The soul "who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit with Him. . . The soul is altogether melted into him whom she loves and is herself fainting away. . . . when in this way the soul has been reduced in the divine fire, softened to the very core, and wholly melted, nothing is wanting except that she should be shown what is God's goodwill, all-pleasing and perfect . . . to which she must be conformed. For just as metal workers, when the metals are melted and the moulds set out, shape any form according to their will and produce any vessel according to the manner and mould that has been planned, so the soul applies herself in this degree to be readily at the beck and call of the divine will; indeed, she adapts herself with spontaneous desire to every demand of God. . . And as liquefied metal runs down easily wherever a passage is opened, so the soul humbles herself spontaneously to be obedient in this way. . . In this state, the image of the will of Christ is set before the soul so that these words come to her: 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus . . .' "
Richard of St. Vicor in An Anthology of Christian Mysticism.
2 comments:
The intensity of this reading is such that my mind "hurts" a little at re-reading it several times. The beauty of the metal following the crevices of the mould is understandable - the becoming all in Christ - although most desirable is so beyond what we can ever attain. Although that goal is not erased just because it seems unlikely to ever "become".....
I know what ya mean. Oddly, it is one of my favorites.
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