← [[session-07-f2a|Counsels and Methods — Continued]] | [[formation-II-a-handbook|Table of Contents]] | [[session-09-f2a|Explanation of the Nature of Union with God]] → # Purification of the Intellect by the Practice of Faith Required Reading: Ascent, Book Two, ch. 1-4 In darkness and secure, by the secret ladder, disguised, —ah, the sheer grace!— in darkness and concealment, my house being now all stilled. Essential Points to Discuss: • “The secret ladder represents faith, because all the rungs or articles of faith are secret to and hidden from both the senses and intellect. Accordingly, the soul lives in darkness… to climb the divine ladder of faith, that leads up to and penetrates the deep things of God” (1 Cor, 2:10) (A.2. 1:1). • “…John is not concerned with the content or articles of faith. Rather, his focus is on faith as contemplation: the quiet, gentle presence of God that ‘instructs (the soul) in the perfection of love without its doing anything or understanding how it happens.’ Faith as contemplation, does not communicate facts about God but is an experience of God’s self-communication. Faith… communicates God Himself to us…” (Ascent Reflections pg. 108). • “…all that is required for complete pacification of the spiritual house is the negation through pure faith of all the spiritual faculties, gratifications and appetites. This achieved, the soul will be joined with the Beloved in a union of simplicity and purity and love and likeness” (A.2.1:2). • The previous purification pertaining to the senses is more external. In other words, purification of the lower part has an impact, but does not affect one’s deeply held beliefs and spiritual pleasures. Hence, “this spiritual night, which is faith, purifies everything, both in the intellect and in the senses. As a result, the soul declares in this stanza that it departed in darkness and secure... For the less a soul works with its own abilities, the more securely it proceeds because its progress in faith is greater” (A.2.1:3). Note the difference between “dark night” (in the first stanza) and “darkness” (in the second stanza). • “Faith, the theologians say, is a certain and obscure habit of soul… It brings us to believe divinely revealed truths that transcend every natural light and infinitely exceed all human understanding. As a result, the excessive light of faith bestowed on a soul is darkness for it” (A.2.3:1). “The intellect knows only in the natural way, that is, by means of the senses” (A.2.3:2). Note: This is another important teaching of John. In later chapters, he will explain that the excessive light is the loving knowledge of God Himself. “The knowledge that faith provides is intuitive” (Ascent: Reflections, pg.108). St. Therese spoke of being guided by 25 01.24 1-24-2024 OCDS Formation II, Year A the light of faith as a “felt sense.” “He teaches without noise of words. Never have I heard Him speak, but I feel that He is within me, at each moment; He is guiding and inspiring me with what to say and do” (Story of a Soul, pg. 179, Study Edition pg. 276, near the end of chapter 8. See The Ascent to Joy, pg. 95). • The novelty of the knowledge does not lie in the information, but in a new sense of the presence of God through faith and love. One receives it in a kind of passive activity. There are no adequate human controls. Before God, only poverty, confidence, and abandonment remain (see DN Intro, pg. 356). • “Such is the faith to the soul; it informs us of matters we have never seen or known… This amounts to saying that faith is not a knowledge derived from the senses but an ascent of the soul to what enters through hearing” (A.2.3:3). • John observes that attachment to understanding, feelings and opinion hinders one’s spiritual growth. Consequently, one must pass beyond everything to “unknowing” (see A.2.4:4). “Unknowing” means the way one experiences the whole realm of the supernatural that cannot be known by natural means of feeling and understanding. “Supernatural” in this context means the initiative comes from God, not from oneself. In general, it may refer to the realm of the mystery of God, of Christ, His grace (see Glossary of Terms, pg. 776). That is, the “supernatural” does not refer to extraordinary or rare experiences; it refers to grace, sanctity, and to being authentically human. • Regarding this road to union: entering on the road means leaving one’s own road and moving toward the goal. Turning from one’s own mode implies entry into what has no mode (unknown) — that is, God. John strongly encourages one to move from the “natural bound” to the “supernatural bound” (spiritual bound) by practicing the virtue of faith (see A.2.4:5). Purification: The process by which one eliminates, through the theological virtues, all that is contrary to receiving into one’s own life the fullness of God’s life. The entire spiritual journey is purifying, comprising God’s communication and the human person’s effort to respond. (see Glossary of Terms, pg.775) 26 **Additional Reading:** Ascent to Joy, The Goal: Union with God pg. 49; The Metaphors of Union --- **Source:** Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, *Formation II Year A: The Ascent of Mount Carmel* (US National Formation Program, 2024).