Selected quad for the lemma: reason_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
reason_n	body_n	soul_n	union_n	2,456	5	9.5499	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56724	The third part of the soul's delight collected and composed out of the works of the glorious virgin, St. Teresa of Iesus (author of the reformation of the Holy Order of the B.V. Mary of the Mount Carmell,) by the R.F. Paul of St. Vbald, religious of the same order, for the comfort of those that are more spirituall, and haue supernaurall prayer.; Jesus Maria Joseph Teresia. The soul's delight.	Teresa, of Avila, Saint, 1515-1582.; Paul, of St. Ubald, Brother.	1654 (1654)	Wing P876B; ESTC R218976	49,433	122

secure way is to be indifferent to be disposed of as his diuine Maiesty shall thinke fitt and esteeme our selues vnworthy of any fauours 16. Our Holy Mother doth giue vs notice of other deceits which are incident to manie that haue some degree of supernaturall prayer and doe vse great and indiscreet pennances and thereby doe bring themselues to great weaknesse and of others who by nature are delicat tender and weake these soules feeling in prayer those gusts and ouer ioyed with consolations and inward sweetnesse doe languish or rather through weaknesse yeald as one whose spirits are decaying and failing and doe leaue themselues in a manner dead as if they were in a kind of rapt by which nature is extreamly hurt and more weakned and they think it to be some effect of prayer or the spirit of God that doth worke so in them and therefore they remaine in that manner for some houres to gether 17. But they must resist that weakenesse and shake of that sluggish disposition for it is no other and if that weaknesse doth proceede from too much austerity or pennance by the aduise of their Ghostly Father or directour they must eat and drink sleepe and recreat themselues well for some dayes vntill they acquire strength for as is said indiscreet pennance is hurtfull to body and soul and if it doth proceede from the tendernesse or weake constitution of nature they must be more employed in the actiue life and outward things then in the solitary or contemplatiue life for the very solitude is able to make them weaker and therefore let them be obedient being applyed to outward things and let them be sure that this is very gratfull to God and they no lesse saints for as I said sanctity doth not consist in contemplation or hauing visions or such like but in true vertue and conformity of our will to the will of God 18. So that if obedience command the actiue more or rather then the contemplatiue to be obserued we must be wholy indifferent and resigned to embrace it with content also euery complexion is not fitt for solitude contemplation and much recollection for some that giue themselues to this cannot goe forward nor profit by reason of their indisposition of nature that would be saints if they had applyed themselues to the charitable and humble workes of the actiue life for though Martha gaue her selfe to the practise and exercise of the actiue lyfe yet she was a S. as well as her sister Mary Magdalen who gaue her selfe wholy to the contemplatiue 19. So that they must in this case resist that weaknesse and belieue for certaine that it is no effect of supernaturall prayer for in this sort of prayer the body is rather comforted and delighted then troubled or weakned by reason the ouer great content and ioy of the soul doth redowne to the body and it doth partake of her inward felicity as it is knowen by experience vnlesse it be in the prayer of vnion when the soul powers and senses are wholy vnited and drowned in Gods diuine essence for though then the body be destitute of all force this doth not continue but for a short tyme as I said elswhere and it doth returne to it selfe againe with strength content and great satisfaction and in that vnion though the body be for a short tyme as dead yet the soul it more liuely inwardly with God which in that other she cannot be but heauy and dull without any good effect yea rather with many euil and hurtfull to body and soul Obserue also if God be pleased to giue you any of those fauours of Rapts visions Reuelations or other supernaturall things of that sort whether you be terrifyed or fearfull at first for commonly if they be true they worke that effect in the soul though soone after she is in great quietnes and content moreouer you must not goe to prayer through curiosity to know any thing by reuelation nor adheare to your owne opinion or proper iudgment concerning any thing reuealed but easily submit to the saying of your directour or other learned men Likewise marke whether they be of vaine things without any necessity or profit to your selfe or others and note that whensoeuer by visions words or any such which you haue in these degrees of supernatutall prayer you find not your soul bettered in humility or that you perceiue in your selfe any litle smoake of selfe interest proper esteeme or vaine glory make no accompt of them but set them at naught as false and proceeding from Sathan but the prayer or vision bringing humility with it is to be much esteemed and God highly praysed with many thankes for it 20. Deere Christian soul you may read of these things more at large in the life of our Holy Mother and in the bookes which she wrote called the castle of the soul or the mansions and the way of perfection for I haue collected these thence only that they which God doth bring to these degrees or haue visions or reuelations may vnderstand reading this litle treatise what prayer they haue and whether their visions be true or false that they may not be troubled or in continuall feare of being deceiued by the deuil as our Holy Mother was which will be a great comfort to their mynd and quietnes to their conscience THE VII CHAPTER Of some obseruations for the better vnderstanding of what is said concerning Prayer 1. WHereas in the treatise of Prayer there is often mention made of the sensitiue appetite inferiour and superiour part of man also of seuerall degrees of contemplation which I suppose are knowen to the learned I thought good for the better satisfaction of the ignorant and vnlearned to speake somewhat of them in the conclusion of this worke The sensitiue appetite is a faculty consisting of two members in the inferiour part of man and hath its seat in the liuer and heart or as others say in the heart only and it hath for its obiect sensible good or euil as it is apprehended by the imagination as conuenient or disconuenient the members or partes of it are the concupiscible and irascible The office of the concupiscible part is to incline to and be moued to that which is good or agreable to it and to decline and shun that which is euil or contrary to it The office of the irascible part is to fight against the difficultyes which may occurre in the acquisition of the good and shuning the euil in these two the eleauen passions which are in man are resident six in the concupiscible and fiue in the irascible 2. The passion is a motion of the sensitiue part which is moued by the apprehension of some good or euil as conuenient or disconuenient pleasing or displeasing to it The passions of the concupiscible are loue desyre ioy or gladnes hatred flight griefe or sadnesse Loue is a propension of the appetite towards that which is apprehended as good desire or concupiscence is a

in God therefore woords of discourse must be omitted or that content lost 12. Our Holy Mother doth declare in In the castle of the soul mans 4. a good manner the difference betwixt the comforts and consolations which proceede from our discourse and that which his Maiesty giueth without our labour comparing them to water which in two wayes or manners doth water a garden the one is brought from a farre of with labour and through conducts or gutters and falling into some sisterne is distributed or cast heere and there to water the garden this is like the noyse and labour of the vnderstanding that with many reasons and discourses doth moue the will to some pious affection wherin she is comforted and delighted but the other is neere hand and at home increasing allwayes in silence and not perceiued whence it cometh but the sisterne is seene full and runing ouer which watereth the garden better more plentifully and without the labour of the gardener by reason the spring is in the bottome of the sisterne whence without noyse the water doth issue euen so the gusts and comforts had in quiet prayer doe proceede from the euer liuing spring that great God of glory and all consolation who is in the center of the soul and without any industry or labour on our part doth fill vp the sisterne of our heart with vnspeakable ioy whence not knowing how the water of comfort ouerflowing in silence runneth to all partes of the garden that is to all the powers senses and the very body it selfe watering and delighting all and they admire whence that so great content should be which they doe feele and in this sweet content and delightfull admiration they doe rest the other water doth penetrat but litle in comparison of this for this doth enter into the very depth and inward substance of the soul and leaueth her satisfied for a long tyme by reason it is more plentifull and in greater abundance 13. And this is the benefit of an humble soul for as water remaine's not on the tops of hills or mountaynes but fall's into the lowe places and valleys so The good of a humble soul the water of comforts and the grace of God cannot stay vppon the hills or mountaynes of proud and presumptuous spirits but doe fall into the valley of humility which is the humble heart that thinketh lowly of it selfe for he doth loue to be with the humble and vppon them his Holy Spirit doth rest and to them he giueth his grace and bestoweth such fauours vppon them that with the great content and inward ioy which they feele the powers and senses are suspended when he is so pleased and the waters of delight doe so recreat and comfort both soul and body that some being sick going to prayer and brought to this quietnesse are not only during the tyme of that prayer senslesse of any sicknesse but after prayer are voyde of all paine and in good health and many going to it with sore heades after that prayer are very well and this is a knowen thing by experience 14. So that this prayer leaueth great effects in body and soul for besyde what is said aboue it dilateth the heart and maketh the soul more capable of diuine fauours and free from seruile feare worldly affections and proper interest she now doth take delight in doing of pennances she regardeth not commodity or health so she may but please and serue God in any thing her faith is more liuly her desyre to suffer persecutions and wrongs for loue of him increaseth she doth more feare to offend God then all the torments and deuils of hell by reason she doth now loue him whom she doth then perceiue to be truly loue and praise worthy by all creatures for his owne goodnesse and perfections and therefore she doth vnderstand that it is an vnworthy thing to offend so high a Maiesty in the least thing which doth cause her to keepe a pure conscience as neere as she can her hope and confidence in his diuine Maiesty and desyre to enioy him in glory for euer is greater and more constant then formerly and thus are the labours of a louing soul well recompensed 15. O how highly then ought we to esteeme this benefit and desyre to please him who hath so great a care of vs O my deere Iesu the true louer of humble soules why are there not many more that by this way of prayer doe seeke after thee to partake of these diuine benefits and celestiall communications since thou art so good so liberall and willing to enrich all with these and many more heauenly blessings and fauours our Holy Mother sayes that the reason of it is In her life chap. 11. that we doe not dispose our selues as we ought and put on a strong resolution to forsake all things at once and our selues chiefly but doe reserue some interest or other that we ought for his pure loue vtterly to mortify and forsake though we esteeme them but small matters which really are of great importance though it were but our affection to our parents or frends or perhaps they doe not belieue what is written of these things by reason they seeme to them vnpossible and that what is sayd of these rare matters is but a flowrish of faire and sweet words and no reall truth but my God thou do'st well know that they are reall deedes and therefore the humble soules that goe on in thy seruice by this way of prayer thou do'st often make wonderfull to the world in their liues and workes which others doe not take to heart nor consider a right Therefore I beseech thy diuine Maiesty to giue all that shall read this booke and follow this path of prayer a true feeling of what is heere said for then they shall see and know this truth and how farre short all words and expressions are to what really and ioyfully is had in this blessed exercise of prayer THE III. CHAPTER Of the sleepe of the Powers 1. IN the former degree you haue seene what quiet prayer is and how sweetly the soul is pleased with the inward content and satisfaction which she doth feele therin so that she doth think that there is nothing more to be desyred in this life But whereas the power of God is infinit and his workes without limit we must conceiue allwayes greater matters of his diuine Maiesty and that as we dispose our selues with the grace of God increasing dayly in humility and loue he will impart his blessings and communicat his fauours more and more vnto vs. 2. Yet true it is that the least of these diuine and supernaturall communications is so sublime and transcending the capacity of our weake vnderstanding and is so comfortable and delightfull to the soul not vsed to the like that she doth esteeme it very much and thinketh that nothing more or greater can be had or desyred in this life But the wayes and inuentions of God

in the affectiue but in the knowing powers as when the vnderstanding with a kind of alienation from the senses or with some intellectuall vision is eleuated and suddenly snatcht away or the phantasy or imaginatiue to some imaginary vision 13. The reason why rapts cannot be in the will is that the will is a kind of propension or inclination to that which is good and the more forcibly or violently it is drawen the more conformable it is to his inclination for that cannot be said to suffer violence which is moued according to its naturall disposition but the more forcibly it is moued towards its obiect the more delightfully it worketh So that the rapts by reason they come with violence against the naturall disposition cannot be in the will yet the vehemency of the affection of the will or sensitiue appetite is often the cause of rapts when the soul doth very forcibly adhere to those things which she doth affect for by that force she doth compell the knowing powers to attend to the obiects which she doth loue as it were with a certaine violence drawing them from all other things and the sensitiue appetite doth the same therefore they that naturally haue vehement inclinations or affections must diuert their mynd to some other thing when they find their desyre inflamed least they be deceiued thinking that to be from God which is from nature or the deuil for if it be from God though the soul endeauour to resist it all will be in vaine for it will take effect 14. Note that in this a rapt doth differ from an extasy that an extasy is without violence and therefore it is in the will as is formerly said for it is but a going out of it selfe by loue to what it doth affect and a rapt is allwayes with violence also the calling or inward touch of God and certaine abstractions by which his diuine Maiesty doth forcibly drawe the soul vnto himselfe as her Lord are the cause of rapts likewise by some light or inward flame also by some instillation of great sweetnes into the sensitiue appetite in like manner by a kind of secret whistle and many other vnknowen wayes God doth efficaciously drawe the soul to himselfe by which he doth giue her notice that he is absolute Lord and creatour of all 15. Moreouer rapts doe produce other effects in the body as its forces to faile to wax cold to fall into a kind of dead fit to be eleuated from the earth to hange in the ayre to be very light and agill as not hauing any weight There are other rapts which are not so forcible and are imperfect by which the soul is not so drawen from the senses but she may speake some words and giue out heany sighs and grones and somtymes the vehemency is such that they cast blood and the body doth tremble and shake with strang fits and they do leape runne and crye out by reason of the excesse of inward ioy this is that celestiall or diuine drunknes of which I spoake before To conclude loue is the prime and principall passion by which a man is drawen to all his operations therefore S. Augustine said my loue is my poise or weight and whither soeuer I am carryed thither I am carryed to wit where his loue is For all the rest of the passions doe follow loue as for example I desyre to haue a thing not for any other cause but that I loue it I doe not reioyce or delight my selfe but in that which I loue also I doe not hate a thing but because it is opposit and contrary to what I loue and therefore I doe flye and shim it likewise I doe not hope or fight but for what I loue nor grieue but for the euil which doth hinder me from what I loue and so of the rest 16. He therefore that intend's to acquire vertue and the true loue of God must heede carefully to what his loue doth tend whether to that which is truly good and not apparent or to that which is according to the lawes of God and not to the desyres of nature or to that which is truly vertuous and not vicious and if he find that it is not right with sweet persuasions and solid reasons let him allwayes endeauour to reduce it to piety and those things which are eternall as if it be moued by the beauty of any creature instantly say how farre more beautifull and worthy of all loue he is who made that beauty why then do'st not thou seeke after him who is eternall rather then after this which is to day and gone to morrow thy God is beauty it selfe from whom all beauty is he then is more worthy of thy loue then this which is but a shadowe of what is loue worthy in him O my sweet soul loue not that which brings thee to hell but what may bring thee to heauen and endles ioy See that what thou can'st loue most on earth will faile thee and decay being but momentary but if thou do'st loue God thy sweet and louing creatour and redeemer he will neuer faile thee but bring thee to enioy himselfe in endles glory thus sweetly you must in all occasions labour to induce your soul to the loue of God and those vertues which are contrary to your vicious inclination or loue 17. Deere Christian soul I wrote this chapter for the better vnderstanding of what is in the second and third part of this booke for there it is said that you must mortify your passions how can you mortify what you doe not know for though you feele the passion yet you know not what it is or whence it is which being knowen with more ease you may mortify it and preuent its swelling rage and so by degrees going from vertue to vertue from meditation to contemplation from contemplation to a true transformation in God you shall enioy the begining of true felicity in this life and compleatly in the other which I most humbly beseech God of his infinit goodnesse to bestow on thee and me Amen This booke is endend to the honour and glory of God and the most Blessed V. Mary this 8. of September 1651. and if there be any thing in it contrary to our Holy Faith I doe most willingly submit both it and my selfe to the censure of the Holy Catholick Roman Church By me S. B. natiue of the citty of Dublin THE TABLE OF THE CHAPTERS Of this Third Part of the Soul's Delight CHap. 1. p. 1. A briefe relation of supernaturall prayer Chap. 2. p. 19. Of Recollection and quiet prayer more in particular Chap. 3. p. 36. Of the sleepe of the powers Chap. 4. p. 55. Of the prayer of vnion Chap. 5. p. 62. Of Seuerall other eleuations of the spirit and how they differ from vnion Chap. 6. p. 78. Of the manner of inward speeches visions and reuelations and how to discerne the true from the false Chap. 7. p. 94. Of some obseruations for