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Handout #172 |
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Fenelon (1651-1715 A.D.) |
| The passive state of which all the mystical saints have spoken is passive only to the degree that contemplation is passive, that is to say, that it does not exclude peaceable and disinterested actions but only activity or actions which are restless and fussy in our own interest. The passive state is thatin which a soul, no longer loving God with a mixed love, performs all its deliberate actions with a will which is full and efficacious, yet tranquil and disinterested. At one time it performs simple and distinct acts that are called quietude or contemplation; at another time it performs distinct acts of virtue in conformity with its state. But whether it be the one or the other, it performs them an equally passive way, that is, a way which is peaceful and disinterested. Fenelon, Explanation of the Maxims of the Saints on the Inner Life. |
