293、对此，我补充两个记事。记事一：
有一次，我透过窗户向东方望去，只见七个女人坐在玫瑰园的源泉旁喝水。我目不转睛地看她们在做什么，我这种凝视的专注使她们有所察觉，于是其中一位向我点头示意，发出邀请。我离开家，匆忙加入她们。我一到便礼貌地询问她们从哪里来。“我们是妻子，”她们说，“正在谈论婚姻之爱的快乐。大量证据使我们断定，这些快乐就是智慧的快乐。”这个答复使我满心欢喜，以致我觉得自己似乎在灵里，因而处于比以往任何时候都更内在、更清晰的觉知。我对她们说：“关于这些快乐，我可以问你们几个问题吗？”她们点头同意，于是我便问：“你们妻子如何知道婚姻之爱的快乐和智慧的快乐是一样的？”
她们回答说：“我们是从我们丈夫的智慧和我们在婚姻之爱中所感受的快乐之间的对应关系知道这一点的。因为我们感觉这爱之快乐的强弱完全取决于我们丈夫的智慧。”听到这句话，我问她们说：“我知道你们会被丈夫的甜言蜜语和快乐心情所打动，以致你们会因他们感觉满心快乐。不过，我挺纳闷你们会说这是丈夫们的智慧使然。请告诉我，你们所说的智慧是什么，是哪种智慧。”
妻子们闻言愤愤不平。她们回答说：“当我们不停地反思我们丈夫的智慧，每天从他们嘴里听到它时，难道你以为我们会不知道这是什么智慧，是哪种智慧？我们妻子从早到晚都在思想我们丈夫的状态；白天，我们的直觉思维几乎一刻也没有离开过他们或不在他们身上。另一方面，我们的丈夫白天几乎不思想我们的状态。正因如此，我们知道他们哪种智慧以我们为快乐，我们的丈夫称之为属灵的理性智慧和属灵的道德智慧。据他们说，属灵的理性智慧属于理解和知识，而属灵的道德智慧属于意愿和生活。不过，他们将这二者合为一个智慧。他们还声称，这智慧的快乐从他们的心智被转录到我们内心所感受的快乐中，然后从我们心里返回到他们心里，从而回到它们的源头，即智慧那里。”
然后，我问她们对丈夫的智慧如何以她们为快乐是否有更多了解。“我们知道，”她们说，“有属灵的智慧存在，理性和道德的智慧由此而来。属灵的智慧就是承认主救主是天地之神，并从祂为自己积累教会的真理，这一切是通过圣言和基于圣言的布道实现的，这会通向属灵的理性；还要从主照着这些真理生活，这会通向属灵的道德。我们的丈夫将这二者称为智慧，这智慧通常带来真正的婚姻之爱。我们还听他们说，其原因在于：这智慧打开他们心智、因而身体的内层，就这样为爱从初始到最终实现的涌流打开一条自由通道。婚姻之爱所倚靠和赖以存活的，就是这涌流的流动、充盈和力量。我们丈夫的属灵理性智慧和属灵道德智慧，尤其是婚姻方面的，将唯独爱妻子、摒弃对其他女人的一切淫欲作为它的目的和目标。他们越是这样做，这爱的等级就越高，品质也越完美；我们也在自己里面越来越清晰和强烈地感觉到对应于我们丈夫的情感享受和思维愉悦的快乐。”
后来，我问她们是否知道这些快乐是如何共享的。她们说：“通过爱联结的一切行为，都包含作用、接受和反作用。我们爱的快乐状态是作用，或那作用之物。我们丈夫的智慧状态则是接受或那接受之物；这也是取决于接受的反作用或反作用之物。我们心里所感受到的这种反作用及其快乐，取决于我们的状态，一种不断被打开并预备接受某些元素的状态；这些元素以某种方式与我们丈夫的美德联在一起，因而从这些美德发出，由此以某种方式与我们里面的爱情终级状态联在一起，并从这种状态发出。当心，”她们继续说，“你不要把我们所说的快乐理解成那爱最表层的快乐。我们从来不谈论这个话题，我们所说的内心快乐，永远与我们丈夫的智慧状态相对应。”
说完这些话，只见远处仿佛飞来一只鸽子，嘴里衔着一片树叶。但当它靠近时，却发现不是鸽子，而是一个小男孩，手里拿着一张纸。他走到我们面前，把这张纸递给我说：“请当着源泉少女（spring-maiden）的面朗读这张纸。”于是，我读到这些话：“告诉与你同在地上的居民，真正的婚姻之爱是存在的，其快乐数不胜数。然而，它们几乎没有一种为世人所知。不过，当教会将自己许配给她的主，成为祂的新娘和妻子时，世人必知道它们。”然后，我问：“那男孩为何叫你们源泉少女？”她们回答说：“当我们坐在这源泉旁边时，就被称为少女。因为我们是对丈夫智慧之真理的情感，对真理的情感就被称为少女。源泉也表示智慧的真理，我们所坐的玫瑰园表示它的快乐。”
这时，七位妻子中的一位编了一个玫瑰花环，撒上泉水，把它戴在小男孩的帽子上，说：“请接受聪明的快乐。你知道，帽子表示聪明，这玫瑰园里的花环表示它的快乐。”男孩便带着这个装饰离开了，从远处看，他又像是一只飞翔的鸽子，只是这次它头上戴上了花环。
293、在此要作为两点陈述，第一：
一次我看到东方的窗外有七个女人坐在玫瑰花园里的泉水旁喝着水。她们发现我在看着她们就请我过去，我问她们从哪里来。
她们说：“我们是妻子，我们在讨论婚姻之爱的快乐，我们认为婚姻之爱的快乐也是智慧的快乐。”
我问：“你们妻子们怎么知道婚姻之爱的快乐就是智慧的快乐呢？”
她们说：“我们是从丈夫的智慧和我们的婚姻之爱的对应中得知的。因为我们中的这种爱的快乐会因为丈夫的智慧而变换。”
我又问：“我知道女人会被丈夫的甜言蜜语和快乐的心态影响，并将其放在心中。而你却说你们的快乐是与丈夫的智慧有关。请告诉我这是一种什么样的智慧呢？”
听到这儿，女人们有点不高兴了。她们说：“你认为我们不知道自己所讲的智慧是什么。我们每天都在考虑着丈夫的智慧，并且从丈夫的言语中学习着这些智慧。事实上，女人整天都在考虑着丈夫的状态。而我们的丈夫却很少考虑我们的状态。因此我们知道他们哪种智慧会从我们这儿得到快乐，丈夫们称这种智慧为精神——理性的智慧和精神——道德的智慧。精神——理性的智慧是与才智有关，而精神——道德的智慧是与生活方式有关。男人们将二者合二为一视其为同一个智慧。他们说智慧的快乐从他们的头脑中进入我们的心中，又从我们的心中返回到它最初起源的智慧中。”
我又问是否可以讲一讲关于这种在妻子中得到快乐的智慧。
她们说：“这种智慧是一种精神的智慧，理性的智慧和道德的智慧来自于其中。精神的智慧就是要承认主是天上和地上的神。根据《圣经》而与主的教会真理相连，由此而来的精神的理性。按主的真理而生活就产生了精神的道德。我们的丈夫说这两种智慧产生了婚姻之爱。他们还说，这种智慧开启了他们的头脑和躯体，使得爱能自由流动，这是婚姻之爱存在的必要条件。
“关于婚姻，这种精神——理性的智慧和精神——道德的智慧的目标，就是排除对其它女人的爱慕而只爱妻子一个人。男人越是能做到这点，这种爱就最高越完美，我们妻子就越能清晰感到与丈夫的快乐一样的快乐。
我又问她们是否知道这种交流是怎样进行的。
他们说：“一切爱的联合都要有行为，接受和反应。我们的爱及其快乐是行为的发出者。丈夫的智慧是接受者，同时这种智慧还是反应者，我们进而能根据我们的状态而快乐地感受到这种反应。并能更好地接受来自于丈夫的美德的因素，并与我们的爱相连。”
此时她们说，请不要误认为我们刚才所说的快乐是婚姻之爱的最终极快乐。我们从来不会谈到那种快乐，我们所说的快乐是与我们丈夫的智慧的状态相对应的我们心中的快乐。”
这时我看到远处一只鸽子，嘴里衔着树叶。但当它飞近后，我们看到一个小男孩手里拿着一张纸。他向我走来，将纸递给我说：“当着这些泉边的少女们读一读。”
于是我读道：
告诉你所来之处的人，有一种叫做真正的婚姻之爱的东西。它能带来世人的不知的许多快乐，这些都将在教会与主相结合成为他的新娘和妻子时而得到揭示。
我问女人们为什么小男孩称她们为泉边的少女。
“当我们坐在这个泉边时，我们就是少女。”他们答道：“因为我们是对丈夫的智慧的真理的爱的形式。对真理的爱在形式上被称为少女。泉象征着智慧的真理，玫瑰花园象征着它的快乐。”
其中一个女人编了个玫瑰花环，上面洒上泉水，将花环藏在小男孩的帽子上并说道：“接受这才智之乐吧，你的帽子象征着才智，玫瑰花环象征着它的快乐。”
这时小男孩离开了，当他走远了后，他看上去又成了一只飞翔着鸽子，只不过是现在他头戴着一个王冠。
293. I shall here add two accounts of experiences, of which this is the first.
I once looked out of a window towards the east, and saw seven women sitting in a rose-garden by a spring, drinking its water. I gazed very hard to see what they were doing, and the intensity of my gaze made itself felt by them. So one of them nodded to me as an invitation. I left home and hurried to join them, and on my arrival politely asked them where they came from.
'We are wives,' they said, 'engaged in a conversation about the delights of conjugial love. Many proofs have led us to conclude that these delights are those of wisdom.' This reply so pleased my mind that I seemed to myself to be in the spirit, and capable of more inward and clearer perception than ever before. So I said to them, 'Will you allow me to ask you some questions about these pleasures?' They agreed to this, so I asked, 'How do you wives know that the delights of conjugial love are the same as those of wisdom?'
[2] 'We know this,' they answered, 'from the way our husbands' wisdom matches the delights we feel in conjugial love. For we feel the delights of this love enhanced or diminished, taking on the nature which matches the wisdom our husbands have.' On hearing this I asked, 'I know that flattery on the part of husbands and their cheerfulness of mind affect you, so that you feel delight with all your hearts in them. But I am surprised you say that this is the result of their wisdom. Tell me what wisdom this is, and of what sort.'
[3] The wives were indignant at this. 'Do you think,' they replied, 'we do not know what wisdom this is and of what sort, when we constantly reflect on our husbands' wisdom, and hear about it daily from their lips? We wives think about our husbands' condition from morning to evening; there is hardly a minute's respite during the day, in which the concentration of our thoughts really leaves them or is absent. On the other hand, our husbands spend very little time during the day thinking about our condition. This is how we know what wisdom of theirs takes delight in us. Our husbands call this spiritual rational wisdom and spiritual moral wisdom. Spiritual rational wisdom according to what they say belongs to the intellect and knowledge; spiritual moral wisdom to the will and the way we live. But they combine both of these into one, and hold that the pleasures of this wisdom are copied from their minds into the delights felt in our hearts, and then from our hearts into theirs, so that they return to the wisdom that was their source.'
[4] Then I asked whether they knew anything more about the way their husbands' wisdom took delight in them. 'Yes,' they said. 'There is spiritual wisdom, and rational and moral wisdom from this. Spiritual wisdom is to acknowledge the Lord the Saviour as the God of heaven and earth, and from Him to gather for oneself the truths of the church, which is done through the Word and preaching based on it. This leads to spiritual rationality. It is also to be led by the Lord to live in accordance with those truths; this leads to spiritual morality. Our husbands call these two the wisdom which in general brings about truly conjugial love.
'We have also heard from them the reason for this: that this wisdom opens up the inner levels of their minds, and so of their bodies, thus creating a free passage for the current of love from its first beginnings to its last realisations. It is on the quantity, adequacy and strength of this current that conjugial love depends and lives. The spiritual rational and moral wisdom of our husbands has as its particular purpose and aim in marriage the love of one wife alone, setting aside all lust after others. To the extent that this is achieved, that love is enhanced in degree and perfected in nature; and we also feel more clearly and exquisitely in ourselves the delights which match the joys of our husbands' affections and the pleasures of their thoughts.'
[5] Later I asked whether they knew how these were shared. 'Every act of linking by means of love' they said, 'involves acting, receiving and reacting. The delightful state of our love is the acting or that which acts. The state of our husbands' wisdom is the receiving or what receives, and this too is the reacting or that which reacts in proportion to what is felt. This reaction is felt by us with delights in our heart in keeping with the state constantly deployed and made ready to receive the influences, which in some way hang together with and proceed from the strength in our husbands and also with the ultimate state of love. Take care,' they went on to say, 'you do not understand the delights we have spoken of to mean the lowest delights of that love. We never say anything on that subject, but we do speak of the delights of our hearts, which perpetually match the state of our husbands' wisdom.'
[6] After this what looked like a dove was seen in the distance, flying with a tree-leaf in its mouth. But as it approached, instead of a dove, it looked like a small boy with a document in his hand. He came up to us and held it out to me, saying, 'Read this in the presence of the spring-maidens.' What I read was this: 'Tell the inhabitants of earth among whom you are that there is truly conjugial love, and it has tens of thousands of delights, though the world is so far only aware of a few. But it will get to know them, when the church betroths itself to the Lord and marries Him.' Then I asked, 'Why did that boy call you spring-maidens?' 'We are called maidens,' they replied, 'when we sit by this spring, since we are affections for the truths of our husbands' wisdom; and an affection for truth is called a maiden. The spring too stands for the truth of wisdom, and the rose-garden in which we sit stands for its delights.'
[7] Then one of the seven wove a garland of roses, sprinkled it with spring water, and placed it on the boy's hat around the crown, saying, 'Receive the delights of intelligence. You should know that a hat stands for intelligence, and a garland from this garden for its delights.' The boy went off with this adornment, and was seen again at a distance looking like a dove in flight, but this time with a crest on his head.
293. To this I will append two narrative accounts. Here is the first:
I once looked out my window toward the east and saw seven women sitting next to a rose garden by a spring drinking water. I strained my eyes intently to see what they were doing, and the intensity of my gaze caught their attention. With a motion of the head one of them therefore invited me over. Accordingly I left the house and hurried in their direction. And when I arrived, I politely asked them where they were from.
They then said, "We are wives. We are talking here about the delights of conjugial love, and we have concluded from a good deal of evidence that these delights are also delights of wisdom."
This response so delighted my heart that I seemed to be more interiorly in the spirit and to have on that account a more enlightened perception than ever before. So I said to them, "Permit me an opportunity to ask you some questions about those pleasant delights." And they nodded their assent.
So I asked, "How do you wives know that the delights of conjugial love are at the same time delights of wisdom?"
[2] They then replied, "We know it from the correspondence that exists between wisdom in our husbands and the delights of conjugial love in us. For the delights of this love in us heighten or diminish and take on altogether different qualities according to the wisdom in our husbands."
On hearing this I inquired further, saying, "I know you are affected by gentle words from your husbands and cheerful states of mind on their part, and that you take delight on account of these with all your heart. But I wonder at your saying that it is in response to their wisdom. However, tell me what wisdom is and what sort of wisdom you mean."
[3] To this the wives replied with annoyance, "You think we do not know what wisdom is and what sort of wisdom we mean, even though we continually reflect on it in our husbands and daily learn it from their mouths. Indeed, we wives think about the state of our husbands from morning to evening, with scarcely any time intervening in a day when this is interrupted or in which our instinctive thought is entirely withdrawn or gone from them. Our husbands in contrast spend very little time in the course of a day thinking about our state. As a result we know what sort of wisdom in them finds delight in us. Our husbands call this wisdom a spiritual-rational wisdom and a spiritual-moral one. Spiritual-rational wisdom, they say, is a matter of the intellect and its intellectual concepts, while spiritual-moral wisdom is a matter of the will and its mode of life. Yet they join the two together and regard them as one; and they maintain that the pleasant delights of this wisdom are transposed from their minds into delights in our hearts, and from our hearts back to their hearts, so that these return to the wisdom from which they originated."
[4] I then asked whether they knew anything more about this wisdom in their husbands - "wisdom," I said, "which finds delight in you."
"We do," they said. "It is a spiritual wisdom, and from that a rational and moral one. Spiritual wisdom is to acknowledge the Lord our Savior as God of heaven and earth, and through the Word and discourses from it to acquire from Him truths connected with the Church, from which comes a spiritual rationality; and in addition to live from Him according to those truths, from which comes a spiritual morality. Our husbands call these two the wisdom which in general works to produce truly conjugial love. We have also heard from them the reason, namely, that this wisdom opens the inner faculties of their mind and thus of their body, providing free passage from the firsts to the last of these for the stream of love, on whose flow, sufficiency and strength conjugial love depends for its existence and life.
"As regards marriage in particular, the spiritual-rational and spiritual-moral wisdom of our husbands has as its end and goal to love only their wives and to rid themselves of all desire for other women. Moreover, to the extent they achieve this, to that extent that love is heightened in degree and perfected in quality, and the more clearly and keenly do we then feel matching delights in us corresponding to the contented pleasures of our husbands' affections and the pleasant exaltations of their thoughts."
[5] I asked them next whether they knew how the communication took place.
They said, "All conjunction by love requires action, reception, and reaction. The state of our love and its delights is the agent or that which acts. The state of our husbands' wisdom is the recipient or that which receives. And this same wisdom is also the reagent or that which reacts in accordance with their reception. This reaction is then perceived by us with feelings of delight in our hearts according to our state and the measure in which it is continually open and ready to receive those elements which in some way are connected with and so emanate from virtue in our husbands, thus which in some way are connected with and so emanate from the final state of love in us."
At that point they also inserted, "Take care you do not interpret the delights we have mentioned to mean the end delights of conjugial love. We never talk about these, but only about the delights of our hearts which constantly correspond to the state of wisdom in our husbands."
[6] After that there appeared in the distance what looked like a dove in flight with a leaf from a tree in its mouth; but as it drew near, instead of a dove we saw a little boy with a piece of paper in his hand. Coming over to us then, he held it out to me and said, "Read it in the presence of these maidens of the spring."
So I read the following:
Tell the inhabitants of the earth among whom you live that there is such a thing as truly conjugial love, offering a million delights scarcely any of which are yet known to the world. But they will be discovered when the church betroths itself to her Lord and becomes His bride and wife.
Then I asked the wives, "Why did the boy call you 'maidens of the spring'?"
"We are called maidens when we sit by this spring," they replied, "because we are forms of affection for the truths of our husbands' wisdom; and an affection for truth in form is termed a maiden. The spring likewise symbolizes the truth of wisdom, and the rose garden we are sitting next to its delights."
[7] One of the seven wives then wove a garland of roses; and sprinkling it with water from the spring, she placed it over the cap the boy had on, fitting it around his little head and saying, "Receive the delights of intelligence. Your cap, you see, symbolizes intelligence, and the garland from this rose garden its delights."
Thus adorned the boy then departed, and in the distance he looked once more like a dove in flight, but this time with a little crown on its head.
293. Two stories belong here. The first is this:
I was once looking through a window toward the east and saw seven women sitting in a rose garden by a spring, drinking water. I focused my eyes and looked hard to see what they were doing, and they could tell I was staring at them, so one of them invited me with a nod, and I left the house and hurried over to them. When I arrived there I asked politely where they came from.
"We are wives," they said, "and we are here talking about the joy of married love. And for many reasons we have settled it that the joy of married love is also the joy of wisdom."
This answer made my mind so happy that I could see I was in my spirit and therefore had deeper and clearer perception than ever before. So I said to them, "Let's get each other's opinions about these pleasures." They nodded "yes," and I asked, "How do you wives know that the joy of married love is the same as the joy of wisdom?"
"We know this," they said, "from the fact that the wisdom in our husbands is the counterpart of our delight in married love.
You see, for us the joy of this love ebbs and flows and takes its whole character according to the wisdom in our husbands."
When I heard this, I asked, "I know that you respond to the sweet talk of your husbands and to the liveliness of their minds.
It thrills your whole breast. But I am surprised that you say their wisdom does it. Tell me - what is wisdom? And what kind of wisdom can do that?"
That made the wives indignant, and they answered, "You don't think we even know what wisdom is and what kind of wisdom does this, but for all that, we think about the wisdom in our husbands all the time, and we learn it every day from their own mouths. For we wives think about how our husbands are from dawn to dusk. Hardly a few minutes are wedged into a day when our intuitive thoughts completely leave them or are somewhere else - though our husbands think very little during the day about how we are. This intuition is how we know what wisdom of theirs takes delight in us. Our husbands call this wisdom spiritual on a rational plane and spiritual on a moral plane. They say that spiritual rational wisdom has to do with intellect and concepts, and spiritual moral wisdom, they say, has to do with your intentions and the way you live. And they join these two wisdoms together into one. They sum it up this way - the pleasures of this wisdom coming from their minds translate into joy in our breast, and from ours into theirs, and so the pleasures return to the wisdom they came from."
And then I asked, "Do you know anything else about how your husbands' wisdom makes you happy?"
"We do," they said. "There is spiritual wisdom. Rational and moral wisdom come from it. Spiritual wisdom is to acknowledge the Lord the Savior as God of heaven and earth and to gather the truths of the church from Him. The truths come through the Word and through preaching that is from the Word. Spiritual rationality comes from this. Spiritual morality is living according to those truths, from Him. Our husbands say these two things - spiritual rationality and morality - are the overall wisdom that brings about the real love in marriage.
"They have told us the reason, too. This wisdom opens out the innermost parts of their minds, and that leaves their bodies open to carry love freely like a stream from its highest beginning to its end. The life of married love depends on the strong, plentiful flow of this 'stream.'
"The rational and moral spiritual wisdom of our husbands has a specific purpose and scope in marriage - to love only a wife and to reject every selfish desire for anyone else - and to the extent that it succeeds, the love reaches a higher level and more perfection.
And at the same time, it gives us that much more special and exquisite feelings of delight in response to the joy of our husbands' feelings and the charm of their thoughts."
Then I asked, "Do you know how the communication happens?"
"Every relationship by love needs an action, a reception, and a reaction," they said. "Our love finds a state of delight in starting something, or doing. The wisdom of our husbands is a condition of receiving or reception and also of reacting or reaction, so far as they notice. And we notice their reaction with joy in our breast, in keeping with our state of mind, which is always open and ready to receive anything at all that is connected with, and that comes from, our husbands' virtue - which means connected with, and coming from, our own full state of love, too."
They also said, "Be careful not to think that the joys we have been talking about mean the more outward pleasures of this love.
We don't ever speak of them, but of the delight in our hearts, which are always in response to the state of our husbands' wisdom."
After this a dove seemed to appear in the distance flying with a leaf of a tree in its beak. But as it came nearer it proved to be a little boy instead of a dove, with a piece of paper in his hand.
Coming up to us he held the paper out to me and said, "Read this in front of the virgins of the spring."
And I read these words, "Tell the Earth dwellers you are with, that genuine married love does exist. It has thousands of delights, and the world still knows hardly any of them. But it will know them when the church betroths herself to the Lord and marries."
And then I asked, "Why did the boy call you virgins of the spring?"
"We are called virgins when we are sitting at this spring," they answered, "because affection for the truths of our husbands' wisdom is what we are, and affection for truth is called a virgin.
Also, a spring stands for the truth of wisdom, and the rose garden we are sitting in stands for the delights of wisdom."
Then one of the seven twined a wreath of roses and sprinkled it with spring water and put it on the boy's cap, around his little head, and said, "Here are some joys of intelligence. You see, that cap stands for intelligence, and a wreath from this rose bed is the joys in it."
Decorated that way, the boy set off, and in the distance he again looked like a dove, flying - but with a garland on its head.
293. To the above shall be adjoined two Memorable Relations. The first is this:
Once when looking through a window towards the east, I saw seven women sitting on a bed of roses by a fountain, drinking water. I strained my sight to see what they were doing, and the intentness of my gaze affected them; whereupon, one of them by a nod invited me, and I left the house and quickly went to them. When I arrived, I asked them politely whence they came. They said, "We are wives and are talking here about the delights of conjugial love, and from much confirmation we conclude that those delights are also the delights of wisdom."
This answer so delighted my mind that I seemed to myself to be in the spirit and hence in a perception more interior and clearer than ever before, whereupon I said to them, "Permit me to ask a few questions about these delights." They nodded assent, and I asked, "How do you wives know that the delights of conjugial love are the same as the delights of wisdom?"
[2] They replied: "We know it from the correspondence of the wisdom in our husbands with the delights of conjugial love in us; for in us the delights of this love are exalted and diminished, and thus qualified, entirely according to the wisdom of our husbands."
On hearing this, I asked them, saying: "I know that the fair words of your husbands and the cheerfulness of their minds affect you, and that from these you experience delights in your whole bosom, but I wonder at your saying that it is their wisdom that does this. But tell me, what is wisdom? and what wisdom does this?"
[3] Indignant at this, the wives responded: "You think we do not know what wisdom is and what wisdom it is that does this, when yet we are continually reflecting on the wisdom in our husbands and learn it daily from their lips; for we wives think about the state of our husbands from morning to evening. Scarcely a moment in the day passes in which our intuitive thought is entirely withdrawn or absent from them. On the other hand, during the day our husbands think very little about our state. Hence it is that we know what wisdom of theirs it is that is in its delight in us. Our husbands call that wisdom spiritual-rational and spiritual-moral. Spiritual-rational wisdom, they say, pertains to the understanding and to cognitions, and spiritual-moral wisdom to the will and to life; but they join these two together to make a single wisdom. They also declare that from their minds the amenities of this wisdom are transcribed in our bosoms into delights; and from our bosoms they return into theirs and so to wisdom, their origin."
[4] To my question, "Do you know anything more about the wisdom of your husbands becoming delight in you?" they said: "We do. There is spiritual wisdom and from this, rational and moral wisdom. Spiritual wisdom is to acknowledge the Lord the Savior as the God of heaven and earth; to acquire from Him the truths of the Church whence comes spiritual rationality, this being done by means of the Word and preaching therefrom; and from Him to live according to them, whence comes spiritual morality. It is these two that our husbands call the wisdom which in general effectuates love truly conjugial. We have also heard from them the reason, namely, that by this wisdom the interiors of their minds and thence of their bodies are opened whereby free passage is given, from firsts even to lasts for that vein of love, on the afflux, sufficiency, and strength of which conjugial love depends and from which it lives. The spiritual-rational and spiritual-moral wisdom of our husbands, especially in respect to marriage, has for its end and goal the loving of the wife only and the putting off of every concupiscence for other women. So far as this is done, so far is that love exalted in degree and perfected in quality, and so far also do we the more distinctly and exquisitely sensate within ourselves those delights which correspond to the enjoyments of our husbands' affections and the amenities of their thoughts."
[5] I then asked whether they know how the communication is effected. They said: "In all conjunction by love there must be action, reception, and reaction. The delightful state of our love is the agent or action. The state of the wisdom of our husbands is the receiving or reception; it is also the reagent or reaction according to the reception. 1This reaction with its delights is perceived by us in our bosom according to our state--a state which is continually expanded and prepared for receiving the things which in some way cohere with the virtue in our husbands--and thus also with the extreme state of love in ourselves--and which proceed therefrom." They said further: "Be careful that you do not interpret the delights we have mentioned, as meaning the ultimate delights of that love. Of these we never speak. What we are now speaking of is our bosom delights, which are in perpetual correspondence with the state of the wisdom of our husbands."
[6] After these words, there was seen at a distance what seemed like a dove flying with the leaf of a tree in its mouth; but as it drew near, in place of a dove was seen a little boy with a paper in his hand. Coming to us, he held it out to me saying, "Read this to these Virgins of the Fountain." I then read these words: "Tell the inhabitants of earth with whom you are, that there is a love truly conjugial, the delights of which are myriad. As yet scarcely any of them are known to the world; but the world will know them when the Church betroths herself to her Lord and becomes His bride."
I then asked, "Why did that boy call you Virgins of the Fountain?" They replied: "We are called virgins when sitting at this fountain because we are affections of the truths of our husbands' wisdom, and the affection of truth is called a virgin. Moreover, a fountain signifies the truth of wisdom, and the rose-bed whereon we are sitting signifies its delights."
[7] One of the seven then twined a wreath of roses and, sprinkling it with the water of the fountain, placed it on the boy's cap around his little head and said: "Receive the delights of intelligence. You know that a cap signifies intelligence, and a wreath from this rose-bed, delights." Adorned with these, the boy then went away; and at a distance he again appeared like a dove flying, but with a wreath upon its head.
Footnotes:
1. The Latin is perceptionem (perception), but the context shows that this is an error for receptionem as in the translation.
293. I append two Memorabilia.
I
I looked out of my window toward the east on a time and saw seven women sitting in a rose-garden beside a certain fountain, drinking the water. I gazed intently to see what they were doing, and the intentness of my gaze affected them. Whereupon one of them beckoned to me, and I left the house and hastened toward them. Reaching them, I asked politely whence they were.
They said, "We are wives, and are conversing about the delights of marital love. We conclude from much confirmation that these delights are also the delights of wisdom."
This answer so delighted my mind that I seemed to myself to be in the spirit, and in a more interior and clearer perception than on any previous occasion. Whereupon I said to them:
"May I address some questions to you on these pleasantnesses?"
They nodded assent, and I asked, "Why do you feel sure that the delights of marital love are the same as the delights of wisdom?"
[2] They replied, "We know it because of the correspondence between wisdom in our husbands and the delights of marital love in us. For the delights of this love in us are heightened or diminished and qualified invariably according to wisdom in our husbands."
On hearing this I asked them, saying, "I know that you are affected by the endearments of your husbands and the vivacity of their minds, and that you delight with all your heart therein, but I am surprised that you say their wisdom has this effect. But tell me, what is wisdom? And what wisdom has this effect?"
[3] To this the wives replied indignantly, "You think we do not know what wisdom is, and what this wisdom in particular is, and yet we continually reflect on it in our husbands and learn it daily from their lips. For we wives think about the state of our husbands from morning to evening. Hardly a brief hour slips by in the day in which our intuitive thought is absolutely withdrawn or absent from them. On the other hand, our husbands think very little during the day about our state. Hence it is that we know what wisdom of theirs takes pleasure in us. Our husbands call it spiritual-rational and spiritual-moral wisdom. Spiritual-rational wisdom they say is of the understanding and of knowledge, and spiritual-moral wisdom, of the will and the life. They conjoin the two and make them one; and conclude that the pleasures of this wisdom are translated from their minds into delights in our bosoms, and' from ours into their bosoms, thus returning to wisdom, their source."
[4] I then asked them what more they knew about the wisdom of their husbands which finds its pleasures in them. They said, "This. There is spiritual wisdom, and from it a rational and moral wisdom. Spiritual wisdom is to acknowledge the Lord the Savior as God of heaven and earth, and to acquire from Him the truths of the Church (which is done through the Word and by preaching from it), whence comes spiritual rationality, and from Him to live according to those truths, whence comes spiritual morality. Our husbands call these two the wisdom which in general brings about true marital love. We have also heard from them the reason. The interiors of their mind and thence of their body are opened by this wisdom, and free passage is provided from firsts to lasts for the pulse of love, on the afflux, sufficiency and strength of which marital love depends and lives. Our husbands' spiritual-rational and moral wisdom in reference to marriage has for its end and object to love the wife only and to put off all lust for others. In so far as this is done, that love is heightened in degree and perfected in quality. The more distinctly and exquisitely, too, do we feel within ourselves the delights which correspond to the joys of our husbands' affections and to the pleasantnesses of their thoughts."
[5] Then I asked whether they knew how the communication is effected.
They said, "In all conjunction by love there must be action, reception, and reaction. The delighted state of our love is the agent or action. The state of wisdom in our husbands is the recipient or reception; it is also the reactive or reaction as perceived by us. We perceive this reaction in bosom delights, in a state steadily expanded and made ready to receive what in some measure attends on and proceeds from the husband's virility and our own full state of love." They continued: "Be careful not to understand by the delights we have mentioned the ultimate delights of marital love. We never speak of these, but of our bosom delights, which are in constant correspondence with the state of the wisdom of our husbands."
[6] Thereupon a dove seemed to be flying in the distance with a leaf of a tree in its mouth; but as it came near, a little boy appeared in the place of the dove, with a paper in his hand. Approaching us he handed me the paper, and said, "Read this to the virgins of the fountain."
I read as follows: "Tell the earth-dwellers with whom you are that there is a true marital love, the delights of which are myriad, scarcely any of them known as yet to the world; the world will know them when the Church betroths herself to her Lord and marries."
I asked, "Why did the boy call you 'virgins of the fountain'?" They replied, "We are called virgins when we are sitting at this fountain because we are affections of the truths of our husbands' wisdom, and the affection of truth is called a virgin. A fountain also signifies the truth of wisdom, and a rose-garden like this signifies its delights."
[7] Then one of the seven wound a wreath of roses, sprinkled it with water from the fountain, and placed it on the boy's cap around his little head, saying, "Receive the delights of intelligence. Know that the cap signifies intelligence, and the wreath from this rose-bed signifies delights." So adorned, the boy took his leave, and at a distance looked once more like a dove flying, but now with a garland on its head.
293. To this shall be adjoined two Relations. The first is this: I was once looking through a window toward the east and saw seven women sitting on a bank of roses by a certain fountain, drinking water. I looked intently to see what they were doing, and the intentness of my gaze affected them. Whereupon one of them by nod invited me, and I left the house and speedily went to them. When I arrived I asked politely from whence they came.
They said, 'We are wives, and are having a conversation here about the delights of conjugial love; and from much confirmation we conclude that those delights are also the delights of wisdom.'
This answer so delighted my mind that I seemed to myself to be in the spirit, and thence to be in more interior and clearer perception than at any time before. Whereupon I said to them:
'Permit an interchange of questions on these pleasantnesses.'
They nodded assent and I asked, 'How do you wives know that the delights of conjugial love are the same with the delights of wisdom?'
They replied, 'We know it from the correspondence of the wisdom with our husbands to the delights of conjugial love in us. For the delights of this love with us are exalted and diminished, and are altogether qualified according to the wisdom with our husbands.'
On hearing this I asked them, saying, ‘I know that the caressing words of your husbands and the exhilaration of their minds affects you, and that your whole bosom delights therein, but I am surprised that you say their wisdom effects it. But tell me what is wisdom? And what wisdom does this?'
To this the wives, indignant, responded, 'You think we do not know what wisdom is, and what wisdom it is, and yet we are reflecting upon it as it is with our husbands continually, and learn it daily from their mouth. For we wives think about the state of our husbands from morning to evening. Scarce a little hour in the day intervenes in which our intuitive thought is entirely withdrawn or absent from them. On the other hand our husbands think very little during the day about our state. Hence it is that we know what wisdom of theirs is delighted in us. Our husbands call this wisdom spiritual-rational and spiritual-moral wisdom. Spiritual-rational wisdom they say is of the understanding and of cognitions, and spiritual-moral wisdom they say is of the will and the life. And these two they conjoin and make one; and they conclude that the amenities of this wisdom are transcribed from their minds into delights in our bosoms, and from ours into their bosoms, and so return to wisdom their origin.' I then asked them, 'Do you know anything more about the wisdom of your husbands causing delight in you?' They said, 'We do. There is spiritual wisdom, and from this rational, and moral wisdom. Spiritual wisdom is to acknowledge the Lord the Saviour as God of heaven and earth, and to acquire from Him the truths of the church - which is done through the Word and preachings therefrom, whence results spiritual rationality, and from Him to live according to them, whence results spiritual morality. Our husbands call these two the wisdom that in general brings about love truly conjugial. We have also heard from them the reason: That by this wisdom the interiors of their mind and thence of their body are opened, whereby there is free transit for the vein of love, from things first down to the last, upon the afflux, the sufficiency, and the strength of which conjugial love depends and lives. The wisdom of our husbands, spiritual-rational and moral, in particular as to marriage, has for its end and scope to love the wife only and the putting off of every concupiscence for others. And in so far as this end is attained that love is exalted in degree and perfected in quality; and in so far also do we the more distinctly and exquisitely feel within us, delights correspondent to the joys of the affections and the pleasantnesses of the thoughts of our husbands.' I asked afterwards whether they know how the communication is effected.
They said, 'In all conjunction by love there must be action, reception, and reaction. The delightful state of our love is acting, or action. The state of wisdom of husbands is receiving, or reception, and is also reacting or reaction according to perception; and this reaction is perceived by us with delights in the bosom, according as the state is expanded continually, and is prepared for receiving the things which in some wise are coherent with and hence go forth together with the virtue with husbands, and thus also with the extreme state of love with us.' They said further: 'Be careful that by the delights we have mentioned you do not understand the ultimate delights of that love. Of these we never speak, but of our bosom delights, the perpetual correspondence of which is with the state of the wisdom of our husbands.'
After this there appeared from afar off as it were a dove with a leaf of a tree in its mouth; but as it came near, in place of a dove was seen a little boy with a paper in his hand. And coming up to us he held it out to me, and said, 'Read this to the virgins of the fountain.'
And I read these words, 'Tell the inhabitants of the earth with whom you are that there is a love truly conjugial, the delights of which are myriads, scarcely any of which the world as yet knows, but it will know them when the church betroths herself to her Lord and marries.'
And then I asked, 'Why did the boy call you 'Virgins of the Fountain?'' They replied, 'We are called virgins when we are sitting at this fountain because we are affections of the truths of our husbands' wisdom, and the affection of truth is called a virgin. A fountain also signifies the truth of wisdom, and the bank of roses whereon we are sitting signifies its delights.'
Then one of those seven twined a wreath of roses and sprinkled it with water of the fountain, and placed it on the boy's cap around his little head, and said, 'Receive the delights of intelligence. Know that the cap signifies intelligence, and a wreath from this rose-bed, the delights of it.' And decorated with these the boy went away, and at a distance appeared again as a dove, flying, but with a chaplet upon its head.
293. His adjicientur duo Memorabilia; Primum hoc: Quondam per fenestram spectavi ad Orientem, et vidi septem Mulieres sedentes super Roseto ad quendam fontem, bibentes aquam; intendi fortiter aciem oculi ad videndum quid facerent, ac intensio aciei oculi mei affecit illos; quare una ex illis nutu invitavit me; et ego exivi domo, et propere accessi; et cum aderam, urbane quaesivi undenam essent; et dixerunt, "sumus Uxores, et hic colloquimur de Delitiis amoris conjugialis, et ex multa confirmatione concludimus, quod illae delitiae etiam sint delitiae sapientiae;" quod responsum ita oblectavit animum meum, ut viderer mihi in spiritu et inde in perceptione plus interius ac illustrius esse, quam alioquin prius; quare dixi ad illas, "permittite vices interrogationis de amaenitatibus his," et annuerunt; et interrogavi, "quomodo vos uxores scitis, quod delitiae amoris conjugialis sint eaedem cum delitiis sapientiae;"
[2] et responderunt, "hoc scimus ex correspondentia sapientiae apud maritos cum delitiis amoris conjugialis apud nos; nam delitiae hujus amoris apud nos se exaltant et diminuunt, ac prorsus se qualificant secundum sapientiam apud maritos nostros;" his auditis quaesivi, dicens, "scio quod blandiloquia maritorum, ac hilaritates mentis illorum, afficiant vos, et quod vos toto pectore delitiemini ex illis, sed miror quod dicatis, quod sapientia illorum id efficiat; at dicite mihi, quid sapientia, et quae sapientia;"
[3] ad haec uxores indignatae respondebant, "putas quod nos non sciamus, quid sapientia et quae sapientia, cum tamen super illam apud maritos nostros continue reflectimus, et illam quotidie ex ore illorum discimus; nam nos uxores cogitamus de statu maritorum nostrorum a mane usque ad vesperam; vix in die intercedit horula intercalaris, seu in qua cogitatio intuitiva nostra ab illis plane recedit, seu est absens; vicissim mariti de nostro statu perparum aliquid in die cogitant; inde est, quod sciamus quae illorum sapientia delitiatur in nobis; vocant mariti Sapientiam illam sapientiam spiritualem rationalem, ac spiritualem moralem; Sapientiam spiritualem rationalem dicunt esse intellectus et cognitionum, ac Sapientiam spiritualem moralem dicunt esse voluntatis et vitae; at ambas illas conjungunt et faciunt unam, et statuunt quod hujus sapientiae amaenitates e mentibus illorum transcribantur in delitias in pectoribus nostris, et a nostris in pectora illorum, et sic ad sapientiam originem suam, redeant:"
[4] et tunc quaesivi, num sciant aliquid plus "de sapientia maritorum delitiante in vobis;" dixerunt, "scimus; est Sapientia spiritualis, et inde rationalis et moralis; sapientia spiritualis est agnoscere Dominum Salvatorem pro Deo Coeli et Terrae, et ab Ipso, quod fit per Verbum ac praedicationes inde, comparare sibi Ecclesiae vera, unde spiritualis rationalitas; et ab Ipso vivere secundum illa, unde spiritualis moralitas; has duas vocant mariti Sapientiam, quae in genere operatur amorem vere conjugialem: audivimus ab illis etiam causam, quod per illam sapientiam aperiantur interiora mentis et inde corporis 1illorum, unde existit liber transitus a primis usque ad ultima pro vena amoris, ex cujus affluxu, sufficientia, et virtute, pendet et vivit amor conjugialis. Sapientia maritorum nostrorum spiritualis rationalis et moralis in specie quoad conjugium pro fine et scopo habet amare solam uxorem, et exuere omnem concupiscentiam ad alias; et quantum hoc fit, tantum exaltatur amor ille quoad gradum, ac perficitur quoad quale, et quoque tantum distinctius et exquisitius sentimus delitias in nobis correspondentes jucundis affectionum et amaenis cogitationum maritorum nostrorum."
[5] Postea quaesivi, num sciant quomodo fit communicatio; dixerunt, "in omni conjunctione per amorem erit actio, receptio, et reactio; status delitiosus amoris nostri est agens seu actio, status sapientiae maritorum est recipiens seu receptio, et quoque est reagens seu reactio secundum receptionem, 2et haec reactio a nobis percipitur cum delitiis in pectore secundum statum jugiter expansum et praeparatum ad recipiendum illa, quae cum virtute apud maritos, ita quoque cum statu extremo amoris apud nos aliqua ratione cohaerent et inde procedunt." Porro dixerunt, "cave ne per delitias, quas memoravimus, intelligas delitias illius amoris ultimas; de his nusquam aliquid loquimur, sed de delitiis pectoralibus nostris, quarum perpetua correspondentia est cum statu sapientiae maritorum nostrorum."
[6] Post haec apparuit e longinquo tanquam Columba volans cum folio arboris in ore, sed sicut appropinquavit, loco columbae visus est Puerulus cum charta in manu, et ad nos accedens illam mihi porrexit, et dixit, "lege illam coram his Virginibus fontis;" et legi haec, "dic Terricolis cum quibus es, quod detur amor vere conjugialis, cujus delitiae sunt myriades, de quibus vix aliquas adhuc novit orbis; at cognoscet, cum Ecclesia se desponsat suo Domino, ac nubit;" et tunc quaesivi, "cur puer ille vocavit vos Virgines fontis;" respondebant, "vocamur Virgines cum ad hunc fontem sedemus, quoniam sumus affectiones veritatum sapientiae maritorum nostrorum, et affectio veri vocatur virgo; fons etiam significat verum sapientiae, ac rosetum, super quo sedemus, delitias ejus;"
[7] tunc una ex septem illis, nectebat sertum ex rosis, et conspersit illud aqua fontis, ac posuit illud super pileo pueri circum capitellum ejus, et dixit, "recipe delitias intelligentiae; scias quod pileus significet intelligentiam, ac sertum ex roseto hoc delitias;" ac puer his decoratus abiit, et e longinquo rursus visus est sicut columba volans, sed cum coronamento 3super capite.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: coporis
2. Prima editio: perceptionem,
3. Prima editio: coromento