BLESSED JAN VAN RUYSBROEK ~ ‘The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage’ – Chapter II – SHOWING HOW WE SHALL CONSIDER- pages 30-31
[BLESSED JAN VAN RUYSBROEK – XIII-XIV Century AD; Ruisbroek, Holy Roman Empire/ Groenendael, Holy Roman Empire; Mystic, Spiritual Writer, Doctor Divinus Ecstaticus]“CHAPTER II; SHOWING HOW WE SHALL CONSIDER THE COMING OF CHRIST IN THREE WAYS
Now, by saying: “The Bridegroom comes,” He shows us further what we will see. Christ, our Bridegroom, spoke this word in Latin: “Venit.” And this word implies two tenses, the past and the present; and yet here it denotes the future too.
And that is why we consider three comings of our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. In the first coming He became man, for man's sake, out of love. The second coming takes place daily, often and many times, in every loving heart, with new graces and with new gifts, as each is able to receive them. The third coming we will see as the coming in the Judgement, or at the hour of death. And in all these comings there are three things to be considered: the reason, the inward way, and the outward work.
The reason God created the angels and man was His unfathomable goodness and nobleness whereby He willed to do it; that the bliss and the richness which He is Himself might be revealed to thinking creatures, so that they might taste Him in time, and enjoy Him outside time in eternity.
The reason God became man was His incomprehensible love, and the need of all men; for man had been corrupted by the Fall, and could not amend himself. But the reason Christ, according to His Godhead and according to His manhood, did all His works on earth, is fourfold: His Divine love which is without measure; The created love, called charity, which He had in His soul through union with the Eternal Word and through the perfect gift of His Father; The great need of man; and The glory of His Father.
These are the reasons for the coming of Christ our Bridegroom, and for all His works, both outward and inward.
Now, if we would follow Christ our Bridegroom in virtue, so far as we are able, we must consider how He was inwardly, and what He did outwardly; that is to say, His virtues and the deeds of these virtues.
How He was according to His Godhead, is inaccessible and incomprehensible to us; for according to that, He is born of the Father without ceasing, and the Father, in Him and through Him, knows, creates, orders and rules all things in heaven and on earth. For He is the Wisdom of the Father, and they breathe forth one Spirit, that is, one Love, which is a common bond between Them and all saints, and all good men in heaven and on earth. We will not speak any more of this condition; but we will speak of that condition which He had through Divine gifts and according to His created manhood. And this condition had many facets. For every inward virtue Christ possessed, he also had an inward condition: for every virtue has its special condition. The sum of the virtues and conditions in the soul of Christ, is above creaturely understanding and comprehension. But we will take three of them: humility, charity, and patient suffering, in inward and outward things. These are the three chief roots and beginnings of all virtues and all perfection.”
Image: Giovanni Battista (1509-69) ~ ‘Castello Genoa Duomo’ (St_Lawrence Cathedral) inside The Lercari Chapel
Music: Mario Lanza, ‘O Holy Night’
>>> youtube.com/watch?v=_Yyy2ujhCbU