Note 145 — Chapter VII

Engelhardt, pp. 183, 186. Ruysbroek speaks as follows of that fundamental tendency godward of which he supposes prevenient grace (vurloiffende gracie) to lay hold:—‘Ouch hait der mynsche eyn naturlich gront neygen zo gode overmitz den voncken der sielen ind die overste reden die altzijt begert dat goide ind hasset dat quaide. Mit desen punten voirt got alle mynschen na dat sijs behoeven ind ecklichen na sinre noit,’ &c.—Geistl. Hochzeit, cap. 3.

Ruysbroek lays great stress on the exercise of the will. ‘Ye are as holy as ye truly will to be holy,’ said he one day to two ecclesiastics, inquiring concerning growth in grace. It is not difficult to reconcile such active effort with the passivity of mysticism. The mystics all say, ‘We strive towards virtue by a strenuous use of the gifts which God communicates, but when God communicates Himself, then we can be only passive—we repose, we enjoy, but all operation ceases.’