COLLATION VII.
On the gift of counsel.
Summary. - Introduction, 1. - Repetition and proposition of the argument, 2. - An example is narrated, 3. - Division of the argument. Counsel is described with respect to its threefold act, 4. - Part I. On the proper act of counsel. Counsel is threefold, 5. - On these three in particular, 6-8. - Part II. On the preliminary act. The threefold property of garments and the threefold understanding and counsel, 9. 10. - The first counsel is regulated according to the dictate of divinely instituted laws, 11. - Likewise the second, according to the dictate of divinely inspired reasons, 12. - Likewise the third, according to the dictate of divinely inspired men; one must discern counselors and choose the good and flee the evil, 13. - On the good counselor, Christ, 14. - On other good counselors, 15. 16. - On three evil counselors: first, on those who turn great things into nothing, 17. - Second, those who turn good things into evil, 18. - Third, those who lead certain things into doubt, 19.
1. Who shall find a valiant woman? etc. - Where is wisdom found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its price, nor is it found in the land of those who live pleasantly. Job raises the question of where wisdom may be found; and he answers negatively, that it is not found by a man living in a merely human manner, saying: Man does not know its price, nor is it found in the land of those who live pleasantly. That last statement gives the reason: this is the cause why the carnal man does not know the price of wisdom, because the carnal man does not perceive the savor of wisdom; nor can a man know wisdom unless he finds its savor; and he does not find savor in it if he lives delicately, because carnal delights cannot coexist with wisdom. Man does not know its price. Who can say: I am more than a man? It is true that wisdom is drawn from the hidden things of mysteries. - It happens that a preacher pours out wisdom to others and tastes it and makes others taste it; but sometimes he is like a channel, making others taste it, and he himself does not know what it is: it profits him little, and those who hear him, unless they are of good disposition. - This most glorious one found Wisdom in herself and brought it forth to the world. Let us invoke her, that by the spirit of counsel she may deign to obtain wisdom for us, that I may be able to say something, etc.
2. Who shall find a valiant woman? etc. I said yesterday and today that the most blessed glorious Virgin is commended in these words first for the strength of spiritual fortitude: second, for the fruitfulness of supernatural conception: and third, for the discretion of salutary counsel. The first is noted there: Who shall find a valiant woman? the second there: Her price is as from afar and from the uttermost boundaries: the third there: She hath sought wool and flax and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands. We have spoken of two of these: yesterday we spoke of the strength and the gift of fortitude; today in the morning we spoke of how she brought forth, paid, and possesses the price of the redemption of man, that is, of the human race, for the world. It is true that I had proposed to tell you an example; but because I must speak of the gift of counsel, and the blessed Virgin has a part here and wished us to have a part, therefore I have reserved it until now.
3. The ransom of everyone is the glorious Virgin, and why? Because she brought forth our ransom to the world, paid it in full, and possesses it. A certain lay brother was in the order of the white monks; he was of good will toward the glorious Virgin, and every day he paid her a psalter of one hundred and fifty Hail Marys; but he was stiff-necked. One day he fell ill and was carried to the abbey from the grange. One night, when all were at matins, he remained alone in the infirmary: and it seemed to him that certain ones were carrying him into a very great hall, in which he saw Christ and the Apostles and the assembly of Angels; and the demons were presenting him to Christ. And he who was carrying him said: "You are a just judge; this one is ours." The blessed Virgin said: "He is mine, because he served me." A grave contention arose. The Enemy said: "You are a just judge, no respecter of persons; I wish that you judge according to truth." And Christ said: "Let us see whose he is." And all his faults, written on a document, were placed on one side of the scale, and on the other side of the scale were placed the good things he had done. And the side on which his faults were sank down to the ground. And then the Enemy said: "You see, Lord, that this one is ours: I demand justice." And then the blessed Virgin said to Christ: "You are my Son: the blood which you had, you had from me: I ask that you give me one drop." And Christ said: "This I cannot deny you." And then the blessed Virgin placed a drop of blood with his merits: and immediately that side of the scale sank down to the ground. And the Enemy said: "It is not good to contend with you." Nevertheless, because the Lord did not wish to leave the evil he had done unpunished, he gave the demons power over his body: and then they struck him most savagely, so that scarcely any limb remained in him that was not completely bruised. And the Judge said: "It is enough." When the brothers returned from matins, they found him as if dead. The abbot inquired and had it investigated who had done this. No one was found who knew anything about it. Afterwards he spoke and asked for his abbot and confessed to him; and having taken up noble compunction, he passed to the Lord, and that punishment served as his purgatory.
4. Let us speak of counsel. — She sought wool and flax and worked by the counsel of her hands. See that the Holy Spirit here describes the gift of counsel with respect to the preliminary act, and this with respect to the intrinsic act and the extrinsic act, and with respect to the proper act. The first and second are noted when it says: She sought wool and flax: and the third there: She worked by the counsel of her hands.
5. Let us speak first concerning the proper act. You should understand that there is a counsel by which we are instructed to discern what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient for salvation according to the judgment of right reason; another is a counsel by which we are instructed to choose what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the command of a good will. - The third is a counsel by which we are instructed to pursue what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the exercise of virtuous operation. - And of this counsel it is said: She has worked by the counsel of her hands.
6. The first counsel, I say, is that by which we are instructed to discern what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the judgment of right reason. Whence in Proverbs: I, wisdom, dwell in counsel and am present among learned thoughts. - I dwell in counsel, namely that by which a man is instructed to discern what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the judgment of right reason. - First a man ought to consider whether it is lawful, whether it is fitting: many things are lawful that are not fitting. Afterward he ought to consider whether it is expedient, because the Apostle says: All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient. Once this threefold consideration has been attained, thoughts are instructed, and wisdom dwells in the counsel of man.
7. Another is the counsel by which we are raised up to choose what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the resolution of a good will. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: Gold and silver are the establishing of the feet, and above both is counsel well-pleasing. By gold is signified sacred Scripture, by silver the knowledge of philosophy. Each is either speculative or practical. Sacred Scripture is about faith and morals, partly speculative and partly practical. By these sciences the feet are made firm, because the heart is made firm through theological and philosophical teachings; yet counsel makes it more firm.
8. The third is the counsel by which we are made ready to pursue what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the exercise of virtuous operation. Of this counsel it is said in Judith, that the priests said to Judith: May the God of our fathers give you grace and strengthen every counsel of your heart by his power. - The counsel of your heart, etc., that is, what you have well conceived in mind, you may bring to completion in deed. The Psalm: May he grant you according to your heart and confirm all your counsel. That counsel adds over and above readiness for action. - There is a threefold operation, namely to discern rightly, to choose well, and to pursue readily. Therefore it says: She has worked by the counsel of her hands. She not only decreed and chose, but carried it through. It does not suffice to have a good will, unless a man wills to carry it out in deed, from the intellective power to the affective and from the affective to operation. The Philosopher says that three things are necessary for virtue, namely " to know, to will, and to act unwaveringly."
9. And not only does it explain the gift of counsel with respect to its proper act, but also with respect to its preliminary act, when it says: She sought wool and flax. Wool is that from which coarse garment is made; flax is that from which fine garment is made. From wool is made a warm garment, from flax a delicate garment. Likewise, from wool is made an outer garment, while from flax is made an inner garment. According to this threefold property there are three senses, namely the allegorical, anagogical, and tropological.
10. According to allegory, by wool and flax are signified the New and Old Testaments. — According to anagogy, by wool, from which a warm garment is made, is signified the revelation of prayer, because prayer is like heat; by flax, from which a delicate garment is made, are signified delights. — According to tropology, by wool are given to be understood outward things, and by flax the experiences of just men. — Therefore when it says: She sought wool and flax etc., there are understood the New and Old Testaments, the revelation of prayers and delights; likewise there are understood outward things and the experiences of just men. — From these I draw out that there is a counsel by which we are instructed to discern what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the judgment of right reason; and there is a counsel by which we are elevated to choose what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the purpose of a good will; the third is a counsel by which we are made ready to pursue what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the exercise of virtuous operation.
11. The first counsel is regulated according to the dictate of divinely instituted laws; the second counsel is regulated according to the dictate of divinely inspired reasons; the third counsel is regulated according to the dictate of divinely illuminated men. — The first counsel, I say, is regulated according to the dictate of divinely instituted laws. Whence in Proverbs: Keep the law and counsel, and you will have grace for your mouth and life for your soul. What is this law? Surely the law written outwardly and the law divinely inspired. Of this law it says: Keep the law, etc. Psalm: For your testimonies are my meditation, and your justifications are my counsel; which counsel is found in the testaments and testimonies. In designation of this it is said in Exodus that when Moses was to enter the oracle, he entered through the midst of the two Cherubim. He went through the midst, because Christ must have regard for both testaments.
12. Second, counsel is regulated according to the dictate of divinely inspired reasons. Concerning this it is said in Tobit: At all times bless the Lord and ask of him, that he may direct your ways, and that all your counsels may remain in him. The Psalm: Reveal your way to the Lord, and he himself will give you the petitions of your heart. Be subject to the Lord, etc. However much knowledge a man may have of the New and Old Testament, it is still necessary that he consult the Lord: I do not say that he should have a special conversation with him, but it is necessary that the Lord bring forth truth for him as light. - In this are reproved certain ones who wish to be governed by their own knowledge; of whom Isaiah says: Woe to you, deserting children! That you would take counsel and not from me, and would begin a web and not through my Spirit. They weave spider's webs who cite sacred Scripture for evil purposes. Bernard says: "You will never understand Paul unless you find the spirit of Paul."
13. There is a counsel by which we are instructed according to the dictate of divinely established and inspired laws; but because it is difficult for a man to be instructed by himself, therefore there is required thirdly a counsel by which one is regulated according to the dictate of divinely inspired men. Concerning which it is written: Establish with yourself a heart of good counsel. On the contrary, concerning evil counselors it is written: Guard your soul from a counselor. Do not attend to these in every counsel. But be constant with a holy man, whomever you know to observe the fear of God: whose soul is according to your soul. He gives the reason: because the soul of a holy man at times declares true things more than seven watchmen sitting on high to keep watch, and he sees more than you. - We gather from this that one point of counsel consists in this, that a man should not place counsel in himself alone; but he ought to seek counsel from another. Nor does it consist only in this, but also in this, that he know how to discern a counselor and choose the good and flee the evil.
14. But who is the good counselor? Certainly that one of whom Ecclesiasticus says: Let many be at peace with you, but let one out of a thousand be your counselor. - One counselor, that is, Christ, of whom Isaiah says: His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. He is the Angel of great counsel: this is he to whom we ought to attend with a pure heart. Ecclesiasticus says: Before all works let a true word precede you, and before every act a stable counsel. - The true word, which can neither be deceived nor deceive, is the only-begotten Son of God and his doctrine and his life. Let this word precede you and this stable counsel. Stable counsel is none other than that of my God; the counsel of the Lord remains forever.
15. This counselor, namely Christ, has many counselors, to whom he imparts his counsel. Paul said: She will be more blessed if she so remains according to my counsel; but I think that I also have the Spirit of God. Whence to the Corinthians: You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor. And the Apostle himself says: In this I give counsel, but I have no precept. Augustine says in the original that "Christ became poor to such an extent that he does not have what the foxes have, because foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head; understand: Christ became poor so that we might imitate his poverty." The Master says that we should imitate him in giving alms, in humility, in poverty, and in obedience.
16. This counsel has been confirmed by the twelve Apostles and by the counsels of the Saints. Whence it is said in Ecclesiastes: The words of the wise are like goads and like nails driven deep, which were given through the counsel of masters by one shepherd. If you want the testimony of the Saints concerning these counsels, seek Anthony, Paphnutius, and Macarius, who all resolved to observe these counsels. Seek the bishops Basil, Augustine, Martin, and Gregory; all were monks and resolved to observe the counsels and kept them. Seek also Benedict, who was an abbot; seek Dominic, seek Francis, who resolved that all these counsels must be observed. From the Lamb proceed torches, and they are illuminations for manifesting the counsels. It is written: God who is glorified in the counsel of the saints; Psalm: I will confess to you, O Lord, with my whole heart, in the counsel of the just and in the congregation. Therefore we ought to choose a good counselor.
17. It is not sufficient for you to choose a good counselor, unless you guard yourself from an evil counselor. Whence it is written: From an evil counselor guard your soul; and in Ecclesiasticus: The spirit of evil counsel destroys understanding. Who is this spirit? He who converts great things into nothing, and good things into evil, and certain things into doubtful. And why does it destroy? I say that understanding exists for this purpose, that the process may come from doubt into certainty; therefore, when someone leads into doubt, then he causes understanding to fall. - First, I say, the evil counselor is he who converts great things into nothing, as those who say that the counsels of God are evil and worthless. Such counselors were the Pharisees and Lawyers, of whom it is said: The Pharisees and the Lawyers rejected the counsel of God. Would that there were none such now! - Someone will say: "Do you commend to me that I should follow the counsels and enter the religious order of the Friars Minor or the Preachers?" He says: "The order is fictitious, newly established, it has outward signs." Further he says: "It is a small thing to despise temporal goods; we cannot give them up. Why should we give up these few goods? What is the worth of bare feet? Bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but godliness is profitable for all things." - Dearest ones! However much the order may be fictitious and new, it is nevertheless good. And as to what he says, that bodily exercise is profitable for a little, and that it is a small thing to give up temporal goods; I say that these are the greatest sacrifices. Christ did not come for a small thing. It is the greatest thing to live in chastity and poverty. These are the greatest, highest, and noblest sacrifices, and you reckon the counsel of God as nothing, you despise the counsel of God in yourself and in others. If you do not wish to enter religious life, do not forbid another. Gregory says that "so many things have been given up by those who follow, that they could be coveted by those who do not follow." Therefore blessed Peter says: Behold, we have left all things. It is the greatest thing that a man should reduce his body to perpetual servitude. A holocaust of marrow is to place one's own will in the power of another. When I do that for the sake of God, it is worth more than the whole world. Against those who speak against the counsels of God, it is said in Proverbs: I have called and you refused; you have despised all my counsel and neglected my reproofs; therefore I will laugh at your destruction. - A dog, when it lies in the straw and does not wish to eat, does not permit another to eat. So these men do not wish to enter religious life nor do they permit others to enter. - Therefore the first evil counselor is he who converts great things into nothing.
18. Another evil counselor is one who turns good things into evil. The Psalm: For they turned evils against you; they devised counsels which they were unable to establish; for you shall make them turn their back, etc. It is evil when someone says something by which the counsel of Christ could be considered evil—as when someone condemns the counsel of entering holy religious life. It is foolish, dangerous, pernicious, and reckless to turn into evil that which Christ declared good. Concerning entrance into religious life, some say that one shoe does not fit all feet; but religious life imposes one rule upon all. If you say this, you are calling Christ and the apostles foolish. He also says: No one, putting his hand to the plow of God and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God; and blessed Peter says: It is better not to know the way of justice than, after knowing it, to turn back. — Dearest ones! I say: if a shoe could be made to which any foot could be shaped, that shoe could be made for all. Anyone can shape himself to the rule of religious life, because it is applied differently to the young, differently to the old, differently to the strong, differently to the weak. Hence Augustine says: "Let food and clothing be distributed to each of you by your superior, not equally to all, because you are not all equally well, but rather to each one as he shall have need." Hence in Ecclesiasticus: Put your foot into her fetters and your neck into her chains. And her shackles shall be to you a protection of strength and a foundation of virtue, and her chains a robe of glory. For the beauty of life is in her, and her bonds are a binding of salvation. — You will say: "To give a purgative medicine without a preparatory one is foolish." I say that religious life has both purgative and preparatory medicine, because it tempers itself according to the capacity of those who receive it. — You say that "there is danger in false brethren." This was not said about religious, but about false Christian brethren not yet in religious life. — You will say: "Many fall"; and blessed Peter says: It were better for them not to have known the way of justice than, after knowing it, to turn back. You ought not to fall with those who fall, but to stand with those who stand.
19. The third evil counselor is he who leads what is certain into doubt. Whence it is said in Ezra that certain ones who were from across the river came to the Jews and said: Who gave you counsel to build this house and restore its walls? The Jews had the counsels of God and of the prophets; yet those from across the river came to give counsel, though they did not know what was being done in Jerusalem. — Some do not know what is done in religious life, and yet they wish to give counsel and say to one wishing to enter: "What do you wish to do? Attend to the divine good pleasure: It is better to be in the will of God than in the hand of counsel. — By this way, if you wish to wait until the Lord reveals it to you, and you do not wish to do what Holy Scripture and holy men tell you, and what Christ inspires in you, you will always be able to be at a crossroads." Of such a one it is said: A man double in mind is inconstant in all his ways. A man ought to follow the counsels of Saints Benedict and the others. He ought not to bring in new counselors, but follow the counsel of Christ, whose life is the certain form of living. If a religious says: "There is no salvation except with us," he speaks badly. He ought not to praise his own holy order in such a way that he condemns others. He can stand for his own religious order, provided that he does not go to excess in his manner of speaking and persuading. He who thus follows counsel will have joy. Whence in Proverbs: Those who enter upon counsels of peace, joy follows them forever, to which may he who with the Father, etc., lead us.