Crooked Finger (crookedfingers) wrote,
Crooked Finger
crookedfingers
  • Mood: contemplative
  • Music: Thorston Moore 'The Best Day'

the wonder of interior contemplation

"9. For there is no physical nature to form an obstacle to spiritual nature, so God talks to the holy angels by the very same act through which he shows them his invisible and hidden reality in their hearts. In other words, they understand what they ought to do in their act of contemplation of truth; the very joy they experience in contemplation is a kind of vocal command. The inspired vision becomes a word that is heard. And so when God inspired in their hearts an oracle of vengeance against human pride, he said, "Come, let us go down there and confuse their language." His faithful ones are told, "Come." For the act of never leaving the contemplation of God, means, indeed, always growing in that contemplation; the heart that never forsakes him is in a state of constant movement toward him, always coming. And so he tells them, "Let us go down there and confuse their language." The angels go up in the act of severely repressing the creatures who are arrogating to themselves what does not belong to them. Therefore, to say "Let us go down there and confuse their language" is to show the angels in their hearts what should really be done; the power of their interior vision inspires their minds to perform an act of judgment by hidden ways.
10. The angels speak to God in a different way, as we are told in the Apocalypse of Saint John: they say, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, divinity, and wisdom." For the voice of the angels raised in praise of the Creator is, in fact, the wonder of interior contemplation. Having become speechless before the miracles of the power of God means that one has said that one's heart has experienced emotions with reverence, and the sound of these voices is loud to the ears of the unembodied spirit. This voice is, as it were, made up of individual words, although it is formed from innumerable kinds of wonder. Therefore, God speaks to the angels when he reveals his will to their deepest selves in contemplation. The angels, on the other hand, speak to God when, contemplating what is above them, they rise up in the act of wonder." pg. 125, 126 Gregory the Great "Moral Reflections on the Book of Job" Volume 1 "Preface and Books 1-5"
Subscribe

  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    switch
    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    Help
  • 0 comments