The inner vision: some notes on mysticism

longing deeply for union with His Father. And we shall unite all our desires in that loving longing which He felt toward His Father through all the primary virtues. For our loving desires are our golden vases, filled with water—that is, with truth and righteousness. We shall dip into them our burning wicks—which are the acts of all the virtues we have practiced. We shall dip them in and extinguish them by entrusting ourselves to His righteousness and by uniting ourselves to His sacred merits. Without this, the wick of all our virtues would smoke and have an unpleasant odor before God and all His saints."

Elsewhere, he examines the twelve jewels of the Breastplate A sacred garment worn by the High Priest in the Hebrew Bible, set with twelve gemstones and sees in them reflections of eternal symbols, as well as unexpected, precise, and suggestive analogies. Let us see if this is not the case:

"In the sun’s rays, the topaz surpasses all precious stones in splendor; even so does the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ excel in glory and majesty all the saints and all the angels, because of His union with the eternal Father. In this union, the reflection of the Divine Sun is so clear and glorious that it attracts and reflects in its clarity the eyes of all saints and angels in immediate vision, as well as the eyes of righteous men to whom its splendor is revealed. Likewise, the topaz attracts and reflects in itself the eyes of those who behold it because of its great clarity. But if you were to cut the topaz, it would darken, whereas if you leave it in its natural state, it will remain clear. And so, too, if you examine and try to penetrate the splendor of the eternal Word The Logos, or Christ, that splendor will darken and you will lose it. But leave it as it is, and follow it with an earnest gaze and with self-denial, and it will give you light."

Next, let us consider the curious connections he discovered in other precious stones:

"In this section, we compare Christ to the noble sapphire, of which there are two kinds. The first is yellow with shades of purple and seems to be mixed with gold dust; the other is sky-blue, and in the sun's rays, it gives off a burning splendor that one cannot see through. We find all of this in our Lord, in this fifth article of the creed Referring to the Apostles' Creed. For when His noble soul rose to heaven, His body lay in the tomb—yellow, because of the soul's departure; purple, because of His bleeding wounds; and mixed with gold dust because He was united to the divine nature. And His soul descended into hell, blue as the sky, so that all His friends rejoiced and were glad in His splendor. In His resurrection, the splendor becomes so great and so powerful in both body and soul, through the light of the Divine Sun, that it shoots forth lightning and burning rays, and inflames with love everything it touches. And none can see through that noble sapphire, Christ, because in His divine nature there is an unfathomable depth."