign4 ,and both these alleviations evidently exist from the first3 ,i can find no trace anywhere in her teaching of a gradual mitigation of either the punishment or the guilt4 ,indeed1 although she always teaches the mitigation of the suffering1 it is only occasionally that she teaches the persistence of some moral good4 ,thus her ordinary teaching is3 8,those who are found1 at the moment of death1 with a will determined to sin1 have with them an infinite degree of guilt1 and the punishment is without end02 8the sweet goodness of ,god sheds the rays of ,his mercy even into ,hell3 since ,he might most justly have given to the souls there a far greater punishment than ,he has40 8,at death ,god exercises ,his justice1 yet not without mercy2 since even in ,hell the soul does not suffer as much as it deserves40 ,but occasionally she goes further afield1 and insists on the presence there1 not only of some mercy in the punishment1 but also of some good in the will4 8,when we shall have departed from this life in a state of sin1 ,god will withdraw from us ,his goodness1 and will leave us to ourselves1 and yet not altogether3 since ,he wills that in every place ,his goodness shall be found and not ,his justice alone4 ,and if a creature could be found that did not1 to some degree1 participate in the divine goodness1 that creature would be1 one might say1 as malignant as ,god is good40#bgb ,there can be no doubt1 as we shall see further on1 that this latter is her full doctrine and is alone entirely consistent with her general principles4 ,certain details of her ,hell doctrine which appear in immediate contrast to1 or in harmony with1 some special points of her ,purgatorial teaching1 had better appear in connection with the latter4 #c4 ,purgatory2 the initial experience and act4 ,let us now take1 in all but complete contrast to this doctrine as to ,hell1 what she has to say about ,purgatory4 ,and here we have first to deal with the initial experience and act1 both of them unique and momentary1 of the soul destined for ,purgatory4 ,as to that experience1 only one description has been preserved for us4 8,once1 and once only1 do the souls 7that are still liable to1 and capable of1 purgation7 perceive the cause of 7their7 ,purgatory that they bear within themselves1--namely in passing out of this life3 then1 but never again after that3 otherwise self would come in 7vi saria una propriet740#bgc ,and this unique and momentary experience is straightway followed by as unique and momentary an act1 free and full1 on the part of the experiencing soul4 ,catherine has described this act in every kind of mood1 and from the various points of view1 already drawn out by us1 of her doctrine1 so that we have here again a most impressive and vivid summing-up and pictorial representation of all her central teaching4 8,the soul thus seeing0 7its own imperfection7 and1 8that it cannot1 because of the impediment0 7of this imperfection7 8attain 7accostarsi7 to its end1 which is ,god2 and that the impediment cannot be removed 7levato7 from it1 except by means of ,purgatory1 swiftly and of its own accord 7volontieri7 casts itself into it40#bgd ,here we have the continuation of the outward movement3 the soul is here absolutely impeded in that1 now immensely swift1 movement1 and is brought to a dead stop1 as though by something hard on the soul's own surface1 which acts as a barrier between itself and ,god2 it is offered the chance of escaping from this intolerable suffering into the lesser one of dissolving this hard obstacle in the ocean of the purifying fire3 and straightway plunges into the latter4 8,if the soul could find another ,purgatory above the actual one1 it would1 so as more rapidly to remove from itself so important 7tanto7 an impediment1 instantly cast itself into it1 because of the impetuosity of that love which exists between ,god and the soul and tends to conform the soul to ,god40#bge ,here we have an extension of the same picturing1 interesting because the addition of an upwards to the outwards introduces a conflict between the image 7which evidently1 for the soul's plunge1 requires ,purgatory to lie beneath the soul71 and the doctrine 7which1 taking ,purgatory as the means between earth and heaven1 cannot1 if any spacial picturing be retained at all1 but place ,heaven at the top of the picture1 and ,purgatory higher up than the soul which is coming thither from earth74 ,the deep plunge has become a high jump4 8,i see the divine essence to be of such purity1 that the soul which should have within it the least mote 7minimo ch7 of imperfection1 would rather cast itself into a thousand hells1 than find itself with that imperfection in the presence of ,god40#bgf ,here the sense of touch1 of hardness1 of a barrier which is checking motion1 has given way to the sense of sight1 of stain1 of a painful contrast to an all-pure ,presence2 and the whole picture is now devoid of motion4 ,we thus have a transition to the immanental picturing1 with its inward movement or look4 8,the soul which1 when separated from the body1 does not find itself in that cleanness 7nettezza7 in which it was created1 seeing in itself the stain1 and that this stain cannot be purged out except by means of ,purgatory1 swiftly and of its own accord casts itself in2 and if it did not find this ordination apt to purge that stain1 in that very moment there would be spontaneously generated 7si generebbe7 within itself a ,hell worse than ,purgatory40#bgg ,here we have again reached her immanental conception1 where the soul's concern is with conditions within itself1 and where its joys and sorrows are within4 ,its trouble is1 in this case1 the sense of contrast1 between its own original1 still potential1 indeed still actual though now only far down1 hidden and buried1 true self1 and its active1 obvious1 superficial1 false self4 ,in so far as there is any movement before the plunge1 it is an inward1 introspective one2 the soul as a whole is1 for that previous moment1 not conceived as in motion1 but a movement of her self-observing part or power takes place within her from the surface to the centre2 and only then1 after her rapid journey from this her surface-being to those her fundamental ineradicable requirements1 and after the consequent intolerably painful contrast and conflict within herself1 does she cast herself1 with swift wholeheartedness1 with all she is and has1 into the purifying place and state4 ,and1 in full harmony with this immanental conception1 the greater suffering which would arise did she abide with this sight of herself and yet without any moral change is described as springing up spontaneously within herself4 8,the soul1 seeing ,purgatory to have been ordained for the very purpose of purging away its stains1 casts itself in1 and seems to find a great compassion 7on the part of ,god7 in being allowed 7able7 to do so40 ,this appears to be only a variety of the immanental view just given4#bgh #d4 ,purgatory3 the subsequent process4 ,we have finally to give her doctrine as to the particular dispositions1 joys1 and sufferings of the soul during the process of its purgation1 and as to the cause and manner of the cessation of that process4 ,as to the dispositions1 they are generally the same as those which impelled the soul to put itself in this place or condition4 ,only whereas then1 during that initial moment1 they took the form of a single act1 an initiation of a new condition1 now they assume the shape of a continuous state4 ,then the will freely tied itself2 now it gladly though painfully abides by its decision and its consequences4 ,then the will found the relief and distraction of full1 epoch-making action2 now it has but to will and work out the consequences involved in that generous1 all-inclusive self-determination4 ,the range and nature of this1 its continuous action will thus be largely the very reserve of those of that momentary act4 8,the souls that are in ,purgatory are incapable of choosing otherwise than to be in that place1 nor can they any more turn their regard 7si voltare7 towards themselves1 and say3 #8,i have committed such and such sins1 for which ,i deserve to tarry here'2 nor can they say1 #8,would that ,i had not done them1 that now ,i might go to ,paradise'2 nor yet say1 #8,that soul is going out before me'2 nor1 #8,i shall go out before him4' ,they are so completely satisfied that ,he should be doing all that pleases ,him1 and in the way it pleases ,him1 that they are incapable of thinking of themselves40 ,indeed they are unable even to see themselves1 at least directly1 for 8these souls do not see anything1 even themselves in themselves or by means of themselves1 but they 7only7 see themselves in ,god40 ,indeed we have already seen that to do1 or to be able to do1 otherwise1 would now 8let self come in 7sarebbe una propriet740#bgi ,and the joys and sufferings1 and the original1 earthly cause of the latter1 are described as follows4 8,the souls in ,purgatory have their 7active7 will conformed in all things to the will of ,god2 and hence they remain there1 content as far as regards their will40 8,as far as their will is concerned1 these souls cannot find the pain to be pain1 so completely are they satisfied with the ordinance of ,god1 so entirely is their 7active7 will one with it in pure charity4 ,on the other hand1 they suffer a torment so extreme1 that no tongue could describe it1 no intellect could form the least idea of it1 if ,god had not made it known by special grace40 ,and indeed she says3 8,i shall cease to marvel at finding that ,purgatory is0 in its way as 8horrible as ,hell4 ,for the one is made for punishing1 the other for purging3 hence both are made for sin1 sin which itself is so horrible and which requires that its punishment and purgation should be conformable to its own horribleness40 ,for in ,purgatory too there still exist certain remains of imperfect1 sinful habits in the will4 8,the souls in ,purgatory think much more of the opposition which they discover in themselves to the will of ,god10 than they do of their pain4 ,and yet1 being here with their actual will fully at one with ,god's purifying action 7an action directed against these remains of passive opposition71 8,i do not believe it would be possible to find any joy comparable to that of a soul in ,purgatory1 except the joy of the ,blessed in ,paradise40#bhj ,now the sufferings of the soul are represented either as found by it1 under the form of an obstacle to itself1 whilst in motion to attain to ,god1 a motion which in some passages is outward1 in others inward2 or as coming to it1 whilst spacially at rest4 ,only in the latter case is there a further attempt at pictorially elucidating the nature of the obstacle and the cessation of the suffering4 ,it is fairly clear that it is the latter set of passages which most fully suits her general teaching and even imagery4 ,for1 as to the imagery3 after that one movement in which the soul determines its own place1 we want it to abide there1 without any further motion4 ,and1 as to doctrine3 more and more as the soul's history is unfolded1 should ,god's action within it appear as dominating and informing the soul's action towards ,god1 and should change of disposition supplant change of place4 ,first1 then1 let us take the clearer but less final conception1 and see the soul in movement1 in a struggle for outward motion4 8,because the souls that are in ,purgatory have an impediment between ,god and themselves1 and because the instinct which draws the soul on to its ultimate end is unable as yet to attain to its fulfilment 7perfezione71 an extreme fire springs up from thence 7within them71 a fire similar to that of ,hell40 ,we have here an application and continuation of the transcendental imagery1 so that the impediment is outside or on the surface of the soul1 and ,god is outside and above this again3 but the whole picture here1 at least as regards the fire1 is obscure and tentative4#bha ,or the soul is still conceived as in movement1 but the motion is downwards from its own surface to its own centre1 a centre where resides its ,peace1 ,god ,himself4 8,when a soul approaches more and more to that state of original purity and innocence in which it had been created1 the instinct of ,god1 bringing happiness in its train 7istinto beatifico71 reveals itself and increases on and on1 with such an impetuousness of fire that any obstacle seems intolerable40#bhb ,here we have the immanental picturing1 the soul moving down1 under the influence of its instinct for ,god1 to ever fuller masses of this instinct present within the soul's own centre4 ,but the extreme abstractness and confusion of the language1 which mixes up motion1 different depths of the soul1 and various dispositions of spirit1 and which represents the soul as capable of approaching a state which has ceased to exist1 cast doubts on the authenticity of this passage4 ,in both these sets where the soul is in motion1 we hear only of an impediment in general and without further description2 and1 in both cases1 the fire springs up because of this impediment1 whereas1 as we shall see1 in the self-consistent form of her teaching the ,fire1 ,god1 is always present3 the impediment simply renders this ,fire painful1 and that is all4 ,and next we can take the soul as spacially stationary1 and as in process of qualitative change4 ,here we get clear and detailed pictures1 both of what is given to the soul and of what is taken away from it4 ,the images of the positive gain constitute the beautiful sixth chapter of the ,trattato4 ,but its present elaborate text requires to be broken up into three or four variants of one and the same simile1 which are probably all authentic4 ,i give them separately4 8,if in the whole world there existed but one loaf of bread to satisfy the hunger of every creature3 in such a case1 if the creature had not that one bread1 it could not satisfy its hunger1 and hence it would remain in intolerable pain40#bhc ,note how1 so far1 the nature of the possession of the bread is not specified1 it is simply 8had02 and how the pain seems to remain stationary4 8,man having by nature an instinct to eat3 if he does not eat1 his hunger increases continually1 since his instinct to eat never fails him40#bhd ,here all is clearer3 man now takes the place of the creature in general2 the possession is specified as an eating2 the pain is a hunger2 and this hunger is an ever-increasing one4 8,if in all the world there were but one loaf of bread1 and if only through seeing it could the creature be satisfied3 the nearer that creature were to approach it 7without seeing it and yet knowing that only the said bread could satisfy it71 the more ardently would its natural desire for the bread be aroused within it 7si accenderebbe71--that bread in which all its contentment is centred 7consiste740#bhe ,here the image for the nature of the appropriation has been shifted from the least noble of the senses1 taste and touch1 to the noblest1 sight3 there is still a longing1 but it is a longing to see1 to exercise and satiate fully the intellectual faculties4 ,and yet the satiety is evidently conceived not as extending to these faculties alone1 but as including the whole soul and spirit1 since bread would otherwise cease to be the symbol here1 and would have been replaced by light4 ,note too the subtle complication introduced by the presentation1 in addition to the idea of an increase of hunger owing to lapse of time1 of the suggestion that the increase is caused by a change in the spacial relations between the hungering creature and its food1 and by an ever-increasing approach of that creature to this food4 8,and if the soul were certain of never seeing the bread1 at that moment it would have within it a perfect ,hell1 and become like the damned1 who are cut off from all hope of ever seeing ,god1 the true ,bread4 ,the souls in ,purgatory1 on the other hand1 hope to see that ,bread1 and to satiate themselves to the full therewith2 whence they suffer hunger as great as will be the degree to which they will 7eventually7 satiate themselves with the true ,bread1 ,god1 our ,love40#bhf ,here it is noticeable how the specific troubles of ,hell and ,purgatory are directly described1 whereas the corresponding joys of ,heaven are only incidentally indicated2 and how the full sight is not preceded by a partial sight1 but simply by a longing for this full sight1 so that1 if we were to press the application of this image1 the soul in ,purgatory would not see ,god at all4 ,and yet1 as we have seen above1 souls there see1 though not their particular sins1 yet their general sinful habits2 for what are the 8impediment10 the 8imperfection10 the 8stain10 which they go on feeling and seeing1 but these habits8 ,and they see themselves1 though not in themselves1 yet in ,god4 ,but1 if so1 do they not see ,god8 ,the answer will doubtless be that1 just as they do not see their sins any more in their specific particularity1 but only feel in themselves a dull1 dead remainder of opposition and imperfection1 so also they do not1 after the initial moment of action and till quite the end of their suffering1 see ,god clearly1--as clearly as they do when the process is at an end4 ,during one instant at death they had seen 7as in a picture7 their sins and ,god1 each in their own utterly contrasted concrete particularity2 and this had been the specific cause of their piercing pain and swift plunge4 ,and then came the period of comparative dimness and dulness1 a sort of general subconsciousness1 when their habits of sin1 and ,god1 were felt rather than seen1 the former as it were in front of the latter1 but both more vaguely1 and yet 7and this was the unspeakable alleviation7 now in a state of change and transformation4 ,for the former1 the blots and blurrs1 and the sense of contrariety are fading gradually out of the outlook and consciousness2 and the latter1 the light and life1 the joy and harmony of the soul1 and ,god1 are looming clearer1 nearer1 and larger1 on and on4 ,and even this initial feeling1 this general perception1 this semi-sight and growing sight of ,god1 is blissful beyond expression2 for 8every little glimpse that can be gained of ,god exceeds every pain and every joy that man can conceive without it40#bhg ,the imagery illustrative of what is taken from the soul1 and how it is taken1 is two-fold1 and follows in the one case a more transcendental1 in the other case a more immanental1 conception1 although in each case ,god is represented as in motion1 and the soul as abiding in the same place and simply changing its qualitative condition under the influence of that increasing approach of ,god and penetration by ,him4 ,the illustration for the more transcendental view is taken from the sun's light and fire's heat and a covering4 ,it is1 as a matter of fact1 made up of three sayings3 one more vague and subtle1 and two more clear and vivid1 sayings4 8,the joy of a soul in ,purgatory goes on increasing day by day1 owing to the inflowing of ,god into the soul1 an inflowing which increases in proportion as it consumes the impediment to its own inflowing40--,god's action upon the imperfect soul is as the sun's action upon 8a covered object4 ,the object cannot respond to the rays of the sun which beat upon it 7reverberazione del sole71 not because the sun ceases to shine1--for it shines without intermission1--but because the covering intervenes 7opposizione74 ,let the covering be consumed away1 and again the object will be exposed to the sun and will answer to the rays in proportion as the work of destruction advances40--,now 8,sin is the covering of the soul2 and in ,purgatory this covering is gradually consumed by the fire2 and the more it is consumed1 the more does the soul correspond and discover itself to the divine ray4 ,and thus the one 7the ray7 increases1 and the other 7the sin7 decreases1 till the time 7necessary for the completion of the process7 is over40#bhh ,it is clear that we have here three parallel passages1 each with its own characteristic image1 all illustrative of an identical doctrine3 namely1 the persistent sameness of ,god's action1 viewed in itself1 and of the soul's reaction1 in its essential1 central laws1 needs1 and aspirations2 and the accidental1 superficial1 intrinsically abnormal1 inhibitory modification effected by sin in that action of ,god and in the corresponding reaction of the soul4--,the first1 dimmer and deeper saying speaks of an inflowing of ,god1 with her usual combination of fire-and-water images4 ,we seem here again to have the ocean of the divine fire1 ,itself pressing in upon the soul within ,it1 yet here with pain and oppression1 in so far as the soul resists or is unassimilated to ,it2 and with peace and sustaining power1 in so far as the soul opens out to1 and is or becomes similar to1 ,it4 ,we hear only of an 8impediment0 in general1 perhaps because the influx which beats against it is imaged as taking place from every side at once4--,the second saying1 the most vivid of the three1 speaks of sun-light1 and of how1 whilst this sun-light itself remains one and the same1 its effect differs upon one and the same object1 according as that object is covered or uncovered4 ,here we get a 8covering10 since the shining is naturally imaged as coming from one side1 from above1 only4 ,but here also it is the same sun which1 at one time1 does not profit1 and1 at another time1 gives a renewed life to one and the same object2 and it is clear1 that either ,catherine here abstracts altogether from the question as to what consumes the covering1 or that she assumes that this consumption is effected by the sun itself4--,the third saying is the least simple1 and is indeed somewhat suspicious in its actual form4 ,yet here again we have certainly only one agent1 in this case fire1 which again1 as in the case of the influx and of the sun-light1 remains identical in itself1 but varies in its effects1 according as it does or does not meet with an obstacle4 ,the ray here is a ray primarily of heat and not of light1 but which is felt by the soul at first as painful1 destructive flame1 and at last as peaceful1 life-giving warmth4 ,now1 amongst these three parallel sayings1 it is that concerning the inflowing1 which leads us gently on to the more immanental imagery--that of fire and dross4 ,and this image is again given us in a number of closely parallel variants which now constitute one formally consecutive paragraph1--the third of ,chapter ,x of the ,trattato4 8,gold1 when once it has been 7fully7 purified1 can be no further consumed by the action of fire1 however great it be2 since fire does not1 strictly speaking1 consume gold1 but only the dross which the gold may chance to contain4 ,so also with regard to the soul4 ,god holds it so long in the furnace1 until every imperfection is consumed away4 ,and when it is 7thus7 purified1 it becomes impassible2 so that if1 thus purified1 it were to be kept in the fire1 it would feel no pain2 rather would such a fire be to it a fire of ,divine ,love1 burning on without opposition1 like the fire of life eternal40#bhi ,here the imperfection lies no more1 as a covering1 on the surface1 nor does the purifying light or fire simply destroy that covering and then affect the bare surface2 but the imperfection is mixed up with the soul1 throughout the soul's entire depth1 and the purification reaches correspondingly throughout the soul's entire substance4 ,yet1 as with the covering and the covered object1 so here with the dross and the impure gold1 sin is conceived of as a substance alien to that of the soul4 ,and1 so far1 ,god appears distinct from the fire3 ,he applies it1 as does the goldsmith his fire to the gold4 ,but already there is an indication of some mysterious relation between the fire of ,purgatory and that of ,heaven4 ,for if the very point of the description seems1 at first sight1 to be the miraculous character of the reward attached1 more or less arbitrarily1 to the soul's perfect purification1 a character indicated by the fact that now not even fire can further hurt the soul1 yet it remains certain that1 the more perfect the soul1 the more must it perceive and experience all things according to their real and intrinsic nature4 ,another conclusion to the same simile is3 8,even so does the divine fire act upon the soul3 it consumes in the soul every imperfection4 ,and1 when the soul is thus purified1 it abides all in ,god1 without any foreign substance 7alcuna cosa7 within itself40#bij ,here ,god and the fire are clearly one and the same4 ,and the soul does not leave the fire1 nor is any question raised as to what would happen were it to be put back into it2 but the soul remains where it was1 in the ,fire1 and the ,fire remains what it was1 ,god4 ,only the foreign substance has been burnt out of the soul1 and hence the same ,fire that pained it then1 delights it now4 ,here too1 however1 ,god and the soul are two different substances2 and indeed this ,fire-and-,gold simile1 strictly speaking1 excludes any identification of them4 8,the soul1 when purified1 abides entirely in ,god2 its being is ,god40#bia ,here we have the teaching as to the identity of her true self with ,god1 which we have already found further back4 ,but the soul's purification and union with ,god which there we found illustrated by the simile1 so appropriate to this teaching1 of the absorption of food into the living body1 we find indicated here by the much less apt comparison of the transformation of gold by fire4 ,for in this latter case1 the gold remains a substance distinct from the fire1 whereas the doctrine requires a simile such as a great pure fire expelling all impurity from a small1 impure fire1 and then itself continuing to live on1 with this small fire absorbed into itself4 ,but we shall see later on1 why1 besides the intrinsic difficulty of finding an at all appropriate simile for so metaphysical a doctrine1 the imagery always becomes so ambiguous at this point4 ,we shall show that a confluence of antagonistic doctrines1 and some consequent hesitation in the very teaching itself1 contribute to keep the images in this uncertain state4 ,however1 the possibly glossorial importation of this most authentic teaching of hers into this place and simile only helps to confirm the identity of the ,fire with ,god1 and the non-moving of the soul1 throughout this group of texts4 ,for the gold abides in the fire1 as the soul abides in ,god2 and the identification which is thus established of the painful with the joyous fire1 and of both with ,god1 is what will have suggested the introduction in this place of the further identification of the soul with ,god4 ,and it is the continued abiding of the identical soul1 a soul which has not moved spacially but has changed qualitatively1 in the identical fire1 ,god1 which has helped to suggest the insertion in this place of the doctrine that the soul1 in its true essence1 is identical with ,god4 ,god1 in this final identification1 would be the gold1 the pure gold of the soul2 and this pure gold itself would generate a fire for the consumption of all impurity1 in proportion as such impurity gained ground within it4 ,and1 in proportion as this consumption takes place1 does the fire sink1 and leave nothing but the pure gold1 the fire's cause1 essence1 and end4 ,in any case1 we have here one more most authentic and emphatic enforcement of the teaching that the place of ,purgatory is really a state2 that its painfulness is intrinsic2 and that it is caused by the partial discord between spirit and ,spirit1 and is ended by the final complete concord between both4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,catherine',s ,,remains ,,and ,,cultus2 ,,the ,,fate ,,of ,,her ,,two ,,priest ,,friends ,,and ,,of ,,her ,,domestics2 ,,and ,,the ,,remaining ,,history ,,of ,,ettore ,,vernazza ,,introductory4 ,i now propose to attempt1 in these last two biographical chapters1 to give1 first1 an account of the fate of ,catherine's remains and possessions2 and1 next1 of the vicissitudes in the lives of her companions and immediate disciples4 ,i shall thus range from the day of her death on ,sunday1 ,september #ae1 #aeaj1 up to #aeea1 the year of the publication of the ,vita e ,dottrina2 indeed1 in the instance of one particular disciple1 up to #aehg4 ,and ,i shall do so1 partly as a further contribution to the knowledge of her own character and even of her doctrine1 this finest expression of what she spiritually was1 and of her influence upon her immediate little world2 and partly in preparation for the study of the influence of this entourage back upon the apprehension and presentation of her figure1 upon the growth of her 8,legend10 and upon the contemporary and gradual1 simultaneous and successive1 upbuilding of that complex structure1 her 8,life40 ,this latter inquiry is probably too technical to interest the majority of readers1 and will be found relegated to the ,appendix at the end of this volume4 ,i shall group all the facts1 alluded to above1 under five heads3 her burial1 and the events immediately surrounding it2 the different removals of the remains1 and the chief stages of her ,official ,cultus2 the fate of her two priest friends and advisers1 and of her domestics2 the remaining history of her closest friend ,ettore ,vernazza2 and finally the long career1 rich in autobiographical annotations1 of ,ettore's daughter1 ,catherine's ,god-child1 ,tommasina 7,battista7 ,vernazza4 ,we shall thus first finish up what is predominantly the story of things1 and of the more external1 even although the most splendid and authoritative1 appreciation and authentication of her holiness2 and shall only then go back to what is 7almost exclusively7 an interior history of souls1 and one which will materially contribute to our apprehension of ,catherine's special character and influence and to a vivid perception of the advantages1 strength1 limits1 and difficulties of that particular kind of religion and of its attestation and transmission4 ,ettore's and ,battista's stories1 however1 are so full that ,i must give three entire sections to ,ettore1 and one whole chapter to ,battista4 ,i4 ,,the ,,burial ,,and ,,the ,,events ,,immediately ,,surrounding ,,it4 ,,september #ae ,,to ,,december #aj1 #aeaj4 #a4 ,the ,burial1 ,september #af4 ,we have seen how1 in the evening of ,thursday1 ,september #ab1 the already dying ,catherine had1 in a ,codicil1 declared that she desired to be buried wheresoever the priests ,jacobo ,carenzio and ,cattaneo ,marabotto should decide4 ,she died in the early morning of ,sunday1 the #aeth2 and already on the next day1 with the rapidity which1 in such matters1 continues characteristic of southern countries1 the burial took place4 ,first1 ,dons ,jacobo ,carenzio and ,cattaneo ,marabotto declared1 in a written document1 that 8knowing the late ,donna ,caterinetta to have ordained that her body should be buried in such a place as they themselves might ordain3 they1 in consequence1 willed and ordained that her said body be buried in the ,church of the ,hospital40#bib ,and next1 the funeral took place with a certain amount of pomp3 for authentic copies are still extant of the expenses incurred1--among other things for wax candles1 including three white-wax flambeaux1 amounting in all to over one hundred pounds weight of wax4#bic ,the evidently highly emaciated1 and hence naturally flexible1 body had been enclosed in a 8fine coffin of wood10 and was now1 at this first deposition1 put in 8a resting-place 7deposito7 against one of the walls0 of the ,church4 ,there can be no doubt that this first resting-place was not the monument of her husband ,giuliano1 although the latter was still visible and readily accessible for a considerable time after1--certainly up to #aebb1 and probably down to #aecg4bid #b4 ,catherine's possessions at the time of her death4 ,and next1 on ,tuesday the #agth1 an ,inventory was drawn up of the things possessed by ,catherine at the moment of her death1 for the use of the ,hospital 8,protectors10 the ,trustees and ,executors of her ,will4 ,an authentic copy of it is still extant1 and furnishes first-hand evidence for the presence1 up to the very last1 and amongst the tangible objects and small possessions in daily use1 of memorials and expressions of the three great stages of her life1 and of the 7in part successive and past1 in part simultaneous and still present7 layers1 or as it were concentric rings1 of her character4 ,we thus get a vivid presentation of that variety in unity and unity in variety1 which is of the very essence of the fully living soul2 and we also see how incapable of being otherwise than caricatured1 if expressed in but a few hyperbolic words1 was even her spirit of poverty and of mortification1 in this her last stage1 which1 in some sense and degree1 still retained and summed up1 and in other ways added a special touch of a large freedom to1 all the various previous stages of her life4 ,the list gives the things according to the rooms in which they stood1 beginning with her own death-room1 and1 here1 with her own bed4 ,in this 8the room0 7camera7 there are 8a down coverlet0 and 8two large mattresses02 8three0 7other7 8coverlets1 one of vermilion silk0 and 8two of0 some simpler 8white0 material2 8two blankets1 one vermilion1 the other white02 8five-and-a-half pairs of sheets02 and 8a pillow03 all this for ,catherine's bed4 ,and these clothes1 together with those of the bed of the 8famiglia0 7the maid ,argentina71 constitute1 together with the two bedsteads1 absolutely all the chattels present in this 8bedroom0 7camera74 8,in the0 adjoining 8room with the blue wall-hangings and the0 intervening 8curtain10 there were3 8three stuff gowns1 one black and the other ,franciscan-colour10 i4e4 grey2 8two silk gowns02 8two jackets1 one0 of which was again 8of grey stuff1 without a lining02 seven other garments1 8one being of black silk02 a very small amount of body-linen2 8three table-cloths and twenty-one towels02 8two silver cups and saucers0 and 8six silver spoons02 8eight pewter candlesticks02 8one casserole02 8four wooden basins02 8a kettle02 and a few other poor odds-and-ends1 for kitchen and sick-room use2 and a three-legged table and one or two other articles of simple furniture4 ,and finally 8a closet0 7recamera7 is mentioned1 with a press in it4 ,it is noticeable that here1 again1 no printed book or manuscript of any kind is mentioned3 but it is clear that she herself had1 some time after her ,will of ,march #ah1 #aeji1 given away her dearly prized 8,maest0-triptych to ,christoforo di ,chiavaro1 for this picture nowhere occurs in this list2 and something of the same kind may have occurred with one or two books4 ,but if we group these things somewhat differently1 we at once get a vivid conception of the precise1 and hence complex1 sense in which she can be said to have died very poor2 and we get clear indications of the three stages of her life4 ,for the silver service is a survival from her pre-conversion1 worldly-wealthy days2 the pewter candlesticks1 and the rough1 sparse furniture1 belong to her directly penitential first-conversion period and mood2 and the soft1 warm1 gay-coloured coverlets and apparel of rich material are no doubt predominantly characteristic of her last years when1 largely under ,don ,marabotto's wise advice1 she allowed herself a greater freedom in matters of external mortification1 and readily accepted bodily attentions and comforts1 reserving now the fulness of her attention to matters of interior disposition and purification4 ,she thus attained1 by means of and after all those previous forms of mortification1 to a perfected1 evangelical liberty1 in which the death to self was1 if somewhat different1 yet even more penetrative than before4 ,in the evening of this day1 the ,protectors of the ,hospital formally renew their acceptance of the office of ,trustees and ,executors1 imposed on them by ,catherine's ,will of ,march #ah of the previous year4#bie #c4 ,distribution of ,catherine's chattels4 ,and thirdly1 there are the various sellings1 re-sellings1 and distributions of her humble little collection of things1 which take place with the slow multiplicity of steps1 dear to all corporations4 ,workmen get paid1 on ,november #bb1 for carrying her property on to the market-place1 for the sale4 ,on the same day ,argentina receives 8such things left to her in ,catherine's ,will as ,catherine had not herself already given to her maid40 ,and1 on ,december #aj1 the remainder of that property1 which had evidently been bought in by the ,hospital on that ,november day1 is finally re-valued1 bought1 and divided up by and between the ,protectors1 who take most of the large furniture2 ,marabotto1 who buys ten things 7a pair of fire-irons1 a wardrobe1 and a gilt article amongst them72 her brother ,lorenzo1 who acquires four things 7amongst them 8a woman's work-box8--capsetina a domina072 and the ,rector1 ,don ,carenzio1 who becomes possessed of the down coverlet and of a piece of vermilion cloth4#bif ,here the absence of all buying by or for ,vernazza or a representative of his is noticeable4 ,he was evidently still far away1 busy in putting his and his dead ,saint-friend's large ideas into practice2 and his three daughters1 the eldest of whom was but thirteen1 were being brought up in two ,convents4 ,the fate of ,catherine's little house is too closely bound up with that of one of her friends for its history to be easily severable from his4 ,it stands over to the third section4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,different ,,removals ,,of ,,the ,,remains1 ,,and ,,the ,,chief ,,stages ,,of ,,her ,,official ,,cultus4 #a4 ,opening of the 8,deposito40 ,successive 8translations40 ,catherine's remains were left 8for about eighteen months0 in their first resting-place1 7deposito7 by one of the walls of the 8,hospital ,church40 ,but then 8it was found that the spot was damp1 owing to a conduit of water running under the wall4 ,and the resting-place was broken up1 and the coffin was opened3 and the holy body was found entire from head to foot1 without any kind of lesion40 8,and so great a concourse of people took place1 to see the body1 that the remains were left exposed indeed for eight days2 but1 owing to a part of them having been abstracted10 apparently at the opening of the coffin1 8they were exhibited shut off 7from the crowd7 in a side-chapel1 where they could be seen but not touched40 8,and after this1 the remains were deposited high up1 in a sepulchre of marble1 in the ,church of the ,hospital40#big ,the interest of this removal consists in three sets of facts1 the last set being of capital importance among the determining causes of her cultus and eventual canonization4 ,for one thing1 we still have the accounts of the expenses incurred in connection with it1 the ,hospital repaying1 to two ladies 7one of them ,donna ,franchetta1 the wife of ,giuliano's cousin ,agostino ,adorno7 and to ,don ,marabotto1 the sums expended by them upon this translation and sepulchre3 ,marabotto's expenses being in part for 8causing the stone for the sepulchre to be brought40 ,these accounts are put down in the ,hospital ,cartulary under ,july #aj1 nearly twenty-two months after the first deposition2 but the expenses may well have been incurred by those three friends1 three or four months before4 ,we thus find two ladies 7a relative and a friend71 and ,don ,marabotto1 to the fore2 but no mention of ,carenzio1 although the latter was at the time1 as we shall see1 still ,rector of the ,hospital and living in ,catherine's little house there4 ,and secondly1 it is on this occasion that mention is made of the picture which ,i have more or less identified with the portrait reproduced in this volume4 ,there are two highly ambiguous entries concerning it4 8,to account of the ,sepulture of the late ,donna ,caterinetta ,adorna1 for divers expenses incurred by ,don ,cattaneo ,marabotto3 to wit1 for a picture1 and for causing the stone for the sepulture to be brought1 #g #ajs402 8the ,maintenance ,committee 7fabrica7 of the ,hospital1 for a picture erected in the ,church of the ,hospital1 above the ,altar3 to the credit of ,don ,cattaneo ,marabotto1 #i #gs40#bih ,now ,i take it that only one interpretation is at all a probable one1 viz4 that both these entries1 in the comfortably slipshod way in which most of these accounts were kept1 refer somehow to one and the same picture2 and that this picture was a portrait of ,catherine4 ,for it is certain that the second account refers in some way to ,catherine and to this first transference of her remains2 it is highly unlikely that two pictures of herself would be produced and paid for1 on one and the same occasion2 and it is most improbable that ,marabotto would care1 on occasion of all this popular enthusiasm for his deceased friend and penitent1 to spend money on a picture representative of some figure other than her own4 ,the reader will note that the portrait which ,i thus connect with this picture has not1 as yet1 got any nimbus1 an absence hardly possible in any much later picture4#bii ,and ,i take it that the picture was placed above an altar1 possibly even the ,altar 7the ,high ,altar7 of the ,church1 not only because that was the most honorific place1 but also a little because the sepulchre had been placed too high up for the relatively small picture to be sufficiently visible if attached to the monument itself4 ,and thirdly1 we have here1 in this week-long public veneration of the remains1 and in this erection of her picture over one of the ,church ,altars1 the first unmistakable beginnings of a popular cultus4 ,for the evidences and expressions of devotion to her1 which ,i have recorded at the time of her death1 were all restricted to the circle of her personal friends1 and her first deposition remained1 apparently1 free from any popular concourse or commotion4 ,the series of cures attributed to her intercession does not begin till this opening of the deposito4 ,certainly the first1 and possibly the first four1 of these cases1 as given by ,padre ,maineri 7#agcg71 occurred in connection with this first opening4#cjj ,and it is certain that1 if the 7greater or lesser7 incorruption of the body was possibly nothing even physically so very remarkable1 given all the circumstances2#cja and if this fact left the question of her sanctity intrinsically entirely where it found the matter3 yet the incorruption it was that gave the first1 and1 as it turned out1 an abiding impulse to the popular devotion4 ,indeed1 as we shall see later on1 it is highly improbable that1 but for this condition of the body1 a cultus would ever have arisen sufficiently popular and permanent to lead on to her ,beatification and ,canonization4 ,but as things now stood1 the movement had been set going1 and it continued on and on4 ,the remaining translations were3 a second one1 into 8an honourable sepulchre lower down10 still before #aeea1 and already mentioned in the first edition of the ,vita of that year2 a third1 in #aeic1 when the remains were placed in their present position1 but in a marble monument1 up in the choir1 above the ,church entrance2 and a fourth and fifth1 in #afdb and #afid1 when the body was placed1 for the first and second time1 in shrines having glass sides1 so that the relics could be seen3 that of #afid is the one in which the remains still repose4 ,and in #agji1 ,cardinal ,lorenzo ,fiesco being ,archbishop of ,genoa1 the body was reclothed1 on ,june #ac1 by ladies1 amongst whom was a ,maria ,b4 ,fiesca4#cjb ,we thus see how unbroken was1 in this case1 the authentication of the remains1 and how fresh remained1 most naturally1 the interest taken in their cultus by ,catherine's most powerful family4 #b4 ,motives operating for ,catherine's ,canonization4 ,it is indeed clear that ,catherine's greatness1--what made her a large1 rich mind and saintly spirit1--is one thing2 and that ,catherine's popularity1--what occasioned the official recognition of that greatness1--is another thing4 ,her mind and teaching1 her character and special grace and attrait1 were of rare width and penetration2 in part1 they were strikingly original through just this their depth of psychological and spiritual self-consistency and closeness of touch with the soul's actual life4 ,and these points had profoundly impressed a very small group of friends4 ,and again1 her work among the poor and sick had been long1 varied1 and utterly devoted4 ,and here she had been widely appreciated4 ,yet these1 the two lives which1 between them1 constituted all her sanctity and significance1 had1 the former nothing1 and the latter but little and only mediately1 to do with the forces which led on eventually to her formal canonization4 ,the motives for putting ,rome in motion for this her canonization were1 no doubt1 predominantly three4 ,there was the popular devotion1 which apparently was first aroused1 and was then instantly turned into a downright cultus1 by the discovery1 in ,may or ,june #aeab1 of the incorruption of her remains2 and which from thenceforward continued and grew1 in connection with these relics and with the physical cures and ameliorations attributed to the touch of the dead body1 or of its integuments1 or even of the oil of the lamp which evidently soon 7presumably on occasion of that first outburst of devotion7 was kept lit before ,catherine's resting-place4#cjc ,there was next the gratitude of the ,hospital authorities to ,catherine for her life-work amongst them2 and their most natural and laudable wish to utilize her sanctity and its recognition for the benefit of the ever-continuous and pressing necessities of their vast institution and its ,church4 ,and finally1 there was the feeling of clanship and the active interest taken in the matter by the 7all but regal7 family of the ,fieschi1 backed1 as they were1 by the ,republic of ,genoa and various other sovereign bodies and persons4 ,the combination of these three things proved sufficiently powerful to take the place of certain ordinary incentives which were wanting1 and even to overcome certain unusual difficulties which were undoubtedly present1 in the case4 ,certain incentives were lacking4 ,for there was1 in this instance1 no ,religious ,order to put forward and to work1 with all the continuous1 unresting1 unhasting momentum of an institution1 for a saintly subject of its own1 a subject whose glorification would bring honour and profit to the body from which she sprang1 and an accession of popularity to the special object and work of that ,order4 ,and certain obstacles were present4 ,for few characters1 interior ideals and explicit teachings1 could be found more sui generis1 more profoundly1 even daringly original and all re-constitutive1 and less immediately understandable and copyable1 than are these of ,catherine4 ,but the enthusiasm and self-interest of the populace1 of a charitable institution1 and of a powerful family1 replaced what was thus lacking and overcame what was thus operative2 and the directly visible and universally understandable part of her life and example1 was allowed to outweigh any objection that could be urged on the ground of the less obvious and more difficult1 far more original and profound1 sides of her special personality and piety4 ,and a matter which further helped on the canonization was that when ,pope ,urban ,,viii1 in #afbe1 published his ,bull forbidding thenceforth1 under grave penalties1 that any one1 8even though he have died with the reputation of extraordinary ,christian perfection1 be called #8,blessed' or #8,saint1' until he has first been declared to be such1 and to merit religious worship1 by the ,holy ,roman ,see02 and ordaining that the same rule should be practised concerning persons already deceased1 who were currently recognized as saints3 he excepted1 with regard to this second class1 those who1 8during an immemorial course of time0 previous to the publication of this ,bull1 had been venerated as saints by the people1 without opposition or complaint on the part of the ,church authorities4 ,for this 8time immemorial0 was considered by theologians to amount1 as a minimum1 to a hundred years4 ,and since religious worship had begun to be paid to her certainly not later than #aeab1 and the title 8,beata0 had already then been publicly given to her1 ,catherine continued1 even after ,pope ,urban's ,bull1 to be invoked and venerated as 8,blessed10 with the knowledge1 though without any positive and express approbation1 of the ,roman ,church4#cjd #c4 ,canonization1 #agcg4 ,but the devotees of ,catherine1 naturally enough1 were not content with less than a formal approbation1 and1 as usual1 the obtaining of the latter was a very long and elaborate affair4 ,at the beginning of #afcj a petition was sent in to ,cardinal ,cesarini in ,rome2 who1 after much examination1 gave his opinion on ,may #bd1 #afcf4 ,there the matter again rested for twenty-four years4--,but in #afgj the very active and able ,florentine1 ,cardinal ,azzolini1 7the same whose interesting correspondence with that undisciplined and wayward1 but thoroughly sincere and much-maligned woman1 ,queen ,christina of ,sweden1 has been recently published17 became the 8,ponente10 the ,advocate1 for the cause4#cje ,the ,cardinal wrote in #afgb to ,archbishop ,spinola of ,genoa for his opinion2 and the latter1 after much further examination1 declared that the cultus of ,catherine1 having existed for over a century before ,pope ,urban's ,bull1 she ought1 in accordance with the tenor of that ,bull1 to be maintained in possession of that same cultus4 ,the ,congregation of ,rites approved of this sentence on ,march #cj1 #afge1 and ,clement ,x1 the now eighty-five years old ,altieri ,pope1 gave it his assent4 ,thus ,catherine had a full official recognition as 8,beata40 ,next came the examination of her doctrine and 8writings10 from #afgf onwards1 culminating in their approbation1 for purposes of ,canonization1 by ,pope ,innocent ,,xi 7,odescalchi7 in #afhc4 ,it is this investigation which1 with some of the discussions concerning her virtues1 adds considerably to our materials and means for judging of her teaching4 ,i have already touched on these discussions2 and they will occupy us again in the second volume4 ,and then1 in #afhb1 ,cardinal ,azzolini1 supported by ,king ,louis ,,xiv of ,france and the ,king of ,spain1 again presses ,rome1--this time with a view to reaching ,canonization4 ,and on ,cardinal ,azzolini dying1 ,cardinal ,imperiali became second 8,ponente0 of the cause4 ,in #afij the ,city of ,genoa obtained leave from the ,congregation of ,rites for the recitation of the ,office and for the ,celebration of the ,mass of the ,common of ,widows1 in honour of ,blessed ,catherine2 in #agcc an ,office and a ,mass proper to herself were approved2 and in #agcd her eulogy was inserted in the ,roman ,martyrology1 under date of ,march #bb 7her conversion-day73 8,at ,genoa1 the ,blessed ,catherine1 widow1 distinguished by her contempt of the world and love of ,god40 ,but meanwhile the long process as to the heroic degree of her virtues had issued in the ,report of the ,commission in #agaf2 and in the affirmative decree of the ,congregation of ,rites1 confirmed by ,clement ,,xii 7,corsini7 in #agcc4 ,and1 before the conclusion of this investigation of her virtues1 the examination of the miracles ascribed to her intercession had been begun in ,genoa in #agcj1 by a deputation consisting of the ,archbishop ,de-,franchi and two ,bishops1 sitting in the ,archiepiscopal ,palace2 and six miracles were1 in #agcf1 approved as valid1 from amongst the numerous cases alleged to have occurred in #agcj4 ,and then three from amongst these six miracles were finally approved by ,rome1 on ,april #e1 #agcg1 as efficient towards ,canonization4 ,and at last1 on ,april #cj of the same year1 ,feast of ,st4 ,catherine of ,siena1 ,pope ,clement1 8in order that the faithful of ,christ may1 in ,blessed ,catherine1 have a perfect example of all the virtues1 and especially of the love of ,god and of their neighbour2 and that a new honour and ornament may shine forth for the ,republic of ,genoa2 orders the present ,decree for the ,canonization of the said ,blessed ,catherine1--a ,canonization which has still to be carried out1--to be expedited and published40--,and on ,may #ah following1 on the ,feast of the ,holy ,trinity1 the same ,pope performed1 in the ,basilica of ,st4 ,john ,lateran1 the function of the ,canonization of ,blessed ,catherine1 together with that of three other ,beati3 the two ,frenchmen1 ,vincent de ,paul1 ,founder of the ,congregation of the ,mission 7the ,lazarists7 7#aegf-affj71 and ,jean ,franois ,regis1 a ,jesuit ,mission-,preacher in the ,huguenot parts of ,france 7#aeig-afdj72 and the ,italian ,giuliana ,falconieri1 ,foundress of the ,third ,order of ,servites 7#abgj-acda74cjf ,it was now1 on this canonization-day1 over two hundred and sixteen years since ,catherine ,fiesca ,adorna1 that keen and ardent spirit1 had flown to ,god1 her ,love4 ,we must return to those earlier times4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,fate ,,of ,,catherine',s ,,priest ,,friends4 ,introductory4 ,in thus reverting to the period which immediately succeeded ,catherine's death1 and to the predominantly obscure and humble persons who had directly known her well1 we bid adieu1 indeed1 to things massive1 fixed1 and final3 yet we exchange the description of what1 after all1 was but an authoritative declaration of accomplished facts1 for the study of that alone directly soul-stirring thing1 the picture and drama of living1 energizing human souls2 of how these souls were being influenced by a greater one than themselves2 and again of how these1 thus influenced1 lesser minds and hearts transmitted1 developed1 and coloured the tradition of the life to which they owed so much4 ,now the effect1 or at least the record of the effect1 of the conception of ,catherine formed by her two ,priest friends and by her domestics back upon her transmitted image and upon the growth of her ,legend1 is1 apart from the indications in the ,vita already given or still to be considered1 upon the whole1 but slight4 ,still1 as we shall eventually find1 the few facts as to the subsequent lives of these persons1 which shall now be given1 are of very distinct use in appraising their respective shares in the gradual constitution of the ,vita e ,dottrina4 #a4 ,don ,carenzio1 #aeaj-aeac4 ,i take ,don ,jacopo ,carenzio first1 since he was the ,priest in actual attendance upon ,catherine at the last1 and because he now1 no doubt immediately after the funeral or at latest on the day of the removal of her chattels to the market-place1 became possessed1 as we shall see1 of ,catherine's little house4 ,he was thus the one who alone could continue and augment a cultus as strictly local as even ,argentina's had been1 during those weeks1 perhaps months1 of sole night-charge of her dying mistress in these very rooms4 ,the identification of the building is complete4 ,for as far back as ,october #f1 #adig1 not long after ,giuliano's death1--he was still alive on ,july #ad1--the ,protectors of the ,hospital referred to their 8grant to ,catherine1 during her lifetime1 of the enjoyment and use of a house with a greenhouse1 forming part of the ,hospital40 ,and in this greenhouse she1 on the evening of ,sunday1 ,march #ah1 #aeji1 had1 in the presence of ,vernazza and four other witnesses1 dictated her ,fourth ,will to ,battista ,strata4 ,it was1 then1 of a size sufficient to render it worth mentioning1 and it was evidently closed in4 ,now there is a legal instrument1 dated ,saturday1 ,august1 #cj1 #aeaa1 drawn up at a meeting held by the four 8,protectors10 8in the chief 7sitting-7 room of the ,residence of the ,rector1 in which the late ,donna ,caterinetta was wont to live40 ,and in this they declare that1 8seeing that the ,reverend ,don ,jacopo ,carenzio1 the ,rector1 is about to go to his home at ,diano1 for the purpose of carrying out a matter of the greatest importance to himself1 and is shortly to return from thence1 and that he wishes to persevere throughout his life in the said office of ,rector2 and since they desire that he should willingly hasten his return1 and should be able to persevere with full confidence1 and should not1 as long as he lives1 be moved from this room together with the whole building contiguous with it1 to the room which1 with its appurtenant building1 is at present in the course of erection as the official residence of the ,rector2 they have altogether conceded to the above-named ,reverend ,jacopo1 ,rector1 present and accepting1 the said room together with the whole building belonging to this room1 for him to hold and inhabit throughout his life1 together with the greenhouse40#cjg ,here three points are of interest4 ,don ,carenzio is1 then1 a native of the little ,diano ,castello on the ,western ,riviera hillside1 some fifty ,english miles from ,genoa and some twenty short of ,san ,remo2 and must have belonged to some humble family in that insignificant little place4 ,his origin is thus in marked contrast to ,marabotto's1 and still more to ,vernazza's4 ,and next1 it is clear that the house and greenhouse inhabited and used by ,don ,carenzio till his death are identical with those tenanted by ,catherine1 ever since at least the death of ,giuliano4 ,and thirdly1 it is equally clear that this house was in no part identical with the two rooms still shown as the ,saint's4 ,for these latter are high up from the ground2 do not now form1 and probably never formed1 part of a disconnected house2 and they no doubt stand on another site4 ,the little house will have been demolished at latest in #aghj1 when the present great quadrangle was built4#cjh ,now here1 in these rooms full of the memory of ,catherine1 ,don ,carenzio will1 not unreasonably1 have hoped to live during many years4 ,for it is not likely that he was older than1 or indeed as old as1 ,don ,marabotto1 since he was now occupying that same office of ,rector which ,marabotto had held some six years previously4 ,and yet ,marabotto did not die till eighteen years later1 whereas ,carenzio's death came soon4 ,for his funeral took place on ,january #g1 #aeac1 for which day there is an entry in the ,hospital ,cartulary for the cost of twenty-three pounds-weight of wax candles1--less than one-fourth the amount used at ,catherine's obsequies2 and for that of the ,priest's vestments in which the body was robed and buried4#cji ,it seems unlikely that ,carenzio was not buried in the ,hospital ,church1 seeing that he died whilst1 apparently1 still ex-officio ,rector of the ,hospital4 ,but1 if he was interred there1 his monument1 like that of ,giuliano1 was cut off and buried away in and with the ,church end in #aecg1 or was covered up in some restoration2 for there is no trace of it either in the ,church itself or in any book treating of the sepulchral monuments of ,genoa4 ,it is remarkable also that1 though he had been the one priest present at ,catherine's death1 and had tenanted ,catherine's own rooms throughout the two years and two or three months since her death1 and had1 alongside of ,marabotto1 been appointed by ,catherine herself as the person to determine the place of her sepulture3 his name nowhere occurs in connection with the plan for the opening of her deposito some eighteen months after her death2 nor with the execution of that plan2 nor with any of the consequent initiations of a public cultus4 ,it is impossible to doubt that we have here some little counter jealousy and return exclusion1 a sort of answer by ,marabotto to his1 ,marabotto's1 own enforced absence from the death-chamber and his twenty-four hours' ignorance of his ,penitent's death1 which we had to note in its proper place4 ,poor little human frailties which may have appeared less petty and more completely excusable at close quarters than they look at this distance of time6 ,i take it that1 if there was a deliberate exclusion of ,carenzio1 the ceremony of opening the resting-place will have been timed to tally with some absence of the ,rector1--say1 on another visit to his native ,diano4 #b4 ,don ,marabotto1 #aeaj-aebh4 ,as to ,don ,cattaneo ,marabotto1 ,i have not been able to discover much4 ,we have already seen how he bought ten of ,catherine's chattels on ,december #aj1 after her death4 ,on ,july #g1 #aeaa1 he pays over to ,catherine's old servant1 the maid ,maria 7,mariola ,bastarda71 her late mistress's little legacy1 in a form to be described presently4 ,but the most important facts concerning him--apart from his share in the ,vita1 which shall be considered at length hereafter--are the following three4 ,there is1 first1 the fact 7already dwelt upon7 that he1 and apparently he alone1 initiated1 or at least led and directed1 the plan of opening the deposito1 exposing the body1 giving it a marble sarcophagus1 and erecting a picture over an altar in the ,church to ,catherine4 ,and next1 that 8still in #aebc ,argentina del ,sale was his servant10--she had evidently then1 on ,catherine's death in #aeaj1 become his attendant4#caj ,and thirdly1 that he did not die till #aebh4caa ,there seems to be but little doubt that he was1 at least slightly1 ,catherine's junior4 ,yet already on his first intercourse with her1 he1 the ,rector of the ,hospital1 must have been a fully mature man4 ,i suppose him to have been born somewhere about #adej2 in which case he will have been about seventy-eight at the time of his death4 ,in any case1 he lived long enough to see and hear much of a kind to console and strengthen his devotion to ,catherine and his faith in the self-rejuvenating powers of the ,church1 and much of a nature to dismay and alarm the gentle1 peaceable old man4 ,for there were the opening of the coffin2 the incorruption2 the popular concourse and enthusiasm2 the graces and the cures of ,may to ,july #aeab4 ,and there were ,luther's ninety-five ,theses nailed to the ,university ,church of ,wittenberg1 on the ,eve of ,all-,saints1 #aeag2 and ,pope ,leo ,x's condemnation of forty of them in #aebj1 and amongst them three ,theses which concerned the doctrine of ,purgatory1 one of which must have seemed strangely like one of ,catherine's own contentions4 ,and there were the books of ,henry ,,viii of ,england and of ,erasmus against ,luther1 in #aebb1 #aebd1 and in ,italy the foundation of the ,capuchin ,order in #aebg2 there were1 too1 the ,peasants' ,war and ,luther's marriage in ,germany in #aebe1 and1 in #aebg1 the sacking of ,rome by the ,imperial troops4 ,and through all this world-wide1 epoch-making turmoil and conflict we think of him1 probably not simply from our lack of documents1 as leading a quiet1 obscure1 somewhat narrow existence2 yet one redeemed from real insignificance by his silent watchfulness and action1 and still more by his writing1 in honour of his large-souled ,penitent1 ever so sincerely felt by him as indefinitely greater than himself4 ,i do not know where he was buried4 ,it was not1 however1 in the ,hospital ,church2 for in that case there would have been some entry in the books of the expenses incurred in connection with his funeral4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,fate ,,of ,,catherine',s ,,three ,,maid-,,servants4 ,as to ,catherine's three maid-servants the facts that can still be traced are as follow4 #a4 ,benedetta4 ,the widow and ,franciscan ,tertiary ,benedetta ,lombarda1 although her name had continued to appear in the documents from ,giuliano's ,will in #adif down to ,catherine's last will of ,march #aeji1 disappears after this latter date entirely from sight4 ,since both ,mariola and ,argentina reappear in the ,hospital books1 7although ,mariola had1 like ,benedetta1 ceased to serve ,catherine at the last71 it looks as though ,benedetta had died between the ,will of ,march #aeji and ,catherine's death in ,september #aeaj4 ,yet it is possible that ,catherine herself handed over to ,benedetta her little share in the former's money and chattels2 and that ,benedetta is no more mentioned after her mistress's death because1 unlike ,mariola and ,argentina1 she did not continue to live in and belong to the ,hospital1 whose accounts alone are our extant sources of information for the other two servants4 #b4 ,mariola4 ,but as to ,mariola and ,argentina1 and their lives after #aeaj1 we do know something4 ,mariola 7,maria7 ,bastarda had1 on leaving ,catherine's service1 7probably only some weeks1 but possibly some months before her mistress's death71 become one of the servants1 or under-nurses 7filia71 of the ,hospital2 and1 on ,july #g of the following year 7#aeaa7 she was clothed a ,novice in the ,convent of ,bridgettines in ,genoa1 with the money left to her in ,catherine's ,will4#cab ,the latter fact is interesting as showing how purposely vague and ambiguous1 and how little capable of being pressed1 are at least some of the statements of the ,vita1 if taken as they stand and prior to any distinction of documents and of their varying degrees of trustworthiness4 ,for there we read1 after the scene where the evil spirit within the maid declares ,catherine's true surname to be 8,serafina03 8this possessed person 7spiritata7 was endowed with a lofty intelligence1 and lived to the end in virginity40 ,who would readily guess that we have here to do with little ,mariola8 ,the passage is1 ,i think1 in part modelled upon ,acts xxi1 #i3 8,and he0 7,philip the ,evangelist1 one of the seven ,deacons7 8had four daughters virgins1 who did prophesy40 ,even so then did ,catherine1 the teacher1 have 8a spiritual daughter10 a virgin1 who 8prophesied10 divined and announced1 the true character of her mistress4--8,we believe10 continues the ,vita1 8that the ,lord had given her this spirit to keep her humble4 ,she finished her life in a holy manner40 ,who would guess that this meant profession as a ,nun8 ,the point is1 ,i take it1 kept vague in part to make the insertion of the words which follow possible4 8,nor did the evil spirit ever depart from her1 till well-nigh the very end1 when she was about to die40 ,it is evident that this cannot be pressed3 and that either the attacks continued to the end1 but were rare and slight2 or that they were serious and frequent1 but ceased a considerable time before her death4 ,for1 though we do not know when she died1 we have no right to assume1 in evidently still so young a person1 that death came soon4 #c4 ,argentina4 ,and ,argentina appears in several documents4 ,so in an entry of the ,hospital ,cartulary for ,november #bb1 #aeaj1 as to the value of the things then handed over to her in accordance with ,catherine's ,will4 ,so again in three legal documents drawn up for her and in her presence1--a ,will of ,october #aead1 a ,codicil of some later 7unspecified7 date1 and a second ,will of ,january #ae1 #aebb4 ,in the ,codicil she doubles the little sum she had left to the ,hospital in #aead2 and in the last document she declares her wish to be buried 8in the ,church of the ,annunciata1 in the monument 7vault7 of the late ,giuliano ,adorno1 or in such other as may seem good to '''02 and leaves moneys 8for ,masses to be said for her soul1 by two of the ,brethren of the ,monastery of ,san ,nicol in ,boschetto40#cac ,this group of papers is interesting4 ,for we see from it how even an obscure little serving-woman was wont1 in ,italy1 the classic country of ,law and ,lawyers1 and during these claimful1 pushing times1 to have ,wills and ,codicils drawn up for her4 ,we perceive1 too1 how proud and fond ,argentina remained of her former avocation of servant to ,giuliano1 since only he and not his ,saint-wife lay in that vault2 and how1 nevertheless1 an uncertainty possesses her mind as to whether this can or will be carried out--no doubt owing to the fact that the vault had not received the remains of his wife1 and had not indeed probably been opened again at all since his death1 twenty-five years before4 ,and we can note how ,argentina1 together with1 and no doubt at least in part because1 of her late mistress1 has an affection for the ,monastery and ,pilgrimage ,church of ,san ,nicol1 on that wooded hill1 so near to ,catherine's former villa4 ,and ,argentina appears finally in that list of conclusions 7already referred to in ,marabotto's case7 as continuing to live in the ,hospital2 and as still living in it in #aebc2 and1 similarly1 as continuing in the capacity of servant to ,don ,marabotto4 ,i have already pointed out the difficulties inherent in this statement1 but believe it to be correct4 ,yet it would be of considerable importance if we could reach lower down1 and could fix the exact death-date of poor ,marco del ,sale's ardent-minded1 imaginative little widow4 ,since she was doubtless considerably1 ,i think quite twenty years1 younger than ,marabotto1 and since even the latter lived on1 we know1 till #aebh1 six years after this ,will1 there was nothing1 in the matter of actual age1 to prevent her living on up to #aeej or beyond4 ,and circumstances connected with the growth of ,catherine's legend seem to point1 as we shall find1 to ,argentina having died in any case after ,marabotto1 and probably not before #aedg4 ,similarly1 ,catherine herself did not die till twenty-six years after her first ,will 7#adhd-aeaj74 ,v4 ,,the ,,two ,,vernazzas3 ,,their ,,debt ,,to ,,catherine1 ,,and ,,catherine',s ,,debt ,,to ,,them4 ,we now move on from these four figures which1 seen against the living background of those strenuous times1 appear indeed small and contracted2 and which1 in relation to ,catherine1 appear rather as a mere memory and mechanical continuation of her limitations1 and specially of the phenomenal accidents and relative monotony of her sick-room period1 than as a rich and vigorous1 because truly personal1 expansion and re-application of her many-sided action1 breadth and warmth1 and human practicality1 during the times of her fullest self-expression4 ,such a new facing of the new problems1 with a strength both old and new1 enkindled indeed at her light and warmth1 and yet developed also from the vigorously fresh centres of other deep hearts and virile minds and wills1 we must now attempt to picture1 in the case of the two greatest of ,catherine's disciples1 ,ettore ,vernazza and his eldest daughter ,battista4 ,and yet if1 in the former four cases1 while the results of this influence appeared few and insignificant1 the actual fact and source of this influence were plain beyond all cavil3 in these latter two instances we have1 indeed1 a rich crop of thoughts and acts1 of wisdom and of heroism1 but then it is mostly impossible to sort out what is here the direct and unmistakable outcome of ,catherine's influence4 ,the great1 open1 spiritual and even temporal1 battlefield1 if not of ,europe at least of ,italy2 the abuses and tyrannies1 but also the necessity and the power for good1 of governments2 and the strenuous1 tragic1 and transformatory conflicts of single wills within their own soul's world1 and again with other wills1 both single and combined3 all this lies spread out here like a map before us1 seen from the bracing heights of time4 ,there is nothing here1 at least in the ,ettore's case1 that the most intolerantly robust1 or even the most hysterically would-be strong1 mind could suspect of sickliness4 ,and yet1 if undoubtedly much of all this fruitful virility in ,catherine's closest friend1 and in ,catherine's ,god-daughter1 proceeds from ,catherine herself1 it nevertheless springs up and grows within them1 not as an avowed1 nor probably1 for the most part1 even as conscious1 imitation or reminiscence4 ,thus here again we get an impressive instance of one profound sense in which the grain of wheat of any great and wholesome influence must die4 ,for only if and when broken up1 selected from1 and assimilated to and within1 another mind's and heart's life and system1 can that older living organism1 which yet was1 in the first instance1 so moving just because of its unique organization round a centre possible only to that one other soul1 truly and permanently develop and enrich a living centre not its own4 ,and so in this case too3 ,catherine's influence is all the more real in ,ettore and ,battista1 because the latter are in no sense simple copies of the former4 ,she has lived on in them1 at the cost of becoming in part ignored1 in part absorbed1 by them3 and continues to influence them through certain elements of her life that have been assimilated1 and through the reinterpreted image of that life's historic reality1 an image which is ever reinviting them to do and to be1 mutatis mutandis1 what she herself had done and been4 ,but1 indeed1 7even apart from all direct influence exercised by ,catherine's personality upon them1 or by them upon ,catherine's legend71 these two lives are interesting as further authentic illustrations of ,catherine's school and spirit1 and1 indeed1 of the mystical element of religion in general4 ,i shall first take the father1 devoting three sections to him4 ,,vi4 ,,ettore ,,vernazza',s ,,life1 ,,from #aeji ,,to #aeab4 ,introductory4 ,we possess1 if few1 yet quite first-rate materials for the reconstruction of the remaining part of ,vernazza's life4 ,for there are his own testamentary provisions as to the disposition of his property1 7as elaborate and vividly characteristic as ,mr4 ,cecil ,rhodes's71 drawn up in #aeab and #aeag1 and occupying twelve closely-printed octavo pages2 and there is a long1 homely1 and admirably realistic description of his life and character1 written by ,battista1 not1 it is true1 till #aeha1 when she was eighty-four years of age1 and nearly sixty years after her father's death1 but which is1 there is no reason to doubt1 perfectly truthful1 generally accurate1 and all the more moving1 in that the living man and his large-hearted heroism were thus continuing to touch and inspire his daughter1 at the very moment of her writing1 with a finely restrained emotion1 of deeds and personalities witnessed1 by her own eyes and spirit1 over half a century before4 ,i shall take the several documents1 not each as they stand but piecemeal1 according to the dates of the events recorded or of the legal act performed4 #a4 ,ettore's married life2 and thought of the monastic state4 8,my ,father and ,mother10 writes ,battista1 8lived together0 from #adif to #aeji 8in the greatest peace1 since they wished each other every kind of good2 so that ,i do not remember ever having heard one word of dissension pass between them4--,and although my ,mother was a beautiful and attractive young woman1 and was loved by persons deserving of esteem1 yet she would stay at home1 alone1 with her children4 ,and my ,father acted similarly1 except when he was obliged to go out on some business4 ,otherwise ,i do not remember having ever noticed either of them going out to some late party 7vegli71 as is the custom in ,genoa40--,and she tells how 8he was so abstemious0 in the matter of food1 8that he was wont strictly to limit the amount of bread that he ate4 ,but my ,mother1 noticing this1 had the breads baked very substantial40 8,and when my ,mother died0 in the spring of #aeji1 8my ,father thought of becoming a ,lateran 7,augustinian7 ,canon4 ,but1 on asking the advice of ,padre ,riccordo da ,lucca10 7,i take it1 himself a ,lateran ,canon17 8who was just then preaching in ,genoa with very great fervour1 the latter did not encourage him to carry out his intention1 observing1 as he did1 my ,father's inclination for founding works of charity40 ,and her father proved docile4 ,indeed she says of him generally that 8he greatly mortified his self-will1 and for this reason had put himself under obedience to a priest1 who had the reputation of being exceptionally devoted 7molto buono71 and obeyed him as though he had been the very voice of ,god40 8,and my ,father then gave up his own house1 and went to live in rooms which had been got ready for him in the ,hospital for ,incurables1 of which he was one of the ,managers and indeed one of the first ,builders4 ,and here he always lived1 when he was in ,genoa2 here he died2 and this institution he made his heir40#cad ,here it is interesting to note the similarities and differences between this union1 so happy and thus blessed with three children1 and ,catherine's marriage1 so unhappy and childless2 between his thought of a religious vocation after his marriage was over1 and ,catherine's before hers was begun2 and between his fifteen years of residence in the midst of the incurable poor at the ,chronici1 and ,catherine's similar1 though earlier and longer1 life surrounded by the sick poor at the ,pammatone4 ,there is some likeness1 too1 in the matter of corporal mortification2 although1 with ,vernazza1 it is less acute1 but is apparently kept up throughout his life1 whilst with ,catherine the active bodily mortifications are very prominent whilst they last1 but are kept up thus for but a few years4 ,as to obedience1 we have here1 for ,vernazza1 a more authoritative account than are any of the general statements on the same point with regard to ,catherine2 but in ,catherine's case many concrete instances give us a definite idea as to the character and limits of this docility1 whereas all such instances are1 in ,vernazza's case1 restricted to the above incident alone4 ,yet this one example of his obedience shows how largely conceived1 how simply divinatory and stimulative of his own deepest 7although as yet but half-born7 ideals1 how ancillary to his own grace-impelled self-determination1 and hence how truly liberating1 were this direction and docility4 ,the ,venerable ,cardinal de ,berulle's determination of ,descartes to a philosophical career1 and ,st4 ,philip ,neri deciding ,cardinal ,baronius to write his entirely open-minded1 indeed severe1 ,ecclesiastical ,annals1 would doubtless be true parallels to this particular relationship4 #b4 ,ettore's great ,will of #aeab4 ,we have already seen that ,ettore was away from ,genoa from about ,september #aj1 #aeaj1 onwards1 and that he was far away at the time of ,catherine's death4 ,he may well have been away most of the year #aeaa1 nor is there indeed any indication that he was in ,genoa at the opening of ,catherine's deposito in ,may to ,july #aeab4 ,but he was certainly there in ,october #aeab1 for on the #afth of that month he drew up a munificent and far-sighted deed of gift1 of one hundred shares of the ,bank of ,st4 ,george1 to various charitable and public purposes4 ,vernazza had already previously provided for his three daughters2 and now orders that the interest of these other shares 7a capital amounting1 at the time1 to the value of some #aj1djj7 should1 for the first nine years1 be used by the 8,protectors0 of the ,incurables for the benefit of that ,institution1 which thus occupies the first place in his solicitudes4 ,and then these shares should be allowed to multiply1 by means of their accumulated interests and of the reinvestments of the latter1 till they had reached the number of five hundred shares2 and then1 if and when an epidemic arose and the citizens fled from the city1 the income of these shares for three years should be given to the ,board of ,health1 for the use of those suffering from the epidemic4 ,and when the shares had become two thousand1 a commodious ,lazaretto-house should be bought or built1 with the income of not more than ten years4 ,and after this1 when the shares had become six thousand1 one half or more of their interest should go towards the keep and nursing of the patients in this ,lazaretto4 ,after these three stages devoted to the victims of the ,plague1 he determines the point at which the interest of the moneys shall be applied successively to providing marriage portions for honest poor girls of ,genoa and of his home villages of ,vernazza1 ,arvenza1 and ,cogoleto1 preference being always given to the large clan of ,vernazzi2 to providing means for honest poor girls desiring to enter ,convents that keep their ,rule 7monasteria observantiae71 up to #ajj each1 with a similar preference as in the previous case4 ,and then he attends to the poor in general4 ,to providing extra pay for the ,notaries and ,clerks of the 8,uffizio della ,misericordia10 8on condition that they devote all their time to the interests of the poor exclusively2 and that they make diligent inquiry as to the means of the poor and their several characters1 and find out whether they are in real want or not1 and draw up a book in which all the poor1 individuals and families1 shall be inscribed clearly and by name1--in each case with a note indicating whether they belong to the first1 second1 or third degree of necessitousness40 ,to paying two ,physicians and two ,surgeons1 for otherwise entirely gratuitous service of the sick poor alone1 and doubling this pay during the prevalence of an epidemic1 8but strictly enforcing the loss1 in salary1 of double the amount of any moneys they can be proved to have accepted from their patients40 ,all this1 together with these four ,doctors' names1 to be annually proclaimed in the streets by the town-crier4 ,to paying a ,dispenser and instituting a ,dispensary1 exclusively for the sick poor and entirely gratuitous1 up to #b1jjj a year for the latter4 ,to appointing two ,advocates and two ,solicitors1 for the exclusive and gratuitous service of the poor1 in any and all cases of law-suits and molestations4 ,the same proclamation as with the ,doctors1 to be made in this matter also4 ,and to maintaining foundling boys and girls of ,genoa1 under provisions which are carefully laid down4 ,and then he turns to the three ,institutions and their like with which he1 as notary1 as father and as philanthropist1 has been specially identified4 ,he fixes the point when two lectures in ,philosophy or ,theology1 one by a ,dominican and another by a ,franciscan1 are to be instituted1 for every working day1 in the ,chapel of the ,notaries of ,genoa2 when one free meal a month is to be provided for eight monastic and charitable institutions1 amongst which are the ,franciscans of the ,,ss4 ,annunziata1 the ,benedictines of ,san ,nicol in ,boschetto1 the ,canonesses of ,s4 ,maria delle ,grazie1 and the ,hospital for ,incurables1--8but the expenses are not to exceed #fjj a year0 7about six guineas each meal7--8nor is money to be given1 but the eatables themselves are to be bought for1 and given to1 the institutions02 and when a ,superintendent 7,sindaco7 of the ,incurables is to be appointed1 with #ajj pay a year4 ,and then he comes back to the poor in general2 and thinks also1 7somewhat like unto his and ,catherine's ideal1 ,st4 ,paul as 8a citizen of no mean city107 of the external appearance and utility of his native town of ,genoa4 ,the point is fixed when they are to 8pay for the poor their hardest imposts1 especially those on food02 and when they are to 8repair1 decorate1 and enlarge the ,cathedral ,church of ,san ,lorenzo10 and to 8build a harbour-mole1 improve the harbour1 and attend to the decoration and look of the town 7ornamentis civitatis71 according to their discretion40 ,and he then finishes up with a characteristic reversion to efficacious solicitude for his clan1 by marriage benefits for his young kinswomen in the future and by thought for his ancestors and predecessors in the past2 and with a no less characteristic divinatory greatness of mind1 by the creation of a kind of ,people's ,college or ,working-man's ,university1 which appears here curiously wedged in between the thoughts for his clan in the future and in the past4 ,for he determines the points when the ,protectors shall again provide for marrying honest poor girls of his three home villages1 and for comforts for the prisoners at ,christmas and ,easter2 when they are to 8buy a large and well-situated house1 and therein organize a public course of studies1 with four ,doctors of ,law1 four very learned ,physicians1 and two ,masters of ,grammar and ,rhetoric1 who shall1 all ten1 be each bound to deliver one lecture on every working day1 and to devote all the rest of their time to the interests of the poor02 and when finally they are to provide for 8,masses for his ancestors and predecessors10--,masses for himself and immediate belongings having been already1 no doubt1 provided for in his previous ,will1 since we find such provisions repeated in his last ,will1 to be given later on4#cae ,we thus get here a persistent preoccupation with the most manifold interests of the poor2 a shrewd knowledge of men1 and careful provisions calculated to rouse their indolence and to check their self-seeking2 an utterly unsentimental1 realistic1 ,charity-,organization sort of spirit shown in the insistence upon a careful and complete knowledge of the real degree and kind of want1 and of the precise means appropriate for helping the various kinds of poor2 a high estimate of knowledge1 which he desires to offer to all1 according to their various capacities and needs2 and lastly1 an entire freedom from pietism1 for he thinks of1 and provides for1 harbour-works and the beautifying of the town4 ,there is a large1 open-air1 operative1 sanely optimistic and statesmanlike spirit about it all4 ,and if all this is in full keeping with1 and but expands and supplements1 the tenacious realism of a born organizer and administrator3 the soaring idealism and universalism of his saint-friend ,catherine's stimulation1 and his and her joint experiences and interests1 are also directly suggested to us4 ,for there is the special stress laid on the plague-stricken1 whom they had tended together in #adic2 the interest in physicians and in drugs for the poor1 an interest in which she must have preceded him by twenty years or more2 and the repeated preoccupation with the marrying of poor young women1 and1 next after it1 with the convent-dowries of girls in socially similar circumstances1 in each case especially of kinswomen of his own4 ,this preoccupation was no doubt occasioned chiefly by the thought of his own most happy marriage and of his own children1 the two elder now already well settled as ,nuns1 but the third still possibly to be married2 yet we are also vividly reminded of ,catherine's own repeated occupation with the marrying of relatives of her own1 and ,limbania's and her own early entrance1 and wish to enter1 into the ,religious state4 ,and then his benefactions include ,catherine's ,hospital ,church1 her favourite ,boschetto ,church1 and that ,convent of the ,grazie1 the scene of her own conversion and the home of her sister ,limbania1 as well as of his daughters ,battista and ,daniela4 ,but indeed the whole character of the outlook1 in its successive absorption in1 each time1 just one particular task2 in its occupation with succour in proportion to the divinely ordained and ready-found bonds and ties of nature1 bonds and ties so dear to the omnipresent ,god2 and in its1 nevertheless1 in nowise restricting itself to this interest1 but moving on and on1 distance appearing beyond distance1 with love and welcome for all the heroisms and helplessnesses3 is all marked with ,catherine's imperial spirit of boundless self-donation4 ,,vii4 ,,ettore ,,in ,,rome ,,and ,,naples2 ,,his ,,second ,,will2 ,,his ,,work ,,in ,,the ,,genoese ,,prisons4 #a4 ,ettore in ,rome4 ,and perhaps already in #aeac1 but1 if so1 not before ,march of that year 7the date of ,pope ,leo's accession71 ,vernazza was in ,rome1--hardly1 ,i think1 for the first time4 ,and ,battista again tells us1 in her long letter of #aeha1 how that 8the incurables in ,rome0--which was then1 at the beginning of ,giovanni de' ,medici's 7,leo ,x's7 reign1 the brilliant centre of the ,renaissance at its zenith--8were left to lie in baskets1 moaning0 for alms1 8in the ,churches4 ,it was piteous to see them thus forsaken and badly cared for40 ,now there is good reason to think that ,vernazza had known the ,pope when1 as ,cardinal de' ,medici1 he had1 in #aejj1 stayed for some time in ,genoa1 in the house of his married sister1 ,donna ,maddalena ,cib4 ,and so ,vernazza now presented himself before the ,pope1 8and said to him3 #8,you1 ,holiness1 have a fine work in hand1 in patronizing the ,arts and ,letters3 but you cannot leave this ,rome of yours saddened by so piteous a spectacle4'0 ,and the ,pope thanked him1 and begged him to accept the charge of founding and undertaking the government of the ,arch-,hospital4 ,and the two 8,cardinals1 ,caraffa10 the vigorous and devoted1 but harshly austere ,neapolitan1 who was1 later on1 joint-founder of the ,theatines and then ,pope ,paul ,,iv1 8and ,sauli10 the ,genoese1 8helped him in his work4 ,indeed the latter said to him3 #8,if you require money1 come to me4'0 ,and this ,roman work of ,vernazza straightway put forth two offshoots1 far away4 ,for 8,caraffa founded in ,venice a hospital on the model of the one in ,rome40 ,and 8there happened to be in ,rome0 at this time 8a certain ,bartholommeo ,stella1 a rich and very generous 7molto galante7 young man4 ,and ,vernazza saw him and gained such an influence with him as to end by sending him to ,brescia1 to promote there also these fruits of ,christian faith40 ,and in ,rome itself 8,leo ,x gave ,vernazza practical proofs of his gratitude1 and set him forth on his return journey with demonstrations of great honour 7magnifiche demonstrazioni74 ,and the ,arch-,hospital having been thus set going and ,vernazza being back in ,genoa1 ,leo ,x addressed a ,brief to him1 informing him that his ,hospital in ,rome was in a state of confusion 7andava sossopra72 #8,i think' 7adds ,battista7 #8because its ,governors wanted each to be above the other4' ,and he returned to ,rome1 and quieted all controversy40#caf ,i take this second ,roman journey to have been not before #aeae2 but it may have occurred any time before #aebb1 the year of ,pope ,leo's death4 ,this group of facts shows ,vernazza's directness and independence of observation1 his initiative and energy1 and his courage and respectful liberty of speech1 qualities which are all reminiscent of ,catherine's scene with the ,friar2 the rapidity with which a necessary work1 which has been delayed for centuries1 and which has required the whole-hearted vigour of a rare personality to call it into being1 grows and multiplies1 when once it is in existence2 and the manner in which the petty1 sterilizing ambitions of men can be efficiently checked only by a combination of strength of will1 administrative ability1 gentle tact and complete disinterestedness1--a combination which again reminds one of ,catherine1 the successful ,rettora4 #b4 ,ettore in ,naples4 ,it will have been after this second visit to ,rome that ,vernazza first went to ,naples4 ,and there again 8he formed a ,hospital10 in this case 8at the risk of his life2 for some evil-wishers there wanted to kill him1 being unable to bear the idea that a #8foreigner' should have anything to do with the affairs of the city 7ordinasse quella citt74 ,once the #8,ave ,maria' had sounded1 he did not again issue from his lodging during that day4 ,and yet0 even among such untoward circumstances1 8he managed not to leave ,naples before having1 with ,god's help1 achieved his object1--of providing his much-loved poor with such an institution ready to their hand40 ,it was in ,naples1 too1 evidently at the beginning of this very visit1 that another generous idea and institution of his first occurred to him1 or at least was first put into execution4 ,the whole occurrence reveals a curious mixture of the most divers qualities and1 indeed1 requires in part to be excused1 on the ground of numerous external difficulties which stood in the way of an excellent work1 and of the finessing methods evidently deemed1 even by good people1 to be quite allowable for attaining a good end1 in this age of violence1 suspicion and intrigue4 8,a certain ,religious1 ,padre ,callisto of ,piacenza1 was preaching at that time in ,naples4 ,vernazza went to him and said3 #8,father1 these ,neapolitans are a haughty people1 and refuse to bend so low as to found hospitals4 ,but during last night the thought came to me that if a person refuses to mount ten steps--it is still possible to get him to go up fifteen2 and when such a person had done the latter1 he would find that he had unconsciously mounted the ten as well4 ,now ,i cannot discover a more humiliating act than the accompanying of those who have been condemned to death1 on their way to execution2 and in this city they are led to the gallows with their minds in a state of desperation and without any one to comfort them4 ,well1 then1 do this4 ,preach to the people and tell them that the very first men of ,naples have been to see you1 with a view to founding a society for escorting these unhappy persons2 and say to them3 8,let him who cares to enter this society1 come to me1 to be inscribed on the rolls in a secrecy so complete that even a husband shall be unable to tell his wife40' ,and ,padre ,callisto1 after hearing these words1 did1 devoted man that he was1 his very best1 and with such good effect that many went to have themselves inscribed4 8,but many of those ,neapolitan nobles reproved him1 saying3 #8,perchance you think yourself still in your ,lombardy6 ,we are nobles1 and we refuse to form an escort for these culprits4' ,and he would answer3 #8,if your ,lordship does not care to go1 do not go4 ,it was the very first men of ,naples who sought me out1 for the purpose of instituting this society4' ,and thus it was actually founded1 and indeed became very numerous and much honoured2 and those unhappy men received much comfort4 ,and later on1 this same society proceeded to found the ,hospital40#cag ,there is one repulsive feature in this story4 ,for if the declaration that the very first men of the city had visited the preacher was a statement that damaged no one2 which but anticipated what actually occurred soon after2 and was the means for the effecting of two works1 profoundly useful to all concerned in them and which could not1 otherwise1 at that time and place1 have been carried out at all3 yet it was a clear untruth4 ,but all the rest1 how admirable it is6 ,moral1 and indeed physical courage2 cool-headed1 humorous1 manly because unflinching1 and yet quite uncynical and hopeful1 knowledge of the petty perversities of the human heart2 and entirely devoted1 slow excogitation1 concentration of will1 and toughly resisting perseverance in a work of the purest philanthropy3 all this and much else is visibly present4 #c4 ,ettore's ,will of #aeag4 ,it may well have been after his return from this journey that ,vernazza drew up the ,will which we still possess1 dated #gth ,november #aeag1 and which is interesting in several respects4#cah ,for one thing1 he orders his body to be buried in the ,church of the ,,ss4 ,annunziata1--the ,hospital ,church1 and leaves a legacy for ,masses 8to the ,friars of the ,annunziata of ,genoa40#cai ,and he leaves a similar bequest to the ,benedictines of ,san ,nicol in ,boschetto4 ,it is clear that he wanted to be buried in the same ,hospital ,church as ,catherine1 and had a devotion similar to hers for the ,pilgrimage ,church upon the hill4 ,secondly1 there are careful records and provisions concerning his three children4 ,as to his two eldest1 ,tommasa 7,battista7 and ,catetta 7,daniela71 he simply looks back and 8declares that he gave to his two daughters that are in the ,monastery of ,santa ,maria delle ,grazie1 to them or to the said ,monastery1 three thousand ,genoese pounds from his own property1 and two hundred pounds in addition1--7the latter7 spent upon their rooms1 habits1 and other requisites40 ,and that 8these sums are to be counted as taking the place of dowries which would have accrued to them0 7in case of marriage74 ,but as to the youngest1 ,ginevrina1 he looks both back and forwards4 8,the same ,testator is well aware that he placed the said ,ginevrina in the ,monastery of ,saint ,andrew1#cbj that she might grow up with good morals and in the fear of ,god1 since ,testator was unable to keep her by him1 having very often been obliged1 for the transaction of business in favour of the poor and for other charitable works1 to proceed to ,rome and other places2 and that there existed written directions 7of his7 in the hands of the ,nuns1 as to ,ginevrina being free1 in due time and at the proper age1 to choose either to serve ,god 7in ,religion71 or to marry according to the social rank of the ,testator40 ,and he confirms a legacy of #ejj1 already promised by him to ,ginevrina 8as appears from a certain document signed by the ,abbess of the said ,monastery of ,saint ,andrew03 this money being no doubt in addition to another sum already paid by him to the ,convent2 and the whole is evidently intended to pay for ,ginevrina's keep1 if necessary for life1 in case she neither entered ,religion nor married4 8,in case of her becoming a ,nun and making her ,profession in the said ,monastery1 he leaves her #ajj1 for the adapting and furnishing of one room for her use2 nor can these #ajj be spent otherwise40 ,and if she chooses to wed1 the ,protectors of the ,incurables1 his ,executors and ,heirs1 8are to marry her to some young man of good reputation and behaviour1 apt at managing his own affairs and at earning money1--all this as perfectly as possible1 according to the judgment of the said ,protectors40 ,if she thus marries with their consent1 she is to have #c1jjj for her dowry2 but if she marries without it1 she is to have only #a1ejj4 ,here we note ,ettore's high esteem for business capabilities3 they are to be required of his possible son-in-law1 as one of the conditions for gaining the full dowry2 and the curiously unmodern certainty with which he assumes that his still quite young daughter will desire1 should she become a ,nun1 to do so at ,sant' ,andrea1 and1 should she neither wed nor enter ,religion1 is sure to care to live on for life in this one convent4 ,as a matter of fact ,ginevrina1 who was evidently very happy at ,sant' ,andrea1 took the veil there1 still during her father's lifetime1 hence within seven years of this date1 as ,sister ,maria ,archangela4#cba ,and thirdly1 we get the striking provision that 8any member of the ,society of ,priests and ,laymen0 who administer the ,hospital for ,incurables1 8shall have the use of the furniture of the ,testator 7there remaining71 on condition that such member live in this ,hospital or in that of the ,pammatone 7hard by71 and not otherwise40 ,he thus comes back here1 once again1 to one of the deepest convictions of his life3 that only by actually living amongst and with the poor1 poor yourself2 only by doing the work which the right hand finds to do1 with such might and thoroughness that both hands1 indeed the whole man1 body and soul1 are drawn into1 and are1 as it were1 coloured by it3 that only by such fraternal-paternal sympathetic identification with its object can such service really rise above the dreary perfunctoriness and the ghastly optimism of mere officialism1 and have the fruitfulness begotten only by life directly touching life4 ,and here ,catherine's spirit and example1 her long life in the very midst of the great ,hospital close at hand1 are once more fully apparent4 #d4 ,ettore in the ,genoese prisons4 ,and1 about this time1 ,vernazza introduced into ,genoa the practice and ,society which he had first founded in ,naples4 ,it was carried out1 here also1 in the profoundest secrecy4 ,his 8,company of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist ,beheaded0 consisted of himself and three companions3 ,salvage1 ,lomellino1 and ,grimaldo4 ,the ,lomellini now owned ,giuliano's former ,palace in the ,via ,s4 ,agnese1 and the ,grimaldi were one of the great ,guelph families of ,genoa4 ,these four 8took a house with a garden1 in an out-of-the-way position2 and there they started their association4 ,and ever after1 when the members met1 they always prayed for these their four founders2 and always1 my ,father being dead1 began with his name3 #8,dominus ,hector de ,vernatia requiescat in pace4'0 8,i once10 adds ,battista1 8asked the priest who was their ,confessor3 #8,what matters do they discuss1 when they are thus assembled8' ,but he answered3 #8,i may not tell'2 and put on a particular expression and said3 #8,the ,hospital for ,incurables has only ten thousand lire1 and it spends twenty-six thousand4 ,and the ,giuseppine and the ,convertite' 7two other favourite good works of ,vernazza7 #8have also to be provided for6'0#cbb ,evidently the subject-matter of all this elaborate secrecy consisted in plans and means for aiding the condemned 7often enough innocent or but politically guilty persons7 and benefiting the poor2 and the privacy was an imperious necessity in those harsh1 turbulent and suspicious times4 ,it was ,vernazza's own ,roman patron and collaborator1 the ,neapolitan ,cardinal ,caraffa1 who later on1 as ,pope1 imprisoned for two years 7#aeeg-aeei71 in the ,castle of ,st4 ,angelo1 the great and saintly ,cardinal ,morone1 on ungrounded suspicion of heresy2 and it was his other patron and most intimate fellow-worker1 the ,genoese ,cardinal ,sauli1 who1 later on1 was himself tortured and put to death1 the victim of political hatred and suspicion1 in his own native city4 ,and now1 7conversely from #adfa1 when a ,fregoso ,doge had driven out an ,adorno17 an ,adorno ,doge had just driven out and exiled a ,fregoso1 and had executed ,paolo da ,novi4 ,and ,vernazza 8knew well a close friend of this ,doge ,adorno1 one who indeed had helped him to his dignity4 ,and yet afterwards they became mortal enemies1 and the ,doge condemned his former close friend to death4 ,now this man having been10 continues ,battista1 8attended by some one all night1 who tried to comfort him and bring him to patience1 the poor prisoner somehow derived no consolation from his attendant's endeavours1 but went on repeating3 #8,when ,i remember all that ,i have done for him'''6' ,and it was impossible to quiet him4 ,then he who was spending the wakeful night with him1 having noted that all his words had been hitherto of no avail1 inspired by ,god1 took another way and said3 #8,indeed and indeed you are right1' and made himself infirm with the infirm1 and echoed all that the prisoner said1 making it appear as though he himself1 in a similar case1 would be likely to act identically4 ,and then1 and only then1 the condemned man began to feel relief1 and started the telling of his own trouble4 ,and when his companion had agreed to all his points1 and at last noticed that the prisoner had thoroughly ventilated all his grievance1 he said3 #8,indeed1 my dear brother1 you do not merit this death2 but reflect whether1 before these occurrences1 you did not perform some action which merited it4' ,then the latter reconsidered his case1 and said at last3 #8,yes1--,i killed a man4' ,and his companion replied3 #8,behold1 my brother1 the true cause of your death'2 and added other most appropriate words with such good effect that the man became profoundly contrite and died in the very best dispositions of soul40 8,now ,i think10 comments ,battista1 8that the companion was a member of the ,society of ,st4 ,john ,baptist1 and was1 indeed1 my ,father himself2 since my ,father told me the story too much in vivid detail 7troppo per sottile7 for him to have been only a reporter4 ,i believe that1 to this hour1 this society is carrying on the same kind of work40#cbc ,here again we have the same irrepressible1 humorously resourceful1 tenderly shrewd and world-experienced service of ,god1 in and through ,his image1 in any and every fellow-man2 the same breadth in thoroughness2 the same universality working itself out1 and achieving its substance and self-consciousness1 in the particular1 as we saw at work in ,naples4 ,and this activity1 all but its humour1 recalls the soaring1 world-embracing spirit of ,catherine absorbed in self-identification with the pestiferous woman's dying aspirations and with the cancer-disfigured navvy's preoccupations for his little wife4 ,,viii4 ,,ettore ,,again ,,in ,,naples2 ,,his ,,death ,,in ,,genoa2 ,,peculiarities ,,of ,,his ,,posthumous ,,fame4 #a4 ,naples and the ,signora ,lunga4 ,it must have been before this prison experience1 for ,ottaviano ,fregoso was still ,doge1 that ,vernazza was again in ,naples1 and that a thoroughly characteristic1 romantic little episode occurred1 which not all her seventy-one years of convent life1 and the sixty years that had elapsed since its happening1 prevent ,battista from recounting with a delightfully entire sympathy4 ,here in ,naples1 then1 8he joined hands with a certain rich lady1 called the ,signora ,lunga1 for the purpose of procuring as many things as possible0 for the institutions which he himself had founded or occasioned4 ,this lady1 a ,spaniard1 had been the wife 7she was now the widow7 of ,giovanni ,lungo or ,longo1 ,president of the ,sacred ,council4#cbd 8,they went together from house to house1 begging for mattresses0 for the ,hospital4 8,and this lady now withdrew from the world at large1 and lived in that ,hospital1 and governed and ruled it2 and combined with this the execution of other works of mercy4 ,and she had so great a devotion for my ,father1 that she was wont to say to him3 #8,if you were to tell me to cut and wound my own person1 indeed ,i would straightway do it4' ,but on ,fregoso writing and pressing him to return to ,genoa1 ,vernazza wrote back1 that if he1 the ,doge1 promised to be favourable to him1 and to help him in a good work which he had in his mind1 he1 ,vernazza1 would come at once4 ,and the ,doge wrote back that he would do all that ,vernazza wished4 ,and then1 one morning early0 7no doubt at dawn71 8not wishing that the ,signora ,lunga should see him depart1 he got into the saddle4 ,and she1 by good chance1 saw him1 and asked him3 #8,where are you going8' ,and he struck his spurs into his mule3 #8,to ,genoa1' he cried2 and flew away2 and never saw the ,signora ,lunga any more40#cbe ,something fresh and bracing breathes and beats here still4 ,we have here the same man who1 devoted in every good and filial way to ,catherine1 had yet left her1 no doubt then also on an errand of large-hearted mercy1 even in those last days of her life2 who now1 once again1 breaks suddenly away2 and who does so again at the call of souls entirely without conventional claims upon him1 and who are quite unable to repay him with anything that merely drifting nature ever can hold dear4 ,but here the relation is evidently not that of a man towards a woman much older than himself1 and of the spiritual discipleship of a relatively inexperienced soul towards one already far advanced in sanctity3 it is clearly one of at least parity of age1--perhaps1 indeed1 the woman was the younger of the two1--and of largely equal companionship1 which would presumably1 unchecked1 have easily led on to an entirely honourable and happy marriage4 ,and thus1 once again1 his devotedness had to live and thrive on concrete1 untransferable renouncements and sacrifices claimed by his true self in that unique moment and situation3 and this too although he will have been at least tempted wistfully to try and delude himself with the monstrous superstition of an automatic sanctity1 a merely theoretic and yet somehow real heroism4 #b4 ,the ,plague and ,ettore's death in ,genoa1 ,june #aebd4 8,and1 arrived in ,genoa10 ,vernazza 8revealed the secret of his heart to the ,doge1 and his ,lordship gave him seven thousand lire and the ,privilege10--the latter being necessary1 8since no one cared to have the ,lazaretto0 7for this was ,vernazza's project7 8in proximity to their villas10 and hence the ,government had to insist upon its foundation upon the least inconvenient of the various possible sites4 ,and ,vernazza in consequence 8began to construct a great building for the poor victims of the ,plague1 and presented it with an endowment of one hundred shares of ,st4 ,george's1 leaving them to multiply1 so that at his death they had increased by eleven shares2 and now0 7in #aeha7 8they have reached a great number of thousands of pounds40 ,and after continuing with an account of his further ,bank dispositions1 and of his early attempts to help the poor 7already given by us71 ,battista finishes up this part of her account by declaring3 8he was wont to go about saying1 with conviction and great confidence1 that he hoped all things from ,god2 and that1 whenever he put his hand to anything1 ,god put the yeast into that paste40#cbf ,and her mention of the ,lazaretto then leads her on to the final1 still vivid and yet self-restrained1 account of her father's death4 8,the ,plague being very severe 7calda7 in ,genoa10--it was past mid-,june #aebd1--8;he came to visit me1 and said to me3 #8,what do you think ,i had better do8 ,i am determined in no manner to forsake the poor4 ,do you think ,i had better go about on horseback or on foot8 ,in which way do you think ,i would be safest from infection8' #8,oh1 ,father1' ,i said1 #8here we are coming to the ,feast of the ,baptist1 and are at the highest of the heat2 and you are determined to go amongst them8' ,and he3 #8,and is it my fate1 to hear such things from you8 ,how truly happy should ,i be1 if ,i were to die for the poor6' ,then ,i1 seeing so much fortitude in that holy soul1 said to him3 #8,father1 go4' ,but he was not content with looking after the ,lazaretto3 ,i think that he scoured the country far and wide4 ,and hence he caught the infection4 ,and on the0 7,eve of7 8the ,feast of the ,nativity of ,st4 ,john ,baptist10 ,june #bc1 8he confessed and communicated4 ,and in three days he quietly fell asleep in the ,lord40#cbg ,surely rarely has so noble a finish been so nobly told6 ,and two things in particular are deserving of special notice4 ,first1 there is here again that characteristic combination of quiet reflective common-sense and self-oblivious devotedness4 ,who could anticipate that the man who so carefully weighed the respective risks of different methods of visiting the sick1 would1 at the same time1 be full of a glad willingness1 indeed desire1 to die for them8 ,yet not only does this rich soul exhibit such a living paradox1 with an apparent ease and spontaneity1 but it is this very extraordinary variety in unity that is an operative cause and element both of the greatness of the act and of its appealingness4 ,and secondly1 it is1 ,i think1 not far-fetched to find in this heroic death-ride1 if not a direct or even a conscious effect1 yet at all events an impressive illustration of1 and practical parallel to1 ,catherine's teaching as to ,heaven being already present everywhere where pure love energizes1 and to her picture of the soul's glad ,purgatorial plunge4 ,we know that it was ,vernazza himself who1 say in #adig1 drew forth from her that teaching2 and we shall find that it was predominantly he who so carefully registered for us in writing those numerous1 vivid picturings of the soul's joyously voluntary self-dedication to suffering and apparent death4 ,and whether at the moment fully conscious of this or not1 his act of some twenty years later illustrates and embodies that teaching2 and that teaching again universalizes and brings home to us this action4 ,high on horseback he goes forth1 the strong1 sound-bodied1 whole-hearted man1 deliberately sure of finding and of bringing ,heaven1 wheresoever pure love may be wanted and may joyously appear3 joyously fruitful1 amidst the very ghastliness of death4 ,and he is rapidly brought low1 first on to his bed of sickness1 and in a few days into the grave4 ,indeed he himself had1 by his own act1 gladly accepted1 we may say willed1 all this3 he himself had cast himself down and away into that deep common fosse1 amongst the many thousands of his ever-obscure and now disfigured friends and fellow-dead4 #c4 ,his posthumous fame2 its unlikeness to ,catherine's celebrity4 ,for so it was indeed4 ,instead of burial in the ,pammatone ,church1 under the same roof with his saintly inspirer1 the poor pestilential body was buried away1 amongst the whole army of others who1 like himself1 had died of the ,plague1 without a stone or token of any kind1 to mark where this simple hero lay4 ,nor was it till #afcc1 over a century later1 that a statue was erected to him at his ,lazaretto4 ,for the bust in the rooms of his 8,compagnia del ,mandiletto0 is hardly older2 and the hideous gaunt plaster statue in the ,albergo dei ,poveri is no doubt much younger still4 ,only in #ahfg1 on ,june #bc1 the anniversary of the day on which he prepared himself to die1 was a memorial erected to him which is truly worthy of the man4 ,santo ,varni's more than life-size marble statue1 which represents ,vernazza seated1 a strongly built man still in his years of vigour1 with a head and countenance striking because of their lofty brow1 powerful chin1 spiritual1 mobile lips1 large1 keen1 far-outward-looking eyes2 and with thoroughly individual1 operative yet sensitive hands1 the left extended open1 as though to give and ever again to give1 and the right reposing upon the case containing the ,chart of the ,hospital's foundation3 stands1 a striking symbol1 in the vestibule of the ,hospital for ,incurables which he founded1 where for fifteen years he lived1 and where he died4#cbh ,one would be glad to think that the likeness of this admirable work of art reposed upon grounds more direct than one or other of the very late and unworthy representations that preceded it2 the authentic portrait of his daughter ,battista1#cbi who may1 after all1 have been unlike him in looks2 and the sympathetic imagination of a great artist4 ,it was ,vernazza himself who prevented any contemporary representation of his own features4 ,for ,battista tells us1 in her letter of #aeha1 8he also mortified himself in any inclination to honour4 ,thus1 as is well known1 when the ,lazaretto had been erected1 and he was asked to have his portrait painted to be placed there1 he answered3 #8,i do not want smoke1' and refused to act as he was bidden40#ccj ,now here we cannot but find a contrast between ,catherine and ,ettore2 yet it only concerns their posthumous earthly fate and fame4 ,a picture of ,catherine was1 no doubt1 no more painted in her lifetime with her knowledge than was a portrait of ,ettore4 ,yet we know that1 in her case1 a picture was painted1 if not secretly during her lifetime1 in any case by some eyewitness1 and not more than eighteen months after her death2 and a popular religious ,cultus to her sprang up and grew1 on occasion of that early opening of her coffin4 ,but ,ettore has to wait over a century for his first artistic embodiment1 and of religious ,cultus there was never any question4#cca ,whence this difference8 ,have we any kind of reason for suspecting ,ettore's heroism1 indeed sanctity of life and death8 ,was he indeed clearly much the lesser in the ,kingdom of ,god than was his friend8 ,the question1 it will be noted1 does not imply any criticism of the ,church's wise requirement of a previous ,cultus1 as one of the conditions for the introduction of any and every ,process2 still less is there any disposition to call in question the choice of ,catherine for saintly honours1 a choice which this whole book would hope to demonstrate as particularly courageous1 wise and indeed providential4 ,the point raised concerns simply the psychology of popular devotion1 and the human reason why1 given that one was certainly a ,saint and the other was presumably another one1 there is this marked contrast in the posthumous history of these two lives4 ,now if the question be taken thus1 the answer can hardly be doubtful4 ,certainly not because of her profoundly original doctrine1 by which ,catherine is speculatively more interesting and humanly more complete than ,vernazza1 was ,catherine prized and preferred to ,vernazza by the crowd4 ,nor did they single her out precisely because of her works and long life of mercy1 for ,vernazza's labours of this kind no doubt exceeded ,catherine's1 both in their variety and in their visible extension4 ,but it was the psycho-physical peculiarities of the life of ,catherine1 and the more or less complete incorruption of the body3 these two things1 neither of which has any necessary connection with that faithful and heroic use of free-will and that spirit and grace of ,god in which the whole substance of sanctity consists1 which1 each leading on and back to and strengthening the impression and tradition of the other1 determined the outbreak and onflow of popular devotion in the one case1 and the absence of which prevented the growth of any such cultus in the other4 ,and thus we have here one more instance of the pathetic irony of fate1 or rather one of those many mysterious operations of the divine will which1 under the ebb and flow of influences that seem merely human and deteriorative1 works in history for the slow upward-raising of our poor kind4 ,when the well-known ecstatic ,augustinian ,nun1 ,anne ,catharine ,emmerich1 died at ,dlmen1 in ,westphalia1 on ,february #f1 #ahbd1 her remains also were not long allowed to rest undisturbed in the grave4 ,already in mid-,march the poetess ,luise ,hensel1 who had much loved and venerated her1 caused the grave to be opened quite privately1 in hopes of finding the body still incorrupt1 and of once more being able to gaze on that striking countenance4 ,and a few days later1 on ,march #ba and #bb1 the grave and coffin were again1 this time officially1 opened4 ,in both cases the body was found still incorrupt1 and two pale red spots appeared on the cheeks4 ,but when1 on ,october #f1 #aheh1 the grave was opened a third and last time1 nothing was found of the coffin but one nail1 and the body was now represented only by so many separate bones4#ccb ,now when1 some twenty years ago1 ,i visited ,dlmen in the company of a distinguished ,mnster ,priest1 the latter told me1 as we stood together by the grave-side1 that this discovery had greatly checked the survivals or beginnings of any such local and popular cultus as had been expected and hoped for by ,anne ,catharine's1 mostly distant or foreign1 admirers4 ,similar cases it would be easy to multiply2 and they all point to the great advantage1 probably to the actually determining incentive1 which accrued to the ,cultus of ,catherine1 in that her body continued more or less incorrupt1 and thus added a sensible marvel after death to the sensible marvels of her fasts and ecstasies during life4 ,whereas ,catharine ,emmerich's analogous psycho-physical condition during life was not thus reinforced by an unusual physical condition after death4 ,and ,ettore1 again1 had evidently nothing physically1 or even psycho-physically1 abnormal about him1 either in life or in death4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,battista ,,vernazza',s ,,life ,,introductory4 ,we have1 in the characters described in the previous ,chapter1 dwelt upon figures remarkably unlike ,catherine1 on her psycho-physical side4 ,yet it would be only too easy for us now-a-days1 by dwelling too much upon the foregoing contrast1 to grow actually unfair to ,catherine's kind of temperament and health1 and to her mode of apprehending truth and of attaining sanctity4 ,we might thus come to overlook or to underestimate the important fact that certain psycho-physical1 neural peculiarities or states most certainly constitute the general antecedents1 concomitants or consequences 7probably1 indeed1 one of the necessary though secondary conditions71 not indeed of sanctity1 but of at least some forms of the contemplative gift1 habit1 and attainment4 ,we might1 too1 forget that neither this contemplative gift itself1 nor even those neural peculiarities1 are at all incompatible with great practical shrewdness and an unusually large external activity2 indeed that such rare and costly contemplative picturings and symbolizations of the ,unseen are1 when true and deep1 means and helps for the contemplative1 in his own life and often still more in his influence upon others1 towards a great recollection and concentration1 which would not only turn the soul away from the dispersion and feverishness that sets in towards the close of external action1 but would also bring it back renewed to such outward-moving1 joyful-humble creativeness1 as wholesome recollection itself requires4 ,for without such contact with the material and the opposition of external action1 recollection grows gradually empty2 and without recollection1 external action rapidly becomes soul-dispersive4 ,hence it is plain1 that the true significance and living system of any such deep soul may be on too large a scale not to require1 for its due exhibition1 that we survey it in connection with some other supplementary life1--like unto some ,gobelin design or cloth-pattern1 so large as to require two contiguous walls or two human figures to show its totality by means of their combination4 ,now ,vernazza the father1 who throughout his life possessed the most robust and normal health1 can fairly be taken as ,catherine's supplementary figure1 for the years when ill-health was limiting her normal range of energies1 on their operatively outgoing1 philanthropic side2 and is thus a living protest against isolating ,saints' lives from their complementary extensions and effects4 ,but ,battista1 his daughter1 gives us1 in her own person and up to the end of her life1 an example of the combination and stimulating interaction of the ,contemplative and the ,practical1 the ,transcendent and the ,immanental1 the heroically normal and ,universal and the tenderly ,personal1 indeed the more or less psycho-physically peculiar4 ,catherine was the greater1 more original1 and more winning ,contemplative1 and ,ettore was more massively ,practical than was ,battista4 ,yet ,battista possessed both gifts1 from early times up to the end1 apparently unclouded and unbroken by any kind of incapacitation4 ,i4 ,,battista',s ,,life1 ,,from ,,april #adig ,,to ,,june #aeaj4 ,we have already seen how ,ettore's eldest child was born on ,april #ae1 #adig1 and was held at the font by ,catherine1 receiving1 however1 the name of ,tommasa1 after the ,god-father1 the celebrated ,doctor of ,law1 ,tommaso ,moro4 ,giuliano was still alive1 but already gravely ill4 ,nothing could well prove more clearly ,vernazza's closeness of friendship for the ,adorna and for ,moro than his making them thus his first-born's ,god-parents4 ,and ,moro's subsequent history makes this1 his intimate collocation and spiritual affinity with ,catherine a matter suggestive of much reflection4 ,with her beautiful young mother still alive and living at home with her1 ,tommasa1 a child of precocious intelligence1 took to writing verse of various kinds1 as early as at ten years of age4 ,vallebona quotes1 from ,semeria's ,secoli ,christiani della ,liguria1 ten short lines written by her at that age1 and which he apparently holds to have been addressed to her ,god-mother4 ,they are1 however1 too vague and hyperbolical for one to be sure as to whom they are dedicated2 her own mother or the ,blessed ,virgin would1 ,i think1 fit the case respectively as well as1 or better than1 ,catherine4 ,the 8short days0 prophesied for herself by the little girl1 were destined to amount to ninety years6#ccc ,on her mother dying1 some time in #aejh or #aeji1--;,bartolommea can hardly have been more than thirty-two years of age1 and ,ettore some six years older1--,vernazza decided1 as we know1 against continuing an establishment of his own and keeping his three daughters with him4 ,it is certain from his ,wills that he had no near female relative whom he could have asked to come and help1 or to take1 the children2 and clear that he was determined not to marry again1 so as to remain completely free for his philanthropic work4 ,and hence he was driven to the alternative of boarding the girls in the two convents that we know4 ,and already on ,june #bd1 #aeaj1 on the feast of her father's favourite ,saint and prison-work ,patron1 ,tommasa received the habit of an ,augustinian ,canoness of the ,lateran1 and changed her name to ,battista4 ,catherine had still not quite twelve weeks to live1 and may well have been deeply interested in her ,god-daughter's taking of the veil in that very ,convent and at the very age where and when she herself had1 half-a-century before1 desired to receive it4#ccd ,we cannot but feel that the ,superiors were wise who1 at that earlier date1 had found thirteen too young an age for even an ,italian1 so early physically mature1 and a ,catherine1 so little suited for marriage1 to take even this first and revocable step in the ,religious life2 and we would doubtless have experienced some uneasiness at the time when ,tommasa was somehow allowed to take this identical step at the very same age4 ,yet we have1 as we shall see1 full and absolutely conclusive1 because first-hand1 evidence1 that every one concerned in the case acted with true insight4 ,rarely indeed can a woman have been more emphatically in her right place1 than ,battista during her seventy-seven years at ,santa ,maria delle ,grazie4 ,and this complete and comfortable appropriateness of vocation no doubt helped her large1 balanced1 virile mind to feel1 with the ,church1 that such a vocation is but one amongst the numberless forms of even heroic devotedness1 a devotedness of which the essence is interior and is capable of being exercised1 and which requires to be represented in every honest circumstance and calling of ,god's great1 many-coloured world4 ,of ,catetta's further history1 beyond her reception of the veil in the same ,convent1 under the name of ,daniela1 some time before ,november #aeag1 and of ,ginevrina's later lot1 beyond her becoming a ,cistercian ,nun1 under the name of ,maria ,archangela1 at ,sant' ,andrea1 some time between #aeag and #aebd1 ,i have been unable to discover anything4 ,but as to ,battista1 ,i wish to dwell upon three characteristic episodes of her long life2 they all three throw much light both upon ,catherine and 7still more7 upon the whole question of ,mysticism4 ,,ii4 ,,battista ,,and ,,her ,,god-,,father1 ,,tommaso ,,moro4 ,the first episode illustrates the rigoristic side of the pre-,reformation ,catholic temper and teaching1 and the terrible complications1 perplexities and pitfalls of those strenuous1 confusing times4 ,for we must now move on fifteen further years from that interview with her father1 a few days before his death1 in ,june #aebd1 to reach this event1 the first fresh one in ,battista's life of which we have a record4 #a4 ,the early stages of ,lutheranism and ,calvinism4 ,the ,religious ,revolution had now well nigh reached its culmination4 ,battista's father had only lived to see what may rightly be termed the first step in the ,teutonic stage and element of the movement1 a stage which1 in spite of its political and social1 indeed religious1 violences and fanaticisms1--and even these came mostly after ,vernazza's death1--retained1 if in large part illogically yet with great practical advantage1 a considerable portion of the old ,catholic convictions and spiritual attitude4 ,luther had indeed1 as we saw1 published his ,theses in #aeag1 and ,pope ,leo ,x had condemned nearly one-half of them in #aebj in his ,bull of ,excommunication4 ,and ,melanchthon1 the mild and deeply learned1 had also broken with the ,old ,church1 and had begun1 in #aeba1 the publication of his ,loci4 ,but an earnest ,catholic 7in this case a ,teutonic7 ,reformer had become ,pope1 in the person of ,adrian ,dedel of ,utrecht 7,hadrian ,,vi71 in #aebb1 #aebc4 ,and in the very year of ,ettore's heroic death1 ,erasmus1 proving1 under the stress of the times1 substantially true to the ,old ,faith1 was writing against ,luther2 whilst in ,italy1 ,vernazza's old patron1 ,cardinal ,caraffa1 was helping to found the ,theatine ,order4 ,but within the next fifteen years matters move on and further4 ,for first the ,teutonic stage of the ,revolution takes its second step1 and hardens1 and formally and permanently organizes itself2 whilst its socially anarchical effects reach their zenith4 ,for there are the ,peasants' ,war and ,luther's marriage in #aebe2 and the capture and the sack of ,rome by the ,imperial 7largely ,lutheran7 troops in #aebg2 and the ,revolutionists' assumption of the name of 8,protestants10 at the ,diet of ,speyer1 in #aebi4 ,and1 on the ,roman ,church's part1 the ,capuchins are founded in #aebe1 and the ,barnabites in #aecj4 ,and this whole ,teutonic stage of the ,revolution can be taken as closed1 for the time1 by the terrible ,saturnalia of the ,anabaptists at ,mnster1 #aecc-aece2 the executions of the ,catholic ,humanists1 ,bishop ,fisher and ,chancellor ,more1 in ,england1 #aece2 and ,erasmus's death in #aecf4 ,and the second element and stage1 the ,romanic ,revolution1 was now fully and independently at work1 with its indefinitely greater coldness and logical completeness1 and its systematic antagonism to the ,old ,faith4 ,and if the ,saxon ,mystical-minded ,peasant-monk1 ,luther1 stood at the head and in the centre of the first movement1 the ,picardese bourgeois lawyer and ,humanist1 ,calvin1 stands now at the head of this second movement4 ,born in #aeji1 he flees1 now an avowed ,protestant1 in #aece to ,basle2 and in the spring of #aecf publishes his ,institutio ,religionis ,christianae1 which was destined to remain his chief work4 ,now it was in the summer of that year that ,calvin went to stay at the ,court of ,rene de ,valois1 daughter of the ,french ,king ,louis ,,xii1 and ,duchess of ,ferrara1 who had already been gained over to the cause of the ,lutheran ,reformers2 and who was now influenced1 by her grim1 relentless guest1 to move still further away from the ,old ,church4 ,and though the ,roman ,inquisition succeeded in forcing ,calvin to leave ,italy1 after not many weeks' stay3 yet the cases of ,vittoria ,colonna1 ,bernardino ,occhino1 and of our ,tommaso ,moro1 show us all plainly1 though each differently1 how complex and difficult1 how obscure and full of pitfalls1 was the situation for even permanently loyal and indeed saintly1 and still more for simply earnest and eager1 souls4 ,for ,vittoria ,colonna1 that truly saint-like daughter of the ,church1 not only stays1 during the following year1 with the ,duchess ,rene at ,ferrara1 and indeed stands ,god-mother to her daughter ,eleonora 7born ,june #ai1 #aecg71 the child that1 later on1 became the friend of the poet ,tasso3 but ,vittoria is the close friend and confidante of that most zealous preacher1 that restless1 ardent1 absolute-minded ,bernardino ,occhino1 who1 born in ,siena in #adhg1 had joined the ,franciscan ,reform1 the later ,capuchins1 in #aecd1 and indeed1 in #aeci1 became their ,general4 ,it is to ,vittoria indeed that1 on his deciding not to obey the summons to ,rome1 there to defend himself against the 7no doubt1 in part1 unfair7 attacks upon his teaching1 he1 in the night of ,august #bb1 #aedb1 before his flight and abandonment of his ,order and of the ,church1 writes his still extant sad and saddening letter of self-exculpation4#cce ,but this latter catastrophe was not to take place till three years after the date at which ,i would now linger4 #b4 ,moro becomes a ,calvinist3 probable causes of this step4 ,it must1 ,i think1 have been through some influence emanating from the not very far away ,ferrara1 that the ,genoese ,tommaso ,moro was1 just about this time1 carried away into ,calvinism4 ,we must not forget that1 deplorable as was such an aberration1 there were two excuses for him1 which would apply no doubt1 in varying degrees1 to many others even of those who were1 at this time1 permanently lost to the ,church4 ,for one thing the views held1 and allowably held1 during two or three generations1 on points of ,grace and ,free-will1 of ,predestination and the corruption of the natural man1 by even those whom the ,church eventually raised to her ,altars1 were1 as a matter of fact1 less removed from the ,protestant ,reformers' positions1 than were probably any views 7with the exception of the extreme ,jansenist position7 which have prevailed in the ,catholic ,church since the ,protestant ,reformation4 ,st4 ,catherine1 ,moro's fellow ,god-parent1 had expressed herself1 in certain moods1 in so rigoristic a sense on these deep matters1 as to invite the comment of the ,bollandist ,sticker that these passages are caute legenda4#ccf ,yet ,catherine1 in speaking thus1 simply resembled probably all her really earnest contemporaries--witness the great ,paris ,chancellor ,jean ,gerson1 some time before1 and the devoted ,cardinals ,contarini and ,morone and ,vittoria ,colonna1 a little after ,catherine's own zenith4#ccg ,again1 the practical1 moral abuses were most real and often very pressing2 and whilst the numerous attempts at ,reform extending now over a century 7the ,council of ,constance had assembled in #adad7 had emphasized this fact1 they had also plainly shown1 by their practical abortiveness1 how very difficult the attainment of such a universally desired ,reform persisted in appearing1 if there was to be no final breach with ,rome4 ,and the fullest consequences of such a breach could not be present to the experience1 or even to the imagination1 of the first who made it1 as they are to us1 or even as they were after the second step of the ,romanic ,revolution had been taken by ,lelio ,socino1 the ,sienese and his nephew ,fausto ,socino1 the founders of ,socinianism1 who died respectively in #aefb and #afjd1--the former shortly after ,occhino had died1 in #aefj1 miserably alone and out of the ,catholic ,roman ,church4 #c4 ,battista's letter to ,moro1 ,september #aecg2 its effect4 ,now it was on ,september #aj1 #aecg1 that his ,augustinian ,god-daughter wrote1 to her now ,calvinist ,god-father1 a letter which occupies five pages of print in the fifth1 a handsome octavo1 edition of her works published in ,genoa in #agee4 ,though the earliest of all her extant1 or at least of her printed1 letters1 it is evidently an answer to a communication of his1 in which he had urged certain objections against the ,roman ,church4 ,and that communication must have been provoked by a first letter from herself--a letter which1 though probably less theologically interesting and learned1 will have been more uniformly touching than the one preserved4 ,yet if that first note had clearly succeeded in getting him to state his case1 this second letter also1 we shall see1 completely attained its still more important object4 ,moro had insisted that the ,roman ,church followed merely human inventions in the matter of 7#a7 ,fasting2 7#b7 ,confession2 7#c7 the ,real ,presence2 7#d7 ,public ,prayer and ,psalmody2 7#e7 ,vows2 and 7#f7 ,extreme ,unction4--,the order is curious1 but is evidently not hers but his4 ,extreme ,unction stands in the obvious position--at the end4 ,the vows of ,religion immediately precede it1 probably because1 at this time1 they typified something not only irrevocable but sepulchral to this ardent ,calvinist4 ,public ,prayer and ,psalmody would naturally precede these vows1 as an appropriate link between the life of the cloister1 so largely given to the ,divine ,office1 and the ,real ,presence1 its celebration being and requiring the most marked of all the exhibitions of ,public ,prayer4 ,confession would stand before the ,real ,presence1 as being actually practised before the reception of ,communion4 ,and ,fasting1 finally1 would precede ,confession1 and would1 most characteristically1 head the whole list1 because the completest and most universally binding of all ,fasts is that which is antecedent to ,holy ,communion2 and because1 in beginning thus1 ,moro can start his attack on the ,church by the criticism of something that is obviously and avowedly external4 ,the tone of ,battista's answer is interesting throughout1 for a double reason4 ,there is in it a successful1 very difficult combination of filial respect and of lofty reproof2 and there runs through all the argumentation a sort of legal hard-headedness1 entirely in its place on the lips of the lawyer's daughter in dealing with her lawyer correspondent4 ,i give her answers to his second and fifth objections1 since the former is interesting as touching on the point of the obligation and frequency of ,sacramental ,confession1 which has occupied us much in her ,god-mother's life2 and the latter gives a vivid insight into ,battista's own deeply genuine and happy vocation4 ,as to ,confession1 she writes3 8,you hold one opinion1 and the ,church holds another2 and to this ,church it has not appeared good to constrain us to confess ourselves in public1 nor always to manifest our whole interior to any and every man who may reprehend us4 ,in this latter case we should have been left without any protection4 ,you grudge obeying her once a year2 how then would you carry out the other plan8 ,certainly the said ,church would have but little authority if she could not lay down ordinances1 according to her own judgment1 concerning the mode 7of administration and reception7 of the ,sacraments already ordained by ,christ40 ,as to ,vows1 she finishes up by declaring3 8,according to my humble judgment1 that thing cannot be called slavery which a soul elects for itself1 by an act of free choice alone1 and with a supreme desire4 ,and in this matter you really can trust me1 since here ,i am1 living under the very test of experience1 and yet ,i have no consciousness of being bound to any obligation3 so little indeed that1 if ,i had full licence from ,god to do all those things of which ,i have deprived myself by my vows1 ,i would do neither more nor less than what ,i now am actually doing2 indeed no taste for anything beyond these latter things arises within me4 ,how then do you come to give the name of servitude to that which gets embraced thus with supreme delight8 ,perchance you will say #8not every one is thus disposed4' ,my dear ,sir3 he who does not find this inclination within him1 let him not execute it4 ,neither ,christ nor ,his ,church constrain any one in this matter40#cch ,the effect of this homely and sensible1 straightforward and firm1 first-hand witness to a strong soul's full daily life of faith and self-expansion in and for ,christ in ,his extension1 the ,old ,church1 was evidently decisive1 perhaps immediate4 ,it is at least certain that ,tommaso ,moro came back to the ,roman obedience2 that he became and died a ,priest and ,religious2 and that his return is universally attributed to the instrumentality of this letter4#cci ,,iii4 ,,battista',s ,,colloquies1 ,,november #aeed ,,to ,,ascension-,,day #aeee4 ,yet her letters form but a small part of the literary output of this many-sided woman4 ,her printed writings fill six stout volumes1 in all some #b1djj octavo pages1 and fall into four chief divisions4 ,the independent verses consist only of four 8,canticles of ,divine ,love10 twelve 8,spiritual ,canticles10 and five 8,sonnets40 ,yet even the second division1 which alone fills quite five out of the six volumes1 and consists of ,spiritual ,discourses or ,dissertations1 contains much verse1 since the ,discourse 7which invariably takes its title and starting-point from some1 originally or interpretatively1 ,mystical ,biblical text7 usually finishes up with a chapter of eight verses1 in which she sums up metrically the doctrine which she has just expounded in finely balanced and stately prose4 ,mostly proceeding from some ,pauline1 or1 more often still1 some ,joannine text1 these writings evince throughout a fine ,christian-,platonist breadth of outlook and concentration and expansion of devotional feeling1 and have much of that unfading freshness which appertains to the universal experiences of religion1 wherever these are experienced deeply and anew and are communicated largely in the form and tone of their actual experimentation4 ,these ,discourses would also1 of course1 furnish all but endless parallels and illustrations to ,catherine's teachings4 ,yet it is the last two divisions of ,battista's writings which are the most entirely characteristic and suggestive--her ,colloquies and her ,letters4 ,as to the seventy-five pages of letters1 ,i have already given extracts from two1 of the years #aeha and #aehi1 and shall presently give portions of two others1 of the years #aege and #aegf4 ,but in this section ,i want to translate and comment upon a considerable portion of her ,colloquies1 so interesting for various reasons1 all directly connected with the subject of this book4 ,these contemporary annotations occupy only eleven pages of print1 but they constitute1 ,i think1 one of the most instructive first-hand documents of mystical and religious psychology in existence1 and have nowhere1 as yet1 received any of the comparative and analytic study they so richly deserve4 ,it is but right to remember throughout1 that even all her other writings 7including the ,discourses which are so general and1 in a manner1 quite public in their tone7 were1 with the sole exception of her ,sonnets1 none of them printed with her knowledge and consent4 ,a certain ,secular ,priest1 ,gaspare ,scotto1 did indeed print some at least of the ,discourses1 without her knowledge1 during her long lifetime2 but the ,colloquies were certainly never meant for any eyes other than her own1 and were doubtless not printed1 or indeed known1 until after her death4 ,i suppose them to have first appeared in the collected edition of her works1 published in #afjb1 fifteen years after her demise4 ,now these ,colloquies belong to three periods4 ,the first set is timed vaguely una volta2 and the third is also but approximately fixed2 but the second1 by far the longest and most important series1 is1 at its main turning-points1 dated with absolute precision4 ,and since its authenticity1 the identity of the chronicler with the experiencing person1 and the complete contemporaneousness of the record1 are all beyond cavil or question 7the majority of the entries were evidently put down by her on the very day1 often probably within the hour1 of the cessation of the experience thus chronicled7--the document can serve as a simply first-hand illustration of1 and commentary on1 the analogous experiences of ,battista's ,god-mother1 experiences which1 in the latter case1 were nowhere recorded by their subject1 nor indeed by others till probably1 in some cases1 a considerable time after their occurrence4 ,and if here again there can be no difficulty1 for any sincere and consistent believer1 in holding that we have to do with enlightenments of the mind and stimulations of the affections and will1 proceeding as truly from ,god as they led back to ,him3 we cannot but1 here again1 find plentiful indications of the antecedent material1 and of the co-operation1 response1 and special colour furnished throughout by the human subject's special sex and age1 race and period1 temperament1 training1 and reading4 ,not all the latter conditions put together would explain even half of the total experience2 yet had these conditions been different1 the total experience would have differed1 not indeed in its fundamental contents1 yet in its special forms and applications4 ,as matters stand1 these latter are often strikingly like those manifested in the teaching of ,catherine1 ,battista's fellow-,genoese4 ,i will now take the nine most interesting days of this series1#cdj stopping after certain of them to point out parallels and peculiarities4 #a4 ,experience of ,november #ag1 #aeed4 8,on 7,saturday7 ,november #ag1 #aeed0 7,battista was now fifty-seven and a half years old71 8having1 before ,holy ,communion1 a great desire to die to all things1 ,i prayed with all my heart that ,god1 in the most perfect manner possible1 would slay me and unite me with ,himself4 ,and in so doing ,i renounced into ,his hands all myself and everything existing under heaven1 whilst electing ,god anew as my only ,love1 my only ,solace1 my only ,comfort1 and my ,all4 ,and ,i refused to accept every consolation arising from such interiorness1 however holy the latter might be1 except inasmuch as the consolation arises whilst the interior is distinctly occupied with ,god1 and does not turn its gaze upon itself or upon any 7other7 belovd object4 ,even if ,i could enjoy all this1 quite justly1 till the day of judgment1 ,i renounce it all4 ,nothing pleases me1 except my ,god4 ,and if ,i were assured1 which ,god forbid1 of going 7to abide7 under ,lucifer1 still would ,i will1 neither more nor less than my ,god alone4 ,and it would be grievous to me to embrace1 even for one single hour1 anything else but ,him4--,after this ,communion ,i remained with a most intense impression of renouncing1 with regard to all things and to all moments1 all myself and every other thing that is lower than ,thee2 and with a determination to keep ,forty ,days of silence1 depriving myself during them1 as far as my own will and inclination went1 even of such reasoning as turned on religious subjects4--,and acting thus1 by means of ,thy grace alone1 ,i arrived1 in my inner heart1 at having no other actions left1 except those of adoring ,thee and praying for all men4 ,whence it happened that ,i experienced the most quiet and consoling week that1 possibly1 ,i have ever had1 up to this hour1 in all my life40 ,it is clear that even the first part of this week's experience was not written down later than at the end of that week2 indeed it reads more as if written down on at least two1 and perhaps three1 occasions4 ,we have here many close parallels to ,catherine3 to her exclamation of 8,god is my ,being ''' my ,delight02 to the ,divine ,voice heard by her1 8,i do not wish thee henceforth to turn thine eyes to right or left02 to the question asked1 and the interior answer heard1 by her1 as to 8love and union not being able to exist without a great contentment of soul02 to her assertions that 8the attribution to her own separate self of even one single meritorious act1 would be to her as though a ,hell10 and that 8she would rather remain in eternal condemnation than be saved by such an act of the separate self02 to her ,love saying within her1 8that ,he wanted her to keep the ,forty ,days in ,his ,company in the ,desert02 and to her declaration that she could not pray for ,vernazza and his fellow-disciples separately1 but could only 8present them0 collectively 8in ,his presence40 ,and in ,battista's phrase of 8going under ,lucifer10 we have again1 if we take it together with the renunciation of 8all things lower than ,god10 an illustration of those sayings of ,catherine which ,i have grouped under the special category of 8up0 and 8above40#cda ,and note1 in ,battista's record1 how the contradiction1 which appears between her affirmation of having love for ,god alone1 and the admission that she loved herself and other things 7since she is determined not to let her mental gaze rest upon these latter beloved objects71 is more apparent than real4 ,for the former love is the direct and central object of her fully deliberate and free endeavours2 the latter is instinctive1 continuous1 inevitable1 but1 inasmuch as it now still remains actively willed at all1 it is but the consequential and peripheral object of that willing4 ,as in all deep religion there is here an heroic willing at work to effect a genuine displacement of the centre and object of interest2 the system from being instinctively man-centred1 becomes a freely willed ,god-centredness4 #b4 ,experience of ,november #be1 #aeed4 8,on ,sunday0 7,november #be71 8the ,feast of ,st4 ,catherine0 7,virgin ,martyr of ,alexandria7 8was being celebrated4 ,and ,i communicated with new emotion4 ,and when ,i received the ,host1 ,i willed ,thee1 my ,god1 alone2 renouncing all the rest into ,thy hands3 ,i but desired to die and unite myself with ,thee4 ,and ,i felt within me those colloquies of ,thine own extreme love2 and ,thou didst say unto me1 ,o my ,joy1 #8,the thing that thou seekest is 7already7 produced eternally in ,my ,divine ,mind4 ,thou desirest to feed on mutability1 and ,i desire to feed thee on eternity4' ,and ,i do not remember in what connection ,thou didst say1#8 ,ego ero merces tua magna nimis' 7,gen4 xv1 #a740 ,here1 on her ,god-mother's ,saint's day1 we find that act of pure love at the moment of ,holy ,communion so dear to ,catherine also2 and we get here1 as in the previous group 7but here1 even on occasion of the ,holy ,eucharist71 prayer and aspiration directed to ,god pure and simple1 or to ,god conceived as ,love and ,joy1 precisely as in the ,fiesca's ordinary practice4#cdb ,and the inner voice1 if it says deeply mystical things1 also directly quotes ,scripture in ,latin1 whilst the scrupulous care of ,battista1 in registering her oblivion of the precise context in which this quotation appeared1 is interestingly characteristic of her nature and experience4 #c4 ,experience of ,december 7#i871 #aeed4 8,on ,sunday0 7,december #i87 8,i communicated2 and ,i experienced within myself the most tender colloquies of ,thy ,majesty1 which said to me1 #8,the time will come when thou must be so occupied with ,me--with ,my ,divinity1 ,my ,infinity1 ,my ,glory--that1 even if thou shouldst so wish1 thou wouldest be unable to break off this preoccupation4 ,i have elected thee from amongst thousands4 ,i want to make thee ,my very ,self4' ''' ,then ,thou saidst unto me1 #8,i do not want thee to merit1 but to return the love which ,i ever bear thee4'0#cdc ,here we have parallels to ,catherine's practice and declarations in ,battista's ever-growing occupation with ,god2 in her1 at first sight1 strongly pantheistic1 because apparently substantial1 identification of her true self with ,god2 and in her doctrine that ,god desires not that we should merit1 but that we should1 by purely loving1 make ,him a return of ,his own pure love4 ,and1 as but an apparent contrast1 note how here it is ,god ,who chooses out ,battista's soul from amongst thousands2 whilst1 with ,catherine1 we have herself instinctively choosing out ,god1 even were ,he1 per impossible1 like to one of the whole ,court of ,heaven 7the angels1 8whose number is thousands of thousands10 ,apoc4 v1 #aa74 ,for the difference consists1 at bottom1 only in the fact that each dwells1 in these special instances1 upon the other half of the complete mystic circle of the divine and human intercourse4 ,the same complete scheme is1 in reality1 experienced and proclaimed both by the widow and the nun1--indeed ,god's prevenient election of the soul1 and ,his special attention to it1 is even more strongly emphasized by the older woman3 8,it appears to me1 indeed1 that ,god has no other business than myself40#cdd ,remark1 too1 how here again an unmistakable text of ,scripture appears as part of the words heard by ,battista4 ,but since it is a composite quotation--8,i have elected thee10 coming from ,isa4 xliii1 #aj2 xliv1 #a2 xlviii1 #aj2 and 8elected among thousands10 coming from ,cant4 v1 #aj1 where the elect is 7as with ,catherine7 the ,bridegroom1 and not 7as with ,battista7 the ,bride1--therefore1 no doubt1 it does not appear in ,latin or with any reference4 #d4 ,experience of ,december #af1 #aeed4 8,the following ,sunday0 7,december #af7 8,i communicated with a greater desire for ,union than usual1 and with a more detailed sight concerning it4 ,and after this communion ,i prayed in such a state of ,union1--without any means either of thoughts or of anything else that could be made to intervene1 remaining naked in ,thy bosom as ,i have been from eternity4 ,and whilst praying thus1 ,i felt that certain words were being spoken within me1 the gist of which 7la sentenza7 seems to me to have been1 that my prayer did not reach to the reality of ,union itself4 ,so that there then came to my mind that which ,paul says1 ,rom4 viii 7#bf71 that #8we do not know how to pray sicut oportet4' ,and ,thou saidst to me that1 above all understanding of mine1 ,thou wouldest produce the effect2 indeed the thing is already effected continuously in ,thy divine mind4 ,and ,thou saidst to me1 my only ,love1 that ,thou didst will to make me ,thyself2 and that ,thou wast all mine1 with all that ,thou hadst and with all ,paradise2 and that ,i was all ,thine4 ,that ,i should leave all1 or rather the nothing2 and that 7then7 ,thou wouldst give me the all4 ,and that ,thou hadst given me this name--at which words ,i heard within me #8dedi te in lucem gentium'--not without good reason4 ,and it seemed then1 as though ,i had an inclination for nothing except the purest ,union1 without any means1 in accordance with that detailed sight which ,thou hadst given me4 ,so then ,i said to ,thee3 #8,these other things1 give them to whom ,thou wilt2 give me but this most pure ,union with ,thee1 free from every means4'0 ,here we again have numerous parallels4 ,battista's state of ,union1 without any means that could be made to intervene1 compares readily with ,catherine's declaration3 8,i cannot abide to see that word #8for' 7,god7 and #8in' 7,god71 since they denote to my mind something that can stand between ,god and myself40 ,battista's description1 8remaining naked in ,thy bosom1 as ,i have been from eternity10 resembles ,catherine's sayings3 8,true love wills to stand naked4 ,this naked love sees the truth02 8the soul in that state of cleanness in which it was created02 8the angels and man1 when disobedient1 were clothed in sin02 and the words heard by her3 8,i want thee naked1 naked40 ,the answer granted to ,battista1 that 8possessing her ,lord1 her only ,love1 she possessed at the same time all ,paradise10 recalls ,catherine's declaration that 8if of what her heart felt but one drop were to fall into ,hell1 ,hell itself would become ,eternal ,life40 ,and ,battista's prayer1 8these other things1 give them to whom ,thou wilt2 give me but this most pure ,union with ,thee10 is substantially like ,catherine's answer to the ,friar1 8that you should merit more than myself--,i leave that in your hands2 but that ,i cannot love ,him as much as you1 is a thing that you will never by any means get me to understand40#cde ,and we get here two further interesting particularities as to such 8locutions40 ,in this case ,battista only 8feels10 at the time of their occurrence1 that certain words are being spoken within her 7once before she has used that remarkably general term1 instead of the more obvious and specific 8hear072 and she possesses1 on coming 7evidently soon after7 to write them down1 a but approximate remembrance of them1 and a certainty as to their substance alone4 ,and then we find here the interesting case of two different simultaneous locutions3 one voice referring to the name which our ,lord had given her1 and another1 at this point1 quoting the text1 8dedi te in lucem gentium40 ,the text1 in this full form1 occurs in ,isaiah xlix1 #f1 and is there spoken by ,god to ,his servant ,israel1 v4 #c2 but part of it1 expanded to 8a light to the revelation of the ,gentiles10 is1 in ,luke ii1 #cb1 quoted by ,simeon of ,christ4 ,we thus1 in this place1 get three different1 yet simultaneous1 levels of consciousness within ,battista's soul3 her own 7more or less ordinary7 consciousness and 8voice0 recognized by her own self1 as such2 another1 deeper1 extraordinary consciousness and 8voice0 proceeding1 according to her apprehension1 from our ,lord's presence and action within her2 and finally a third1 deepest consciousness and 8voice0 taken1 ,i presume1 to be directly communicated by ,god ,himself4 ,it is to be noted that1 though interior 8locutions0 seem to have been fairly frequent with ,catherine1 there is no case on record in her life of more than two levels of consciousness1 two 8voices10 at one and the same moment1 her own and ,love's4 #e4 ,experience of ,december #bc1 #bd1 #aeed4 8,the following night0 7,december #bc to #bd71 8,i woke up and found impressed upon my mind 7the words73 #8comedite bonum1' ,isaiah lv 7#b74 ,and this impression remained with me 7throughout the day71--an impression of eating ,god1 and of inviting all others to the same ,divine food4--,in the evening1--it was the ,vigil of the ,nativity1--,i had a sight of how1 ,god ,himself having taken our nature1 and having done so as the ,infinite one1 the very greatest virtue must be diffused throughout this same 7human7 nature3 a truth which he knew who says3 #8,plena est omnis terra gloria eius1' ,isaiah vi 7#c74 ,if by one man sin entered into all1 by a ,god-man how much good has not entered into us all8 ,romans v1 #ae-ai4 ,if ,god has made ,himself ,flesh1 what virtue is there which ,he has denied to this same flesh8--,and in the night of the ,nativity1 after ,matins1 ,i had a sight of that extreme1 eternal and incomprehensible ,love1 which1 unable to abide within ,itself1 had become ecstatic into the thing ,it loved1 and had indeed1 by means of ,its ,almighty power1 become that very thing4 ,whence it is that1 seeing ,thy ,majesty gone forth out of ,thyself and become me1 ,i was determined1 in virtue of that self-same love1 to go forth from myself and1 in every manner1 make myself into ,thy very ,self4 ,and ,thou1 my ,god1 didst say that ,thou hadst descended to the same degree as that to which ,thou wantedst man to ascend40 ,here ,battista's 8impression of eating ,god1 and of inviting all others to the same ,divine food0 is substantially identical with ,catherine's doctrine as to the 8,one ,bread1 ,god10 and 8all creatures hungering for this ,one ,bread40 ,battista's sight of 8,god being diffused throughout human nature10 is analogous to ,catherine's teaching as to no creature existing that does not1 in some measure1 participate in ,his goodness1--although1 with characteristic difference1 ,battista dwells on the ennoblement of that nature through the ,incarnation of ,god1 and ,catherine insists upon the nobility contemporaneous with1 and intrinsic to1 ,man's original ,creation4 ,and ,battista's determination to go forth from herself is identical1 in substance1 with all the sayings of ,catherine which ,i have grouped under the 8outside0 8outwards0 category4#cdf ,and note how1 in this group1 ,battista mentally sees1 instead of interiorly hearing1 the truth of the ,incarnation of the ,infinite1 and of the consequent ennobling of our whole nature2 how this sight then suggests to her mind a definite text 7recognized by herself as such71 and then an amplification of another text 7not perhaps identified by her as such at all73 and how the transition from that sight to these texts is so smooth and rapid that it is practically impossible to mark off precisely where she held the simply given experience to end1 and her own action and comment to begin4 ,the fact of the matter no doubt is that1 in both cases1 though very possibly in different degrees1 there was divine and human action indistinguishably co-operant throughout4 ,and mark again how her 8vista0--8of that extreme1 eternal1 and incomprehensible ,love which had become #8ecstatic' into the ,thing it loves02 her consequent determination to 8go forth from herself10 and the voice which told her that ,he wanted her 8to ascend in the same degree as ,he had descended03 all goes back1 for its literary suggestion1 to the ,dionysian 8,divine ,names03 8,divine ,love is ecstatic1 not permitting any to be lovers of themselves but of those beloved4 ,the very ,author of all things1 through an overflow of ,his loving goodness1 becomes #8out of ,himself1' and is led down from the eminence above all1 to being in all40 8,he is at once moving and conducting ,power to ,himself1 as it were a sort of everlasting circle40 8,let us restore all loves back to the one and enfolded ,love and ,father of them all40#cdg ,not the less truly did ,battista's mental lights and voluntary determinations come from ,god1 because they consisted1 for the most part1 in a vivid realization and acceptation1 in and for her particular case1 on this ,christmas night in #aeed1 of spiritual facts and truths which had been slowly and successively revealed1 experienced1 and formulated as far back as the ,hebrew ,prophets and the ,greek ,plato1 and above all by our ,lord1 and in ,st4 ,paul's writings and the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,these truths were none the less hers1 because they had been successively experienced and proclaimed1 so long ago by others2 and their suggestion and realization to and in her1 were as truly the work of ,god in her own case as they were in that of those others4 #f4 ,experience of ,december #bg1 #aeed4 8,this morning0 7,december #bg71 8which is the ,feast of the ,evangelist ,john1 when ,i awoke1 ,i suddenly heard the words being spoken within my mind3 #8,to-day ,i am determined to divide thy soul from thy spirit'--and later on1 when the ,host was being elevated at ,mass and ,i was praying about this matter1 ,i had a sight or ,thou didst say unto me--,i cannot remember precisely which it was1--enough1 it appeared to me that as1 when the soul is divided from the body1 the soul1 in so far as immortal1 flies to its destined place1 and the entire body remains dead3 so also1 when the almighty hand of ,god makes a similar division of the soul from the spirit1 the former1 the animal part 7of man71 remains dead1 but the spirit1 7truly7 free 7at last71 flies to its natural place1 which is ,god1 the ,living ,fountain40 ,here we are at once reminded of ,catherine's experience of 8,love once speaking within her mind02 of her sayings which dwell on the separation of the soul from the body1 and on the flight of the spirit to its natural place1 ,god2 and of her sight of 8the living ,fountain0 of ,goodness4#cdh ,but ,battista's psychology is entirely clear and self-consistent1 as to the precise extension of1 and the precise distinction between1 the terms 8spirito0 and 8anima02 whereas1 in the authentic sayings of ,catherine1 8anima0 is used sometimes as inclusive of1 and sometimes in contradistinction to1 8spirito40 ,we shall see how it is only the later systematizing ,dialogo-writer who brings perfect consistency1 and a scheme identical with ,battista's1 into ,catherine's terminology4 ,yet in ,catherine's image of the assimilation of bread by man1 in illustration of the assimilation of man's nature by ,god1 we find ,battista's two stages of the divisional process4 ,for there the body is first purified up to the actual level of the soul1 and then the soul itself is purified perfectly1 its animal part being eliminated or dominated by the spiritual part4#cdi ,it is interesting1 too1 to note how ,battista cannot decide here whether this interpretation of the short sentence she had heard was mentally seen or interiorly heard by her2 indeed1 she is sure only that1 whilst she was praying to understand the meaning of that sentence1 the meaning thus sought appeared to her1 by some means or other1 to be so and so4 ,it is then abundantly clear from this1 that the difference between an interior sight and an interior voice1 and again between either of these and the admittedly normal workings of her own mind1 was1 at times1 so delicate1 as either not to be clear to her own consciousness1 even at the very time of the experience2 or1 at least1 to fade away from her memory before she came to chronicle the experience4 #g4 ,experience of ,january #f1 #aeee4 8,on the ,feast of the ,epiphany0 7,january #f1 #aeee71 8before ,communion1 ,i felt ineffable and most tender colloquies1 and greatly ,i rejoiced because of them4 ,for ,i had caused ,masses to be said and prayers to be prayed1 by various persons during many days1 with the intention that1 if these colloquies were not from ,thee1 ,i might no more experience them2 but that1 if they were ,thine1 they might be produced within me more clearly and more efficaciously4 ,and seeing that ,i now felt them more than usual1 and in a more admirable manner1 ,i had and have a firm hope that they were ,thine4 ,whence it happened that 7having1 on that same blessed day1 to go up to receive ,thee in the ,sacrament71 ,i felt ,thy ,majesty more than once calling me within me1 #8,come1 since ,i want to devour thee entirely4' ''' ,it seems to me that #8entirely' was one of the words1 but ,i have no firm remembrance of this4 ,but ,i know well that ,thou saidst several times1 #8,come1 since ,i want to devour thee4' ''' ,to me it seemed that ,i merited rather to go under ,lucifer1 than into the ,infinite ,light 7,luce740 ,we get here a number of interesting parallels and contrasts to ,catherine's teaching and practice4 ,god's devouring of the soul2 ,god pictured as ,light2 souls conceived as higher up or lower down in space1 according to their degree of goodness or of badness2 even the pleasure in a play upon words3 all this finds its close counterpart in ,catherine4#cej ,but far more important is the difference in the subject-matter of their scruples and in their respective attitudes towards psychically unusual experiences4 ,in ,catherine's case there is no record of anxieties concerning other things than her degree of detachment and her administrative responsibilities2 indeed her whole practice and teaching1 continuously bent as they were upon the ethico-spiritual truth and upon the practical application of her unusual experiences1 make it morally certain that her anxieties never turned upon these forms and means themselves4 ,she was1 as it were1 too much occupied with the content of the cup1 ever to be actively perplexed as to the cup itself4 ,battista1 on the contrary1 seems to have been quite free from scruples of ,catherine's melancholic type2 but did not1 evidently1 always soar as highly as her ,god-mother above all anxious occupation with the form of her experiences4 ,and1 indeed1 if1 in this instance1 it was evidently the form of her experiences which perplexed her1 it was also the renewed and heightened experience of this peculiar form which reassured her4--,yet the very fact of such a perplexity1 and again the moderation with which1 even at the end of it all1 she but 8hopes that it all comes from ,god10 shows a healthy reluctance to trust too readily or too much to such tests and indications4 ,it would probably not be unfair to put her attitude towards such things midway between ,don ,marabotto's readiness of belief and ,catherine's soaring ethico-spiritual transcendence4 ,it is noticeable too that1 if the inner voice is more distinct than before1 ,battista's anxious care for accuracy is also1 if possible1 more on the alert than ever3 witness her remarks as to the word 8all40 #h4 ,experience of the ,second ,sunday in ,lent1 #aeee4 8,on the second ,sunday 7in ,lent71 having communicated1 ,i felt ,thine ineffable reasonings2 but1 since ,i did not write them down at once1 ,i do not any more venture to write them down1 having in great part lost the memory of them4 ,but this ,i remember1 that the words were like those which the ,bridegroom says to the ,bride in the ,canticle 7of ,canticles740 ,here the difference between this form of apprehension and that of ordinary vivid thinking is so faintly distinct1 that she can only declare that she 8felt0 7without deciding between hearing1 seeing1 or any other of the more definite senses7 8reasonings0 7without being sure of their 8explicitation0 in words or images72 and she herself recognized at the time1 and later on remembers that contemporary recognition of1 their likeness to the texts of the ,canticle of ,canticles4 ,it is evidently the profound reluctance1 cultivated by her for half a century or more1 to treat the deepest acts of the soul as other than directly and exclusively the acts of ,god in that soul1 which makes her not see and admit here the large co-operation of her own mind4 ,remark also a characteristic difference from ,catherine1 in that the latter's teaching is1 we have already seen1 entirely free from any influences characteristic of the ,song of ,songs4 #i4 ,experience of ,ascension ,day1 #aeee4 8,on the ,lord's ,ascension ,day ,thou didst say to me1 ,o my ,love1 that1 up to this point1 ,i had walked by ,faith1 but that now ,thou wast determined to give me direct assurance 7certezza72 and that there was no occasion for me to go on writing down ,thy words1 since ,i should read them in my own experience4 ,and on my asking what ,thou wouldst operate within me1 ,thou didst affirm to me that ,i should ever possess ,thee in my heart40--8,another time ,i felt that ,i was being told3 #8,i generate ,my ,son1 having an infinite ,cognition of ,myself2 similarly ,i generate thee1 by infusing into thee that same cognition4 ,but 7this7 ,my ,cognition is without measure2 and thine shall be according to that measure which ,i shall1 by ,my goodness1 be impelled to give thee1 in suchwise that of this cognition and of thine intellect there shall be effected one identical thing2 so that ,i shall place ,my ,word1 ,my ,concept1 which ,i possess within ,myself1 in thee1 according to the capacity for it which ,i shall deign to give thee2 and so that1 again1 thy spirit shall be a son within ,my ,son1 or rather one only son with ,him3 and thus will ,i have generated thee4' ,hence1 ,o ,lord1 according to this ,thy showing1 those are generated by ,thee1 who1 united by grace to ,thy ,majesty1 repose in ,thy ,paternal ,bosom1 together with ,thine only ,begotten4 ,but ,he is by nature one sole substance with ,thee--,he whom ,thou art ever ineffably generating2 and we are united with ,thee1 through reposing in ,thy bosom by simple grace and by a singular privilege of ,thy love2 and in so far as we thus abide there in ,thee1 ,thou generatest us in more and more light and ardour4 ,hence then ,thou generatest him who abides in ,thee40 ,we have here1 in the last locution of this series1 the most complicated and seemingly original of them all4 ,yet here we can still find parallels to ,catherine3 in the addressing of ,god as 8my ,love02 in the fact that the locution proceeds from1 and its interpretation is submitted1 not to our ,lord1 but to ,god1 to ,him who indeed generates ,his ,son without measure and directly1 yet all other souls also1 though in measure and by and through ,his ,son2 and in the declaration that now she should have a kind of direct assurance in lieu of ,faith4#cea ,and here especially we can trace the large ,neo-,platonist 7,dionysian7 element in ,battista's ,mysticism4 ,there is the first1 perfect circle1 ,god's perfect cognition of ,himself1 a cognition which produces a fresh 7though co-eternal7 centre of cognition1 which latter in return perfectly cognizes ,him who perfectly cognized it4 ,and then there is a derivative imperfect circle--since that perfect cognizedness and cognizing1 which is ,god's ,son1 can only be imperfectly imparted to the souls of creatures3 yet again we have a circle for the very thing which is cognized by ,god is1 in this instance also1 the same which cognizes ,him4 ,and lastly1 this distance between the perfect and imperfect circles is1 as far as possible1 overcome by an attempted and momentary identification of the perfectly cognized and cognizing circle1 ,christ1 with the perfectly cognized but imperfectly cognizing one1 every human soul in its potentiality and divinely intended end4 ,and this large ,platonist scheme of a progression of ,ideas appears here coloured and ,christianized1 by means of four scriptural texts in particular3 ,ps4 cix1 #ca1 8in the brightness 7splendours7 of the saints1 from the womb1 before the day star 7,lucifer7 ,i begot thee02 ,john i1 #ah1 8the only-begotten ,son1 who is in the bosom of the ,father02 xiii1 #bc1 8there was leaning on ,jesus' bosom one of ,his disciples whom ,jesus loved02 and ,luke xvi1 #bc1 8the rich man beheld ,abraham from afar1 and ,lazarus in his bosom40 ,the first two passages give her the eternal and continuous generation and abiding of the ,son by and in the ,father2 and the last two suggest a similar abiding and 7interpretatively7 generation1 together with that ,son1 of the faithful soul1 in and by ,god1 continuously and for ever4 ,note1 too1 the double meaning1 so characteristic of mystical utterances1 contained in the sentence1 8,i generate ,my ,son1 having an infinite ,cognition of ,myself02 which indicates both the mode of generation 78by means of an infinite cognition071 and the nature of the generated one 78who has an infinite cognition074 ,and by this literary device1 the intense close-knitness of the perfect circle is strikingly adumbrated4 ,and remark how ,battista finishes up this soaring flight by an interpretation of a perfect sobriety4 ,indeed it is this moderation and good sense along with so immense an ,idealism and intense ,interiority which1 together1 constitute her noblest characteristic and should make us overlook the comparative absence of spontaneous charm and tender freshness1 which cannot but strike us if we allow ourselves to contrast the piety of ,battista with that of ,catherine4 ,,iv4 ,,some ,,further ,,letters ,,of ,,battista1 #aege ,,to #aeha4 ,before the experiences and confidences of an almost painful privacy and emotional intensity1 which require1 in part1 a considerable amount of patient interpretation from us1 if they are to move and touch us1 we found and dwelt upon a moral attitude and a document full of immediately understandable heroism and virile common-sense3 the scene with her father before his death-ride1 and the letter to ,dottore ,moro4 ,and1 somewhat similarly1 three further documents succeed to these intermediate confidences1 documents full of love and esteem for the externally ordinary vocation of the vast majority of us all1 of a large undaunted outlook1 and of a shrewd and persevering public spirit4 ,the apparent mental contraction and subjectivity we have just passed through with her is but the recollective movement1 the1 as it were1 drawing itself together for the spring of action on the part of an already large and expansive soul1 and leads on and out to fresh and still larger horizons1 and1 indeed1 effects them4 #a4 ,letter to ,donna ,anguisola1 #aege4 ,we have first a letter of ,june #aj1 #aege 7,battista was now seventy-eight years of age1 and had been a ,religious for sixty-five years7 addressed to a widowed noblewoman with young children--the ,illustrious ,lady ,andronica ,anguisola4#ceb ,the reader will note the transition1 evidently quite natural and spontaneous in the writer1 from a soaring ,mysticism1 full of ,pauline1 ,joannine1 and ,dionysian forms1 and of deep1 personally experimental content1 to the most practical and shrewd1 wisely unflinching1 homely heroism4 ,there are few documents1 ,i think1 which show with an equal impressiveness how startlingly direct and immediate can be and is the application of such1 apparently1 purely transcendental1 serene contemplations and affections to the struggling1 clamorous world of our human passions1 circumstances1 difficulties1 and duties3 and how only that transcendence and this immanence1 taken and working thus together1 give to the soul a height without inflation1 and a concrete particularity without pettiness4 ,i shall break up the long letter into three sections1 omitting only two1 relatively commonplace1 passages in the middle and at the end2 and shall again point out certain parallels and peculiarities at the end of each section4 7#a7 ,opening of the letter4 8,most ,honoured ,madam in the ,crucified1 8#8,i have come to place 7cast7 fire upon the earth1 and what will ,i but that it be enkindled' 7,luke xii1 #di74 ,by these most divine words we can understand1 in part1 to what a supreme degree such a most happy fire is of importance1 since the ,eternal ,word came down from ,heaven to kindle it in ,his so dearly-loved rational earth4 ,and this great effect could not but follow1 since the ,paternal goodness willed to communicate to our misery the ardour which ,he possesses eternally in ,his ,heart4 ,and what else is this communication to us of ,his infinite love than the planting within our minds of ,his own intrinsic1 incomprehensible delights8 ,his ,majesty1 in ,his infinite courtesy1 takes ,his delights in abiding with the children of men 7,prov4 viii1 #ca74 ,but ,he desires that these delights should proceed from both sides1 so that1 as ,he takes these delights in us1 by ,his own intrinsic natural goodness1 ,he similarly wills that we1 by means of that same goodness which is poured into us by that fire which ,christ places upon our earth1--as ,paul demonstrates when he says 7,rom4 v1 #e71 #8,the charity of ,god is poured forth in our hearts by the ,holy ,ghost who is given to us1'--,he wills1 ,i say1 that1 set in motion by the immense potency of this infused fire1 we should place1 in return1 all our delights in ,his ,majesty2 and then1 to speak according to our human fashion1 ,his unmeasured love attains to its intent4 ,in this correspondence lie hidden away delights beyond all comprehension1 considering that it is ,his own goodness that comes down 7into us71 as ,he demonstrates when he says1 #8,we will come to him1 and will make our abode with him' 7,john xiv1 #bc72 and that ,he raises us up beyond all measure in suchwise that1 of the ,increate ,heart and of the created one1 there is made1 by the operation of ,him who says1 #8,the ,father who is in ,me1 worketh' 7,john x1 #ch2 v1 #ag71 a single most secret and inestimable union40 ,here1 again1 we find close parallels to ,catherine in 8,his own intrinsic incomprehensible delights10 8,his infinite courtesy10 8the immense virtue of this infused fire10 and 8to speak according to our human fashion40 ,and the whole general conception of a mutual and corresponding action and circle between ,god and the soul1 the whole movement beginning in and by ,god1 and leading back and ending in ,him1 is here1 once more1 the common property of ,battista and her ,god-mother4#cec ,yet 8,the ,crucified10 with which the whole letter opens1 and 8,his ,heart10 the 8,increate ,heart10 applied directly to ,god ,himself1 are expressions we should seek in vain in ,catherine4 ,the historical ,christ1 and a most legitimate anthropomorphism1 find here a place1 indeed a prominence1 which they have not there4 ,and note the sobriety with which ,battista insists on the analogical character of all this speculation1 for she 8speaks0 only 8according to our human fashion02 and the allegorizing involved in the 8,his dearly-loved rational earth10 the earth that souls dwell on having here become simply identical with those souls themselves4 ,and especially remark the mystically characteristic doubleness of meaning1 and the conception of the substantiality of the divine indwelling1 involved in the phrase1 8,his own intrinsic1 incomprehensible delights40 ,for this phrase means both 8the delight which1 for our minds1 is intrinsically bound up with the thought of ,god10 and the 8delight which ,he himself takes in ,his indwelling whilst abiding within us02 and the latter idea involves a belief in the soul's delight in ,him being but a sympathetic echo and answer to ,his delight in this ,his own indwelling1 a delight thus actually in operation within the human soul4 ,mark1 too1 how her opening her letter with a formally announced text is but an instance of her life-long literary form of composition--the homily2 how saturated is the whole with 7evidently first-hand7 scriptural meditation2 and how wise and like her own father is her treatment of this soul1 so near to delusion in the very intemperance of her search after perfection4 ,a warning note of a claim about to be made upon her correspondent's effective self-immolation has been struck1 from the first1 by the words1 8the ,crucified02 and yet this note is first followed by a paragraph sufficiently soaring to satisfy even the most lofty moods of the ,signora ,andronica4 7#b7 ,central part of the letter4 8,i have taken up my pen from a desire that you may be wholly and entirely devoted to the ,lord1 with a whole-hearted abandonment4 ,i do not mean that you should abandon the care of your children3 on the contrary1 ,i wish that you may give the greatest care to them1 both within and without4 ,for the within1 by desiring heart-wholly that they may be joined 7cleave7 to ,god1 with all they are2 and for the without1 by helping them studiously to avoid everything that leads to sin40 ,she then gives the examples of ,,ss4 ,felicitas and ,monica1 and of ,st4 ,louis of ,france1 and proceeds3 8,now note1 dear ,madam1 how great is the fruit of good government on the part of parents4 ,indeed1 according to the little light which ,god deigns to give me1 this alone appears to me necessary--that your ,ladyship should observe the counsel of ,st4 ,paul1 where he says 7,eph4 iv1 #a7 #8that we should walk worthily in the vocation in which we are called4' ,now you are called to the government of your children4 ,hence ,i pray you to study how to act1 that you may be able to render a good account of it to ,god4 ,you will remember how our ,christ1 on the point of going to ,his death1 renders an account to ,his eternal ,father concerning those whom ,his ,father had given into ,his charge1 saying1 #8of them whom ,thou hast given ,me 7in charge71 ,i have not lost one' 7,john xviii1 #i74 8,consider1 my very dear ,friend1 how that our great ,god1 being infinitely perfect1 or1 in better terms1 perfection itself1 we cannot either add to or detract from ,his glory even the slightest point1 as the ,prophet saw who said 7,ps4 ci1 #ac71 #8,thou1 ,o ,lord1 art ever the same' 7endurest for ever71 #8unchangeable and invariable4' ,all that we can do for ,him1 is to come in aid to ,his dear images1 to ,his beloved children1 as the ,lord shows in ,matt1 xxv1 #dj1 #8that which ye shall do unto one of these ,my least1 ye shall have done it unto ,me4'--,i know well that you desire to withdraw yourself from all the cares of the world1 in order to be able to occupy yourself entirely with ,god4 ,but do you not know that #8,charity seeketh not the things that are her own' 7#a ,cor4 xiii1 #e71 that is1 her own utility8 ,that desire which your ,ladyship has for herself1 let her have it equally for her children4 ,are we not obliged to love our neighbours as ourselves8 7,matt4 xix1 #ai74 ,and hence1 how much more our children6 ,that step in perfection1 of entirely abandoning all things1 your ,ladyship cannot take1 without great damage to your neighbour1--damage1 ,i mean1 to souls4 ,remember how full of perils is the period of youth2 ,i beg of you1 with all possible insistence1 for ,god's sake1 to have a greater care of these young souls than of yourself1 since the necessity is greater40 ,here1 again1 there are parallels to the ,god-mother3 in the love of that intensely unifying term1 8si accostino10 8cleave to10 8be joined to10 of ,st4 ,paul1 so dear to ,catherine also2 in the love of all souls1 as ,god's dear images1 but specially of those bound to us by blood1 so marked in ,catherine's testamentary dispositions1 as distinct from the descriptions1 possibly even from the surface-appearances1 of her last nine years2 and in the greater care to be given to others than to our own selves1 when their necessity is greater than ours1 so heroically practised by ,catherine in the case of the ,plague4#ced ,the chief difference1 here again1 is the prominence given by ,battista to the ,historic ,christ1 by her quotation of the words of ,st4 ,matthew1--words which1 though so obviously applicable to ,catherine's work and duties1 nowhere occur throughout ,catherine's own contemplations or discourses4--,note again the ambiguity of the 8within and without0 in connection with the care to be bestowed1 since the words are intended to cover respectively both ,donna ,anguisola's intention and exterior action1 and her children's interior dispositions and visible acts4 7#c7 ,conclusion of the letter4 8,but pray indeed to ,his ,majesty that ,he may give you grace so great as to enable you to abandon all things interiorly4 ,here is the point in which all perfection consists4 ,and ,i will pray to ,him for this1 in union with yourself4 ,i most certainly desire1 for my part1 that your generous heart may have no other delight but ,god4 ,and do you convert that human consolation which men are wont to take in their children1 into a great desire that they may cleave to ,god2 that they may not offend ,him1 and that they may bear ,his ,majesty in their hearts4 ,and when those things have been actually effected1 do you then take the greatest delight in them1 whilst mortifying that merely human pleasure which men take in the mutable prosperity of their children1 in the most pleasing consolation which arises from their company1 and in such-like things4 ,and1 from such a course of action1 various advantages will follow4 ,first1 you will1 ,i think1 be thus doing what is most pleasing to ,god2 next1 you will be most useful to your neighbour2 and lastly1 your ,ladyship will have carried off a great victory over your own self40 ,here we can trace two close parallels to special points of ,catherine's practice and teaching4 ,in the doctrine that the point of all perfection consists in the interior abandonment of all things1 we get but a re-statement of ,catherine's teaching as to ,god's love being practicable everywhere2 and in the advice to practise interior mortification in the matter of resting in the consolation of her children's company1 we have not only a parallel to ,catherine's early and transitory convert practice1 but also an application to human intercourse of ,catherine's1 and indeed also ,battista's1 continuous and ever-growing practice of detachment from sensible consolations in the soul's intercourse with ,god4#cee ,we can hardly doubt that this letter was as effectual in keeping ,donna ,anguisola within the limits of family duties1 as the letter of forty-six years before had been in bringing back ,dottore ,moro to the world-wide spiritual family of the ,ancient ,church4 #b4 ,letter to ,padre ,collino1 #aegf4 ,and we have next a letter1 written in #aegf1 when she was seventy-nine1 to that ,father ,serafino ,collino at ,cremona1 to whom1 five years later1 she was to write the truly classical account of her father1 which has been the main source of our study of that heroic figure4 ,and indeed already in this letter she preludes1 as it were1 to that outburst of filial praise1 by first dwelling here upon the effects of her father's life as they were maturing visibly around her4 8,a very spiritual1 wise1 and noble person10 writes ,battista1 8has been visiting me2 and in the course of talk she asked me1 #8,well1 and what did you think of the great miracles that ,god has been working during these times of acute conflict1 in this our city--miracles such as no one ever heard of throughout the course of ancient ,roman history or in connection with any other warfare8' ,and ,i1 knowing well that this person has three ,doctors of ,theology living continuously in her house1 guessed that these men must have carefully scrutinized and examined the whole matter4 ,so ,i simply asked1 #8,what miracles do you mean8' ,and she answered me1 #8,the city has been for so long a time in arms1 a prey to the good and to the wicked1 to the wise and to the mad1 and has been affording the greatest possible opportunity for acts contrary to justice4 ,and yet1 throughout the city within the walls1 no one has ever been offended1--no man1 in his person2 no woman1 in her honour2 and no man or woman1 in their possessions4'0 ,and then ,battista comments on her visitor's declaration4 8,as to their persons1 all men went about in the city with swords drawn and erect1 and spoke injurious words to those of the opposite party4 ,and it really seems as though their hands were tied1 for they used their tongues indeed but not their hands2 not one drop of blood has been spilt4 ,within the city two homicides were1 no doubt1 committed during this time1 because of a difference on a point of honour2 but none on account of party spirit4 ,similarly outside of ,genoa the son of ,signer ,antonio d',oria was killed--not by the opposite party1 but by another nobleman like himself1--they had come to words4 ,as to female honour1 the women went and came to visit each other1 and frequented ,mass1 whether they belonged to one party or to the other2 and the greater number of gentlewomen went out of ,genoa1 accompanied by their daughters1 passing through the very midst of the city1 and going down the wharf to get on board their boats2 and yet never was any discourtesy shown to any one of them4 ,similarly1 with regard to possessions3 quantities of these were sent out of ,genoa2 great masses of them were deposited in the ,monasteries--and yet never even a trifle was ever taken4 ,on this latter point we of this ,convent can bear direct witness4 ,for although so much property and money was brought to the ,monastery delle ,grazie1 that it became difficult to move about the house because of the quantity of cases and stray boxes deposited there1 nevertheless not even to the poor carriers who brought them was the slightest violence done1 although they had to pass through all those drawn and raised swords2 nor was a single word said to us ,nuns1 who appeared in the gateway to receive the goods40#cef ,now the well-informed lawyer1 ,professore ,morro1 thinks that all this was the direct result of ,ettore ,vernazza's far-sighted and devoted philanthropy4 ,and he is no doubt right4 ,for we still possess the entries1 in the ,cartulary of ,st4 ,george1 of the great works carried out by that powerful ,banking ,body1 in conformity with and by means of ,ettore's directions and moneys1 amongst ,genoa's teeming poor and sick and ignorant1 in the years #aeca and #aeec4ceg ,indeed even the printed documents bring the administration of this great1 ever-growing fund down to the year #agjh4 ,and the points that here concern the character of ,battista are this her omnipresent and yet bashful pride in her large-hearted father2 her virile joy in the public good2 her immensely sane and direct tastes as to the city's improvement2 and her glad finding of a miracle in things thus readily verifiable1 universal1 interior1 and yet profoundly operative in the visible work-a-day life of man4 ,there is something strikingly modern in this severely social1 and already more or less statistical1 way of testing improvement1 an improvement which is found here1 not in any vaguely assumed increase of impulsive or perfunctory almsgiving in the one class1 or of dependence and passivity in the other1 but in the closely scrutinized proofs of a remarkable growth in general self-respect1 self-maintenance1 public spirit and sense of social interdependence1 on the part of all parties and classes4 ,and in the daughter's judgment concerning all this it is again easy to trace a likeness to her father1 with his careful regulations for a great ,register of the ,poor1 and his provisions for harbour-works and the embellishment of the city4 ,but ,catherine's spirit is also present1 with its emphatic insistence upon ,god's love as practicable everywhere1 and upon truth as1 of its very nature1 public-spirited and meant for all4#ceh #c4 ,second letter to ,padre ,collino1 #aeha4 ,and five years later still 7she was now eighty-four7 ,battista writes her long account of her father's life1 which we studied in connection with him1 but which would well deserve a detailed analysis from the standpoint of the daughter's dispositions1 so keen and large1 so tender1 true and immensely operative1 long after most men have died1 or are living on in a selfish second childhood4 ,v4 ,,battista',s ,,death1 #aehg4 ,and then at last1 six years afterwards1 at four o'clock in the afternoon of ,may #i1 #aehg1 ,pope ,sixtus ,v being ,pope and ,mary ,stuart having but six months still to live1 ,battista died in her ,convent1 fully three generations old4 ,during her last years she had been allowed to communicate daily1 and had thus1 at the end1 added one more trait of resemblance to her ,god-mother1 who1 as we know1 had1 for some thirty-five years of her life1 found her greatest strength and consolation in this the simplest1 most central and deepest of all the ,christian devotions and means of ,grace4#cei ,one hundred and forty years had now passed since the birth of ,catherine1 and seventy-seven since her death4 ,it is indeed time that we should1 having accumulated so much material1 proceed in the next volume to an examination and exposition of the underlying spiritual facts and laws specially brought home to us by the group of lives we have been studying1 and of which the central figure was that1 for us1 largely elusive but immensely suggestive1 many-sided and yet rarely beautiful1 soul and influence1 which the ,church venerates as ,st4 ,catherine of ,genoa4 ,,conclusion ,,wherein ,,lies ,,the ,,secret ,,of ,,spiritual ,,persuasiveness ,but let us first conclude this volume by attempting an answer1 however preliminary and general1 to the definite question with which it opened out4 ,i4 ,,the ,,question4 ,we asked there1 how any deeper1 will-moving intercommunication can even be possible amongst men8 ,for the mere possession of1 and appeal to1 the elementary forms of abstract thinking1 which seem to be our only certain common material1 instrument and measure of persuasion1 appear never1 of themselves1 to move the will1 or indeed the feelings2 whereas all that is endowed with such directly will-moving power appears1 not only as specifically concrete and as hopelessly boxed up within the four corners of our mutually exclusive individualities1 but also as vitiated1 even for each several owner1 by an essentially fitful and fanciful subjectivity4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,answer4 ,now ,i think that even the survey of the three great lives1 and of those four minor ones1 which has been just attempted1 forcibly suggests1 both positively and negatively1 at least the general outlines of the true answer to this pressing question4 #a4 ,only a life sufficiently large and alive to take up and retain1 within its own experimental range1 at least some of the poignant question and conflict1 as well as of the peace-bringing solution and calm3 hence a life dramatic with a humble and homely heroism which1 in rightful contact with and in rightful renunciation of the ,particular and ,fleeting1 ever seeks and finds the ,omnipresent and ,eternal2 and which again deepens and incarnates 7for its own experience and apprehension and for the stimulation of other souls7 this ,transcendence in its own thus gradually purified ,particular3 only such a life can be largely persuasive1 at least for us ,westerns and in our times4 ,we would thus have an attempt1 ever renewed1 ever widening1 ever deepening1 at the formation of1 as it were1 a concrete1 living1 breathing image of the ,abiding and the ,one2 of ,law1 ,love1 and ,duty2 of ,god3 an image formed out of the seemingly shifting1 shrinking flux1 and the apparently shapeless mass of our actual1 bewildering human manyfold2 our flesh and sweat1 and tears and blood1 our joy and laughter1 our passions and petty revolts1 our weariness and isolations4 ,attend primarily to minimizing or eliminating all such friction and pain2 to being clear1 materially simple and static1 a fixed ,thing1 rather than vivid1 formally unified1 and dynamic1 a growing ,personality3 or again1 let the friction be so great1 or the courage and fidelity so small1 as to lead to the break-up of all genuine recollection and harmonization2 and1 in the former case1 such a character or outlook may be considered 8safe0 or 8correct0 or 8sensible02 and1 in the latter1 the character and outlook will not be consolidated at all1 or will be breaking up3 but in neither case will the life be persuasive4 ,for to be truly winning1 the soul's life must become and must keep itself full and true4 #b4 ,now it is simply false that man can1 even for his own self alone1 hold spiritual reality1 even from the first1 in a simply passive1 purely dependent1 entirely automatic and painless fashion2 or that he can1 even at the last1 possess it in a full1 continuous and effortless harmony and simultaneousness4 ,god no doubt holds all ,truth and ,reality as one great ,here and ,now1 or rather ,he possesses them entirely outside of space and time2 nor can we attribute to ,him directly any interior conflict1 effort1 or suffering4 ,and1 again1 we ourselves too possess within our minds an element and an apprehension of the ,abiding and the ,simultaneous2 and their rudiments operate within us1 if all-diffusively yet most powerfully1 from the very first4 ,indeed the continuous increase in definiteness and influence of that element and of its apprehension here1 and the indefinite expansion and continuously conscious possession of this same element hereafter1 are respectively the highest aim and fullest achievement of our spiritual life4 ,and finally1 the further the soul advances1 the more it sees and realizes the profound truth1 that all it does and is1 is somehow given to it2 and hence that1 inasmuch as it is permanent at all1 it is grounded upon1 environed1 supported1 penetrated and nourished by ,him who is its origin and its end4 ,here all the soul's actions tend to coalesce to simply being1 and this being1 in so far as there and then acceptable to the conscience1 comes more and more to be felt and considered as the simple effect of the one direct action of ,god alone4 ,and yet as to ,god1 some kind and degree of ,incarnational doctrine is necessary1 and is indeed 7in varyingly perfect or imperfect forms7 the common property of all higher religion2 and ,christians have learnt to think the profound thought1 of ,god ,himself being in a mysterious closeness to even our most secret perplexities and inarticulate pain4--,and by ourselves1 poor weaklings1 that vast1 continuous ,simultaneity and ,harmony of ,god can only be more and more nearly approached1 if1 upon our mostly shadowy1 and 7when at all clear7 our short-lived consciousness of an inchoate simultaneity and harmony of our own1 we work an orderly successiveness1 and attempt a ,melody3 an humble1 creaturely imitation of the ,eternal1 ,spaceless ,creator1 under the deliberately accepted conditions and doubly refracting media of time and space4 ,real temptation1 true piercing conflict1 heavy darkness1 and bewildering perplexity2 the constant encountering 7as a necessary condition and occasion of all growth7 of numberless and multiform remoter risks of failing and of falling3 all this forms an essential part of this painful-joyous probation and virile1 because necessarily costing and largely gradual1 self-constitution of man's free-willing spirit4 ,and the place and function1 in all this spiritual growth-in-conflict1 of ,science1 both in its most determinist and apparently most anti-spiritual mood1 and in its subtler though no less destructive-seeming attitudes1 will turn out1 we shall find1--now that our generation is getting to know ,science's special scope and implications1--to be of simply irreplaceable value and potency4 ,and though1 in the other life1 our earthly pain and temptation are to be no more1 we may be sure that1 even there1 the essential characteristics of our nature will not be reversed4 ,hence we may be able1 later on in this book1 to hazard some not all-ungrounded conjecture as to the possible substitute and form in ,heaven for what is essentially noble and creaturely in our sufferings and self-renunciations here on earth4 ,and lastly1 though ,god's action in all things in general1 and in our individual soul in particular1 be more and more recognized as all-pervasive in proportion as the soul advances3 yet this action will have to be conceived as operating in and through and with our own2 as in each case finding1 in one sense1 its very matter1 in another1 its very form1 in our own free-willings4 ,for ,spirit and spirit1 ,god and the creature1 are not two material bodies1 of which one can only be where the other is not3 but1 on the contrary1 as regards our own spirit1 ,god's ,spirit ever works in closest penetration and stimulation of our own2 just as1 in return1 we cannot find ,god's ,spirit simply separate from our own spirit within ourselves4 ,our spirit clothes and expresses ,his2 ,his ,spirit first creates and then sustains and stimulates our own4 ,the two1 as regards the inner life of the human soul1 rise and sink together4 ,but more as to this too hereafter4 #c4 ,we shall indeed1 throughout the next volume1 have ample opportunities for noting how numerous1 definite1 far-reaching and at all times operative1 even though still but partially unfolded1 are the evidences for1 and the consequences and applications of1 such a fundamental conception1 as they are furnished and required by all deeper human life2 hence1 above all1 by ,religion2 and in ,religion1 again1 specially by its ever largely elusive1 yet ever profoundly important1 constituent1 the ,mystical ,element4 ,,appendix ,,to ,,part ,,ii ,,chronological ,,account ,,and ,,critical ,,analysis ,,of ,,the ,,materials ,,for ,,the ,,re-,,constitution ,,of ,,saint ,,catherine',s ,,life ,,and ,,teaching4 ,,introduction4 ,the following laborious study of the growth and upbuilding of the ,life and ,legend of ,st4 ,catherine is a study worth the making4 ,for this study will bring out fully the test and reasons which have guided the process of documentary selection and estimation adopted throughout the second part of this book1 indicating thus the precise degree of reliability pertaining to my narrative4 ,but especially will it furnish a detailed1 and peculiarly instructive1 example of what1 with numberless differences in degree1 kind1 and importance1 can be traced throughout the history of the transmission of the image and influence of great religious personalities and teachers4 ,these continuously recurring phenomena can be taken as1 together1 constituting the general forms and laws which regulate the growth of all religious devotional biography4 ,i4 ,these general laws appear to be as follows4 #a4 ,three ,laws4 ,there is the law of contemporary1 simultaneous1 spontaneous variation of apprehension4 ,vernazza and ,marabotto1 writing down1 at the time of their occurrence or communication1 certain facts and sayings with an equal self-oblivion1 sincerity1 and truthfulness1 give us apprehensions which1 in great part objectively valuable1 are1 nevertheless1 more or less differing pictures of one and the same fact or saying1 or different selections from amongst the moods and manifestations of one living personality observed by them4--,there is the law of posterior1 successive1 reflective variation of elaboration4 ,the ,dominican ,censor and ,battista ,vernazza1 re-thinking ,catherine and her teaching1 in other times and away from her direct influence1 necessarily see her differently again3 they are1 as it were1 spiritual grandchildren1 who rather themselves absorb her and re-state her to their generation than they are themselves absorbed by her4--,and there is the law of conservation1 juxtaposition1 and identification4 ,first the ,redactor of the ,book of #aebh-aecj1 and lastly the ,redactor of that of #aeea--probably1 both times1 ,battista--with1 in between1 in #aedg1 the ,redactor who attempted a quadripartite reschematizing of the ,life--could not but try and soften the variations produced by the two other laws4 #b4 ,the third law tends to confuse the operation of the other two4 ,and note how it is precisely this third law and stage which largely tends to make the effects of the two other laws into causes of vagueness1 confusion1 and scepticism4 ,for instead of conceiving the unity and identity of the subject-matter 7a deep spiritual personality7 as essentially inexhaustible1 and as requiring1 for its least inadequate apprehension1 precisely both those simultaneous and spontaneous1 and those successive and reflective experiences and reproductions of it1 as furnished by the two other laws1 this stage tends to confuse the identity of the apprehended subject-matter with a sameness in the apprehension of it2 and1 whilst thus robbing that subject-matter of its richness and movement1 to introduce an element of arrangement and timidity into the originally quite naf1 and hence directly impressive1 evidences of the observers4 ,yet the instinct and object of this third law is as legitimate and elementary as are those of the other two1 since a real unity and utilization of all the preceding variety is as necessary as the variety to be thus integrated1 and since the other two laws show a similar variety of actuation throughout religious literature4 #c4 ,examples4 ,we find 7to move in ,church ,history back from ,st4 ,catherine7 these three tendencies at work in the constitution of the ,life and ,legend of ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi1 ,a4,d4 #aaha787-abbf1 traced for us now1 with so much sympathy and acumen by ,m4 ,paul ,sabatier and the ,bollandists4 ,we get them again in the case of ,st4 ,thomas of ,canterbury1 ,a4,d4 #aaah-aaga1 especially in that of his ,death and ,miracles1 so carefully studied in ,dr4 ,edwin ,abbot's remarkable book 7#ahih74 ,and1 once more1 in those ,merovingian ,saints1 the great ,martin of ,tours in their midst1 at the end of the fourth century1 whose ,lives have been so interestingly described by ,bernouilli 7#aijj74 ,and we find them1 with especial clearness1 in the growth of the ,life of ,st4 ,anthony1 about ,a4,d4 #bej-cef1 as contained in ,palladius's ,historia ,monachorum1 now that ,abbot ,cuthbert ,butler has given us his admirable analysis and edition of that deeply instructive compiler 7#ahih1 #aijd74 ,if we take the ,bible1 we find 7on moving here in a contrary direction7 these laws again at work in the elucidation and elaboration of the great figure of ,moses and of his world-historic life-work4 ,for if here we get but little that can claim to be by his pen1 or even1 as literature1 to be contemporaneous with him 7since the earliest ,corpus of ,laws1 the ,book of the ,covenant1 reaches probably only in its substance back to him71 yet here1 too1 the earliest consecutive descriptions of his life1 by the ,jahvist and ,elohist writers1 give us two different1 though probably more or less simultaneous1 largely nave1 accounts and impressions of his life and work4 ,and these simultaneous variations are followed1 later on1 by the successive1 increasingly reflective variations and developments of ,deuteronomy and of the ,priestly ,code4 ,and lastly1 these documents get constituted 7in probably two great stages71 by ,redactional work1 into the great composite ,history and ,legislation of our present last four ,books of ,moses4--,so again with ,david4 ,we have the ,david of some few of the ,psalms2 the ,david of the ,books of ,samuel1 in a double series of most vivid and spontaneous1 more or less simultaneous but somewhat differing1 accounts2 the ,david of the greater part of the ,psalter1 the result of a long process of devout successive reflection and re-interpretation2 and the ,david of the ,books of ,chronicles1 where pragmatic systematization reaches its height4--,and so too with the ,maccabean ,heroes1 whose history appears1 apprehended with varying degrees of contemporary1 simultaneous1 spontaneous vividness1 and of subsequent1 successive1 reflective pragmatism1 in the documents and redactional settings of the ,first and ,second ,books of ,maccabees4--,and the growth indicated in these three cases covered respectively some eight hundred1 seven hundred1 and one hundred years4 ,but it is1 of course1 in the ,new ,testament that the interest and importance of these laws reaches its height4 ,if here we once more move backwards1 the case of ,st4 ,paul 7martyred ,a4,d4 #fd7 furnishes us with parallel contemporary accounts of the spontaneous type1 in his own ,epistles and in the six 8,we0-passages by the eyewitness ,st4 ,luke in the ,acts of the ,apostles2 whilst the remaining account in the ,acts is doubtless by a later1 more reflective and pragmatic1 writer4--,and in the apprehension and interpretation of ,our ,lord's inexhaustible life1 character1 teaching1 and work1 we find very plainly the three tendencies and stages4 ,we get the contemporary1 simultaneous1 spontaneous stage1 in the cases of the ,aramaic annotations of the ,apostle ,levi-,matthew1 which we still possess1 translated and incorporated both in the larger and later book1 our canonical ,greek ,st4 ,matthew1 and in the corresponding parts of our ,st4 ,luke2 and in the reminiscences of another eyewitness1 presumably ,st4 ,peter1 given us by a disciple in what is still the substance of our ,canonical ,st4 ,mark4 ,we get the posterior1 successive1 increasingly reflective or contemplative stage1 chiefly in the two great types furnished1 first by the ,pauline1 and then by the ,joannine writings4 ,and we get the juxtaposing1 unifying1 largely identifying stage and law operating above all in the1 partly successive1 ,canonization of the ,new ,testament ,corpus4 ,and these three stages can be taken as having their downward limits in about ,a4,d4 #cj1 #ajj1 #bjj2 so that here we cover a period of some hundred and seventy years4 #d4 ,three different attitudes possible4 ,and1 in all these and countless other cases1 we can take up three different attitudes3 the impoverishing1 sectarian1 8purity0 attitude2 the destructive1 sceptical1 8identity0 attitude2 or the fruitful1 truly ,catholic 8approximation0 and 8development0 attitude4 ,the first attitude assumes 7ever in part unconsciously7 the possibility and necessity of a purely objective apprehension of ,personality1 of such a ,personality being a static entity1 both in itself and in its effects upon1 and its apprehendedness by1 other souls1 and of the earliest among the observations concerning such a ,personality ever giving us such a purely objective1 exhaustive picture and experience1 or at least the nearest approach 7in all respects7 to such an exhaustive objectivity4 ,the third attitude would so understand the admitted identity of the ,personality observed as practically to identify also the simultaneous and successive observers and observations1 and to eliminate all variety and growth in that spirit's own inner life and in its apprehension by other minds4 ,only the second attitude would1 by recognizing both the constant1 necessary presence of a subjective element in all these simultaneous and successive apprehensions1 and the indefinite richness and many-sided apprehensibleness of all great spiritual ,personalities1 welcome and draw out all the difference in unity of these many 8reactions10 as so many means1 for a growing soul1 towards a growing knowledge of that life and character1 whose very greatness is1 in part1 measurable by the depth1 variety1 and persistence of these several effects1 pictures1 and embodiments of itself in different races1 times1 and souls4 ,let us1 then1 betake ourselves to a systematic examination of one example of these world-wide three laws3 the trouble taken will be well spent4 ,,ii4 ,had ,i found room to print my notes in justification of the text adopted by me1 the reader would have gained some idea of the exceeding complexity of the materials furnished by the printed ,vita e ,dottrina4 ,indeed the original ,preface to that book 7#aeea7 finds it necessary to conclude with the words 8we therefore0 7because of the book's utility1 indeed necessity1 8in these turbulent times07 8beg the devout reader not to be disturbed0 7stomacharsi now changed to meravigliarsi7 8if he finds here matters which appear to be out of their proper order0 7non ben ordinate71 8and which are sometimes repeated2 since attention has been given1 neither to much precision0 7distinzione71 8nor to the order of events1 nor to elegance of form1 but only to that truth and simplicity with which its facts and discourses were gathered by devout spiritual persons0 78her ,confessor and a ,spiritual ,son of hers07 8from the very lips of that ,seraphic ,woman40 ,both the praise and the blame of this pregnant sentence will appear to be most fully deserved4 ,in our ,second ,part we have1 in imitation of all experience in life itself1 been thrown in medias res1 and have thus gained some general idea and curiosity as to the sources of our knowledge2 in this ,appendix we will now1 without repeating details already given1 take this evidence1 as much as possible1 in its chronological order4 ,and at each stage ,i shall attempt so to analyze the evidence of that stage1 as to be able to use it as a check and test of the evidence of the next stage4--,we shall1 however1 have to bear in mind that this method has necessarily1 at each earlier stage1 somewhat to beg the question2 for1 in order to make its meaning everywhere sufficiently clear1 it has from the first to assume a confidence of tone1 which can be justified only by the whole argument1 and which therefore has its logical place only at the very end4 ,this ,appendix shall consist of two ,divisions1 of seven stages and eight sections respectively4 ,the first ,division gives the dated ,documents1 or such as can readily be restricted to within certain years2 and the second ,division analyses the remaining1 undated ,corpus and attempts to fix its origin and value4 ,,first ,,division3 ,,account ,,and ,,analysis ,,of ,,the ,,documents ,,previous1 ,,and ,,immediately ,,subsequent ,,to1 ,,the 8,,vita ,e ,,dottrina0 ,,with ,,the 8,,dicchiarazione40 ,i4 ,,first ,,stage1 #adef ,,to ,,september #ab1 #aeaj1 ,,all ,,legal4 ,the documents of the first stage are all legal papers1 and entirely contemporary and authentic4 ,they have to furnish the skeleton which receives its clothing of flesh from the other documents4 ,i shall here describe only those not described in ,part ,,ii1 and shall refer back to that ,part for those already described there4 #a4 ,deed of #adef4 ,there is1 first1 a deed of ,august #bg1 #adef4 ,from amongst the shares belonging to ,pomera 7formerly7 wife to 7the late7 ,bartolommeo de ,auria 7,doria71 but now 7,sister7 ,isabella1 in the convent of ,st4 ,david2 at the instance of ,andrea de ,auria1 her only son1 her heir1 and of ,francesca1 the mother of ,catherine1 daughter of ,jacobo de ,fiesco3 two shares of the ,bank of ,st4 ,george 7#bjj7 are set apart1 for the benefit of the said ,catherine1 for her marriage1 if she marries according to her ,mother's advice4#cfj ,note how early 7,catherine is not yet nine years old7 her mother1 ,francischetta 7so a note to the copy of this document1 no doubt correctly1 calls her1 and suspects ,pomera to have been her sister71 is thinking of ,catherine's marriage2 and how1 although ,catherine's father is still alive1 nothing is said as to his consent1 perhaps simply because1 this money coming from a maternal aunt and cousin1 only the mother's wishes are considered to be important here4 #b4 ,catherine's ,marriage ,settlement1 ,january #adfc4 ,there is1 next1 ,catherine's marriage settlement1 made 8at ,genoa1 in the quarter of ,st4 ,laurence1 to wit in the sitting-room 7caminata7 of the residence of ,francisca1 formerly wife to the late ,don ,jacobo de ,fiescho10 8with the public street in front1 the house of ,urbano de ,negro at its right1 and that of ,sebastiano de ,negro at its left and back02 8in the evening of ,thursday1 ,january #ac1 #adfc02 between ,giuliano ,adorno1 son of the late ,don ,jacobo1 on the one hand1 and ,francisca1 mother of ,caterinetta and ,jacobo and ,giovanni de ,fiesco1 brothers of the same4 ,giuliano thereby pledges himself to give ,catherine on their marriage1 #a1jjj1 and he 8mortgages to her10 up to this amount1 8a certain house of his own1 situate in ,genoa in the quarter of ,st4 ,agnes1 with the public street in front1 the house of ,baldassare ,adorno at the right hand0 7it belonged before this to ,don ,georgio ,adorno71 8and on the other hand the public street40 ,and ,francesca1 ,jacobo1 and ,giovanni promise to pay ,giuliano1 in bare money and in wedding outfit for ,catherine1 #djj on completion of the marriage1 and another #djj in the course of the following two years2 and they mortgage to him1 up to this amount1 the house in which the settlement is being made4 ,giuliano is to be free to live with his wife and her family in this same house1 for these first two years after his marriage1 without any payment4 ,at this date1 then1 ,giuliano is already fatherless1 and ,catherine's brother ,lorenzo is still too young to have any legal voice in the matter4 ,although ,catherine is1 after the first two years1 not guaranteed anything beyond #a1jjj capital1 or say #dj a year income1 her outfit is a handsome one4 #c4 ,catherine's first ,will1 ,june #adhd4 ,then there is ,catherine's first ,will1 ,june #bc1 #adhd1 after twenty-one years of marriage4 ,she is 8lying0 although 8fully herself in mind1 intellect1 and memory10 yet 8languid in body and weighted down by bodily infirmity1 in the room1 her residence1 in the women's quarters of the ,hospital of the ,pammatone10 which 8she has inhabited for a considerable time 7jamdiu740 8,and knowing herself to be without children1 and without hope of future offspring10 she leaves the life-interest in her marriage-dowry of #a1jjj to her husband1 ,giuliano2 bids divide up1 at his death1 the bulk of this capital between the ,hospital and her eldest brother ,jacobo 7#cjj to each71 and her two younger brothers ,giovanni and ,lorenzo 7#aej to each72 and orders her body to be buried in the ,hospital ,church4#cfa ,ten years1 then1 after her ,conversion1 ,catherine had already been living for a considerable time within the ,hospital4 ,they do not as yet occupy a separate building1 or even a set of rooms within the ,hospital2 and1 though both live within it1 they evidently occupy separate rooms in different parts of the great complex of buildings2 for the room here mentioned is simply ,catherine's 7camera residentiae testatricis1 where residentiae must be a descriptive and not a partitive genitive71 and forms part and parcel of the women's wards 7in domibus mulierum74 ,her absence of hope as to offspring evidently arises primarily from the life of continence she is leading4 ,yet this latter determination is clearly not caused by any specific knowledge of her husband's past infidelity3 for ,thobia must have been now some ten years old1 yet there is no kind of mention of her2 whilst1 later on1 ,catherine never fails to remember her1 with one exception to be presently explained4 ,there is no mention of nephews and nieces1 doubtless because her brothers were1 as yet1 either unmarried or childless1 or1 at least1 daughterless4 ,she is fairly well off1 for besides this possession of #a1jjj she gets her room and board free1 and ,giuliano has still some property of his own more considerable than hers4 ,and the share left by her to relations is large--#fjj--;as over against #cjj to a public charity 7the ,hospital71 and #ajj1 presumably1 for the funeral1 minor charities1 and ,masses4 ,if she says nothing1 as yet1 as to burial in the same grave with her husband1 this is doubtless because she herself appears now to be the one likely to die first4 #d4 ,giuliano's ,will1 ,october #adid4 ,there is1 fourthly1 the first and last ,will1 ,october #bj1 #adid1 of 8the ,reverend ,sir1 ,brother ,giuliano ,adorno1 professing the ,third ,order of ,st4 ,francis1 under the care of the ,friars ,minor ,observants10 already described on pages #aea1 #aeb4 ,the will is drawn up in the 8sitting-room0 7caminata7 of the 8habitation0 of the ,testator4 ,now the ,notary1 ,battista ,strata1 in a foot-note to a first draft of an 7unfinished7 ,will of ,catherine1 writes3 8,on the day on which ,i drew up ,don ,giuliano's02 which words 7owing to a multiplicity of converging indications7 can only refer to this ,will of ,october #b1 #adid4 ,and in this draft ,catherine leaves legacies to the servants ,benedetta 7,lombarda7 and ,mariola ,bastarda1 as 8abiding with1 and dwelling in the house with1 ,testatrix40 ,it is clear then that1 by now1 ,catherine and ,giuliano are living under the same roof1 in a distinct house within the hospital precincts1 with two personal attendants for their common use4 ,they will have moved1 out of their separate single rooms1 into this house1 upon ,catherine becoming ,matron1 in #adij4 ,in this draft there appear also1 for the first time1 her brother ,jacobo's two daughters 7#ajj each72 and her sister1 the ,augustinianess ,limbania 7#aj74 #e4 ,four minor documents1 #adif-adig4 ,there are1 next1 certain minor documents of #adif-adig1 which modify points of previous ,wills and clear up details of her life4 ,thus1 on ,june #ag1 #adif ,catherine signs a deed of consent to the sale of the ,palace in the ,s4 ,agnese 7,adorni7 quarter4--,on ,january #aj1 #adif1 ,giuliano1 8sane in mind although languid in body10 orders1 in a ,codicil1 that ,catherine shall carry out1 according to the directions of a certain ,friar ,minor1 a vow made by himself to ,st4 ,anthony of ,padua2 notes that the ,palace has been sold2 and declares that she is to be free to annul1 amend or diminish1 according to her own judgment1 his legacy of #ejj to the ,hospital4#cfb ,and1 in the ,cartulary of the ,bank of ,st4 ,george1 ,catherine's name appears as an ,investor3 on ,july #ad1 #adig as 8wife of ,giuliano ,adorno02 but on ,october #f as 8wife and testamentary heiress of the late ,giuliano ,adorno40#cfc ,these entries were considered on page #adi note4 ,on the second occasion she orders that the ,bank shall1 after her death1 annually pay over the interest of the fourteen shares 7#a1djj71 now bought by her1 to the ,hospital of the ,pammatone1 in return for 8the enjoyment and usufruct of a house and a greenhouse 7viridario7 of 7within7 the said ,hospital10 which had been conceded to her for her lifetime4 ,the sum 7about #ef a year7 thus ceded by her is a handsome one1 as she had1 by now1 well earned the use of this house by her constant labours for the ,hospital1 including her matronship from #adij to #adif4 ,i take it that she was again thinking of ,thobia2 so that this relatively large sum would cover at least part of the ,hospital's expenses incurred for this poor girl4 #f4 ,catherine's second ,will1 ,may #adih4 ,this has been studied on pages #aeb-aed4 #g4 ,deed of ,cession1 ,september #ah1 #adii2 and ,codicil of ,january #aejc4 ,these have been studied on pages #aee1 and #afh1 #afi4 #h4 ,third ,will1 ,may #ba1 #aejf2 and ,codicil of ,november #aejh4 ,these have been described on pages #agb-agd2 and #age1 #agf4 #i4 ,fourth and last ,will1 ,march #ah1 #aeji2 and two last ,codicils1 ,august #c and ,september #ab1 #aeaj4 ,these have been described on pages #ahe-ahg2 #bjb1 #bjc2 and #bab-bad1 respectively4 ,we have thus described all the fifteen documents which alone still bear dates within the range of ,catherine's lifetime1 and whose contemporaneousness is above all challenge4 ,they all have the pedantic1 at first sight unmoving1 indeed repulsive1 form of legal documents4 ,yet the substance of quite ten of them undoubtedly proceeds from ,catherine2 and they all give us a most precious1 precise certainty with regard to many cardinal points of locality1 date1 sequence1 and self-determination in her life4 ,true1 neither the day1 nor even the month1 of her ,birth or ,baptism2 nor the year of her ,conversion2 nor the date of the beginning of her ,daily ,communions2 nor the facts as to the rarity or frequency of her ,confessions2 nor the day or month of ,giuliano's death1 have been recoverable by any contemporary attestations4 ,but on other points we thus possess a series of absolutely reliable documents1 ranging from #adef to #aeaj1 whose testimony nothing can be allowed to shake4 ,,ii4 ,,second ,,stage3 ,,five ,,further ,,official ,,and ,,legal ,,documents1 #aeaa-aebf2 ,,and ,,four ,,mortuary ,,dates1 #aebd-aehg4 ,and this first stage of the evidence is followed by a second1 as dry and legal1 and as absolutely reliable1 as the other2 yet which still does not refer to any chronicle or notes of her life1 7as either already extant or as in process of registration or radaction71 but only to the fate of her remains and to certain turning-points in the lives of her disciples and eyewitnesses4 ,i note here only those documents which fix for us the dates of the beginning of her ,cultus1 and which give us the latest contemporary proof for those persons being still alive4 #a4 ,we get thus the ,hospital ,account for the ,moneys spent on the ,religious ,clothing of the ,maid-,servant ,mariola ,bastarda1 ,july #g1 #aeaa2 the entry in the ,hospital ,cartulary of the expenses incurred for the transport of stone and for a picture1 in connection with the first opening of ,catherine's ,deposito1 ,july #aj1 #aeab2 the account1 in the same book1 concerning the funeral of ,don ,jacobo ,carenzio1 who had died occupying ,catherine's little house within the ,hospital precincts1 on ,january #g1 #aeac2 a ,will of the little widow-attendant ,argentina del ,sale1 of ,january #ae1 #aebb2 and the ,will of ,don ,cattaneo ,marabotto1 still 8in good bodily and mental health10 ,may #aa1 #aebf1--;a document drawn up in his dwelling-place1 the house belonging to his friends1 the ,salvagii4#cfd #b4 ,and to this group we can add four further dates1 the first and last two of which are completely certain4 ,ettore ,vernazza died on ,june #bf or #bg1 #aebd2 the year is fixed by the great plague epidemic which carried him off1 and the month and day1 by his daughter's letter4 ,cattaneo ,marabotto died1 there is no reason to doubt1 in #aebh4 ,catherine's ,dominican cousin and close friend1 ,suor ,tommasa ,fiesca1 died1 eighty-six years of age1 in #aecd4 ,and ,battista ,vernazza died1 aged ninety1 on ,may #i1 #aehg4cfe ,hence1 up to eighteen years after her death1 the two closest of ,catherine's confidants were alive2 whilst one who had known her1 and had been thirteen at the time of ,catherine's death1 was still alive seventy-seven years after that event4 ,,iii4 ,,third ,,stage3 ,,bishop ,,giustiniano',s ,,account ,,of ,,catherine',s ,,life1 ,,remains1 ,,and ,,biography1 #aecg4 ,our third stage is in strikingly manifold contrast to the other two4 ,it is represented by but one single1 largely vague and rhetorical1 but human and directly psychological1 document2 and is the first that tells us of a ,life4 #a4 ,the text4 ,monsignore ,agostino ,giustiniano1 ,bishop of ,nibio1 published his ,castigatissimi ,annali ''' della ,republica di ,genova1 in ,genoa1 in #aecg4 ,there1 on p4 #bbc1 he tells us that he was born 7of socially distinguished parents7 in that city in #adgj4 ,and under the date of #aeaj 7p4 #bff7 he writes3 8,and in the month of ,september1 it pleased ,god to draw to ,himself ,madonna ,catarinetta ,adorna1 who was daughter of ,giacobo di ,flisco1 ,vice-,roy of ,naples for ,king ,ren1 and wife to ,giuliano ,adorno1 with whom she lived many years in marital chastity4 ,and her life1 after the ,divine goodness had touched her heart in the years of her youth1 was all charity1 love1 meekness1 benignity1 patience1 incredible abstinence1 and a mirror of every virtue1 so that she can be compared to ,st4 ,catherine of ,siena4 ,and all the city has participated in1 and has perceived1 the odour of the virtues of this holy matron1 who1 when rapt in the spirit1 spoke1 amongst other matters1 of the state of the souls that are in ,purgatory1 things excellent and rare and worthy of being attended to by such persons as have a taste for the religious and spiritual life4 ,her body is deposited in the ,oratory of the larger ,hospital1 and offers a spectacle no less admirable than venerable1 appearing 7come che sia7 all entire with its flesh1 so that she looks alive1--as though she had been placed there to-day2 and yet full twenty-five years have passed since she began to lie there dead4 ,the great consciousness of ,god1 the special virtues1 the saintly deeds1 accompanied by an immense love1 which were manifested by this venerable matron1 would furnish matter well worthy of being recorded here4 ,yet we shall pass them over1 for the sake of brevity2 especially since a book worthy of respect 7un digno libro7 has been composed1 concerning these things exclusively1 by persons worthy of confidence 7digne di fede740 #b4 ,its testimony4 ,now this is a statement which we have every reason to trust4 ,for ,bishop ,giustiniano1 himself a native of ,genoa1 forty years of age at the time of ,catherine's death1 was a man of education1 of solid character1 and of social position2 who1 throughout his long book1 is uniformly truthful and generally accurate2 and who had here no conceivable reason for inventing or seriously misstating the few facts alleged by him4 ,these facts1 as regards the matter in hand1 are three3 that she spoke of various 7evidently various spiritual7 matters1 and1 amongst these1 of the state of the souls in ,purgatory2 that a ,book was extant at the end of #aece1 which concerned itself exclusively with ,catherine2 and that persons worthy of trust had produced this ,book4 7#a7 ,giustiniano knows of no writings of hers3 she had not written1 but had only 8spoken excellent and rare things10 and she had done so 8when rapt in the spirit40 ,the exaggeration here 7for when in ecstasy1 she spoke nothing1 or but a few broken words at most7 is interesting1 since it probably grew up as an explanation of1 and consolation for1 her not having herself written anything2 since during the ecstasy she would be incapable of anything but speech1 and out of the ecstasy she would not remember the sights and sounds perceived during the trance4 ,and yet1 thus1 what had to be written down by others1 whilst she was in ecstasy1 would be more precious1 because more immediately 8inspired10 than what she herself could have thought1 remembered1 and written down1 in her ordinary psycho-physical condition4 7#b7 ,the ,book1 in existence at the end of #aece1 not only contained sayings concerning the state of the souls in ,purgatory1 but must have contained these sayings already collected together in a separate chapter or division4 ,for her sayings concerning this matter by no means form the larger1 or the most immediately striking1 part of her authentic teaching1 taken as a whole2 and only if already collected into a more or less separate corpus would they have been singled out in this manner4--,but1 if this reasoning is sound and proves the existence of the ,trattato1 already more or less separate as at present1 similar reasoning will prove the non-existence of the ,dialogo4 ,for the ,trattato1 even in its present length1 fills but fifteen large-print octavo pages2 while the ,dialogo fills ninety4 ,it is practically inconceivable that the latter document1 which can never have existed otherwise than more or less separately1 should have been overlooked here1 where another1 so much shorter1 and at first sight less authoritative1 is dwelt on with emphasis4 7#c7 ,more than one hand had participated in the production of the ,book4 ,it is characteristic of the rhetorically loose phraseology of the times that the word 8composto0 is so used as to leave it quite uncertain whether several original contributors of materials and but one ,redactor who constituted these materials into a ,book are meant1 or whether a succession of ,redactors is already implied4 #c4 ,surviving eyewitnesses4 ,certainly by this time the three chief eyewitnesses of her later earthly existence1 ,carenzio1 ,vernazza1 and ,marabotto were all dead1 since respectively twenty-two1 eleven1 and seven years4 ,tommasa ,fiesca had died in the previous year4 ,only ,mariola ,bastarda and ,argentina del ,sale1 her old maid-servants1 were probably still alive1 from among the circle of ,catherine's constant companions2 and ,battista ,vernazza1 who was but thirteen when her ,god-mother died1 had still fifty-two years to live4 ,yet we have to come still later down amongst extant documents before we can get any further evidence1 whether external or internal1 as to which of these persons1 or who else 7probably or certainly7 wrote down the original contemporary notes2 and as to who constituted these notes1 7on one or on successive occasions7 into this 8,giustiniano-book10 as ,i shall call the manuscript 8,vita e ,dottrina10 extant in #aece4 ,,iv4 ,,fourth ,,stage3 ,,the ,,two ,,oldest ,,extant ,,manuscripts ,,of ,,the 8,,vita ,e ,,dottrina0 ,,with ,,the 8,,dicchiarazione40 ,the fourth stage of evidence is1 as to its contents1 the most important of all3 but it is1 as we shall see1 twelve years younger3 it belongs to the years #aedg1 #aedh4 ,it consists of two ,manuscripts1 the duodecimo-volume ,b4 #a4 #bi of the ,university ,library2 and the square octavo-volume of the ,archives of the ,cathedral ,chapter1 both in ,genoa4 ,here1 at last1 we are face to face with an actual ,life of our ,saint4 ,i have carefully collated them both upon the ninth ,genoese ,edition of the ,vita ed ,opere1 ,genova1 ,sordi ,muti3 the first ,,ms41 throughout1 and the second one1 sufficiently to make sure of its entire dependence upon the first4 ,i have named them ,,ms4 ,a and ,,ms4 ,b respectively4 #a4 ,,manuscript ,a4 #a4 ,its date and scribe4 ,manuscript ,a is very interesting4 ,it opens out as follows3 8,jesus4 ,here beginneth the book in which is contained the admirable life and holy conversation of ,madonna ,catherinetta ,adorna4''' ,this book was begun and written at the request of her ,magnificent ,ladyship1 the ,lady ,orientina1 ,consort to the most magnificent and generous1 illustrious ,lord ,adam ,centurione1 when she was being vexed by a grave and well-nigh incurable infirmity1 during now already thirteen months1 by a ,religious of the ,observance ''' on the #gth of ,october of the year fifteen hundred and forty-seven40--,and ,catherine's ,life concludes with the words3 8,laus ,deo semper4 ,this book was written at the request of the ,consort1 of happy memory1 of the ''' ,lord ,adam ,centurione1 who lay vexed by a most grave infirmity1 during now two years4 ,many a time she would sit and find consolation1 in her most painful torments1 by reading of the burnings 7incendii7 which were suffered1 for so long a time1 by this holy woman4''' ,at the thirteenth hour of the fourth of ,february ,god took her to ,himself4 ,she1 a few days before she passed away1 begged me with tears1 in the presence of the ,magnificent ,lady1 the ,lady ,ginetta1 her most beloved daughter1 to finish that which ,i had undertaken to produce for her own self4 ,and so it will be of use to the latter1 and will help her to bear her pains and travails1 which may the ,lord alleviate1 by giving her good patience40--,after this follow thirty pages2 containing an ,italian version of ,st4 ,bernard's ,sermon on the death of his ,brother ,gerard1 7,chapter ,,xxvi of his ,sermons on the ,canticle of ,canticles74 ,and the whole concludes with the words3 8,finished in the year ,fifteen hundred and forty-eight1 on the thirteenth of ,february40 ,we have here1 then1 very precise dates3 this ,life was written between ,october #g1 #aedg1 and ,february #d-ac1 #aedh1 by a ,franciscan ,observant1 first for the wife1 and then for the daughter1 of a ,doge of ,genoa4 #b4 ,comparison with the ,printed 8,life40 ,now the whole forty-two chapters of this ,life1 together with the ,sermon1 are engrossed throughout1 in a careful and upright uncial script4 ,on close comparison with the ,printed ,life the differences turn out to consist1 either of vocabulary and dialect1 of a simply formal kind2 or of additions and variations in the subject-matter1 of an exceedingly trite and would-be edifying character2 or of a very few additional passages of genuine importance2 or of divisions1 transpositions1 and lacunae--the latter mostly of a significant and primitive kind2 or1 finally1 of one highly interesting change1 effected in his own copy1 by the copyist himself4 7i7 ,vocabulary4 ,the ,observant's vocabulary is a curious mixture of downright 7late7 ,latin1 old ,french1 and modern ,italian4 ,so 8pagura0 7paura72 8in si0 7se1 ,fr4 soi72 8despecto0 7dispetto72 8alchuna10 8anchora0 7alcuna1 ancora72 8lingeriare0 7ligare1 ,fr4 lier72 8summissa0 7sommessa1 ,fr4 soumise72 8una fiata0 7una volta1 ,fr4 une fois72 8dido0 7digito1 o4 ,fr4 doight74#cff ,some of these and such-like forms no doubt stood in his ,prototype4 ,thus1 whilst he simply copies1 he writes--8pecto0 and 8licet02 when he makes up sentences of his own1 he writes 8petto0 and 8abench40 ,and his single ,chapter ,,xiii has1 on two pages1 8per il che02 but1 on its last two pages1 it has the elsewhere universal 8peroch0 7perch74--,yet his language is1 upon the whole1 so uniform1 whilst his sources 7as we shall see7 are so varied2 and again his uniform language is in such marked contrast to ,giustiniano's educated ,genoese ,italian of #aece1 and to that of the ,printed ,vita of #aeea3 that much of it1 even where he is copying the substance of his ,prototype1 must be his own4 7ii7 ,worthless additions and variations1 of two kinds4 ,the additions and variations are mostly of two kinds4 ,they are either of a directly edificatory character4 ,so the three pages descriptive of the devotion of the crowd1 on occasion of the opening of the coffin1 in the spring of #aeab2 the very general statement as to the miracles that occurred on that occasion2 and1 further back1 the expansion 7by this ,franciscan scribe7 of ,catherine's comments on 7the ,franciscan7 ,jacopone da ,todi's 8la superbia in cielo c'40#cfg ,and in one place1 to produce edification by a sense of contrast1 he adopts a touch of 7doubtless legendary7 gossip against ,giuliano1 for the heading of his ,chapter ,,xxiv runs3 8,how she comported herself towards her husband1 who was very contrary to her temperament2 and concerning her indefatigable patience in bearing with him1 and even with the beatings which he gave her02#cfh--where the end marked off by me is no doubt the ,observant's own addition1--possibly1 as we shall see1 on the authority of ,argentina del ,sale4--,or these additions are introduced to minimize or ward off scandal4 ,so when1 after expanding the parallel between the conversions of ,st4 ,paul and ,catherine1 he adds3 #88,for ,he spoke1 and they were 7re-7made' 7,ps4 xxxii1 #i74 ,but we must not curiously seek for the reason of this action02 and then proves his point by three further ,biblical texts4 ,so too when1 after giving an abbreviated account of the contrast between ,thommasina's and ,catherine's rate of spiritual advancement1 he again adds some ,bible text and some moralizing of his own4 ,and so again where1 after reproducing the passage as to her being linked to ,god with a thread of gold1 he expatiates1 once more in ,scriptural words1 on the presence of filial fear and the absence of all servile fear within her4 ,and so where1 after following his ,prototype 7as still preserved in the ,printed ,life71 and declaring his belief that it is reasonable and licit to believe her soul to have entered ,heaven immediately after death1 he continues3 8,hence he who does believe this1 does not lose in merit0 7non demerita2 an obvious litotes for 8merits071 8and he who believes it not1 does not offend40 ,in all these cases the ,biblical texts appear in the ,vulgate ,latin4#cfi ,there can be no doubt that it is this slight recasting of the language1 and this insertion of trite and timid moralizing of his own1 which1 together with the careful engrossing of his copy throughout1 and its occasional pretty decoration and illumination1 permitted the ,observant to talk 7although1 even thus1 in a manner most misleading for our present habits of language7 of having 8written this ,book40 7iii7 ,two genuine dates and accounts4 ,yet1 even amongst the passages which appear in his ,,ms4 as additional to the later texts1 are two evidently genuine and suggestive dates and accounts4 ,there is a description of ,catherine's great attack of 8fire at her heart10 more full and primitive1 and more definitely dated than any one of its many variants and echoes to be found in the ,printed ,life3 the slip in the date 7he writes ,november #aa1 #aejf1 when his own age-indications1 and the position of the anecdote1 clearly require #aeji7 will have had something to do with the strangely uncertain position of this episode in the ,printed ,life4#cgj--;,and further back1 in opening out the beautiful story of ,marco and ,argentina1 he writes3 8,there being in the quarter of the ,quay 7contrada del ,molo7 one ,marco del ,sale1 suffering from a cancer in the nose1 who1 fourteen months before his infirmity1 had taken to wife a virtuous young woman named ,argentina1 spiritual daughter of ,madonna ,catherinetta1 as is said above40#cga ,this very precise distance of time1 between that humble wedding and the poor navvy's illness1 will have been derived by the ,observant from ,argentina herself1 probably still living at the time of his writing1 even now hardly sixty years old4--,hence his long-winded addition1 as to the mediation of the 8spiritual daughter0 7certainly ,argentina71 in the matter of our knowledge of ,catherine's prayer for the dying ,giuliano1#cgb may also have been derived from that gossipy little woman4 7iv7 ,divisions and transpositions4 ,as to the divisions and transpositions1 the chief of these consist in the first six chapters of the ,printed ,vita appearing here broken up into 7the first7 ten chapters2 in the ,,ms4 ,chapters ,,xi to ,,xvi being gradually caught up by the ,printed series1--indeed the ,,ms4 ,chapter ,,xvi corresponds to ,chapters ,,xvi to ,,xviii of the published book2 in the ,chapters ,,xvii to ,,xix of the ,,ms4 corresponding to ,chapters ,,xx and ,,xxi of the ,print2 and ,chapters ,,xx1 ,,xxi1 and ,,xxii of the ,,ms41 corresponding respectively to ,chapters ,,xxiv1 ,,xxv1 and ,,xxvii of the ,print4 ,then for three ,chapters follows considerable variation3 the ,,ms4 ,chapters ,,xxiii1 ,,xxiv1 and ,,xxv hold the positions respectively of the ,printed ,chapters ,,xxxvii1 ,,xlv and ,,xlvi there4 ,and then again there is likeness for three ,chapters--,,ms4 ,chapters ,,xxvi to ,,xxviii corresponding to ,printed ,chapters ,,xxviii and ,,xxix there4 ,and once more three ,,ms4 ,chapters 7,,xxix to ,,xxxi71 quite different in sequence to anything there1 are followed by two ,chapters 7,,xxxii and ,,xxxiii7 corresponding to the ,printed ,chapters ,,xxix and ,,xxx4 ,four more ,,ms4 ,chapters 7,,xxxiv to ,,xxxvii71 without any match1 as to order1 in the ,printed book1 are followed by two ,chapters 7,,xxxviii and ,,xxxix71 corresponding1 respectively1 to the beginning and end of ,chapter ,,xxxi there2 and by ,chapter ,,xl1 identical with the opening of ,chapter ,,xl and with ,chapter ,,xli there4 ,and1 above all1 ,chapter ,,xli here1 corresponds to the ,dicchiarazione 7,trattato7 there2 and is followed here by a final ,chapter 7,,xlii71 made up of a bewilderingly different succession of paragraphs1--paragraphs which1 in the ,printed ,life1 stand in ,chapters ,,xlix2 ,,xvii2 and ,,xlviii to ,,lii4 ,and1 whereas the first forty ,chapters of this ,,ms4 average six or seven pages in length1 ,chapters ,,xli and ,,xlii are respectively forty-five and forty-eight pages long4 7v7 ,lacunae4 ,these transpositions would alone suffice to show how complicated is the textual history of the ,vita3 we may have to consider some of them later on4 ,but it is the lacunae which are especially interesting4 ,one of these is quite certainly right1 as against the printed text4 ,paragraphs #bc to #be of ,chapter ,l of the ,print are wanting here4 ,those pages give an entirely fantastic1 and formally vague1 account of a supposed interior stigmatization of ,catherine1 and of a preposterous elongation of one of her arms1--both 8facts0 based explicitly upon the authority of ,argentina4#cgc ,and the circumstance of the scribe being a disciple of the stigmatized ,st4 ,francis1 and the probability that ,argentina was still accessible1 conjoin to render the absence of these paragraphs from this ,,ms4 simply decisive against their historical character4--,the longest of all the omissions1 that of the ,dialogo1 must1 even more1 be explained on the ground of its non-existence at this time1 or1 at least1 of its not being known to the ,scribe1 or again1 of its having as yet no kind of authority4 ,for not only does he make no use of1 or allusion to this1 very long1 and 7were it primitive7 simply supreme document1 but1 as we shall find1 quite a number of his facts contradict the ,dialogo's version of them2 and we shall soon see that1 had he known and esteemed the document1 he would not have allowed such a defiance of it to remain without correction4 ,over against these two non-appearances of spurious or secondary matter1 we have to set three omissions of highly valuable material4 ,the two interconnected1 obviously entirely historical1 paragraphs concerning ,maestro ,boerio1--his attempt to cure ,catherine1 and the excessive impression made upon her by his scarlet robes1#cgd--;are both wanting here4 ,but we shall see that they were probably not incorporated in any ,vita1 till the preparation of the ,printed ,life of #aeea4--,matters stand differently with respect to the third omission1--the beautifully vivid1 inimitably daring and characteristic1 ,chapter ,,xix1 containing ,catherine's dialogue with the ,friar1 who1 according to the well-informed ,parpera1 was a ,franciscan ,observant4#cge ,it is impossible to hold that this1 most historical and well-preserved1 story did not stand in the ,observant's ,prototype1 or that it was otherwise unknown to him2 its omission is doubtless deliberate and 8prudential40--,an interesting instance of demonstrable omission on his part1 is indeed furnished also by his version of the beautiful story of ,suor ,tommasa's life3 his abbreviation of it is so obvious and yet so unintelligent1 that only a reference to the full account1 which lay certainly before him and is still preserved in the ,printed ,life1 makes any satisfactory sense of what he has retained4#cgf #c4 ,modification from a tripartite scheme to a quatripartite one4 ,but the most interesting of all the differences between this ,,ms4 ,a of #aedg and the ,printed ,life of #aeea is another group of omissions1 connected1 as these are1 with the one single modification introduced into his own text by the ,scribe himself4 ,the whole of the matter corresponding to the ,printed ,life's ,chapter ,,xliv 7all but the first seven lines7 and that corresponding to the first three paragraphs of its ,chapter ,,xlix1 which treat consecutively1 and with an inimitable vividness and a daring1 unreflective truthfulness1 of her most unusual self-revelations to her ,confessor ,don ,marabotto1#cgg is omitted--possibly1 again1 in part at least1 from fear of scandal2 but more probably because1 even at this time1 this 7the most private and consecutive7 contribution to the ,life1 still existed separately1 perhaps from all1 and presumably from most1 copies of the ,vita then in circulation4 ,and such a copy will have been the ,observant's ,prototype4--,only when he had finished copying out his manuscript1 will he have discovered that1 if he would take any1 even though silent1 account of that contribution1 which1 by now1 will have become known to him1 he must1 at all costs1 break up and seriously modify one of his chapters4 ,we have already studied the treble1 most solemn affirmation1 by ,catherine and her ,confessor themselves1 in that ,printed ,chapter ,,xliv1 as to her twenty-five years of spiritual loneliness and guidance by ,god alone2#cgh and we have seen that 7since we cannot place her ,conversion before #adgd1 nor the beginning of her later practice of ,confession after #adii7 we are forced 7if we take her words in their obvious sense1 as applying to ,confession as well as to ,direction1 and assume her ,first ,convert-,period1 the penitential time1 to have been accompanied throughout by repeated ,confessions7 to make this first ,period very short4 ,now the volume of #aedg1 #aedh1 consists throughout of paper1 all but the first three leaves and the tenth leaf1 which are of parchment4 ,the first leaf remains blank2 the second contains the ,observant's ,preface on its obverse2 the third holds1 on its two sides1 the first two pages of the ,vita4 ,that ,preface was certainly written before all the rest1 or at least certainly during the lifetime of ,donna ,orientina ,centurione1 i4e4 before ,february #d1 #aedh2 nor does anything in those first two 7parchment and paper7 pages of text suggest that they are an insertion subsequent to the following 7paper7 pages4 ,at first1 then1 the copy will have consisted of three parchment leaves1 and then of nothing but paper leaves2 and the ,observant will have made the last of these parchment leaves the sole and opening parchment leaf of the text of the ,book4 ,but matters stand differently with the tenth leaf1 pp4 #ai1 #bj of the ,,ms41 which begins with the words 8bisogna1 sono apparecchiata a confessar0--87if7 necessary1 ,i am prepared to confess my sins in public0 7,catherine's words1 on occasion of her ,conversion72 and ends with 87abru7 savano insino al core4 ,poi f tirata al ,petto0--8,love1 with those penetrating rays of its own1 which burnt her1 even to the heart4 ,she was then drawn to the ,breast0 7narrative words which1 in the scheme of her ,life that follows upon the ,conversion-story1 mark the transition from one of this scheme's stages to another74 ,now here we have clear indications that these two parchment pages hold a modified text4 ,for that last parchment-leaf word 8,petto0 is picked up1 on the paper continuation1 by 8,pecto10 the ordinary form of the ,observant's ,prototype3 see his page #ha4 ,and the whole book 7all but this parchment leaf and its highly restricted effects71 still attributes four years to her ,first ,convert-,period1 her ,penitential1 ,purgative ,stage4 ,indeed1 this solitary parchment leaf itself still allows us to trace1 7as though the leaf were a ,palimpsest71 both this1 the original1 length of that ,period1 and the fact of that ,period having then been the first of three1 and not1 as now1 of four such periods4--,for this leaf1 in finishing up the manuscript's fourth chapter1 the history of her ,conversion1#cgi--;declares that 8this sight 7of her sins7 and this contrition 7for them7 lasted fourteen months1 during which she went on confessing herself1 continually increasing her self-accusation 7aggravando la colpa72 after the passing of which months1 all sadness was lifted from her1 nor did she have any memory of her sins1--as though she had cast them into the depths of the sea40 ,and then1 in the opening of the fifth chapter1#chj the scheme and conspectus of her ,convert ,life runs as follows4 ,she is first 8drawn to the feet of ,christ0 and abides there 8one year until she had satisfied her conscience by ,contrition1 ,confession1 and ,satisfaction40--8,she next felt herself drawn1 with ,st4 ,john1 to repose on the ,breast of her ,loving ,lord4''' ,the sight of the sins committed by her against ,god would come to her1 so that she would be1 as it were1 wild 7arrabbiava7 with grief1 and would lick the ground with her tongue2 and in this wise she appeared to derive relief for her tempestuous feelings 7affannato cuore74 ,and she abode thus for three years1 during which she was1 as it were1 wild with grief and love1 with those penetrating rays of its own1 which burned her to the very heart4#cha ,she was then drawn to the ,breast0--which last parchment-leaf word is taken up by the next1 ordinary paper-leaf3 8,breast2 and here she was shown the ,heart of ,christ4''' ,and she abode many years with this impression of ,his burning ,heart4--,and then she was drawn 7still7 further up1 that is1 to the ,mouth2 and there she was found worthy of being kissed by the true ,solomon4''' ,and she no more 7directly7 recognized her human acts1 whether they had been done well or evilly2 but she saw all in ,god40#chb ,we see here how the original four years of her ,first ,period1 which are still retained elsewhere by the ,printed ,vita1#chc have been broken up by the scribe of this ,manuscript into two shorter 7first and second7 ,periods1 of fourteen months 7one year71 and three years respectively2 how the copyist1 both in his first apportionment of length to his new ,first ,period1 8fourteen months10 and in his second assignment1 now of one year 7since he has to divide up the original ,four years so as to get them again by addition1 8one year0 and 8three years071 leaves us two curious echoes of the 8,four0 of his ,prototype2 how his amended description of his new second ,period is still largely the old ,penitential description1 for she still sees her sins 7a sight which is here an anachronism71 and she is still prostrate on the ground 7a prostration which exactly suits the ,feet1 but in no way the ,breast of ,christ72 how the ,observant has been half-hearted and clumsy1 for he has now left two successive ,breast-,periods1 hardly differentiated from each other2 and how he was able to shift 7though not to change7 the original single ,breast-,period 7now his second ,breast-,period71 because of its conveniently vague time-note of 8many years40 ,all this laborious1 yet timid1 incomplete and ineffectual change1 thus forced upon an evidently long-established1 toughly resisting composition1 can only have taken place under some severe pressure of evidence2 and the root-causes of the change are somehow connected with the question as to the duration1 in her life1 of the perception and ,confession of her sins4 ,for the ,confession of her sins1 which 7in the old scheme7 extended over four years1 is now restricted to fourteen months or one year2 and if contemplative and restful love are now anticipated 7from the original second ,period7 in the new second ,period of three years1 yet an intense sight of her particular sins1 piercing contrition for them1 and a complete prostration on the ground1 are all indeed retained1 from the original ,feet-,period1 for this new second ,period1 but ,confession has disappeared from these three years4 ,now we have precisely such absolutely constraining evidence in ,marabotto's treble chronicle of ,catherine's own words1 with regard to the twenty-five years during which she was led by ,god's spirit alone4 ,it is clear then that the most important of ,marabotto's notes did not exist incorporated with1 or at least had not originally formed part of1 and did not dominate1 the scheme of the ,vita which the ,observant had before him2 and that1 upon his later knowledge of1 or pondering over them1 he understood ,catherine's words to have applied1 not simply to ,direction but to 7at least at all habitual7 ,confession as well4 #b4 ,,manuscript ,b4 #a4 ,its very primitive heading4 ,manuscript ,b starts indeed with a heading demonstrably older than that of ,,ms4 ,a4 ,for its 8,de la ,mirabile ,conversione et ,vita de la q7uondam7 donna ,catherinetta ,adorna0 is more primitive1 because of its 8the late10 which indicates a time of writing not yet far removed from the date of her death2 its 8,donna10 less honorific than the 8,madonna0 of the other ,,mss42 and1 above all1 its giving 8,conversione0 before 8,vita10 instead of 8,conversatione0 after 8,vita10 since thus we are assured of 8,conversione0 being no slip of the pen for 8,conversatione10--,conversion coming necessarily before1 and holy ,conversation coming after1 in consequence of1 an admirable life4--,and this title will originally have headed a booklet containing simply the story of her ,conversion and early ,convert life1 say1 up to the end of ,chapter ,,vi of the ,printed ,vita1 p4 #ag;b2 or1 since even the 8et ,vita0 of this title reads like a later addition1 only up to the end of the present printed ,chapter ,,ii1 p4 #f;c4 ,i think there is no doubt that we have here the original heading of a tract put together on occasion of the first public ,cultus1 in the summer of #aeab4 #b4 ,body of ,,ms4 ,b dependent upon ,,ms4 ,a4 ,but the body of ,,ms4 ,b is demonstrably later than1 indeed dependent upon1 ,,ms4 ,a2 for here the scribe silently adopts the modification1 effected by the writer of ,,ms4 ,a in his own text1 with regard to doubling the ,breast-,period2 and yet1 even here1 we have still the ,observant's 8,petto0 for the first period1 and the 8,pecto0 of the ,observant's ,prototype for the second period4#chd 8,come0 now appears throughout1 in lieu of ,,ms4 ,a's 8,como40 ,and ,giuliano's name is omitted 7all but once1 in ,catherine's mouth7 in the ,husband-,chapter4#che #c4 ,order1 division1 numeration of the ,chapters4 ,the order1 division1 and numeration of the ,chapters is identical with those of ,,ms4 ,a1 all but that ,chapter ,,xxxix of ,,ms4 ,a 7equivalent to the unimportant pp4 #hb;b-#hc;a of ,chapter ,,xxxi in the ,printed ,life7 is here omitted4 ,no ,chapter numbered ,,xxxix appears here1 but1 after a small break behind ,chapter ,,xxxviii1 the ,trattato follows1 as ,chapter ,,xl4 #d4 ,laceration at end of ,manuscript4 ,and this ,chapter ,,xl is abruptly broken off in the midst of a penultimate paragraph3 8et per gratia li sono monstrati et0 are the last words4 ,the authentication of the ,,ms41 appended immediately after this rough ending1 shows this laceration to be at least as old as #afgb4 ,nor is it a case of some complete set or sets of leaves being lost1 since one leaf has had to be torn off1 from the still remaining other half-sheet4#chf ,the last part1 no doubt1 contained the end of the ,trattato and the ,passion-,chapter2 and will1 like its ,prototype1 ,,ms4 ,a1 have been without a trace of the ,dialogo4 ,indeed ,i suspect that it was the latter circumstance which1 when once this elaborate composition had come to be prized1 gave rise to the1 surely deliberate1 destruction of the evidence for its absence here4 ,,ms4 ,a will1 in that case1 have been saved from a similar fate1 by its special appropriation to a powerful family2 by its superior1 uncial kind of script2 and1 above all1 by its important contemporary date and dedication at the end4 ,v4 ,,fifth ,,stage3 ,,manuscript ,c4 ,our next1 deeply interesting stage1 is represented by one single ,,ms4 in the ,university ,library1 ,genoa1--catalogued as ,b4 ,,vii #ag4 ,it is a careful copy1 made throughout by the ,protonotary ,angelo ,luigi ,giovo1 and subscribed by himself on ,april #bj1 #afga1 of1 as he there says1 8,another ancient ,,ms4 received from the ,signora ----1 ,matron of the ,great ,hospital1 who declared that she had herself received it from the ,nuns of the ,madonna delle ,grazie2 and which is believed1 with great probability1 to be the ,,ms4 copied by ,ettore ,vernazza and sent to the ,venerable ,donna ,battista1 his daughter4 ,the book1 in view of the antiquity of the paper1 of the character of the binding of the copy1 and of the other peculiarities1 has been judged by experts to belong to the above-mentioned ,period40 ,the reader will soon see why ,i place 7not necessarily the execution1 but the text of7 the ,,ms4 thus copied by ,giovo1 before the printing of the ,vita in #aeea1 and will thus be helped to a decision as to the 8greatly probable0 attribution to ,ettore ,vernazza4 #a4 ,differences in text of ,,ms4 ,c from ,,mss4 ,a and ,b4 ,giovo's ,copy 7my ,,ms4 ,c7 follows1 up to the end of its ,chapter ,,xli 7the ,trattato71 the division1 number1 and sequence of the chapters1 and the peculiarities of the text1 of ,,ms4 ,a1 with an all but unbroken closeness3 even the slip1 of #aejf 7for #aeji71 in the date of the great attack of 8fire at heart10 reappears here as it stands there 7fol4 #ccv of ,,ms4 ,c1 compared with p4 #aic of ,,ms4 ,a74 ,but the 8,petto0 and 8,pecto10 of respectively the first and second ,breast-,periods in ,,mss4 ,a and ,b1 read here1 in both cases1 as simply 8,petto0 7,,ms4 ,c1 fol4 #c74--,there is but one at all remarkable addition in this1 the ,vita-part of the ,,ms4 ,in the account of the refusal to accept ,catherine on the part of the ,nuns of the very ,convent where1 as we shall see1 the ,prototype copied by ,giovo was no doubt written1 there occur the new words3 8,although her ,confessor was instant with them 7to take her71 knowing her1 as he did1 better than the ,nuns knew her0 7,,ms4 ,c1 fol4 #av74--,and1 in concluding further on 7on its fol4 #gav seq47 with the ,passion-,chapter1 as this stands in ,,ms4 ,a 7,chapter ,,xlii71 a ,chapter which here 7for a reason to be given in a minute7 is not numbered1 the ,,ms4 still follows closely 7although now with a few generally unimportant additions1 omissions1 and transpositions of paragraphs71 the matter1 order1 and literary form of ,,ms4 ,a4--,only one1 formally slight1 but materially significant1 difference exists here between ,giovo's text and the ,printed ,life4 ,the ,printed ,life1 p4 #adb;b1 reads3 8,after this1 she felt a hard nail at heart02 to this ,,ms4 ,c adds 7fol4 #gbr7 8so that she seemed nailed to the ,cross40 ,neither set of words occurs in ,,mss4 ,a and ,b4 ,,ms4 ,c here gives us something unlike ,catherine's1 but very like ,battista's1 special spirit4 #b4 ,the great addition3 the 8,dialogo10 ,part ,first4 7#a7 ,the 8,dialogo0 originally no longer4 ,but it is in the pages intermediate between the ,trattato and the ,passion 7foll4 #ecv to #gav71 that lies the interest of this ,,ms4 ,for here we get1 for the first time1 the ,dialogo1 although1 as yet1 only its eventual ,first ,part 7pp4 #ahe-bbe in the ,printed ,life74 ,chapter ,,xli 7the ,trattato7 has just finished1 by only six lines short of its printed form1 with the words 8because that occupation with ,himself which ,god gives to the soul1 slight though it be1 keeps the soul so occupied1 that it exceeds everything1 nor can the soul esteem anything else40 ,and immediately next there come 7#ecv7 the title-words3 8,here follows a certain beautiful ,allegory 7,figura7 which this holy soul institutes 7f7 concerning the ,soul and the ,body40--,the eventual division into 7#ag7 chapters is still absent1 and the work seems1 at this time1 to have been planned to be no longer than it is here4 ,for it concludes with the emphatic climax3 8,now the ,spirit1 having come to hold this creature in this manner1 declared3 #8,i am determined henceforth no more to call her a human creature1 because ,i see her 7to be7 all in ,god1 without any 7mere7 humanity4'0 ,for these words simply re-cast the last words of the scheme of her entire life1 given by the ,vita3 8,she said3 #8,i live no more1 but ,christ lives in me4' ,hence she could no more recognize the quality of her human acts1 in themselves--whether they were good or evil2 but she saw all in ,god0 7,pr4 ,l41 p4 #f;c74 7#b7 ,the 8,dialogo's0 two stages1 each comprising two steps1 and their suggestions in the 8,vita40 ,now the ,dialogo1 as here given1 consists of two chief stages1 and each stage contains two steps4 ,chapters ,i to ,,vi give the first stage--the history of a soul in a state of moral and spiritual decline and contraction3 all this1 in the form of a ,dialogue between the ,soul1 the ,body1 and ,self-,love4--,throughout this first stage ,self-,love holds dominion4 ,but1 during the first step1 the ,soul 7although it already distinguishes1 with regard to what it intends to practise1 between simply avoiding grave sin and striving after perfection7 still continues fairly determined not to commit sin1 and still leads the ,body4 ,during the second step1 on the contrary1 even this simple avoidance of grave sin has ceased1 for now the ,body leads the ,soul4 ,thus first the ,soul1 and then the ,body1 each leads the other during one step1 for 8one week40--,these two steps or weeks stand for the two lustres of ,catherine's pre-,conversion-,period1 for the lukewarm1 and then the positively dissipated1 lustre respectively4 ,chapters ,i to ,,iii give the first week1 equivalent to the first five years of her married life1 #adfc to #adfh2 and ,chapters ,,iv to ,,vi give the second week1 and correspond to the second five years1 #adfh to #adgc4chg ,chapters ,,vii to ,,xxi describe the second stage1 that of ,conversion and ,transformation1 which 7notwithstanding its appearance of instantaneous and complete attainment of its end7 is here presented as1 in reality1 by far the longer and the more difficult1 although the alone fruitful and happy one4 ,chapters ,,vii to ,,xiii describe the first step4 ,chapters ,,vii to ,,ix give us the ,soul's longing for ,light2 the spark of ,pure ,love shown to it1 on its conversion-day2 and a long address by the ,soul to the ,body and ,self-,love1 and the answers of these two4#chh ,in this address the ,soul for the first time speaks of 8the ,spirit40#chi ,chapter ,x makes the ,soul for the first time address 8the ,lord10 8,o ,signore10 on the one hand3 and her 8,humanity0 8,o ,umanit10 on the other4#cij ,in ,chapters ,,xi and ,,xii the ,soul stands alone1 face to face with the ,lord1 who appears to it in two successive visions1--first as ,christ alive and walking along all stained with blood from head to foot2 and1 on a later occasion1 as ,christ evidently motionless and presumably dead1 with ,his five fountain-wounds1 which are sending drops of burning blood towards mankind4 ,and these two visions1 so carefully kept apart1 doubtless typify the two periods of ,catherine's ,convert life1--the two steps of her second stage3 the moving1 scourged and cross-bearing ,christ stands for the active penance of the first four years or fourteen months2 and the motionless1 crucified ,christ stands for the passive purification of the rest of her life4#cia ,chapter ,,xiii has no dialogue1 but describes her active penances and good works1 and mentions the ,soul1 ,humanity1 and the ,spirit4#cib ,and then1 up to the end1 in ,chapters ,,xiv to ,,xxi1 which give us the second step1 the dialogue reappears1 but now no more between the three ,dramatis ,personae 7,soul1 ,body1 and ,self-,love7 of the pre-,conversion-,period2 but between the two interlocutors of the post-conversion time 7the ,spirit and ,humanity74#cic ,and there is here but one sporadic mention1 an invocation1 of 8the ,lord0 7p4 #bad;c74 ,thus only after its ,conversion does the ,soul itself become aware of1 or does it name1 either the ,spirit or its 8,humanity02 and only after the two successive ,christ-,visions do these two new experiences and conceptions entirely replace the three old ones of ,soul1 ,body1 and ,self-,love4 ,in a word1 we have here1 carefully carried through1 the scheme1 so clearly enunciated by ,battista ,vernazza in #aeed1 of the two successive divisions effected by ,god in ,man1 during the process of ,man's purification3 first1 the separation 7division7 of the ,soul from the ,body2 and then the separation 7division7 of the ,spirit from the ,soul4#cid ,and1 in strict accordance with this scheme1 the ,soul here becomes conscious of being1 in its upper reaches1 ,spirit1 only on the day that it has broken away from the domination of the downward-tending ,body1 and of ,self-,love4 ,and once the ,soul has thus affirmed the ,spirit and denied the ,body1 the 8,body0 and the 8,soul0 cease to be directly mentioned2 the one term 8,humanity0 now takes the ,soul's and the ,body's place4 ,for now the ,soul1 in so far as it has still not completely identified itself with the ,spirit1 does not any more attach itself directly to the ,body and the ,body's pleasures1--to1 as it were1 the upper fringe of the ,body1--but to the sensible-spiritual consolations which are the necessary concomitants and consequences of the ,soul's affirmation and acceptance of the ,spirit1--hence1 as it were1 to the lower fringe of the ,spirit4 8,i would have thee know10 the ,spirit now says to ,catherine1 8that ,i fear much more an attachment to the spiritual than to the bodily taste and feeling4 ,man goes his way #8feeding' his spiritual sensuality upon the things which proceed from ,god1 and yet these things are a very poison for the ,pure ,love of ,god40#cie #c4 ,the 8,dialogo0 intensifies or softens certain narratives and sayings given by the 8,vita40 ,now these interesting forty pages of the first ,dialogo derive 7with the sole exception of three little touches7 their entire historical materials from the ,vita e ,dottrina1 and1 indeed1 from but those parts of this corpus which already appear in ,,mss4 ,a and ,b1 and in the previous pages of ,,ms4 ,c itself4 ,but all these materials have been re-thought1 re-pictured1 re-arranged throughout1 by a new1 powerful1 and experienced mind1 a mind dominated by certain very definite1 schematic conceptions as to the constitution of the human personality1 the nature of holiness1 and the laws of its growth1 and which is determined to find or form concrete examples of these conceptions1 in and from the life of ,catherine4 7#a7 ,cases of intensifying4 ,there are1 first1 five cases of the intensifying of authentic ,vita-accounts1 intensifications necessary1 or at least ancillary1 to the scheme underlying the whole ,dialogo-composition4 ,as to the pre-conversion sinfulness1 during her second 8week10 ,catherine's soul is made to say3 8,in a short time ,i was enveloped in sin2 and1 abiding in that snare1 ,i lost the grace 7of ,god7 and remained blind and heavy1 and from spiritual ,i became all earthly40#cif ,yet there is no evidence that ,catherine1 even at that time1 ever committed grave sin2 nor does there exist an authentic saying of hers which1 however intense its expressions of contrition1 conveys an impression really equivalent to this passage4--,as to the form of her contrition1 8so greatly was this soul alienated 7from her own self7 and submerged in the sight of the offence of ,god1 that she no longer seemed a rational creature1 but a terrified animal40#cig ,yet the earlier accounts1 which certainly do not minimize here1 keep well within the limits of normal1 though intense1 human feeling and expression of feeling4--,as to the forcible means taken by her to overcome her fastidiousness in the matter of cleanliness and in the sense of taste1 8she would put the impurities into her mouth1 as though they had been precious pearls40#cih ,yet the original versions1 drastic enough in all conscience1 nowhere imply that there was any such relish1 even of a merely apparent kind4--,as to her post-conversion poverty1 the ,spirit says to her3 8,thou shalt work to provide for thy living10 and the narrative declares3 8,the ,spirit made her so poor1 that she would have been unable to live1 had not ,god provided for her by the means of alms40#cii ,yet we know from her wills that 7though the ,hospital authorities gave her free lodging1 and perhaps1 at first1 free board as well7 she retained1 up to the last1 an appreciable little income1 and herself conferred many an alms out of these her own means4 ,nevertheless1 in each of these cases1 the ,dialogo exaggeration is suggested by some phrase or word in the ,vita which has been taken up into the new context and medium of this other mind1 and has come to mean something curiously 7though often in form but slightly7 different from that older account4--,thus1 in this fourth instance1 the ,vita-accounts had said3 8nel principio di sua conversione1 molto si esercit40 8,viveva ancora molto sottomessa ad ogni creatura40 8,quantunque ella fosse in tutto dedicata ed occupata negli esercizii di esso ,spedale1 nondimeno mai volle godere ne usare una minima cosa di quello per viver suo2 ma1 per quel poco che abbisognava1 si serviva della povera sostanza sua3 onde ben si scorgeva che il suo dolce ,amore era quello il quale operava in lei ogni cosa per vera unione40 8,si esercit nelle opere pie1 cercando i poveri1 essendo condotta delle ,donne della ,misericordia1 e le davano danari ed altre provvisioni40#djj ,the ,dialogo-writer has worked all this up as follows3 8,io 7lo ,spirito7 ti avviso primieramente voler io che tu pruovi che cosa sia esser ubbidiente1 acci tu divenghi umile e soggetta ad ogni creatura2 ed accioch ti possi esercitare1 lavorerai per provedere al viver tuo40 8,primieramente la fece tanto povera1 che non avrebbe potuto vivere1 se ,dio non l'avvesse provveduta per via di limosine4 ,poi quando le ,signore della ,misericordia l'addimandavano per andare a'poveri ''' ella sempre con loro andava40#dja ,i have italicized the words taken over by the ,dialogo4 ,thus her own poor substance 7i4e4 her own modest income71 and the money given to her by the ,misericordia-ladies for distribution among the poor1 becomes a substance1 alms and money1 given to herself as to a poor person4 ,the fifth case concerns the affections4 ,in the ,vita-proper nothing is more characteristic of ,catherine1 up to the spring of #aeji1 than her swift and deep affective sympathy1 and the fearless forms of its manifestation4 ,true1 ,catherine 8would0 7certainly up to #adij1 perhaps more or less up to #adif7 8abide at times10 up to six hours on end1 8as though dead40 ,but1 8on hearing herself called1 she would suddenly arise and betake herself1 in answer1 to whatever was required of her1 however small a service this might be40 ,and indeed 8she served the sick with most fervent affection30 thus she attended throughout a week upon a poor pestiferous woman2 and at the end1 8unable further to contain herself1 kissed0 the dying woman 8upon the mouth with great affection of heart1 and so caught the pestilential fever1 and well-nigh died of it40#djb--,then1 too1 there is the ,vita's quite general1 indeterminate remark1 8she 7,catherine7 felt no pain at the deaths of her 7two elder7 brothers and of her sisters0 7the latter should be 8sister10 unless1 perhaps1 a sister-in-law is included7 in #aejb4djc ,but her extant wills have shown us how actively thoughtful she remained1 even in #aejf and #aeji1 for her brother1 nephews and nieces1 and humble retainers2 and the deeply affectionate scenes with ,marco and ,argentina occurred between #aejc and #aejf4 ,marco1 the poor navvy1 was dying 8of a cancer in the face10 and ,catherine1 at ,argentina's asking1 8as though with prompt obedience1 betook herself to him02 and he 8threw his arms round ,catherine's neck1 and1 pressing her with sobs1 seemed unable to have done with weeping4#djd ,and then1 still weeping1 with great tenderness he besought ,catherine to adopt his wife as her spiritual daughter10 and ,catherine did so1 and 8loved this spiritual daughter much40#dje--,only in the very late actions1 the change as to her burial-place 7,will of ,march #aeji71 and the exclusion of all her attendants on ,january #aj1 and of most of them on and after ,august #bg1 #aeaj1djf are there indications of any absence or renunciation of tender and spontaneous human affection4 ,but here again the ,dialogo both closely presses and profoundly changes the original accounts4 ,for here the ,spirit declares to her3 8in these exercises0 of work among the poor1 8,i shall keep thee ''' as though thou wast dead4 ,i will not allow thee to make friends with any one1 nor that thou shouldst have any particular affection for any relative2 but ,i want thee to love all men1 and this without affection1 both poor and rich1 both friends and relatives4 ,i do not want thee1 in thine interior1 to know one person from the other1 nor would ,i have thee go to any one from motives of friendship2 it will suffice to go when thou art called40 ,and thus 8she went1 when the ,misericordia-ladies asked her to go into dwellings that would have frightened away all ordinary mortals4 ,but she1 on the contrary1 deliberately touched these sick 7voleva toccarli71 for the purpose of giving them some refreshment to soul and body40#djg--,note how skilfully the call1 and the going at the call1 the affection and its spontaneous manifestations in the original accounts1 have been altered and crossed by the ,dialogue's re-statement4--,here again we are strongly reminded of ,battista1 in her letter to the ,signora ,andronica in #aege1 encouraging her to 8abandon all things10 her children included1 8interiorly10 and 8to mortify the most pleasing consolation which arises from the children's company40 ,indeed1 already in #aeed1 ,battista has1 in one of her own ,colloquies1 refused to accept every avoidable consolation arising from her pure election by ,god4#djh ,only by such a reference of these ,dialogo-passages to ,battista1 the many-sided1 the ever-affectionate daughter and public-spirited woman1 can we come to see them in a wider context2 indeed only thus can they cease to be profoundly repulsive4 7#b7 ,cases of softening4 ,there are two instances of the softening of 7doubtless authentic7 doctrinal sayings given by the ,vita-proper4 ,her evidently impulsive exclamation3 8,i would not have grace or mercy1 but justice and vengeance exercised against the malefactor10--has here become3 8,she did not attach any importance to her sins1 on the ground of the punishment awaiting them1 but solely because they had been enacted against the infinite goodness of ,god40--,and her bold declaration3 8,if any creature could be found which did not participate in the divine goodness1 that creature would be as malignant as ,god is good10 here reads3 8,the soul bereft of the ,divine love becomes well-nigh as malignant as the ,divine love is good and delightful4 ,i say #8well-nigh1' for ,god shows it a little mercy40#dji ,the proclamation of some moral good even in lost souls1 is thus weakened to an admission of some consolation in the latter4 #d4 ,re-statement of the ,conversion-experiences of ,march #adgd4 ,but it is in the matters of ,catherine's ,conversion in the ,convent-,chapel1 on ,march #bb1 #adgd1 and of the ,vision of the ,bleeding ,christ in the ,palazzo ,adorno1 soon after1 that the ,dialogo's transformation of the ,vita-accounts reaches its highest interest4 ,i give it here as the chief of many such re-statements which ,i have carefully analyzed4 ,vita-proper1 ,vita 7,dialogo71 pp4 #aii;c1 pp4 #d;a-#e;b4 #bjj;c1 #bjb;c1 #bjh;c1 #bji;a1 b4 #bji;c1 #baj;a1 #baa;a1 b4 ,subitocch se gli f inginocchiata ,quando ,iddio vuole purgare innanzi1 receve una un anima ''' le manda il ferita al cuore d'immenso suo divino lume1 facendola amore di ,dio1 con una vista vedere una scintilla di quel cos chiara delle sue miserie puro amore con quale ci ama e diffetti1 e della bont di ,dio ''' essendo noi nemici per che ne f per cascare in terra4 molte offese che gli abbiamo ,onde ''' rest quasi fuor di fatte4''' ,e le f vedere quel s3 e perci internamente affocato amore4''' ,tutto gridava con ardente amore3 questo f dimostrato da ,dio 8,non pi mondo1 non pi peccati40 in un instante1 coll' operazione ,ed in quel punto4''' sua purissima4''' ,questo ''' ,per la viva fiamma d'infocato raggio d'amore f quello che amore il dolce ,iddio fer quell' anima in un istante impresse in quell' anima ''' ''' che la fece restare in tutta la perfezione4''' quel punto quasi fuori di s4''' ,vedeva ancora le offese che ,le f ancora mostrato ''' quanti gli aveva fatte2 e perci gridava3 erano tutti i suoi diffetti 8,o amore mai pi1 mai ''' in modo che sommerse pi1 peccati40 ,se le accese poi s stessa con tal un odio di s medesima1 che dispregio che avrebbe detto non si poteva sopportare1 e i suoi peccati pubbliccamente diceva3 8,o amore1 se bisogna1 per tutta la citt1 n altro sono apparecchiata di confessare poteva dire se non3 8,o ,signore i miei peccati in pubblico40 mai pi mondo1 n peccati40 ,ma volendo il ,signore accendere ,stando l'anima in questa intrinsecamente pi quasi disperazione di s l'amor suo in quest' anima1 ed medesima ''' vedendosi un insieme il dolore dei suoi carico da disperato alle spalle1 peccati1 se le mostr in ispirito ''' era come una cosa insensata colla ,croce in spalla1 piovendo ed attonita fuori di s4''' tutto sangue1 per modo che la ,essendo un giorno in casa1 casa le pareva tutta piena di le apparve in vista interiore rivoli di quel sangue1 il quale il ,signor ,nostro ,ges vedeva essere tutto sparso per ,christo1 tutto insanguinato amore3 il che le accese nel da capo a' piedi1 in modo che cuore tanto fuoco1 che ne pareva che da quel corpo usciva fuor di s1 e pareva piovesse sangue per tutta la una cosa insensata per tanto terra dove andava2 e le f amore e dolore che ne sentiva4 detta in occulto questa parola3 8vedi tu questo sangue8 tutto sparso per amor tuo1 e per soddisfazione de' tuoi peccati40 ,in queste parole le f data una gran ferita d'amore verso esso ,signor nostro ,ges ,christo1 con una confidenza tale1 che disparve quella prima vista tanto disperata e si rallegr un poco in esso ,signore4''' ,questa vista le f tanto ,le f mostrata un altra penetrativa che vista maggior di quella1 e tanto pi grande che con lingua non si potrebbe dire ''' le f infuso un raggio d'amore nel cuore4''' ,gridava e sospirava molto pi e le pareva sempre vedere 7e senza comparazione che della cogli occhi corporali7 prima vista1 la quale f dell' esser maligno di s stessa4 ,questo raggio d'amore le f il suo ,amore tutto insanguinato lasciato impresso con quelle e confitto in ,croce4 cinque fontane di ,christo1 le quali mandavano goccie d'affuoccato sangue di acceso amore verso dell' uomo4 ,hence ,d4 gives but one exclamation as to 8world0 and 8sins10 and constructs this out of the two 7mutually differing7 exclamations of the same kind given by ,v41 the second of which now stands in ,v4 after the ,bleeding-,christ episode4 ,whilst spacing all out1 ,d4 keeps to the order and context of ,v4's paragraphs4 ,and ,d4 utilizes the curious1 silent change from the moving ,christ to the affixed ,christ in ,v4's account of the single vision in the ,palace1 so as to constitute two perfectly distinct visions4 ,the ,cross of both these doublets of ,v41 7the 8,croce0 which1 in the first part of ,v4's single account1 is 8in spalla10 on ,his shoulder2 and the ,cross which1 in the second part of the same account1 ,he is nailed to71 has1 in ,d41 disappeared from both separate visions4 ,and yet the ,cross hovers about the first vision1 here transformed into a 8carico alle spalle10 a load upon ,catherine's shoulders1--an oppression on her mind2 and is presupposed in the second vision1 since those 8five fountains sending forth burning blood0 are1 of course1 the wounds of ,christ1 whilst ,he hangs affixed to the ,cross as described in ,v4's second part4 ,and the 8,signore piovendo tutto sangue10 and the 8rivoli di sangue1 sparso per amore1 il che accese nel cuore tanto fuoco10 of ,v41 have1 in ,d41 become 8quelle cinque fontane di ,christo1 le quali mandavano goccie d'affuocato sangue e di acceso amore40--,this fountain-imagery is derived from numerous authentic sayings and 8viste0 of ,catherine as to the 8living ,fount 7fonte7 of the divine goodness10 or 8of infinite love10 and 8the clear waters coming from the divine fount40 ,the very word 8fountain0 7fontana7 occurs in one of ,v4's descriptive passages2 and the idea appears in ,catherine's address to ,our ,lord at the well 7pozzo7 of ,samaria1 and in her thereupon receiving refreshment of soul1 by the gift of 8a little drop 7gocciola70 of that divine water4#daj ,and the fountains are here made to proceed from a ray of love2 and this again comes from numerous authentic sayings of hers3 in one case the 8raggio d'amore0 appears split up into several rays3 8raggi ''' affocati di divino amore40#daa #e4 ,three new authentic details4 ,and yet these remarkable forty pages furnish us with three fresh statements or implications of detail1 respectively too precise1 vivid and verisimilar and too little obvious1 to be easily attributable to any but a new and authentic source of information4 ,there is the vividly precise information that1 during ,catherine's actively penitential period1 8the love of ,god1 wishing that she should lose all relish in what she ate1 made her always carry some epatic aloes and pounded agaric about with her2 and whenever she suspected that one kind of her food was about to give her more pleasure than another1 she would furtively put a little of that most bitter compound upon it1 before eating it40 ,there is the formal declaration that 8she also went to the poor of ,san ,lazaro40 ,and there is the statement1 already noticed1 that1 after her conversion1 she had 8to work to provide for her living10 and 8that she would have been unable to live1 unless ,god had provided for her by way of alms40#dab ,now the first statement should be compared with ,battista ,vernazza's1 similarly precise1 pharmaceutical detail as to the cassia used by her father in doctoring the poor in #adic1 recorded by ,battista1 nearly ninety years later1 in #aeha3dac ,battista would1 then1 have been quite capable of remembering and recording that aloes-and-agaric detail some seventy years after the event4 ,as to the second statement1 ,i have already given the various solid reasons which point to ,catherine's co-operation with ,battista's father in his work amongst the ,pestiferous1 as far back as the year #adic4dad ,and as to the third statement 7in apparently direct conflict with the declaration in the ,vita-proper1 that1 although entirely devoted to the service of the ,hospital1 she never would enjoy or use the slightest thing belonging to it for her own living#dae7 the ,wills prove to us that1 however exaggerated be the language of ,d41 it1 and not ,v41 is here substantially in the right4 ,for1 though she could have afforded to live in modest style1 on her own little income1 she did1 as a matter of fact1 hold her little house rent-free from the ,hospital1 in return for her services to it4 ,here also ,battista would have known the precise facts from her father1 who had himself drawn up or witnessed three documents referring to these matters4 #f4 ,battista ,vernazza1 the author of this first 8,dialogo40 ,the reader will by now be concluding with me1 that all these peculiarities of the ,dialogo point to one person as its author3 ,battista ,vernazza4 ,and all its other circumstances and characteristics make for the same conclusion4 7#a7 ,particular circumstances4 ,there is the place4 ,for the original of ,,ms4 ,c41 in which appear the first traces1 7this whole first part71 of ,d41 came from ,battista's own ,convent2 and thus a document which1 in its later narrative part1 contained1 as we shall find1 so much primary matter due to ,vernazza the father1 and so much secondary composition and arrangement due to ,vernazza the daughter2 and which1 in its dialogue part1 gave much original literary work due to a ,vernazza3 would easily 7no doubt soon after ,battista's death71 come to be considered as the work and the copying of ,ettore ,vernazza alone4 ,and there is the date4 ,for if this first part was written in #aedh1 #aedi1 ,battista would have been fifty or fifty-two years old4 ,and we have already considered writings of hers1 written1 with equal subtlety of psychological distinctions and even greater vigour of style1 in #aeed1 #aeee1 and even in #aege1 at seventy-eight and eighty-four years of age4#daf ,there is1 too1 the form1 so curiously schematic and abstract1 and1 in part1 far-fetched1 yet based upon a minute1 most ingenious use of scriptural texts4 ,thus those two 8weeks10 7symbols for the two1 respectively lukewarm and sinful1 lustres71 are no doubt suggested by the 8seventy weeks0 which 8the man ,gabriel0 declares to ,daniel 8shall be shortened upon the ,jewish people1 that transgression may be finished1 and everlasting justice may be brought and vision may be fulfilled02#dag and by ,jacob's twice seven years of servitude under ,laban1 and by ,laban's words 8make up the week of days of this match40#dah ,we thus get ,catherine's two weeks 7of years7 of servitude to sin1 and her two successive 8matches0 or alliances1 entered into between her soul and body under the influence of self-love4 ,we found a similar minute ingenuity in ,battista's use of ,scripture in #aeed4dai ,and there is a complex1 abstract1 astonishingly self-consistent psychology running through the whole1 and one simply identical with the psychology treated by ,battista as more or less a point of revelation to herself in #aeed4 ,and1 partly as effect or as cause of that psychology1 the ,dialogo has a painfully great1 at times downrightly repulsive1 insistence upon detachment from emotional feeling1 both in intercourse with fellow-creatures1 and in spiritual commerce with ,god1 that is simply identical1 in its parallelism1 range1 depth1 and doctrinal setting1 with the position which ,battista takes up in her ,colloquii of #aeed4dbj ,again we get here a prominent and persistent occupation with the historic ,christ and ,his passion1 that are as unlike ,catherine's as they are identical with ,battista's spiritual trend4 ,for1 during her ,conversion-,vision1 ,catherine here sees that 8burning love which ,our ,lord ,jesus ,christ manifested when upon earth1 from ,his ,incarnation up to ,his ,ascension02 and this corresponds precisely with ,battista's sight 7vista71 in #aeed1 of 8the ,infinite ,love manifested unto men1 in and by the life of ,christ1 at the ,nativity and at the ,ascension40 ,and the ,christ-,vision here becomes two separate apparitions2 that of the ,crucified ,christ is declared 8greater than0 that of the ,walking ,christ2 and there is an insistence upon 8those five ,fountains10 an image derived indeed from ,catherine's 8living fountain of ,goodness1 which participated with the creature10 but which1 in ,catherine1 is conceived in connection with ,god and metaphysically1 and here is transferred to the historic and crucified ,christ1 in close keeping with ,battista's whole emphatic ,christo-centrism4#dba ,and1 finally1 we find here certain daring anthropomorphisms without any full parallel in ,catherine's sayings1 but entirely matched by expressions of ,battista4 ,god is here not as1 in ,catherine's manner1 ,himself an irradiating ,love1 but is 8ever standing with burning rays of love in ,his hand1 to inflame and penetrate the hearts of men10 a combination of the ,thing-imagery dear to ,catherine 7for ,love is here still a luminous1 burning substance71 and of the human1 ,personal picturing prominent with ,battista 7for ,god here has a hand1 in which ,he holds that substance74 ,this latter picturing 7probably in #aeej7 is not unlike the more spiritual anthropomorphism of 8the ,increate ,heart0 of ,god1 used by ,battista in #aege a passage already exceeded here1 in the ,dialogo1 by the words1 8,god showed her the love with which ,he had suffered0--words which1 if pressed1 would introduce suffering into the divine nature ,itself4#dbb 7#b7 ,general considerations4 ,all these cumulative reasons of detail will be indefinitely fortified by what ,i shall have to say as to the character of the subsequent parts of the ,dialogo1 and in proof of these parts and the first instalment being by one and the same author4 ,but1 meanwhile1 we can press this further general consideration1 that only a person with considerable traditional authority in matters concerning ,catherine1 and yet a person1 not a direct eyewitness or full contemporary1 hence an individual without any additional information1 and unhampered by the 7otherwise necessary7 regard for the sensitiveness of still living contributors to the original biography1 can possibly have written such a document4 ,for this production1 when it first appears complete1 in the first ,printed ,vita of #aeea1 will there occupy quite one third of the whole book2 and yet1 whilst incorporating practically all1 and only all1 the material of those other two-thirds 7the ,trattato alone excepted71 it gives to everything a fresh grouping and setting1 colour and atmosphere1 drift and character4 ,only a remarkable1 powerful mind2 a writer skilled in mystical subjects2 one with leisure for such a careful composition2 one1 too1 sufficiently in sympathy with ,catherine to be attracted to1 and helped through1 the difficult task2 a person living now1 thirty-eight years after ,catherine's death1 in an environment of a kind to preserve her memory green3 all these conditions must1 more or less1 have met and been realized in the writer of this curious1 forcible book4--,and ,battista1 the ,god-daughter of the heroine of the work1 and the eldest1 devoted daughter of the chief contributor to the already extant biography2 a ,contemplative with a deep interest in1 and much practical experience of1 the kind of spirituality to be portrayed and the sort of literature required2 a ,nun1 during thirty-eight years1 in the very ,convent where ,catherine's sister 7one of its foundresses7 had lived and died1 and where ,catherine herself had desired to live and where her ,conversion had taken place2 a woman who was but thirteen at the time when ,catherine died1 after nine years of much suffering and seclusion1 and who1 even now but fifty-one years of age1 had outlived all the close friends and original chief biographers of ,catherine by thirty-five1 twenty-four1 and twenty years3 ,battista1 and ,battista alone1 united in her own person all these necessary conditions4 ,and it will have been the sensitively original and strongly synthetic cast of ,battista's mind which made the strangely fragmentary1 repetitive1 contradictory1 static1 and yet abrupt and unharmonized multiplicity of the ,vita both irritating as it stood1 and yet 7with its considerable elements of unmistakably first-hand portraiture of a rarely large and lofty mind and character7 profoundly stimulative to a re-thinking1 re-feeling1 re-stating of the whole1--at least1 up to the zenith of that ,soul's perfection4 ,but our next stage will make all this clearer still4 ,,vi4 ,,sixth ,,stage3 ,,first ,,printed ,,edition ,,of ,,the 8,,vita-,,dottrina-,,dicchiarazione10 #aeea2 ,,examination ,,of ,,all ,,it ,,possesses ,,in ,,addition ,,to ,,mss4 ,a1 ,b ,,and ,c1 ,,apart ,,from ,,the 8,,dialogo40 ,at last we reach the publication of the ,life1 in ,genoa1 in #aeea4dbc ,a printing-press had not been established in ,genoa till #aecf 7by ,bellone72 hence the ,life appeared only fifteen years after the earliest date possible for its publication1--other cities not being1 as yet1 sufficiently interested in ,catherine to think of such an undertaking4--,only further on shall ,i attempt some analysis1 estimation1 and attribution of that corpus of earlier and earliest constituents of the ,book1 which1 although frequently referred to at our last two stages1 had there to remain unanalyzed4 ,in these remaining two stages ,i intend to treat only1 first of the ,introductory parts of the ,book1 special to its printed form1 and then of the ,second 8,chapter0 of the ,dialogo 7its present ,second and ,third ,parts74 ,here then we have to deal with the matter which1 amongst our extant documents1 appears for the first time in the ,printed ,vita of #aeea1 and first with that part of it which is there devoted to the publication of the ,book4 ,this part of the matter consists1 in the order of its place in the ,book1 of the ,title with its ,picture2 the ,approbation2 the ,preface2 and the ,subscription4 #a4 ,title-page4 ,the ,title-page has3 8,book of the ,admirable ,life and ,holy ,doctrine of the ,blessed ,catarinetta of ,genoa1 in which is contained a ,useful and ,catholic ,demonstration and ,declaration of ,purgatory40 ,and underneath appears a picture of ,our ,lord ,crucified1 and ,blessed ,catherine on her knees before ,him1 and crowned with a ,diadem2 with the text3 8,i confess to ,thee1 ,father1 ,lord of ,heaven and ,earth1 that ,thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto little ones0 7,matt4 xi74 ,note here1 in the ,title1 the correct and most attractive baptismal form of her ,christian name1 ,catarinetta1 which appears here for the last time1 either in the ,title1 the ,heading1 or the ,subscription of her ,life2 and the disappearance1 which is final1 of her family name ,adorna1 which had figured in the titles of all the ,,mss4 ,thus 8,la miranda vita e sancta conversation di ,madonna ,catherinetta ,adorna10 the older heading of ,,ms4 ,a1 which will have been that of the ,giustiniano book 7a heading which itself had succeeded to 8,de la ,miranda ,conversione di quondam ,donna ,catherinetta ,adorna0 of the booklet of #aeab1 still preserved in ,,ms4 ,b71 has here become 8,la vita mirabile e dottrina santa de la ,beata ,catarinetta da ,genoa40--,and note how1 for the first time1 mention is made in the title of what has hitherto been but a long ,chapter of the ,vita2 and how what in the ,,mss4 had1 in that ,chapter's heading1 claimed but to be a matter of devotional experience 78,how1 by comparison of the divine fire1 which she felt in her heart and which purified her soul1 she saw interiorly and understood how the ,souls abide in ,purgatory071 has here been given1 some thirty years after the ,papal condemnation of ,luther's theses on ,purgatory1 a controversial point1--it is now 8a ,useful and ,catholic ,demonstration and ,declaration of ,purgatory40 ,we have here an attitude of mind inevitably different from ,catherine's pure positiveness4--,and remark1 too1 the continued non-indication of the ,dialogo1 although this is now present1 like the 8,dimostrazione10 as a distinct document in the ,book3 the ,dialogue is evidently still too new to be able to modify the old title-page1 and to appear there alongside of a composition which1 though but one-sixth of its own length1 is now some thirty and more years old4 ,in the ,picture ,catherine wears a diadem1 a compromise between an indication of her noble birth and a hint of the nimbus which they shrink from giving to her unequivocally4 ,and she is kneeling before the ,christ ,crucified1--evidently an attitude chosen as specially typical of her whole life and doctrine1 because of the passages in the ,vita3 8,she ever seemed to see her ,love affixed to the ,cross02 8she was next drawn to the side of the ,crucified02 8she appeared in very truth as a body affixed to a ,cross10 with the dependent account of her 8interior stigmatization10--8she received a new wound at her heart1 so that she might feel within herself the wound in the side of her tender ,love02 and the amplifications of some of these passages in the ,dialogo4#dbd ,yet only the first three passages occur in the ,,mss42 and the first two are carefully restricted there to her first ,conversion-,period 7of four years at most71 whilst the third passage refers to a 7quite unusual7 bodily posture1 assumed by her on one single occasion during her last illness1 an attitude which remained uninterpreted by herself4 ,the fact is that the precise contrary of what this picture suggests is one of the chief characteristics of ,catherine1 for she is habitually absorbed in contemplations remarkably lacking in historical imagery and setting4 ,and the ,dialogo parallels and variants which1 as we have seen1 so largely increase this historical element1 and especially this occupation with ,christ ,crucified1 are characteristic1 not of ,catherine but of ,battista4 ,the picture is1 no doubt1 the consequence of this increasing emphasis laid1 in her successive ,vitae1 upon a side of religion all but entirely absent from the middle and last periods of ,catherine's actual life2 and fully expresses ,battista's feeling1 who1 just as she addressed her whole long letter of #aege in ,donna ,anguisola1 8in the ,crucified10 will have seen to it that the whole book concerning her own ,god-mother was placed at the feet of the ,crucifix4 #b4 ,the ,approbation4 ,the ,latin ,approbation runs3 8,i1 ,fra ,geronimo of ,genoa of the ,order of ,preachers1 ,apostolic ,inquisitor into ,heretical ,pravity throughout the whole ,dominion of ,genoa1 assent to this ,book being committed to print1 for the consolation and instruction of spiritual persons4 ,witness this my autograph40 ,the points of interest in connection with this ,approbation will appear1 as we proceed1 to consist in the reasons why such theological 8corrections0 as were actually introduced into the doctrinal parts of the ,vitae had all been made long before this date1 probably none of them later than #aecj2 and why they were1 throughout1 practically restricted to her very sober and correct ,purgatorial teaching1 and left her other1 far more daring1 sayings more or less untouched4 ,i can find no traces of any theological changes introduced1 for this edition of #aeea1 into the ,vita-,dicchiarazione sections2 but we shall see how three points and tendencies of the ,vita-proper have been indirectly criticised and 8corrected0 by means of their re-statement in the ,dialogo1 which was certainly finished1 and possibly begun1 with a view to its appearance in the company of the ,vita and the ,dicchiarazione4 #c4 ,the ,preface4 ,the ,preface consists of seven full and balanced1 dignified and self-restrained1 thoroughly well-informed and yet1 in part1 deliberately obscure and illusive1 sentences4 ,it still excludes the idea of any literary authorship on the part of ,catherine3 8,madonna ,caterinetta1 of whose admirable ,conversion1 ,life1 and ,doctrine1 together with her many privileges and particular graces1 we shall write4''' ,here1 in her ,life and ,holy ,doctrine is to be found4'''0 ,not ,catherine writes1 but 8we10 i4e4 the final ,redactor1 or all the ,contributors together with him2 and not her ,writings are to be found here1 but her 8,doctrine0 only4 ,indeed1 it all 8has been collected with truth and simplicity by two devout spiritual persons1 from the very lips of the ,seraphic ,woman herself40 ,more would quite evidently have been claimed1 if more had been true4 ,and it contains two or three evident additions to its original text1 made for this publication in view of the entire ,dialogo's first appearance here2 additions which contain an expression which may well have occasioned or helped on the legend of 8,catherine1 an ,author10 a legend which was sure to spring up at the first opportunity and provocation4 ,the fifth sentence reads at present as follows3 8,sono in questo libro dignissimi suoi trattati dell' amor di ,dio e dell' amor proprio una bellisima e chiarissima dimostrazione del ,purgatorio1 e in che modo vi stiano dentro le anime contentissime1 e un bel dialogo dell' ,anima con il ,corpo e ,amor poprio1 dal quale ne seguita un amoroso colloquio dell' ,anima con il suo ,signore ed altre dignissime cose da sapere1 veramente tutte di eccellentissima speculazione ed utilit e massime in questi turbolenti tempi necessarie40#dbe ,now even the last set of bracketed words seems an addition1 and points to the existence of the body of this ,preface at a period prior to 8questi turbolenti tempi10 times that ,i take to be #aecf-aecg1 when ,battista's ,god-father ,moro lapsed into ,calvinism4 ,ever since #aebj1 when ,luther's ,purgatory doctrines were condemned1 these writings would have been held1 if not 8necessary10 at least 8of most excellent utility40--,there is1 any way1 no doubt as to the two previous sets being insertions4 ,for note1 if they be retained1 the slovenly repetition1 by the first set1 of 8dignissimi0 in the midst of a most finished composition2 the extraordinary use of the word 8,trattati10 to signify either ,chapter ,,xxv 7which bears the title 8,dell' ,amor ,proprio e del ,divino ,amore10 and is a collection of sayings pronounced on at least three different occasions71 or ,chapters ,,xxv and ,,xxvi1--in either case1 ,chapters which are no more significant or authentic than any other of the doctrinal chapters4 ,and remark1 in the second set1 the curiously mild praise for the ,dialogo contained in the one positive 8un bel10 wedged in between the two superlatives lavished on the 8,dimostrazione0 and the two superlatives given to the remaining doctrinal parts of the ,book4 ,the object of that first 8,trattati0 insertion is evidently to pick out some one or other of the already ancient ,chapters of the ,vita1 which have some special likeness to the subject-matter and title of the ,dialogo1 so as to prevent the latter from looking too suspiciously different from the rest of the doctrine traditionally ascribed to ,catherine4 ,i take this ,preface to have existed1 without these additions1 in the 8worthy book0 described by ,giustiniano in #aecf4 ,but as that careful writer insists upon the precise length of time1 because it had been considerable1 during which ,catherine's body had lain incorrupt1 and says nothing about the antiquity of the book1 a point he would hardly have failed to urge had he been able to do so1 ,i hesitate to push this ,book1 and this its ,preface1 further back than #aecj1 a very probable date for the first 7at least complete7 fusion of ,vernazza's and ,marabotto's separate contributions1 since these two chief disciples would then have been dead six and two years respectively1 and the culmination of ,protestant 8turbulence0 in ,calvin's open revolt and ,moro's defection would not be taking place for another five and six years respectively4--,catherine indeed appears here no more as the 8quondam ,donna ,catarinetta0 of ,,ms4 ,b1 but still as 8,madonna ,catherinetta1 figliuola di ,m4 ,giacomo della nobilissima casa ,fiesca1 maritata a ,m4 ,giuliano ,adorno10 a designation distinctly earlier than the 8,beata ,catarinetta di ,genoa0 of the ,title4 ,and the ,book1 its substance1 is declared to have been 8collected by two spiritual persons 7,religiosi71 her devotees1 from the very lips of the ,seraphic ,woman herself40 ,this passage1 it is true1 now reads 8,raccolto dai divoti religiosi 7suo ,confessore e un figliuolo suo spirituale740 ,but1 where the ,preface is above the suspicion of having been touched up1 a 8cio0 introduces such a bracket2 the rhythm of this sentence1 in the midst of this otherwise exquisite ,preface1 is woefully imperfect2 and the evidently deliberate ambiguity of 8divoti religiosi0 is rendered all but nugatory by the considerable clearness of the bracketed information4 ,the clause will originally have read1 8,da due religiosi sui divoti10 for this obviates all three objections4 ,but1 in this deliberately mysterious form1 it must have been written when both were dead1 and yet when the death of the last was still recent2 and this again brings us to a date soon after ,marabotto's death in #aebh4 ,who wrote this ,preface8 ,much in it points to ,battista4 ,so the use of 8cio10 so characteristic of her ,colloquies and ,letters and also of the ,dialogo2 and the phrase 8divote persone10 recurring in the ,dialogo2#dbf and the doctrinal tone of 8l'amoroso ,signor ,nostro1 sitibondo della salute delle sue razionali creature10 8il suo consolatorio spirito10 8la perfetta e consummata unione possibile ai viatori10 and 8quasi non pi fide1 ma gi certezza10 all closely like passages in her ,colloquies and in her ,letter to ,donna ,anguisola4 ,the mysteriousness and equality of designation1 applied to both ,ettore and ,don ,cattaneo1 would come with a special naturalness from ,battista1 spontaneously anxious to place her heroic father's sanctity and intimacy with ,catherine on a level with those of ,catherine's priest-friend and ,confessor ,marabotto4 ,and1 if written in #aecj1 ,battista would at the time have been a formed writer1--a woman of thirty-three years of age4--,there are1 no doubt1 certain differences4 ,the ,dialogo nowhere has such an 8ancorch ''' niente 7non7 dimeno0 clause4 8,un ,serafino10 8essa ,serafica ,donna0 of this ,preface1 are1 in strictness1 unmatched in ,battista's1 otherwise even intenser1 writings4 8,la perfetta e consummata unione possibile ai viatori0 is a more ordinary and technical phrase than ,i can find elsewhere in ,battista's writings4 ,above all1 the general style and rhythm is here1 somehow1 a little different from that of those other writings4--,still1 these differences are explicable by the writer of the ,preface finding himself largely bound by the existing ,vita-materials1 and by their very niceties of expression4 ,the ,author of the ,preface is certainly identical with the ,redactor of the first 7tripartite7 ,vita e ,dottrina2 and this ,redactor1 we shall find1 must be ,battista4 ,the insertions in the ,preface1 containing the praise of the ,dialogo1 are certainly the work of another hand4--,upon the whole1 then1 we can safely attribute the ,preface1 in its original form1 to ,battista ,vernazza4 #d4 ,the ,subscription4 ,the subscription to the ,vita-proper1 in this first ,edition1 runs3 8,here ends the life of the noble ,matron1 ,catarinetta ,adorna02 which thus still retains 7like the ,preface1 but against the ,title7 the warmly human and precise1 domestic and familiar designation of the first heading of ,,ms4 ,a4 ,,vii4 ,,seventh ,,stage3 ,,the ,,second 8,,chapter0 ,,of ,,the 8,,dialogo10 ,,which ,,appears ,,for ,,the ,,first ,,time ,,in ,,the ,,printed 8,,vita10 #aeea4 #a4 ,three remarks concerning the two ,parts of this 8,chapter40 7#a7 ,the additions to the ,dialogo which appear here for the first time1 and which amount to its present ,parts ,second and ,third1 are given in this ,first ,edition as one single1 the ,second1 8,chapter10 following upon the older part here designated 8,chapter ,first40 ,in the ,fourth ,edition1 #afja1 this division of the ,dialogo is formally announced on the ,title-page3 8,with a ,dialogue1 divided into two ,chapters1 between the ,soul1 the ,body1 and ,self ,love2 and 7the ,soul and7 the ,lord40 ,i do not know precisely when those two 8,chapters0 were replaced by the present ,three ,parts1 and when these ,parts were divided up into the present ,chapters2 it was1 in any case1 after the sixth edition 7#afde74 7#b7 ,these last two ,parts seem to have been written1 from the first1 with a view to eventual division into two4 ,for though the whole of this ,second ,chapter is not much longer than the ,first ,chapter 7forty-seven and a half pages1 against forty71 it yet divides up very well at about half-way1 since the first half here ends with a piece of moralizing narrative1 applied to the whole earthly existence3 8,the more valiant a man is at the beginning1 the greater martyrdom should he expect at the end ''' nor does ,god cease to make provision ''' up to that ,man's death40#dbg 7#c7 ,this whole 8,chapter0 ,second is by the same author as 8,chapter0 ,first2 in this ,second1 even more than in that ,first 8,chapter10 there are no historical materials other than those still present1 more or less untouched1 in the ,vita-proper2 and yet these materials have again been modified1 in their sequence and setting1 their tone and pitch1 their drift and meaning1 and all this throughout by the same powerful and experienced1 often deep and touching1 but also1 in great part1 painfully abstract and straining1 absolute-minded and excessive writer4 #b4 ,general indications of identity of authorship for 8,chapters0 ,first and ,second4 7#a7 8,chapter0 ,first had1 we know1 concluded with a paraphrase of the last stage in the scheme of ,catherine's spiritual growth as given in the ,vita-proper1 and had thus reached the ne plus ultra of perfection for any creature1 either here or in the world to come4 8,and now the ,spirit said3 #8,i am determined no further to call her a human creature1 since ,i now see her 7to be7 all in ,god1 without any ,humanity'03 a statement which may well 7like the corresponding ,spiritual-,kiss stage in the ,vita's scheme7#dbh have been intended1 at the time of its composition1 both to describe directly her great middle years1 #adgd-adii1 and to sum up generally her later life1 #adii-aeaj4--;,but no such hyperbolic language1 when thus applied to man as we know him1 or as we can even conceive him here below1 can1 of course1 be kept up4 ,and thus here in the ,dialogo 7as previously in the corresponding place in the ,vita-proper71 what had originally been the conclusion of a self-contained account of her ,conversion1 became1 owing to the desire of utilizing much extant material which directly described her years of physical break-up1 but one chapter in the story of her total life4 ,hence we now find1 both in the ,vita-proper and the ,dialogo1 an instructive anti-climax1 in an attempted description 7the ,dialogo gives this in its 8,chapter0 ,second7 of her successive states from #adig to her death in #aeaj1 states and changes which1 were we to take the concluding words of the ,vita-scheme and of the ,dialogo's 8,chapter0 ,first at all strictly1 would1 in great part1 be impossible4 7#b7 ,in the ,dialogo's ,first 8,chapter0 we found a remarkably free1 deliberately pragmatic handling of the ,vita-materials1 in the making two different visions on two separate occasions 7the ,vision of the blood-stained ,moving ,christ1 and the ,vision of the blood-pouring ,fixed ,christ7 out of the one1 curiously composite1 ,moving-,fixed ,christ-,vision of the ,vita2 and this doubling introduced1 into that ,first ,part1 a special kind of obscurity1 a sort of eddying1 circular1 repetitive movement and practical fixedness4 ,similarly we find here1 in the ,second 8,chapter10 the one description of her resumption of ,confession1 given by the ,vita-proper1 is made into two accounts1 accounts still further separated from each other here than the two visions were separated from each other there4 ,for the first ten and a half ,chapters1 pages #bbf;b to #bdb;b1 give us her history from #adig to #aeja4 ,and1 amongst these1 ,chapter ,first to ,third cover the years #adig to #adii2 and at the end of ,chapter ,third1 page #bcb;b1 we get an account of how 8she began to confess her sins0 7necessarily1 at this period1 to ,marabotto7 8with such ,contrition1 that it appeared a marvellous thing0--a description which has been taken from the story of her ,first ,conversion-,period1 but which is made to do duty here1 at the date of her beginning to confess1 in a very different manner1 to ,don ,marabotto1 twenty-five years after those ,conversion-,confessions4 ,yet only at the beginning of the second half of ,chapter ,tenth 7p4 #bdb;c7 do we hear1 7wedged in between two passages1 pp4 #bdb;b1 #bdc;b1 which are re-castings of descriptions of a scene which occurred on ,january #aj1 #aeaj1 ,vita1 pp4 #aci;a-#adj;c7 of ,god giving her the help of a 8,religioso10 8suo ,confessore10 i4e4 ,marabotto 7p4 #bdb;c74 ,this is followed1 not two pages later on 7p4 #bdd;b71 by a description of the experience of the 8,scintilla0 on ,august #aa1 #aeaj 7,vita1 p4 #adh;b71 and by an allusion to her death on ,september #ae1 #aeaj 7p4 #bde;c74--,this doubling was no doubt effected for the purpose of introducing as much variety as possible into what is1 anyhow1 a monotonous narrative2 of being thus able to produce a more ordinary and 8correct0 account of her dispositions and acts1 on occasion of the resumption of her ,confessions in #adii1 than could be given by the direct utilization of ,marabotto's description of them2 and of thus1 by these two narratives in lieu of that single one1 giving greater place and prominence to the practice of ,confession than this practice actually occupied in her real life4 #c4 ,closer examination of the earlier portion of 8,chapter0 ,second4 ,a closer examination of the whole ,second 8,chapter0 of the ,dialogo fully substantiates this conclusion1 and brings out other interesting points4 ,let us take the eleven ,chapters of the present ,part ,second4 7#a7 ,the first two ,chapters describe her condition when 8the ,soul could no more correspond to the sensations of the ,body1--the ,body remained1 as it were1 without its natural being1 and dwelt confused and stunned1 without knowing where it was or what it should do or say0 7pp4 #bbf;c1 #bbg;a74 ,and then the ,soul begins to address 8the ,lord0 7p4 #bbi;a74 ,and on p4 #bcj;b we hear1 for the first time1 of its 8sweet and cruel ,purgatory40 ,and ,chapter ,third tells of the ,soul's painful prison-life1 and of vomitings1 emaciation1 and occasional inability to move 7pp4 #bcj;b-#bcb;a74--,now ,purgatory1 prison-house and these psycho-physical conditions do not appear1 in the ,vita-proper1 till 8nine years before her death10 and1 indeed1 in great part only within the last year of her life4#dbi ,indeed it is only the characteristic intensity with which the ,dialogo here describes the fresh access of ,contrition1 and the resumption of frequent ,confession for evidently new offences 7a description entirely inappropriate to this late stage of her life71 that makes it difficult to realize that these three ,chapters are dealing with #adig to #adii4 ,and the exaggeration here exactly corresponds to the exaggeration1 in ,part 78,chapter07 ,first1 of her earlier sinfulness1 and her first ,conversion and ,contrition4 7#b7 ,chapter ,fourth then gives a short description of another 8ray of love02 and then apostrophizes1 in seven 8oh0 and 8che0 sentences1 such a state of soul 7pp4 #bcb;c-#bcc;c74 ,chapter ,fifth contains one question and answer exchanged between the ,soul and the ,lord1 and then three narrative-exclamatory paragraphs 7pp4 #bcc;c-#bce;a74 ,chapter ,sixth gives two explanations by the ,lord of the ,soul's sufferings1 interrupted by the ,soul's thanks and acceptance 7pp4 #bce;b-#bcg;a74 ,and then ,chapter ,seventh describes a lull in the ,soul's battles and trials 7pp4 #bcg;a-#bch;a74 ,and this lull is followed1 in ,chapter ,eighth1 by a declaration from the ,lord that she has now been led up to the door of ,love but has not yet entered in 7pp4 #bch;a-#bci;a72 and1 in ,chapter ,ninth1 by a dialogue 7for the first time in the entire work7 between the ,spirit and the ,soul1 the former being now determined to separate itself from the latter2 and1 at the end of this same ,chapter1 by a description of this1 now more or less achieved1 separation 7pp4 #bci;a-#bda;a2 #bda;b74--,these conflicts and dialogues between the ,spirit and the ,soul1 are closely like the conflicts and dialogues between the ,spirit and 8,humanity0 in ,part ,first4#dcj ,yet there1 the historical materials are derived chiefly from the ,vita-proper1 pp4 #bj;a-#ba;b1 #if;b-#ig;c 7which give an account of her work from #adgc to #adig72 whilst here they come exclusively from pp4 #acc;b-#ach;b of the ,vita-proper 7which tell her experiences from ,november #aa to the end of ,december #aeji74 7#c7 ,and the last two ,chapters1 ,tenth and ,eleventh1 are particularly difficult and self-destructive1 obscure and disappointing4 ,the ,tenth 7to be fully analyzed presently71 is difficult1 because it starts with fragments of ,vita-information which1 in the ,vita1 rightly refer1 in large part1 to the beginning of the last ten years of her life1 and even to #adii in particular1--hence to a period long anterior to all that has been described in the ,dialogo ever since ,chapter ,third of this ,part4 ,and these fragments are here made to lead up to a re-statement of the scene of ,january #aj1 #aeaj1 when she shut herself off from every one1 but when ,marabotto managed to overhear her soliloquy 7pp4 #bda;c-#bdd;a compared with pp4 #aci;b1 #aac;c47 ,and the ,eleventh ,chapter is obscure and disappointing1 because1 after giving the 8scintilla0-incident of ,august #aa1 #aeaj1 and a final short dialogue between the 8,lord0 and her 8,humanity0 7again a combination of ,dramatis ,personae which has occurred nowhere else71 it finishes1 not with any description or even affirmation of her earthly end1 but simply with an account as to the necessity of ,purgation1 and1 in particular1 with the words 8a martyrdom which never ceases until death0 7pp4 #bdd;a-#bde;c74 #d4 ,closer examination of later portion of 8,chapter0 ,second4 ,part ,third1 on the contrary1 is peculiar in this1 that its ,dialogue passes exclusively between but two interlocutors1 the ,soul and the ,lord3 it thus brings back the whole composition to its opening form of strict duologue1--although there the speakers had been the 7unpurified7 ,soul and the ,body4 ,the present thirteen ,chapters constitute1 in substance1 a single1 all but unbroken1 disquisition on ,god's love for the ,soul1 and on the ,soul's growth in the love of ,god2 although the form alternates between ,chapters of questions and answers1 and ,chapters of rapturous descriptions and apostrophizings of ,love4 7#a7 ,chapters ,first and ,second consist of such questions and answers1 and conclude with an1 abruptly introduced1 account of her former spiritual conversations with her friends1 which 7though based upon the beautiful document in the ,vita-proper1 pp4 #id;b-#ie;c1 and upon the fragment there1 p4 #ig;b1 and though the narrative here has a certain noble warmth of its own7 is given here merely as a something to be transcended1 and which1 by now1 had been actually left far behind4 ,thus1 as in ,parts ,first and ,second the ,dialogo had given a characteristically rigoristic1 indeed exaggerating1 account of her ,conversation and her later ,purification respectively1 so here again this curious book is more severe than are the authentic accounts on which it otherwise relies4 7#b7 ,chapter ,third gives a question and answer as to the comprehensibility of this love4 ,the answer incorporates ,catherine's description of her soul as1 so to speak1 under water in an ocean of peace2 and interestingly turns the 8scintilla10 the 8spark of love10 into a 8stilla10 a 8drop10 suggested1 no doubt1 by the 8goccia10 8the drop of love10 which figured so prominently in ,catherine's great conversation with her spiritual children4#dca--;,chapters ,fourth to ,sixth open out with a page where the ,lord declares how the pure and love-absorbed ,soul alone holds ,love 7p4 #bec72 and consist1 for the rest1 of exclamatory descriptions of this love1 the soul proffering first ten 8,o ,amore0 apostrophes 7pp4 #bec;c-#beh;b71 then one 8,o ,amore puro0 address 7pp4 #bei;c1 #bfj;a74 ,and the tenth of those apostrophes introduces a characteristic sentence from the ,vita-proper3 8the ,soul1--if bereft of charity1--when it is separated from the ,body1 would1 rather than present itself thus before that 7,divine7 cleanness and simplicity1 cast itself into ,hell40#dcb--;,and ,chapter ,seventh then makes the ,lord ask the ,soul to tell him some of the words which it addresses to ,love2 the ,soul does so1 and the ,lord approves of them 7pp4 #bfj;b-#bfa;b74 7#c7 ,and then ,chapter ,eighth begins a narrative piece 7pp4 #bfa;c-#bfc;c72 but which1 after a transitional1 exclamatory paragraph 7p4 #bfc;c71 arrives at three short questions and answers4 ,the first two questions and answers are by the ,soul and the ,lord respectively2 the third question and answer are respectively by the ,lord and the ,soul 7pp4 #bfd;a1 b74 ,we shall presently see that1 in this set of short sentences1 we have reached the culmination of the whole ,dialogo1 and that1 in astonishingly explicit daring1 they exceed any and all of ,catherine's authentic sayings4 7#d7 ,chapter ,ninth then gives a narrative description of the apparently empty and abandoned condition of the advanced ,soul1 and1 for this purpose carefully utilizes 7whilst completely altering the meaning and context of7 ,marabotto's description of ,catherine's first ,confession to him4 ,and in its last paragraph it again 7but here with less change7 incorporates other passages of that descriptive ,chapter4#dcc ,then comes ,chapter ,tenth1 with a short question and answer between the ,lord and the ,soul1 the latter partly in verse 7p4 #bfg;a74 ,and this is followed by two descriptive paragraphs1 how that this soul 8seemed to mount above ,paradise itself02 8this heart is transformed into a tabernacle of ,god02 and 8such souls1 were they but known1 would be adored upon earth0 7pp4 #bfg;b1 c2 #bfh;a74 7#e7 ,this description is followed by a long rapturous suspension of the dialogue form1 since here the ,writer himself addresses successively1 in three 8,o0 paragraphs1 the 8soul1 heart1 and mind02 8,love02 and 8the ,spirit naked and invisible40 ,and1 after a little exclamation as to the inadequacy of all words 7this also is introduced by an 8,o071 he similarly invokes 7in three other 8,o0 paragraphs71 8my tender ,lord02 the 8infinite ,good02 and 8the ,lord0 7pp4 #bfh;b-#bfi;c74--,the present1 most unskilful1 division makes ,chapter ,eleventh begin with these last three of the seven 8,o's40 ,and after the seventh 8,o0 paragraph and a descriptive passage1 still addressed to 8the ,lord10 composed of five 8,thou0 sentences1 follows another short interruption1--apologizing for the delay in the narrative and the inadequacy of the words used4 ,and then two 8,oim10 and one 8,o terra1 terra0 paragraph finish up the ,writer's exclamations1 and bring us back to the interrupted dialogue-form 7pp4 #bfi;c-#bga;b74 ,here again a violent division has been effected in the text by ,chapter ,twelfth being made to exclude the first1 but to include1 the second 8,oim0 7p4 #bga;a74 ,and this ,chapter1 after finishing the 8,terra-terra0 paragraph1 and1 with it1 the whole digression1 re-opens the dialogue with a curious1 serpentine1 all but unbroken series of seven questions of the ,soul and answers of the ,lord1 in which each successive question picks up the previous answer and point reached1 and tries to reach a deeper one4 8,what is ,thine ,operation within man8 ,a ,moving of the heart of man4 ,and this ,movement8 ,a ,grace4 ,and this ,grace8 ,a ,ray of ,love4 ,and this ,ray of ,love8 ,an ,arrow4 ,and this ,arrow8 ,a ,glimpse 7,scintilla7 of love4 ,and this ,glimpse8 ,an ,inspiration40 ,and at this point1 description is declared to be unable to proceed further 7pp4 #bga;b-#bgb;c47 7#f7 ,and then ,chapter ,thirteenth finishes up the whole by two questions and descriptive answers4 ,the first question and answer passes between the ,writer's own mind and his heart1 and thus again constitutes a break in the dialogue2 and the second question and answer occurs between the ,lord and the ,soul4 ,the first answer dwells upon personal experience1 as the sole means of some real apprehension of ,love2 and the second answer concludes the whole book with a majestic paraphrase of ,catherine's doctrine as to the immanental1 inevitable1 self-determined1 and self-endorsed character of the ,soul's joys and sufferings1 here and hereafter1 on ,earth1 in ,purgatory1 indeed in ,hell itself 7pp4 #bgc;a-#bge;a74 ,such passages as these make up for much of the often painfully intense1 abstract1 schematic1 rigoristic1 and too exclusively transcendental character of this remarkable book1 and explain its fascination for a mind of such rare experience and breadth as was that of ,friedrich ,schlegel4 ,i shall presently group together the finest sayings peculiar to the work4 ,,viii4 ,,seventh ,,stage ,,continued3 ,,minute ,,analysis ,,of ,,one ,,passage ,,from ,,the ,,second 8,,chapter40 ,but ,i must still give for this last 8,chapter10 as ,i did for the ,first 8,chapter10 a synoptic demonstration1 by means of one example among many1 of the strange manner in which the ,dialogo-writer combines the most detailed dependence on the materials of the ,vita-proper with the most sovereign independence concerning the chronology1 context1 and drift of those same materials4--,and again ,i choose an originally unique occurrence and description1 so as to eliminate all possibility of an explanation by an original multiplicity of facts and accounts4 ,catherine as 8,garzonzello0 or 8,figliuolino40 ,dialogo 7,vita71 p4 ,vita-proper1 pp4-- #bff;a1 b1 c4 ,il corpo1 essendo costretto #aag;b4 ,non potendosi seguire l'anima1 resta per quel sopportare1 per non aver pi tempo quasi senz' anima1 operazione n sentimenti dell' senza umano conforto1 anima1 col corpo tutto debole4''' ''' e non si s n si pu #aag;c4 8,io non so dove mi aiutare4 sia40 ,per di bisogno che dagli #abg;a4 ,quali la servivano altri sia aiutato1 ovvero restavano stupefatti1 non sapendo occultamente da ,dio gli sia che farle4 provveduto1 altrimenti restarebbe #abj;a4 ''' provveduto tal quella creatura abbandonata bisogno1 a lui non restava di essa provisione memoria alcuna4 #aba;a4 ,persever molti anni con bisogno che il ,confessore le stasse d' appresso1 per sostentare l'umanit4 #aag;c4 ,dei peccati che diceva non le erano lasciato vedere come peccati che avesse ''' come un figliuolino1 il quale1 fatti1 ma come d'un garzonzello1 non avendo i suoi bisogni1 il quale da giovinetto f altro riparo non ha se non di qualche cosa di cui ignorante1 piangere tanto che gli sieno il quale1 essendogli dati4 detto 8tu hai fatto male0 per questa parola muta subito di colore e diventa rosso1 ma non gi perch conosce il male4 ,non dunque meraviglia1 #aai;c4 8,non posso pi sopportare se a simili creature ,iddio tanti assedi esteriori provvede di particolari persone ed interiori2 per questo mi che le aiutino1 e per ha ,iddio provveduto del mezzo loro sia alle necessit vostro mezzo ''' quando da dell' anima e del' corpo sovvenuto1 m siete partito1 v lamentadomi altrimenti non potriano per la casa40 vivere4 #abj;a4 era di bisogno che il ,confessore non si partisse da lei4''' ,dio1 sempre glieli ,vedi come il nostro ,signor dava ''' tutti i sussidi all ,ges ,christo lasci a ,san anima e al corpo ''' per ,giovanni alla sua diletta mezzo di lui1 al quale in quell' ,madre in particolar cura2 e instante provedeva di lume cos fece ai suoi discepoli e f e di parole convenienti alla di sempre all' altre sue divote lei necessit4 persone2 di modo che l'uno #aba;b4 ,questa tutto divina soccorre l'altro1 cos all'anima ''' operazione4 ,il ,confessore come al corpo1 con quella era legato col vincolo del unione divina4 divino amore4 ,e perch in generale le #aag;b4 ,dio gli diede lume e persone non conoscono queste grazia di consoscere quell' operazioni1 n hanno insieme operazione4 quella unione1 perci a simili #abj;b4 ,e perch quella continua cure bisognano particolari persone1 conversazione e stretta colle quali ,iddio operi famigliarit facevano alcuni colla sua grazia e lume4 mormorare1 non intendendo l'opera e la necessit4''' ,chi vide queste creature e #aag;b4 ''' col corpo tutto non le intende1 gli sono pi senza vigore1 quasi derelitto presto d' ammirazione che in se medesimo4 di edificazione1 dunque non giudicare1 se non vuoi errare ''' resta l'umanit senza vigore ed abandonata quasi come morta4 ,the ,dialogo-writer having1 as we saw1 combined1 for the purpose of describing ,catherine's latter-day habits1 ,v4's account of her unusually peaceful dispositions of soul1 obtaining in #adii1 with ,v4's account of her ,penance and ,confessions in #adgc3 now utilizes here ,marabotto's account of her ,confessions to him from #adii onwards 7an account which the writer had rejected there71 for an entirely different purpose and context than those developed by the ,confessor himself4 ,for1 in the ,vita-proper account1 it is in connection with the ,confession of her sins that we get the highly original and curious 8garzonzello0 parallel2 and ,catherine's lamentations do not there occur in any relation to this parallel1 but they arise only when ,marabotto is not at hand to comfort her4 ,in the ,dialogo-version it is simply in relation to this requirement of his presence and to its postponement1 that ,catherine behaves like a 8figliuolino10 and cries till she gets what she wants4 ,and yet there is not the slightest doubt that it is really the 8,garzonzello0 ,confession-passage which 7left unutilized by the writer in his account of the ,contrition and ,confessions of her last period1 ,dialogo1 pp4 #bca;c-#bcb;b1 no doubt because of the difficulty and apparent temerity of the facts and doctrines implied71 has here been used after all1 but with all its originality and daring carefully eliminated from it4 ,for nowhere else1 in the ,vita-proper1 does a 8,garzonzello0-passage or language1 or anything like them1 occur2 nowhere else again1 in the ,dialogo does a 8figliuolino0-passage or wording1 or anything really resembling them1 appear2 and these two1 respectively unique and very peculiar1 passages1 both occur at one and the same stage of her life1 and in connection with one and the same couple of persons4 ,,ix4 ,,seventh ,,stage ,,concluded3 ,,character ,,and ,,authorship ,,of ,,this ,,second 8,,chapter40 ,let us take these two points simultaneously1 and move1 from the more formal and literary qualities1 through indications of the more or less external life-circumstances of the author1 on to the writer's special views and aims in psychology and spirituality4 #a4 ,the writer's power4 ,the following passages1 all more or less peculiar to the ,dialogo1 suffice1 ,i think1 to prove his power4 ,at the beginning of these1 her last nine years1 the ,lord explains to ,catherine the means by which ,love may be known3 8,my love can be better known by means of interior experience than in any other way2 if man is to acquire it1 ,love must snatch man from man himself1 since it is man himself who is his own chief impediment10#dcd--;a passage that recalls ,thackeray's ,arthur ,pendennis1 his ,friends and his ,greatest ,enemy--namely1 his own self4 ,these years are1 a little later1 described in language no doubt suggested1 probably through some ,patristic passage1 by ,plato1 the harmonious4 8,this soul now abode like a musical instrument which1 as long as it remains furnished with chords1 gives forth sweet sounds2 but which1 bereft of them1 is silent4 ,thus she too1 in the past1 by means of the sentiments of soul and body1 was wont to render so sweet a harmony1 that every one who heard it rejoiced in it2 but now1 alienated from those sentiments1 as it were without0 psychic 8chords1 she remained entirely bare and mute40#dce ,and we are told of 8words which the heart alone speaks to the soul alone0#dcf--;a passage which recalls ,pascal's saying1 8,the heart has reasons which ,reason does not know40 ,amongst the rapturous addresses we find1 8,o ,spirit naked and invisible6 ,no man can hold thee 7here below71 because of thy very nakedness6 ,thy dwelling-place is in ,heaven1 even whilst1 joined to the body1 thou happenest still to tarry upon earth6 ,thou dost not know thine own self1 nor art thou known by others in this world4 ,all thy friends and 7true7 relatives are in ,heaven1 recognized by thee alone1 through an interior instinct infused by the ,spirit of ,god40#dcg ,an apostrophe which1 in part1 strongly recalls ,henry ,vaughan's poem1 8,they are all gone into a world of light1 and ,i alone am lingering here40 ,the final address in this series of apostrophes to ,love1 ,god1 contains the sentences3 8,o ,lord1 how great is ,thy loving care1 both by day and by night1 for man who knows not even his own self1 and far less ,thee1 ,o ,lord4 ,thou art that great and high ,god1 of whom we cannot speak or think1 because of the ineffable super-eminence of ,thy ,greatness1 ,power1 ,wisdom1 and ,goodness infinite4 ,thou labourest in man and for man with ,thy ,love1 and in return ,thou willest that the whole man should act for ,love1 and this because1 without ,love1 nothing good can be produced4 ,thou workest solely for man's true utility2 and ,thou willest that man should operate solely for ,thine honour1 and not for his own 7separate7 utility40#dch ,a passage strongly coloured by ,dionysian ideas4 ,and yet the writer continues to think and to write1 but says3 8,these words of mine are like ink3 for ink is black and of an evil odour2 and yet1 by its means1 many ideas are apprehended1 which otherwise would be ignored altogether40#dci ,here we have an image1 based as it is upon a vivid sensible perception of a chemical compound1 which reminds one of the epatic-agaric passage in 8,chapter0 ,first of the ,dialogo1 and of the reference to cassia in ,battista's letter of #aeha4ddj ,and the whole ,book finishes up with two impressive passages4 ,the first1 as to the means of knowing ,love1 is as ,pauline as is most of the remaining doctrine of the ,dialogo3 8,not by means of external signs1 nor even by martyrdoms1 can this love be comprehended4 ,only he who actually experiences it can understand something of it40#dda ,and the second concludes all with a forcible and comprehensive paraphrase of ,catherine's central doctrine1--as to the ,soul's condition and action1 revealed at the moment of death3 8,every man bears within his own self the sentence of his own judgment1 pronounced indeed by ,god1 yet each man himself ratifies it1 in and for his own case and self4 ,there is no place totally bereft of ,god's mercy4 ,the very souls in ,hell itself would suffer a greater ,hell outside of it than they do within it40#ddb--,we have had repeated proofs of how great were ,battista's gifts and experience in such-like eloquent writing1 from the earlier ,dialogo-,chapter1 and from her ,colloquies and ,letters4 #b4 ,indications of special knowledge4 ,i am compelled to pass over the emotional rhythm1 and the mystical ambiguity and paradox1 that appear1 in identical forms1 in ,battista's avowed writings and here4 ,but we must briefly dwell upon some special sources of interest in ,catherine1 and of certain knowledge of a peculiar kind1 traceable in the writer of this second 8,chapter02 both sets of passages clearly point to ,battista as their author4 7#a7 ,there is the deeply-felt description of ,catherine's conversation with her disciples3 8,this soul would many times abide with her spiritual friends1 discoursing of the ,divine ,love1 in suchwise that it appeared to them all as though they were in ,paradise4 ,and indeed1 what delightful colloquies took place6 ,both he who spoke and he who listened1 one and all would get nourished by spiritual food1 of a sweet and delectable kind4 ,and1 because the time sped so quickly1 they could not attain to satiety2 but they would abide so enkindled and inflamed1 that they knew not what more to say4 ,and yet they could not depart1 and would seem as though in an ecstasy4 ,oh6 what loving repasts1 what delightful food1 what sweet viands1 what a gracious union1 what a divine companionship60#ddc--,now it is true that the writer has here certainly utilized four pregnantly descriptive lines in the ,vita-proper1 and the fine account there1 undoubtedly by ,ettore ,vernazza1 as regards these conversations4#ddd ,yet one readily feels1 at the moved and moving tone of the re-telling here1 that the writer was specially impelled to dwell with a tender1 living sympathy upon those meetings of forty years ago4 ,now ,battista must1 of course1 again and again1 have heard from her ,father's own lips1 during those fourteen years that he lived on after ,catherine's great soul had gone to ,god1 of these unforgettable talks1 in which he himself had played so large a part1 as questioner1 interpreter1 and chronicler4 7#b7 ,and the other set of passages points1 even more definitely1 to the same daughter and father4 ,catherine's 8humanity10 being threatened by the ,spirit with various future sufferings1 asks to be told the precise offence1 charge 7la causa71 which will bring so great a martyrdom with it1 without hope of any help4 ,but 8she was answered that this grace10 of knowing exactly what and why she should suffer1 8would be accorded to her in due time1 as happens with men condemned to death1 who1 by hearing read aloud to them the precise sentence pronounced upon their specific misdeeds1 support with a greater peace of mind their ignominious death40--,and3 8,since ,i am forsaken on all sides10 ,catherine says to ,god1 8give me at least1 ,o ,lord1 some person that may be able to understand and comfort me1 amidst the torments that ,i see coming upon me--as men are wont to do for those who are condemned to death1 so that the latter may not despair40--,and the natural man in such advanced souls is described as suspended in mid-air1 8like unto one who is hung1 and who touches not the ground with his feet1 but abides in the air1 attached to the cord which has caused his death40#dde ,ettore's life-long1 detailed interest in1 and experience of1 prisoners and condemned men1 whom he1 the ,founder of the ,society of the ,beheading of ,st4 ,john the ,baptist1 so loved to attend and help throughout their last night and at the scaffold1 speak here through the devoted daughter who1 countless times1 must have listened to that father's prison-experiences1 which we found her describing1 still most vividly1 in #aeha1 thirty years after the publication of these ,dialogo-passages4#ddf #c4 ,schematic1 intensely abstract psychology4 ,at this spiritual stage 8there was1 as it were1 a chain4 ,god1 ,spirit1 draws to ,himself the ,spirit of man1 and there this ,spirit abides completely occupied4 ,the ,soul1 which cannot abide without the ,spirit1 follows the ,spirit1 and is there kept occupied4 ,and the ,body1 which is subject to the ,soul1 thus prevented from possessing its natural sensations and its natural sustenance1 remains1 as it were1 forsaken and outside of its natural being40--8,god at times allowed the ,spirit to correspond with the ,soul1 and the ,soul with the ,body4''' ,but when ,god withdrew that ,spirit into ,himself1 all the rest 7the ,soul7 followed after it2 and hence the ,body remained like dead40 ,the two dividings1 first of the ,soul from the ,body1 and then of the ,soul from the ,spirit1 so much emphasized in those other documents1#ddg is thus carried through in this 8,chapter0 also4 #d4 ,rigorism4 ,we find here the same exaggeration as to ,catherine's faults and contrition1 and the same rigoristic doctrine as in 8,chapter0 ,first1 although1 here also1 counterbalanced by a noble tenderness of heart4 ,thus her but semi-conscious attachment to1 and self-attribution of1 spiritual consolations1 is here magnified into a grave sin4 8,how can ,i act1 so as to make satisfaction for this sin1 which is so great and so subtle80 her soul asks ,god1 concerning but semi-conscious attachment to spiritual consolations4 ,and of her social affections1 as manifested in her great colloquies with her friends1 ,catherine now says1 8,all other loves0 than the direct love of ,god 8now appear to me as worse than sheer self-loves40--8,she began to confess her sins with so great a contrition that it appeared a wonderful thing10 we are told of ,catherine1 in #adii-aeaj2 yet we know1 from the unimpeachable testimony of ,don ,marabotto himself1 that 8the wonderful thing0 about these latter ,confessions was precisely the absence of that former keen sense of1 and sorrow for1 specific sins4#ddh #e4 ,pronounced ,christo-centrism and daring ,anthropomorphism4 ,we get1 again1 the predominance of the ,personal conceptions and imagery over those of ,thing or ,law1 and the same greater attention to the historical element of religion1 that characterize ,battista's writings and 8,chapter ,first0 of the ,dialogo1 as against ,catherine's authentic sayings4 ,catherine's energetic repudiation of 8the corrupt expression1 #8,you have offended ,god1'0 is replaced by ,god saying to ,catherine1 8,know that ,i cannot be offended by man1 except when he raises an obstacle to the work which ,i have ordained for his good40#ddi ,catherine has angrily declared that the term could never be correctly used2 the ,dialogo explains how special and metaphorical is its correct use4 ,the ,lord declares here3 8,i descend with a fine thread of gold1 which is ,my secret love1 and to this thread is bound a hook1 which seizes the heart of men4 ,i hold this thread in ,my hand and ever draw it towards ,myself40 ,the hook and hand are additions to her authentic declaration1 8,she seemed to herself to have in her heart a continuous ray of ,love ''' a thread of gold1 as to which she had no fear that it would ever break40#dej--,we get here the ,wedding-feast imagery that is entirely wanting in ,catherine's authentic sayings4 8,there is no shorter way to salvation than 7the owning of7 this delightful wedding-garment of charity0#dea ,a garment1 generally in a bad sense1 is quite ,catherinian2 a wedding-garment is exclusively ,battistan4--,and the parallel between ,st4 ,john's care of the ,blessed ,virgin1 and ,marabotto's attendance upon ,catherine#deb is quite foreign to ,catherine's mind4 ,and the whole ,dialogo culminates in a double1 daring yet graduated1 anthropomorphic picturing of the deification of the perfect soul1 interestingly different from ,catherine's favourite ,ocean and ,fire similes1 and from her description of the ,soul as respectively submerged in1 and transformed by1 this infinite and all-penetrating living ,ocean-,fire1 ,god4 ,the ,soul asks what is the name which the ,lord gives to perfect souls2 and the ,lord answers 7in ,latin1 as ever with ,battista7 with the text of ,ps4 lxxxi1 #f3 8,i have said1 ye are ,gods1 and all of you sons of the ,most ,high02 a text which still leaves us with separate human personalities face to face with the distinct ,spirit-,person1 ,god4 ,and then1 to the ,lord's question1 as to what the ,soul declares its heart to be1 the ,soul answers 7this climax has been carefully led up to all along73 8,i say that it is my ,god1 wounded by love1--in ,whom ,i live joyful and contented40--,for1 as in ,battista's own ,colloquy of ,december #aj1 #aeed1 we get three simultaneous 8voices0 at different depths of her consciousness1 so here1 in this composition of #aeej1 ,catherine hears simultaneously within herself three voices--of the ,lord1 of her own soul1 and of her own heart4 ,and ,catherine can here declare that now her heart is ,god1 and ,god wounded by ,love2 for ,battista can write in #aegf that1 in the perfect state1 8of the ,increate ,heart and of the created heart there is made a single1 most secret and inestimable union10#dec and that ,increate ,heart appears here as wounded1 because ,god is ever1 in ,battista's mind1 explicitly identified with ,christ1 and ,christ's ,passion is ever in her thoughts4 ,catherine identifies her true self with ,god1 and ,god with ,love2 and conceives her own heart as filled with love and inflamed and pierced by it2 but nowhere figures ,god with a ,heart1 or that ,heart as wounded1 for she has little or nothing of ,battista's anthropomorphic tendency in regard to ,god1 or of her historical picturings with regard to ,christ4 ,the entire ,dialogo then is the work of ,battista ,vernazza2 and we have to eliminate it1 all but completely1 from the means and materials directly available for the constitution of ,catherine's life and doctrine4 ,the next ,division will now attempt to deal finally with the chief of these means--the ,dimostrazione 7,trattato7 and the ,vita-proper4 ,,second ,,division3 ,,analysis1 ,,assignation1 ,,and ,,appraisement ,,of ,,the 8,,vita-,,dottrina-,,dicchiarazione0 ,,corpus1 ,,in ,,eight ,,sections4 ,we now find ourselves in face of the most difficult1 and the alone directly important1 corpus of documents concerning ,catherine's inner life3 the ,vita e ,dottrina1 together with the ,dicchiarazione or ,trattato4 ,it will be best to begin with this ,trattato1 and only after a careful study of this little book1 which1 as we know1 contains the most original and valuable part of ,catherine's teaching1 to finish up with an examination of the1 now separate1 ,life and 7other7 ,doctrine4 ,i4 ,,the 8,,dicchiarazione03 ,,the ,,two ,,stages ,,of ,,its ,,existence4 #a4 ,the 8,dicchiarazione10 from the first a booklet by itself4 ,all the ,manuscripts give the ,dicchiarazione 7,trattato7 substantially as we have it at present1 although ever as but a ,chapter of the ,vita e ,dottrina1 and not1 as yet1 itself divided up in any way4 ,even the last ,editions of the ,printed ,vita still retain a reference to this old arrangement3 8,the soul purifies itself1 as do the souls in ,purgatory1 according to the process described in the ,chapter appropriated to this matter40#ded ,yet the very length of this 8,chapter10 then as now1 and the solemn introductory paragraph1 both point to its having1 at first1 formed a booklet by itself4 ,thus the longest of the other doctrinal ,chapters of ,,ms4 ,a 7,chapters ,,xv1 ,,xvi1 ,,xx1 and ,,xl7 are respectively #bi1 #bb1 #ai1 and #ag pages long2 whilst the ,trattato-,chapter ,,xlii runs to #df pages4 ,only the ,narrative-,chapter ,,xli1 the ,passion1 is of an exactly equal length2 but we shall find that this ,chapter also existed1 originally1 in part at least1 as a separate document4 ,and the introduction to ,chapter ,,xlii is unparalleled by anything in such a position4 8,this holy ,soul1 whilst yet in the flesh1 finding herself placed in the purgatory of ,god's burning love1 which consumed and purified her from whatever she had to purify1 in order that1 in passing out of this life1 she might enter at once into the immediate presence of her tender ,love1--,god3 understood1 by means of this fire of love1 how the souls of the faithful abide in the place of ,purgatory to purge away every stain of sin that1 in this life1 they had not yet purged40 ,i have here omitted 7after 8understood07 8in her soul10 as marring the rhythm2 and 7before 8stain of sin07 8rust and10 since the whole group of words appears in ,,ms4 ,a as 8ogni rubigine di macchia di peccato10 requiring the suppression of at least one of the first two nouns3 we shall find that 8rubigine0 is secondary4 ,i have also omitted1 from what ,i hold was the first form of this ,introduction1 the present second sentence and comparison3 8,and as she1 placed in the loving purgatory of the divine fire1 abode united to this ,divine ,love1 and content with all that ,he wrought within her3 so she understood the state of the ,souls that are in ,purgatory40 ,for all the circumstances and dispositions of this contentment have already been anticipated in the 8,how the ,souls abide in ,purgatory0 of the first sentence4--,we can still show1 ,i think1 when and why this second sentence was added4 ,let us get at the reason slowly4 #b4 ,three differences between the first seven and the last ten ,chapters4 ,the first seven of the present seventeen ,chapters of the ,dicchiarazione 7,dic47 are indeed like1 but also unlike1 the last ten ,chapters1 in three important matters4#dee 7#a7 ,all the seventeen ,chapters are full of ideas1 even of special words and peculiar groups of words1 appearing also in various places of the ,vita-proper4 ,yet the last ten ,chapters alone have1 in addition1 four complete paragraphs standing1 as such1 in the ,vita-proper4 ,the two paragraphs of ,chapter ,eight1 and the first paragraph of ,chapter ,nine1 of the ,dicchiarazione 78,pi ancora dico che io veggio0--8se fosse possibile10 ,vita1 pp4 #age;c-#agf;c71 are identical with paragraphs four and five of ,chapter ,thirty of the ,vita-proper 78,e perci diceva3 io veggio0--8se fosse possibile10 ,vita1 pp4 #gh;c1 #gi;a74 ,dic4's text still keeps two primitive readings3 8,gate0 of ,paradise1 in a first saying1 unassimilated to the plural 8arms0 of ,god in the second saying2 against ,v4's assimilation1 8gates0 and 8arms40 ,again 8stain0 and 8stains10 alongside of 8imperfection02 against ,v4's treble 8imperfection40 ,but in all else ,v4 is clearly the older text3 thus 8,his company0 7against 8,his glory072 8un minimo ch0 7against 8un minimo brusculo072 8appear before ,god0 7against 8find himself in the presence of the ,divine ,majesty072 8purge0 7against 8lift away072 and other points4 ,but if this general priority of the ,v4-text be admitted1 then this part of ,dic4 must have been constituted at a time when these parts of ,v4's text were already so definitely fixed in themselves1 and so firmly worked into their present contexts1 that the ,redactor of this part of ,dic4 dared not take them simply away from their old home1 and did not modify them so as to conform with the glosses traceable in the earlier ,chapters of ,dic4 7note here1 in ,ch4 ,,viii1 the absence of the 8rubigine0 present in the earlier ,chapters74 ,and this means that this part of ,dic4 was constituted when this part of ,v4 was no more new1 and ,dic4's own earlier chapters had been fixed for some time4 7#b7 ,all the ,dicchiarazione ,chapters are based on the assumption of a true analogy1 indeed a continuity1 between the soul's purgation1 ,here and ,there4 ,but only the last ten ,chapters give passages 7three whole ,chapters7 treating exclusively of this-world sufferings1 and an address to souls that1 in this world1 run the risk not simply of ,purgatory but of ,hell hereafter4 ,thus ,chapter ,eleven 7,vita1 pp4 #agh;b-#agi;a7 is now indeed superscribed1 8,of the desire of the souls in ,purgatory to be quite free from the stains of their sins02 and contains the clause 8non che possa guardare il ,purgatorio siccome un ,purgatorio0 7#agi;a74 ,but all the chapter-headings are recent1 and the heading here is quite inaccurate1 for throughout the account 7with the probable exception of the clause quoted1 which is a gloss7 the soul is simply in this world1 as on pp4 #bc;b1 #di;b1 #fa;b1 #ajf;a1 #aad;c of the ,vita1 which readily calls such this-world sufferings a 8,purgatory10 #abh;b1 #acf;c1 #acg;a4 ,here1 however1 much of the form 7e4g4 8to contaminate10 8to occasion071 and some of the doctrine 7the resurrection effected by ,baptism7 is alien to ,catherine's habits4 ,the ,chapter is1 then1 made up1 about equally1 of genuine sayings referring exclusively to this-world purgations1 and of redactional amplifications of a systematizing and sacramental kind4 ,chapter ,twelve 7,vita1 p4 #agi;b1 c7 is now subscribed1 8,how suffering conjoins itself with joy in ,purgatory10 and concludes with 8,thus the souls in ,purgatory experience4'''0 ,yet here too the body of the text nowhere directly refers to1 or consciously implies1 the other-world ,purgatory2 for its last clause1 8ma questa contentezza non toglie scintilla di pena10 requires freeing from the gloss1 8alle ,anime che sono in ,purgatorio10 which now stands between 8contentezza0 and 8non40 ,chapter ,seventeen 7,vita1 pp4 #ahb;c-#ahd;c7 now indeed opens with an explicit reference by ,catherine of 8this purgative form that ,i feel it in my mind1 especially since the last two years0 to the souls in 8the true ,purgatory02 but this reference and the five last words of this long ,chapter1 8e il ,purgatorio lo purifica10 are clear glosses1 since ,catherine is here exclusively occupied with the purgative character of her this-world sufferings1 and not with any likeness of them to the other-world ,purgatory4 ,and indeed1 since considerations about the other-world ,purgatory first occur1 in any certainly authentic ,vita-passages1 only after the great 8ray0-experience of ,november #aa1 #aeji 7the experience stands on p4 #acc;b1 where the ,,mss4 give the date2 the considerations appear only on pp4 #acf;b-#acg;a1 #add;b1 #adf;b71 the 8last two years0 here must mean that already three years or so before her death she had come to dwell much on the purifying function of her sufferings4 ,only during the last ten months does she seem to have dwelt upon these sufferings as illustrating the purgations of the other life4 ,and finally1 ,chapter ,fifteen 7,vita1 p4 #aha;b1 c7 is headed now3 8,reproofs addressed by the souls in ,purgatory to worldly persons40 ,but the text still begins with 8a desire comes over me 7,catherine7 to cry out so as to strike fear into every man on earth10 and deals throughout with her this-life fears for such persons1 not with respect to ,purgatory1 but with regard to ,hell4 7#c7 ,even the first seven ,dicchiarazione ,chapters we shall find to contain short theological glosses4 ,but only in the last ten ,chapters can we find extensive passages incompatible with ,catherine's authentic teaching1 or at least quite unlike her undoubted utterances4 ,chapter ,thirteen 7,vita1 p4 #ahj;a1 b7 is now entitled3 8,how the souls in ,purgatory are no longer in a state to merit2 and how they regard the charity exercised in the world for them40 ,yet this very ,dicchiarazione's utterly authentic opening sayings 7,vita1 pp4 #afi;c1 #agj;a1 b7 eliminate clearly the second question3 such souls do not and cannot regard such charity at all4 ,and though ,catherine 7who put the question of merit1 even as to the soul's this-world action1 so emphatically behind that of love7#def never considers merit in connection with ,purgatory1 yet she conceives the souls in ,purgatory as purifying themselves of certain passive habitual defects1 by one initial free election of the condition of suffering1 and by then continually willing the painful condition1--volitional acts and dispositions that are usually held to imply merit4 ,the first paragraph then opens with3 8,if the souls in ,purgatory could purge themselves with contrition1 in one instant they would pay all their debt40 ,yet there is no such dilemma in ,catherine's authentic thought as 8instant purgation through contrition1 of a necessarily perfect kind10 or 8no purgation through such contrition02 for throughout the first seven ,chapters purgation takes place through love and general contrition1 in a thorough but gradual1 seemingly slow1 manner1 and this not because ,god prevents the soul's self-purification by what would be the normal means1 but1 contrariwise1 because ,he does not interfere with the intrinsic1 normally necessary interconnection of sin and suffering1 sorrow1 self-renunciation1 love and joy4 ,the second paragraph runs3 8,of the payment not one penny is remitted to those souls4'''0 ,this imagery of the payment of something as external to the payer as is money1 in view of so external a change as getting out of prison1 can hardly be ,catherine's1 at least not as the deliberate expression of her purgatorial conception4 ,the last paragraph reads3 8,they are henceforth incapable of seeing except so much as ,god's wills ''' they can no more turn with any attachment to see the alms given for their intention by those that are living upon earth except within the 7general7 apprehension of that all-just balance of the divine will1 leaving ,god to do as ,he pleases in all things ,god1 who pays ,himself as it pleases ,his infinite goodness4 ,and if they could turn to see those alms outside of the divine will1 this would be an act of self-love 7propriet7'''0 7#ahj;b74 ,we have here a substantially authentic saying1 but the bracketed words are certain glosses1 introducing the utterly un-,catherinian ideas and images of the souls being allowed to see what is being done for them1 of ,god's balance1 and of ,his paying ,himself4 ,chapter ,fifteen's last paragraph 7,vita1 p4 #aha;c71 which warns the soul that 8the 7kind of7 ,confession and ,contrition necessary for such a ,plenary ,indulgence 7as shall instantly purify it from all sin7 is a thing most difficult to gain10 is also quite unlike ,catherine's preoccupations1 tone1 and teaching4 #c4 ,remaining passages of the last ten ,chapters not accounted for by the three peculiarities just detailed4 ,the three last paragraphs of ,chapter ,nine 7,vita1 pp4 #agf;c-#agg;b7 and the very similar short ,chapter ,fourteen 7ibid4 pp4 #ahj;c1 #aha;a7 are more painfully composite and more repeatedly worked over than1 ,i think1 even the most tormented passages of the first seven ,chapters4 ,we thus are left with but four paragraphs1 the last two of ,chapter ,ten 7,vita1 pp4 #agh;a1 b7 and the two of ,chapter ,sixteen 7pp4 #aha;c-#ahb;b74 ,these two sets form two couples of illustrative descriptions of the ,purgatorial process2 and1 in each set1 the first paragraph is easier to read but is less authentic than the second1 very composite1 much-glossed paragraph4 ,the second paragraph of the first set reads3 8,l'oro quando purificato per sino a ventiquattro caratti non si consuma poi pi1 per fuoco che tu gli possi dare2 perch non si pu consumare se non la sua imperfezione4 ,cos f il divin fuoco dell' anima3 ,dio la tiene tanto al fuoco1 che le consuma ogni imperfezione e la conduce alla perfezione di ventiquattro caratti1 ognuna per in suo grado4 ,e quando purificata1 resta tutta in ,dio senz' alcuna cosa in s stessa2 ed il suo essere ,dio il quale quando ha condotta a s l'anima cos purificata allora l'anima resta impassibile perch pi non le resta da consumare e se pure1 cos purificata1 fosse tenuta al fuoco1 non le saria penoso1 anzi le saria fuoco di divino amore1 come vita eterna1 senza contrariet40 ,the bracketed words are all more or less certain glosses4 ,but there is here1 besides1 a conflation 7indicated by vertical lines7 of two applications of the gold-dross-fire simile3 8,cos dell' anima3 ,dio la tiene ''' imperfezione4 ,e quando purificata1 resta tutta in ,dio2 e se pure1 cos purificata1 fosse tenuta '''02 and 8cos f il divin fuoco dell' anima1 che le consuma ogni imperfezione2 e quando purificata resta in s stessa1 ed il suo essere ,dio40 ,both applications are probably authentic2 the latter is too daringly simple and too delicately consistent with ,catherine's surest purgatorial conceptions not to be genuine4 ,the second paragraph of the second set contains the important passage3 8,perch sono in grazia l'intendono e capiscono ,dio cos come sono1 secondo la loro capacit2 e perci a quel le da un gran contento1 il quale non manca mai2 anzi lo v loro accrescendo tanto1 quanto pi si approssimano a ,dio40 ,this seems a conflation of two authentic sentences3 8,perch--grazia1 l'intendono e capiscono cos come sono--capacit20 and 8perch--grazia1 ,dio le da un gran contento--a ,dio40 ,and the paragraph concludes with3 8,ogn poca vista che si possa avere di ,dio1 eccede ogni pena ed ogni gaudio che l'uomo pu capire1 e bench la eccede1 non leva loro per una scintilla di gaudio o di pena20 where the brackets indicate glosses1 since the sight of ,god is directly ever a source of joy4 #d4 8,dic40 #a and 8,dic40 #b referred to1 respectively1 by the first and second sentences of the ,dicchiarazione's present ,introduction4 ,now the result reached by our analysis of the ,dicchiarazione's last ten ,chapters1 viz4 that this group 7with the possible exception of the two sets of similes in ,chapters ,ten and ,sixteen and much of ,chapter ,seventeen71 was constituted under different1 later circumstances than was that of the first seven ,chapters1 is borne out1 indeed required1 by the present ,narrative-paragraph that introduces all the seventeen ,chapters4 ,for the two sentences of this paragraph are similar in form but different in matter4 ,in the first sentence the soul is 8placed in ,purgatory0 in order that1 8passing from this life1 it may be presented in the sight of its tender ,love1 ,god02 ,purgatory is 8a place02 and the souls are in that place 8to purge away every stain of sin40 ,and this corresponds exactly to ,chapters ,four1 ,six1 and ,seven respectively1 which deal with the diverse souls that 8have passed from this life0 7p4 #agb;c72 with the sight or non-sight of 8,god1 our ,love0 possessed by them 7p4 #agd;c72 and with ,god and ,hell as 8places10 and of the soul's purgatorial plunge 8so as to join ,god0 7p4 #age;c74 ,in the second sentence1 the soul1 8placed in the loving ,purgatory of the divine fire1 stands united to the divine ,love and content with all that ,it operates within her10 and ,purgatory is not called a 8place40 ,and this corresponds precisely with ,chapter ,twelve 7p4 #agi;b71 8as though a man stood in a great fire ''' the love of ,god gives him a contentment4'''0 ,the second sentence1 a pale1 at first sight redundant1 double of the first1 will1 then1 have been added to the first sentence1 when the second set of chapters was added to the first set4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,earlier 8,,dicchiarazione10 ,,and ,,its ,,theological ,,glosses4 ,i will here analyse such paragraphs of these first seven chapters1 as most fully illustrate the astonishing complexity of the whole1 and as1 between them1 furnish all the theological 8corrections0 to be found in this earliest ,dicchiarazione4 #a4 ,the two ,sayings-paragraphs of ,chapter ,first 78,vita10 pp4 #afi;c1 #agj;a1 c474 ,i print these sayings 7here now broken up7 in parallel columns and in the order of their present position4 ,columns first and third 7numbered together as ,i7 will turn out to contain original sayings1 and column second 7numbered ,,ii7 will appear as but a ,redactor's re-statement1 which 7a sort of link between the two sets7 first paraphrases the set that has just preceded1 and then restates the set that will immediately follow4 ,the arabic numbers indicate the several sayings1 in their original and secondary forms 7the numbers of the latter being bracketed73 thus ,,ii 7#a71 7#b71 7#c71 stands for the secondary versions of ,i #a1 #b1 #c1 respectively4 ,i double-bracket the additions 7theological glosses7 of the ,printed text1 and ,i single-bracket two ,,ms4 clauses which are clearly a gloss4 ,i #a ,,ii 7#a7 ,i ,le ,anime che ,non possono avere sono nel ,purgatorio alcuna memoria non possono propria neppure d' avere altra elezione altri1 n in bene che di essere in n in male dacui esso luogo2 e ricevano maggior questo per ordinazione afflizione del suo di ,dio1 il quale ordinario2 ma hanno ha fatto questo tanto contento giustamente2 n di essere nell' si possono pi voltare ordinazione di ,dio1 verso s stesse1 e che adoperi tutto n dire3 8io ho quello che gli piace fatto tali peccati1 e come gli piace1 per i quali merito che di s medesime di star qui02 non ne possono n possono dire pensare con maggiore 8non vorrei averli lor pena4 fatti1 perch anderei ora in ,paradiso02 n dire ancora 8quello ne esce pi presto di m10 ovvero 8io n usciro pi presto di lui40 7#b7 e solamente #b4 ,la causa del veggiono l'operazione ,purgatorio che hanno della divina in loro1 veggiono bont1 la quale ha una sol volta tanta misericordia nel passare di dell' uomo per condurlo questa vita1 e poi a s1 che di mai pi1 imperocch pena o di bene vi saria una che possa accadere propriet4 in propriet1 non se ne pu vedere4 7#c7 e se'l potessero #c4 ,essendo dunque vedere1 non sarebbero in carit1 e da in carit pura4 quella non potendo ,non possono pi deviare con vedere che siano attual diffetto1 non in quelle pene possono pi volere per i loro peccati1 se non il puro volere e non possono aver della pura quella vista nella carit4 mente3 imperocch vi sarebbe una imperfezione attiva4 7#d7 la quale non #d4 ed essendo in pu essere in esso quel fuoco del luogo1 perch non ,purgatorio1 sono nell' vi si pu attualmente ordinazione divina peccare4 7la quale carit pura71 e non possono pi in alcuna cosa da quella deviare1 perch sono privati cos di attualmente peccare come sono di attualmente meritare4 ,here the middle sayings are sufficiently recent to have in ,,ii 7#a7 imitated the secondary 8ordinazione di ,dio0 clause present in ,i #a4 ,and the two theological 8corrections10 still absent from ,,mss4 ,a and ,b1 both appear among these middle sayings2 they attempt to explain the non-attention of the souls to all particular things1 as a non-remembrance of such things as would add to their distress4 #b4 ,the first two paragraphs of ,chapter ,second 7pp4 #agj;c-#aga;b74 ,originally single sentences have here been repeatedly broken up and scattered about amongst other similarly broken-up passages3 we can still trace the motive for this procedure4 ,i first print them as they stand1 double-bracketing1 at the end1 the interestingly obvious theological 8correction0 that immediately follows a most authentic1 directly contrary1 statement4 8,non credo che si possa trovare contentezza da comparare a quella di un' anima del ,purgatorio1 eccetto quella de' ,santi di ,paradiso3 ed ogni giorno questa contentezza cresce per l'influsso di ,dio in esse anime1 il quale v crescendo1 siccome si v consumando l'impedimento dell' influsso4 ,la ruggine del peccato l'impedimento1 e il fuoco v consumando la ruggine3 e cos l'anima sempre pi si v discuoprendo al divino influsso4 ,siccome una cosa coperta non pu corrispondere alla riverberazione del sole1 non per diffetto del sole1 che di continuo luce1 ma per l'opposizione della copertura3 cos s si consumer la copertura1 si discoprir la cosa al sole1 e tanto pi corrisponder alla riverberazione1 quanto la copertura pi si andr consumando4 8,cos la ruggine 7cio il peccato7 la copertura dell' anima1 e nel ,purgatorio si v consumando per il fuoco3 e quanto pi si consuma1 tanto sempre pi corrisponde al vero sole ,iddio3 per tanto cresce la contentezza1 quanto manca la ruggine e si discopre al divin raggio3 e cos l'uno cresce e l'altro manca1 finch sia finito il tempo4 ,non manca per la pena1 ma solo il tempo di stare in essa pena40 ,here the last 7double-bracketed7 sentence is a deliberate theological correction1 for it formally contradicts the precise point and necessary consequences of the whole preceding1 most authentic1 specially characteristic doctrine4--,in that preceding part three parallel illustrative similes 7between the intact general statement and the equally untouched general conclusion7 have been broken up1 and dovetailed into each other1 in a most bewildering manner2 and this from a 7possibly but semi-conscious7 desire to obscure a characteristic feature of her teaching4 ,i shall now give these five sentences in ,english1 and will disentangle the three middle ones from each other4--,the general statement3 8,i do not think that a contentment could be found comparable to that of a soul in ,purgatory1 except that of the ,saints in ,paradise2 and every day this contentment is on the increase40--,the three images descriptive of the cause and mode of this increase1 arranged according to the increasing materiality of their picturings4 7#a7 8,the influx of ,god into the soul goes increasing1 in proportion as it consumes the impediment to that influx1 and as the soul opens itself out more and more to the influx40 7#b7 8,as an object1 if covered up1 cannot correspond to the beating of the sun upon it1 not through any defect in the sun1 which indeed shines on continuously1 but because of the opposition of the covering1 7so that7 if this covering be consumed1 the object will open itself out to the sun3 even so does the soul in ,purgatory more and more correspond with the true sun1 ,god1 when its covering1 sin1 gets consumed40 7#c7 8,rust is an impediment to fire1 and fire goes consuming rust more and more3 so does the rust1 that is the sin1 of the souls in ,purgatory1 get consumed by the fire2 and their contentment grows in proportion as the rust diminishes and as the soul uncovers itself to the divine ray 7of fire740--,the conclusion1 which perhaps applies grammatically only to the last image1 but which1 as to the sense1 most certainly refers to all three pictures4 8,and thus does the one 7the influx1 sun-light1 fire-ray7 increase1 and does the other 7the impediment1 covering1 rust7 decrease1 until the time 7necessary for the whole process7 be accomplished40--,the three images are in no case supplementary1 but each is complete and parallel to the other two4 ,as the fire that meets with the obstacle of the rust is the same fire as that which removes the rust1 so is it in all three cases3 in each case ,god1 and ,his direct presence and action1 are the 8influx10 8sun-light10 8fire-ray02 in each case a sinful1 morally imperfect1 habit of the soul is the 8impediment10 8covering10 8rust02 and in each case the suffering as well as the joy1 and the changing relations between the two1 proceed exclusively from the differing relations of but two forces3 the soul and ,god4 ,it is only the peculiar1 ,redactional dovetailing of the fragments of these three parallel similes which now conveys the impression that the divine sun-light and fire-ray reaches the uncovered soul in proportion as the soul's covering and rust is destroyed by material fire2 and to convey this very impression1 was1 no doubt1 the motive of this dovetailing4 ,the authentic passage on p4 #agh;b1 tells how the same divine fire which1 at first1 pains because it has still to purify the soul1 increasingly fills the soul with joy in proportion as it can penetrate the soul unopposed3 a doctrine also explicitly taught by ,catherine1 in her dialogue with ,vernazza as to the effect of a drop of ,love were it to fall into ,hell 7pp4 #id;c1 #ie;b74 #c4 ,third paragraph of ,chapter ,third4 ,the much-tormented ,chapter ,third has1 at the opening of its third paragraph 7p4 #agb;b71 an interesting theological 8correction40 ,the complete passage now reads3 8,e perch le anime che sono nel ,purgatorio sono senza colpa di peccato perci non hanno impedimento tra ,dio e loro1 salvo che quella pena1 la quale le ha ritardate1 che l'istinto non ha potuto avere la sua perfezione3 e vedendo per certezza quanto importi ogni minimo impedimento1 ed essere per necessit di giustizia ritardato esso instinto3 di qui nasce un estremo fuoco40 ,the bracketed words are two interdependent glosses4 ,for though in some other1 possibly authentic1 passages the souls in ,purgatory 8non hanno colpa di peccato10 this most certainly applies only to mortal sin or a still active1 formal affirmation of venial sin2 since the very raison d'tre of ,purgatory is 8the rust of sin10 pp4 #afi;b1 #agj;c1 #aga;b1 #agc;c1 #aha;a2 8the stain of sin10 pp4 #afi;b1 #aga;c1 #agf;b2 8a mote of imperfection10 p4 #agf;a2 8a stain of imperfection10 p4 #agf;b2 8a passive defect10 p4 #agj;b2 8opposition to the will of ,god10 p4 #agg;b2 an 8impediment of sin10 #agg;b4 ,and the ,vita-proper says quite plainly3 8,both ,purgatory and ,hell are made for ,sin3 ,hell to punish and ,purgatory to purge it0 7p4 #fd;b74--,and this gloss is in strict conformity with the glosses that affirm static suffering3 in both cases all change is excluded from the soul in ,purgatory1 since this ,purgatory is neither intrinsically necessary nor amelioratively operative within the soul4 #d4 ,first paragraph of ,chapter ,fourth4 ,chapter ,fourth is comparatively easy1 but probably largely secondary1 because uncharacteristic of her teaching4 ,yet it contains a 8correction0 deserving of notice4 ,i give the two sentences which prove both points4 8,quei dell' ,inferno ''' hanno seco la colpa infinitamente1 e la pena non per tanta1 quanta meritano2 ma pur quella che hanno senza fine4 ,ma quei del ,purgatorio hanno solamente la pena1 perciocch la colpa f cancellata nel punto della morte ''' e cos essa pena finita1 e v sempre mancando quanto al tempo1 come s' detto0 7p4 #agc;a74--,the double-bracketed passage1 directly referring to the gloss on p4 #aga;b1 is1 like the latter1 a theological 8correction40 ,but also the single-bracketed words are a gloss1 since they disturb both grammar and rhythm of the passage1 and introduce a point foreign to the argument which is being conducted in this place4--,indeed1 even the remaining parts of these sentences are misleading1 since ,catherine held no such simple and absolute distinction as infinite guilt in the one case1 and apparently no moral imperfection in the other4 ,for of the lost she says3 8,if any creature could be found which did in nowise participate in the divine goodness1 that creature would be as malignant as ,god is good0 7p4 #cc;b72 and as to the souls in ,purgatory1 they are imperfect in precise proportion as they do and can suffer4 #e4 ,first two sentences of ,chapter ,fifth4 ,here we find the strongest instance of the strange clumsiness characteristic of the theological 8corrections40 ,i give the sentences as they now stand1 simply numbering the sentences thus amalgamated1 and bracketing at once the undoubted glosses4 7#a7 8,le ,anime del ,purgatorio hanno in tutto conforme la loro volont a quella di ,dio2 e per corrisponde loro colla sua bont1 e restano contente quanto alia volont1 e purificate d'ogni lor peccato quanto alla colpa4 ,restando cos quelle ,anime purificate1 come quando ,dio le cre 7#b7 8e per essere passate di questa vita malcontente e confessate di tutti i loro peccati commessi4 ''' ,iddio subito perdona loro la colpa e non resta se non la ruggine del peccato1 del quale poi si purificano nel fuoco1 mediante la pena2 e cos 7#c7 8purificate d'ogni colpa1 unite a ,dio per volont veggiono chiaramente ,dio1 secondo il grado che f lor conoscere1 e veggiono ancora quanto importi la fruizione di ,dio1 e che l'anime sono state create a questo fine40 7,pp4 #agc;c1 #agd;a47 ,according to ,catherine's unvarying authentic teaching1 souls go to ,purgatory precisely because they are not already 8pure as when ,god created them10 and they there do not 8clearly see ,god40 ,indeed1 the second sentence here distinctly states1 that 8there0 still 8remains0 in them 8the rust of sin10 from which they 8there0 purify themselves4 ,and the two 8veggiono0 conclusions of the third sentence contradict each other3 for if they see clearly how much the fruition of ,god matters to them1 then they do not as yet possess that full fruition1 i4e4 they do not as yet clearly see ,god4 ,these glosses are made entirely intolerable by a third ,redactional sentence here1 which announces 8an example10 or figure1 of the doctrine here conveyed1 and then proceeds to do so in the beautiful ,chapter ,sixth4 ,for ,chapter ,sixth gives us the simile of the ,one ,bread1 8the bare sight of which would satiate all creatures02 and the division of all souls into those 8in ,purgatory10 which 8have the hope of seeing the ,bread02 those in ,hell1 which 8are bereft of all hope of ever being able to see the ,bread02 and1 by implication1 those in ,heaven1 that see and satiate themselves with the ,bread4 ,and 8the nearer a man were to get to the ,bread1 without being able to see it1 the more would the natural desire for this ,bread be enkindled02 8not having it1 he would abide in intolerable pain0 7p4 #agd;b1 c74 ,,iii4 ,,five ,,conclusions ,,concerning ,,the ,,history ,,of ,,the 8,,dicchiarazione40 #a4 ,the authentic sayings1 collected throughout the ,seventeen ,chapters1 all belong1 at earliest1 to the last nine1 and indeed probably to the last two or three1 years of ,catherine's life4--,at the latter date ,vernazza had been her close friend for twelve1 and ,marabotto1 her ,confessor for eight years4 ,to one or the other1 or to both1 we undoubtedly owe the first writing down of this1 originally small1 nucleus of authentic sayings1--probably in 7many cases7 on the very day when ,catherine uttered one or several of these thoughts4--,the ,one-,bread-,simile ,chapter1 and one or two other passages1 contain slightly varying doublets of the same saying1 the registration of one of which may well be by ,vernazza1 and the registration of the other by ,marabotto1 each of these two auditors getting1 perhaps1 addressed by ,catherine in a slightly different form1 or himself looking out for that part or context of a saying which specially appealed to him1 or slightly1 and probably quite unconsciously1 giving to the identical declaration a somewhat differing characteristic 8colour0 of his own4 ,vernazza is1 however1 doubtless the first chronicler of the majority of these sayings1 in #aejh-aeaj4 #b4 ,these sayings must have been collected together in a first shorter ,dicchiarazione 7equivalent to the greater part of the present first seven chapters and possibly one or two other passages71 not long after her death1 probably simultaneously with1 but separately from1 a short 8,conversione0 account4 ,the first public ,cultus in ,may-,july1 #aeab1 giving rise as it did to a painter's picture of her1 cannot have failed to suscitate some such manuscript booklets4 ,this short ,dicchiarazione will already have had the first sentence of the present introduction prefixed to it1 and this sentence1 so like and yet somewhat unlike ,battista's writings 7,battista who was as yet only fifteen71 will have been written by ,ettore4 ,these ,chapters already1 ,i think1 contained the 8colpa di peccato0 and other technically theological passages1 probably introduced by ,marabotto2 but the ,chapters will as yet have been free from the theological 8corrections10 which still come away too easily from the rest of the text 7in contradistinction to the difficulty in the analysis of its other1 much more resistant components7 not to be considerably younger than these latter4 #c4 ,the 8corrections0 insist upon three doctrines1 in each case in demonstrable contradiction with ,catherine's authentic teaching3 the complete absence of all guilt1 sin1 imperfection1 even though merely passive and habitual1 in the soul1 even in its first moment in ,purgatory2 the simply vindictive1 not curative1 hence static1 nature of the suffering throughout the soul's prison time1 right up to this time's sudden cessation2 and this soul's clear vision of ,god from first to last4 ,thus no increase or extension of purity1 no work of love1 is effected in or by the soul during1 or by means of1 its ,purgatory4--,now ,pope ,leo the ,tenth1 in his ,bull ,exsurge ,domine of ,may #af1 #aebj1 against ,luther1 reprobated four propositions concerning ,purgatory2 and the second part of the second of these propositions declares3 8,it is not proved1 by any reasons or by any texts of ,scripture1 that the souls in ,purgatory are out of a state capable of merit or of an increase of ,charity40#deg ,the ,censure of this doctrine must have seemed to menace ,catherine's teaching on this same point4 ,for she nowhere indeed declares these souls to be capable of meriting1 nor does she teach that there is any increase in the intensity of their love2 yet by the one free act of self-determination to ,purgatory1 and by the gradual extension of this determination of active love throughout all the regions and degrees of the passive will and habitual dispositions of the soul1 her teaching must1 to an at all nervous theologian1 have seemed1 at the time1 to come perilously near to the admission1 respectively1 of merit and of an increase of love in the ,beyond4 ,and the degree in which the fight with nascent ,protestantism was raging precisely around such ,purgatorial questions1 and the solemnity of the ,pope's condemnation1 at this early stage of ,catherine's ,cultus and reputation1 must have combined to render the introduction of these disfiguring glosses an apparent necessity4--,i take them to have been introduced soon after ,vernazza's death in #aebd1 hence some twelve years after the constitution of these seven ,chapters2 presumably by the ,inquisitor to the ,republic of ,genoa for the time being4 #d4 ,the addition of the last ten ,chapters to the first seven ,chapters1 and of the second sentence to the ,introduction1 will have occurred some time after the constitution of the ,vita-proper1 say1 in #aeca or #aecb2 but1 in any case1 was not due to ,vernazza or ,marabotto4 ,and the glosses will have been introduced into these ten ,chapters quasi-automatically1 and simply as a consequence to the very deliberate 8corrections0 of those previous seven ,chapters2 for now ,catherine's reputation had had another twelve years in which to grow1 and the ,bull had been studied for another twelve years4--,but no such glosses were introduced into the ,vita-proper1 either as to this1 or indeed1 perhaps1 any other point4 ,for this ,vita treated only quite incidentally of the other-world ,purgatory2 and this1 in those times specially delicate1 subject-matter had received every precautionary attention in the ,dicchiarazione professedly devoted to it4 ,and other1 intrinsically more important points1 even though treated here with great boldness1 were felt to remain as open as before4 ,but we must now get on to this ,vita-proper4 ,,iv4 ,,the 8,,vita0-,,proper1 ,,its ,,divisions ,,and ,,parts1 ,,and ,,chief ,,secondary ,,and ,,authentic ,,constituents4 #a4 ,the three great divisions1 and their clearly secondary parts4 ,the ,vita-proper1 as we now have it in print1 falls into three great ,divisions1 of respectively two1 four1 and two parts each4 ,the first and last ,divisions hold by far the greater amount of the primary material2 whereas the middle ,division only gives us here and there chapters or paragraphs of admirable freshness and beauty4 ,the eight opening ,narrative ,chapters1 pp4 #a;b to #ba;b1 and the next nine ,chapters of ,discourses1 pp4 #ba;b to #ej;c1 form the two parts of the first ,division1 each part being more or less complete and homogeneous within itself2 and yet they are together in marked contrast to most of the materials of the following ,division4 ,it is within the limits of this first ,division1 and probably even of its first part1 that must subsist the materials1 predominantly derived from ,ettore ,vernazza1 of that first 8,conversione0-booklet of #aeab4 ,the second ,division opens out with the most important ,narrative ,chapter ,nineteenth1 pp4 #ea;a-#ec;c2 but the remaining seven ,chapters of this its first part 7pp4 #ec;c-#gj;a71 contain very little which is not findable elsewhere in a more primary form4 ,then follow1 as a second part1 seven ,chapters of a bewildering variety of form3 three are largely ,narrative and important 7,chapters ,,xxvii to ,,xxix1 pp4 #gj;b-#gg;b72 the next 7,chapter ,,xxx1 pp4 #gg;b-#gi;a7 gives ,discourses1 only in part authentic2 the next again 7,chapter ,,xxxi1 pp4 #gi;b-#hc;c7 is chiefly ,narrative and important2 ,chapter ,,xxxii1 pp4 #hc;c-#hh;b1 is now one long ,discourse which incorporates some short but important authentic sayings2 and ,chapters ,,xxxiii to ,,xxxv 7pp4 #hh;c-#if;b7 are1 the first1 a ,narrative2 the last two1 ,discourses2 and1 in all three cases1 preponderatingly secondary and negligible4 ,then a third part consists of a largely ,narrative ,chapter of delightful authenticity and freshness 7,chapter ,,xxxvi1 pp4 #id;b-#if;b72 a tryingly composite but valuable ,narrative ,chapter 7,chapter ,,xxxvii1 pp4 #if;b-#ig;c72 and an important ,narrative ,chapter with dates 7,chapter ,,xxxviii1 pp4 #ih;a-#ajj;a74 ,and1 as a fourth part1 we get a group of three ,chapters1 of which the first and last contain highly original matter 7,chapters ,,xxxix-,,xli1 pp4 #ajj;a-#ajc;b1 #ajf;a-#aaa;b71 but of which the middle one 7,chapter ,,xl1 pp4 #ajc;c-#aje;c7 can safely be neglected4 ,ettore's chroniclings are again strongly represented in this ,division4 ,and the last ,division consists1 in its first part1 of five important ,narrative ,chapters4 7,chapters ,,xlii-,,xlvi1 pp4 #aaa;c-#abf;c71 clearly by various hands1 and of markedly manifold tone and emotional pitch4 ,and the second part consists of the six ,chapters concerning her ,passion1 ,death1 and ,cultus 7,chapters ,,xlvii-,,lii1 pp4 #abg;a-#aff;a71 of which we can safely neglect ,chapter ,,xlvii1 pp4 #abg;a-#aca;c 7wanting in the ,,mss41 and a mere collection of passages still present1 in a more primitive form and connection1 in other parts of the ,vita72 and pp4 #afa;c-#aff;a 7which treat of events subsequent to ,catherine's death74 ,this last ,division gives the most important of the communications that can with certainty be attributed to ,marabotto4 ,and as ,division ,first's first part1 ,catherine's ,conversion1 will have existed very early in a separate form1 and its second part will have1 if added later1 been thus added very soon2 so this ,third ,division's second part1 ,catherine's ,passion1 will early have existed separately2 and to this will have been prefixed1 still in early times1 the ,narrative ,chapters ,,xlii1 ,,xliii1 ,,xlv1 and ,,xlvi of the first part1 all dealing with matters occurring from #adif onwards4 #b4 ,five main additions of the ,printed ,vita as against the extant ,,mss4 ,we have now reduced the bulk of the ,vita-proper by #cd pages1 but the remaining #acb pages are capable of further reduction4 ,for the ,printed ,vita1 as compared with the ,,mss41 contains1 besides the already rejected ,chapter ,,xlvii1 five main additions4 ,the first addition 7in the order of the ,printed ,vita7 is the beautifully vivid and daring1 certainly historical scene between ,catherine and the ,friar 7,chapter ,,xix1 pp4 #ea;a-#ec;b71 a record doubtless due to ,ettore ,vernazza1 and which will have been omitted by the ,franciscan ,scribe of ,,ms4 ,a from scruples with regard to the doctrine implied4 ,the second is ,chapter ,,xliv1 omitted from p4 #aag;b to p4 #aba;b1--,catherine's declarations as to her lonely middle period and the account of her ,confessions to ,don ,marabotto1 undoubtedly here recorded by this ,priest2 matter again which the ,franciscan ,friar might well consider dangerously daring1 but which1 we have seen1 had not yet been incorporated with the ,franciscan's ,prototype1 perhaps indeed not with any copy of the then extant ,vita4 ,the third is the fourth paragraph of ,chapter ,,xlviii1 p4 #acc;b1 giving a new and beautiful description of the 8,scintilla0 experienced by ,catherine on ,november #aa1 #aeji4 ,it is of late composition1 and ,battista ,vernazza is no doubt its author4 ,the fourth consists of three new paragraphs to ,chapter ,,xlix1 descriptive of ,maestro ,boerio's three-weeks' attempt at curing her1 sometime in ,may-,july #aeaj 7pp4 #adf;c-#adg;c71 and of evidently the same ,physician's visit in his scarlet robes on ,september #b 7p4 #aed;b74 ,both passages1 of transparent authenticity and still but little enlarged1 will have been contributed by this ,physician's ,priest-son ,giovanni ,boerio1 who1 dying in his seventies1 in #aefa1deh must himself have been twenty at the time of his ,father's attendance1 and may well have had his ,father's contemporary notes before him when composing these interestingly vivid contributions4 ,and the fifth brings three new paragraphs for the events of ,september #d1 #aeaj 7,chapter ,l1 pp4 #aee;b-#aef;a71 already referred to here1 on pp4 #bji1 #baj4 ,the ,,mss4 read3 8,on the following day #dth ,september1 being in great pain and torment1 she extended her arms in suchwise as to appear in truth a body fixed to a cross2 so that1 according as she was interiorly1 so also did she show in her exterior1 and she said--0#dei ,hereupon follows a long prayer so obviously modelled throughout upon ,our ,lord's ,high-,priestly prayer 7,john xvii1 #a-bf71 and so elaborately reflective1 that it cannot but most distantly represent anything spoken now by her who had been so interjectional in her remarks ever since ,august #af 7pp4 #adi;b-#aee;b74--,now the ,printed ,vita introduces between 8''' exterior10 and 8and she said10 the following account3 8,whence1 it appears to me1 we should indeed believe that the spiritual stigmata were impressed in that body which was so afflicted and excruciated by her ,love2 and although they did not appear exteriorly1 they nevertheless could easily be recognized through the ,passion which she felt2 and that she suffered in her body that pain which her ,love had suffered on the ,cross3 as we read of the ,apostle 7,gal4 vi #ag7 who bore the stigmata of ,our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 not indeed exteriorly but interiorly1 through the great love and desire which he felt within himself for his ,lord40 8,in proof that this holy woman bore the stigmata interiorly1 a large silver cup was ordered to be brought in1 which had a very high-standing saucer02 the cup was 8full of cold water1 for refreshing her hands1 in the palms of which1 because of the great fire that burned within her1 she felt intolerable pain4 ,and on putting her hands into it1 the water became so boiling that the cup and the very saucer were greatly heated4 ,she also sustained great heat and much pain at her feet1 and hence she kept them uncovered2 and at her head she similarly suffered great heat with many pains40 ,argentina is then quoted as having seen how 8one of0 ,catherine's 8arms lengthened itself out by more than half a palm beyond its usual length2 yet she never said one word as to whence such great pains proceeded4 ,it is true that1 on one occasion1 before her last infirmity1 she predicted that she would have to suffer a great malady1 which would not be natural but different from other infirmities1 and that she would die of it2 and that1 before her death1 she would have within herself 7in s7 the ,stigmata and the ,mysteries of the ,passion3 and this the aforesaid ,argentina revealed later on to many persons4 8,now this ,beata being thus1 with her arms extended1 in pains so great that she could not move4'''0 ,and then follows the 8said0 with the long prayer1 as given in the ,,mss4#dfj ,stigmatization is thus attributed1 but in two degrees and of two kinds4 8,spiritual ,stigmata10 like ,st4 ,paul1 who had them 8through the great love and desire which he felt within himself for his ,lord03 this is the conception of the writer of the first paragraph1 doubtless ,battista ,vernazza4 8,stigmata impressed within her body10 intense interior physical pain1 proved to be such by the intense interior physical heat1 and this heat proved by the insides of ,catherine's hands causing cold water to boil3 this was no doubt ,argentina's view--at least as time went on4 ,and note the interesting combination of both views effected by the ,redactor in the clauses 8the spiritual stigmata were impressed in her body10 8through the ,passion which she felt10 and 8she bore the stigmata interiorly40 ,v4 ,,age ,,and ,,authorship ,,of ,,the ,,literature ,,retained4 ,the next points to consider1 in detail1 are the authorship and antiquity of the literature retained by us4 #a4 ,indications concerning ,ettore ,vernazza4 ,the indications to be found within the ,vita begin at pp4 #ih;c1 #ii;a1 where1 after six lines concerning 8several ecstasies0 which occurred in one particular year and which ,catherine herself had called 8giddiness0 7vertigine71 we are told3 8,one day that she was talking with a ,religious1 that ,religious said to her3 #8,mother1 ,i beg you1 for the glory and honour of ,god1 to elect some person that would satisfy your mind1 and to narrate to this person the graces which ,god has granted to you1 so that1 when you die1 these graces may not remain ''' unknown1 and the praise and glory due for them to ,god may not be wanting4' ,and then this ,soul answered that she was quite willing 7ben contenta71 if this were pleasing to her tender ,love2 and that1 in that case1 she would elect no other person than himself40 8,and then1 speaking on another occasion with the said ,religious1 she began to narrate to him her ,conversion4 ,and she acted similarly later on1 as well as she could1 with regard to many other things1 which have been faithfully collected and put into the present book0 7,vita1 pp4 #ih;c1 #ii;a74 ,the ,preface1 we know1 mentions 8two ,religious1 her devotees1 her ,confessor and a ,spiritual son of hers1 by whom the 7matter of the7 book has been collected from the very lips of the ,seraphic ,woman herself0 7,vita1 p4 viiic73 and we know1 beyond all cavil1 that these two men were ,cattaneo ,marabotto1 the ,priest1 and ,ettore ,vernazza1 the ,lawyer4 ,the passage just given1 ,vita1 pp4 #ih;c1 #ii;a1 unmistakably refers to one of these two2 and the address of 8,mother10 and the answer of 8,son10 which occurs here immediately after the words translated 7p4 #ii;b71 fit only ,vernazza4 ,now the opening words of the first two1 closely interconnected1 paragraphs of that ,chapter ,,xxxviii 7,vita1 p4 #ih;a1 b7 are3 8,in the year #aejg02 the first words of the next two paragraphs1 which also belong together1 are3 8,it happened in a certain year40 ,the subjects and sequences of those two sets correspond pretty closely2 and the second set is in simple juxtaposition to the first set4 ,yet the sets differ3 the first contains a definite date but no allusion to any interlocutor1 and ,catherine moves about and overcomes her scruples by intercourse with ,god alone2 the second is without a date but refers repeatedly to a witness1 and ,catherine is physically quiescent and solicits spiritual help from a disciple4 ,each set is1 in its own way1 equally vivid and peculiar3 they can hardly be doublet narratives of the same event4--,the second set1 then1 gives a later stage of her health and dispositions2 and the 8ecstasies10 8giddinesses10 which left her 8half dead10 must refer to the 8assault0 of ,november #aa1 #aeji1 which left many other1 similarly deep1 impressions and definite records4 ,the penultimate paragraph of the ,printed ,vita 7p4 #afe;c7 reads in the ,,mss43 8,now those who saw and observed these wonderful operations during fifteen years20 and this 7since ,marabotto did not become ,catherine's ,confessor nor presumably know her1 at least intimately1 till #adii7 must refer specially to ,vernazza1 ,thus #adie marks the beginning of his intimacy with ,catherine2 in #adig he could ask ,catherine to stand ,god-mother to his first child2 and the ,vita gives1 pp4 #abb;c1 #abc;a1 8what she said after her husband's death10 hence in the autumn of #adig1 8to a spiritual son of hers10 who is certainly ,vernazza1 8concerning the character of ,messer ,giuliano40--,the conversation of ,november #aeji is1 then1 not the starting-point of ,vernazza's observations1 or even of his registrations1 but only the date from when ,catherine began deliberately to tell him about her past history4--,all this gives us the following canon3 whatever in the ,vita is attributable to ,vernazza can1 if its subject-matter is posterior to #adie1 have been observed and written down by him1 then and there1 as it occurred2 if its subject-matter is prior to #adie1 then we have what1 at best1 is derived from ,catherine's memory and communication to him4 ,and there exists no earlier trained and reliable witness of ,catherine's spiritual dispositions and sayings than ,vernazza from this date onwards4 ,two beautiful scenes and compositions have undoubtedly been directly witnessed and contemporaneously chronicled by ,vernazza1--the conversation about ,love and ,hell1 with ,ettore as the chief interlocutor after ,catherine herself 7,vita1 pp4 #id;b1-#ie;c71 between ,july #adie and #aejb2 and the ,scene with the ,friar1 which it is best to put back to the end of #adie or the beginning of #adif1 since it is more natural to take her words1 8if the world or a husband10 as referring to a still living husband4--,we can also1 ,i think1 attribute to the same intermediary the authentic central part of the analogous discourse as to 8that corrupt expression3 you have offended ,god10 ,chapter ,,xxxix1 pp4 #ajj;c-#aja;b4--,and it is ,ettore again through whom1 doubtless1 we derive all but everything that is authentic in the ,dicchiarazione1 as we have already found4 ,vernazza's contributions to the second category1 i4e4 reminiscences of ,catherine brought to paper by him1 are also very important and more numerous2 but they are1 ,i think1 generally worked up with parallel accounts due to ,marabotto1 as we shall presently note4 #b4 ,indications of ,marabotto4 ,the locus classicus concerning ,don ,cattaneo appears in the ,vita in ,chapter ,,xliv1 p4 #aag;b1 of which long and most important ,chapter 7pp4 #aaf;c-#aba;b7 only the first seven lines occur in the ,,mss4 ,the passage 7omitting a highly glossed bracketed clause and a parallel1 secondary half-sentence7 runs3 8,after this1 7 71 the ,lord gave her a ,priest 7,prete7 to have a care of her soul and body4 ,he was elected ,rector of the ,hospital in which she abode1 and he was wont to hear her ,confessions1 to say ,mass for her1 and to give her ,communion1 as often as she liked4 ,this ,priest 7,sacerdote71 at the request of various spiritual persons devoted to this ,beata1 has written a considerable part 7buona parte7 of this work1 having many times tempted her on and incited her to tell him of the singular graces which ,god had given her and had effected within her 2 especially since 7massime che7 this ,religious1 owing to long experience and intercourse1 knew and understood particularly well 7molto bene7 the sequence of her life40 ,this introductory authentication is followed by the highly reliable and important matters described in my ,chapter ,,iv1--her manner of ,confession2 the incident of the perfume from ,marabotto's hand2 her solemn declaration as to her twenty-five years of complete interior loneliness with ,god2 and the murmurs of some of her friends as to the closeness of their intimacy1 and his consequent absence from her for three days4 ,all this 7pp4 #aag;b-#aba;b7 was certainly written down by ,marabotto himself1 at the time1 in substantially its present form4 ,although this whole series now opens out with 8la prima volta che si volle confessare a questo ,religioso0 7p4 #aag;c71 the words 8a questo ,religioso0 are doubtless an addition of the ,redactor4 ,for everywhere else ,marabotto is always 8il ,confessore0 or 8suo ,confessore10 whilst 8un ,religioso0 is reserved for ,vernazza3 and wherever she uses any specific appellation to the ,confessore1--a thing which is quite exceptional1--she says 8,padre02 whilst where she does so to the ,religioso1 she says 8,figliuolo40#dfa ,and1 wherever the ,confessore addresses her1 there is never any specific address2 whereas the ,religioso constantly addresses her as 8,madre40#dfb ,as to 8,confessore10 we get one mentioned as ,confessor to the ,convent of ,s4 ,maria delle ,grazie in #adfj1 p4 #b;b the same or another ,confessor of the same ,convent in #adgc1 p4 #d;a1 c1 is called 8buon ,religioso40 ,both these men1 or this one man1 heard ,catherine's ,confessions at those dates4 ,but1 a most important point3 all the other ,confessore-passages throughout the book refer to after #adii1 and to ,marabotto alone4 ,for this is a list of them all4 ,on p4 #g;c3 here she is 8so gravely ill1 as to be unable to eat10 a thing belonging to the times after #adii4 7,in events of an obviously earlier date1--her fervent ,communions1--pp4 #h;a1 c1 we get not 8,confessore0 but simply 8,sacerdote407 ,on p4 #aj;c3 here 8to test her1 he commanded her to eat10 an action of which the results are described on pp4 #aag;b1 #aai;c4 ,on page #ajh;b3 but here her fasting is liable to damage her health1 which points to after #aeja4 ,on p4 #aac;b3 but here the ,confessore remains her sole aid1 as in the accounts referring to ,marabotto in ,january #aeaj and shortly before1 pp4 #abj;a1 #aba;b2 #abj;b1 #aci;a-c4 ,on p4 #aae;b3 but here the possessed 8spiritual daughter0 is certainly ,mariola ,bastarda1 who did not live with ,catherine till after ,giuliano's death in #adig4 ,on pp4 #aag;b-#aba;b3 the ,confessore is throughout avowedly ,marabotto1 and a treble indication here forces us to date his ,confessorship from not before #adii4 ,the remaining 8,confessore0-references1--pp4 #acj;a1 #ach;c1 #aci;a1 b1 c2 #adj;b1 c2 #adc;c1 #aef;c1 #aeg;b1--are all explicitly subsequent to #aeja and pertinent to ,marabotto alone4 ,now there is no good reason for doubting ,marabotto's original1 and still largely unmodified1 authorship of all the above passages in which he himself occurs4 ,only as to the scene with the possessed ,mariola1 ,chapter ,,xliii1 pp4 #aae;a-c1 have ,i long hesitated to attribute something so insignificant in substance1 and yet so pompous in form1 to ,marabotto1 either as action or as composition4 ,yet ,i have ended1 for the reasons given in my ,chapter ,,iv1 by thinking that1 after all1 this scene does go back1 more or less1 to him4 #c4 ,references to other witnesses4 ,there are but few other references to witnesses in the ,vita4 ,on p4 #abd;a1 in the account of ,suor ,tommasa ,fiesca1 there are 8the ,nuns of her first and second ,monastery0--,san ,silvestro and the ,monastero ,nuovo1--and 8secular persons1 her familiar and devoted friends40 ,i take this admirably vivid and nave account1 pp4 #abc;b-#abd;b 7which exists in the ,,mss4 without this sentence and ,tommasa's death-date1 #aecd71 to rest upon ,suor ,tommasa's own reminiscences of her heaven-storming cousin1 but to be the composition of ,battista ,vernazza4--,and on p4 #aeh;c 8several of the ten ,physicians10 who assembled by ,catherine's bedside on ,september #aj1 #aeaj1 8are still alive in this year 7#aeea710 but the very vague account of their examination is no doubt due to a non-medical pen4 ,,vi4 ,,analysis ,,of ,,the ,,conversion-,,narratives4 ,let us now take the first of the four ,narrative ,passages in which the largest or clearest conflations of original documents and of subsequent glosses are traceable3 the ,conversion-,scene and subsequent ,apparition1 ,march #adgc2 the 8,scintilla0-,experience1 ,november #aa1 #aeji2 the ,temptation of ,august #bc1 #aeaj2 and her ,death on ,september #ad1 #aeaj4 ,roman and ,arabic numerals indicate the probable provenances from different contributors1 and from different narratives of each contributor1 respectively2 square brackets indicate glosses2 and ,e1 ,c1 and ,b stand respectively for the handiwork of ,ettore ,vernazza1 of ,cattaneo ,marabotto1 and of ,battista ,vernazza4 ,,the ,,two ,,conversion-,,scenes1 pp4 #d;a-#e;c4 7a7 ,in the ,chapel4 ,i4 #a4 ,il giorno dopo la ,festa di ,san ,benedetto ad istanza di sua sorella monaca and ,caterina per confessarsi d' al ,confessore di esso ,monistero1 bench non fosse disposta a confessarsi3 ma la sorella le disse1 8almanco vattegli a raccommandare1 perch buon religioso02 ed1 in verit era un uomo santo4 #b4 ,subitoch se gli f inginocchiata innanzi1 ricev una ferita al cuore d'immenso amore di ,dio1 con una vista cos chiara delle sue miserie e diffetti e della bont di ,dio1 che n f quasi per cascare in terra4 ,,ii4 #a4 ,onde per quei sentimenti d'immenso amore e delle offese fatte al suo dolce ,iddio1 f talmente tirata per affetto purgato fuor delle miserie del mondo1 che rest quasi fuor di s2 ,i4 #c4 e perci internamente gridava con ardente amore3 8non pi mondo1 non pi peccati40 ,ed in quel punto1 se ella avesse avuto mille mondi1 tutti gli avrebbe gettati via4 ,,iii4 ,per la viva fiamma del infocato amore che essa sentiva1 il dolce ,iddio impresse in quell' anima1 e le infuse1 in un subito1 tutta la perfezione per grazia3 onde la purg di tutti gli affetti terreni1 la illumin col suo divin lume1 facendola vedere coll' occhio interiore la sua dolce bont1 e finalmente in tutto la un1 mut e trasform in s1 per vera unione di buona volont1 accendendola da ogni parte col suo vivo amore4 ,stando la ,santa per quella dolce ferita quasi alienata da' sensi innanzi al confessore e senza poter parlare ,i4 #d4 ,n avvedendosi il ,confessore del fatto1 per caso f chiamato e levasi4 ,dappoich assai presto f retornato1 non potendo ella appena parlare per l'intrinseco dolore ed immenso amore1 allo meglio che pot gli disse3 8,padre1 se vi piacesse1 lascerei volontieri questa ,confessione per un' altra volta03 e cos f fatto4 #e4 ,si parti dunque ,caterina e retornata a casa si sent cos accesa e ferita di tanto amor di ,dio1 a lei interiormente mostrato colla vista delle sue miserie1 che pareva fuors di s ed entrata in una camera la pi segreta che pot1 ivi molto pianse e sospir con gran fuoco4 ,in quel punto f istrutta intrinsecamente dell' orazione1 ma la sua lingua ,i4 #f4 non poteva dir altro salvo questo3 8,o ,amore1 pu essere che mi abbi chiamata con tanto amore e fattomi conoscere in un punto quello che colla lingua non posso esprimere80 ,,ii4 #b4 ,le sue parole in tutti quei giorni altro non erano che sospiri1 e cos grandi che era cosa mirabile3 ed aveva una si estrema contrizione di cuore per le offese fatte a tanta bont1 che se non fosse stata miracolosamente sostenuta1 sarebbe spirata e crepatole il cuore4 7b7 ,in the ,palace4 ,i4 #g4 787 ,ma volendo il ,signore accendere pi intrinsecamente l'amor suo in quest' anima ed insieme il dolore dei suoi peccati1 se le mostr in ispirito colla ,croce in spalla1 piovendo tutto sangue1 per modo che la casa le pareva tutta piena di rivoli di quel sangue1 il quale vedea essere tutto sparso per amore3 il che le accese nel cuore tanto fuoco1 che n usciva fuor di s e pareva una cosa insensata per lo tanto amore e dolore che ne sentiva4 ,,ii4 #c4 787 ,questa vista le f tanto penetrativa1 che le pareva sempre vedere 7e cogli occhi corporali7 il suo ,amore tutto insanguinato e confitto in ,croce2 e perci gridava3 8,o ,amore1 mai pi1 mai pi peccati40 ,i4 #h 787 ,se le accese poi un odio di s medesima1 che non si poteva sopportare1 e diceva3 8,o ,amore1 se bisogna1 sono apparechiata di confessare i miei peccati in pubblico40 ,i4 #i4 ,dopo questo fece la sua generale ,confessione con tanta contrizione e tali stimoli1 che le passavano l'anima 4 ,e bench ,iddio in quel punto che le diede la dolce ed amorosa ferita1 le avesse perdonato tutti i suoi peccati1 abbrucciandoli col fuoco del suo immenso amore2 nondimeno volendo soddisfare alla giustizia1 la fece passare per la via della soddisfazione disponendo che questa contrizione lume e conversione durasse ro circa quattro dici anni1 in capo a quali 1 poich ella ebbe soddisfatto1 le f levata della mente la predetta vista in forma tale che mai pi non vide neppure una minima scintilla dei suoi peccati1 come se tutti fossero stati gettati nel profondo del mare4 ,there is a striking parallelism of sights1 sayings1 and their sequences1 between the dated events in the ,convent-,chapel1 and the undated ones in the ,palace1 divided off by the passage ,,ii #b1 with its vague 8all these days40 ,both sets have a 8,vista10--partly of 8offese fatte02 have next 8and hence she cried #8no more sin'02 and the first concludes with a wish1 expressed to the ,confessor1 to put off her ,confession1 and the second with an exclamation1 addressed to ,god1 of her readiness for even a public ,confession4--,this ,christ-,vision1 or any other ,passion-scene1 is nowhere implied or referred to in all her recorded post-,conversion sayings and doings2 the legendary instinct1 we know1 developed1 from this single adult occupation with the ,passion1 the 8interior stigmatization0 story2 and in the ,palace ,narrative itself there has been1 in any case1 some uncertainty1 shifting1 or doubling of the tradition as to that figured vision1--for the actual vision cannot have represented ,christ both as walking and carrying ,his ,cross1 and as motionless and hanging upon it4 ,are the two sets1 then1 but two variant records of one sole event1 and is the second but the result of an early determination to find more of an historical1 pictorial element in ,catherine's spiritual experiences than had actually been present in it8 ,yet strong reasons operate on the other side4 ,we have one1 and only one1 absolutely certain detail from her childhood1 the presence1 in her bedroom1 of a ,piet 7,vita1 pp4 #a;c1 #b;a72 yet nowhere1 in her subsequent actions and sayings1 is there the slightest allusion to this picture-scene which had so deeply moved her childhood4--,and the most vivid and characteristic details of the two ,conversion-experiences are delicately different in each set4 ,the first set1 7a71 consists of three documents4 ,document ,i #a1 #b2 #c2 #d-f continues the story of ,catherine's relations with the 8monistero0 of the ,madonna delle ,grazie1 and of her prayer on the eve of ,st4 ,benedict's day1 told on pp4 #b;b-#c;c2 is most vivid1 precise1 and homely2 and is doubtless the work of ,e4 ,document ,,ii #a1 #b is a colourless parallel to ,i #b1 #f2 yet in ,i #b she sees her own miseries1 in ,,ii #a she is drawn out of the miseries of the world3 ,,ii is thus probably an ancient doublet1 and1 if so1 then part of some annotations by ,c4 ,and document ,,iii is obviously from yet another1 later1 hand1--that which produced the originally tripartite scheme of ,catherine's ,convert life 7pp4 #e;c-bc71 for the three 8la0 7her1 ,catherine7 after 8onde0 of ,,iii require but three stages of perfecting2 whilst now the printed text attempts 7by italicizing 8un0 and 8transform07 to produce four stages1 in keeping with the following1 now quadripartite scheme4 ,the second set1 7b71 begins as though nothing had yet happened or as if1 at least1 the past event had been but a step towards something greater4 ,yet precisely such series of apparent anti-climaxes occur demonstrably elsewhere in her life4--,the account of ,,ii #c 787 is irreconcilably different from that of ,i #g 7873 for there ,christ is moving1 carrying ,his ,cross and raining blood upon objects not ,himself1 here ,he is motionless1 probably dead1 affixed to the ,cross1 and ,his blood has merely stained ,his own body2 there she sees 8in the spirit10 here 8with bodily eyes02 there1 for some minutes1 here continuously2 there1 followed by speechless ecstasy1 here1 by penitential exclamations4 ,and this ,,ii #c 787 is not a later stage of the vision given in ,i #g 7871 as though1 dissolving-view-like1 the ,moving ,christ had shaded off into a ,fixed ,christ1 7although ,catherine's ,viste give us such changes1 e4g4 that of the ,divine ,fountain's successive self-communications1 ,vita1 pp4 #cb;c1 #cc;a74 ,for the very ,redactor treats the second 8,vista0 as simply identical with the first2 and ,battista1 we saw1 so entirely realizes the contradiction between the two accounts1 as to make two quite distinct events out of them 7,dialogo1 pp4 #bji;b1 #baa;a1 b74--,this second account can hardly be a gloss1 for ,battista already found and respected it when at work on the ,giustiniani-book of #aebi or #aecj1 and was thus powerfully influenced by it when composing her ,dialogo in about #aedg4 ,indeed1 this ,,ii #c 787 has been the starting-point of all the stigmatization-glosses elsewhere1 and can hardly be a gloss itself4--,if all this be so1 then either ,catherine herself told the ,christ-,vision to one disciple in two different ways2 or told it to two companions1 to each in a different way2 or told the story so vaguely1 or with such rich vividness and ambiguity1 as to be differently understood by these two different hearers4 ,only one of the two latter alternatives would cover the facts1 since no one writer could remain unaware of the contradiction between these two accounts4 ,hence we here require two writers1 both considerably prior to ,battista and much respected by her2 only ,e and ,c answer to these tests2 and1 in that case1 the ,living ,christ1 seen in the ,spirit1 comes to us through ,e1 and the ,dead ,christ1 seen with the bodily eyes1 reaches us through ,c4--,and then comes ,i #h1 of clearly first-hand authority1 and belonging1 ,i think1 to ,e's account4 ,i #i1 concluding the ,vita's ,conversion-story1 must evidently contain some words1 originally belonging to document ,i1 concerning her ,confession1 since ,i has already twice 7,i #d1 ,i #h7 referred to such a coming ,confession4 ,and such words are here3 8,dopo questo--l'anima02 8,iddio disponendo-circa quattro anni0 7this is the original text here72 and a vivid description of her suddenly ceasing to see her particular sins4 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,sayings-,,passages3 ,,three ,,tests ,,for ,,discriminating ,,authentic ,,from ,,secondary ,,sayings4 ,as to the ,sayings1 it is obviously more difficult to decide as to their provenance1 authenticity1 and date of enunciation and literary fixation4 ,yet three tests have proved solidly helpful towards gaining a respectably large collection of texts which can1 with high historical probability or even certainty1 be reasoned from as truly ,catherine's1 even in their form4 #a4 ,rhythm4 ,there is the test of rhythm and rhyme1 since the ,vita describes her 8wont0 of 8making rhymed sayings in her joy10 and gives irrefragable proofs of her deep love of ,jacopone's poetry4#dfc ,the still obviously rhymed or rhythmical sayings all answer to the other tests of genuineness2 and many sayings now turned1 by successive ,redactors1 into more or less sheer prose1 can still be restored to their original poetic form4 ,all these rhythmic1 rhymed sayings have an utterly nave1 expansive tone1 markedly different from the high-pitched redactional rhetoric in which they are now embedded1 or again from ,battista's far more literary poetry3 hence they cannot spring from this strong and busy intellect4--,thus she hears her ,love say3 8,chi di ,m si fida1 di s non dubita02 possibly simply quoting1 she says to her soul1 8ama chi t'ama1 e chi non t'ama lascia02 and she sums up her life's ideal as1 8s'io mangio o bevo1 s'io taccio o parlo1 dormo o veglio2 s'io son in chiesa1 in casa1 in piazza3 s'io son inferma o sana3 s'io muojo o non muojo3 ogni ora di vita mia1 tutto voglio che sia1 ,dio e prossimo3 non vorrei potere ne volere1 fare1 parlare n pensare eccetto tutto ,dio40#dfd--;,and there are her repetitive utterances1 beginning with 8non pi mondo1 non pi peccati10 on ,march #bb1 #adgb1 and finishing with 8andimo1 non pi terra1 non pi terra10 of ,august #be1 #aeaj4dfe #b4 ,simplicity4 ,the second test requires the sayings to be short and simple1 and to be followed1 in the present text1 by carefully clausulated doublets1 or to be themselves now glossed and expanded4 ,such sayings occur specially in ,chapters ,i to ,,viii2 ,,xviii and ,,xix2 ,,xxvii to ,,xxix2 ,,xxxvi to ,,xxxviii2 ,,xliv to ,,xlvi2 and in ,chapter ,l4 ,all these ,chapters are largely narrative2 can in great part be traced to ,vernazza or ,marabotto2 and yield sayings readily attributable to her first ,conversion-,period 7which she doubtless recounted to those ,friends71 or to #adie-aeaj1 the years of her intercourse with those intimates4 #c4 ,originality4 ,and the third test consists of a daring originality1 which1 often softened and counteracted by the successive ,redactors1 precludes all idea of sayings expressive of it proceeding from any one of less authority than herself4 ,these sayings again are all short2 they too occur1 all but exclusively1 in the ,chapters indicated and in the ,dicchiarazione2 they are all referable to the years #adie-aeaj1 and to the registration first of ,vernazza1 and1 later on1 of ,marabotto4 ,very few of the sayings grouped together by me in my ,chapter ,,vi but satisfy at least two of these three tests4 ,,viii4 ,,conclusion4 ,,at ,,least ,,six ,,stages ,,in ,,the ,,upbuilding ,,of ,,the ,,complete ,,book ,,of #aeea4 ,,the ,,slight ,,changes ,,introduced ,,since ,,then4 ,,first ,,claims ,,to ,,authorship ,,for ,,catherine4 #a4 ,the ,stages4 ,it would appear1 then1 from the preceding analyses1 that the successive stages in the composition and redaction of the ,vita-,dicchiarazione complex of documents cannot have been fewer than the following3-- 7i7 ,description and ,registration1 7#a7 first by ,vernazza 7#adie-aeaj71 7#b7 then also by ,marabotto 7#adii-aeaj71 more or less on the day of their occurrence and utterance1 of ,catherine's actions1 psycho-physical condition1 and sayings expressive of her present spiritual experiences2 and of her deliberate reminiscences concerning her past1 especially her early ,convert life4 ,and similar contemporary ,annotations1 of much lesser volume1 by 7#c7 ,suor ,tommasa ,fiesca1 7#d7 ,maestro ,boerio1 and 7#e7 ,don ,giacomo ,carenzio--the latter two1 only since ,may #aeaj4 7ii7 ,redaction1 probably in connection with the first public ,cultus in the summer or autumn of #aeab1 of 7#a7 a short ,conversione-booklet1 by ,vernazza1 perhaps already with slight contributions by ,marabotto2 7#b7 a short ,dicchiarazione-booklet1 also by ,vernazza1 probably as yet without the theological 8corrections02 and 7#c7 a short ,passion-account1 by ,marabotto1 with additions by ,carenzio and1 in substance1 contributions by ,argentina4 7iii7 ,redaction1 after the death of the last of the two chief friends 7,marabotto1 in #aebh71 by ,battista ,vernazza1 in #aebi or #aecj1 of a tripartite ,vita1 made up chiefly of ,,ii 7#a7 and ,,ii 7#c71 and a longer ,dicchiarazione1 now with the theological glosses1--these latter presumably from the pen of ,fra ,gaspar ,toleto1 ,o4,p41 the ,inquisitor for the ,republic of ,genoa1 or his successor1 ,fra ,geronimo da ,genova4 7iv7 ,partial change of the tripartite scheme of the ,vita-,dottrina to a quadripartite one1 early in #aedh4 7v7 ,composition by ,battista ,vernazza of 7#a7 the ,dialogo1 8,chapter0 ,i alone1 #aedi2 and then 7#b7 of 8,chapter0 ,,ii 7the present ,parts ,,ii and ,,iii71 in #aeej4 7vi7 ,final ,redaction of the text of the ,printed ,vita-,dicchiarazione-,dialogo1 by means of all the preceding ,documents1 of which ,i 7#d7 and possibly the ,confession-descriptions of ,i 7#b7 are now incorporated in the complete ,vita for the first time2 and1 with the help of gossipy reminiscences of ,argentina1 possibly only now reduced to writing--in #aeej1 #aeea4 ,this final ,redactor would again be ,battista ,vernazza4 #b4 ,the ,changes4 ,now from #aeea onwards this whole corpus has remained stationary1 with the exception of purely formal modifications1 such as one synonym for another2 of1 since #agcg1 her designation1 on the title-page and in some other places1 as 8,santa ,caterina da ,genova10 and1 throughout the text1 as 8,caterina0 7only the ,ancient ,preface still retains the strictly correct 8,caterinetta10 ,vita1 p4 viii72 and of two other1 more important changes4 ,the first important change is the insertion 7later than the fourth edition1 ,venice1 #afja7 at her death-moment1--between 8e in quel punto0 7after raising her forefinger heavenwards7 8quest' anima beata0 and 8con una gran pace ''' spir10--of the words3 8dicendo3 ,in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum40 ,this1 intrinsically appropriate1 last saying prevented henceforth her last1 directly recorded1 words from being something so little beautiful or characteristic as the 8cacciate via questa bestia0 with which all the ,,mss41 and all the editions till at least #afja1 had the fine courage to conclude the series of her sayings4 ,and the second change is a modification in the titles of the ,book and of its several parts1 of significance as indicating the growth of the legend attributing literary composition to her4 ,the ,first ,printed ,edition 7#aeea7 has3 8,book of the admirable ,life and holy ,doctrine of the ,blessed ,caterinetta of ,genoa1 in which is contained a useful and ,catholic ,demonstration and ,declaration0 7,elucidation7 8of ,purgatory02 and in the body of the ,book this 8,demonstrazione0 appears as ,trattato del ,purgatorio1 after the ,vita-proper4 ,but though the complete ,dialogo appears here1 behind the ,trattato and divided into two 8,chapters10 no mention is made of it on the title-page4--,the ,second ,edition1 ,florence1 #aefh1 adds to the title3 8with a ,dialogue between the ,soul and the ,body1 composed by the same10 thus attributing1 apparently1 full literary authorship by ,catherine to precisely that document with which she has least of all to do4--,the ,fourth ,edition1 ,venice1 #afja1 simply adds1 after 8,dialogue10 8divided into two ,chapters02 and the ,fifth1 #afae1 modifies this to 8three ,chapters1 between the ,soul1 7and7 the ,body2 ,humanity1 7and7 ,self-love2 the ,spirit and the ,lord ,god1 composed by the ,beata herself40 ,the first ,french translation1 ,paris1 #aeih1 puts the ,dialogue before the ,treatise1 and still attributes ,catherine's direct authorship to the ,dialogue alone4 ,but the first ,latin translation1 ,freiburg in ,breisgau1 #afbf1 has 8,life and ,doctrine of ,blessed ,catherine ,adorna ''' 7and7 the two excellent ,treatises of the same3 #a4 ,dialogue between the ,soul and the ,body2 #b4 ,concerning ,purgatory40 ,here both works are attributed to her1 in exactly the same degree2 but that degree is not clearly specified4#dff ,i do not know how soon after the ,sixth ,edition1 ,naples1 #afde1 which is still without it1 the quite unambiguous title of the ,thirteenth ,edition1 ,genoa1 of about #ahhj3 8,vita ed ,opere di ,s4 ,caterina da ,genova10 was adopted1 nor how soon the present ,second ,title-page to the ,trattato and ,dialogo--8,works of ,st4 ,catherine0--was inserted4 ,yet even here the old correct name for the whole ,book still appears as the heading on p4 #a3 ,vita e ,dottrina1 although now1 owing to that ,second ,title-page1 8,doctrine0 only covers the ,doctrinal ,chapters of the ,vita-proper4 ,thus not till #aefh was anything claimed as a composition of ,catherine's pen1 and then only the ,dialogue2 and not till #afbf was the ,treatise put into the same category as the ,dialogue4 ,pope ,clement ,,xii1 in his ,bull of ,canonization in #agcg1 declares the ,dialogue to be her composition1 whilst nothing is said concerning the ,treatise1 although the ,bull itself most wisely follows the account of the ,vita-proper1 and softens down or ignores the different version of the ,dialogue1 in the two crucial cases of ,catherine's ,vision of the ,bleeding ,christ and of the degree of her poverty4#dfg ,,footnotes #a ,the remainder of this section is for the most part expressed in the words of ,prof4 ,edouard ,zeller's standard ,philosophie der ,griechen4 ,i have used the ,german text4 #b ,rep4 ,,vii1 #eah;b4 #c ,phaedo1 #fg;c1 #fd1 #fi;c4 #d ,theaetetus1 #afh;a4 #e ,parmenides1 #acd;c4 #f ,theaetetus1 #agf;a4 #g ,luke ix1 #ea-ef2 ,matt4 xxvi1 #ea1 #eb2 ,mark x1 #ac-af2 ix1 #cj-cb4 #h ,i have been much helped throughout the remainder of this section by many of the groupings and discussions of texts in ,prof4 ,h4 ,j4 ,holtzmann's ,lehrbuch der ,n4 ,t4 ,theologie1 #b vols41 #ahig4 ,inge's ,christian ,mysticism1 #ahii1 has also1 in its pp4 #dd-gd1 furnished me with some useful hints4 #i ,matt4 vi1 #bf1 #bh2 ,mark iv1 #bg1 #bh2 ,matt4 xiv1 #cb2 xvi1 #b1 #c4 #aj ,matt4 v1 #ag2 vi1 #a1 #b1 #e1 #af2 v1 #bc4 #aa ,mark v1 #be-bi2 vi1 #ef4 #ab ,mark vi1 #ab1 #ac2 i1 #i1 #aj2 ,matt4 iii1 #ac-ai2 ,mark xiv1 #bb-be2 ,matt4 xxvi1 #bf-bi2 ,luke xxii1 #ae-ai4 #ac ,matt4 v4 #c1 #h2 xi1 #be1 #bf1 #bh-cj2 ,mark viii1 #cd1 #ce2 ,matt4 xvi1 #bd1 #be2 x1 #ch1 #ci2 ,luke ix1 #bc1 #bd2 xiv1 #bg2 xvii1 #cc2 ,mark vii1 #ad1 #ae4 #ad ,mark ix1 #ce1 #cf2 x1 #ae2 x1 #ad4 #ae ,mark xii1 #bd-bg2 ,matt4 xxii1 #bi-cc2 ,luke xx1 #cd-ch4 #af #a ,cor4 xv1 #c-h2 xi1 #bc-bf4 #ag ,acts ii1 #a-ac2 ix1 #a-i2 xxii1 #c-aa2 xxvi1 #i-ah2 #a ,cor4 xii2 xiv2 #b ,cor4 xii1 #a-i4 #ah #a ,cor4 i1 #ah1 #bb-be2 ii1 #ad1 #ae4 #ai ,col4 i1 #bf2 ii4 #b2 iv1 #c1 #d4 #bj #a ,cor4 ii1 #f2 iii1 #a4 #ba #a ,cor4 ii1 #aj1 #aa4 #bb ,eph4 iii1 #e2 ,rom4 vi1 #f1 #h2 viii1 #aa4 #bc ,col4 i1 #ae-ag2 ,eph4 i1 #aj2 ,col4 iii1 #aa2 #a ,cor4 x1 #d2 ,col4 i1 #ae1 #ag2 iii1 #aa2 ,eph4 iv1 #ac2 ,gal4 ii1 #bj2 iv1 #ai2 #b ,cor4 iii1 #ah4 #bd ,john i1 #ad2 #a ,john i1 #a2 ,john v1 #bh1 #bi4 #be #a ,john i1 #e2 iv1 #h2 ,john iv1 #bd2 iii1 #af2 vi1 #dd2 xvii1 #ah4 #bf ,john xvii1 #bd2 viii1 #eh2 i1 #c1 #aj2 i1 #i2 #a ,john i1 #b2 ,john i1 #aa2 xiv1 #f2 x1 #g-i2 vi1 #ce2 xv1 #a4 #bg ,john iii1 #c1 #e2 #a ,john v1 #aj2 ,john vii1 #ag2 iii1 #ba4 #bh #a ,john iii1 #b1 #e2 v1 #f4 #bi ,john ii1 #bc1 #bd2 iii1 #b2 iv1 #ci1 #db2 xiv1 #aa2 xx1 #bi4 #cj ,john iii1 #cf2 v1 #bd2 #a ,john iii1 #ad2 v1 #bj4 #ca ,john xiv4 #bj1 #ba4 #cb ,i have been much helped in this section by ,prof4 ,r4 ,eucken's admirably discriminating1 vivid book1 ,die ,lebensanschauungen der grossen ,denker1 in its first and fourth editions1 #ahij1 #aijb4 #cc ,i have been much helped1 towards what follows here1 by pages #ea to #abh in ,m4 ,maurice ,blondel's great book1 l',action1 #ahic4 #cd ,i have found much help towards formulating the following experiences and convictions in ,professor ,william ,james's striking paper1 8,reflex ,action and ,theism10 in ,the ,will to ,believe1 pp4 #aaa-aad1 #ahig4 #ce ,i have been much helped towards the general contents of the next four sections by that profoundly thoughtful little book1 ,fechner's ,die drei ,motive und ,grnde des ,glaubens1 #ahfc1 and by the large and rich conception elaborated by ,cardinal ,newman in his ,preface to ,the ,via ,media1 #ahgg1 ,vol4 ,i1 pp4 xv-xciv4 #cf ,see1 for this point1 the admirably clear analysis in ,j4 ,volkelt's ,kant's ,erkenntnisstheorie1 #ahgi1 pp4 #afj-bcd4 ,this book is probably the most conclusive demonstration extant of the profound self-contradictions running through ,kant's ,epistemology4 #cg ,works of ,st4 ,john of the ,cross1 translated by ,david ,lewis1 ,vol4 ,i1 ed4 #ahhi1 p4 #bih4 #ch ,ibid4 ,vol4 ,,ii1 ed4 #ahij1 pp4 #eda1 #edb4 #ci uvres de ,fnelon1 ,paris1 ,lebel1 ,vol4 ,,ix1 #ahbh1 pp4 #fcb1 #feb1 #ffh4 #dj ,tractatus de ,gratia et ,libero ,arbitrio1 cap4 xiv1 #dg4 #da ,summa c4 ,gentiles1 #a-c1 c4 #gj1 in fine4 #db ,for the recent instances1 see ,walter ,elliott's ,life of ,father ,hecker1 ,new ,york1 #ahid1 p4 #cfi2 ,the ,treatise on ,purgatory1 by ,st4 ,catherine of ,genoa1 with a ,preface by ,cardinal ,manning1 #aheh1 #ahhj1 #ai--2 ,f4 ,w4 ,faber's ,all for ,jesus1 ch4 ix1 sections iii-v2 ,aubrey de ,vere's ,legends and ,records of the ,church and the ,empire1 #ahih1 pp4 #cee1 #cef2 ,george ,tyrrell's ,hard ,sayings1 #ahih1 pp4 #aaa-acj4 #dc ,i have done my best to recover the day1 or at least the month1 but in vain4 ,the baptismal register of her ,parish ,church 7the ,duomo7 is1 as regards that time1 destroyed or lost4 #dd ,not a shadow of reasonable doubt is possible as to the authenticity of these relics4 ,buried as she was in the ,church of the ,hospital of ,pammatone1 which latter she had first simply served1 and then directed and inhabited1 during thirty-seven years1 her resting-place remained a centre of unbroken devotion up to her ,beatification and ,canonization1 when the relics were removed but a few yards upwards1 and placed in their glass shrine above and behind the altar in the ,chapel of the ,tribune--the ,deposito di ,s4 ,caterina--where they have rested ever since4 ,the special character of the brow and of the hands is still plainly recognizable4 ,of the four or five portraits mentioned by ,vallebona1 not one can be traced back to her lifetime4 ,in the ,manuale ,cartularii of the ,pammatone ,hospital1 under date of #ajth ,july #aeab 7p4 #fb71 7,i quote from an authentic copy which ,i found among various documents copied out by the protonotary ,p4 ,angelo ,giovo1 and prefixed to his ,,ms4 ,latin life of the ,saint preserved in the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana1 ,genoa1 ,no4 #cj1 #h1 #adj17 there is an entry of money 7#g lire #aj soldi1 equivalent to about #g #ajs47 paid by the administrators of the ,hospital to ,don ,cattaneo ,marabotto1 her ,confessor and ,executor3 8,ratio sepulturae q7uondam7 ,d7ominae7 ,catarinettae ,adurnae pro diversis expensis factis p7er7 ,d7ominum7 ,cattaneum ,marabottum1 videlicet pro pictura et apportari facere lapides ipsius sepulturae40 ,the payment must have been either for expressly painting a picture1 or for buying one already painted4 ,we would1 however1 expect1 in the former case1 for the entry1 in analogy with its final clause1 to run3 8pro pingi facere picturam40 ,in the latter case1 we are almost forced to think of the picture as painted by some friend or disciple of the ,saint1 not for herself or for her relations or friends 7for in that case it would hardly have been sold1 but would have been left or given to the ,hospital71 but for his own consolation1 or in hopes of its being eventually bought for the ,hospital 7and this may well have been done during her lifetime74 ,in any case1 this entry attests that a portrait of the ,saint was in existence at the ,hospital not two years after her death1 and which was approved of by one of her closest friends4 ,i take it that that portrait was placed on her sepulchral monument erected to her in ,january #aeab in the ,hospital ,church4 ,if still extant1 at least in a copy1 that original or copy is1 presumably1 at the ,hospital still4 ,now there are but three pictures at the ,hospital which claim to be portraits of her and are not1 avowedly1 copies4 7#a7 ,the large oil painting of her standing figure1 in the room adjoining the closet now shown as the place where she died1 is clearly a late1 quite lifeless composition4 7#b7 ,the portrait-head in the ,superioress's room has been carefully examined for me by a trained portrait painter1 who reports that the picture consists of a skilful ancient foundation now largely hidden under much clumsy repainting4 7#c7 ,the picture reproduced at the head of this first volume1 now in the sacristy of the ,santissima ,annunziata in ,portorio 7the ,hospital ,church71 is clearly the work of one hand alone4 ,it is without the somewhat disagreeable look present in the previous portrait1 a look doubtless introduced there by the unskilful restoration4 ,if then the sacristy picture is a copy of the ,superioress's picture1 it will have been copied before the latter picture was thus repainted4 ,this sacristy picture now hangs in an old-fashioned white-and-gold wooden frame with 8,santa ,catarina da ,genova0 in raised letters carved out upon it1 a carving which is evidently contemporary with the frame's make4 ,the frame thus cannot be older than #agcg1 the year of ,catherine's canonization4 ,but the portrait is without trace of a nimbus and carefully reproduces the very peculiar features of a particular face1 head1 and neck4 ,the original painting1 thus still more or less before us in these two pictures1 was evidently by no mean artist1 and strikes a good connoisseur as of the school of ,leonardo da ,vinci 7died #aeai74 ,there were several good painters of this school resident in ,genoa about this time3 ,carlo da ,milano1 ,luca da ,novara1 ,vinzenzo da ,brescia1 and ,giovanni ,mazone di ,alessandria4 ,in the very year of her death1 and still more two years later1 she was publicly and spontaneously venerated as ,blessed1 and this ,cultus continued unbroken up to the ,bull of ,urban ,,viii1 of #afbe4 ,hence the further back we place one or both of these portraits1 the more naturally can we explain the absence of the nimbus4 ,everything conspires1 then1 to prove that one of these portraits goes back1 in some way1 to the picture painted for or bought by ,marabotto1 and which adorned her monument from #aeab to #aeic4 ,i have striven hard but in vain to find some scrap of ,catherine's handwriting4 ,the late ,mr4 ,hartwell ,grisell of ,oxford1 and the ,cavaliere ,azzolini dei ,manfredi of ,rome1 both of them life-long collectors of ,saints' autographs1 have kindly assured me that they have never come across a word even purporting to be in her handwriting4 ,the fourteen wills and codicils made in her favour or by herself are all1 according to the universal custom of the time and country1 written throughout in a rapid1 cursive hand by the lawyer himself alone1 with certain slight signs 7crosses or lines7 for further identification of his authorship1 but with no signature of any kind4 ,there is no shadow of a true tradition as to any of her sayings or thinkings having ever been written down by herself4 ,and the business books of the ,hospital1 kept1 at least in part1 by ,catherine from #adij to #adif1 when she was its matron1 have long ago been destroyed by fire4 #de ,see ,opere ,spirituale della ,ven4 ,b4 ,vernazza1 ,genova1 #agee1 #f vols41 ,vol4 ,i1 p4 #c4 #df ,op4 cit4 p4 #de4 #dg ,although the ,church and ,monastery belonged1 as ,catherine's ,will of #aeji puts it1 to 8the ,order of ,st4 ,benedict of the ,congregation of ,saint ,justina in ,padua0--a ,congregation founded from ,monte ,cassino between #hfa and #hgd--yet the community were evidently closely bound up with the ,augustinian ,canons ,regular of the ,lateran1 or at all events with the foundation of the ,convent of ,augustinian ,canonesses at ,santa ,maria delle ,grazie4 ,for the concession of ,pope ,nicolas ,v for the latter ,convent is addressed to his 8,beloved sons of ,saint ,theodore of ,genoa0 7,augustinian ,canons7 8and of ,saint ,nicolas in ,boschetto40 ,and this close connection with1 and action for1 a ,church and ,convent so dearly loved by ,catherine1 will have necessarily been one of the causes of her affection for the ,benedictine country-side ,church4 #dh ,this evidently most authentic anecdote stands in the ,vita1 p4 #c1 in a doubly disconcerting context4 ,her prayers1 always elsewhere recorded together with their effects1 are here abruptly left1 without any indication of their sequel2 and the prayer for a three months' illness is followed by an attempted explanation of it--that she had gone through three months of mental affliction4 ,i take it that some other continuation has been suppressed1 or1 at least1 that the present explanation owes its 8three months0 to a quaint determination to find at least a retrospective correspondence between her prayer and the happenings of her life4 #di ,vita1 p4 #d1 first two paragraphs4 ,i hope to show in the ,appendix that we owe their getting on to paper to ,ettore ,vernazza1 and that he derived their contents from ,catherine herself1 some time after #adie4 #ej ,ibid4 p4 #d4 #c4 #ea ,vita1 p4 #d1 #c2 p4 #e1 #a4 #eb ,ibid4 p4 #e1 #b1 #c4 ,i have1 together with the ,bull of ,canonization1 deliberately omitted the first two sentences of #c1 which 7with their representation of ,our ,lord as appearing not alive with the ,cross1 but dead on it1 and with their repetition here of the exclamation as to 8no more sins0 of her conversion-moment7 form an interesting doublet1 with a complex and eventful history attaching to it4 ,see ,appendix to this volume4 #ec ,vita1 p4 #e;c4 #ed ,vita1 p4 #e;c4 #ee ,vita1 pp4 #e;c1 #f1--;as they appear in ,,ms4 8,a40 ,this matter of these periods has given me much trouble1 since there are two rival traditions concerning them to be found1 really unreconciled1 within the oldest documents of the ,vita4 ,the point is fully discussed in the ,appendix4 #ef ,ibid4 cc4 ix-xli1 pp4 #ba;c-#aaa;c4 #eg ,vita1 p4 #g;a4 #eh ,i take the above to have been the actual course of events1 for the following reasons4 7#a7 ,the text just given talks of 8the desire for ,holy ,communion0 having been given to her on that day in #adgc1 and of this desire 8never failing her throughout the remainder of her life02 but it does not say1 that the desire for daily ,communion was given to her then1 or that such a desire was continuously satisfied from the first4 7#b7 ,on page #ah;b we have3 8,for about two years she had this desire for death1 and this desire continued within her1 up to when she began to communicate daily40 ,this passage1 7which does not occur1 here or with this ,communion notation1 in the ,,mss417 originally without doubt referred to her later desire for death1 carefully described by ,vernazza 7pp4 #ih;a1 b2 #ii;b1 c7 as occurring in #aejg--;a description in the midst of which now occurs an account of certain death-like swoons which attacked her in #aeji 7pp4 #ih;c1 and #acc;b2 this latter experience is given in the ,,mss4 as occurring in ,november #aeji74 ,still this passage points to a tradition1 or early inference1 that the beginning of the daily communions did not synchronize with her conversion nor indeed with any other very marked date1 but took place not many years after her return to fervour4 7#c7 ,it is impossible to assume that she did not communicate at all during these first fourteen months1 since there is no evidence that1 even before her conversion1 she had ever abstained from ,holy ,communion altogether1 and since two ,eastertides with their strict obligation recurred twice within this period4 ,and if she did communicate repeatedly within this time1 then this ,lady-,day1 three days after her conversion1 would be a most natural occasion for one of these communions4 ,and the desire and not its gratification would be mentioned1 because the writer characteristically wants her conversion to be followed by something absolutely unintermittent1 and such unintermittence attached1 for the present1 not to her communions themselves1 but only to her desire for them4 #ei ,vita1 pp4 #h1 #i4 ,a ,,ms4 list of conclusions concerning various points of her life1 which is contained in the volume ,documenti su ,s4 ,caterina da ,genova1 in the ,university ,library of ,genoa1 declares this interdict to have lasted ten days1 and in the year #adhi4 ,this information is probably correct4 #fj ,ibid4 pp4 #h1 #i4 #fa ,vita1 p4 #g;b4 #fb ,i have been unable to discover more than one case illustrative of the practice of that time and town4 ,the ,venerable ,battista ,vernazza1 an ,augustinian ,canoness from #aeaj to #aehg1 was not allowed daily ,communion till the last years of her life4 ,opere1 ,genoa1 #agee1 ,vol4 ,i1 p4 #ba4 #fc ,vita1 p4 #aaf;c4 ,this passage opens a chapter full of the most authentic information1 derived directly from ,don ,marabotto1 her ,confessor and close friend from #adii onwards4 ,i have1 in her saying1 read 8,amore0 for the 8,signore0 of the text of the ,vita3 my reasons will appear later on4 #fd ,vita1 pp4 #aai;c1 #aaf;c1 #aag;b4 #fe ,ibid4 p4 #af;b4 #ff ,vita1 p4 #f4 #fg ,ibid4 p4 #adj;b1 c4 #fh ,see here1 ch4 v1 ii1 #b and #e4 #fi ,denzinger's ,enchiridion ,definitionum1 ed4 #ahhh1 ,no4 #cfc4 #gj ,summa ,theologica1 ,,iii1 supplem4 quaest4 #f1 art4 #c4 #ga ,denzinger1 op4 cit4 ,no4 #ghj2 ,summa ,theologica1 ,,iii1 supplem4 quaest4 #f1 art4 #c4 #gb ,antonii ,ballerini1 ,opus ,theologicum ,morale1 ed4 ,palmieri1 ,s4,j41 ,prato1 #ahib1 ,vol4 ,v1 pp4 #egf-eig4 ,the large variations in the earlier practice of ,penitence and ,confession are admirably described in ,abb ,boudhinon's articles1 8,sur l',histoire de la ,pnitence10 in the ,revue d',histoire et de ,littrature ,religieuses1 #ahig1 pp4 #cjf-cdd1 #dif-ebd4 #gc ,the reason for this lies in the emphatic1 repeated conviction of ,r4 #a1 based1 no doubt1 upon the authentic documents 7probably ,vernazza's memoranda7 that he has incorporated1 7a conviction which appears wherever his scheme was not tampered with by ,r4 #b17 that her great penitential period lasted four years 7so still on pp4 #ab;b1 #ac;b twice1 #ad;c2 and originally1 no doubt1 on p4 #f;a1 and probably on p4 #e;c1 where now we read 8a little over a year10 and 8about fourteen months0 respectively74 ,for not all the subsequent doctoring1 that shall be traced later on as having been applied by ,r4 #b to some of the refractory passages1 succeeds in making it likely that these penitential exercises outlasted the complete disappearance from her sight of her sins1 which we have already quoted from the last likely passage4 ,and it is equally improbable that formal and repeated ,confession should not have formed part and parcel of the whole of this penitential time4 ,on the other hand1 8her ,confessor10 on p4 #gg1 and 8the spiritual physician0 on p4 #h;a1 indeed all other mentions of a ,confessor throughout the ,life subsequent to her first convert ,confession1 will be shown in the ,appendix to apply exclusively to ,don ,marabotto1 and to the last eleven years of her life4 #gd ,vita1 p4 #ef;b1 c4 ,her words as printed there are3 8,io non vorrei grazia ne misericordia nella presente vita ma giustizia e vendetta del malfattore40 ,but the words ,i have bracketed are certainly a gloss2 for she is speaking here out of the fulness of her feeling1 without the intrusion of reflection4 ,and as regards temporal punishment in the other life1 and the soul's attitude towards it there1 she says in the ,trattato1 p4 #ahj;b3 8,know for certain1 that of the payment required from those souls 7in ,purgatory71 there is not remitted even the least farthing1 this having been thus established by the divine justice4''' ,those souls have no more any personal choice1 and can no more will anything but what ,god wills40 #ge ,dialogo1 pp4 #bjc;a1 #bjh;b4 #gf ,from the authenticated copies of the entries in the ,cartulary1 prefixed to the ,,ms4 ,life of the ,saint in the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana1 ,genoa1 ,nos4 #cj1 #h1 #ad2 and from careful copies of the still extant original ,wills made for me by ,dre4 ,ferretto1 of the ,archivio di ,stato1 ,genova4 #gg ,benedicti ,,xiv1 ,de servorum ,dei ,beatificatione et ,beatorum ,canonisatione1 ed4 ,padua1 #agdc1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 p4 #bci;a4 #gh ,vita1 pp4 #ef;c2 #c;c2 #ie;c2 #abd;c1 #abe;b2 #abb;b4 #gi ,i have followed here1 for my terminus a quo1 ,vallebona rather than the ,bollandists 7who prefer #adgd for the date of her conversion71 because the ten years required between her marriage in ,january #adfc and her conversion1 have fully elapsed by ,march #adgc1 and because the earlier we place her conversion1 the larger is the number of lonely convert years that we can find room for1 and the more nearly accurate her own allegation of twenty-five years of such loneliness becomes4 ,if we follow the chronology given in the text we get a thoroughly understandable sequence3 ,catherine's conversion1 ,march #adgc2 ,giuliano's bankruptcy1 summer of that year2 his conversion under the joint influence of her zeal and of his misfortune2 the decision of the couple to settle in the midst of the poor and suffering1 whom they were now determined to serve1 and the execution of this decision1 between ,michaelmas and ,christmas of the same year4 #hj ,vallebona1 p4 #ee4 #ha ,lived #aeej-afad1 worked heroically amongst the poor and pestilential sick1 founded the ,order of the ,fathers of a ,good ,death1 and was himself at ,genoa1 already gravely ill1 in #afac4 #hb ,vallebona1 pp4 #ee1 #ef1 shows1 from ,giuliano's still extant will of #adig1 how this income from his property in the ,island of ,scios alone amounted to about #cj1jjj modern ,italian lire4 ,we shall study the instructive growth of legend in the matter of ,catherine's 8poverty0 later on4 #hc ,vita1 p4 #abb;b4 #hd ,vallebona1 pp4 #ajf1 #ajh4 #he ,an interesting legendary development in the ,dialogo of this very straightforward account of the ,vita will occupy us later on4 #hf ,vita1 pp4 #bj1 #ba4 #hg ,ibid4 p4 #ab4 #hh ,see an interesting article3 8,de ,suor ,tommasina ,fieschi10 by ,f4 ,alizeri1 in ,atti della ,societ ,ligure di ,storia ,patria1 ,genova1 #ahfh1 pp4 #djc-dae4 #hi ,the choice of subjects may possibly betray the influence of ,catherine--of the ,piet which ,catherine had so much loved as a child1 and of her special devotion to the ,holy ,eucharist4 ,but the particular form of the latter is in ,tommasina unlike ,catherine3 had ,catherine painted that symbolical picture1 it would have referred to the moment1 not ,consecration1 but of ,communion4 #ij ,vita1 pp4 #abc1 #abd4 ,suor ,tommasa did not die till #aecd1 over #hf years of age4 ,i have been unable to discover her baptismal and her married names4 ,we shall give some further details about ,catherine's probable relations with her1 as writer and as painter4 #ia ,vita1 pp4 #ab1 #ac4 #ib ,ibid4 pp4 #e1 #f1 #ad4 #ic ,ibid4 p4 #ac4 #id ,vita1 p4 #f;a4 #ie ,ibid4 #ad;b4 ,i have introduced into my account a note of gradualness which is presented by no single 7even authentic7 document of the ,vita1 but which any attempt at harmonizing those documents imperatively requires4 ,for there is1 on the one hand1 the repeated insistence upon her four years of particular penances for her own particular sins2 and the vivid account of the final complete withdrawal of all sight of those sins and of all desire for those penances 7,ibid4 pp4 #ab;b1 #ac;c2 #ad;b1 #e;c74 ,and there is1 on the other hand1 the1 apparently1 equally authentic saying1 as to her performing her penances1 before the end of those years1 without any particular object in view 7,ibid4 p4 #ad;b74 ,the only unforced harmonization is then to assume that a period1 in which the sight of her particular sins had been at first all but unintermittent and then still predominant1 had shaded off into another period1 in which this sight occurred in ever fewer moments1 until at last1 at the end of four years1 a day came on which it ceased altogether4 #if ,the only possible dates are #adge or #adgf4 ,for the change referred to takes place 8some appreciable time 7alquanto tempo7 after her conversion0 7,vita1 p4 #aj;a72 and yet it must be early enough to allow of twenty-three ,lents and ,advents between the beginning of the change up to its end4 ,and this end came at latest in #aeja 7p4 #abg;a71 but probably in #adii1 the year in which ,don ,marabotto became her ,confessor4 ,the ,lent of #adif 7what remained of it on ,lady-,day of that year7 seems to me the more likely of the two possible starting-points4 #ig ,vita1 p4 #aj;a4 #ih ,ibid4 p4 #aa;a4 #ii ,ibid4 p4 #aj;b4 #ajj ,vita1 p4 #h;a4 #aja ,see below1 next page4 #ajb ,,ms4 8,a10 p4 #bd1 title to chapter vii2 ,vita1 p4 #aj;a4 ,twenty-five ,lents are too many1 because3 7#a7 it is impossible to interpret the 8alquanto tempo dopo la sua conversione10 when these fasts began 7,ibid4 p4 #aj;a71 as less than two years2 and 7#b7 it is impossible to bring her resignation of the ,matronship of the ,hospital lower down than the autumn of #adig1 a resignation which the ,ibid4 7p4 #if7 tells us took place in consequence of her 8great bodily weakness10 which forced her to 8take some food after ,holy ,communion to restore her bodily forces1 even though it were a fast day40 ,this allows for at most twenty-three ,lents and twenty-two ,advents4 #ajc ,ibid4 p4 #aa;b4 #ajd ,vita1 p4 #aa;c4 ,i take the last section of this chapter 7pp4 #aa1 #ab7 to be a later1 exaggerating doublet to this account4 #aje ,ibid4 p4 #aa;b4 #ajf ,ibid4 p4 #ad;b1 #e;c4 #ajg ,vita1 p4 #af;b4 #ajh ,ibid4 pp4 #bc;a1 #di;a4 #aji ,ibid4 p4 #ae;b4 #aaj ,vita1 pp4 #ae;c1 #ig;a1 #ae;c4 #aaa ,ibid4 pp4 #ae;c1 #af;a1 #dg;b4 #aab ,ibid4 p4 #ag;b4 #aac ,i translate ,frate predicatore thus1 because the generally well-informed ,parpera 7in his ,vita of the ,saint1 #afha7 identifies him with ,padre ,domenico de ,ponzo1 an ,observant ,franciscan and zealous preacher4 ,boll4 p4 #afa ,d4 ,in other places1 also1 the ,vita makes use of purely popular and misleading designations3--p4 #aag;b 8questo ,religioso0 is ,don ,marabotto1 ,secular ,priest2 pp4 #id;c1 #ie;a1 c1 #ih;c1 #ii;b1 8,religioso0 is ,vernazza1 layman2 p4 #abc;b1 8,sorelle0 is a ,sister and ,sisters-in-law4 ,even the final ,redactor in the ,preface1 p4 viiic1 calls the ,secular-,priest ,marabotto and the ,layman-,lawyer ,vernazza1 8divoti religiosi40 #aad ,vita1 pp4 #ea1 #eb4 ,i take this episode to have occurred whilst the pair were still living out of the ,hospital1 because of the giunta in casa1 which could hardly be applied to their two little rooms in the latter1 whilst this sensitiveness to the opinion of others in this matter of love appears psychologically to be more likely during the early years of her convert life than from #adij onwards1 when1 as ,matron1 she occupied a separate little house within the ,hospital precincts 7hence sua casa in ,vita1 p4 #if;b74 #aae ,i shall give reasons in due course for holding that the rooms still shown in the ,hospital as ,catherine's are different from any ever occupied by herself1 and that the little house within the ,hospital grounds1 in which she died in #aeaj1 and into which she 7and ,giuliano7 probably moved in #adij1 has long ceased to exist4 #aaf ,vita1 p4 #bj;b4 ,this characteristic fact has been 8explained away0 in the ,dialogo4 ,see ,appendix4 #aag ,vita1 p4 #bj;c4 #aah ,ibid4 p4 #ba;c4 ,all the books and papers of the ,hospital referring to these years up to her death1 were long ago destroyed by fire4 ,i have1 however1 no doubt as to the1 at least substantial1 accuracy of the above account4 ,for ten wills and assignments1 drawn up1 by various lawyers1 in her presence1 by her desire and at her dictation1--nine of them during the years of her weakness and illness1--are still extant1 have been carefully copied out for me1 and will be analyzed further on4 ,they are all1 except on one minor point1 admirably precise1 detailed1 and wise4 #aai ,vita1 p4 #ba;b4 #abj ,the above paragraph is based1 with ,vallebona1 op4 cit4 pp4 #fg-gb1 upon the assumption that ,catherine took the kind of share described in the labours of this time2 since it is practically unthinkable that she should not have acted as is here supposed1 given the combination of the following facts1 which are all beyond dispute4 7#a7 ,the fully reliable ,giustiniani in his ,annali describes1 under the date of #adic1 the incidents of the ,pestilence as given above2 tells us how well1 nevertheless1 the sick and poor were looked after by those who1 from amongst the educated classes1 remained amongst them2 and affirms that the ,borgo di ,san ,germano1 identical with the ,acquasola quarter1 was assigned to those stricken by the ,pestilence4 7#b7 ,agostino ,adorno1 ,giuliano's cousin1 was ,doge of ,genoa during this year4 ,and the friendly terms on which the cousins were at this time are proved by ,giuliano's ,will of the following year 7,october #adid74 7#c7 ,catherine had already been ,matron of the ,hospital for two years and more1 and was to continue to be so for another three years4 ,she certainly did not absent herself from her post at this time4 ,and her ,hospital directly abutted against the ,acquasola quarter4 7#d7 ,the details furnished by all the sources conjointly with regard to her six years' ,headship of the ,hospital1 are so extraordinarily scanty1 that we must not too much wonder at the all but complete dearth of any allusion to a work which cannot have lasted longer than as many months4 7#e7 ,the ,dialogo1 p4 #bbb;b1 says3 8,she would go1 too10 7i4e4 besides visiting the sick and poor in their own houses17 8to the poor of ,san ,lazzaro1 in which place she would find the greatest possible calamity40 ,this clearly refers to some special 7,lazar-1 ,leper-7 ,refuge1 and the term can certainly cover aid given to the pest-stricken4 ,and we shall see that the record here is derived from the writer's father1 ,ettore ,vernazza1 the heroic lover of the pest-stricken poor4 ,i have1 in my text1 assumed that the ,vita gives us an anecdote relative to her visiting the pestiferous sick of ,acquasola4 ,but to do this1 ,i have had 7a7 to take 8pestiferous fever0 as equivalent to 8,pestilence10 and to assume that it was not an isolated precursory case of the coming general visitation2 7b7 to omit1 in the ,vita's text1 8nell' ospedale10 as an indication where the sick woman was2 and 8allo stesso servizio 7dell' ospedale710 as descriptive of where ,catherine went back to3 the anecdote may well originally have been without indication of the place in which the infection came to reduce her to death's door4 #aba ,inaugurazione della ,statua d',ettore ,vernazza 7#ahfc71 ,genova1 ,sordo-,muti1 #ahfg4 ,most of my facts concerning ,ettore and his daughters are taken from this brochure1 with its careful biographical ,discourse by ,avvocato ,professore ,giuseppe ,morro 7pp4 #e-ca71 and its ample collection of admirable wills and financial decisions 7pp4 #fa-id74 #abb ,quoted ibid4 p4 #ba4 ,it is absolutely certain that these words refer to the pestilence of #adic1 since the epidemic did not again visit ,genoa till #aejc1 when ,vernazza must have been over thirty years of age4 ,and ,battista's silence as to any meeting between her ,father and ,catherine must not be pressed1 since she nowhere mentions ,catherine1 and yet we know for certain how close and long was the intimacy between them4 #abc ,the words of the ,vita1 p4 #aje;c1 that those who wrote this ,life 8saw and experienced these wonderful operations for many years10 are given in ,,ms4 8,a0 as 8during fifteen consecutive years 7per quindici continui anni710 p4 #cff4 ,all points to her having got to know ,don ,marabotto later than at this time and than ,vernazza1 yet only the one or the other of these two men can be meant2 hence ,vernazza must be intended here4 ,but ,i have nowhere in the ,vita been able to trace passages that could with probability be both attributed to ,vernazza1 and dated before the years #adih-adii4 #abd ,the precise date of ,vernazza's marriage is unknown4 ,but since his eldest child was born on ,april #ae1 #adig1 it cannot have taken place later than ,june #adif4 ,the date of the sale of the ,palazzo is derived from ,catherine's act of consent to the sale1 preserved in the ,archivio di ,stato2 a copy lies before me4 ,the date of her resignation is derived from the ,vita1 p4 #if;b1 which says she did so 8quando f di anni circa cinquanta40 ,this 8circa0 must no doubt here1 as so often 7as1 e4g41 on p4 #ig;b1 where 8circa sessanta-tre0 refers to ,november #aeji1 when she was sixty-two71 be interpreted as 8nearly fifty03 she was really forty-nine4 #abe ,the date of ,tommasina's birth comes from ,ritratti ed ,elogi di ,liguri ,illustri1 ,genova1 ,ponthenier2 the date of the beginning of ,giuliano's illness from his ,codicil of ,january #aj1 #adig1 in which he declares himself as 8languishing0 and 8infirm in body02 and the approximate date of his death from two entries in the ,cartulary of the ,bank of ,st4 ,george1 as to investments made by ,catherine 7copies in ,documenti su ,s4 ,caterina da ,genova1 ,university ,library1 ,genoa1 ,b4 ,,vii1 #ca71 of which the first1 on ,july #ad1 #adig1 gives her name as 8,catterinetta1 filia ,jacobi di ,fiesco et uxor ,juliani ,adorni02 and the second1 on ,october #f1 #adig1 describes her as 8uxor et heres testamentaria quondam fratris ,juliani ,adorni40 #abf ,vita1 pp4 #abb;b1 c1 #abc;a4 ,i have preserved the descriptive account of ,catherine's prayer and of its effect1 although it may possibly be but a later dramatized interpretation of the undoubtedly authentic report of her declaration made to ,vernazza4--,the immediate cause of ,giuliano's pain and impatience is given by ,vita1 p4 #abb;b1 as 8una gran passione d'urina02 ,vallebona1 p4 #gc1 declares the malady to have been a 8cestite cronica0 7tape-worm74 ,i have omitted a short dialogue which is given1 after her remark to ,vernazza1 as having occurred between her friends and herself1 concerning her liberation from much oppression1 and her own indifference to all except the will of ,god1 because her answer is given in oratio obliqua1 and is quite colourless and general2 the passage is doubtless of no historical value3 there never lived a less conventional1 vapidly moralizing soul than hers4 #abg ,i work from careful copies specially made for me direct from the originals1 by ,dre4 ,augusto ,ferretto1 of the ,archivio di ,stato in ,genoa4 #abh ,inaugurazione1 pp4 #ab1 #ac4 #abi ,i work again from a copy made by ,dre4 ,ferretto from the original in the ,archivio di ,stato1 ,genoa4 #acj ,marabotto's help in business matters cannot1 on any large scale1 have begun till considerably later than his spiritual help4 ,for whereas her ,codicil of #aejc nowhere mentions ,marabotto1 her ,will of #aejf leaves him1 as we shall see1 a little legacy2 her ,will of #aeji protects him against all harassing inquisition into the details of his administration of her affairs2 and her ,codicil of #aeaj mentions only him and ,don ,carenzio4 ,and it is incredible that business help should have been given throughout four years1 and should have failed to gain any recognition in a document which commemorates so many lesser services4 ,marabotto was ,rector in #aejd 7,i owe this date to the kindness of the ,rev4 ,padre ,vincenzo ,celesia1 author of the ,,ms4 ,storia dell' ,ospedale di ,pammatone in ,genova1 #ahig72 he was no more ,rector in ,september #aeji1 but ,don ,jacobo ,carenzio then held this post 7,catherine's ,codicil of that date74 ,indeed already in ,march #aeji ,marabotto seems not to have been ,rector 7,catherine's ,will of that date mentions him repeatedly1 but nowhere as ,rector74 ,i take the ,offices of ,rettore 7,master71 and of ,rettora 7,matron71 to have never been exercised simultaneously3 but that1 at any one time1 there was always only a ,rettore or a ,rettora presiding over the whole ,hospital4 ,the ,office of ,rettora was abolished altogether in #agcj 7,storia dell' ,ospedale1 p4 #aace74 #aca ,vita1 p4 #aag;b4 #acb ,the ,appendix will show that the 8,religioso10 the 8dolce figliuolo10 of pp4 #id1 #ie1 and the 8,religioso1 figliuolo10 of pp4 #ih1 #ii1 must be ,ettore ,vernazza1 and not ,cattaneo ,marabotto4 #acc ,i take all these facts from ,f4 ,federici's careful ,,ms4 work1 ,famiglie ,nobili di ,genova1 sub verbo ,marabotto4 #acd ,vita1 p4 #aah1 a1 b4 ,the first of these two passages is followed1 in the same section1 by two other slightly different accounts4 ,the third of these is no doubt authentic1 but refers to a still later period3 it shall be given in its proper place4 ,these two authentic accounts are 7as is often the case in the ,vita7 joined together by a vague and yet absolute1 unauthentic account1 which declares that she told him all things 7apparently on all occasions73 a statement untrue of any time in her life4 #ace ,vita1 pp4 #aag;c1 #aah;a4 #acf ,vita1 p4 #id;c4 ,the three lines which follow in the printed ,vita are wanting in ,,ms4 8,a0 of #aedg1 p4 #bce1 and are a disfiguring gloss of ,r #b4 #acg ,vita1 pp4 #id1 #ie4 #ach ,vita1 p4 #ig;b2 #bej1 a1 b4 #aci ,angel1 #ej;b2 ,cherub1 #af;a1 #ig;b2 ,seraph1 #acj;b4 #adj ,vita1 pp4 #dg;b1 #ej;a1 #gb;b4 #ada ,ibid4 p4 #aae;b4 #adb ,ibid4 p4 #aae;b4 ,there are three passages in the ,vita referring to cases of possession4 7a7 ,page #ci;b makes ,catherine1 in finishing up a discourse as to ,evil being essentially but a ,privation of ,love1 refer to a 8,religioso0 and to a 8,spiritato10 and how the latter1 8costretto0 by the former to tell him what he was1 8answered with great force3 #8,i am that unhappy wretch bereft of love4' ,and he 7the evil spirit7 said so with a voice so piteous and penetrating1 that it moved me 7,catherine7 through and through with compassion40 ,the ,possessed ,one is here a man4 ,in ,,ms 8,a0 7p4 #ib7 the story is still quite loosely co-ordinated with her speech2 it was originally no doubt an independent anecdote2 and was1 possibly after a good many intermediary literary fixations1 introduced into this place and connection by ,r #a or ,r #b4 7b7 ,page #aae;a1 b1 gives the story reproduced in the text above4 ,the ,possessed ,one is here a woman2 and here the entire passage formally claims directly to reproduce an actual scene from ,catherine's life4 7c7 ,page #afb;a gives an anecdote of a 8figliuola spirituale0 of ,catherine1 who had 8il demonio adosso02 and tells how1 at the time of her ,mistress's death1 the 8spirito0 within her1 8costretto10 declared that he had seen ,catherine unite herself with ,god1--and all this with 8tormento10 so that 8pareva a s intollerabile40 ,this passage clearly refers to the same person as that of passage b4 ,as to the historicity of the event described in the text1 we must distinguish between the general fact of ,catherine's moral and psychic ascendency over ,mariola1 a fact as entirely beyond dispute as it is valuable and characteristic2 and the occurrence of the scene as given above4 ,as to the latter1 the question of its value is of course distinct from that of its occurrence4 ,its supposed evidential worth is nil1 since ,mariola had been intimate with and devoted to ,catherine for probably a good ten years at least4 ,but the scene may nevertheless have actually occurred4 ,it is true that the partly parallel case of the 8,spiritato0 shows how easily such a dramatization of doctrine or transference of experience can occur4 ,and ,denys the ,areopagite and ,jacopone da ,todi are full of this comparison of the soul arrived at a state of union to an ,angel1 ,cherub or ,seraph2 and these writers have greatly influenced not only ,catherine's authentic teaching1 but also the successive amplifications and modifications of her life and sayings4 ,and again we shall prove that certain legendary matters were inserted in the ,vita at a late date--between #aede and #aeea4 ,but these passages all claim to be based upon evidence supplied by ,argentina del ,sale2 and they were evidently not accepted by ,marabotto 7#aebh72 the literary form of these legends differs much from that of our passage2 and if the former are still absent from ,,mss4 8,a0 and 8,b10 the latter is already present in both4 ,and we have such entirely first-hand proof for the curiously naf1 formal1 exteriorizing character of ,marabotto's mind1 as to leave it always possible that he did bring about a little scene of the sort here described4 ,if so1 ,marabotto's rle in it will have been prompted1 in part1 by a wish still further to increase ,catherine's hold upon ,mariola's mind4 #adc ,vita1 p4 #aab;a4 #add ,vita1 p4 #gb;b4 #ade ,ibid4 p4 #aac;b4 ,i take these two motives alone to have operated throughout such actions of hers during this last period4 ,the additional motive attributed to her 7,ibid4 pp4 #abi;c1 #acj;a1 and #acd;a71 where she is represented as applying a lighted candle or live coal to her bare arm1 for the purpose of testing whether her interior spiritual fire or this exterior material one is the greater1 is entirely unlike ,catherine's spirit4 ,it belongs to the demonstrably legendary and disfiguring interpretations which shall be studied further on4 ,the sentence on p4 #acd;a1 in which she herself is made to declare this motive1 is most certainly a worthless gloss4 #adf ,vita1 p4 #abg;a4 #adg ,it is remarkable how tough-lived has been the legend which makes ,vernazza have an only child4 ,not only ,father ,sticken 7,acta ,sanctorum1 ,september1 ,vol4 ,v1 pp4 #abc-aie7 has it in #ageb1 but even ,vallebona1 in his ,perla dei ,fieschi1 still repeats it in #ahhg4 ,and yet the ,inaugurazione pamphlet had appeared in ,genoa in #ahfg1 giving on pp4 #ac1 #ad1 #gb1 #gc the fullest proofs as to the reality of these two other children4 #adh ,vita1 p4 #abc;b4 #adi ,i get the date of #aejb for those three deaths from ,angelo ,l4 ,giovo's ,,ms4 ,vita of the ,saint in the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana 7,part ,i1 ch4 iii74 ,all three names are prominent in the ,will of #adih2 in the ,codicil of #aejc1 ,jacobo and ,giovanni are both styled 8the late10 and her brother ,lorenzo has become the sole residuary legatee4 ,limbania appears nowhere after the ,will of #adih4 #aej ,atti della ,societ ,ligure di ,storia ,patria1 ,genova1 #ahfh1 p4 #daa 7with plate74 ,the article is dated #ahga4 #aea ,vita1 pp4 #abd;b-#abf4 ,i get ,argentina's maiden name from a ,will of hers of the year #aebb1 of which a copy exists in the ,,ms4 volume ,documenti relativi a ,s4 ,caterina da ,genova1 in the ,genoa ,university ,library1 ,b4 ,,vii1 #ca4 ,i have taken ,argentina to have previously known1 perhaps even to have served1 ,catherine1 because of her surprise at ,marco's ignorance as to the identity of his visitor2 and ,i have treated such possible service as but slight1 because in ,giuliano's ,will of #adid and in ,catherine's ,will and ,codicil of #adih and #aejc1 legacies are left to the two maids ,benedetta and ,mariola1 but not a word appears as yet as to ,argentina4 ,the date as to the year ,i derive from the following facts3--7#a7 ,catherine1 as soon as ,marco is buried1 carries out her promise to him1 and receives ,argentina into her house3 so the ,vita1 pp4 #abf;c1 #abe;c4 7#b7 ,whereas in the ,codicil of #aejc there is still no trace of ,argentina1 in the ,will of #aejf she appears1 and receives legacies of personal linen1 etc4 ,these gifts are somewhat increased in the ,will of #aeji4 ,argentina has evidently not been long in ,catherine's service at the time of the drawing up of the ,will of #aejf4 7#c7 ,the ,protonotary ,angelo ,l4 ,giovo 7,,ms4 ,vita of the ,saint of the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana ,part ,i1 ch4 iii7 puts down the date of ,marco's death as #adie4 ,although this is evidently wrong1 ,i think it wise to keep at least one of his numbers1 which ,i do by fixing upon #aeje4 #aeb ,documenti su ,s4 ,caterina da ,genova1 ,university of ,genoa ,library1 gives a note by ,angelo ,l4 ,giovo1 based on the ,book of the ,acts of the ,protectors of the ,hospital3 8#aejf1 ,marzo1 #afmo4 ,si vede che detta ,catarinetta ,adorna haveva cura dell' ,hospitale1 ricevendo li figli esposti e li pegni per essi40 #aec ,from ,dre4 ,ferretto's copy of the original in the ,archivio di ,stato4 #aed ,the clause in this ,will which says1 8,and ,testatrix1 knowing that the said ,giuliano her husband1 left to a certain female ,religious #aej3 ,therefore she herewith annuls the said legacy1 in virtue of the power given her for this purpose10 reads1 at first sight1 like a harsh1 unjust act4 ,but it follows upon a similar annulation of the legacy to the ,hospital2 and we may be quite sure that ,catherine1 who had now loved and served this ,institution for thirty-three years1 would not treat it unjustly4 ,and in the ,will of #aeji ,catherine explains that the former legacy has been annulled1 8in consideration of the satisfaction or settlement 7solutio7 already effected by ,testatrix herself with regard to the said legacy40 #aee ,documenti3 extracts by ,giovo from 8,acts of the ,protectors40 #aef ,from ,dre4 ,ferretto's copy of the original in the ,archivio di ,stato1 ,genoa4 #aeg ,from ,dre4 ,ferretto's careful copy of the original in the ,archivio di ,stato1 ,genoa4 #aeh ,in the printed ,vita a passage occurs on p4 #aj;b1 describing the interior heat which accompanied her great fasts 7#adgf-adii74 ,but the passage is wanting in the ,,mss41 and is no doubt only a gloss to explain how1 at those times1 she came to drink water mixed with vinegar4 #aei 8,operazione03 ,vita1 pp4 #ajf;c1 #aag;b1 #aba;b1 #adc;b1 #adh;b1 #adi;c4 8,assalto03 pp4 #ach;b1 c 7#c72 #aci;a2 #adc1 b1 c 7#c72 #add;a 7#b72 #adh;a4 8,assedio03 p4 #aah;b4 8,saetta03 pp4 #ada;a1 #ade;a4 8,ferita03 p4 #ada;a1 c 7#b74 8,raggio03 pp4 #acc;b1 #aeg;c4 8,scintilla03 pp4 #acb;a1 #adh;b4 ,the 8ferita0 occurs already 7as a 8dolce ferita07 in the account of her ,conversion1 pp4 #d1 #e2 and 8saetta10 8ferita10 8raggio0 and 8scintilla10 appear very often in her own sayings4 #afj ,the passage in ,vita1 p4 #aj;b1 which declares that she 8felt0 7tasted7 something sweet within her1 upon drinking that salt and sour water during her long fasts1 is wanting in the ,,mss41 and is itself an interesting attempt to materialize her saying1 on p4 #aa;b1 as to the 8other thing0 7i4e4 the love of ,god71 that she was 8feeling0 7tasting7 within herself4 #afa ,vita1 p4 #h;a4 #afb ,ibid4 p4 #i;b4 ,the present conclusion of the sentence1 and all the parallels throughout the rest of the page1 show plainly that the sentence originally read as ,i have given it4 #afc ,vita1 p4 #i;b4 #afd ,ibid4 p4 #af;b4 #afe ,ibid4 p4 #e;b4 #aff ,vita1 p4 #ih1 a1 b4 ,this is the first of three incidents1 given in chronological order1 all referring to her desire for death1 which make up ,chapter ,,xxxviii of the printed ,vita4 ,the last two are1 beyond all doubt1 conversations with ,vernazza2 and this first incident is also probably transmitted to us by him4--,i have in my translation left out the numerous glosses by which the various ,redactors have desperately attempted to eviscerate this story1 attempts based on the double conviction1 that ,catherine was already absolutely perfect1 and that 8every desire is imperfect0 7p4 #ajj;a74 ,these changes will be studied later on4 #afg ,vita1 pp4 #aah1 b1 c1 #aai;b1 #aai;a4 ,this vivid and simple dialogue is followed 7p4 #aai;b7 by a clearly secondary parallel discourse of ,catherine4 ,only the descriptive end of this latter paragraph is no doubt authentic1 and has been incorporated in the above translation4 #afh ,vita1 p4 #abg;a4 #afi ,i translate the above from the oldest account of the event1 given by ,,ms4 8,a10 p4 #aic1 at the opening of its ,chapter ,,xxix 7the number is accidentally omitted71 which is headed3 8,how in the year #aejf1 on the #aath of ,november1 there came upon her so great a burning in the heart1 that she wondered at her not expiring40 ,this #aejf1 repeated in the opening line of the chapter itself1 is an undoubted slip2 for she is said to be #fc years old 7and she was in her #fcrd year in #aeji71 and the place occupied by the corresponding paragraph in the printed ,vita1 p4 #acc;b 7within a year of her death1 p4 #acb;b1 and some time before ,december #aeji1 p4 #ach;b71 again clearly marks the date as #aeji4 #agj ,vita1 p4 #acb;a1 b4 ,the first eight sentences have been in part fused by ,r #a into fewer larger periods4 ,the last sentence is wanting in ,,mss4 8,a0and 8,b02 although clearly formed upon the model and with the material of the previous sentences1 it appears in the printed ,vita as referring to an 8altra vista0 7see p4 #acc;b74 #aga ,vita1 p4 #ace;a4 ,i have1 in ,catherine's speech1 omitted a final clause1 8which burns me entirely within and without10 because it is not necessary to the sense1 and violates the rhythm1 which is ever present in all ,catherine's authentic sayings4 #agb ,ibid4 pp4 #ace;c1 #acf;a4 ,i have omitted two glosses introduced by 8cio10 8that is02 and three short amplifications1 which introduce a direct conflict between the two parts4 ,there is1 within this particular picture and scene1 no direct conflict1 but1 at first1 a complete contrariety of aim4 #agc ,vita1 p4 #acf;c4 ,this is one out of four or five parallel sayings which are accumulated here4 ,they shall be examined later on4 #agd ,vita1 pp4 #ih;c1 #ii;a2 #ii;b1 c4 ,i have1 in the first conversation1 omitted the introductory attribution of her use of the word 8giddiness0 to humility2 and1 in the second1 suppressed the conclusion which repeatedly declares that never again did any such desire arise within her4 ,for both clauses have got a vague and secondary form1 and the second is in direct contradiction with the facts4 #age ,vita1 #ach;c4 #agf ,vita1 pp4 #aci;b1 #adj;b1 c4 ,i have omitted the evidently derivative1 transcendentally reflective1 second of the three paragraphs in which this story now appears2 the explanatory glosses of the same tone as that paragraph2 a redundant sentence in ,catherine's speech2 and the evidently late and schematic designation of 8assalto0 for the entire incident1 which is1 surely1 nothing of the sort4 #agg ,vita1 pp4 #abj;b2 #aai;c1 #abj;a4 ,the sequence and date assumed above ,i think to be1 all things considered1 the most likely among the possible alternatives4 ,as to her remarks to ,marabotto1 they appear in the ,vita before his three days' absence4 ,but the interior evidence seems strongly in favour of my inversion of that 7evidently1 in any case1 very loose and quite unemphasized7 order4 #agh ,ibid4 pp4 #ada;c1 #adc;c4 #agi ,vita1 p4 #ada;c4 #ahj ,ibid4 #adb;a4 ,,mss4 8,a0 and 8,b0 open out their chapter on her last illness with the statement that it was 7only7 four months before her death that she took to her bed4 ,i take it that from the end of ,january #aeaj onwards1 she was often in bed1 yet still sometimes out of it2 but that from mid-,may to the end she no more left it4 #aha ,ibid4 p4 #adb;b1 c4 ,i have1 in her prayer1 omitted the first seven words of the present text3 87,gi sono trentacinque anni in circa1 che7 giammai1 ,signor mio '''0 ,for she would hardly inform ,god of the approximate number of years of her convert life2 the double 8gi0 points to a gloss2 and such a gloss would almost irresistibly find its way into this place1 so as to mitigate the absoluteness of the statement4 #ahb ,ibid4 p4 #adc;b4 ,i have omitted the words3 8which 7the right shoulder7 appeared as though severed from the body2 and similarly one rib seemed severed from the others '''0 ,they have precisely the same 8colour10 and no doubt proceed from the same contributor1 as the longer passage relative to her supposed stigmatization1 absent from all the ,,mss41 but given in the printed ,vita on the authority of ,argentina4 #ahc ,vita1 pp4 #adc;c1 #ga;c4 ,the second passage1 though occurring in an early chapter of the ,vita1 undoubtedly belongs to these final months and fits well into this particular day4 #ahd ,ibid4 p4 #add;a4 ,i have accepted this passage1 because of its great vividness4 ,but pp4 #aci;b-#ade;b of the printed ,vita do not exist in the ,,mss4 #ahe ,ibid4 p4 #ade;b4 ,on pp4 #ade;c1 #adf;a1 she is said to have1 during this time1 seen many visions of ,angels1 to have laughed in their company1 and to have herself recounted this after these occurrences4 ,she is similarly declared to have seen ,evil ,spirits 7i ,demoni71 but only with slight fear4 ,and these passages occur also in the ,,mss4--,but they stand so entirely outside of any context or attribution to any definite days2 such general assertions prove1 throughout the ,vita1 to be so little trustworthy2 and they are such vague and colourless doubles of similar1 but definitely dated and characterized1 reports to be accepted in their place a little lower down1 that ,i cannot but reject them here4 #ahf ,vita1 pp4 #add;b2 #ade;c4 #ahg ,ibid4 p4 #ade;c4 #ahh ,ibid4 p4 #adf;b4 #ahi ,vita1 pp4 #adf;c-#adg;c4 #aij ,lingard's ,history of ,england1 ed4 #ahee1 ,vol4 ,,iv1 p4 #aff2 ,james ,gairdner1 ,henry ,,vii1 ,london1 #ahhi1 p4 #bjh4 #aia ,the five passages of the ,vita concerning ,physicians 7pp4 #ga;c1 #gb;a2 #ade;c1 #adf;b2 #adf;c-#adg;c2 #aeh;c1 #aei;a7 all bear very clear marks of successive additions1 glosses1 and re-castings1--always in the direction indicated above4 ,the entire ,boerio-episode 7pp4 #adf;c-#adg;c71 is wanting in all the ,,mss4 ,it is1 however1 most plainly authentic4 ,i believe both the episode and a further passage concerning ,boerio to have been furnished by ,boerio's son1 a ,secular ,priest1 who died a septuagenarian in #aefa2 his monument still exists in the ,church of the ,santa ,annunciata1 at ,sturla1 near ,genoa4 ,see the ,biografia ,medica ,ligure1 by ,dottore ,g4 ,b4 ,pescetto1 ,genova1 #ahdf1 ,vol4 ,i1 p4 #ajd4--,there are some suspicious symptoms connected with that first consultation of ,physicians3 ,boerio's interviews read as though they had not been quite recently preceded by such an activity--and it is possible that we have here an account produced by a retrogressive doubling of the undoubtedly authentic consultation of the #ajth of ,september1 to be described presently4 ,still1 there is nothing intrinsically improbable in the account itself4 ,i have1 then1 allowed both consultations to stand4 #aib ,vita1 p4 #gb;a4 #aic ,copies of these six entries in the ,manuale ,cartularii of the ,hospital exist attached to the ,,ms4 ,vita in the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana4 #aid ,from the copy of the original ,codicil in the ,archivio di ,stato1 made for me by ,dre4 ,ferretto4 ,the ,inventory exists attached to the ,,ms4 ,vita just mentioned4 #aie ,vita1 p4 #adh;b4 ,it is remarkable that1 since ,january #aj1 this is the first date given by the ,vita2 that a series of dated days then extends onwards to ,august #bh 7pp4 #adh;a-#aeb;a72 that then a gap occurs1 filled in with a general but authentic account 7pp4 #aeb;b-#aec;c71 evidently by another hand1 the same writer who gave us the 7also dateless7 account from mid-,january to mid-,may 7pp4 #ada;b-#ade;b72 and that the dated chronicle is finally carried on from ,september #b to the end1 ,september #ae 7pp4 #aec;c-#afa;a74 ,if ,i am right as to the oneness of authorship as regards these two undated parts1 then they are either not by ,vernazza2 or if they are1 then ,vernazza must have been about ,catherine till ,september #b4 ,now the ,vita1 p4 #abj;b1 tells us how ,marabotto on one occasion left her 8for three days10 at a time when she was already suffering much from 8accidenti40 ,it is evident1 that this absence fits in admirably with the gap already mentioned4 ,hence these dateless accounts can hardly be by ,marabotto2 and indeed their whole tone and point of view are unlike his4 ,they might be by ,carenzio3 we shall see how strikingly objective and precise are the oldest constituents of the report as to the last three days of her life1 during which1 or at least at the end of which1 ,marabotto was as certainly absent as was ,vernazza4 ,there is1 however1 ,i think1 some difference of tone between this latter report1 and those dateless passages2 whereas those passages are strikingly similar1 in form and tone1 to the oldest constituents of the ,trattato1 which are undoubtedly the literary work of ,vernazza4 ,the probabilities then are1 that these dateless accounts are by ,vernazza2 and that he left ,genoa on ,september #a or #b4 #aif ,vita1 p4 #adh;c4 8,disse molte belle parole al santo ,sacramento e ai circonstanti1 con tanto fervore e piet1 che ognuno ne piangeva per divozione40 ,i have omitted the bracketed words1 as a disfiguring gloss4 #aig ,vita1 p4 #adi;b4 ,i have neglected the numerous glosses to this account1 and have read 8several0 instead of 8seven0 days1 since she was again in great distress on ,august #bb1 or #bc at latest 7,ibid4 p4 #adi;c74 #aih ,ibid4 p4 #adi;c4 ,i have here omitted an evidently later insertion and transition between that highly localized paralysis and the death-like sickness of the whole of her2 and have made the latter come on after the former1 for how otherwise could any one know about that paralysis8 #aii ,ibid4 p4 #aej;b4 ,this fact and passage have occasioned an interesting succession of obvious accretions and re-statements4 #bjj ,ibid4 p4 #aea;a1 b4 ,i have in the text followed the ,,mss4 as against the printed ,vita1 and have omitted a long clause1 which attempts to find the explanation of these words of hers in a subsequent permanent change of attitude towards all those from whom she asked or received a service4 #bja ,vita1 p4 #aec;b4 #bjb ,vita1 pp4 #aej;a1 #aed;b1 #abg;c1 #aec;c4 #bjc ,a copy of this entry exists1 in the ,priest ,giovo's handwriting1 in the collection of ,documents prefixed to the ,,ms4 ,vita of ,st4 ,catherine1 in the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana1 ,genoa4 #bjd ,vita1 p4 #aed;b1 and the ,inventory among the documents in the ,vita1 volume of the ,biblioteca della ,missione4 #bje ,vita1 pp4 #aec;a1 #aee;a2 #aeg;c1 #aeh;a4 ,for this #gth ,september three heat-and-light impressions are given3 7#a7 8,a ray of divine love02 7#b7 8a vision of fiery stairs02 and 7#c7 this apprehension of the whole world on fire4 ,perhaps the first also is authentic2 the last is certainly so4 ,the middle one seems to be secondary1 and to have slipped in to form a transition and link between the other two accounts4 #bjf ,ibid4 p4 #aec;a4 #bjg ,vita1 p4 #aee;b1 c4 ,a third paragraph1 pp4 #aee;c1 #aef;a 7equally wanting in all the ,,mss4 and claiming to be based on the authority of ,argentina71 follows here1 and tells how the latter saw one of her mistress's arms grow over half a palm in additional length1 during the following night2 and again how ,catherine had told her1 ,argentina1 that she1 ,catherine1 8would before her death bear the stigmata and mysteries of the ,passion in her own person40 ,these 8facts0 are thoroughly characteristic of the source from which they are no doubt derived4--,a fourth paragraph1 p4 #aef;b1 c1 has also been omitted by me1 although it occurs also in the ,,mss4 ,it contains a long prayer put into ,catherine's mouth1 and modelled on our ,lord's ,high ,priestly ,prayer in ,john xvii1 #a-ac4 ,it is far too long1 elaborate1 and uncharacteristic to be authentic4 #bjh ,ibid4 p4 #aef;c4 #bji ,ibid4 p4 #aeh;b4 ,i have here omitted1 after 8miseries10 the clause 8through which she had passed40 ,for during her middle period she seems indeed not to have seen her faults till after she herself had got beyond them3 yet that particular dispensation was then vouchsafed her because of the excessive pain which the sight of still present imperfections would have caused her2 and it is that peculiarity which explains the extreme rarity or absence of ,confession during that time4 ,but now we have both the pain and the ,confession3 and ,i cannot find any instances1 as in this case1 of 7evidently keen7 annoyance1 or of ,confession1 with respect to past and overcome imperfections4--,i have also omitted a sentence after 8departed from her03 8not that they were matters of any importance1 but every slightest defect was intolerable to her40 ,for this is to judge the ,saint by another standard than that of her own conscience1 and to make her sanctity consist of scrupulosity4--,and ,i have dropped a further notice for the same day1--a 8vista0 vouchsafed to her of 8a pure and perfect mind1 into which only the memory of divine things can still enter10 with her corresponding laugh and exclamation3 8,o1 to find oneself in this degree 7of perfection7 at the time of death60 ,for1 beautiful as it is1 this clause but reproduces1 in the softened form of a general and joyous aspiration1 what the previous anecdote had given as a particular and depressing consciousness4 ,and the previous anecdote was evidently offensive to both ,redactors4 #baj ,vita1 pp4 #aeh;c1 #aei;a1 b4 #baa ,vita1 p4 #aei;c4 ,the ,codicil ,i give from ,dre4 ,ferretto's copy of the original in the ,archivio di ,stato1 ,genoa4 ,i have1 in the ,vita passage1 omitted a sentence which now stands between the drop-of-water incident1 and that of the attack at night1 which declares3 8,all this day she remained without speaking1 without ever opening her eyes or eating or drinking02 for it would be difficult1 if we retain it1 to find room for the drawing up of the ,codicil1 which certainly took place before the attack4 #bab ,vita1 p4 #afj;a4 #bac ,vita1 pp4 #afi;c1 #afa;a4 #bad ,vita1 pp4 #afa;c-#afc;a4 #bae ,vita1 p4 #afb;b4 #baf ,ibid4 pp4 #afc;b-#afd;a4 #bag ,ibid4 p4 #aec;a 7end of ,august or beginning of ,september #aeaj71 8through the intense heat of this fire of love she became yellow all over1 like the colour of saffron02 p4 #afa;b1 78after death7 that yellow colour was spread over her whole body1 which at first had only been around the region of the heart02 p4 #afd;c 7on opening her coffin in the autumn of #aeaa71 8the skin which corresponded to the heart was still red in sign of the ardent love which she had harboured in it1 the rest of the body was yellow40 #bah ,vita1 pp4 #ag;c1 #ah;a1 7#ig;c74 #bai ,ibid4 p4 #abi;b1 7#afe;c74 ,in both places there is an explicit reference to ,saint ,ignatius 7of ,antioch71 8whose heart1 when examined after his martyrdom1 was found to have written upon it1 in letters of gold1 the sweet name of ,jesus40 ,perhaps also two lines of ,jacopone da ,todi had some influence here4 ,in ,loda ,,lxxxviii1 v4 #aa1 he says of the perfected soul3 8,the heart annihilates itself1 undone 7melted down7 as though it were wax1 and finds itself1 after this act1 bearing the figure 7the seal-impression7 of ,christ ,himself40 #bbj ,ibid4 p4 #afe;c4 #bba ,these and similar matters will be found carefully studied in the ,appendix4 #bbb ,lode ,,iii1 ,,xiii1 ,,xxxiii1 ,,xxxv1 ,,xlv1 ,,lviii 7a7 and 7b71 ,,lxxiii1 ,,lxxv 7a7 and 7b71 ,,lxxvii1 ,,lxxix1 ,,lxxxi1 ,,lxxxiii1 ,,lxxxv1 ,,lxxxviii1 ,,lxxxix1 ,,lxxxx1 ,,lxxxxvii1 ,,lxxxxix4 #bbc ,vita1 pp4 #cb;c1 #cc;a1 b4 ,i must refer the reader1 once for all1 to the ,appendix1 for the explanation of the methods used in the selection and the emendation of the texts presented in this chapter4 #bbd ,vita1 pp4 #bi;c2 #ia;c2 #cj;b2 #ee;c1 #ef;a2 #fa;a4 #bbe ,ibid4 p4 #gf;c4 #bbf ,ibid4 pp4 #aja;b2 #aja;a2 #gi;c4 #bbg ,vita1 pp4 #cf;b2 #hj;c1 #ha;a2 #gd;b4 #bbh ,ibid4 pp4 #i;b2 ibid41 #h;c4 #bbi ,vita1 p4 #aa;c4 #bcj ,ibid4 p4 #aa;b4 #bca ,vita1 pp4 #bb;b2 #be;c2 #bf;b4--#aje;c4--#be;c1 #bf;a1 #hj;b4 #bcb ,ibid4 pp4 #ae;c1 #af;a4--#i;b2 #ec;b2 #fg;c4 #bcc ,vita1 pp4 #bf;b2 #ej;b4--#cf;b2 #cf;c4--#cf;b4 #bcd ,ibid4 p4 #dh;b4 #bce ,ibid4 pp4 #bc;c2 #bg;a4 ,the fact of 8,nettezza0 remaining at last her only term for the perfection of ,god shows plainly how comprehensive1 definite1 and characteristic must have been the meaning she attached to the word4 ,the history of this conception no doubt begins with ,plato's 8the ,same02 and this1 through ,plotinus and ,victorinus ,afer's ,latin translation of him1 reappears as 8the ,idipsum1 the ,self-,same10 as one of the names of ,god in ,st4 ,augustine2 a term which in ,dionysius 7largely based as he is upon ,plotinus's disciple ,proclus7 occurs continually1 and can there be still everywhere translated as 8,identity0 or 8,self-,identity0 7so also ,parker74 ,but with ,catherine the idea seems to have been approximated more to that of ,purity1 although ,i take it that1 with her1 8,purit0 means the absence of all excess 7of anything foreign to the true nature of ,god's or the soul's essence72 and 8,netezza10 the absence of all defect1 in the shape of any failure fully to actualize all the possibilities of this same true nature4 ,i have had to resign myself1 as the least inadequate suggestions of the rich meaning of 8,netezza0 and 8,netto10 to alternating between the sadly general terms 8fulness0 and 8full10 and the pedantic-sounding 8self-adequation10 with here and there 8clear fulness40 #bcf ,vita1 pp4 #ae;b1 #bb;c2 #bc;b2 #di;a2 #fi;a4 #bcg ,vita1 pp4 #ca;c1 #cb;a4--#ff;a1 #ff;b1 #hg;c1 #ajg;a4 #bch ,ibid4 pp4 #ge;b1 #ff;b4 #bci ,ibid4 pp4 #hg;c1 #ajf;a1 #ajf;c4 #bdj ,vita1 p4 #aad;a4 #bda ,ibid4 #bh;c1 #bi;a1 #bi;b4 #bdb ,ibid4 pp4 #db;b1 #dc;c4 #bdc ,vita1 p4 #db;a4 #bdd ,ibid4 pp4 #hc;c1 #hd;a1 #hf;b1 #hg;a4 #bde ,ibid4 p4 #ajh;b4 #bdf ,vita1 pp4 #ha;b4 #bdg ,ibid4 pp4 #ha;c2 #hb;a2 #ajc;b4 #bdh ,ibid4 p4 #ca;b4 #bdi ,vita p4 #ed;b1 c4 #bej ,ibid4 pp4 #eb;c1 #ec;a4 #bea ,ibid4 pp4 #ie;c1 #abe;a2 #abb;c2 #gf;a4 #beb ,vita1 pp4 #i;b1 #ae;b2 #aa;b1 #h;c2 #aee;a4 #bec ,vita1 pp4 #acf;b1 #ahc;c2 #ai;b1 #ajg;b4 #bed ,ibid4 p4 #aac;c4 #bee ,ibid4 pp4 #bd;b1 #bc;b1 #bd;b4 #bef ,vita1 pp4 #ei;c1 #gf;c1 #gg;a4 #beg ,ibid4 p4 #cg;a4 #beh ,vita1 pp4 #id;a2 #aji;b4 #bei ,ibid4 pp4 #hg;c1 #ec;b4 #bfj ,vita1 pp4 #bc;c1 #bd;a1 #bc;c1 #bb;c1 #fa;c2 #gg;b4 #bfa ,ibid4 pp4 #cd;c2 #age;c4 #bfb ,vita1 pp4 #aga;c1 #agb;a4 #bfc ,ibid4 pp4 #cj;a1 #bi;c2 #dc;c4 #bfd ,ibid4 pp4 #aga;c1 #agb;a4 #bfe ,vita1 pp4 #eb;a2 #ea;b2 #ajf;c4-#id;c2 #ie;b4 #bff ,ibid4 pp4 #bc;a2 #bd;a4 #bfg ,vita1 p4 #fj;c4 #bfh ,ibid4 pp4 #gf;b2 #bg;a4 #bfi ,ibid4 pp4 #h;a2 #ae;b4--#h;c4 #bgj ,vita 7,trattato71 p4 #afi;b4 ,see also ,vita1 ,preface1 p4 viiib2 and p4 #add;b4 #bga ,vita1 pp4 #agb;c2 ibid4--#ch;b1 c2 #ci;a4 #bgb ,vita1 pp4 #agc;a4--#agc;b4--#cc;b4 #bgc ,ibid4 7,trattato71 pp4 #agj;b 7#afi;c74 #bgd ,vita 7,t471 p4 #age;b4 #bge ,ibid4 7,t471 p4 #agg;b4 #bgf ,ibid4 7,t471 p4 #agf;a2 ,vita proper1 p4 #gh;c4 #bgg ,vita 7,t471 p4 #age;a 7see p4 #afi;b74 #bgh ,ibid4 7,t471 p4 #agf;a4 #bgi ,vita 7,t471 pp4 #afi;c1 #agj;a4--#ahb;b4 #bhj ,vita 7,t471 pp4 #agc;c1 #agd;a2 #aga;b4--#fd;b2 #agg;b4--#agj;c4 #bha ,ibid4 7,t471 p4 #agb;b4 #bhb ,vita 7,t471 p4 #agb;a4 #bhc ,ibid4 7,t471 p4 #agd;b4 #bhd ,ibid4 #bhe ,vita 7,t471 p4 #agd;b4 #bhf ,ibid4 #bhg ,vita 7,t471 p4 #ahb;b4 #bhh ,vita 7,t471 p4 #agj;c4 #bhi ,vita 7,t471 p4 #agh;b4 #bij ,vita 7,t471 p4 #agh;b4 #bia ,ibid4 #bib ,a copy of this document exists prefixed to the ,,ms4 ,vita of the ,biblioteca delta ,missione ,urbana4 #bic ,copy in the same volume4 #bid ,vita1 p4 #afd;b4 ,this first coffin is still extant3 it stands now1 empty in a glass case1 in the smaller of the two rooms shown in the ,hospital as her last dwelling-place4 ,twice over the ,vita talks of a 8deposito10 although directly only in connection with its opening 8about eighteen months later10 i4e4 not before ,march #aeab4 ,now ,argentina del ,sale declares1 in a ,will of the year #aebb 7a copy1 in ,giovo's handwriting1 exists in the volume of the ,biblioteca della ,missione71 that she desires to be buried 8in the ,church of the ,annunciata1 in the monument of the late ,giuliano ,adorno40 ,thus ,giuliano's grave was still generally known and fully accessible twelve years after ,catherine's death2 and it was a 8monumento10 not a 8deposito40 ,i have been completely baffled in all my attempts to trace the eventual fate of that monument1 or even its precise site1 or the precise date of its disappearance4 ,i can but offer two alternative conjectures4 7#a7 ,it stood in the choir-end of the ,church4 ,if so1 it will have been covered up1 promiscuously with many another vault and mortuary slab1 when1 in #aecg1 this end was cut off1 for the purpose of widening the bastion which still runs behind it and above it1 outside4 7#b7 ,the 8monument0 was a slab on the floor of the nave or of some side-chapel4 ,the present flooring of all the former1 and of a large part of the ,chapels1 is relatively new2 and it is 7all but certainly7 superimposed upon the old flooring or at least upon the old sepulchral slabs1 since not one inscription remains visible in the nave4 ,and if ,giuliano's 8monument0 lay there1 it will still be extant1 hidden away under the present flooring4--,in either case it remains remarkable that the slight trouble was not taken to shift nave-wards1 or to raise to the newer nave- or chapel-flooring1 the 8monument0 of ,catherine's own husband4 ,there are certainly monuments still visible in the ,church older than #adig4 ,it is impossible to resist the conclusion that some occasion was gladly seized for not moving or raising this monument1 and for thus letting the saintly wife appear entirely alone in the ,hospital ,church1 unattended by any memorial of her very imperfect husband4 #bie ,the ,inventory and this ,acceptance both exist1 in copy1 in the ,,ms4 ,vita of the ,biblioteca della ,missione4 ,i owe a careful copy of the former to the kindness of ,don ,giacomo ,c4 ,grasso1 the ,librarian4 #bif ,from the documents in the ,,ms4 ,vita of the ,biblioteca della ,missione4 #big ,vita1 pp4 #afd;b1 c1 #afe;c4 ,great and repeated stress is laid here1 with unattractively realistic proofs and details1 upon the damage done by the damp to the coffin and grave-clothes1 and upon the contrasting spotlessness of the body4 #bih ,,ms4 ,vita of the ,biblioteca della ,missione4 #bii ,even the little engraving of the title-page of the first edition of the ,vita 7#aeea71 which shows ,catherine kneeling before a crucifix1 represents her1 not indeed with a nimbus1 but with a diadem upon her head4 #cjj ,reprinted in ,vita1 p4 #bhb;b4 #cja ,a little ,prayer-book marker picture1 which will1 ,i think1 have been first engraved in #agcg1 when the body was1 as indeed it is to this hour1 considered quite incorrupt1 already gives the large paper rose which has lain ever since in the place of the mouth and nose1 which have perished long ago4 ,but ,i have been unable to test the claim to incorruption further back than this4 #cjb ,vita1 pp4 #afe;c1 #bg;b1 #bgg;a4 ,in this last passage ,maria ,fiesca makes a declaration as to the partial fleshiness and elasticity of the body1 e4g4 of the right shoulder2 and as to its extraordinary weight4 #cjc ,all three classes of cases are represented in ,padre ,maineri's account1 reproduced in the ,vita1 p4 #bhb;b1 c4 #cjd ,maineri1 in ,vita1 p4 #bgh1 b1 c4 ,the first edition of the ,vita calls her 8,beata0 on its title-page4 ,,ms4 8,a10 of #aedg1 #aedh1 has simply 8,madonna ,catherineta ,adorna0 on the ,franciscan copyist's own title1 and 8,beata0 on the title copied by him from the ,,ms4 used by him4 #cje ,there is evidence that the many-sided ,queen took an interest in ,catherine1 in the ,oratorian ,g4 ,parpera's very careful ,beata ,caterina di ,genova ,illustrata1 ,genova1 #afhb4 ,but the ,index of her ,latin 7and ,italian7 ,,mss4 in the ,vatican ,library contains no indication of any ,,ms4 8,life0 or 8,doctrine0 possessed by ,christina4 #cjf ,the main facts and dates of these paragraphs devoted to the various ,processes are derived from ,padre ,maineri's very clear account1 first published in #agcg1 and reprinted at the end of the ,vita1 pp4 #bgh-bhb4 #cjg ,copy in ,,ms4 ,vita in the ,biblioteca della ,missione4 #cjh ,so ,padre ,celesia1 op4 cit4 p4 #aaba4 #cji ,copy in the ,,ms4 ,vita of the ,biblioteca della ,missione4 #caj ,from twenty-two conclusions concerning ,catherine and her circle1 constituting one of the papers in the volume1 ,documenti1 etc41 of the ,university ,library4 ,they were evidently written after #afge and before #agcg 7,catherine is 8,beata0 throughout71 but are1 wherever ,i have been able to test them1 as a rule completely right1 and never entirely wrong4 ,it is certainly somewhat strange that ,argentina should1 as is there stated1 have 8continued in the said ,hospital1 and was living in it still in #aebc10 and should have 8similarly continued to be the servant of the ,priest ,cattaneo 7,marabotto740 ,still1 she may have slept at the ,hospital and worked at ,marabotto's4 ,i had thought of concluding from this that ,marabotto had been given ,catherine's house in the ,hospital1 after ,don ,carenzio's death there4 ,but the apparently complete absence of any mention of ,marabotto in the ,hospital books1 after ,july #aeab1 makes me shrink from doing so4 #caa ,i am proud of this important discovery1 since even ,giovo had to leave a blank for this date in his ,chapter ,,iv of ,part ,i of his ,,ms4 ,vita1 in the ,biblioteca della ,missione1 written in #afge4 ,i found the date amongst some notes and copies1 in a sprawly handwriting1 not ,giovo's1 but the same which copied out the entry as to ,carenzio's funeral expenses4 ,it is true that in ,marabotto's case this writer gives no proof or document2 yet there is no reason for distrusting his assertion4 #cab ,copy from ,hospital ,cartulary in ,,ms4 ,vita of the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana3 8#aeaa1 #g ,julii3 ,hereditas quondam ,caterinetae ,adurnae1 pro ,maria1 olim famula ipsius et filia ,hospitalis1 pro legato facto dictae ,mariae per dictam q7uondam7 ,caterinetam1 #ej4--,maria praedicta pro ,d4 ,p4 ,cattaneo ,marabotto1 qui habuit curam guarnimentorum ipsius ,mariae1 dedicatae in ,monasterio ,sanctae ,brigidae1 #ej40--;,i take these two successive entries to refer to two successive stages of the same transaction1 and to but one and the same sum4 #cac ,from the documents given in the ,,ms4 ,vita of the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana4 #cad ,my quotations from this letter are all taken from ,giuseppe ,morro's careful address on ,vernazza1 published in ,inaugurazione della ,statua d',ettore ,vernazza1 ,genova1 #ahfg1 pp4 #e-ca4 ,it stands in extenso in the fine edition of his daughter's works3 ,opere ,spirituale della ,ven4 ,madre ,donna ,battista ,vernazza1 #f vols41 ,genoa1 #agee2 ,vol4 ,,vi1 ,letter ,,xxv4 #cae ,the document is given in fall1 and carefully analyzed1 in ,inaugurazione1 etc41 pp4 #fa-gj4 #caf ,battista's letter1 as quoted in ,inaugurazione1 p4 #af4 #cag ,inaugurazione1 pp4 #ag1 #ah4 #cah ,printed in ,inaugurazione1 pp4 #ga-gc4 #cai ,the present1 second and much larger and detached ,,ss4 ,annunziata1 on the square of that name1 was not built 7for the ,capuchins7 till #aehg4 ,in ,giuliano's and ,catherine's ,wills of #adid1 #adih1 and #aejf1 the ,hospital ,church occurs indifferently as 8,church of the ,annunciation of the ,order of ,friars ,minor of the ,observance0 with and without the addition of 8adjoining the ,hospital10 or 8adjoining the ,hospital of ,pammatone40 #cbj ,this was a ,cistercian ,convent1 founded in the twelfth century1 outside one of the ,genoese gates4 ,only its ,chapel survived the destruction of the ,convent at the time of the ,revolutionary secularization4 ,and even this ,chapel was in ,january #aijc in process of demolition1 to make room for the new ,via ,venti ,settembre4 #cba ,the three daughters' names in ,religion all occur in a document of the ,bank of ,st4 ,george printed in ,inaugurazione1 p4 #gi4 #cbb ,inaugurazione1 p4 #ah1 quoting ,battista's letter of #aeha4 #cbc ,inaugurazione1 pp4 #ai1 #bj4 #cbd ,i derive this particular from ,professore ,g4 ,morro's ,inaugurazione1 p4 #bj4 #cbe ,inaugurazione1 p4 #bj4 #cbf ,inaugurazione1 p4 #ba4 #cbg ,inaugurazione1 pp4 #ba1 #bb4 ,battista's account would lead one to place that last ,communion on the ,feast itself2 but the various inscriptions erected by the most careful ,committee of #ahfg1 shows that it occurred really on the ,eve4 ,see ,inaugurazione1 pp4 #cg2 #ci1 #dj4 ,one more instance of a slight displacement of date effected by a 7no doubt unconscious7 desire to find a full synchronism between the ,feast of the ,baptist and the final ,communion of one so devoted to that ,saint4 ,the ,committee evidently shrank from interpreting her 8three days after03 it may evidently mean either the #bfth or the #bgth4 #cbh ,as to the older monuments1 see ,inaugurazione1 p4 #e4 ,an excellent photograph of ,varni's statue forms the title-picture to this publication4 #cbi ,an engraving of this 7now lost7 portrait exists in ,ritratti ed ,elogii di ,liguri ,illustri1 ,genova1 ,ponthonier1 and appears reproduced here as the ,frontispiece to ,vol4 ,,ii4 #ccj ,inaugurazione1 p4 #bf4 #cca ,even such a rhetorical apostrophe as occurs in the peroration of ,dottore ,morro's speech 7,inaugurazione1 p4 #cj73 8,thou worthy of incense and of altars1 as was that ,catherine ,fieschi1 whose friend and confidant and spiritual son thou wast1 and who was ,god-mother to thy own first-born10 stands1 ,i think1 alone4 #ccb ,schmger3 ,leben der gottseligen ,anna ,katharina ,emmerich1 ,freiburg1 #ahfg1 #ahgj1 ,vol4 ,,ii1 pp4 #hib1 #hih1 #ijj4 #ccc ,vallebona1 op4 cit4 p4 #hc3 8,santissima mia ,diva1 questo mio cor ricevi3 che quando al sole apriva le luci a giorni brevi1 infin d'allor fei voto1 con animo devoto1 non mai1 madre adorata1 esser da ,te sviata40 8,my most holy ,protectress0 and 8adored ,mother0 may apply to ,catherine4 ,but ,i have had to punctuate so as to make 8che0 8perch10 as in ,jacopone throughout3 so that we now have not a declaration of time1 as to when she1 the ,protectress1 accepted ,tommasa's heart 7which might well have been at ,baptism72 but a prayer that this ,mother may accept her heart1 in view of the fact that she1 ,tommasa1 had1 from her first opening of her eyes to life 7surely1 on coming to some degree of reason71 vowed never to be parted from this ,mother4 ,and thus the application to ,catherine remains possible but becomes uncertain4 #ccd ,i feel obliged to put the matter in this hypothetical form because of the several undeniable indications of ,catherine's loss of interest in many1 perhaps most1 events and occurrences1 since1 at latest1 the beginning of #aeji4 #cce ,see the admirably vivid account of1 and wisely-balanced judgment concerning1 these events1 in the ,catholic ,alfred von ,reumont's little book1 ,vittoria ,colonna1 ,freiburg1 #ahha1 pp4 #aag-aeb2 #aid-bae4 #ccf ,acta ,sanctorum1 ,vol4 ,,vi1 pp4 #aib-aif4 #ccg ,for ,gerson's 8,rigorism10 see ,j4 ,b4 ,schwab's admirable monograph1 ,johannes ,gerson1 ,regensburg1 #aheh2 and for ,contarini's1 ,morone's1 and the ,colonna's views1 see ,reumont's ,vittoria ,colonna4 #cch ,opere1 ,vol4 ,,vi1 p4 #aib4 #cci ,see the ,preface to the ,opere1 ,vol4 ,i1 p4 #aj4 #cdj ,opere1 ed4 ,genoa1 #agee1 ,vol4 ,v1 pp4 #bah-bbg4 #cda ,see here1 pp4 #bfe1 #bff2 #bgb2 #bhj2 #bfd1 #bfe2 #ace2 #afj1 #bgd-bgf4 #cdb ,see here1 pp4 #aaf2 #aag1 #bff4 #cdc ,the last clause here is very obscure in the original3 8non voglio meritare te1 ma rimeritare lo amore che ti porto02 but ,i take the above translation to render correctly the substantial meaning4 #cdd ,see here1 pp4 #bfe2 #bfb1 #bfc1 #bfa4 #cde ,see here1 pp4 #bff1 #bfh2 #bhe2 #bfa2 #bge1 #aei1 #ada4 #cdf ,see here1 pp4 #bfj1 #bfa1 #bgc1 #bgd4 #cdg ,ch iv1 xiii1 xiv1 xvi 7,parker1 pp4 #dh-ej74 #cdh ,see here1 pp4 #ach2 #bgg2 #bfj4 #cdi ,see here1 p4 #bgj4 #cej ,see here1 pp4 #bgj2 #bij2 #bge1 #bgj4 #cea ,see here1 pp4 #ach1 #aci2 #bfe1 #bfj2 #bgb4 #ceb ,opere1 ed4 #agee1 ,vol4 ,,vi1 pp4 #bdg1 #bdh4 #cec ,see here1 pp4 #bfc1 #bff1 #bhj2 #bgb1 #bge2 #bib2 #bgg1 #bfb4 #ced ,see here1 pp4 #bhd2 #aff-agd2 #adc-ade4 #cee ,see here1 pp4 #adj1 #ada2 #aca1 #aaf4 #cef ,inaugurazione1 pp4 #bf1 #bg4 #ceg ,ibid4 pp4 #gd1 #ge1 #gg1 #gh4 ,ibid4 p4 #id4 #ceh ,here1 pp4 #cai1 #cbj2 #adj1 #ada1 #bfh4 #cei ,date of death3 ,ritratti ed ,elogii di ,liguri ,illustri1 ,genova1 ,ponthenier 7,elogio della ,ven4 ,battista ,vernazza74 ,communion3 ,opere della ,ven4 ,b4 ,vernazza1 ed4 cit41 ,vol4 ,i1 p4 #ba4 ,the portrait-frontispiece of the second volume of this work is a faithful facsimile of the portrait 7a lithograph by ,f4 ,scotto7 published among the ,ritratti1 between #ahbc and #ahcj4 ,the original picture1 which will have hung in the convent of ,s4 ,marie delle ,grazie1 ,i have not been able to trace4 ,the portrait now in possession of the ,nuns of the convent of ,s4 ,maria in ,passione1 the successors of those ,canonesses1 is a quite conventional1 inauthentic likeness4 #cfj 8,a7nno7 #adef1 #bg ,augti1 ex ,locis ,pomerae uxore ,bartolomaei de ,auria et a de modo ,isabellae dedicatae in monasterio ,s4 ,david1 ad instantiam ,andreae ,auria1 unici ejus filii ex heredis1 et ,franciscae matris ,catherinetae filiae ,jacobi de ,flisco1 ,loci duo in ratione dictae ,catherinetae per ejus maritare et 7si7 dictae ,franciscae fecerit consilio40 ,from parchment-bound small folio vol43 ,documenti su ,s4 ,catherina da ,genova ,,mss41 in ,r4 ,university ,library1 ,genoa4 #cfa ,from ,dre4 ,ferretto's copy of original in the ,archivio di ,stato ,genoa4 #cfb ,the originals of both deeds are in the ,archivio di ,stato1 ,genoa1 ,atti del ,not4 ,battista ,strata1 folie #ci1 parte ,,ii1 and #if 7parte ,,iii74 #cfc ,copies of these two entries1 in the ,,ms4 volume 8,documenti ''' ,caterina da ,genova10 ,university ,library1 ,genoa1 ,b ,,vii #ca4 #cfd ,the first four documents exist1 copied1 in the ,vita of the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana2 the last is in the ,archivio di ,stato1 and has been copied out plain for me by ,dre4 ,ferretto4 #cfe ,ettore ,vernazza3 ,inaugurazione1 pp4 #ba1 #bb2 #ci1 #dj4 ,cattaneo ,marrabotto3 ,don ,giovo's declaration among the 8,conclusions0 7in his own handwriting7 attached to the ,,ms4 ,vita of ,st4 ,catherine in the ,biblioteca della ,missione ,urbana1 ,genoa4 ,tommasa ,fiesca3 ,fed4 ,alizieri1 in ,atti della ,societ di ,storia ,patria1 ,vol4 ,,viii1 ,genoa1 #ahfh1 p4 #djh4 ,battista ,vernazza1 ,opere ,spirituali della ,ven4 ,b4 ,vernazza1 ,genoa1 ed4 #agge1 ,vol4 ,i1 ,preface4 #cff ,,ms4 ,a1 pp4 #c2 #cfg2 #cfh-cih2 #cii4 #cfg ,ibid4 pp4 #cfa-cfc2 #cfd2 #hg1 #hh4 #cfh ,,ms4 ,a1 p4 #afj4 #cfi ,ibid4 pp4 #acd2 #afh2 #aih-bjj2 #cbi2 in contrast respectively with pp4 #fb2 #abd2 #gf2 #afa of the ,printed ,life4 #cgj ,,ms4 ,a1 p4 #aic1 which appears1 in a somewhat modified form1 in the ,pr4 ,l41 p4 #ig;c2 and1 with further transformations1 on pp4 #aci;a2 #aci;c2 #adj;a2 #adj;b of the same4 #cga ,ibid4 p4 #afi1 compared with ,pr4 ,l41 p4 #abd;c4 #cgb ,ibid4 p4 #afc1 compared with ,pr4 ,l41 p4 #abb;c4 #cgc ,pr4 ,l41 pp4 #aee;b-#aef;a4 #cgd ,pr4 ,l41 pp4 #adf;c-#adg;c2 #aed;b4 #cge ,pr4 ,l41 pp4 #ea;a-#ec;b4 #cgf ,,ms4 ,a1 p4 #afh1 compared with ,pr4 ,l4 pp4 #abc;b-#abd;b4 #cgg ,pr4 ,l4 pp4 #aaf;c-#aba;b2 #aci;a-#adj;c4 ,retained lines3 ,,ms4 p4 #dj ,pr4 ,l41 p4 #aaf;c4 #cgh ,pr4 ,l41 p4 #aai;c4 #cgi ,,ms4 ch4 iv ,pr4 ,l41 ch4 ii1 pp4 #d;a-#e;c4 #chj ,,ms4 ch4 v ,pr4 ,l41 ch4 ii1 pp4 #e;c-#f;c4 #cha ,i purposely leave this sentence in its tell-tale clumsiness of form4 #chb ,this corresponds1 as to its substance1 to ,pr4 ,l41 pp4 #e;c-#f;c4 #chc ,pr4 ,l41 p4 #ad;c4 #chd ,,ms4 ,b4 fol4 #br et v4 #che ,ibid4 fol4 #air et v4 #chf ,,ms4 ,b3 the break1 on fol4 #cjr2 the abrupt ending1 on bottom of fol4 #ccv4 #chg ,hence ,dialogo 7,pr4 ,l47 pp4 #ahe;c-#aij;c is an expansion of the ,vita-proper 7,pr4 ,l47 p4 #ca2 and ,dialogo pp4 #aia;a-#aih;a is an expansion of ,vita-proper p4 #cc4 #chh ,hence ,dialogo 7,pr4 ,l47 pp4 #aih;b-#bjf;b corresponds to ,vita-proper pp4 #d;a-#e;a4 #chi ,p4 #bje;c4 #cij ,pp4 #bjf;c1 #bjg;b4 #cia ,dialogo pp4 #bjg;c-#bab;a is thus equivalent to ,vita-proper p4 #e;b4 #cib ,dialogo1 pp4 #bab;b-#bab;c is hence equivalent to ,vita-proper pp4 #ab;b-#ac;c4 #cic ,dialogo pp4 #bac;c-#bbe;c thus corresponds to ,vita-proper pp4 #i;b1 #ae;b2 #ac;c1 #ad;a2 #bj;a1 #ba;a2 #abc;b2 #ac;b2 #if;b-#ig;a4 #cid ,see here1 pp4 #cec1 #ced4 #cie ,dialogo1 pp4 #bae;c1 #baf;a4 #cif ,dialogo1 p4 #aig;a4 #cig ,ibid4 p4 #bji;b4 #cih ,ibid4 p4 #bbc;c4 #cii ,ibid4 p4 #bba;c4 #djj ,dialogo1 pp4 #bj;a1 #ac;c1 #ba;a1 #bj;a4 #dja ,ibid4 pp4 #bbj;c1 #bbb;c4 #djb ,ibid4 p4 #ba;b4 #djc ,dialogo1 p4 #abc;b4 #djd ,from ,,ms4 ,a1 p4 #agd3 8,li butt le braccie al collo1 e1 stringendola con singulti1 non si poteva saziar di piangere40 ,the ,printed ,vita1 p4 #abe;b1 has only3 8,la abbracci piangendo1 per lungo spazio di tempo40 #dje ,see here1 pp4 #afi-aga4 #djf ,see here1 pp4 #ahe1 #ahf2 #aid2 #bje4 #djg ,ibid4 pp4 #bba1 #bbb;a4 #djh ,see here1 pp4 #cfc2 #cdf1 #cdg4 #dji ,ibid4 pp4 #ef;b1 #bjc;a2 #cc;b1 #bjb;b4 #daj ,vita1 pp4 #cb;c1 #bf;c1 #eh;a1 #dh;a1 #ace;a4 #daa ,ibid4 pp4 #gf;a1 #aeg;c2 #ajc;b4 #dab ,vita1 pp4 #bab;c1 #bac;a2 #bbb;b2 #bbj;c1 #bba;c4 #dac ,see here1 p4 #adf4 #dad ,see here1 pp4 #ade1 #adf4 #dae ,vita1 p4 #ba;a4 #daf ,see here1 pp4 #cdd-ceh2 #cei-cfd4 #dag ,dan4 ix1 #bd4 #dah ,gen4 xxix1 #bj2 xxx1 #bg4 #dai ,see here1 pp4 #cea1 #cee4 #dbj ,compare1 as to human intercourse1 ,dialogo p4 #bba;b1 with ,battista's advice1 given here p4 #cfc2 and1 as to spiritual consolations1 ,dialogo pp4 #bae;c1 #baf;a1 with ,battista's ,colloquies1 here pp4 #cdf1 #cdg4 #dba ,catherine1 ,pr4 ,vita1 p4 #bji;c2 ,battista1 in one of the ,colloquii given in the ,opere1 loc4 cit41 but not otherwise reproduced here2 ,catherine1 ,pr4 ,vita1 pp4 #bji;c1 #baa;c1 #baa;b1 #cb2 ,battista1 here1 pp4 #cei1 #cfj4 #dbb ,catherine1 ,pr4 ,vita1 p4 #ig;b2 ,battista1 ,pr4 ,vita1 p4 #bja;b2 here1 p4 #cfj2 and ,dialogo1 p4 #baa;a4 #dbc ,i have not succeeded in finding a copy of this rare book3 the six chief libraries of ,genoa2 the ,ambrosian ,library1 ,milan2 and the ,vatican and ,angelica ,libraries1 ,rome1 are certainly without it4 ,my general description1 and my special reproduction of one passage1 of it are taken from a series of very careful accounts of the successive early editions of the book1 preserved among the ,documents relative to the ,process of ,catherine's ,beatification of #afcj-afge1 in the ,archiepiscopal ,archives1 ,genoa4 #dbd ,vita1 pp4 #e;b1 #f;b1 #aee;b-#aef;a2 #baa;b1 #bfd;b4 #dbe ,vita1 pp4 viic1 viiia2 viiib4 #dbf ,colloquies1 ,opere1 ,vol4 ,v1 p4 #bai4 ,letters1 ibid4 ,vol4 ,,vi1 p4 #bd4 ,dialogo1 pp4 #ahg;b1 #bae;b1 #bbj;c1 #bbc;b1 #bcg;c1 #bdg;b1 #bdh;c1 #bgc;b4 ,dialogo1 p4 #bff;b4 #dbg ,vita3 ,chapter ,second1 pp4 #bbf;a-#bge;a4 ,part ,second1 pp4 #bbf;a-#bde;c2 ,part ,third1 pp4 #bdf;a-#bge;a4 ,the moralizing narrative3 last sentence1 p4 #bde;c4 #dbh ,dialogo p4 #bbe;c1 paraphrase of ,vita p4 #f;c4 #dbi 8,nine years before her death10 ,vita1 p4 #abg;a2 8one year before she passed away10 p4 #acb;b2 ,purgatory1 pp4 #abh;c1 #abi;a2 #acf;c1 #add;b2 8,prison of the ,body10 p4 #acg;a2 emaciation1 pp4 #add;a1 #afj;b2 vomitings1 pp4 #abg;c1 #ach;c1 #afj;a1 b2 inability to move1 pp4 #abh;a1 #acg;b4 #dcj ,vita1 pp4 #bbg;a-#bda;b2 #bac;c-#bbe;c4 #dca ,the 8scintilla10 8stilla10 and 8immersion in the sweetness of ,love03 ,dialogo1 p4 #beb;a1 b1 c4 ,in the ,vita-proper 8scintilla0 is but once 7and in a doubtful passage7 so used1 p4 #adh;b2 in the other passages 8non una minima scintilla0 means there 8not a glimpse0 of this or that1 pp4 #e;c1 #fb;a4 8,stilla0 of ,blessedness1 p4 #aai;c2 8goccia0 of ,love1 pp4 #id;b-#ie;c2 8gocciola0 of spiritual water 7refreshment71 p4 #ace;b4 8,ocean0 and immersion therein1 pp4 #ei;b1 #fj;b4 #dcb ,vita1 pp4 #gh;c1 #gi;a4 #dcc ,thus ,vita 7,dialogo71 p4 #bff;a ,vita 7proper71 p4 #aag;b1 c2 and ,vita 7,dialogo71 p4 #bff;c ,vita 7proper71 pp4 #abj;b1 #aag;b4 #dcd ,dialogo1 p4 #bcd;b4 #dce ,dialogo1 p4 #bda;b4 #dcf ,ibid4 p4 #bfj;b4 #dcg ,vita1 p4 #bfh;c4 #dch ,ibid4 p4 #bfi;c4 #dci ,ibid4 p4 #bgj;b4 #ddj ,dialogo1 p4 #bab;c2 and here1 p4 #adf4 #dda ,ibid4 p4 #bgc;a4 #ddb ,ibid4 p4 #bge;a4 #ddc ,dialogo1 p4 #bej;b4 #ddd ,vita1 p4 #ig;b3 8,this creature would appear with a countenance like unto a ,cherub2 she gave great consolation to every one who gazed upon her1 and those who visited her knew not how to depart from her40 ,and pp4 #id;b-#ie;c4 ,see here1 pp4 #aei-afa4 #dde ,ibid4 pp4 #bca;a2 #bdb;b2 #bdh;c2 #bdi;a4 #ddf ,see here1 pp4 #cbg-cbi4 #ddg ,see here1 pp4 #cec1 #ced4 #ddh ,dialogo1 pp4 #bdb;b2 #bba;b2 #bcb;b2 ,vita-proper1 #aag;c1 #aah;a4 #ddi ,vita-proper1 pp4 #aja;b2 ,dialogo1 #bdg;b4 #dej ,dialogo1 p4 #bdh;c2 ,vita-proper1 #gf;a4 #dea ,dialogo1 p4 #bei;c4 #deb ,ibid4 #bff;b4 #dec ,dialogo1 p4 #bfd;b2 and here1 pp4 #cdi-cea1 #cfj4 #ded ,vita1 p4 #add;c4 #dee ,first seven ,chapters3 ,vita1 pp4 #afi;b-#ge;c4 ,last ten chapters3 ,ibid4 pp4 #age;c-#ahd;c4 #def ,see here1 pp4 #adj1 #ada4 #deg ,denzinger1 ,enchiridion ,definitionum1 ed4 #ahhh1 p4 #agh1 ,no4 #ch3 8,animae in ,purgatorio non sunt securae de earum salute saltem omnes2 nec probatum est1 ullis aut rationibus aut ,scripturis1 ipsas esse extra statum merendi aut augendae charitatis40 #deh ,his ,epitaph1 in the ,church of the ,annunciation1 at ,sturla1 just outside ,genoa1 is given in full in ,pescetto's ,biografia ,medica ,ligure1 ,genova1 #ahdf1 p4 #ajd4 #dei ,,ms4 ,a1 p4 #cdh ,pr4 ,l41 #aee;b1 #aef;b4 #dfj ,pr4 ,vita1 pp4 #aee;b1 c1 #aef;a4 #dfa ,padre3 pp4 #aag;b1 #aah;b2 ,figliuolo1 pp4 #ii;b2 #id;b1 c1 #ie;a1 b2 #abb;c4 #dfb ,madre1 pp4 #ih;c2 #id;b1 c1 #ie;a1 b 7twice74 #dfc ,vita1 pp4 #ej;b1 #cg;a-#ch;a2 #fa;c1 #fb;a2 #hc;a2 #ib;a4 #dfd ,vita1 pp4 #ec;a1 #gf;c1 #gc;a4 #dfe ,vita1 pp4 #d;b1 #aea;b4 #dff ,i derive all these titles from the ,documents in the ,curia ,arcivescovile of ,genoa already referred to4 ,the ,editions #aefh1 #afja1 ,i have examined in the ,ambrosian ,library1 ,milan4 #dfg ,the ,bull is given in full by ,fr4 ,sticker3 ,acta ,sanctorum1 ,sept41 ,vol4 ,v1 ed4 #ahff1 pp4 #aha ,f-#ahh ,a4 ,see there1 p4 #ahc ,b1 ,e4 ,in the former passage the double description is rightly attributed to the same event2 and the contradiction between them is ably eliminated by the ,bull's words3 8,she seemed to herself to behold the image of the suffering ,saviour0 7instead of ,vita1 p4 #e;b1 8affixed to the ,cross072 and1 in the latter passage1 the description of her poverty is kept free from the extravagances of the ,dialogo1 pp4 #bbj;c1 #bba;c4 ,,end ,,of ,,vol4 ,i ,richard ,clay ,sons1 ,limited1 ,london and ,bungay4