ST BERNARDINE OF SIENA O.F.M
INTRODUCTORY NOTES
The Background and Sources of St Bernardine’s Treatise
St Bernardine of Siena was born at Massa Maritima on September 8, 1380 and died at Aquila on May 20, 1444. Preaching on his birthday in 1427, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his reception into the Franciscan Order, he told his audience that his name venerated the memory of St Bernard who had such great love for the Virgin Mary. There is no doubt that St Bernardine himself was a great apostle and preacher of love.
However, it is also a fact that he considered prudence and discernment to be of such outstanding importance in the spiritual life that he wrote a special treatise on the subject. For Bernardine the highest expression of love of God was to be found in following the will of God and not in indulging some personal impulse. He insisted on this in two of his Lenten sermons that were taken down and translated into Latin by the notary Daniel de Purziliis in 1423 at Padua. He returned to this theme in sermons that he preached in Florence on the Friday and Saturday of Septuagesima in 1425 and which he repeated at Siena in 1427.
The first draft of the three sermons that comprise the Treatise on Inspirations can be found in the Saint’s handwriting in Codex U. III. 1. (fol. 91 v-94v) of the Municipal Library at Siena. The work did not reach its final form until 1444.
No doubt much of the motivation to write such a Treatise came from Bernardine’s background and his personal experience of conflict and division within Church structures and allegiances. The Great Western Schism (1378-1417), which at its worst saw three pretenders to the Papacy, was still fresh in the experience of his contemporaries. Although largely political in its motivation, it demonstrated the pressures of discernment that fall upon the individual conscience when even the elect might be deceived.
In addition to this, much of the stimulation towards reform in the Church was generated by belief in the imminence of the final spiritual crisis in God’s plan of salvation. Many preachers and commentators on salvation history made Apocalyptic predictions based on concordances between the Old and the New Testaments as explained by the twelfth century Calabrian Abbot Joachim of Fiore (c.1135-1202), in which they associated Biblical figures, chiefly taken from the The Revelation to John, with historical personages and events. The impulse to read the signs of the times as indications of the dawn of a new age surfaces regularly throughout history.[1] As H. Wayne Pipkin has pointed out, what these attempts to read the signs of the times have in common is that they assert the presence of God in the historical process, and they frequently emerge at times of social and religious change. The institutional Church usually rejects them, not only because they challenge its authoritative teaching, but also because, at times, they become a projection of one’s own needs in the face of disappointment and failure.[2]
It is not easy for our minds, impregnated as they are with the ideal of continual progress, to sympathise with the thought pattern of the late Middle Ages that saw history as a process of crises and recoveries, decadences and reforms. By the end of the fourteenth century people were haunted by the thought of the imminent advent of the Antichrist and the end of the world. Such fear was associated with the Great Schism and its strife and political turmoil and with the famine and pestilence that devastated the countryside. Preachers of the period, such as St. Vincent Ferrer (+ 1419), used the anxiety of the people to promote their mission. During a missionary tour around Lombardy in about 1420, St. Bernardine opposed his confrčre Manfred of Vercelli for presuming to know more than God had revealed to Jesus Christ.[3]
As a consequence of this apocalyptic climate, in addition to the dismay caused by moral decadence of the day, there was confusion with respect to spiritual insights and inspirations. Some of those who came in contact with the apocalyptic exegesis offered by Joachim of Fiore drew heretical conclusions from his premises. Others, notably among Franciscans, St Bonaventure, were ambivalent towards the Abbot being attracted by the theory of concordances according to which the experiences of God’s mercy to his people as recorded in the Old Testament were a basis for predicting his mercy for the future, but being tentative about stating that such predictions could be verified in particular personages or events. At times the temptation to indulge in proclaiming fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecy was too great to resist. The Revelation to John held out the prospect of a happy ending to God’s plan for the salvation of the world. In spite of the obvious evil in the world, a second change for reform would be offered. Bonaventure saw St. Francis as the herald of a second chance for reform, and he identified him as the Angel of the Sixth Seal. But the Franciscan Cardinal would not have wanted to say that Francis would replace the Pope as leader of God’s people. Obviously preaching such matters called for prudence, discretion and discernment.
In her treatment of the legacy of Joachim of Fiore, Dr Marjorie Reeves, among others, alludes to Bernardine’s impatience with those who make rash predictions.[4] Bernardine pleads for reason to prevail. Both in The Treatise and in the vernacular sermon 28, given in Siena in 1428, he relates an incident that happened on October 11, 1412:
In our own lifetime, a certain man in the Marche who led a solitary and eremitical life, was seduced by the devil, and himself a seducer, persuaded a great number of men and women to enter the sea as nude as they came from the mother’s womb; the sea was to open for them so that with dry feet they might cross to the promised land.[5]
Dr Reeves also indicates another passage from our Treatise in which Bernardine agrees with David of Augsburg in being ‘almost sickened by prophecies’.[6] People who seek after such prophecies are anxious to know what the Lord did not wish to reveal.
There is ample evidence for Bernardine of the need for a treatise on discernment both because of indiscretions in the public life of the Church and in the private lives of Church members.
Bernardine’s loathing for false claims of revelations did not dampen his thirst for the investigation of genuine revelations. After some initial doubts he developed a profound respect for Mathias of Sweden (c. 1281-1352), the confessor of Bridget of Sweden and went to the trouble of dispatching two friars to that country in search of a copy of Mathias’ Expositio super Apocalypsim.[7]
This little known Master was born no later than 1281 and died of the plague according to one tradition in 1350 or in 1352 according to another tradition. He was confessor to St Bridget from either 1316 or 1343 until she went to Rome in 1349. Bridget called him ‘a holy man, spiritually powerful in word and deed’.[8] He was an accomplished spiritual director and an enlightened exegete of Scripture. He translated the contents of Bridget’s revelations into Latin and consigned them to the Swedish Bishops for their scrutiny. His Commentary on the The Revelation to John has come down to us in sixteen codices found in Italy, Germany and Sweden.
Bernardine had come across an unfinished copy of this Commentary at the Monastery of the Order of St Bridget in Florence and thought so highly of its author as to refer to him as ‘my Doctor’. The ideas of this Canon from Lincöping in Switzerland became one of the main sources of Bernardine’s preaching and writing. Mathias believed that before the coming of the Antichrist there would not only be a period of moral degeneration but a ‘great silence’ (Rev 8:1) which Bernardine understood as when the word of God would not be preached or when preachers would preach themselves rather than God.[9] It was imperative for Bernardine that he preach constantly. It was his mission from God.
At one time Bernardine was thought to have written a Commentary on the The Revelation to John, but Dionisio Pacetti has shown that the comments in the margin of the text of the Commentary on the The Revelation to John in the manuscript in the National Library of Naples, although written in Bernardine’s hand, are to be attributed to Mathias of Sweden.[10] Bernardine in fact marked them “M” and anything he added himself “b”. The early false attribution shows how Bernardine was deeply impressed by the The Revelation to John as is evident especially in his preaching.
Having now reached the borders of private revelation and interpretation Bernardine profited from the balance and sanity in Mathias of Sweden’s admonitions concerning patience, moderation and prudence, all of which comes through in his Treatise on Inspirations. Bernardine was committed to investigating the rules for the discernment of inspirations. In one of the famous artistic representations of Bernardine by Simondio Salimbene (1597-1643), which hangs in the gallery in Siena, the Saint is represented with a balance hanging from his cord.
Although his main source in doctrine was Mathias of Sweden, Bernardine also looked to authors such as Jerome, Augustine, St Bernard, Alexander of Hales, Bonaventure, St Thomas, and Scotus in his search for balance. In the Franciscan school he followed David of Augsburg (+ 1271), Peter John Olivi (1248-1228) and in particular Ugo Panziera (+1330) in the development of his argument. He drew heavily on the scholastic schema of the latter, to put order into the material that he had gathered, as is evident in the footnotes to the text, but he felt free to adapt the plan to accommodate his own needs.[11]
Outline of the Treatise on Inspirations
According to St Bernardine the reason for writing the Treatise on Inspirations was because at times vice may appear as virtue and there is a need for the spiritual person to have foresight in this matter. Hence an amount of caution will lead to healthy prudence.
SECTION 1
The work examines the types or divisions of inspirations, how inspirations are hidden, and how inspirations work.
With respect to a definition St Bernardine accepts that an inspiration is a certain stirring of the mind to do something that is either morally meritorious, or evil, or indifferent.
Considering inspirations from the point of view of their origins, they are derived from seven causes; God, Angels, a person’s own virtue, the Devil, a person’s own malice, human needs and human habit. These causes may be divided into three groups; morally good inspirations, morally bad inspirations and morally indifferent inspirations.
God, Angels or the person’s own virtuous disposition cause morally good inspirations according to St. Bernardine. In chapter one he describes how God is the author of all inspirations and that he may act directly or through a medium, especially when there are obstacles to inspiration.
In chapter two he explains how Angels play a part in inspirations by enlightening, enflaming and enabling the person. However, he cites Alexander of Hales to assert the freedom of the human will in the implementation of all inspiration. In fact the angelic activity is mostly concerned with the removal of hindrances to the reception of inspiration. In the work of enlightenment angels remove the hindrances caused by human corruption and the influence of the devil. In the work of enflaming they do not produce good thoughts but assist the will in being receptive to them. In the work of enabling they produce images, for example, dreams which convey inspirations to the person. Fourthly, they reveal to the person our fourfold inclination to evil and make the person more disposed to prudence.
St Bernardine deals briefly with the virtuous disposition in a person that gives rise to good inspirations in chapter three.
He then takes up the matter of bad inspirations and how they may be caused by the Devil (ch 4) or by one’s own malice (ch 5). Again St. Bernardine begins by citing Alexander of Hales asserting the human being is always free even in the face of diabolical suggestions. The Devil may work externally to predispose a person to evil. Indeed he describes how sometimes such suggestions are ‘inaudible speech’. At other times there may be a personal attack through the medium of images or of the external senses. Diabolical activity may involve any of the four following deceptions: advising good for an evil purpose, advising evil as if it were good, advising a good that is dangerous, advising against an evil to achieve something worse.
In describing the cause of bad inspirations from one’s own malice, Bernardine cites Augustine, Alexander of Hales and Mark’s passage concerning evils that come from a person’s heart.
SECTION 2
The Difficulty of Discerning Impulses Whose Origin is Hidden
Because of its hidden nature discerning the origin of inspirations is difficult and sometimes impossible, since, although they may originate in God, Angels, one’s own virtue or even the Devil, the process of their commencement, continuance and conclusion appears the same (ch 1). Nor does one always recognize the origin of inspirations that come from one’s own malice (ch 2). It is equally difficult to identify the origin of inspirations that come from a basic human need and distinguish them from inspirations that come from human habits that have created a craving or addiction (ch 3).
SECTION 3
Some inspirations are concerned with something delightful, others with something painful and others with something that is both delightful and painful.
Among inspirations that are concerned with an object that is delightful, this object might be delightful to the soul, to the body or to both the soul and the body, while the consequences of following such an inspiration might be either harmful or advantageous. Our Lord says: Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me [Mt 10:37]. However, it is advantageous to love creatures for the sake of the one who made them. Indulgence in bodily sense pleasures may also be for an evil purpose or a good purpose; for example, recognising that God’s creation gives joy. In the latter case both the spiritual and sensual enjoyment is good.
Chapters six and seven treat of inspirations that though morally indifferent may be either good or bad according to the circumstances in which they are put into action. These may arise from a purely human need (ch 6) such as hunger or thirst, or from a human habit that creates a need (ch 7) such as consumerism.
Life
Bernardine was born at Massa Maritima, in the territory of Siena, on September 8, 1380 to Tollo degli Albizzeschi and Nera degli Avveduti. At the time Siena, a town slightly removed from the main highways of commerce, might be characterized as being rather conservative in its religious outlook. It was not enthused by the veneration of antiquity common in some places at this time. The piety of the 1300’s still prevailed. A statue of Venus that had been discovered in 1345 and carried in triumph to adorn the Fonte Gaia was violently torn down twelve years later as a pagan image that would bring a curse upon the town.
Bernardine’s mother died when he was three and his father died when he was six. So his upbringing was confided to an aunt, Diana, until she died in 1391 when he was 11, after which he was taken to paternal relatives, Pia degli Albizzeschi, Tobia and Bartolomea dei Totomei, in Siena. In a sermon he described himself as having a light-hearted childhood[12], and when someone suggested that he would become a friar he made fun of the suggestion and of the friars.[13] He undertook the studies of trivium under Onofrio da Sora and of quadrivium under Giovanni da Spoleto. About this time he joined the lay Company of the Disciplinati at Santa Maria della Scala. On the arrival of the plague in the Jubilee Year of 1400 he helped the sick for four months and then became ill himself.
As he recovered he began to read the Epistle of St James, and withdrawing into himself, Bernardine was attracted to the life of a hermit. One taste of their food, as he recalls himself, changed his mind about following that vocation.[14] He turned towards the Franciscan Observants and entered the Novitiate in Colombaio where Gionanni da Stroncone, the disciple of Paoluccio Trinci, was Guardian. At Colombaio and subsequently at Capriola Bernardine studied, painted and worked as a bricklayer. He lived a hidden life at Capriola for twelve years and during that time formed his theological outlook by long meditations and use of the ample library at Siena. It was at this time that Bernardine read and commented upon the The Revelation to John, interpreting it according to the tradition of his Order. There is no doubt that the Observant Reform of the Franciscan Order held certain things in common with the Spirituals. It is much more difficult to assess how much the ideas of Joachim of Fiore and the Joachimists filtered through to the Observants by way of the Spirituals. Marjorie Reeves has pointed out that Bernardine used Joachim of Fiore as the first witness that the Angel of the Sixth Seal in the The Revelation to John was St. Francis, and that he followed the Joachimist divisions of history when he claimed that the sixth status of the Church began with Francis.[15] In his early sermons, for example, in the Advent sermons preached at Genoa probably in 1418, Bernardine drew on the Arbor Vitae Crucifixae by Ubertino da Casale who expounded the Joachimist view of history. However, in the treatise that we are considering, Bernardine appears to be annoyed by prophecies.
Many are seduced, convinced that what they thought or what the spirit of error suggested to them, came from the Holy Spirit. So we are almost sickened by prophecies; as, for example, on the coming of Antichrist, signs of imminent judgement, the persecution and reform of the Church, and so on; even serious and devout people have accepted more than they should, drawing various interpretations from the writings of Joachim and other prophets, even if these were true and authentic, there are many other things which the servants of God can find, with which to be occupied gainfully. The Lord Jesus Christ, Acts 1:7, reprimanded in many ways those discerning the times with curiosity: ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father had set by his own’, not by our, ‘authority’.[16]
This quote is part of Bernardine’s exposition of the seventh rule for good discernment and is meant to illustrate how humility is required in the discernment of spirits. This turn towards what is reasonable and balanced in interpreting spiritual impulses developed in Bernardine through his experience of life. While admitting that spiritual impulses and divine inspiration are plausible and authentic parts of the spiritual life, Bernardine insists that they be subjected to very strict discernment. Like Bonaventure and many other Franciscan spiritual writers, Bernardine was ambivalent towards Joachimism. As Marjorie Reeves points out a mixture of attraction and repulsion is evident in his Expositio in Apocalypsim, where, for example, he quotes, without acknowledgement the little-known work of Joachim De Septem Sigilis[17]
Wadding very clearly describes Bernardine’s attitude towards discerning the inspirations that God sends when he tells of how he was called to preach in Lombardy.[18] After recounting the legend of how Bernardine heard a voice calling him, Wadding says that he sought counsel from those around him as Francis had sought counsel from Clare and Sylvester when choosing between a contemplative and active life. There is no denial of inspiration but a common sense and balanced approach to discernment.
In his theology Bernardine holds that the Incarnation is motivated by God’s love. Although sin was part of history it did not change history, in so far as Christ would have come as the King of creation whether man had sinned or not. The centrality of Christ in this plan was the basis of Bernardine’s preaching on the Holy Name, for which he became famous.
The years 1417-1429 were the most important for Bernardine’s preaching. He took into account the Great Schism that gave him ample scope for meditating on the process of discernment in spiritual matters. The last 15 years of his life were spent in writing and in administrative posts in the Order. Bernardine died near Aquila in 1444, having set out, in spite of his frailty, to evangelize the Kingdom of Naples.
Bernardine’s writings include the Lenten courses: De christiana religione, and De evangelio aeterno: his tracts: De beata Virgine, De beatitudinibus evangelicis, De Spiritu Sancto, De vita christiana, and De inspirationibus; and two series of sermons; Extraordinari and De tempore.
One of the characteristics of Bernardine’s approach is his emphasis on maintaining a balance in the spiritual life and thus he identifies prudence with spiritual discernment. Concern for balance would have also grown out of the experience of the many spiritual trends that he observed in the turbulent spiritual climate of the day, such as the Waldensians, the Nicolites, the followers of Fra Dolcino and of Manfred of Vercelli, the followers of Joachim of Fiore, and the uncertainties of the Great Schism. On the positive side although Bernardine is not original in his theology, his contribution lies in the conviction with which he presents his subject and the selection of the material that he welds into a unity. Never afraid to learn from others, he gleans his doctrine from St. Paul, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Bernard, the Victorines, Alexander of Hales, St Bonaventure, Scotus, Mattia di Svezia, David of Augsburg, Peter John Olivi and
Ugo Panziera.
Thoughts on the Treatise on Inspirations
For St Bernardine, as for all Franciscans, the spiritual life is the process of cultivating awareness of the presence of the loving God. In the Treatise, in fact, he defines personal virtue as the habit of love in the soul. Like Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), who died just when Bernardine was born, Bernardine believed that the capacity for discernment depends on charity.[19] It involves making choices. For Thomas Aquinas it is part of the gift of wisdom, knowledge infused by the Holy Spirit through union of love with God.[20] He explains that wisdom may be generated by the perfect use of reason and by an experience of what is good, a taste for what is right, that is almost a natural instinct. It is the latter type, which is a gift from God, which concerns us here. St Thomas then debates whether such wisdom is possible without grace. Although Bernardine develops his treatment of discernment by means of tedious divisions and subdivisions common among Scholastics, what Paul VI said when he proclaimed St Catherine of Siena a Doctor of the Church, might equally be applied to St Bernardine;
What strikes us most about the Saint is her infused wisdom. That is to say, lucid, profound and inebriating absorption of the divine truths and the mysteries of the faith contained in the Holy Books of the Old and New Testaments. That assimilation was most certainly favoured by most singular natural gifts, but it was also something evidently prodigious, due to the charism of wisdom from the Holy Spirit, a mystic charism.[21]
The originality of Bernardine’s Treatise does not lie in its content, since he is deeply indebted to his sources. It lies rather is his selection and arrangement of what he discovered in his sources. It is interesting to note that there are significantly more Scripture quotes from the Hebrew Scriptures compared to quotes from the Christian Scriptures (150 (55%) – 121 (45%)). The most frequently cited Book of Scripture is the Book of Psalms (63 (23%)) followed by the Gospel of Matthew (23), the Gospel of Luke (15), the Letter to the Romans (12), Proverbs (12), Sirach (11), the Gospel of John (11), First Corinthians (11), the Book of Revelation (10). Overall the Pauline Epistles are cited 43 (15%) times and thus are the second highest source of Scripture, following the Psalms, in the Treatise.
Following Ugo Pantiera, St Bernardine states that all spiritual impulses or inspirations have their origin in God, the Angels or our own needs or habits. However, they do not subject us to any compulsion and we always retain our freedom to follow or reject them. In fact our control over our spiritual impulses or inspirations is best demonstrated by our responsibility to be discerning in following their suggestions. Even impulses that originate in God need to be assessed carefully because we could be deceived concerning their divine source, for even though evil spirits cannot send evil inspirations they can incite them through producing images, and internal and external temptations through the senses. He cites the authority of Gennadius:
Not all of our bad thoughts are stirred by the action of the devil, but at times they emerge from our own thinking. Each has the power within, even when not tempted, to fall into sin. Falling into sin has its origin in evil thoughts, and so evil thoughts have their origin in one’s own malice.[22]
As much as St Bernardine is interested in the source of inspiration, he is equally interested in qualities of the recipient, especially free will and temperament. With respect to the will Bernardine says that only God can change the will to what He wants with the will still remaining free. In support of this he quotes Psalm 135: 6: Whatever the Lord pleases he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He interprets the zones mentioned in the text to include a person’s soul. Bernardine goes on to explain that God does this by either straightforward revelation, or infusing virtues into the faculties of the soul, or by alerting the intellect, memory or will to something that is useful for salvation, or by having the person meet someone who is a capable spiritual director, or by bringing a passage of Scripture to a person’s attention, or by having a person hear a story that makes an impression on him.
With respect to temperament Bernardine says that there are personal tendencies or traits that predispose a person to being sensitive to inspirations. People who are engrossed in material concerns have no time for reflecting on the sublime. He takes the psychological aspects of personality very seriously citing Scripture, philosophy and science in support of what he says. He cites the Book of Proverbs: A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his own opinion [18:2]. He then uses Galens’ (130-200) categories of temperament in describing predispositions to spirituality in a person. Following Galen, who was raised in a dysfunctional family where his mother was continually arguing with his father, Bernardine insists that a phlegmatic temperament is of no help to the faculties of the soul. This proposition is consonant with the advice given in the Gospel that if you are bringing your gift to the altar and remember you have something against your neighbour go and be reconciled with your neighbour before offering the gift. On the other hand he invokes Aristotle in support of the position that a melancholic temperament is disposed to receive inspirations. His reason for drawing this conclusion is based upon his assumption that people with such a disposition are introverts, or as he puts it, ‘more withdrawn from the pleasures of the body and from disturbances.’[23]
Consequent upon Bernardine’s belief that human beings can reach the spiritual sublime only through some sort of medium, he assigns a role to the Angels in communicating inspiration to them by illumining, inflaming, facilitating and revealing. As we have seen above evil spirits have a similar influence on human beings.
Bernardine concedes that human instincts, which are often involuntary, are morally neutral or indifferent. The manner in which a person expresses them is often shaped by one’s culture, by convention, or by one’s experience. These elements confer morality on the expression of human instincts and knowledge of their workings is required for discernment of impulses or inspirations. Bernardine is well aware of the turmoil in the human heart as a result of the conflict of drives within the human psyche. Towards the end of Section One he quotes the Prophet Isaiah using the image of the “tossing sea”.[24]
In Section Two, following Ugo Pantietra, Bernardine speaks of the kinds or divisions of inspirations admitting that it may be difficult to identify such distinctions in practice. With this he ends his treatment of inspirations from the point of view of their origin and goes on, in Section Three, to deals with the objectives of inspirations. He mentions three types of inspirations. Following some impulses will lead to a pleasurable experience, following others will lead to a painful experience and following others will lead to a mixture of pleasure and pain.
The pleasure that comes as a consequence of such impulses may be spiritual, physical or a mixture of both, and, of course, this may be either beneficial or harmful. It is in these chapters that Bernardine deals with human emotions and the discernment of the benefits they bring to the spiritual life. For example, involvement with the environment and with other people may give physical and spiritual pleasure, but to promote depth of spirituality one must strive to love them because they are God’s creatures and not only because they give human pleasure. In fact to follow an impulse to love creatures simply for the pleasure it gives might be spiritually harmful. Bernardine recommends that if we try to appreciate everything as a product of God’s goodness we shall derive benefit for our spiritual life. To illustrate the harm that can come from following an impulse for pleasure Bernardine quotes the Book of Job:
They sing to the tambourine and the lyre, and rejoice to the sound of the pipe, that is, in temporal goods, in prosperity and earthly pleasure; and in peace they go down to Sheol. [Job 21:12-13].
To illustrate the good that can come from contemplating creation he quotes St Paul:
Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. [Rom 1:20].
As we are concerned here primarily with the Treatise on Inspirations it is appropriate to say something about its content and division. The theme of discovering the will of God is part of his early preaching, for example at Padua in the Lent of 1423, at Florence in 1425 and at Siena in 1427. The content of three sermons, that may be found in a codex in Siena in the Saint’s own hand, form the first draft of his Treatise on Inspiration, which was completed in 1444. Bernardine substituted the outline adopted by Panziera in his Ad che si possono conoscere le spirationi se sono da mettere in operatione e per acquistare salute for the plan followed by St Bonaventure in his Itinerarium mentis in Deum.
The Treatise on Inspiration is divided into three parts, or sermons, as Bernardino calls them. The definition of inspiration is taken from Ugo Pantiera: ‘A certain arousal of the mind that moves one to carry out an action that is meritorious, wrong or indifferent’.[25] Following the same author Bernardine proposes that such stimulation may come from seven sources: God, Angels, personal virtue, the Devil, evil inclinations, human need and human habit. In modern psychology such stimuli include both conscious and unconscious drives. These seven sources of inspiration are the material covered in the first part of the treatise.
The second part of the treatise deals with the difficult task of identifying the source or origin of these stimuli, because, as Bernardine admits, such inspirations are frequently of a hidden nature. He gives twelve rules.
1. When an inspiration is by nature a cross or bids one do something that is painful it should always be followed.
2. When the strenuous action that is proposed is compatible with the natural strength of one’s constitution it should always be followed.
3. The inspiration is good when the strenuous action proposed is compatible with the strength of one’s spirit.
4. When the effort and suffering, both bodily and mental are reasonable the inspiration should be followed.
5. An inspiration should be followed when, without falling into mortal sin, putting it into practice gives less natural pleasure than spiritual.
6. An inspiration that may be carried out either by virtue or grace is to be followed when it gives spiritual pleasure alone.
7. An inspiration may be judged to be holy when one’s spirit feels more humble because of the spiritual pleasure that it affords.
8. An inspiration is to be followed when, having overcome spiritual pleasure, one’s spirit is more illumined and strengthened in the truths of faith and morals.
9. An inspiration is to be followed when its pleasure or pain would not be an occasion of scandal to a person who is enlightened by God.
10. An inspiration is to be accepted when, excluding mortal sin, natural pleasure in vice is less than the pain endured in being virtuous.
11. Other things being equal, a lesser good is to be replaced by a greater good: consequently a greater good takes precedence over a lesser good.
12. Before acting in doubtful and difficult matters one should seek certainty concerning the will of God.
These rules may be subdivided into those that occasion pain or mortification, those that occasion spiritual pleasure and those that are mixed.
The Third Part of the treatise deals with evaluating inspirations from the manner in which they confer spiritual merit or occasion punishment. It is important that one be able to assess inspirations since good impulses may lead positively to pleasure, maturity, growth and the remission of sin, or, from a negative perspective, weaken lust, combat sloth, discipline a person and repel temptation.
It is appropriate that a treatise on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was delivered on the three days after Pentecost. Bernardine is aware of the importance of the Holy Spirit for the spiritual life, but is cautions because a variety of inspirations present themselves to a person both as types of revelation and as impulses and there is a need to evaluate them. This is not only to distinguish between what is true and false, but also to have a balanced outlook concerning impulses to perform good works: ‘vices which show themselves as virtues’.[26] It may be rash to undertake certain good works, for example when one is too weak. This discernment needs a studied approach and following the custom of his day; Bernardine separates inspirations into their various species according to their origin and describes the provenance and consequences of each type.
The problem of discernment arises because of complexities in the spiritual life in which God calls each person to a specific vocation and what is good for one is not necessarily good for another. Each person has to identify God’s will in the signs God sends and make a choice accordingly. As any other form of life, the spiritual life is something active not static. It cannot be captured fully by a code or structure. It is an art that is lived and experienced. It is at this level that discernment is operative.
It is the Spirit living within us that urges us to practice this and live the experience. The Holy Spirit initiates a mysterious dialogue with the human spirit that continually challenges the person to respond with docility to his inspirations. It is through this dialogue that the human being matures and grows spiritually.
The inspiration of the Holy Spirit is not so clearly understood by the human being as to preclude all ambiguity or tension, especially if we accept the conflicting impulses within the human spirit as a sign that it has been wounded. Acknowledging this Bernardine advises caution and prudence in the conduct of the spiritual life.
Sacred Scripture does not develop a theory of discernment. Rather we find, in both Testaments, stories of choices that have been made by individuals and groups concerning a course of action or the fulfillment of a ministry. However, Scripture does indicate some signs by which the presence of the Spirit may be discerned. The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, benevolence, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control [Gal 5: 14-22]. Unity in the Church is a sign of the presence of the Spirit. Paul says authentic gifts of the Spirit build up the Church [1 Cor 14:4. 12:26].
However, there is also personal discernment when individuals seek the will of God in their own case. It is here that the assistance of a “soul friend’ or “spiritual director” is often invoked. Although many writers have treated the subject of individual spiritual discernment, perhaps the most easily recognized would be St Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) in his Spiritual Exercises in which a person chooses a way of life for the greater glory of God. For Ignatius the journey begins with the gift of interior freedom whereby all preconceptions are surrendered. In Franciscan spirituality, following the first Beatitude, the Sacrum Commercium describes this as poverty of spirit, following which the soul is ready to listen to the word of God and embrace commitment. Such discernment presupposes an openness to change when faced with the challenge of the word of God, and, thus, a certain state of indifference. At times the word of God will cause the soul to experience consolation and at other times desolation. The outcome of the whole process is a decision for God’s will to be done. However, it is here that Ignatius alludes to many of the subjects mentioned in Bernardine’s treatise. Ignatius warns that the enemy can disguise himself as an angel of light, insinuating what appear to be good thoughts, but which are in reality spiritually damaging. Ignatius indicates a process to be followed at this point to assist in making the right choice. It might be outlined in six steps.
1. Focusing on the object of choice,
2. Focusing on the goal, that is on God and his glory,
2. Prayer for guidance to follow the will of God,
3. Consideration of the spiritual advantages and
disadvantages of the chosen subject, always in light of
the goal,
4. Deliberation according to reasonable arguments,
5. Presenting the decision to God in prayer (179-183).[27]
Both Bernardine and Ignatius recommend balance and the tranquil use of human reason under the guiding light of God to achieve discernment of spirits.
In his Third Sermon (p. 21) Bernardine gives an explanation of the Rules for discernment. He cites a passage from Matthew that is important for him. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”[28] He makes four points concerning this text
1. The door to inspiration is desire.
2. Its foundation is the removal of any obstacles.
3. It is aided by taking up one’s cross.
4. Its goal is the imitations of Christ.
He gives a psychological commentary on the third point that is particularly significant. Abstinence taxes a person in anticipation of the activity, obedience taxes a person during the activity, patience taxes a person after the activity and chastity taxes a person through denial of the pleasure one might have had in exercising the opposing vice. One test of the authenticity of inspirations is the knowledge that the inspiration in question cannot be an instrument of profit or pleasure.
The second and third rules have to do with moderating severity through accepting the advice of God fearing superiors.
The fourth rule deals with those who strive unreasonably in seven ways to acquire virtue. The unreasonable ways of acquiring virtue are listed as force, sloth, fraud, delicate living, falsehood, inconstancy, and hypocrisy. Such criteria provide an acid test of the authenticity of a call to do anything investigating whether it is undertaken by force, is an escape from responsibility, provides easy living, boasts of nonexistent virtue, will not persevere, or is seeking applause for itself.
There follow four rules for discerning that are associated with pleasure.
The first point concerning inspirations associated with pleasure, which is also the fifth rule of discernment, is that the pleasure should be more spiritual than natural. Of itself pleasure is neither good or bad, its morality is determined by its end, which should be spiritual if the purpose is spiritual betterment.
Following this criterion pleasure may be sensual, natural or spiritual. A purely sensual pleasure does not consider God or human reason. In natural pleasure, on the other hand, human reason is in charge. Spiritual pleasure may include the sensual and the natural but has God for its object, as when pleasure in creatures is a way of ascending to God.
Having made these distinctions we can understand the first rule regarding inspirations that give pleasure, which admonishes that the pleasure should be predominantly spiritual.
The sixth rule of discernment states that an inspiration is to be followed when, in its execution, whether by virtue or by grace, we experience only spiritual pleasure. The distinction between virtue and grace becomes clear when we recognize that there are graces, such as visions, rapture etc, which are not virtues, and indeed, which may be given to sinners. Pleasure is exclusively spiritual when its object is God alone. There are five signs which verify its presence: a person trembles before God, feels profoundly humble and worthless before him, desires to suffer for him, only feels complete in contemplating God, and experiences the gift of peace in the abundance of God’s goodness.
The seventh rule for discerning a good inspiration expounds the concept of feeling humble about spiritual delight. This sense of humility comes from an appreciation of the consolation God offers to the devout person. The value of such humility is that it leads to God achieving more for the person, and to the person being willing to go further.
On the negative side such humility also protects a person from four kinds of spiritual deception: deception brought about by the Devil, deception brought about by thinking that certain exterior actions mean spiritual progress, deception brought about by our passions, and deception brought about by over estimating our skill in directing our spiritual life.
Bernardine sets great store on the attitude or approach that a person brings to the practice of the spiritual life. He says that a person who is deficient in comprehension and common sense in what they do, rarely practices virtue well since such a person neither views virtue prudently nor executes virtue with prudence (cf p. 46).
The eighth Rule of spiritual discernment states that an inspiration is to be followed when it makes a person increase in the clarity and conviction of one’s faith and morals as a result of the pleasure associated with them.
The word clarity is associated with vision that in turn is associated with light. Natural sight requires four conditions: an organ for seeing, an object to be seen, light, and a medium between the eye and the object.
Spiritual sight requires purity of heart, a defined object, i.e. willingness to see God, light from above, and assistance from above.
In spiritual faith one requires a threefold faith from revelation: faith in the New Testament, faith in the Old Testament and faith in the teachings of the Church.
In the light of morals one is bound to observe the law of nature as well as the law of the New and the Old Testament.
Bernardine places great importance on this rule of discernment for he had personal experience of the preaching of the arrival of Antichrist when this had not taken place.
In the third section of this part of the Treatise Bernardine deals with inspirations that are associated with pleasure or pain.
The ninth rule states that an inspiration is acceptable when the pleasure or pain associated with it does not scandalize someone enlightened by God.
Bernardine now enters a long consideration concerning scandal and bases his understanding of scandal upon Alexander of Hales and St Thomas Aquinas.[29] This is so evident that, as pointed out in the footnotes to his translation that quotations, including those from Jerome, are taken almost literally from Alexander of Hales.[30] Pacetti and Melani who point out that Bernardine excused himself for this long addition omitted this section from the Milan Edition.[31]
Yet the question of scandal is important in matters of discernment when determining when an action is to be carried out or not. For example, one might decide to go ahead and enter religious life even if this seemed foolish to one’s parents.
The Scholastics considered the topic of scandal under the umbrella of the theological virtue of charity, which is made up of the gift of love and the gift of wisdom. Scandal was considered as opposed to beneficence that was defined as goodwill carried out by an exterior action. Scandal thus is an exterior action that occasions the spiritual downfall of another because it is evil or appears to them as evil. It is said to be an occasion of evil rather than a cause of evil because the perpetrator of the evil is freely responsible for their actions. In spite of this everyone has a duty to avoid giving scandal.
The Scholastics also raised questions concerning scandal as it affected persons striving for perfection. It is in this area that a connection between discernment and scandal arises when it is asked whether good persons can be scandalized, whether they should forego spiritual good to avoid giving scandal and whether they should forego material goods to avoid scandal. They responded to the first question by saying that good people are not generally scandalized by the actions of others. They responded to the other two situations by saying that good people might suspend undertaking a good action of possessing something until an explanation was supplied to someone who might take scandal. After giving an explanation they could go ahead as any scandal arising after that would be the fault of the one taking scandal.
Bernardine concludes that we must be careful not to be the occasion of scandal to enlightened persons nor to those who are weak or ignorant. He points out that the ignorant may be edified by immoderate penance and yet scandalized by something bringing pleasure to someone practicing virtue.
The tenth rule of discernment is that an inspiration is to be accepted when natural pleasure associated with venial sin is less than the pain of suffering associated with virtue. Pleasure in mortal sin is never acceptable. However, there may be times when pleasure in natural enjoyments may be reckoned a venial sin, as, for example, when someone who is fasting takes inordinate pleasure in the little food he eats. The rule states that this is no reason to abandon fasting.
The eleventh rule is concerned with establishing priorities between greater and lesser goods. In this connection the text concerning plucking out one’s eye is discussed [Mt 5:29]. Yet the rule is not applied so blindly that there are not occasions when certain lesser evils are tolerated. This is a very fine point of discernment.
The twelfth rule considers the necessity of establishing what is the will of God in doubtful situations before taking action. The qualities that are desirable in a counselor are discussed under this heading. The chief of these is that the counselor be able to conduct his own life properly. Having listened to an advisor one should pray and if the matter is still not clear one should wait before making a decision.
For inspirations to be of value in the spiritual life one has to pray for three things: the grace to receive enlightenment, the grace that the inspiration received will be conducive to salvation, and the grace to recognize false inspirations.
As in physical sight there is a right and left eye, so in the spiritual there is the eye of knowledge and the eye of emotion. The eye of emotion can be dimmed by passion and enlightened by virtue. Both faculties must be synchronized in enlightenment. One has to be wide-awake if an inspiration is to be conducive to salvation. Finally, inspiration can be so deceptive that one has to pray to overcome the deception. Seven factors are listed as contributing to deception: suggestion, pleasure, consent, loss of grace, disregard of custom, boasting, and dying impenitent.
When one prays for illumination God will set such a person free, make them zealous, give them a healthy fear of punishment and an awareness of their own weakness. When one prays for an inspiration to be conducive to salvation God will give that person understanding, provide proper preaching, and teach through adversity. Thus God protects the person from false inspirations.
Now we can see which inspirations are valuable, why they are valuable and what makes them valuable.
For any work to be valuable it must be done in charity, out of charity and for charity.
When the inspirations dealt with in the rules above are carried out deliberately they produce rewards in eternal life, in an increase in grace and in the remission of punishment.
Alexander of Hales gives seven reasons why free acts performed out of charity are valuable.[32]
1. They increase grace
2. They facilitate good works
3. They remit punishment
4. They shorten purgatory
5. The lessen the worm of conscience in hell
6. Increase awareness of sin
7. Increase the joy of heaven
8. Bernard adds that they benefit one’s neighbour.
Some inspirations are to be followed when planning something or looking ahead but not put into action. This may be true of the desire for martyrdom, or when suitable circumstances for taking action do not arise. Other inspirations may require action although they were unintended, as some responses to obedience and virtuous actions when one is unintentionally put into the occasion of sin.
Twelve reasons are stated as explaining why inspirations are meritorious.
1. Because God has chosen this person
2. Because the person has conformed to God’s commands
3. Because the person has opposed vice
4. Because in believing the person has come to understand
5. Because the person has subjected their will
6.