Question III: Whether there is a mixed life resulting from the active and the contemplative, and which of them is more excellent

The Seraphic Doctor here mentions THREE orders of the Ecclesiastical state, instituted of old, to each of which its own distinct office fell. First, the Cenobites, continually profiting in the study of virtues, follow the footsteps of Christ, inasmuch as he led a social life with his disciples, and was for them the exemplar of perfection; for the Cenobitic life is a professed Society of many living together under one manner of life, that by mutual examples they may spur one another on to emulating the better charisms: wherefore this state is most convenient for progress in perfection, nor does it on that account lose the name of a Religious or Monastic institution, because the solitude of bodies is not there so exactly observed; for although Monas means one, yet that one rather signifies that solitude which is more adapted to the end of acquisition, for the sake of which the monastic state was first instituted; and to this solitude the unity, or solitude, of mind contributes more than that of body: whence St. Augustine on Psalm 132, on those words, Quam bonum, et quam iucundum habitare fratres in unum (How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in one), thus speaks of monastic solitude: for they who so live in one as to make one man, so that it be true of them, as it is written, one heart and one soul; many bodies, but one heart and one soul, are rightly called Monas, that is, one alone; wherefore from the beginning of the Church, when many withdrew into desert places for the sake of the pursuit of perfection, they were accustomed to come together on fixed days, exhorting and exciting one another to the unity of spirit; as is read in the lives of the Fathers.

In the SECOND place are the Hermits, more frequently intent upon Contemplation, and keeping a more exact solitude, withdrawing from every congregation and commerce of men; and these sometimes dwelt in the monasteries which they built for themselves in the wildernesses, whence also they were called Eremitae, though less properly; such were the Religious of St. Basil, as Suarez has it, lib. 1. cit. cap. 2. But others dwelt solitarily in desert places, fleeing all society of men; and these are properly called Hermits, such as that Paul who is acclaimed in the Calendar as the first Hermit.

In the THIRD and last place are the secular Clerics, so called because they hold a place in the civil dealings and contracts of the age; and accordingly in the very age (saeculum) they can dwell with other seculars; while they are Pastors of souls, or Rectors of Churches, of whom the state is twofold, Episcopal and Parochial: the former destined for ruling dioceses, the latter for caring for parishes.

But since that threefold state did not at once attain the perfection of Christ, but one state imitated his contemplative life only by withdrawing into the desert, another emulated his conversation among the disciples and the examples of his virtues, and the last finally followed him in procuring the salvation of the neighbor; the Seraphic Doctor argues that it behooved some to be given who would follow Christ in all things, and would reconcile his nocturnal Contemplations and withdrawals with his diurnal occupations; and such would truly lead a mixed life.

I ASSERT therefore, with the Seraphic Doctor, that there is given a Mixed Life resulting from the Contemplative and the Active. This is the common opinion of the Fathers and Scholastics, as in Suarez, cit. cap. 6., where, among the many whom he produces, he passes over St. Bonaventure, while retaining the authority of so great a Doctor, and rendering his reasons useful to himself. This is held before others by St. Thomas 2. 2. quaest. 188. art. 6. et 3. dist. 35. quaest. 1. art. 4. quaestiunc. 1. See also there Durandus quaest. 2. Paludanus, 4. dist. 38. quaest. 2. art. 1. Cajetan 2. 2. quaest. 188. art. 6. Antoninus 3. parte, tit. 16. cap. 1. §. 2. Henriquez, quodlib. 12. quaest. 25. Sylvester, in summa, V. Religio 1. quaest. 4. and the Canonists in cap. nisi cum pridem, de renunciat. Archi. in cap. si quis, dist. 56.

It is PROVED especially by St. Bonaventure in the place cited above, by the example of Christ himself, made the exemplar of both lives, while he tarried by night on Mount Olivet, intent on Contemplation and holy prayer; but by day he taught in the Temple, healed the sick, etc., as is said in Luke 21. On which passage the holy Doctor shows that therein is given to Prelates an example of perfect vigilance in the life at once Active and Contemplative; for since the government of souls is a most arduous office, its true and laudable dispensation or ministration can be obtained only from above, from the Father of lights, from whom is every perfect gift; and therefore one must devote oneself to Contemplation, on which the supernal truth shines. But prelature of itself, since it is a ministry to another, also implies action, nor does it impede Contemplation, if action proceeds in an orderly way from it; for, as the holy Doctor says, in the place cited, the faithful exercise of a good work quiets the conscience, and by fattening it raises it to supernal things. The Seraphic brings the example of one who labored in preparing a banquet, at which he afterwards feasted pleasantly, and whose sweetnesses he tasted beforehand in the very preparation.

It is PROVED secondly by the holy Doctor, on chapter 10 of Luke, by the example of the Virgin Mother of God, to whom was infused whole and without division what was given in parts to Martha and Mary; of whom the figure was the Ark, in which at once the tablet of testimony and the rod of Aaron were kept; for by the tablet of testimony is signified the reception of divine truth through Contemplation; and by the rod of Aaron is indicated the rectitude of good action, both as regards oneself and as regards the neighbor, as St. Bonaventure explains, in the place cited.

It is PROVED thirdly by St. Bonaventure in the Meditation on Christ, chapter 57., by the authority of the Fathers, among whom St. Bernard is celebrated, while he treats of this matter in Sermon 3 on the Assumption, speaking of the Active and Contemplative life thus: He acquires a good degree who has ministered well; perhaps a better, who has devoted himself well to God; but the best, who is perfect in both; where he indicates that each state of life is separable from the other, as we proved above, yet that the more excellent is he who has joined both in one.

The same in Sermon 50 on the Canticles speaks thus: Who doubts that a praying man speaks to God? Yet how often, charity bidding, are we thence withdrawn and torn away for the sake of those who need our works or our company; how often does pious repose yield to the tumult of affairs; how often, for the sake of administering earthly things, do we most justly put off from ourselves the celebrating of the solemnities of Mass? The order is preposterous, but necessity has no law; in which words he shows not only that both lives can be conveniently completed in one, but that the necessity of perfection demands it; which pertains to the second part of the question, noted in the title.

The same, in the epistle to the Brethren of Mount Dei, long before the middle, quoted by St. Bonaventure in the place cited, chapter 56., writes thus: The good and prudent servant often compares labor with leisure, nor is he dissolved into it, but is by it rather gathered more into himself, who always had before his eyes not so much what he does as what he intends by doing: for since man consists of a twofold part, of which the one requires quiet, the other exercise; and has a twofold operation, internal by knowing, and external by laboring; likewise as he has two things in himself to be purged, as the holy Doctor notes in the place cited, chapter 51, from St. Bernard, sermon 3 on the ascension, namely, the Intellect and the Affect, the intellect that he may know, and the affect that he may will, and that he may will efficaciously; man ought to join the action of virtue with the contemplation of truth, that while the one ruddies within in the mind, the other may be exhibited without in work. See further St. Bernard to the brethren of Mount Dei, col. 3, and on those words of the Canticles: Surge, propera amica mea, etc. (Arise, make haste, my love, etc.), where he describes the spouse now hastening to the vineyard for labor, now also resting in the bed of Contemplation, and thus exercising the gifts of both lives, by acting and contemplating; as the holy Doctor also most excellently explains, LL. CC. in Meditat. vitae Christi.

BASIL in Rule 37 and chapter 2, on 5 Constitut. Monast., after teaching that the exercise of Charity toward the neighbor must be joined to Contemplation, in order that one may be a true imitator of Christ, who kept watch in both, by day and by night, subjoins: The helping works of the body rendered the virtue of the soul more illustrious, while, being resolvable into all their parts for their spiritual conversation, those operating in this manner added to the active life, as it were, its seal and closing clause. But lest anyone think this Saint spoke of bodily exercises which arise from external premeditation or contemplation, he subjoins the example of Christ, still in boyhood intent on domestic labors and services, before he undertook by preaching and other spiritual exercises the conversion of men; then he adds the examples of the Apostles, and especially of Paul, of whom he says: Mark Paul laboring incessantly, and contentedly making journeys, sailing, encountering perils, etc.

It is CONFIRMED from the most eminent professors of the contemplative life, who were zealous for the care of souls and the correction of sinners. Thus all whom the Seraphic Doctor approves as the founders or beginners of the Religious life, in the Diaeta salutis, tit. 3. cap. 1. at the end: thus Samuel, who first gathered the band of Prophets, as is had, 1 Kings 10; he was so devoted to contemplation that he did not neglect the Mixed life in the correction and instruction of the people: say the same of Elias and Eliseus, with whom the sons of the prophets dwelt, 4 Kings 4. The same is plain of St. John the Baptist, who gathered disciples, as is said, John 1. of whom the aforesaid Basil says, in the place cited: who, when he had at times held himself in that solitude by the hidden counsel of God, afterwards went forth into cultivated places, and there, by Preaching and Baptizing, which gifts touch the very action of things, at last found the end of his contest before Herod with intrepid liberty of soul. I omit the many examples of those Fathers whose mixed life under the law of grace confirms the same most clearly.

St. AUGUSTINE, book 19 de civitate Dei, chapter 19, thus speaks of this Mixture of action with Contemplation: Nor ought anyone be so idle as not to think in that very leisure of the utility of the neighbor; nor so full of action as not to require the contemplation of God.

ISIDORE, book of differences, 19, says thus: For some only Contemplation profits; for others only the active life is a consolation; for these the middle way, composed of both, is more useful; which opinion he proves by the example of Christ, and confirms from the twofold precept given indifferently to all, although by reason of office or justice one may press more upon one than upon another: this is the precept of the love of God and of the neighbor; which, insofar as it is from charity, binds all; although under another title the observances and ministries to be bestowed on God and the neighbor press rather upon him who has undertaken the care of souls; yet since necessity, or utility coming to it, at times requires that we show outwardly in effect the affection which we nourish within, it is necessary that at times we forsake God as it were for the sake of God, that we may succor the laboring neighbor.

Hence the Seraphic Bonaventure, cit. determin. qq. quaest. 1. at the end, teaches that on this account St. Francis our Father so instituted the Order of Friars Minor, that in perfect imitation of Christ they should strive to lead the mixed life, not by a debt of necessity but by an affect of charity, and should expect the merit of the salvation of others from their fruit, and avoid the danger of their perdition; while, sharing in the gain, unharmed in the loss, they studied to draw others out of shipwreck, while they themselves stood on solid ground, so as not to be endangered with those sinking in sin. So the holy Doctor.

I ASSERT Secondly, that the mixed life simply excels acting than the only active, or only contemplative; it is plain from the authorities brought forward.

It is PROVED further by Suarez, num. 19., by the reason which the holy Doctor indicates, in the place lately cited: The mixed life contains whatever of perfection the contemplative and the active life have separately: Therefore it is simply more excellent than either taken separately. The major is evident; for thus man, consisting of soul and body, is better than the soul alone or the body alone; because, being composed, he retains the perfection of both. The consequence is proved: where one thing is joined to another, it rather promotes than impedes it, where it is better that both be joined; and so it happens here: Therefore. The minor is proved, which needs no proof as to the contemplation which is exercised while action continues; for while it is actually intent upon God amid acting, the merit becomes more abundant, and the very action is rendered nobler; as is plain from each of the most illustrious Fathers, who with mind and hand at once tended to God, operating and contemplating, as is notably written of St. Basil by Greg. Nazianzen, orat. 20. For thus acted that great Contemplator: that neither was the Contemplation without share in communication, nor the action without Contemplation: but as earth and sea, so also these two advantages of life, communicating their goods among themselves, concurred to the one Glory of God. Similar things of the Philosopher and Martyr Nazianzen writes in orat. 23., praising him especially in this, that he was so ambidexterous in virtue that his contemplation never impeded his action.

But the minor is PROVED as to action, that it in turn does not obstruct contemplation. For action can impede the operation of the mind only by distracting it elsewhere, or by diminishing its intensity; neither happens in the mixed contemplative and active life: Therefore. The minor is proved as to the first part: Action undertaken for God carries with it an actual thought of God, therefore it does not divert from it. The antecedent is proved: because it proceeds from a previous thought, and requires by its nature frequent attention and ascent to God himself. But if the mind meanwhile wanders elsewhere, this is not by the force of such action precisely; but from another thought creeping in suddenly, which can equally happen in one contemplating as in one operating; as is only too plain to each one from his own experience, unless perhaps he be rarely so elevated in contemplating that he rather burns than shines.

The subminor as to the second part is PROVED: A depraved action, such as fornicating or stealing, does not diminish the intensity of it previously conceived in the mind; nay, it rather renders it more intense: Therefore much more must this be said of a good action. The consequence is evident, because as is the proportion between the knowledge of evil and the action undertaken on account of it, such can be the proportion between the contemplation of God and the action exercised on account of him.

Nor does it stand in the way that that action renders the internal operation the more intense because it is sensible, and therefore proportioned more than the virtuous action is to contemplation; for on the contrary, since that internal operation also flourishes more in the sentient part, and therefore has proportion with that pleasure which is perceived in sensitive flesh; whence, since the action of virtue is for the most part without that sensible pleasure, it will have a similar proportion with contemplation, which in the mind is purely spiritual, and will render it not remiss but more intense; only let the mind attend to itself while it operates outwardly: and this contemplative men not rarely experience, seeing in action a certain light irradiate itself to them with a sudden flash, and at the same time fervor increase; whereas sitting idle they would perhaps perceive neither so much splendor nor so much ardor. The same the holy Doctor wishes, in the place cited above, where he says that the faithful exercise of a good work raises the mind to supernal things; which he explains by the example there recorded; for he who prepares the table for a meal attentively considers the persons for whom he does it, and while he is occupied with hands and feet in bustling and running hither and thither, he ruminates in his mind the end and manner of his action, and thence tastes beforehand the pleasantness of the feast.

Further, even if amid acting the mind be diverted elsewhere, provided it does not voluntarily consent to fault, it loses no merit; and such action is a virtual love of God and of the neighbor; and the more laborious the operation is, on account of the great attention required, withdrawing from Contemplation, the more perfectly is merit heaped up; since the man very often, amid the delights of vacant Contemplation, seeks not God but himself, who at times pleases God the less the less he displeases himself.

Moreover, since it is the condition of everyone contemplating in the way that he cannot long sustain the mind elevated to God without some relaxation of his purpose, but is compelled either from the aridity of devotion or from the excessive irruption of another's thought to interrupt the study of contemplation, as the opinion of all contemplatives teaches, according to Suarez, in the place cited, with St. Bonaventure, chapter 58 in Meditat. cit., this defect cannot be better supplied than by devoting oneself to the ministries of piety, and promoting the salvation of one's neighbors; especially since works of this kind are celebrated with the highest praises in holy Scripture, as John 12: If anyone minister to me, him will my father honor, and Mark 10: Whosoever will be the greater among you, shall be your minister.

It is CONFIRMED by the holy Doctor, in the chapter next cited, from three causes which compel the interruption of contemplation; and in which action can attain greater merit than contemplation; since, these urgent causes prevailing, it could be imputed to vice. The first cause which the holy Doctor recalls is the profit of souls, on account of which Bishops, who shine at the summit of perfection, are bound at times to postpone contemplation to action. Nor let anyone say that the active life pertains to Bishops alone; for that is absurd; for since they ought to outshine the people in knowledge, wisdom, and other intellectual virtues, they ought to be most contemplative, as Suarez teaches in the chapter cited above. Furthermore, since that state of perfection in which Bishops are supposed cannot be acquired by bodily exercises, it would be ridiculous to depress them to so low a grade of acting.

The second cause of interrupting the leisure is akin to the former, namely the office of regular prelature; for since these are bound both spiritually and corporally to provide for the necessities of their subjects, it is right that they be snatched from the embraces of the unfruitful Rachel, and abound with Lia in the fruits of their ministry, as St. Bernard says, quoted by the Seraphic, where he thus continues: It will by no means repent me of the quiet interrupted for the care of preaching, when I see in you my seed germinating, and the increments of what I have sown in you increasing: for Charity, which seeketh not her own, has long since easily persuaded me, namely, to prefer nothing of my desires to your utilities. To pray, to read, to write, to meditate, and the other gains of spiritual study; these I hold as losses for your sakes, which losses are so true that the orders of stricter discipline, among whom there is freedom from all ministration, do not exempt their Prelates from this burden of ministry.

The third cause touched above is the withdrawal of the spouse from the soul, who comes and goes at his pleasure, as the holy Doctor says, in the said chapter 58, letter C. 2., from St. Bernard, sermon 32 on the Canticles; for while the soul awaits the return of the spouse and sees not herself to profit, then she recognizes, says the holy Doctor, that it is the will of the spouse that, by reducing herself to the active life, she bear fruit for him; nor does idleness befit a contemplator; whence St. Bernard in the same place, quoted by the Seraphic, has thus: For who, I do not say continually, but even for long, while he remains in this body, enjoys the light of contemplation: but as often as he falls from contemplation, so often he betakes himself into the active; for these two are mutual companions, and dwell together; for Martha is the sister of Mary. Hence it is that that state of life which is called even purely Contemplative has fixed hours in which it can be vacant for manual exercises, such as the Carthusians and others.

But if we take the contemplative life in that rigor that it excludes the active altogether, such a life is not given in the whole Church, nor would its institution be expedient; since it is granted to very few, by that grace, to be intent on perpetual contemplation, as is established by the authority of the already-cited St. Bernard and by the reasons brought forward above.

But, that equivocations may be avoided, it must be noted that the Contemplative life is called that which consists principally in prayer, reading, meditation, and similar exercises; and if it undertakes any actions, it orders them to contemplation, or to its own, not however the neighbor's, commodity: whence you have that the contemplative life is not altogether exclusive of action.

On the contrary, the Active life is principally intent upon the works of mercy, which are of a twofold kind; for some are purely corporal, as to visit, to feed the sick, to clothe the naked, etc. Others are rather spiritual, although they have a bodily action admixed, as preaching, hearing confessions, etc. If these are considered in order to the preacher, the one receiving confessions, etc., they pertain rather to the contemplative than the active life; for they proceed from the internal contemplation of truth, as was intimated above; moreover such things instruct the one exercising them; but if they are considered in order to the neighbor, they are to be reckoned among the offices and functions of the active life; because contemplation is for its own sake and rests in itself, nor is it desirable on account of another, although it is a most noble medium for accomplishing many things regarding the neighbor, as is plain in most contemplative men, who are more apt than others for converting sinners, for consoling the wretched, etc.

From these things it is gathered that that life is called Contemplative in which the frequency and means of contemplating exceed, but do not utterly exclude action; but that life is called active which more frequently and professedly watches over the utility and commodities of the neighbor; nor does it exclude every consideration, or meditation of truth: for that would be perverse; since every meritorious action ought to be from a free will, and consequently from an intellect considering. But the mixed life is called that which at one time orders contemplation to action, and this in turn to that, and provides, as far as it can, for itself and for the neighbor in spiritual and corporal things; and this we asserted above to be absolutely the better; although from the disproportions of means to end, and other contingent defects, it can be worse; for in treating of religion by acting, we taught that its perfection consists not so much in its end as in the means and manner of tending to it.

Nor does it stand against what was lately said, that it seems preposterous that contemplation, desirable for its own sake, should be referred to action; since on the contrary action is more referable to it.

For Suarez answers, citing the holy Doctor on chapter 10 of Luke, and the cited Meditation, chapter 45, that action is referable to contemplation by way of disposition, inasmuch as one still imperfect ought to devote himself more to action than to contemplation. But contemplation serves action by way of help and causality, inasmuch as action depends on the free will of the one contemplating; and thus to refer the nobler to action does not involve anything unseemly, since the Incarnation of the Word, which is the most excellent work of God, was ordered to the salvation of men: whence, although in physics the referral of a more noble entity to a less noble resounds as ignoble; in morals nevertheless it breathes merit and perfection; since the excellence of virtue is situated rather in benign condescensions, as is clear from the continual practice of God toward us, than in the strict preservation of the order of things; wherefore, since the perfection of Christian men depends on the access and imitation of divine Charity, I judge that life to be more perfect, other things being equal, which providently, piously, justly, and soberly provides for itself and for the neighbor.

But if we weigh the security of the state in common, it is necessary that we do not deny it to the contemplative life, both on account of the removal of impediments and occasions; and because to that Religion which is purely contemplative the entrance lies open from other religions, even mixed ones, not conversely. But it is one thing to speak of security, another of perfection; although both are not lacking in the mixed life, to which the perpetual providence of God assists; for each state of life sets before itself means sufficiently apt for forestalling lapses, for attaining perfection, and for duly fulfilling its office; these being posited, and preserved with moral diligence, the perfection of that life will without doubt prevail where more occasions of exercising virtue are at hand, and where consequently greater and more perfect merits are accumulated.