Earlier this year, I wrote a bit on the Attributes of God.
As I am finishing up The Book of Divine
Consolation Of The Blessed Angela of Foligno (now saint), I can return to
this theme, using some of her great insights given to her as infused knowledge
from God in her Illuminative and Unitive States.
God revealed Himself to her after her purgation is
extraordinary ways. Like Julian of Norwich, Angela experienced the universe as
God’s creation and the earth as very small. She experienced the great love and
mercy of God, thereby given infused knowledge into His attributes.
So she learned of God as All Goodness, first. Then, she
experienced God as Pure Love and Mercy.
God revealed Himself to her as Beauty. After that, God
showed Himself to her as Invincible Omnipotence, followed by God as
Humility.
What is clear up to this point in her visions and times of
union with God is that she perceived God are pure objectivity.
God then revealed Himself to her as Power. And, then, as the
Trinity in the Eucharist, making her worthy to receive the Trinity, God came to
her.
These are but the beginnings of her consolations and this
pattern fits that of other saints, as well as the listing of stages from
Garrigou-Lagrange. One meditates first, on the Life of Christ, particularly His
Passion. Then, from meditation, one is led to experiencing the Passion in a
deep purgation followed by the sharing of Christ’s own pain.
Following the acceptance of the experience of the sufferings
of Christ, contemplation of the attributes of God occurs. One moves in this
pattern for a reason-purity of heart and complete rejection of all sin happen
before infused contemplation.
By this time, St. Angela
had seen only three visions, but these seem to be long and intense.
Part of these visions is the incomplete revelation of God as
Bridegroom to His Bride, and God told Angela this. He wanted her to hunger and
thirst for Him, so He withheld some of His Love. In later visions, to which I
shall refer in another post to come, God revealed more of His Love. He also
revealed specifics about His Passion.
How wonderful it is that St.
Angela is called “The Teacher of The Theologians” as what she experienced is
what logically, rationally others came to through reason and revelation, rather
than direct experience.
To be continued…
