Saint Bonaventure

The three ways

The seven steps through which one reaches the sleep of peace

Who wants to reach happiness and obtain supreme peace, the splendor of truth, the sweetness of love. He must travel the three ways; the purgative, which consists in the exclusion of sin, the illuminative which consists in the imitation of Christ, the unitive which consists in the union with the Spouse. Each of the three streets has its steps. We start from the last one and go up to the highest.

• First degree, redness. There is precisely reason to blush in the memory of one's ignominy, due to the greatness of its quantity,our shame and ingratitude.
  
  
• Second degree, fear. In the examination, let us meditate on the dissipation of works, the blinded reason, the stubborn will, the final condemnation.
  
  
• Third degree, pain. It grows in the esteem of the damage: the lost divine friendship, lost innocence, wounded nature, squandered the good of the past life.
  
  
• Fourth degree, the outcry. We cry out, imploring the help of God the Father, of Christ the Redeemer, of the Virgin Mother, of the triumphant Church.
  
  
• Fifth degree, rigor. Through rigor we extinguish the fire of sin, born from laziness, from stubbornness, which is malice, from voluptuousness which is turpitude, from vanity which is pride.
  
  
• Sixth degree, fervor. He reaches the thirst for martyrdom, with four impulses: so that the remission of sin is perfect; perfect purification from every stain; the satisfaction of punishment is perfect, the sanctification of grace is perfect.
  
  
• Seventh degree, sleep in the shadow of Christ. Here the end, here the rest. Man feels he is safe, under the shadow of God's wings; the heat of concupiscence no longer burns him; the fear of punishment does not worry him.
  
  

You can't get up here without the desire for martyrdom. And one does not come to this without having extinguished the effect of sin, nor does it extinguish it, without deploring one's own falls, one does not mourn these enough, without trembling at the divine judgement; and this fear presupposes the memory of one's own ignominy.

In summary

It is simple to summarize all the grades. Those of purgation are distinguished as follows: Be ashamed of ignominy, tremble at judgment, cry for your damage, beg for help and remedy, conquer desire against the enemy; to win the prize yearn for martyrdom, to cool yourself in the shade draw closer to Christ.

The degrees relevant to enlightenment are distinguished in this way. Consider who is suffering, and submit to faith; who is the one who suffers, and who grieves in mourning; the greatness of those who suffer, and in all confidence thank them; the form of passion, and follow him and resemble him; the many various pains, and fervently embrace him; the effects of passion, and as intelligent as you are, contemplate.

We will distinguish the degrees of the unitive path as follows: vigilance urges you for the readiness of the Groom; May confidence strengthen you, for the Groom's assurance; your ardor will be inflamed by his sweetness; the kidnapping transports you, for the excellence of him; complacency calms you down for his beauty: joy inebriates you, for the absolute fullness of his love for him; adherence makes you one with him, by virtue of his love for him.