BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

“... swinging-wicket setBetweenThe Unseen and Seen.”

“... swinging-wicket set

Between

The Unseen and Seen.”

He is to move easily and at will between these two orders, both actual, both God-inhabited, the complementary expressions of One Love; participating both in the active, industrious, creative outflow in differentiation, and the still indrawing attraction which issues in the supreme experience of Unity. For these two movements the Active and Interior Lives have educated him. The truly characteristic experience of the Third Life is the fruition of that Unityor Simplicity in which they are harmonised, beyond the balanced consciousness of the indrawing and outdrawing tides.[77]

Ruysbroeck discerns three moments in this achievement. First, a negative movement, the introversive sinking-down of our created life into God’s absolute life, which is the consummation of self-naughting and surrender and the essence of dark contemplation. Next, the positive ecstatic stretching forth above reason into our ‘highest life,’ where we undergo complete transmutation in God and feel ourselves wholly enfolded in Him. Thirdly, from these ‘completing opposites’ of surrender and love springs the perfect fruition of Unity, so far as we may know it here; when “we feel ourselves to be one with God, and find ourselves transformed of God, and immersed in the fathomless Abyss of our Eternal Blessedness, where we can find no further separation between ourselves and God. So long as we are lifted up and stretched forth into this height of feeling, all our powers remain idle, in an essential fruition; for where our powers are utterly naughted, there we lose our activity. And so long as we remain idle, without observation, with outstretched spirit and open eyes, so long can we see and have fruition. But in that same moment in which we wouldtest and comprehendWhatthat may be which we feel, we fall back upon reason; and there we find distinction and otherness between God and ourselves, and find God as an Incomprehensible One exterior to us.”[78]

It is clear from this passage that such ‘utterness’ of fruition is a fleeting experience; though it is one to which the unitive mystic can return again and again, since it exists as a permanent state in his essential ground, ever discoverable by him when attention is focussed upon it. Further, it appears that the ‘absence of difference’ between God and the soul, which the mystic in these moments of ecstasy feels and enjoys, is a psychological experience, not an absolute truth. It is the only way in which his surface-mind is able to realise on the one side the overwhelming apprehension of God’s Love, that ‘Yes’ in which all other syllables are merged; on the other the completeness of his being’s self-abandonment to the Divine embrace—“that Superessential Love with which we are one, and which we possess more deeply and widely than any other thing.”[79]It was for this experience that Thomas à Kempis prayed in one of his most Ruysbroeckian passages: “When shall I at full gather myself in Thee, that for Thy love I feel not myself,but Thee only, above all feeling and all manner, in amanner not known to all?”[80]It is to this same paradoxical victory-in-surrender—this apparent losing which is the only real finding—that Francis Thompson invites the soul:

“To feel thyself and beHis dear nonentity—CaughtBeyond human thought

“To feel thyself and be

His dear nonentity—

Caught

Beyond human thought

In the thunder-spout of Him,Until thy being dim,And beDead deathlessly.”

In the thunder-spout of Him,

Until thy being dim,

And be

Dead deathlessly.”

Now here it is, in these stammered tidings of an adventure ‘far outside and beyond our spirit,’ in ‘the darkness at which reason gazes with wide eyes,’[81]that we must look for the solution of that problem which all high mystic states involve for analytic thought: how can the human soul become one with God ‘without intermediary, beyond all separation,’[82]yet remain eternally distinct from Him? How can the ‘deification,’ the ‘union with God without differentiation’ on which the great mystics insist, be accepted, and pantheism be denied?

First, we notice that in all descriptionsof Unity given us by the mystics, there is a strong subjective element. Their first concern is always with the experience of the heart and will, not with the deductions made by the intelligence. It is at our own peril that we attach ontological meaning to their convinced and vivid psychological statements. Ruysbroeck in particular makes this quite clear to us; says again and again that he has ‘feltunity without difference and distinction,’ yet that heknowsthat ‘otherness’ has always remained, and “that this is true we can only know by feeling it, and in no other way.”[83]

In certain great moments, he says, the purified and illuminated soul which has died into God does achieve an Essential Stillness; which seems to human thought a static condition, for it is that Eternal Now of the Godhead which embraces in its span the whole process of Time. Here we find nothing but God: the naked and ultimate Fact or Superessential Being ‘whence all Being has come forth,’ stripped of academic trimmings and experienced in its white-hot intensity. Here, far beyond the range of thought, unity and otherness, like hunger and fulfilment, activity and rest,canco-exist in love. The ultimate union is a love-union, says Ruysbroeck.“The Love of God is a consuming Fire, which draws us out of ourselves and swallows us up in unity with God, where we are satisfied and overflowing, and with Him, beyond ourselves, eternally fulfilled.”[84]

This hungry and desirous love, at once a personal passion and a cosmic force, drenches, transfigures and unites with the soul, as sunlight does the air, as fire does the iron flung into the furnace; so that the molten metal ‘changed into another glory’ is both iron and fire ‘ever distinct yet ever united’—an antique image of the Divine Union which he takes direct from a celebrated passage in St. Bernard’s works. “As much as is iron, so much is fire; and as much as is fire, so much is iron; yet the iron doth not become fire, nor the fire iron, but each retains its substance and nature. So likewise the spirit of man doth not become God, but is deified, and knows itself breadth, length, height and depth: and as far as God is God, so far the loving spirit is made one with Him in love.”[85]The iron, the air, represent our created essence; the fire, the sunlight, God’s Essence, which is added to our own—oursuperessence. The two are held in a unionwhich, when we try to see it under the symbolism of space, appears a mingling, a self-mergence; but, when we feel it under the symbolism of personality, is a marriage in which the lover and beloved are ‘distinct yet united.’ “Then are we one being, one love, and one beatitude with God ... a joy so great and special that we cannot even think of any other joy. For then one is one’s self a Fruition of Love, and can and should want nothing beyond one’s own.”[86]

It follows from all this that when the soul, coming to the Fourth State of Fruitive Love, enters into the Equilibrium which supports and penetrates the flux, it does and must reconcile the opposites which have governed the earlier stages of its career. The communion reached is with a Wholeness; the life which flows from it must be a wholeness too. Full surrender, harmonised with full actualisation of all our desires and faculties; not some thin, abstract, vertical relation alone, but an all-round expansion, a full, deep, rich giving and taking, a complete correspondence with the infinitely rich, all-demanding and all-generous God whose “love is measureless for it is Himself.” Thus Ruysbroeck teaches that love static and love dynamic must coexist for us as for Him; that the ‘eternal hunger and thirst’ of the God-demandingsoul continues within its ecstatic satisfaction; because, however deeply it may love and understand, the Divine Excess will always baffle it. It is destined ‘ever to go forward within the Essence of God,’ to grow without ceasing deeper and deeper into this life, in “the eternal longing to follow after and attain Him Who is measureless.” “And we learn this truth from His sight: that all we taste, in comparison with that which remains out of our reach, is no more than a single drop of water compared with the whole sea.... We hunger for God’s Infinity, which we cannot devour, and we aspire to His Eternity, which we cannot attain.... In this storm of love, our activity is above reason and is in no wise. Love desires that which is impossible to her; and reason teaches that love is within her rights, but can neither counsel nor persuade her.”[87]

Hence an eternal desire and an eternal satisfaction are preserved within the circle of the deified life. The full-grown self feels, in its most intense degree, the double movement of the Divine Love and Light, the flux and reflux; and in its perfect and ever-renewed responses to the ‘indrawing and outflowing attraction’ of that Tide, the complete possession of the Superessential Life consists.

“The indrawing attraction drags us out of ourselves, and calls us to be melted away and naughted in the Unity. And in this indrawing attraction we feel that God wills that we should be His, and for this we must abnegate ourselves and let our beatitude be accomplished in Him. But when He attracts us by flowing out towards us, He gives us over to ourselves and makes us free, and sets us in Time.”[88]

Thus is accomplished that paradoxical synthesis of ‘Eternal Rest and Eternal Work’ which Ruysbroeck regards as the essential character of God, and towards which the whole of his system has been educating the human soul. The deified or ‘God-formed’ soul is for him the spirit in which this twofold ideal is actualised: this is the Pattern, the Likeness of God, declared in Christ our Archetype, towards which the Indwelling Spirit presses the race. Though there are moments in which, carried away as it seems by his almost intolerable ecstasy, he pushes out towards ‘that unwalled Fruition of God,’ where all fruition begins and ends, where ‘one is all and all is one,’ and Man is himself a ‘fruition of love’;[89]yet he never forgets to remind us that, as love is not love unless it looks forward towards the creation of new life,so here, “when love falls in love with love, and each is all to the other in possession and in rest,” theobjectof this ecstasy is not a permanent self-loss in the Divine Darkness, a ‘slumbering in God,’ but a “new life of virtue, such as love and its impulses demand.”[90]“To be a living, willing Tool of God, wherewith God works what He will and how He will,” is the goal of transcendence described in the last chapter ofThe Sparkling Stone. “Then is our life awhole, when contemplation and work dwell in us side by side, and we are perfectly in both of them at once”;[91]for then the separate spirit is immersed in, and part of, the perpetual creative act of the Godhead—the flowing forth and the drawing back, which have at their base the Eternal Equilibrium, the unbroken peace, wherein “God contemplates Himself and all things in an Eternal Now that has neither beginning nor end.”[92]On that Unbroken Peace the spirit hangs; and swings like a pendulum, in wide arcs of love and service, between the Unconditioned and the Conditioned Worlds.

So the Superessential Life is the simple, the synthetic life, in which man actualises at last all the resources of his complex being.The active life of response to the Temporal Order, the contemplative life of response to the Transcendent Order are united, firmly held together, by that ‘eternal fixation of the spirit’; the perpetual willed dwelling of the being of man within the Incomprehensible Abyss of the Being of God,qui est per omnia saecula benedictus.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTEI.Flemish TextWerken van Jan van Ruusbroec. Ed.J. David. 6 vols. (Maetschappy der Vlaemsche Bibliophilen). (Gent, 1858-68.)This edition, based on the MSS. preserved at Brussels and Ghent, and the foundation of all the best translations, is now rare. It may be consulted at the British Museum.A re-issue of the Flemish text is now in progress; the first volume beingJan van Ruysbroeck, Van den VII. Trappen(i.e.The Seven Degrees of Love)met Geert Groote’s latijnsche Vertaling. Ed. Dom. Ph.Müller(Brussels, 1911).II.TranslationsA.LatinThe chief works of Ruysbroeck were early translated into Latin, some during their author’s lifetime, and widely circulated in this form. Three of these early translations were printed in the sixteenth century: theDe Ornatu Spiritualium Nuptiarumof Jordaens, at Paris, in 1512; and theDe Septem Scalæ Divini Amoris Gradibusof GerardGroot, together with theDe Perfectione Filiorum Dei(i.e.The Sparkling Stone), at Bologna, in 1538.The standard Latin translation, however—indispensable to all students of Ruysbroeck—is the great work of the Carthusian monk,Laurentius Surius:D. Joannis Rusbrochii Opera Omnia(Cologne, 1552).This was reprinted in 1609 (the best edition), and again in 1692. It contains all Ruysbroeck’s authentic works, and some that are doubtful; in a translation singularly faithful to the sense of the original, though it fails to reproduce the rugged sublimity, the sudden lapses into crude and homely metaphor, so characteristic of his style.B.EnglishThe Book of the Twelve Béguines(the first sixteen chapters only). Translated from the Flemish, byJohn Francis(London, 1913).A useful translation of one of Ruysbroeck’s most difficult treatises.C.FrenchŒuvres de Ruysbroeck l’Admirable. Traduction du Flamand par lesBénédictins de Saint Paul de Wisques.Vol. I.:Le Miroir du Salut Éternel;Les Sept Clôtures;Les Sept Degrés de l’Êchelle d’Amour Spirituel(Brussels, 1912, in progress).This edition, when completed, will form the standard text of Ruysbroeck for those unable to read Flemish. The translation is admirablylucid, and a short but adequate introduction is prefixed to each work.L’Ornement des Noces Spirituelles. Traduit du Flamand parMaurice Maeterlinck(Brussels, 1900).This celebrated book, still more its beautiful though unreliable introduction, is chiefly responsible for the modern interest in Ruysbroeck. The translation, exquisite as French prose, over-emphasises the esoteric element in his teaching. Those unable to read Flemish should check it byLambert’sGerman text (see below).Vie de Rusbroch suivie de son Traité des Sept Degrés de l’Amour. Traduction littérale du Texte Flamand-Latin, parR. Chamonal(Paris, 1909).Traité du Royaume des Amants de Dieu. Traduit parR. Chamonal(Paris, 1911).De la Vraie Contemplation(i.e.The Twelve Béguines).Traduit parR. Chamonal. 3 vols. (Paris, 1912).These are the first volumes of a proposed complete translation; which is, however, far from literal, and replaces the rough vigour of the original by the insipid language of conventional French piety.Livre des XII. Béguines ou de la Vraie Contemplation(first sixteen chapters only).Traduit du Flamand, avec Introduction, parL’Abbé P. Cuylits(Brussels, 1909).This also contains a French version of theVitaof Pomerius. The translator is specially successful in rendering the peculiar quality of Ruysbroeck’s verse; but the statements in his introduction must be accepted with reserve.D.GermanDrei Schriften des Mystikers Johann van Ruysbroeck, aus dem Vlämischen übersetzt vonFranz A. Lambert(Leipzig, 1902).A vigorous and accurate translation ofThe Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage,The Sparkling StoneandThe Book of Supreme Truth.Ruysbroeck translates better into German than into any other language; and this volume is strongly recommended to all who can read that tongue.III.SelectionsRusbrock l’Admirable: Œuvres Choisies. Traduit parE. Hello(Paris, 1902).A series of short passages, paraphrased (nottranslated) from the Latin of Surius. There are two English versions of this unsatisfactory book, the second being the best:Reflections from the Mirror of a Mystic.Translated byEarle Baillie(London, 1905).Flowers of a Mystic Garden.Translated by C. E. S. (London, 1912).Life, Light, and Love: Selections from the German Mystics.By the Very Rev.W. R. Inge, D.D., Dean of St. Paul’s (London, 1905).Contains an abridged version ofThe Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage.Biography and Criticism(A Selection)Auger, A.—De Doctrina et Meritis Joannis van Ruysbroeck(Louvain, 1892).Engelhardt, J. G. von.—Richard von St. Victor und J. Ruysbroeck(Erlangen, 1838).Useful for tracing the correspondences between the Victorines and Ruysbroeck.Maeterlinck, Maurice.—Ruysbroeck and the Mystics.Translated byJane Stoddart(London, 1908).An English version of the Introduction toL’Ornement des Noces Spirituelles, above-mentioned; with many fine passages translated from Ruysbroeck’s other works.Pomerius, H.—De Origine Monasterii Viridisvallis una cum Vitis Joannis Rusbrochii.Printed inAnalecta Bollandiana, vol. iv. (Brussels, 1885). The chief authority for all biographical facts.Scully, Dom Vincent.—A Mediæval Mystic(London, 1910).A biographical account, founded on Pomerius, with a short analysis of Ruysbroeck’s works. Popular and uncritical.Vreese, Dr. W. L. de.—Jean de Ruysbroeck(Biographie Nationale de Belgique, vol. xx.) (Brussels, 1907).An important and authoritative article withanalysis of all Ruysbroeck’s works and full bibliography.——Bijdragen tot de Kennis van het Leven en de Werken van Jan van Ruusbroec(Gent, 1896).Contains Gerard Naghel’s sketch of Ruysbroeck’s life, with other useful material.——De Handschriften van Jan van Ruusbroec’s Werken.2 vols. (Gent, 1900).An important and scholarly study of the manuscript sources by the greatest living authority.Notices of Ruysbroeck will be found in the following works:—Auger, A.—Étude sur les Mystiques des Pays Bas au Moyen Age(Académie Royale de Belgique, vol. xlvi., 1892).Fleming, W. K.—Mysticism in Christianity(London, 1913).Inge, Very Rev. W. R., D.D., Dean of St. Paul’s.—Christian Mysticism(London, 1899).Jones, Dr.Rufus M.—Studies in Mystical Religion(London, 1909).Applications of his doctrine to the spiritual life in:—Baker, VenerableAugustin.—Holy Wisdom; or Directions for the Prayer of Contemplation(London, 1908).Blosius, F. V.—Book of Spiritual Instruction(London, 1900);A Mirror for Monks(London, 1901);Comfort for the Faint-hearted(London, 1903);Sanctuary of the Faithful Soul(London, 1905).Denis the Carthusian.—Opera Omnia(Monstrolii, 1896), in progress.Petersen, Gerlac.—The Fiery Soliloquy with God(London, 1872).Poulain, Aug., S.J.—The Graces of Interior Prayer(London, 1910).Underhill, E.—Mysticism, 5th ed. (London, 1914).InfluencesMuch light is thrown on Ruysbroeck’s doctrine by a study of the authors who influenced him; especially:St. Augustine;Migne,P.L., xxvii.-xlvii.; Eng. Trans., edited byM. Dods(Edinburgh, 1876).Dionysius the Areopagite;Migne,P.G., iii., iv.; Eng. Trans., byParker(Oxford, 1897).HughandRichard of St. Victor;Migne,P.L., clxxv.-clxxvii. and cxcvi.St. Bernard;Migne,P.L., clxxxii.-clxxxv.; Eng. Trans., byEales(London, 1889-96).St. Thomas Aquinas;Opera(Romæ, 1882-1906); Eng. Trans., by theDominican Fathers(in progress).St. Bonaventura;Opera(Paris, 1864-71).MeisterEckhart;Schriften und Predigten(Leipzig, 1903).Suso;Schriften, ed.Denifle(Munich, 1876). Eng. Trans.,Life, ed. byW. R. Inge(London, 1913);Book of Eternal Wisdom(London, 1910).Tauler,Predigten(Prague, 1872); Eng. Trans.,Twenty-five Sermons, trans. byWinkworth(London, 1906);The Inner Way, edited byA. W. Hutton(London, 1909).

Werken van Jan van Ruusbroec. Ed.J. David. 6 vols. (Maetschappy der Vlaemsche Bibliophilen). (Gent, 1858-68.)

This edition, based on the MSS. preserved at Brussels and Ghent, and the foundation of all the best translations, is now rare. It may be consulted at the British Museum.

A re-issue of the Flemish text is now in progress; the first volume beingJan van Ruysbroeck, Van den VII. Trappen(i.e.The Seven Degrees of Love)met Geert Groote’s latijnsche Vertaling. Ed. Dom. Ph.Müller(Brussels, 1911).

The chief works of Ruysbroeck were early translated into Latin, some during their author’s lifetime, and widely circulated in this form. Three of these early translations were printed in the sixteenth century: theDe Ornatu Spiritualium Nuptiarumof Jordaens, at Paris, in 1512; and theDe Septem Scalæ Divini Amoris Gradibusof GerardGroot, together with theDe Perfectione Filiorum Dei(i.e.The Sparkling Stone), at Bologna, in 1538.

The standard Latin translation, however—indispensable to all students of Ruysbroeck—is the great work of the Carthusian monk,Laurentius Surius:D. Joannis Rusbrochii Opera Omnia(Cologne, 1552).

This was reprinted in 1609 (the best edition), and again in 1692. It contains all Ruysbroeck’s authentic works, and some that are doubtful; in a translation singularly faithful to the sense of the original, though it fails to reproduce the rugged sublimity, the sudden lapses into crude and homely metaphor, so characteristic of his style.

The Book of the Twelve Béguines(the first sixteen chapters only). Translated from the Flemish, byJohn Francis(London, 1913).

A useful translation of one of Ruysbroeck’s most difficult treatises.

Œuvres de Ruysbroeck l’Admirable. Traduction du Flamand par lesBénédictins de Saint Paul de Wisques.Vol. I.:Le Miroir du Salut Éternel;Les Sept Clôtures;Les Sept Degrés de l’Êchelle d’Amour Spirituel(Brussels, 1912, in progress).

Œuvres de Ruysbroeck l’Admirable. Traduction du Flamand par lesBénédictins de Saint Paul de Wisques.

Vol. I.:Le Miroir du Salut Éternel;Les Sept Clôtures;Les Sept Degrés de l’Êchelle d’Amour Spirituel(Brussels, 1912, in progress).

This edition, when completed, will form the standard text of Ruysbroeck for those unable to read Flemish. The translation is admirablylucid, and a short but adequate introduction is prefixed to each work.

L’Ornement des Noces Spirituelles. Traduit du Flamand parMaurice Maeterlinck(Brussels, 1900).

This celebrated book, still more its beautiful though unreliable introduction, is chiefly responsible for the modern interest in Ruysbroeck. The translation, exquisite as French prose, over-emphasises the esoteric element in his teaching. Those unable to read Flemish should check it byLambert’sGerman text (see below).

Vie de Rusbroch suivie de son Traité des Sept Degrés de l’Amour. Traduction littérale du Texte Flamand-Latin, parR. Chamonal(Paris, 1909).Traité du Royaume des Amants de Dieu. Traduit parR. Chamonal(Paris, 1911).De la Vraie Contemplation(i.e.The Twelve Béguines).Traduit parR. Chamonal. 3 vols. (Paris, 1912).

These are the first volumes of a proposed complete translation; which is, however, far from literal, and replaces the rough vigour of the original by the insipid language of conventional French piety.

Livre des XII. Béguines ou de la Vraie Contemplation(first sixteen chapters only).Traduit du Flamand, avec Introduction, parL’Abbé P. Cuylits(Brussels, 1909).

This also contains a French version of theVitaof Pomerius. The translator is specially successful in rendering the peculiar quality of Ruysbroeck’s verse; but the statements in his introduction must be accepted with reserve.

Drei Schriften des Mystikers Johann van Ruysbroeck, aus dem Vlämischen übersetzt vonFranz A. Lambert(Leipzig, 1902).

A vigorous and accurate translation ofThe Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage,The Sparkling StoneandThe Book of Supreme Truth.

Ruysbroeck translates better into German than into any other language; and this volume is strongly recommended to all who can read that tongue.

Rusbrock l’Admirable: Œuvres Choisies. Traduit parE. Hello(Paris, 1902).

A series of short passages, paraphrased (nottranslated) from the Latin of Surius. There are two English versions of this unsatisfactory book, the second being the best:

Reflections from the Mirror of a Mystic.Translated byEarle Baillie(London, 1905).Flowers of a Mystic Garden.Translated by C. E. S. (London, 1912).

Reflections from the Mirror of a Mystic.Translated byEarle Baillie(London, 1905).

Flowers of a Mystic Garden.Translated by C. E. S. (London, 1912).

Life, Light, and Love: Selections from the German Mystics.By the Very Rev.W. R. Inge, D.D., Dean of St. Paul’s (London, 1905).

Contains an abridged version ofThe Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage.

(A Selection)

Auger, A.—De Doctrina et Meritis Joannis van Ruysbroeck(Louvain, 1892).Engelhardt, J. G. von.—Richard von St. Victor und J. Ruysbroeck(Erlangen, 1838).

Auger, A.—De Doctrina et Meritis Joannis van Ruysbroeck(Louvain, 1892).

Engelhardt, J. G. von.—Richard von St. Victor und J. Ruysbroeck(Erlangen, 1838).

Useful for tracing the correspondences between the Victorines and Ruysbroeck.

Maeterlinck, Maurice.—Ruysbroeck and the Mystics.Translated byJane Stoddart(London, 1908).

An English version of the Introduction toL’Ornement des Noces Spirituelles, above-mentioned; with many fine passages translated from Ruysbroeck’s other works.

Pomerius, H.—De Origine Monasterii Viridisvallis una cum Vitis Joannis Rusbrochii.

Printed inAnalecta Bollandiana, vol. iv. (Brussels, 1885). The chief authority for all biographical facts.

Scully, Dom Vincent.—A Mediæval Mystic(London, 1910).

A biographical account, founded on Pomerius, with a short analysis of Ruysbroeck’s works. Popular and uncritical.

Vreese, Dr. W. L. de.—Jean de Ruysbroeck(Biographie Nationale de Belgique, vol. xx.) (Brussels, 1907).

An important and authoritative article withanalysis of all Ruysbroeck’s works and full bibliography.

——Bijdragen tot de Kennis van het Leven en de Werken van Jan van Ruusbroec(Gent, 1896).

Contains Gerard Naghel’s sketch of Ruysbroeck’s life, with other useful material.

——De Handschriften van Jan van Ruusbroec’s Werken.2 vols. (Gent, 1900).

An important and scholarly study of the manuscript sources by the greatest living authority.

Notices of Ruysbroeck will be found in the following works:—

Auger, A.—Étude sur les Mystiques des Pays Bas au Moyen Age(Académie Royale de Belgique, vol. xlvi., 1892).Fleming, W. K.—Mysticism in Christianity(London, 1913).Inge, Very Rev. W. R., D.D., Dean of St. Paul’s.—Christian Mysticism(London, 1899).Jones, Dr.Rufus M.—Studies in Mystical Religion(London, 1909).

Auger, A.—Étude sur les Mystiques des Pays Bas au Moyen Age(Académie Royale de Belgique, vol. xlvi., 1892).

Fleming, W. K.—Mysticism in Christianity(London, 1913).

Inge, Very Rev. W. R., D.D., Dean of St. Paul’s.—Christian Mysticism(London, 1899).

Jones, Dr.Rufus M.—Studies in Mystical Religion(London, 1909).

Applications of his doctrine to the spiritual life in:—

Baker, VenerableAugustin.—Holy Wisdom; or Directions for the Prayer of Contemplation(London, 1908).Blosius, F. V.—Book of Spiritual Instruction(London, 1900);A Mirror for Monks(London, 1901);Comfort for the Faint-hearted(London, 1903);Sanctuary of the Faithful Soul(London, 1905).Denis the Carthusian.—Opera Omnia(Monstrolii, 1896), in progress.Petersen, Gerlac.—The Fiery Soliloquy with God(London, 1872).Poulain, Aug., S.J.—The Graces of Interior Prayer(London, 1910).Underhill, E.—Mysticism, 5th ed. (London, 1914).

Baker, VenerableAugustin.—Holy Wisdom; or Directions for the Prayer of Contemplation(London, 1908).

Blosius, F. V.—Book of Spiritual Instruction(London, 1900);A Mirror for Monks(London, 1901);Comfort for the Faint-hearted(London, 1903);Sanctuary of the Faithful Soul(London, 1905).

Denis the Carthusian.—Opera Omnia(Monstrolii, 1896), in progress.

Petersen, Gerlac.—The Fiery Soliloquy with God(London, 1872).

Poulain, Aug., S.J.—The Graces of Interior Prayer(London, 1910).

Underhill, E.—Mysticism, 5th ed. (London, 1914).

Much light is thrown on Ruysbroeck’s doctrine by a study of the authors who influenced him; especially:

St. Augustine;Migne,P.L., xxvii.-xlvii.; Eng. Trans., edited byM. Dods(Edinburgh, 1876).Dionysius the Areopagite;Migne,P.G., iii., iv.; Eng. Trans., byParker(Oxford, 1897).HughandRichard of St. Victor;Migne,P.L., clxxv.-clxxvii. and cxcvi.St. Bernard;Migne,P.L., clxxxii.-clxxxv.; Eng. Trans., byEales(London, 1889-96).St. Thomas Aquinas;Opera(Romæ, 1882-1906); Eng. Trans., by theDominican Fathers(in progress).St. Bonaventura;Opera(Paris, 1864-71).MeisterEckhart;Schriften und Predigten(Leipzig, 1903).Suso;Schriften, ed.Denifle(Munich, 1876). Eng. Trans.,Life, ed. byW. R. Inge(London, 1913);Book of Eternal Wisdom(London, 1910).Tauler,Predigten(Prague, 1872); Eng. Trans.,Twenty-five Sermons, trans. byWinkworth(London, 1906);The Inner Way, edited byA. W. Hutton(London, 1909).

St. Augustine;Migne,P.L., xxvii.-xlvii.; Eng. Trans., edited byM. Dods(Edinburgh, 1876).

Dionysius the Areopagite;Migne,P.G., iii., iv.; Eng. Trans., byParker(Oxford, 1897).

HughandRichard of St. Victor;Migne,P.L., clxxv.-clxxvii. and cxcvi.

St. Bernard;Migne,P.L., clxxxii.-clxxxv.; Eng. Trans., byEales(London, 1889-96).

St. Thomas Aquinas;Opera(Romæ, 1882-1906); Eng. Trans., by theDominican Fathers(in progress).

St. Bonaventura;Opera(Paris, 1864-71).

MeisterEckhart;Schriften und Predigten(Leipzig, 1903).

Suso;Schriften, ed.Denifle(Munich, 1876). Eng. Trans.,Life, ed. byW. R. Inge(London, 1913);Book of Eternal Wisdom(London, 1910).

Tauler,Predigten(Prague, 1872); Eng. Trans.,Twenty-five Sermons, trans. byWinkworth(London, 1906);The Inner Way, edited byA. W. Hutton(London, 1909).

[1]TheVitaof Pomerius is printed in theAnalecta Bollandiana, vol. iv. pp. 257 ff.[2]The Book of Supreme Truth, cap. iv.[3]The Twelve Béguines, cap. vii.[4]Vita, cap. xv.[5]De Vreese has identified 160 Flemish and 46 Latin MSS. of Ruysbroeck.[6]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxxvii.[7]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xiv.[8]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxxvii.[9]Op. cit.,ibid.[10]The Seven Degrees of Love, cap. xiv.[11]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xxix.[12]The Mirror of Eternal Salvation, cap. viii.[13]The Twelve Béguines, cap. ix.[14]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xiv.[15]The Book of Truth, cap. xi.[16]The Mirror of Eternal Salvation, cap. xvii.[17]Op. cit., cap. vii.[18]The Sparkling Stone, cap. x.[19]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xiv.[20]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xiii.[21]The Seven Degrees of Love, cap. xiv.[22]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. iii. cap. i.[23]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.[24]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xii.[25]The Twelve Béguines, cap. viii.[26]The Seven Degrees of Love, cap. i.[27]The Mirror of Eternal Salvation, cap. xvi.[28]The Sparkling Stone, cap. vi.[29]The Mirror of Eternal Salvation, cap. vii.[30]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. i. cap. xiv.[31]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. i. capp. xii.-xxiv.[32]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xviii.[33]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. i. cap. xxvi.[34]The Twelve Béguines, cap. vii.[35]The Sparkling Stone, cap. vii.[36]The Twelve Béguines, cap. ix.[37]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. iv.[38]Cf.The Twelve Béguines, cap. x.[39]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xix.;The Book of Truth, cap. ix.[40]The Seven Degrees of Love, cap. xiv.[41]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xx.[42]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxiii.[43]Op. cit., lib. ii. cap. xxvii.[44]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxiv.[45]Richard Rolle;The Mending of Life, cap. xii. (Harford’s edition, p. 82).[46]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xxv.[47]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxviii.[48]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxix.[49]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ii.[50]Cp.The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. lvii.[51]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxxvi.[52]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxxviii.[53]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxxix.[54]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ii.[55]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xi.[56]Loc. cit.[57]St. Augustine,Confessions, lib. vii. cap. x.[58]St. Augustine,Confessions, lib. vii. capp. xvii. and xx.[59]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xii.[60]Loc. cit.[61]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xxxiv.[62]The Seven Cloisters, cap. xix.[63]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xii.[64]The Mirror of Eternal Salvation, cap. xvii.[65]The Sparkling Stone, cap. iii.[66]Cap. viii.: ‘Of the Difference between the Secret Friends and the Hidden Sons of God.’[67]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xii.[68]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.[69]The Seven Cloisters, cap. xix.[70]The Sparkling Stone, cap. viii.[71]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ix.[72]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers; cap. xxxiii.[73]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ix.; cp. alsoThe Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.[74]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.[75]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ix.; cp. alsoThe Book of Truth, cap. xii.[76]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xxxi.[77]The Book of Truth, cap. xii.[78]The Sparkling Stone, cap. x.[79]Op. cit.cap. ix.[80]The Imitation of Christ, lib. iii. cap. xxiii.[81]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xiv., andThe Sparkling Stone, cap. ix.[82]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.[83]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ix.; cp.The Book of Truth, cap. xi.[84]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.[85]Ibid.cap. xiv.; cp. St. Bernard,De Diligendo Deo, cap. x. The same image is found in St. Macarius and many other writers.[86]The Sparkling Stone, cap. xii.[87]The Sparkling Stone, cap. x.[88]The Sparkling Stone, cap. x.[89]Op. cit.cap. xii.[90]Op. cit.cap. xiii.; cp. alsoThe Seven Degrees, cap. xiv.[91]The Sparkling Stone, cap. xiv.[92]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. iii. cap. v.

[1]TheVitaof Pomerius is printed in theAnalecta Bollandiana, vol. iv. pp. 257 ff.

[2]The Book of Supreme Truth, cap. iv.

[3]The Twelve Béguines, cap. vii.

[4]Vita, cap. xv.

[5]De Vreese has identified 160 Flemish and 46 Latin MSS. of Ruysbroeck.

[6]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxxvii.

[7]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xiv.

[8]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxxvii.

[9]Op. cit.,ibid.

[10]The Seven Degrees of Love, cap. xiv.

[11]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xxix.

[12]The Mirror of Eternal Salvation, cap. viii.

[13]The Twelve Béguines, cap. ix.

[14]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xiv.

[15]The Book of Truth, cap. xi.

[16]The Mirror of Eternal Salvation, cap. xvii.

[17]Op. cit., cap. vii.

[18]The Sparkling Stone, cap. x.

[19]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xiv.

[20]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xiii.

[21]The Seven Degrees of Love, cap. xiv.

[22]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. iii. cap. i.

[23]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.

[24]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xii.

[25]The Twelve Béguines, cap. viii.

[26]The Seven Degrees of Love, cap. i.

[27]The Mirror of Eternal Salvation, cap. xvi.

[28]The Sparkling Stone, cap. vi.

[29]The Mirror of Eternal Salvation, cap. vii.

[30]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. i. cap. xiv.

[31]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. i. capp. xii.-xxiv.

[32]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xviii.

[33]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. i. cap. xxvi.

[34]The Twelve Béguines, cap. vii.

[35]The Sparkling Stone, cap. vii.

[36]The Twelve Béguines, cap. ix.

[37]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. iv.

[38]Cf.The Twelve Béguines, cap. x.

[39]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xix.;The Book of Truth, cap. ix.

[40]The Seven Degrees of Love, cap. xiv.

[41]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xx.

[42]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxiii.

[43]Op. cit., lib. ii. cap. xxvii.

[44]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxiv.

[45]Richard Rolle;The Mending of Life, cap. xii. (Harford’s edition, p. 82).

[46]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xxv.

[47]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxviii.

[48]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxix.

[49]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ii.

[50]Cp.The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. lvii.

[51]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxxvi.

[52]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxxviii.

[53]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. ii. cap. xxxix.

[54]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ii.

[55]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xi.

[56]Loc. cit.

[57]St. Augustine,Confessions, lib. vii. cap. x.

[58]St. Augustine,Confessions, lib. vii. capp. xvii. and xx.

[59]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xii.

[60]Loc. cit.

[61]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xxxiv.

[62]The Seven Cloisters, cap. xix.

[63]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xii.

[64]The Mirror of Eternal Salvation, cap. xvii.

[65]The Sparkling Stone, cap. iii.

[66]Cap. viii.: ‘Of the Difference between the Secret Friends and the Hidden Sons of God.’

[67]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xii.

[68]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.

[69]The Seven Cloisters, cap. xix.

[70]The Sparkling Stone, cap. viii.

[71]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ix.

[72]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers; cap. xxxiii.

[73]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ix.; cp. alsoThe Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.

[74]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.

[75]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ix.; cp. alsoThe Book of Truth, cap. xii.

[76]The Kingdom of God’s Lovers, cap. xxxi.

[77]The Book of Truth, cap. xii.

[78]The Sparkling Stone, cap. x.

[79]Op. cit.cap. ix.

[80]The Imitation of Christ, lib. iii. cap. xxiii.

[81]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xiv., andThe Sparkling Stone, cap. ix.

[82]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.

[83]The Sparkling Stone, cap. ix.; cp.The Book of Truth, cap. xi.

[84]The Twelve Béguines, cap. xvi.

[85]Ibid.cap. xiv.; cp. St. Bernard,De Diligendo Deo, cap. x. The same image is found in St. Macarius and many other writers.

[86]The Sparkling Stone, cap. xii.

[87]The Sparkling Stone, cap. x.

[88]The Sparkling Stone, cap. x.

[89]Op. cit.cap. xii.

[90]Op. cit.cap. xiii.; cp. alsoThe Seven Degrees, cap. xiv.

[91]The Sparkling Stone, cap. xiv.

[92]The Spiritual Marriage, lib. iii. cap. v.

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