French Jesuit On "Things So Great"

The Rapture of St. Teresa by Bernini

Father Louis Lallemant, S.J., in his Spiritual Doctrine, remarks: 'A soul which by mortification is thoroughly cured of its passions, and by purity of heart is established in a'state of perfect health, is admitted to a wonderful knowledge of God, and discovers things so great that it loses its power of acting through its senses. Hence proceed raptures and ecstasies, which indicate, however, by the impression which they produce in those who have them, that they are not altogether purified or accustomed to extraordinary graces; for in proportion as a soul purifies itself, the mind becomes stronger and more capable of bearing divine operations without emotion or suspension of the senses, as in the cases of our Lord and the Blessed Virgin, the Apostles and certain other Saints, whose minds were continually occupied with the most sublime contemplations, united with wonderful interior transports, but without there being anything apparent externally in the way of raptures and ecstasies.'

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