Coll. 18
by St. Bonaventure
Source text: Public Domain Mark 1.0. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://bonaventure.wrootpress.com/browse/11/d/18/q/bon-hex-c18
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### COLLATION XVIII.
#### *On the third vision: the sixth treatment, which treats of the contemplations of Scripture signified through the* fruits, *and indeed in so far as they refresh the affection.*

### Summarium

*Introduction and recapitulation. The illumination of the understanding effected through these contemplations is ordered to something further, namely to the refreshment of the affection, 1. — The four last modes of illumination are better ordered here than they were ordered in the preceding collation, 2. — The warning against the danger of profane learning is repeated, 3. — The abundance of spiritual refreshments in Scripture; but they must pass over into the affection, 4. — Part I. In general, on the threefold fruit to be gathered, as regards the affection, from the twelve considerations of the preceding collation. These arise from Christ. From the first four arises the fruit of grace; from the middle four the fruit of justice, from the last the fruit of wisdom, 5. — Of these Scripture speaks, 6. 7. 8. — All these fruits are from Christ and lead to Christ. This is proved as to each one, 9-12. — Part II. On these three fruits and their fourfold act in particular, and on the twelve fruits of the spirit. First, on the fruit of grace and its fourfold act according to Scripture, 13. — To the first act, namely the grace that steadies through faith, the soul is disposed through the sights of Scripture; likewise to the second, namely the grace that sanctifies through love, through the examples of the Saints, 14. — Likewise, to the grace that lifts up through hope, through the promises; likewise, to the grace that inclines through fear, through the torments of hell, 15. — Second, on the fruit of justice and its fourfold act, namely to do good things, to flee evil things, to dread prosperity, to bear adversity, 16. — These arise from the four middle considerations, 17. — The first act, namely to do good things, comes about through the direction of the precepts, 18. — The second, to flee evil things, comes about through the strict judgments, 19. — The third, to dread prosperity, through the severe consolations; the fourth, to bear adversity, through the kindly scourgings, 20. — Third, on the fruit of wisdom and its fourfold act; for wisdom is strengthening, wrestling, contemplating, praising, 21. — These arise from the four last considerations; this is taught of the first act, the strengthening one, 22. — On the second act, the wrestling one, 23. — On the third, the contemplating one, 24. — On the fourth, the praising one. Hence, ascending, there are twelve fruits, ordered to charity, to which the whole of Scripture tends, 25. — Likewise, descending, there flow from charity the twelve fruits of the spirit, reported by the Apostle Paul, 26. — The sufficiency of the twelve fruits according to the four things to be loved out of charity: three there are, in so far as one enjoys God, 27. — Three, in enjoying one's own soul, 28. — Three, in enjoying one's neighbour, 29. — Three, in enjoying one's body in God, 30. — Of these twelve Scripture speaks, 31. — Epilogue, 32.*

1. *The earth brought forth the green herb* and so on. It has been said above that these contemplations are reduced to a twofold consideration: to the consideration of the times *succeeding* one another and *corresponding* to one another in the government of the world; and so they are understood through the *seeds.* They consist also in the consideration of the *salutary circumspections* or refreshments, by which the soul is refreshed, and so they are understood through the *fruits;* and so this fruit is *comely,* according as the *understanding* is refreshed by it; and it is *savoury,* according as the *affection* is refreshed by it. But this refreshment is ordered to something further still. — Now it has been said how the understanding

is illumined through these contemplations, so that one may go on further to taste its fruit; and this is necessary. « For he who labours only for this, that he may know what and how he is to speak, remains empty within, as Gregory says, of inward devotion »; because, according to the Apostle, he has become *as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.*

2. The understanding, then, is illumined in twelve modes, as has been said; but in the four last modes it will be better stated than it was stated before, so that what was put in the eleventh place is put in the twelfth. Those last ones, then, which Scripture uses, and by which the soul is illumined, are four, namely *the defences of the citizens,* who are the hierarchic spirits, from straight ahead; likewise, *the combats of the enemies,* from the oblique, as is clear in the case of the three enemies; *the gifts of graces,* from near at hand; *the signs of the figures,* from afar. This is the *last* illumination, because into this last one the preceding ones enter; to which there concur *the celestial forms, the elemental, the meteoric, the mineral; the natures of things that sprout, of things that swim, of things that fly, of things that walk; human members, human powers, human deeds, human arts,* from all of which the soul rises up into the praise of God. And this act is *affection,* whose office it is to set the understanding right.

3. It is true that in these matters there falls the danger of *the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,* so that, the *tree of life* being let go — that is, the sweetness of the affection — the soul wanders off among other sciences and is drawn away so far that it cannot return, and is shut out from the delights of paradise and does not taste of the tree of life. To *eat* of the tree of life is, by these illuminations, to be *refreshed,* so that a man may seek nothing but the understanding of *truth,* the affection of *piety,* the delight of *sweetness,* or the solace of contemplation. But when a man forgets these things and takes delight in the pursuit of curiosity, he wishes only to know; and from this is born *the haughtiness of vanity,* when he despises others; from which follows *the strife of contention,* because he reckons himself despised whenever anyone answers him; and he is always ready against those who resist him. And through this the true life is taken away from a man; as with Adam, or rather the woman, who was curious and wished to be as God; and therefore *they sewed themselves aprons* and poured back the blame upon another, as Adam upon God, because he had given him such a wife, and the woman upon the serpent. These illuminations, then, ought to enter into the affection, so that the understanding may be set right.

4. In this garden there is much walking about, because, if it does not please you to stand at the first, go to the second, and so on with the rest. And thus a man *is compassed about with apples;* whence in the Canticle: *Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples;* and in the Psalm: *His truth shall compass thee with a shield.* As, then, the understanding is ordered to the affection, and faith is the way to charity; so these illuminations ought to pass over into the affection, so that the speculative understanding may become practical.

5. Now from these twelve there arises a threefold fruit: from the first four arises the fruit of *grace,* from the middle ones the fruit of *justice,* from the last ones the fruit of *wisdom.* Of these fruits it is said in Deuteronomy: *Of the blessing of the Lord be his land,* it is said of Joseph, *of the fruits of heaven, and of the dew, and of the deep that lieth beneath; of the fruits brought forth by the sun and by the moon, of the tops of the ancient mountains, of the fruits of the everlasting hills and of the fruits of the earth, and of the fulness thereof.* He touches upon that threefold fruit, or upon those illuminations, according as they generate *refreshing apples,* according as that threefold fruit is from Christ; whence in the Canticle: *As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow, whom I desired, and his fruit was sweet to my palate.*

6. Of the fruit of *grace,* therefore, it is written in the Psalm: *The Lord will give goodness, and our earth shall yield her fruit;* of the fruit of *justice* in the Canticle, of the fruit of *wisdom* in Proverbs: *Her first and purest fruits.* These fruits, then, arise from Christ, from Joseph the blessed, who brings forth apples *of heaven, and of the dew, and of the deep that lieth beneath,* namely the charisms of graces after the manner of *dew* into humble hearts.

7. By *the fruits of the sun and of the moon* and *the top of the mountains* is understood the exercise of perfect *justice,* which consists in this, that a man should exercise himself in fulfilling the commandments of God, according to the state of *subjection, of prelacy, of contemplation.* — *Of the fruits of the sun* is understood what pertains to the merits of *the justice of him who presides; of the fruits of the moon,* what pertains to the merit of *the justice of him who is subject; of the fruits and the top of the mountains,* by this is understood *the sublimity of apostolic men,* who hold to the life which God gave in paradise. For if man had not sinned, there would have been no division of fields, but all things would have been in common.

8. By *the fruits of the everlasting hills* is understood *wisdom,* or the fruit of wisdom, which consists in the contemplation of the eternal reasons and in the consideration of the sublimated heavenly spirits; the Psalm: *Thou enlightenest wonderfully from the everlasting hills; all the foolish of heart were troubled* and so on. — *Of the fruits of the earth,* as regards the consideration of the divine con-

descensions in the orders of the Churches. — *Of the fulness thereof,* as regards the joining of both Churches, *militant* and *triumphant,* in the way that the Lord *hath placed peace for its bounds*, namely, as he will declare, peace like a *river.*

9. Thus, then, this fruit is from Christ in a threefold way, because *Jesus Christ is the Son of God:* because *Jesus,* from him the fruit of *grace;* because *Christ,* the fruit of *justice;* because *Son of God,* the fruit of *wisdom.* For all the considerations are both *from Christ* and lead back *to Christ.* — If you consider *the inner sights of the lights,* they lead you back to Christ. — If you come to *examples,* the highest exemplar of all the virtues is in Christ. If you consider the *patience* of Job, greater is the patience of Christ; *you have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord,* says that one. For the stars are nothing in comparison with the sun. — If you come to *the eternal rewards,* we shall not have these except through Christ; in John: *This is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.* — If to *the everlasting torments;* unless the hand of Christ hold you, you will not be set free. For a boy, if he fears to fall over a precipice, holds fast to his mother as best he can; for unless you are set free by the blood of Christ, you will not be able to be saved.

10. If you consider *the precepts; this is my commandment, that you love one another*. — If concerning *judgment;* Christ has to judge; and we ought willingly to wish to have him as judge, because he loves us; whence we ought to say to him: Lord, thou must judge us; but grant that thy blood may make satisfaction for us.

11. If you consider *the severe consolations,* they are not seen in Christ after that manner in which they are seen in others, but after another; because they were never dangerous to him, nor did he have temporal consolations. — For he mingled bitterness with consolations, *punishment* with fruition; for his soul, which was always united to the Godhead, was supremely delighted; and yet he himself mingled bitterness, poverty, the cross, and conversely mingled consolations amid scourgings, in which he was supremely delighted. Whence, after the example of Christ, fear is to be joined to consolation, and consolation is to be joined to sadness, after the example also of blessed Francis, who, when honour was offered him, used to say to his companion that in that place they had gained nothing; but when they received revilings, then they were gaining.

12. If you consider from straight ahead *the defences of the citizens,* the principal hierarch is Christ. — If concerning *the battle;* although the Angels and the Saints help — the Psalm: *I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me* — yet the principal fighter is Christ; whence in the Psalm: *I set the Lord always in my sight, for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved;* likewise, in the Acts: *I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.* — If you consider *grace, all these things* come from *the throne of God and of the Lamb. I saw,* says John, *a river proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.* — If you consider *the signs of the figures,* all things are referred to Christ and are obscure, unless the seals be loosed through Christ. — Whence all the considerations send us back to Christ.

13. From Christ, then, is the fruit of *grace.* Now the fruit of *grace* is fourfold: to *steady* the soul through faith, to *sanctify* it through divine love, to *bear it upward* through hope, to *incline* it through divine fear. — Of the first the Apostle: *It is best to establish the heart with grace, not with meats.* The Jews used to establish themselves upon meats. — Of the second Peter: *Wherefore, having the loins of your mind girt up, being sober, hope perfectly for that grace which is offered you in the revelation of Jesus Christ.* For sanctification consists in this, that the virtues, which are the loins of the mind, are carried over into God. — Of the third, to Titus: *Being justified by his grace, we are heirs according to the hope of life everlasting.* And the first of Peter: *Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy hath regenerated us unto a lively hope.* — Of the fourth Ecclesiasticus: *The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things.*

14. Through *the sights of the lights* the soul is disposed to the *first* act of grace. For the more Scripture is understood, the more faith is increased; and so there is one refreshment of the *affection.* — *The examples of the Saints* dispose to the *sanctification* of the soul, to the *second* act of grace. Among all the things that are read of Joseph, that one pleases, that he thus kept faith with his master; although his mistress was most beautiful and threatened him. David likewise, though he did many things that move to imitation, that one pleases most of all, that when he could have killed Saul, he was unwilling; who nevertheless,

as Augustine says, feared neither God nor man: not man, because sleep had fallen upon them all; not God, because that man was reprobate, and David according to truth was king, and yet out of charity he let him go. And likewise in all the Fathers there was this *charity;* who nevertheless, if at any time they fell, repented. Whence if David's fall displeases you, let his repentance please you, as Jerome says, and you have in this that no one may despair of his fall, and no one may presume upon his state.

15. Now grace *acting upward* is had through *hope.* The Psalm: *For what have I in heaven, and besides thee what have I desired upon earth? Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever,* and elsewhere: *I said: thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living,* so that the whole may be reserved for that fatherland. Therefore *that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh an eternal weight of glory.* For the Lord has delights at his right hand; the Psalm: *At thy right hand are delights even to the end;* at his left hand he has riches and glories and temporal consolations. But we ought to cleave to the right hand; the Psalm: *Thy right hand hath received me,* Lord. Therefore *the rewards* dispose to the third act of grace. — Likewise the fourth consideration, namely of *the torments of hell*, causes one to have the grace that *inclines.*

16. Likewise there are four acts of *justice: to do good things, to flee evil things, to dread prosperity, to bear adversity.* — Of the first two the Psalm: *Turn away from evil and do good. The eyes of the Lord are upon the just;* and: *But the countenance of the Lord is upon them that do evil things.* — Of the third: *Blessed is the man who is always fearful* in prosperity. Whence the just man prays that he may not fall, and that if he does fall, he may rise again; because *a just man shall fall seven times and shall rise again.* — Of the fourth, in Proverbs: *The just, bold as a lion, shall be without dread.* And: *Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake.* And: *Strive for justice for thy soul, and even unto death fight for justice.*

17. These fruits arise from the four middle considerations, namely *forwards, backwards, to the right, to the left,* so that, according to Dionysius, the soul may be moved *circularly, straight, and obliquely.* And Richard says that certain birds fly upward, certain downward, certain circularly, certain forward, and so on. So the soul through these considerations.

18. From the first consideration is had the first act, namely *to do good,* through the direction of the precepts; *if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments*. For the consideration of God's commandments makes a man do good. The precept of the Lord is right in itself; for justice is nothing else than rightness; and rightness is in the law of itself, and in the keeper of it by participation. It is needful, therefore, to *consider, to accept, to love* the divine precepts; if Adam and Eve had done so, they would not have fallen; and thus you are transformed through love.

19. From the second consideration arises the fruit of justice, namely *to flee evil things,* namely through *the strict judgments;* Ecclesiasticus: *Sow not evils in the furrows of injustice, and thou shalt not reap them sevenfold.* For no one wishes to reap cockle or darnel, because, as it is said in Deuteronomy, *according to the measure of the fault shall the measure also of the stripes be.* The consideration, therefore, of *the judgments* makes a man flee evil things.

20. From the third consideration, namely through *the severe consolations,* arises the fruit of justice, namely *to dread prosperity.* For when honours are offered, a man flees, because he fears to fall into fault, because in every grain there is a worm: in the grain of honour, *elation;* in the grain of riches, *avarice;* in the grain of delights, *concupiscence.* For there are certain fruits that begin at once to breed worms, like cherries in Italy. There are certain ones that appear best, and yet the worm is within. — On the contrary, through *the kindly scourgings* is shown the fourth fruit of justice, namely patiently *to bear adversity;* see Paul, Lawrence.

21. Likewise *the fruit of wisdom* is born from the four last antitheses. Of this there are four acts: for wisdom is *strengthening, wrestling, contemplating, praising.* — *Strengthening* in good; Ecclesiastes: *Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city.* — It is also *wrestling* against evil; whence Ecclesiastes: *Better is wisdom than weapons of war;* and in Wisdom: *She gave him a strong conflict,*

*that he might overcome and know that wisdom is mightier than all.* — It is also *contemplating* the highest good; in Wisdom: *For she is more beautiful than the sun.* For it makes the soul taste and be united. — It is also *praising* God out of all things. This fruit is joined to *glory;* this is the work, this the office, this the fruit: *we shall see, we shall love, we shall praise*.

22. These four fruits arise in order. The consideration from *straight ahead,* through *the defences of the citizens,* disposes to the first act of wisdom, in an *army terrible, set in array,* and in *the companies of camps*.

23. Second, through *the combats of the enemies from the opposite side* arises the second fruit, namely *to wrestle* against the enemies; because a man, when he has enemies, then bears himself very shrewdly, and an imminent war makes a man shrewd, brave and wise; just as men shut in find many ways of escape; whence an imminent temptation, as it were from the oblique, makes one stronger, like a ray coming upon a body opaque, dense, solid, and afterwards reflected, which generates greater light and heat, as is clear in an iron mirror. Likewise a man is made more chaste when the enemy strives hard to draw him to lust. — For as he said, a woman had a demon, who spoke in her and said that Francis was doing them great harm, and that they had rightly gathered together against him five thousand to cast him down; and the brother who heard it told blessed Francis; then he himself rose up and said that he was now the stronger.

24. The third fruit of wisdom is *to contemplate* the highest good, which arises from the consideration *from near at hand* through *the gifts of graces.* For grace could be so great that a man existing here would be as it were in paradise. For he would see in his inmost parts, like blessed Paul, who says: *We speak wisdom among the perfect;* and afterwards: *But to us God hath revealed it by his Spirit. For as no man knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him; so the things also that are of God* we do not know, unless the Spirit of God enter into us.

25. From the fourth, namely *from afar,* there is born in us the *praising* of God in all things. For all creatures utter God. What shall I do? I shall sing with all of them. A thick string on a lyre does not of itself sound well, but with the others there is concord. The signs of the figures are taken from all creatures in Scripture for the praising of God, as is clear in the Psalm: *Praise ye the Lord from the heavens;* and in: *All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord,* from the highest down to the lowest; so a man, seeing God in all things, tasting God in all things with his three powers. The Psalm: *Let my speech be acceptable to him, but I will take delight in the Lord;* and elsewhere: *For thou hast given me, O Lord, a delight in thy doings;* and: *I will magnify him with praise.* Thus in all things he has the taste and the refreshment of the understanding and of the affection. — Out of all these fruits there rise the fruits of love and *charity,* which is intended in all of them. For the whole of Scripture is ordered to charity. These twelve fruits *ascend* in order to charity.

26. But *descending* from charity there flow twelve charisms, which are the *fruits* that the Apostle sets down to the Galatians in the fifth chapter: *Now the fruit of the spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, longanimity, goodness, benignity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Grace,* indeed, and *justice* and *wisdom* cannot exist without charity. For *fruit* is so called from *to enjoy;* « and to *enjoy* is to cleave to something for its own sake ». Whence neither justice nor miracles nor the knowing of mysteries profit without charity. And this all the doctors and the Saints hold. So, behold, one little old woman, who has a small garden, because she has charity alone, has a better fruit than one great master who has the largest garden and knows the mysteries and the natures of things.

27. Now the *sufficiency* of these twelve fruits is taken in this way. According to Augustine, the son of Paul, four things are to be loved out of charity, which we enjoy: *God, myself* in God, *my neighbour* in God, *my body* in God. — Now I enjoy God when I supremely *rest, am delighted, am united* in God: I *rest* through *love,* I *am delighted* through *joy,* I *am united* through *peace.* And these three are ordered; because, where there is *peace,* it is necessary that there be *joy;* and where there is *joy,* it is necessary that there be *rest.*

28. Second, I enjoy *myself* in God. Now I enjoy my *soul* when I possess it; because, if a thing passes into another's possession, I do not have the fruit of it. But I possess it then, when I can patiently *bear adversity; in your patience you shall possess your souls*; and to bear adversity patiently ought not to be

from *chance,* or *fortune,* but *with a view to the reward;* and this is *to await the reward;* the third is *to forgive* the offence *to him who does the injury.* And these three come about through *patience, longanimity, goodness. Patience* is in bearing adversity; *longanimity,* in awaiting the reward out of all tribulations; *goodness,* in forgiving liberally. Whence if charity is *patient, longanimous, good;* then *it sucks the inundations of the sea as milk*, as Lawrence rejoiced over the coals as over flowers. These fruits are in the spirit, not in the flesh. Whence James: *Count it all joy, my brethren, when you shall fall into divers temptations.*

29. Third, we enjoy our *neighbour* in God, when we have charity toward our neighbour; and this in a threefold way: *kindly* in heart or mind; *mildly* in companionship; *faithfully* in word or sign. I have a *kind* heart when I pour back into my own good whatever good my neighbour has. Likewise there is *mildness,* which makes a man companionable and sociable. Some men are very good, and yet are so harsh in their outward signs that a man does not dare to draw near to them; but when a man makes himself familiar, then he is *mild.* Likewise *fidelity* makes a man much loved; and this makes one trust in a man more in his word than in his heart, because affection is changeable.

30. Fourth, I enjoy *my body* in God when I keep my body clean, and this when *modesty* is kept in taste, *continence* in touch, *chastity* in all the senses. In taste modesty is principally noted. *The bodies* of the lustful, of the gluttonous, of the incontinent are not *buried in peace*.

31. Thus, then, *descending,* from charity, which is *the ointment running down from the head to the beard, even to the skirt of the garment*, there is the enjoyment of *God, of myself, of my neighbour, of my body.* As, then, there are twelve fruits from the twelve illuminations *ascending* to charity, so there are twelve fruits *descending.* And this is that which is said in the Apocalypse, that *on both sides of the river* there is *the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits through twelve months:* on one side of the river the *intellectual* fruits, on the other the *affective* ones; or on one side the *ascending* fruits, on the other the *descending* ones.

32. This, then, is the fruit of the Scriptures, namely charity. For the sake of this there are the *mysteries, the understandings, the contemplations.* Whence at the end of the Apocalypse: *Blessed are they that wash their garments, that they may enter in by the gate into the city.* — And he used to say: I imagine those first or ascending twelve illuminations, which flow from God and are terminated in God and run through the whole of Scripture; I imagine them as twelve circles, so that into whichever one the soul may enter, it may find a wood and the pleasantness of the trees and the abundance of the fruits.

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