Hadewijch. the Complete Letters: Middle Dutch Text 9789042930285, 9042930284

Table of contents :
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Brief 1
Letter 1
Letter 1: Commentary
Brief 2
Letter 2
Letter 2: Commentary
Brief 3
Letter 3
Letter 3: Commentary
Brief 4
Letter 4
Letter 4: Commentary
Brief 5
Letter 5
Letter 5: Commentary
Brief 6
Letter 6
Letter 6: Commentary
Brief 7
Letter 7
Letter 7: Commentary
Brief 8
Letter 8
Letter 8: Commentary
Brief 9
Letter 9
Letter 9: Commentary
Brief 10
Letter 10
Letter 10: Commentary
Brief 11
Letter 11
Letter 11: Commentary
Brief 12
Letter 12
Letter 12: Commentary
Brief 13
Letter 13
Letter 13: Commentary
Brief 14
Letter 14
Letter 14: Commentary
Brief 15
Letter 15
Letter 15: Commentary
Brief 16
Letter 16
Letter 16: Commentary
Brief 17
Letter 17
Letter 17: Commentary
Brief 18
Letter 18
Letter 18: Commentary
Brief 19
Letter 19
Letter 19: Commentary
Brief 20
Letter 20
Letter 20: Commentary
Brief 21
Letter 21
Letter 21: Commentary
Brief 22
Letter 22
Letter 22: Commentary
Brief 23
Letter 23
Letter 23: Commentary
Brief 24
Letter 24
Letter 24: Commentary
Brief 25
Letter 25
Letter 25: Commentary
Brief 26
Letter 26
Letter 26: Commentary
Brief 27
Letter 27
Letter 27: Commentary
Brief 28
Letter 28
Letter 28: Commentary
Brief 29
Letter 29
Letter 29: Commentary
Brief 30
Letter 30
Letter 30: Commentary
Brief 31
Letter 31
Letter 31: Commentary

Citation preview

This edition of Hadewijch’s Letters includes the text of the 31 letters. The English text is not intended to be a word-for-word translation from the Middle Dutch, though it tries to keep closely to the original. Hadewijch’s own words, phrases and turns of phrase are transposed into the English text, especially when these are repeated and do not become a stumbling block for the present-day reader. There is a commentary to each Letter. However, the purpose in each case is not to accumulate the erudition of specialists or to comment on different interpretations. The aim is to encourage a slow and loving reading of the text itself, while trying to avoid any readymade summary of what Hadewijch “has to say”. This edition also offers a new, sound-based lay-out of the text which is intended to assist an appreciation of the creativity of this gifted writer whose words and phrasing literally make music.

PEETERS-LEUVEN

Hadewijch The Complete Letters

Hadewijch’s teaching is most accessible in her Letters, as there it is cast in a mould that succeeds in touching the senses as well as the mind. In her text, oral and written culture combine to form an organic unity: when Hadewijch writes, she not only builds sentences with words but composes sounds as well. In these mystical texts, minne (“love”) is pivotal as regards both form and content -- a distinction which Hadewijch largely overrides. As regards form, minne serves as a catchword which occurs everywhere, again and again, drawing together different parts and sections. As regards content, minne is the key to the mystical experience evoked by Hadewijch and refers as much to the person who lives the mystical union (along with the content of this feeling), as to the way in which this union makes itself felt.

P. Mommaers & A. Daróczi

Hadewijch, a Flemish beguine, who lived and wrote somewhere in Brabant during the thirteenth century, has brought mystical literature as a whole to its highest point.

Hadewijch The Complete Letters

Paul Mommaers & Anikó Daróczi

PEETERS

102081_Hadewych Complete Letters_kaft.indd All Pages

23/03/2020 10:36

HADEWIJCH THE COMPLETE LETTERS

In memoriam Ellen Hennink (1933-2013)

Hadewijch The Complete Letters Middle Dutch Text Translation and commentaries by Paul Mommaers Sound-based lay-out by Anikó Daróczi

leuven

PEETERS – paris – bristol, ct 2016

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-90-429-3028-5 eISBN 978-90-429-4261-5 D/2016/0602/24 © 2016, Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, 3000 Leuven, Belgium No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval devices or systems, without prior written permission from the publisher, except the quotation of brief passages for review purposes.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction..............................1 The key-role of love........................1 Subjectivity in love.........................2 Love of neighbour.........................3 Concept of God..........................3 Tensions in love..........................5 Historical background........................6 Hadewijch’s sources........................7 Reading Hadewijch’s Letters.....................9 Principles of this edition.......................10 About the “rhetorical” and “musical” layout of Hadewijch’s Letters ......12 Letter 1 Text..............................14 Commentary...........................20 Letter 2 Text..............................24 Commentary...........................34 Letter 3 Text..............................36 Commentary...........................40 Letter 4 Text..............................42 Commentary...........................50 Letter 5 Text..............................52 Commentary...........................56 Letter 6 Text..............................58 Commentary...........................88 Letter 7 Text..............................92 Commentary...........................96 Letter 8 Text..............................98 Commentary...........................104 Letter 9 Text..............................106 Commentary...........................108



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter 10 Text..............................110 Commentary...........................118 Letter 11 Text..............................120 Commentary...........................124 Letter 12 Text..............................126 Commentary...........................144 Letter 13 Text..............................148 Commentary...........................154 Letter 14 Text..............................158 Commentary...........................164 Letter 15 Text..............................166 Commentary...........................176 Letter 16 Text..............................178 Commentary...........................184 Letter 17 Text..............................188 Commentary...........................198 Letter 18 Text..............................202 Commentary...........................216 Letter 19 Text..............................220 Commentary...........................226 Letter 20 Text..............................228 Commentay...........................238 Letter 21 Text..............................242 Commentary...........................246 Letter 22 Text..............................248 Commentary...........................278 Letter 23 Text..............................284 Commentary...........................288



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter 24 Text..............................290 Commentary...........................298 Letter 25 Text..............................300 Commentary...........................304 Letter 26 Text..............................306 Commentary...........................310 Letter 27 Text ..............................312 Commentary...........................318 Letter 28 Text..............................320 Commentary...........................346 Letter 29 Text..............................352 Commentary...........................360 Letter 30 Text..............................364 Commentary...........................384 Letter 31 Text..............................386 Commentary...........................390

Introduction Hadewijch is arguably the most brilliant, and certainly the most intriguing, figure in the entire literature of the Netherlands. She brought mystical literature as a whole to its highest point, yet so far she has not been historically identified in any strict sense. There are four works to her name: Visions; Letters; Poems in Stanzas or Songs; and Poems in Couplets; and it is believed that she lived and wrote somewhere in Brabant during the thirteenth century. However, exactly when and where remains a riddle. It is internationally recognized that what Hadewijch left behind is a unique body of work. Her mystical teaching, cast in a mould that succeeds in touching the senses as well as the mind, has never been surpassed. Oral and written culture combine in her texts to form an organic unity, where the written word and the spoken are, as it were, symbiotic. When Hadewijch writes, she not only builds sentences of words but composes sounds as well. The reader is drawn quite naturally to seeing the text and, at the same time, hearing it: her words and her phrasing literally make music. She sings and makes rhythm, not only in her Songs but in all her works. Though in different modes, she writes them all musically.

The key-role of love What strikes one immediately on reading these mystical texts is that minne (“love”) is pivotal as regards both form and content – a distinction used here for the sake of convenience, but which Hadewijch largely overrides. As regards form, minne is the catchword in all her literary work. It occurs everywhere, again and again, drawing together different parts and sections. Like a virtuoso, Hadewijch plays variations on the word. As regards content, minne is the key to the mystical experience evoked by Hadewijch: it refers as much to the person who lives mystical union and to the content of this feeling, as to the way in which this union makes itself felt, that is through minne. The primary content of Hadewijch’s minne is God, specifically “Love (Minne)” – usually in the feminine: “Love who is God”, as Hadewijch says more than once (capital M will be used when minne indicates God, even if this is not done in the original Middle Dutch). Here “God” is not the object of faith or reflection but the force that “touches” Hadewijch and that she recognizes, not as the Supreme Being or Prime Mover, but as Christ or the Holy Trinity. Thus minne is the versatile key word for the love mysticism that Hadewijch’s writing epitomizes. Its main characteristic is a felt union with God, lived as a love relationship (minne) between the divine Beloved (Minne) and the loving human being (minne). Hadewijch uses minne in such varying ways that a clear-cut definition is elusive, because again and again one sense plays into another. This blending of meanings is not some sort of medieval duplicity, but is the only way that this mystical writer can evoke what characterizes personal beings: unlike mere material things,

2 letters they can “touch” another and, “being touched”, they can even become one with the other. Yet – and this is the point that Hadewijch suggests by her varied use of minne – this oneness is not a static state, but an unending movement of both persons towards and in each other. Finally, to complete this survey of the meanings of Hadewijch’s minne, she also uses this word to address certain of her friends: lieue minne (“dear love”) and suete mine (“sweet love”).

Subjectivity in love The fluctuating meanings of minne also allow Hadewijch to go beyond the usual distinction between the objective and the subjective. She does not assume that God and the human being simply relate to each other as subject and object, with the implication that they are inevitably separated from each other. It is true that she acknowledges repeatedly that “God is great but the human being is small”. Nevertheless, such a statement – even if true in a speculative sense – never rules out the idea that God and the human might really become one. What marks Hadewijch out as a mystic is that however great, and forever Other, God may be for her, He “touches” her. And it is as Love (Minne) that He affects her, thus bringing about mutual love (minne) through which she becomes one with Him. Clearly, whatever expression she uses – “touched”, “affected”, “moved” – her mysticism is fundamentally subjective. Moreover, this mystical lover expresses emotions that belong to union with Minne in terms of human love – minne – and thus she makes the subjective character of her experience all the more evident. In particular, the Songs express, in very striking terms, the sadness connected with­ mystical love. These 45 Songs may sound then like the outpourings of a lovesick woman agonizing over her feelings of frustration. Again, the passages that extol the gladness of her union with Love, found throughout her writings, are no less striking but similarly run the risk of being dismissed as simply emotional outbursts. However, it would be a grave misunderstanding of her if we thought of Hadewijch as caught up in mere subjectivism. While ready to express emotion, she is very critical of the contemplative’s tendency to inward-looking self-contemplation. Here in fact lies the greatest threat to authentic minne: a self-awareness, which in expressing itself, remains fixed on itself. For Hadewijch, this is the perversion which she most wants to oppose, both in herself and in her friends. Hence her denunciation of ghenoechte (satisfaction), the pleasure found in living minne valued only for itself. Hadewijch considers it to be a travesty of minne when experience is valued for experience’s sake, when one feels so as to feel oneself. Here mention should be made of an important feature of the subjective nature of Hadewijch’s experience of God. As minne (love) is the medium in which Minne (Love) allows herself to be experienced by minne (the lover), mystical union may seem to be no more than a form of self-consciousness. Yet the distinctiveness of Hadewijch’s self-awareness is precisely its “intentionality”: it is being directed inwards but it is focused on something within which differs from the self. The mystic is looking inwards to inner motions, seeking to know their purpose or who causes them, and so escapes the yoke of self-consciousness. Self-observation here is an attempt to perceive an Other.

introduction 3

Love of neighbour Thus for Hadewijch, inner subjectivity is free from the exclusivity which usually besets it. And there is another, perhaps even more surprising feature of this other-oriented self-consciousness: nowhere but here, in Hadewijch’s love-mysticism, is there such an essential role for love of neighbour (caritate) and nowhere else is there so tangible an awareness of the transcendence of Love, her constant otherness. Hadewijch’s frequent and fascinating play upon the word minne should not cause her reader to overlook the frequency and force with which she emphasises caritate, especially in the Letters. From beginning to end, she insists on the impossibility of living minne without putting caritate into practice. As early as Letter 3 she claims: That which is most needed for love (minne) and ought to be done foremost on account of love (minne), I apply myself to first. This is what brotherly love (broederlike minne) does that lives in Christ’s love of neighbour (caritate). (3, 26-8)

Caritate is not a sort of moral appendage to minne, for these two loves are complementary forms of one and the same love – the love for God. On this point, while Hadewijch’s insight is clear, her choice of words may cause confusion: she uses the same word, caritate, to indicate both love for God and love for neighbour. Thus, in Letter 18, she writes: “The sight which, by nature, is innate to the soul is love (caritate)”. It is obvious that caritate does not here signify love for neighbour, as it is part of a sentence about seeing God: God can be seen by the human being who sees through “two eyes: minne (love) and redene (reason)” (80-2). In Letter 14, this meaning of caritate recurs, yet Hadewijch also explains herself on the basis of Saint Paul’s hymn to caritas (1 Corinthians 13: 1-13: the Latin for the Greek agapè, that is usually translated as “love”). So the same word caritas indicates here both the love directed to God and the love directed to one’s neighbour. Hadewijch is in agreement with Paul on the idea of love as well as on his broad treatment of caritas, with caritate signifying both forms of love. It is when we look closely at H ­ adewijch’s caritate, meaning love for God, that we will see how closely caritate, in the sense of love for neighbour, is connected with minne, in the sense of love for the Love who is God.

Concept of God Hadewijch inherited a concept of God that is in essence biblical, but in which “to love”, in the sense of minne, is not immediately apparent. In the Bible – and at the first level of Hadewijch’s notion of God – God is the Omnipotent One. In the Old Testament, the relationship of the human being with God is represented in the likeness of a covenant between a liege lord and a vassal. Therefore, to love God does not mean to love him with deep affection, but to recognize him as the LORD who must be served and to whom one remains loyal. In the New Testament, Jesus addresses God as “Father”, yet this does not mean that he has in mind the image popular today of the kindly parent with whom the child feels an intimate bond. For Jesus, “father”

4 letters signifies the head of a clan or family. The “father” is invested with such authority that above all he must be revered and obeyed. To love the divine Father consists especially in zealously and willingly doing what he demands. According to the Letter to the Hebrews, Jesus himself “was heard because of his reverent submission” (5, 7), and the Letter to the Philippians says that God “highly exalted him” because he “became obedient to the point of death even death on a cross” (2, 8-9). This LORD has always commanded love of neighbour, a command that Jesus renewed (see ­Matthew 22, 37-9). In Hadewijch’s mind, any caritate that is aimed at God necessarily involves caritate that goes out to people, for such is the will of God Almighty. Yet there is more to the concept of “love for God” which Hadewijch received from the Bible. In the writings of the Old Testament, especially in the prophetical writings, the initial image of a stern God is suddenly enriched beyond all expectation. The God who mainly inspires fear now manifests himself also as the One who wants to touch the human heart. His commandments remain unaltered but he wishes them to be observed from within. The first covenant is overwritten by a “new covenant”: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31, 33; see also Ezechiel 11, 19-20). In the New Testament, the connection between obedience and affection is given striking emphasis in the Gospel of Saint John. Thus in the description of the Last Supper we are told, “One of his disciples – the one whom Jesus loved – was reclining next to him”, and we hear, “’If you love me, you will keep my commandments’” (John 13, 23 and 14, 15). The insight of the Prophets – God’s love touching the human heart – reaches its full development in the Christian tradition. Mystical literature in particular shows how the one love for God may then be found in two forms without splitting into two. Already in the writings of some of the highly respected Fathers, agapè (steady love) is accompanied by eros (passionate love). Gregory of Nyssa (4th century) mentions the soul that “is wounded by... the burning arrow of eros”, and he explains: “This is indeed how the intensity of agapè is called”. Pseudo-Denys the Areopagite (6th century) says: “In my opinion, the sacred writers regard eros and agapè as having one and the same meaning”. From the biblical tradition Hadewijch learned how, with regard to God, love born of awe may grow into heartfelt love, or in the words of the Greek Fathers, agapè becomes eros. Thus, in her words, caritate directed at God becomes minne that aims at Minne. And caritate, meaning love for neighbour, likewise changes mode: it no longer depends on a submissive love for the Almighty but on an affectionate minne for Minne. Far from remaining aloof, Hadewijch’s “high minne” breathes fire into her lowly love for neighbour. If minne and caritate are sometimes set against each other – see especially Letter 22, 4-5 – Hadewijch means simply to distinguish, not to separate, them. Together with caritate (love of neighbour), which is intrinsic to minne, the continuous awareness of Love’s transcendence prevents Hadewijch’s religious experience from becoming limited to pure subjectivism. The same God who allows her to live in perfect mystical union, full of bliss and “enjoying” God fully, also brings her to an understanding of how very much He remains independent and free: “What He is, that He digests Himself in His sweet enjoyment, and thus lets me wander about out of that enjoyment” (1, 63-5). Hadewijch learns that “He is Himself alone

introduction 5

enough and Love” (16, 66-7). With the word ghebreken (to be “wanting”) to express the deprivation of ghebruken (“to enjoy”) she introduces a significant word-play which in Middle Dutch is at once a play of sound: e.g. “to be wanting in enjoyment, that is the sweetest enjoyment (dat ghebreken van dien ghebrukene dat es dat suetste ghebruken)” (16, 17-9). With regard to the transcendence of God, Hadewijch, who feels so strongly about minne, has a surprise in store. The same Minne who stirs her begherte (desire), thereby bringing about minne, also activates redene (reason), so that “enlightened reason” comes into being. Thus minne is put into perspective by being related to reason, and it can be seen that the apparently affective mystic is anything but an emotional irrational person: the “sight” of her soul has by nature “two eyes, love and reason”, and it is precisely in mystical union that these two “help each other greatly, for reason teaches love and love enlightens reason” (18, 81-2 and 94-5). The role of “enlightened reason” in experiencing – not in reflecting upon – divine Otherness is essential. What “enlightened reason” sees, or rather what minne becomes fully aware of, when cooperating with reason, is that God is the wholly Other because He is inexhaustibly and per se. Even as He gives himself fully to the mystic, not withholding anything from her, there is for her, over and over again, an excess that proves beyond her power: she can neither absorb it nor “do enough for it” in response. In fact, “enlightened reason” makes very clear to the mystical lover – in her union with Love – that which natural reason shows the non-mystic: “Thunder is... enlightened reason which displays the truth... and that man is so small and Love so great” (4, 40 and 30, 165-7). Also for this aspect of her experience, Hadewijch uses the term ghebreken, but here the meaning is “to fall short” (rather than “to be wanting” as in the previous paragraph).

Tensions in love Thus one begins to see what Hadewijch’s proper subject is and how she deals with it: she is evoking a mystical union with Love (Minne) who is God. Moreover, the two words mentioned, so similar in sense and sound, provide the most important key to Hadewijch’s understanding of her love experience: ghebruken (to enjoy) and ghebreken (to be wanting / to fall short). In this way, a corner of the veil is lifted on the wealth of ingenious expressions for the experience of love still waiting to be discovered. So, Hadewijch’s literary work should not be restricted to connoisseurs of artistic or esoteric antiquity. The Letters, in particular, are written with such verbal and musical refinement that they stand the test of time and shed light upon human phenomena relevant today – for example, the simple fact that sooner or later we learn that the person with whom we are and remain united in love is forever unknown, continues to be the other. This bewildering paradox – how the beloved, of all people, remains so very elusive! – may bring the lover to doubt the reality of a love relationship, so much so that he or she is driven in despair to the frenzied possession of the beloved. In her love-relation with Love, Hadewijch lives such a human experience to the full. Her answer to the riddle of the insurmountable otherness of the human beloved is that it is so essential to a love relationship that, should it disappear, love too would end:

6 letters For if a human being could comprehend Him and understand with his senses and with his thoughts, God would be less than man, and soon His being lovable would come to an end, as now is the case for light-minded people who soon run out of love. (12, 34-39)

Historical background Some points of historical interest are worth mentioning. It appears that Hadewijch wrote the Letters – like all the rest of her work – to communicate with kindred spirits. The Visions were not intended to allow a spiritual counsellor to have an insight into Hadewijch’s own inner life, but were for friends to form a picture of the mystical path they too were following, with Hadewijch going before them. Similarly, the Songs are not the “most individual expression of the most ­individual emotion”, as the Dutch poet Willem Kloos imagined, but a means for Hadewijch to give shape to her own mystical gheselscap (society). By singing these Songs together, the friends shared the experience of minne and drew the bonds among themselves still closer. It is in the Letters that Hadewijch appears most clearly as the meesterse (mistress) of friends who are also her disciples. Yet the Letters do not form a homogeneous whole, as they are made up of personal letters as well as small treatises in the form of correspondence. This last genre was much appreciated in Hadewijch’s time because it allowed the letter-writer to give a personal ring to what she wanted to convey. Hadewijch’s Letters do, for the most part, express the friendship that binds her to those she is addressing. So in Letter 29: “I know well... that I am near to your heart and agreeable to you and the most dearly loved human being among all those alive, after Sara” (14-7). Yet this affectionate tone does not stop Hadewijch from making it immediately clear that she is someone who is giving guidance with authority, an authority that comes from the Beloved. Already in Letter 1 she has the addressee listen to this significant crescendo: This is why I pray you as a friend his dear friend, and I admonish you as a sister her dear sister, and I demand of you as a mother her dear child, and I order you from your Beloved, as the bridegroom orders his dear bride, that you open up the eyes of your heart in clarity and regard yourself holy in God. (1, 18-24)

introduction 7

Hadewijch’s authority, coupled with her intelligence, appears on almost every page of the Letters. In no uncertain terms, she tells love mystics to acknowledge that they are still ionc (young) in love life, or kintsch (childlike), or onghewassen (not grown-up). She strips away any illusions they may have when looking forward to God-experience, as she points out their desire for ghevoelen (feeling) Love and their yearning for contemplative ghenoechte (satisfaction). In Letter 2 the meesterse (mistress) counsels: “You are still young and you need to grow up greatly, and it would suit you much better, if you wanted to take the way of Love, that you sought exertion and made an effort for Her honour than that you wanted to feel Her” (66-9). However, Hadewijch herself, who points out to her addressees in well-chosen words that they are “not grown-up” – the main reason perhaps that they lack “enjoyment” of Love – does not consider herself as “grown-up” either. Moreover, she admits to “being in want of enjoyment” and complains of it in a way that can leave no reader unmoved: Yet, to me He has been more cruel than ever a devil was... and thus lets me wander about out of that enjoyment, and lets me always be bowed down with the non-enjoyment of Love, and leaves for me in the dark the enjoyment of all the joys which should be my share. (1, 59-60 and 64-68)

The second-person singular form, adopted by Hadewijch in most of the Letters, allows her to impart mystical teaching and psychological insights in a way that is personal and yet at once can draw several into a group around a common ideal. Moreover, those who do not belong to their circle are contrasted with donse (“ours”) and thus a sense of belonging is strengthened. Among those who are extraneous appear die liede (people) and ghemeyne liede (ordinary people), vremde (outsiders), die godleke (devout people), and those who because of their onderscedecheit (distinction-­ making spirit) ask biased intellectual questions. Hadewijch’s sources Clearly so cultivated a person as Hadewijch must have been influenced in her religious writing. Three prominent spiritual writers from the 13th century have left their marks on the Letters: ­Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), William of Saint-Thierry (ca 1085-1149), and Richard of Saint-Victor († 1173). Bernard is the only one she names, though he is quoted only very briefly. Yet Hadewijch translates from the Latin some passages drawn from the other two and recasts them. In addition, she is acquainted with a lesser-known literary figure, Hildebert of Lavardin († 1133), and in Letter 22 she borrows a poem of his which she paraphrases. Yet the main debt of the author of the Letters is to the cultural climate of feudalism. She refers repeatedly to knighthood, which interests her for two reasons. First, knighthood is characterized by a legal standing, that is at once a personal relationship, and one that finds expression in allegiance. This interweaving of attitudes, so characteristic of the way in which lord and liegeman relate, lends itself very well to an intimation of how God, the Lord, and the human creature relate. Secondly, it meets Hadewijch’s requirement that the vassal takes on a commitment to “serve” his or her “lord”. This knightly “serving” appears in the Letters as essential to the relationship of the divine with the human person.

8 letters However, another cultural phenomenon, related to knighthood, is a source on which ­Hadewijch draws even more abundantly, and that is courtly love (fin’amors). First identified in France, this theme was sung by the troubadours in the South and trouvères in the North of the country from early in the twelfth century. Here the knightly relationship between the liege-lord and the liegeman is transposed into the love relationship between man and woman, but on the assumption that it falls to the woman to play the role of the “lord”. In the courtly love-songs, the beloved woman is often addressed with the masculine mi dons (meus or mi dominus). Thus the lover is the vassal of his domna (mistress). He renders homage to her, following the ritual of knightly allegiance, and swears “obedience” to the beloved woman whom he “serves”. Generally speaking, this is the code of conduct characteristic of courtly love; but what idea of love is meant here? Rejecting the current notion of the time that any love relationship entails possession of the woman by the man, fin amors insisted that true love is not “to love in order to have (amar per aver)”. On the contrary, love consists in desir (desire). The apparent fulfilment achieved in the act of lovemaking is not the fullness of love but its terminal emptiness. Consequently, the beloved woman, whom the fin’amant recognizes as a highly elevated being, radiating a magnificence that creates in him the urge to “serve”, is in principle the unreachable other. She remains forever remote. She is, in any case, a married woman (for fin’amors is essentially an extramarital relationship), who resides perhaps in a far away country, and she may be of too exalted lineage. Yet, whether she is in fact near or far away, the love itself is always amor de lonh (love from afar), because this is the only way for “desire” to preserve its vitality and bring about enduring “joy”. In short, courtly love is essentially a profane experience of transcendence: it is the beloved woman who is considered and worshipped as the wholly other, not God. The text of the Letters and the commentaries show how Hadewijch deals with the language and themes of courtly love. As a sample, three significant points are worth indicating here. First, the term amors, which is central to the poetic expression of the experience of courtly love, is the same as the key word Hadewijch uses to evoke her religious experience: minne. However, such verbal coincidence does not prevent Hadewijch from using what was a worldly expression in such a way that it expresses her very own relationship with God. Secondly, it is clear that the crucial point of courtly love, that “desire” must be enduring, reappears in the Letters: begherte (desire) is not only essential to the experience of mystical love, it also never abates. For Hadewijch, there simply cannot be an end to the urge to absorb Love who makes Herself felt as flowing out ever more into the lover. Thirdly, the love experience evoked by Hadewijch is also an experience of transcendence. Yet there is a sharp contrast in the way that the profane and the mystical lover feel the otherness of the beloved. While the domna remains the untouchable “other” by remaining distant, and arousing her lover’s desir by frustrating it, Minne is the Other who gives herself fully; she intensifies begherte (desire) by giving more and more profusely. The courtly “other” lets herself be felt as such by being separate, the mystical Other by being one.

introduction 9

Reading Hadewijch’s Letters A decisive answer to the question of how to read Hadewijch has been given recently by Anikó Daróczi in her book Groet gheruchte van dien wondere. Her basic insight is that the formal aspect of Hadewijch’s works has to be appreciated as straddling oral culture, where the vocal features prevail, and written culture, where the ability to think and imagine predominates. Hadewijch has to be seen as a writer who writes while at once singing and speaking. This implies two things about reading the Letters. First, the awareness of the vocal character of Hadewijch’s texts must not lead us to consider this writing as a body of sounds and cadences, thus passing over the meaning which it encloses. Much as Hadewijch writes for the ear of her readers, she is an intelligent writer who writes clearly. In Letter 17 she emphasizes: “I know all about sensible speech that a person can know” (118-9). That is why one should not be content simply to listen to Hadewijch performed (though performance is in vogue), but rather one should interpret the performance of Hadewijch who writes “for the ear of the rational soul” (24, 103). Hadewijch does not belong among poets who sing “Ah, my soul is sheer sounds”, and “mystical” prattling is foreign to her nature. She is shaped by a prayer tradition to which singing the Psalms is central. This singing consists mainly in reciting the verses and it is not limited to bringing out sounds. As an anonymous mediaeval abbot put it, “What resonates in the voice must also be in the singer’s intelligence: voice and mind must sing in unison”. In fact, the abbot echoes what Saint Paul impressed on the Corinthians who liked to pray unintelligibly: “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive. What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also” (1 Corinthians 14, 14-5). Daróczi’s examination of the vocal character of the Letters shows how “Hadewijch puts her prose into shape” in two ways. On the one hand, “it appears that large thought-units, on occasion a letter in its entirety, are subdivided in such a way that the result is a clearly structured, logically constructed text”. On the other hand, “the analyses show that Hadewijch knows how to structure her text by non-logical means” (156). In one text then two kinds of structure combine. Secondly, a detailed examination of the structure of Hadewijch’s text shows that small as well as large sections are composed with such inventiveness and sense of perfection that they enchant the reader’s eye and ear, and one observes repeatedly the framework that carries them. Yet just as the melody and rhythm of Hadewijch’s text may distract from its meaning, so its architecture threatens to distract the reader from the mystical content. It is precisely the analysis of literary form that displays in the texture of this writing how Hadewijch and her friends live mystical union with Minne who is God. For them to be mystically one with God consists of contrary yet complementary elements – in particular ghebruken (“to enjoy”) and ghebreken (“to be in want / to fall short”). Daróczi’s analysis demonstrates to the reader how this paradox, which lives hidden in the mystic’s psyche, manifests itself in the fabric of Hadewijch’s text. Moreover, Daróczi provides pertinent information about the practice of reading in Hadewijch’s times. The mediaeval reader always made use of their voice, even when reading alone – and to read by oneself, usually “reading meditatively”, was an exception. Reading, especially in circles of like-minded people, meant mostly reading aloud and listening, and the voice and the sound it produces therefore played an important part. Consequently, reading was not “a sheer spiritual

10 letters affair nor was the text an independent (or floating) spiritual thing. Reading had to do with the body and the senses” (266). In Hadewijch’s case, when her text is read aloud, the interplay of syntaxis and vocality clearly shows that “speaking blends into singing. This is possible because the sentences which lead to ‘singing’ are carried by rules which are ‘musical’”. To speak in a singing way comes as no surprise then, for “the definition of musica itself was broad enough to include speaking as well as singing – word and music -, and it was applied in a great diversity of ways and in many a context” (81).

Principles of this edition This edition of Hadewijch’s Letters includes the text of the 31 letters and a commentary on each of them. The English text is not intended to be a word-for-word translation from the Middle Dutch, though it tries to keep closely to the original. For reasons that will soon appear, we have tried to transpose into the English text Hadewijch’s own words, phrases and turns of phrase, especially when these are repeated and do not become a stumbling block for the present-day reader. Thus one of Hadewijch’s key words, ghenoech (enough), has been retained at the risk sometimes of forcing proper English usage (see the commentary to Letter 7). As for Hadewijch’s sentence structure, this is grammatically correct, to the extent that, mutatis mutandis, a correct English counterpart can be found quite easily. The fact that Hadewijch’s writing develops according to the rules is significant, as it is precisely with this logic that her creative artistry in writing often stands out most admirably. Her restrained originality is most evident in the way in which she welds sentences together to form a whole, enriched with her own melody and rhythm. The new, sound-based lay-out of the text is intended to help one see her literary creativity more clearly. There is a commentary to each Letter, but the purpose of each is not to record the erudition of specialists or comment on different interpretations. Nor is there a systematic analysis (hence the absence of footnotes and extensive bibliography). The aim is to prompt a loving reading of the text itself; to encourage a slow reading, and to avoid any ready-made summary of what Hadewijch “has to say”. To begin with, words are noted that are significant for the simple reason that Hadewijch repeats them, within a short space such as a paragraph or over a few pages. For example, Letter 1 teems with words of light, claerheit (clarity) appearing in all possible variations, and repeats that intriguing word ghebruken (to enjoy). As the reading of the Letters progresses, more words like this come to the surface and accumulate in the reader’s mind. A word-sensitive reader is likely to remember words and combinations of words, even if modern memory is no longer what it was in Hadewijch’s time. This is where we begin to see a pattern in the text of the Letters. It appears that those notable words and word families are repeated not only close together but also at long and medium intervals. Broad clusters are formed of which synonyms as well as antonyms are part. Through the pattern which these clusters create, the text begins to speak to the reader. The most significant element in the pattern of Hadewijch’s Letters is the cluster of sound-play and the semantic field around the word ghebruken (to enjoy). From the first Letter, ghebruken is highlighted as an aspect of Hadewijch’s meeting with God. In Letter 6, ghebruken is set in opposition

introduction 11

to ghebreken (to be in want). In Letter 11, ghebruken’s antonym ghebreken is divided into allophones, ghebreken meaning ‘to be in want’, and ghebreken meaning ‘to fall short’. The latter word is then itself also given two different meanings in different contexts: one can fall short in absorbing Love (Letters 16 and 18), and one can fall short in ghenoech doen, ‘doing enough’ for Love in return (Letter 11). Finally, in Letter 7, ghenoech doen, ‘to do enough’, suggests an additional element of the cluster in its counterpart ghenoechte, ‘to be satisfied’. And the consistent link to ghebruken indicates the inter-relationship of all these clustered words. ghebruken to enjoy

ghebruken ghebreken to enjoy to be in want

ghebreken ghebreken to be in want to fall short

ghebreken ghebreken to fall short in to fall short in absorbing Love doing enough for Love



ghenoegh doen to do enough

ghenoechte satisfaction

These commentaries are based on the firm conviction that the Letters should not be skimmed for their ideas, but require readers prepared to dwell on the words and sentences in which thoughts take shape. Modern reading is for the most part a matter of sensible and intelligent seeing: as one dictionary explains, to read is “to join together the characters with the eyes, so to speak, and convert them into words, and come to know the content”. The crux of this definition is “content”. As the signs affect the sensory eyes and are processed into thoughts, this content consists of concepts. But is the content seen by the mind’s eye the one and only content? The auditory element cannot be overlooked when reading a great writer like Hadewijch. For example, in Letter 1 (­18­-23, quoted above) repetition of sentence structure and rhythm work on the reader’s ear, so that the writer can be heard speaking to the addressee and urging her point. The meaning is then heard and felt in the content, apprehended visually, and in the rhythm, apprehended aurally. In this edition of Hadewijch’s Letters we reproduce the Middle Dutch text as it was published by Jozef Van Mierlo in 1947. Even if not a “critical” edition according to prevailing standards, the

12 letters text is very reliable. It is printed here, with the (minimal) modern punctuation marks and the numbering of lines. We left out the slashes (representing dots in manuscript C), yet we kept the capitals (from C) written in italics but put in roman type here. Only the lay-out is new: in Van Mierlo’s edition, the page lay-out tended to hide the musical character of Hadewijch’s text, the audible character of which is here made visible in arrangement of lines. Paul Mommaers

About the “rhetorical” and “musical” layout of Hadewijch’s Letters To explain the reason for and purpose of this new and unusual layout of Hadewijch’s Letters, I have to relate my initiative experience with these texts. As a young Hungarian medievalist, I was intrigued in the first years of my research by the mysterious Letter 28, a text characterised by a highly structured syntax and an artful – and seemingly artificial – wordplay which I could not quite understand but which for that very reason would not leave me alone. In order to uncover the secret of this language, I applied a very simple method that we learned at school in grammar classes: as a first attempt I began by dividing the long sentences into segments and examining the relationship among the segments. I was actually using, unconsciously, one of the earliest methods of punctuation, namely writing out the text per cola et commata, which enabled the reader to recite the texts correctly. I then proceeded to read the letter aloud, not once but several times, until I knew entire passages by heart without consciously trying to memorise them. Words and sentences began to pulsate, and I could hear and feel a measurable regularity in them. But that was not all that happened. Constructions that at first glance had seemed strangely abstract came across, after a while, as extraordinarily personal. By interiorising the structures – in other words the form – I came closer to the content without doing violence to the abstract and mysterious nature of the text. I became increasingly aware of the underlying principles that I had identified and analysed in terms that I called “musical”. Thus I began to look for the sources of these musical forces, and little by little I came to recognise the presence of the laws of oral culture, where, much more than in written culture, form and content are one, and where the way of speaking and the duration of the silences are influenced by natural musical forces at work in the (singing) speaker. In the course of my research, I approached a number of Hadewijch’s Letters in the same way. In the Appendix to my book Groet gheruchte van dien wondere there are a number of texts with a similar layout. It was then that the idea of a new edition of the Letters using this layout was born: one that would shed new light on the old material. In my own translation of the Letters into ­Hungarian I used this new form here and there. When preparing the Middle Dutch texts for a new translation into Modern Dutch, I was initially more cautious. First I only segmented the very clearly rhythmic paragraphs in order to show the difference between “purely rhetorical” and “musical” forms. But soon this cautious approach had to give way to a more daring one. In the process of segmenting, one is actually analyzing the texts, just as when one is translating: one speaks and listens, and sometimes even beats the time. After the first couple of letters the

introduction 13

method of segmenting became a force that impelled me to make visible the “purely rhetorical” structures as well. For example, Letters 2, 10, 12 and 15 are strongly “rhetorical”, whereas Letters 22 and 28 are strongly “musical”. There are of course transitional forms: the prosaic-rhetorical becomes rhetorical-musical, and now and then the text is so strongly rhythmical that it resembles a kind of litany. The reader is then inclined to chant the verses as is still done in the Eastern Christian tradition in the Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox liturgy (it was this kind of vocalization that we used ten years ago in my first experiment to make these forces audible, when we recorded the recitation of segments from Letter 28 for the CD accompanying my book Ende hier omme swighic sachte, Atlas, Amsterdam, 2002). The way in which the text of the Letters is segmented in this book is of course not the only possible one. In Groet gheruchte... and in Ende hier omme... they look quite different. Whenever I re-read them I am inclined to change the layout, which does not mean that one choice is “more correct” than a previous one. What we offer here is one possible approach that shows the underlying principle and invites the reader to test the method and to make his or her own segmentation. One cannot of course be consistent all the way from Letter 1 to Letter 31: one cannot constantly use the same rule relying on the syntax, and in some of the letters one has to apply smaller segments than in others. In each case it is the letter itself, with its inherent unity of form and content, that suggests the method and the level of segmentation. The process of segmenting often helps the reader to see the logical relationship between the paragraphs, but very often it serves to leave the “logical” behind and to give way to another manner of seeing: to feel the text while we listen. Anikó Daróczi Our sincere thanks are due to those who lent their skills and support to bringing the Letters of Hadewijch into the English language. We are grateful to Toon Cavens who paved the way for the translation published here by making a tentative version of the original. We are particularly in debt to Dr. Joseph Munitiz and Professor Dr. Elisabeth Dutton. With a never failing sense for the idiom, they revised all the Letters, so as to have them express Hadewijch’s subtle yet musical prose in readable English. Moreover, they read the introduction and the commentaries, hammering into fluent English the halting prose of a Fleming. And our thanks go also to Dr. Guido de Baere who read through the 31 Letters, checking both the Middle Dutch and the English text.

Brief 1 God die de clare minne die onbekint was verclaerde bi siere doghet daer hi alle doghet bi verlichte in siere claerheit der minnen Hi moet v verliechten ende verclaren metter claerre claerheit daer hi hem seluen claer met es ende al sinen vrienden ende sinen naesten gheminden. Die alre meeste claerheit die men hebben mach in ertrike Dat es ghewaricheit in ieghenwordeghen werken van gherechticheden, Ende van allen wesenen waerheit te plegene omme claerheit der edelre minnen die god es. Ay

hoe groete claerheit es dat Datmen gode ghewerden late met siere claerheit! Daer in werct minne hem seluen Ende allen creaturen elken na sijn recht dat hem sine goetheit gheorconden mach te gheuene met gherechticheden in claerheyden.

Hier omme bidic v alsoe vrient sinen lieuen vrient, Ende mane v alse suster haere lieuer suster, Ende hete v alse moeder haren lieuen kinde, Ende ghebiede v van uwen gheminden Alse brudegom ghebiedet siere lieuer bruyt: Dat ghi ontpluuct die oghen uwer herten claerlike ende besiet v in gode heilichleke.

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Letter 1 God, who clarified clear Love – that was unknown – by His life, by which He clarified all life with the clarity of Love, He may enlighten and clarify you with the clear clarity by which He is clear to Himself and to all His friends and His nearest beloved. The greatest possible clarity one may have on earth, is to be true in real works of righteousness, and to practise truth in everything for the sake of the clarity of noble Love who is God. Ah,

what great clarity it is to let God have His way with His clarity! Therein Love, for Himself and all creatures according to their right, works that which His goodness may notify Him to give rightfully in clarity.

This is why I pray you as a friend his dear friend, and I admonish you as a sister her dear sister, and I demand of you as a mother her dear child, and I order you from your Beloved, as the bridegroom orders his dear bride, that you open up the eyes of your heart in clarity and regard yourself holy in God.

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16

Brief 1

Leert te besiene wat god es: Hoe hi es waerheit alre dinghen ieghenwerdichlike, ende goetheit alre rijcheit vloyeleke, Ende gheheelheit alre doghet gheheeleke omme de welke men singhet .iij. sanctus inden hemel omme dattie .iij. namen in haren enighen wesene alle doechde versamenen van welken ambachte si sijn vte desen .iij. wesenen. Siet hoe vaderlike .v. god ghehuet heuet Ende wat hi v ghegheuen heuet Ende wat hi v gheloeft heuet. Besiet hoe hoghe minne es deen vor dander ende danckes hem met minnen, Wildi dit besien hoe god dit es ende werken in hem in siere claerheit ghebrukeleke in glorilecheiden ende toenleke in claerheiden alle dinc te verlichtene ende te demsterne na hare wesen. Om dies dit god es daer omme salmenne sijns selues laten ghebruken in al sinen werken van siere claerheit Sicut in celo et in terra Altoes met woerden ende met werken te segghene: Fiat voluntas tua. Ay, lieue kint, soe sine gheweldeghe ghewout meer verclaert wert in v, Soe sijn heileghe wille bat in v ghesciet, Ende soe sijn claere waerheit naere in v schijnt, Soe en spaert dan niet sueter rasten te daruene omme die grote gheheelheit gods: verclaert v wesen ende chiert v met doechden ende met gherechten werken. Widet uwe sinne met hogher begherten der gheheelheit gods. Ende ordineert .v. ziele ten groten ghebrukene der al gheweldegher minnen ons alte suete gods.

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Letter 1

Learn to see what God is. How He is the Truth that lends presence to all things, and the Goodness that makes all richness flow, and the Wholeness that makes all life into a whole, for which they sing Sanctus three times in heaven, because those three Names in their one Being gather all powers, whatever their working from these three Beings. See how as a father God has guarded you and what He has given you and what He has promised you. See what high Love the One is to the Other, and thank Him for it with love, if you want to see how God is that, and to work in Him in His clarity, enjoying in glory and revealing in clarity all things, so as to lighten and to darken them according to their being. Because this is what God is, therefore one shall let Him enjoy Himself in all the works of His clarity, Sicut in celo et in terra, always with words and with works saying: Fiat voluntas tua. Ah, dear child, the more His tremendous power becomes clearer in you, the more His holy will is done better in you, and the more His clear truth shines nearer in you, for the sake of God’s wholeness, do not, then, avoid deprivation of sweet rest, clarify your being and adorn yourself with virtues and righteous works. Stretch your mind through high desiring for God’s wholeness. And prepare your soul for the great enjoyment of the almighty Love of our all too sweet God.

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18

Brief 1

Ay, lieue kint, al seggic alte suete, dat es mi ouer oncont, sonder inden wensch van miere herten Dat mi doghen suete heuet gheweest om sine minne. Mer mi heuet hi wredere gheweest dan mi nye duuel was. Want si en consten mi nie benemen hem te minnene, Noch nieman dien hi mi beual te vorderne. Mer hi heuet mi selue benomen. Dat hi es dat verteert hi selue in siere sueter ghebrukenissen Ende laet mi dus dolen buten dien ghebrukene, Ende laet mi emmer sere verladen met minnen onghebruken Ende laet mi demster van ghebruken alre yoyen die mi te guede souden werden. Ay arme dat selue Dat hi mi boet ende ghegheuen hadde te werder van ghebrukene van gherechter minnen Dat heuet hi dus nu laten varen, alse ghi een deel wel wet. Ay, wet God, ic hieltene herde sere ouer here ende eyschede hem luttel vordere dan hi selue woude; Mer dat hi mi boet dat haddic gerne ghenomen in ghebrukene had hijs mi willen hulpen. Biden eersten waest mi leet ghenoech ende liet mi vele bieden eer icker na vinc. Mer nu benic gheuoert alse een dien men yet te spele biedet, Ende alse hi daer na veet soe sleetmenne op de hant ende seghet: Godsat hebbe die waers waende, ende houdet dat op datmen hem boet.

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Letter 1

Ah, dear child, although I say all too sweet, that is to me more than unknown, unless in my heart’s wish. Therefore suffering has been sweet to me for the sake of His Love. Yet, to me He has been more cruel than ever a devil was, for they could never keep me from loving Him or someone He ordered me to advance. Yet, He has kept me from it Himself. What He is, that He digests Himself in His sweet enjoyment, and thus lets me wander about out of that enjoyment, and lets me always be bowed down with the non-enjoyment of Love, and leaves for me in the dark the enjoyment of all the joys which should be my share. Ah, poor me, precisely that which He offered me and had given me in pledge of the enjoyment of righteous love, thàt He thus has now abandoned, as you partly know. Ah, God knows, I recognized Him very much as the Lord and I demanded of Him hardly more than He Himself wanted to give. Yet, what He offered me, I would gladly have accepted it to enjoy it, if He had granted me. At first it gave me sorrow enough and I let Love offer me much before I reached for it. But now I am slapped down like someone offered something in jest, and as he reaches for it, one smacks his hand saying: “the wrath of God on the one who thought this true”, and what was offered is withdrawn.

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Letter 1: Commentary What strikes one immediately on reading Hadewijch’s first letter is that all through the first part (1-55) she plays with words referring to light. Clarity (claerheit) is prominent, surrounded by clear (claer), clearly (claerlike) and clarify (verclaren). This word play is at once a sound play: the open a-sound (claer) allows one to hear what “clarity” allows to see. The word-cluster around clarity is completed by a few other words that also refer to light, namely “enlighten” and “regard”. Evidently, we have here in the first place a shining mosaic of words, not a logical structure of concepts. This is the evocation of a light experience, not the formulation of a theory of light, and it is by means of the textual form, which is here a sonorous repetition, that the writer produces in the reader an impression of light. Which is the light Hadewijch evokes here? The answer appears in the next passage where one notices again how the form comes about through repetition (18-24). However, it is not a word (-sound) that is repeated now but a particular sentence structure with its own cadence. By filling this rythmical structure with words of feeling that gradually grow stronger – an affective crescendo arises – the letter-writer makes her warm-heartedness felt to the addressee. At the same time the essential characteristic appears of the intimate relationship between Hadewijch and the person she addresses. The crescendo ends in “from your Beloved”: love for “sweet minne” who is a human being and love for “Minne who is God” (both expressions are regularly used by Hadewijch) interlock. (The introductory part of Letter 29 is a striking parallel passage where we find the same crescendo (6-9) and the same enlacing of the two loves (19-20)). Apparently the light Hadewijch evokes in the first paragraph of Letter 1 is the medium that allows her to speak and the addressee to listen. What Hadewijch has to say in this letter, and in the thirty that follow, can only be understood by her reader if she listens in this clarity which comes from God and Love, precisely from “noble Love who is God” (12). We should not, then, look for the meaning of clarity in the direction either of some paranormal light phenomena or of learned speculation or explanation. Hadewijch is simply inspired here by the Gospel of John and the First Letter of John: “The light shines in the darkness” and “The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1, 5.9) – “But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1, 7). In this light the mystical kindred spirits not only share in their faith but also in the experience of Love who is God. The mystical mistress is not able to teach the “dear child” anything whatsoever unless God wants to “enlighten her and clarify” (4). Actually, it is the Bridegroom who “orders his dear bride” through Hadewijch (21-2). Moreover, this clarity is an all-penetrating force and not just a light that shines only in the human soul without any further effect. Clarity being the manifestation of Love, it enlightens “all life” (2), “works in all creatures” (14-5). Yet, the operative nature of clarity comes most to the fore in the “works” of the person whom it enlightens. Clarity has to take shape “on earth”, which comes about through “real works of righteousness” (9-10). Briefly, “all the works of [God’s] clarity” have to be met “with words and with works” (42-4). This is why Hadewijch gives the addressee this pointed advice: “Clarify your being and adorn yourself with virtues and righteous works” (51-2).

Commentary 21

The main colour of the first part of Letter 1 is one of joy because of the clarity that comes from Love and proves a force which, penetrating everything, enables the human being to realize righteous works. It is gratifying in this clarity to do the will of God “with words and with works saying: Fiat voluntas tua” (44-5). In addition, life in this clarity is not limited to a particular way of working. Clarity makes it possible for the addressee to “open up the eyes of [her] heart” (22-3) in order to revive her conception of God through meditation: “Learn to see what God is” (25; cfr. 23.35). Yet something else still is a source of joy – a greater source than seeing God in a meditative way. The mistress does not hesitate to put forward the most enchanting of all her mystical terms: “to enjoy (ghebruken).” The addressee is allowed to expect that she will have the experience of assimilating with the twofold movement, inwards and outwards, that characterizes Gods own life. Then she will feel herself in Him “enjoying in glory” (38). The closing sentence of the first part of Letter 1 expresses this expectation with even more emotion: “And prepare your soul for the great enjoyment (ghebrukene) of the almighty love of our all too sweet God” (54-5). Yet there is a dark side to clarity. Hadewijch gives the addressee fair warning concerning the “works” as well as the “enjoyment.” The “dear child” should not fail to notice that God, however clarifying and abundant his clarity, remains impenetrable. However righteous her activity, it has paradoxically to rest upon passivity, for it is the Other who always gives her the force and has the lead. That is why Hadewijch advices her to “let God have his way” (13). But it is especially in connection with the “enjoyment” that the untouchable otherness of God gives food for thought. Not only has the addressee to let God have his way in her own way of life, she needs to “let Him enjoy Himself in all the works of his clarity” (41-3). Just as the Other has his own works, so He has his own enjoyment as well, an enjoyment absolutely His own, for as He enjoys Himself, He is completely within Himself. Imagine the dear child’s feeling: she looks forward to living the moment in which the enjoyment of Love will come to her (or come again), while facing all the same God’s own enjoyment which, existing in itself, stands forever by itself. Does enjoyment not necessarily imply union of the one and the other in one single enjoyment? Does enjoyment not consist in possessing each other unrestrictedly, an experience the mistress evokes more than once, putting it strikingly in Letter 9: “mutually they enjoy each other” (9, 8-9)? In the second part of the letter (56-82) Hadewijch changes her tone. She does not speak now as the mistress who, in Godgiven clarity, casts light on the mystical way, but as the friend who, “as you partly know” (72), complains of her own disappointment. Yet we would misunderstand Letter 1 if we were to consider this sorrowful part as a separate confidence that falls outside clarity, as if Hadewijch lets herself go for a moment and stops veiling the sour reality of the mystical way. That there is no question here of extra-mystical confidentiality appears from the other Letters: again and again the spiritual leader calls on her followers to “grow up” in love life, identifying herself with her “immature” friends. There is then no separation in this letter between the first and the second part. In the second Hadewijch speaks – still in clarity – of the darkness that goes with clarity, specifically with enjoyment. First she connects both parts by using the same words – “all too sweet” – in order to emphasize the contrast between the prospect of enjoyment (54-5) and its actual absence, a contrast she sharpens all the more by repeating “sweet.” Next she connects both parts by reverting, right in the middle of her complaint, to the warning she gave the

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addressee in the first part: “Because such is God, therefore one shall let him enjoy Himself” (41-2) – “What He is, that He digests Himself in His sweet enjoyment” (64-5). In this way she shows how an insight that belongs to her common teaching appears as a most personal stumbling block in her love life: it is the “non-enjoyment (onghebruken) of Love” (66), which elsewhere she calls “my misfortune”. In addition, in these parallel passages she switches from what she herself feels now, and the addressee may one day feel as well, to “what He is.” To put it briefly, according to Hadewijch the deeper cause of human “non-enjoyment of Love” lies in divine otherness. For the sense of the trinitarian passage of Letter 1 (25-32), see the commentary to Letter 30. It is worth commenting that Letter 1 constitutes, as it were, an introduction to the style of writing as well as the teaching of the Brabant mystic. Most noticeable is the importance she places on the form of her text, which regularly develops into a play of sounds. To a large extent H ­ adewijch writes for the reader’s ear, with the result that we, modern readers, need to learn at least a little what her contemporaries did easily, namely to read by listening. As for her teaching, Hadewijch indicates three key themes. The first one concerns communication between mistress and follower: it takes place in divine clarity, which means that there are not just two but three actors. The second theme is that God’s clarity intends to take shape on earth, particularly in human works. The third theme consists in evoking the mystic’s enjoyable union with God while at the same time directing attention to God who “enjoys Himself”, which puts to the test the mystic’s feeling of joy but also makes felt divine otherness in union with God.

Brief 2 Nv merket alle die dinghen daer ghi in ghedoelt hebbet met eenwille, Met droefheiden sonder noet. Mer dats waer, dat wetic wel, dat hi dicke drouet dien sins ghebrect Ende hi dan niet en weet weder hi naket soe verret, dat es wel recht. Mer die rechte gheloueghe hi sal weten dattie goetheit sijns liefs meere es dan sijn sneuen. Men en sal niet droeuen omme doghen noch langhen na raste. Men sal alles omme al begheuen ende alre rasten vertien. Sijt blide altoes in hope om minne te vercrighene. Want begherdi minne te gode volmaecteleke, so en suldi en ghene sake van rasten weder begheren dan allene minne. Sijt op uwe hoede ende in vreden van allen dinghen. Doet te allen dinghen wel. Mer en roeket om en gheen ghewin, Noch om salicheit, Noch om doemsele, Noch omme behoudenisse, Noch omme torment; Mer alle dinc doet ende laet om der minnen eren wille. Houdi v dus, soe suldi saen vercoeueren. ende scijnt plomp voer de liede: daer es vele waerheiden in. Sijt bekeersam ende ghereet alden ghenen die uwes behoeuen Ende elken mensche doet sinen vrede daer ghijt gheleisten moghet sonder uwe nederheit. Sijt blide metten bliden, Ende weent metten weenenden, Ende verdraechleec den ghenen die uwes behoeuen, Ende ernstich ten sieken, Ende milde den behouenden, Ende enich inden gheeste buten alle creaturen.

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Letter 2 Notice now all the things in which you have erred by being self-willed, by needless sadness. Obviously, so it is, I know, that he who misses the one who is his, often is sad, and then does not know whether he comes nearer or moves away that is rightly so. But the upright faithful should know that the goodness of his Beloved is greater than his failings. One should not be saddened by suffering nor long for rest. One must give up all for all and renounce all rest. Always be glad in the hope that you shall receive Love. For if you perfectly long to love God, in exchange therefore you shall not long for rest but only for Love. Be on your guard and at peace with all things. Act justly in all things. Concern yourself, however, not about gain, nor about bliss, nor about rejection, nor about preservation, nor about torment, but do and leave undone everything for the honour of Love. If this is your attitude, you shall soon recover. And make a clumsy impression on people; there is a lot of truth in it. Be inclined to do good and be ready for all those who need you, and content everyone where you can without debasing yourself. Rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping, and put up with those who need you and be diligent with the sick and generous with the needy and one in the spirit outside all creatures.

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Ende alse ghi te allen dinghen doet dat beste Dat ghi moghet, die menscheit moet dicke sneuen: Soe verlaet v op die goetheit gods dat sine goetheit meerre es dan v sneuen: Ende werct altoes in toeuerlate ghewarighe doghet, ende sijt ernstich ende ghestadich altoes sonder sparen te werkene den raet ons heren. Ende sinen alreliefsten wille in al dat ghine bekinnen moghet, met aerbeide, Met nauwen ondersoekene van peinsinghen v seluen te kinnen in al. Ende leuet soe gode, dies biddic v, dat ghi niet en ghebrect dien groten werken daer hi v toe gheroepen heuet: Dat en versuemt niet bi ghenen lichteleken werken, dat biddic v ende rade; Want ghi hebbet grote saken daer ghi ocsuun op nemen moghet vore gode. Want hi heuet v ghehuet van allen ocsune wildi v seluen hueden, soe dat ghijt ghenadechleke goet doen hebbet wildijt bekinnen, Ende te vollen hebdi luttel ghenoech doeghens groet met te wassene Alsoe ghi sculdich waert, soudi gode recht doen, also ghi bi wilen gherne daet. Al gheuoeldi oec bi wilen ellindicheit van herten alse ocht ghi van hem begheuen waert Daer omme en mestroest v seluen niet. Want ic segghe v waerleke dat alle die ellende die men doghet met goeden wille te gode die is bequame in die ghehele nature gods. Mer wisten wi hoe lieue gode daer toe es, Dat ware ons ontidich, Want soe en wart ons ghene ellende: Want die den wille gods kinde datter hem lieue toe ware, Hi soude wel gherne bi sinen wille inden afgronde der hellen sijn, Ende hi en mochte nummermeer voert gaen noch wassen daer hi ghene pine ghesmaken en mochte. Die wiste dat gode behaghelike ware te sinen werken hem en soude rouwen wat hem ghe sciede. Ghi sijt noch ionc ende behoeft sere te wassen, ende voeghet vele bat, wildi den wech der minnen gaen, dat ghi aerbeit soeket Ende doer haer eere pijnt, dan ghi haers soudet willen gheuoelen.

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Even if in all things you do the best you can do, a person often must fail: therefore trust in God’s goodness, for His goodness is greater than your failing. And always, relying on Him, accomplish true virtue, and be diligent and steadfast always fulfilling the counsel of our Lord without omitting a single thing and His most beloved will in everything in which you can know it, by exerting yourself and, by closely examining your thoughts, knowing yourself in all aspects. And live in such a way for God, for this I pray you, that you do not fail to do the great works to which He has called you. Do not neglect these for whatever light works, this I pray you and I counsel you. For you have a heavy reason to exert yourself in regard to God. For He has preserved you from all exertion if you want to preserve yourself, so that you by His mercy have it good if you are willing to acknowledge this and, all things considered, you have barely enough to suffer to grow up greatly, as you would be obliged to, if you were to do right unto God, as at times you would like to do. Though you feel, from time to time, as miserable of heart as if you were abandoned by Him, do not be saddened by this. For I tell you in truth that all the misery we suffer willingly for God makes us worthy before the whole nature of God. If we were to know how dear this is to Him, it would be premature for us, for then it would be no misery for us. For he who knew that it is dear to God’s will, would be content to be in the depths of Hell for His sake, but then he could not go any further nor grow up, because he could no longer feel pain anymore. He who knew that God would take pleasure in his works, he would not mourn no matter what befell him. You are still young and you need to grow up greatly, and it would suit you much better, if you wanted to take the way of Love, that you sought exertion and made an effort for her honour than that you wanted to feel her.

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Mer ghi sult hare dienen alse een die emmer in haren werdeliken dienst sijn wilt. Ende daer vore en suldi willen sparn ere Noch scande, Noch torment van ertrike, Noch vander hellen, al mochti se daer bi vercrighen dat ghi hare werdelike dienet, Hier inne doer hare werdelike te pinenne in ghetiden, Jn ordene te houdene, Jn al uwen dienst, sonder raste te wilne ochte te ontfane. Ende al quaemdi oec in rasten in enighe dinc die men ware dan die selue god namelike die uwe wesen sal in ghebrukene, in welken dat dat si, daer in seldi gherne dolen tot dien male dat v god met dien wesene verlicht Ende moghentheit gheuet der minnen te pleghene Ende te ghebrukene in haren wesene daer si haer seluen minne ende ghenoech met es. Dient scone ende en wilt el niet Ende en ontsiet el niet ende laet de minne vrileken met hare seluen ghewerden. Want minne volloent al comtse dicke spade. Bi ghenen twiuele noch bi ghenen onspoede en suldi laten doecht te werken Noch bi onspoede en suldi niet sorghen dat ghi selue aen gode niet vercoeueren en sult. Des en suldi niet twiuelen Noch oec gheloeuen Noch menschen noch heileghen noch inghelen, Ja ende oec bi littekenen: want ghi vroech gheroepen waert; Ende oec gheuoelt uwe herte wel bi wilen dat ghi vercoren sijt, Ende dat god uwe ziele in toeuerlate heuet begonnen te onderstane. Gheuet v seluen soe volmaecteleke daer toe dat hi v volmake. Ende en begheert nummermeer dat v mensche ondersta inden hemel Noch inder erden die soe moghende es, sonder alsoe ic v segghen mach:

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You have to serve her as someone who wishes to be ever in the service worthy of her. And to this end you should consider neither glory nor shame, neither earthly suffering nor infernal, were you to experience these because of your serving her worthily, because, for her sake and according to her dignity, you exert yourself in saying divine office, in maintaining the rule, and in all your service without desiring or receiving rest. Even if you came to rest in any thing that would be less than precisely that God who will be yours in enjoyment, in whatever thing that be, therein you would prefer not to establish yourself until the moment that God enlightens you with that manner of being and makes you able to devote yourself to Love and to enjoy her in her manner of being in which she is for herself Love and for herself enough. Serve beautifully and want nothing else and spare nothing else and let Love do freely as she herself is. For Love rewards fully, though she often comes late. Neither through doubt nor adversity shall you fail to practise virtue, and adversity shall not make you fear that you cannot recover with God. This you shall not doubt and therefore you shall not put your trust in humans, nor in saints, nor in the angels, even in the case of miracles. Because early you were called, and your heart also feels at times that you are elected and that God has begun to support your soul, if it relies on Him. Rely on this so perfectly that He may make you perfect. And never desire that someone support you, neither in heaven nor on earth, however powerful that one may be, for I can tell you this:

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Ghi sijt van Gode onderstaen, Ende ghi sult willen onderstaen sijn van hem met ghewoude ende niet langher met twiuelenden varen. Sonder dat allene moet men altoes vresen datmen der minnen te luttel es in dienste na hare werdicheit. Dese vrese vult den minsche met minnen. Dat hi soe na gheuoelt ende verstormt wert van ernsticheiden, Soe dunct hem dat hi der minnen ghenoch heuet ghedaen Ende dat hem minne te luttel hulpet ende mint na sine werdicheit van sinen dienste. Dan alle die wile es dese vrese vte, Alse men minne aldus betijt met ontrouwen. Al ander vresen dan dese suldi wech doen ende nemt dese te v in al hare comen ende in hare gaen. Die pine die v van gode beuolen es die doghet gherne al dore ende dore: soe suldi den verholenen raet van hem horen, Alsoe iob van hem seghet: Te mi es gheseghet een verborghen woert. Tweerhande onderstaen es van menschen datse die menschen onderstaen. Dat een es, dat si de sonderen onderstaen in haren val. Sulc minsche wart bi wilen soe ghewont bi caritaten Dat hi hem gode ontsegghen moet in sijn ghebruken ende in sijn verweentheit, omme de sonderen Die in sonden sijn, Soe dat hi lieuer heuet sijns liefs te deruene, hem en woerde dies sekerheit ghedaen dat hen de sonderen niet en onthopen vander ghenaden gods. Aldus doet karitate den mensche de minschen onderstaen. Dat ander onderstaen es, dat selc minsche dien god soe ghesont kent in doghene ende in caritaten ghewesent, datten god niet en spaert, Alse hine soe moghende vint van volre redenen in hem seluen, Dat hi hem niet en verligghe Noch hem seluen met hem seluen niet en ontsinct in sine suetheit, Soe hine wilt eer alles daruen dat hi van gode hebben soude, ochte god onthoude de sondaren. Soe sijn dan sulke sondaren die fiere natueren hebben van hoghen wesene, Ende die hem seluen bedoruen hebben ende soe gequetst,

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you are supported by God and you must want to be supported by Him, determined and no longer with doubt-filled fear. The one thing, however, that we should always fear, is to fail in the service of Love that is worthy of her. This fear fills a person with love. As he feels in his innermost such a stormy endeavour, it seems to him that he has done enough for Love but that Love helps and loves him too little given the worth of his service. This fear is gone every time that one accuses Love of unfaithfulness. You shall lay down every other form of fear, but make yours this one as it comes and goes. The suffering that is laid upon you by God, bear it gladly, through and through; then you shall hear from Him the hidden counsel, as Job says of Him: “To me was spoken a hidden word.” There are two kinds of support by by which human beings can support each other. The first is, that they support the sinners in their fallen state. From time to time someone is so wounded by charity that he has to renounce God, (whom he experiences) in his enjoyment and bliss, for the sake of the sinners who dwell in sin, so much so that he prefers to miss his Beloved, unless assurance is given him that the sinners do not despair of God’s mercy. That is how charity makes that one human being supports another. The second support is, that someone whom God knows to be strong in suffering and of whom charity has become his essence, that God does not spare him, if He finds him to possess such very full reasonableness in himself that he does not fall into sluggishness nor lose himself by sinking in his sweetness, but prefers to miss everything he might have from God, if God does not preserve the sinners. There are sinners who have a proud nature and who are of a lofty essence but who have spoiled themselves and hurt so much

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dat si en gheen vercoeueren en hebben selue ieghen gode. Doch es hen god soe hout dat hi den ghenen dien hi moghende vonden heuet beueelet den ghenen verdoelden dat hine van sinen haluen ondersta, Ende leide te sinen weghe daer men volmaectelike mint.

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Dusghedaen onderstaen en hebdi niet te doene: Want ghi begonst vroech ende en hebbet gods niet gheloechent met uwen wesene soe hine sal v selue wel gheleiden te sinen wesene op dat ghijs v te hem verlaet. Mer ic segghe v waer af ghi onderstaen moghet werden: volghet den eyschene van uwer herten enechlike leuende in gode. Daer in en leuet nieman vreemder; dien ghi daer in vindet ochte gheloeft ochte gheuoelt scone wonende ende na daer in gheleidet es Ende gheweldechlike daer in wandelende es ende wesende es sonder faelgieren: Dese es daer bouen v; Dien moechdi volghen ende onderdaen sijn sonder uwe nederheit. Wildi al dat uwe vercrighen, soe suldi v seluen in toeuerlate gode al op gheuen te werdene dat hi es; Ende om der minnen eren wille soe suldi v seluen na ghenoech vertien puer ghehorsam te wesene in al dien datter meester volmaectheit behoert Jn doene in latene; daer toe soe moeti oetmoedich Ende onuerhauen bliuen van al uwen werken die ghi gheleisten moghet Ende soe vroet met onstegher volmaecter caritaten alle dinghen van ertrike ende van hemelrike te voedene ghelijc datter rechter caritaten behoert in ordenen. Hier in moechdi volmaect werden ende dat uwe vercrighen, wildi.

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that they are unable to recover themselves with God. Yet, God is so merciful unto them that to the one He has found capable of it, He recommends those lost ones, so that he on his part supports them and leads them in his way where one loves perfectly.

You have no need for such support, for you began early and you did not in your essence renounce God. Therefore He Himself shall guide you to his Being if for that you rely on Him. I tell you what can support you: follow the demand of your heart that lives exclusively in God. Therein no one lives who is a stranger, but he whom you find or believe or feel living therein beautifully and being led therein deeply and walking therein with mastery and being therein without fail, he stands there above you, him you can follow and obey without debasing yourself. If you want to receive all that is yours, you will, relying on Him, abandon yourself completely to Him so as to become what He is. And for the honour of Love, you will renounce yourself enough to be purely obedient in all that belongs to the greatest perfection, in doing and in omitting. For that purpose, you must remain humble, not glorying in all the works you can accomplish, and being so wise as to feed, with benevolent, perfect charity, all things of heaven and earth, according to their order, as is fitting for just love of neighbour. By doing so you can become perfect and receive what is yours, if you will.

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Letter 2: Commentary It is clear from Letter 1 that Hadewijch expects the reader to hear and attend first of all to words and sentence structures. Letter 2 invites a similar approach, even if to a lesser degree: already in the first section Hadewijch indicates the theme of the letter by repeating “rest” three times (9-13). Moreover, she indicates at once that the “longing for rest” and the “sadness” that depresses the addressee are connected. It seems that through looking for “rest” we forfeit greatness in love, thereby falling prey to “sadness”. Hadewijch goes on to specify the meaning of “rest” in two ways. First, she evokes the evil effects the would-be mystic would suffer if she were to “long for rest” (39-65): there is the risk of “failing to do the great works” which are intrinsic to the life to which she is called. Moreover, she would not be able “to grow up greatly” nor to “act rightly unto God”. Clearly these expressions refer to what for Hadewijch is most characteristic of mystical union: Love who is God is forever Another. This is why even in perfect union He demands “great works”. This sense of divine transcendence is expressed in such phrases as “worthy before the full nature of God” and “going further” and “growing up”(55 and 61-2). Next, Hadewijch clarifies the meaning of “rest” by describing the addressee’s state of mind (6685). She is still “young”. This is not to say that she is perhaps twelve or sixteen years old, but that she “want[s] to feel [Love]”. Here, “to want” is significant. Hadewijch does not dismiss the feeling of God’s being present, yet she is opposed to the kind of feeling the addressee is searching for, a feeling which would remove her difference from the Beloved so that she would not have to “miss the one who is [hers]” (4). The “rest” she dreams about results from a consciousness of self and it comes down to finding quietude in something that is “less” than God Himself (78-9). With this comment the disciple is likely to understand the mistress’ diagnosis: if she is living through a crisis of sadness, the reason is that she lacks experience of Love’s transcendence. After striking a note of warning (39-65) and inviting the addressee to self-examination (66-85), Hadewijch feels it is time to try and open the “young” heart to divine otherness (86-149). To begin with, she repeats advice from Letter 1: “to let God have His way (ghewerden) with His clarity” (1, 13-4) becomes: “let Love do freely (ghewerden) as she herself is” (2, 87-8). Next, she provides motivation by mentioning God’s way of supporting the human being and the kind of fear we should have before Love who is God. On the one hand, the addressee must accept that the only way for her to be freed from the cloud she is under lies in relying not on herself but on Him, so as to “recover with God” (92). And the only fear the “young” mystic is allowed to have is that she may “fail in the service of Love that is worthy of her” (107-8, a reminder of 69-75). Once attention is focussed on God, away from the feeling of self that lies hidden in feeling Love, Hadewijch evokes that which the addressee may hope for (150-75). It is what mystical life is all about: the perception of her depths becoming one with God’s depths, when “He Himself shall guide [her] to His Being” (153). And Hadewijch reformulates this no less strongly in “to become what He is” (164). In addition, she provides her disciple with an exquisite paradox by

Commentary 35

saying that she will “receive all that is yours” (163 and 174-5). The “other” in whom she loses herself shall be all that is hers. For the expression “To me was spoken a hidden word” (121), see Letter 18, 182-8. Letter 2 illustrates a crucial point in Hadewijch’s mystical teaching, but one which caused her difficulties in her spiritual leadership. As will appear further in the Letters, her disciples are often keen on experiencing “satisfaction (ghenoechte)”, on a manner of feeling Love that implies and feeds self-gratification: by challenging this “young” conception of the commerce of love, ­Hadewijch caused discord in her own group. Yet her criticism sprang from her insight into the nature of union with transcendent Love: instead of taking “rest” in any contemplative gift, however great it may be, one must “grow up” constantly, even if, like the leader, one is not “young” anymore. All must seek the contentment of Love, not their self-satisfaction, which means that all must always be “working” for Love by “desiring” beyond measure and “serving” without tiring.

Brief 3 God si met v. ic bidde v doer die gherechte doghet ende trouwe die god selue es, Dat ghi ghedinct al vren der heylegher doghet die hi selue es Ende die hi was in seden doen hi minsche leuede. Ay, suete minne, nu leuen wi minschen. Nu ghedinct diere edelre werken dier hi hen allen soe ghereet was elken te siere behoeften; Ende daer nae ghedinct der sueter naturen van minnen die hi nu es, Ende die soe eyselijc es ane te siene van wondere.

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Ay wijsheit leidet herde diepe in gode. Daer omme en es hier en ghene sekerheit van leuene dan allene na die diepe wijsheit omme hem te gherakene. Ay die altoes ongherenen es ende soe diepe te gerakene dat moet hem ontfermen Dat nu soe luttel yeman daer na doet ochte quelet met ongheduerne ocht met crachten van berrenden werken yet te gherakene wie hi wonder es ende wies hi met minnen pleghet. Hemelsche ghewoente soudemen hier een groet deel verstaen ende pleghen die hem ghenoech ertscher seden ontrocke bi minnen bande Ende die ghenoech hadde hemelscher niede te gode Ende der broederleker minnen ten minschen in allen saken daer sijs noet hadden. Der minnen meeste noet ende der minnen vorste onlede die oefene ic eerst; alsoe doet die broederlike minne die leuet in die caritate ihesu christi: Si ondersteet die broederlike minne welc het si

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Letter 3 God be with you. I pray you by the righteous goodness and fidelity that God Himself is that you constantly remember the holy goodness which He Himself is and which He was in His way of living when He lived as a human being. Ah, sweet love, now we live as human beings, now remember first the noble works with which He stood ready for all according to the need of each; then remember the sweet nature of Love which He is now, and which is so awesome to behold because of her being marvelous.

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Ah, wisdom leads very deep into God. That is why there is no certainty of life here except according to the deep wisdom which seeks to touch Him. Ah, He who is at all times untouchable but so deep to touch, He may feel pity because hardly anyone now longs and yearns, by restlessness or by the power of ardent works, to touch a little of how marvelous He is and how He works in love. The one who would withdraw enough from worldly customs through the tie of love, and who would have enough heavenly thrust toward God and brotherly love toward men in everything they would need, he would understand the heavenly way of life and live it largely here on earth. That which is most needed for love and ought to be done foremost on account of love, I apply myself to first. This is what brotherly love does that lives Christ’s love of neighbour. It supports the beloved brother no matter what:

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Brief 3

in bliscappen ocht in rouwen, In crachte ochte in goede, Jn dienste ochte in rade, Jn troeste ochte in dreighene. Hier toe si dine cracht altoes ghereet om heme, alse god hier toe niet te segghene en heuet. Hier met gheraectmenne ane de side daer hi hem seluen niet gheweren en can: Want dat es met sijns selues werke ende met sijns vader wille die hem dat beual, ende hi voldeet; Ende dat es dies heilichs gheests boetscap. Dan gheuet minne hemelsche wondere te kinne ende vele wondere.

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in joy or sadness, with severity or kindness, with service or counsel, with consolation or threat. For this your strength be ready at all times for God’s sake, so that He has nothing to say on this. In that way one touches Him on the side where He cannot defend Himself: one touches Him with His own work and with the will of His Father who charged Him with this, and He accomplished it, and that is the message of the Holy Spirit. Then love makes known heavenly marvels, and many marvels.

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Letter 3: Commentary Immediately striking is Hadewijch’s playing with “to touch” and “untouchable”: “… wisdom which seeks to touch Him. Ah, He who is at all times untouchable but so deep to touch” (13-15). Central to this structure is “untouchable”, which seems to contradict the preceding as well as the subsequent “to touch”: both the seeking to touch and the deep touching meet with the Untouchable. This word play is all the more intriguing as “to touch” is connected with “marvelous”: “to touch a little of how marvelous He is” (18). For Hadewijch and her mystical friends, whose whole life is shaped by their longing to feel Love, to touch what is untouchable constitutes their existential crux. Hadewijch does not offer any general definition of “marvel(ous)” but she intimates how God’s “being marvelous” makes itself felt in Love mysticism. Love being by nature both “sweet” and “awesome”, in union she gives a taste of sweetness while arousing fear, and this is how she makes the mystic marvel at her. In Letter 6 Hadewijch speaks of Love’s “awesome Face of wonder” (133-4), and in Vision 6 she evokes her perception of Love by speaking of “my awe-inspiring Love, unspeakably sweet” (80-81). Apparently, in Hadewijch’s experience “sweet” and “awesome”, however contrary, do not form an antinomy but a paradox: Love’s self-manifestation is marvelous because therein these opposites co-exist. It appears, then, that a paradox of the same kind informs Hadewijch’s playing with “to touch” and “untouchable”: as sweet coheres with awesome, so does to touch with untouchable. Consequently, by evoking Love’s being untouchable, Hadewijch does not mean to say that God remains necessarily out of human reach but that any human’s touching of the divine always, always anew, falls short. Later in the Letters two reasons for this are indicated. One lies with the person who is intent on touching God but does not plunge daringly into the divine depth. The addressee of Letter 5 is questioned: “why don’t you touch God deep enough in the depth of his nature which is so unfathomable?” (5, 30-3). The other reason lies with God who by nature is forever, again and again, the Other. In Letter 18 this touching of the Untouchable is represented as “the soul’s passage… into [God’s] ground, which cannot be touched unless she touches it with her depth” (18, 75-8). Clearly, it is the awareness of God’s transcendence that is central to Letter 3. However, we still have to consider the first lines (1-7) and the final paragraph of this letter (26-40). These framing passages are remarkable because here, for the first time in the Letters, the christocentric character of Hadewijch’s mystical teaching comes to light. In the first lines (1-7) Hadewijch turns the addressee’s attention to the humanity of Christ as well as to the intrinsic humanity of “we”. Stressing “human being” by repeating it (more strikingly in the original: doe hi minsche leuede / nu leuen wi minschen (4-5)), she seems to sound a warning. Love mystics should not think that they can ease themselves away from what essentially they are – human beings – nor that their desire to experience Love allows them to forget about the concrete works of Christ who Himself lived as a human being. Thus the problem of God’s trancendence is raised by wi minschen and the solution suggested by hi minsche.

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Surprisingly, in the final passage of Letter 3 Hadewijch suddenly strikes a different note (2640). She stops reflecting upon the question of touching the Untouchable and goes on to evoke her own experience of mystical love life. At this point she must have sobered up if not shocked those friends and disciples who were eager to feel Love in their living love. According to the mistress, meeting high Love comes about in meeting one’s neighbour. My living love, she affirms, consists foremost in living brotherly love. Thus she returns to the christocentrism of the introduction (1-7), and nicely encloses in her Christ-centered testimony the reflection on God’s transcendence. Yet it is in this grounded context that the key words of the central passage – “to touch” and “marvel(ous)” – reappear. The question of God’s trancendence is not effaced but worked into the experience of Christ, which in the first place consists in following the man Jesus. In the end, Hadewijch seems to invite the addressee of Letter 3 to come down from the rather speculative sphere where the Otherness was considered and to accompany the mistress on the humble way of the Imitation and the practice of charity, for that is where the marvel of Love who is God will manifest itself. It is love (minne) in which brotherly love (broederlike minne) is prominent that will make known “heavenly marvels, and many marvels”.

Brief 4 Jc bidde v dies dat ghi merket alle de pointe daer ghi in hebt ghedoelt ende betert v in dien met al uwer cracht: want men doelt in herde vele dinghen die men goet acht ende die oec goet sijn. Nochtan doelt reden daer in, als mense niet in hare beste en versteet noch en volghet: daer doelt redene. Alse dan redene verdonckert wort, soe wert die wille cranc Ende onmechtich, ende soe vernoyt hem aerbeits. Want hem redene niet en liechtet. Hier bi verliest die memorie hare hoghe ghedachte Ende hare yoieleke hoghe toeuerlaet Ende hare menich nauwe keren dat hare toeuerlaet leert bi te verhoghene ellendich beiden na hare lief. Hier met wert verladen die edele ziele. Mer alst dus daer met es soe troestse de hope vander goetheit gods. Mer men moet dolen ende doghen eermen dus verledicht werdet. Nu suldi merken op alle die dinghen die ic v segghen sal, ende waerin dat redene doelt, ende beteren v in dien met al uwen vlite. Ende en laet v niet vernoyen soe dat ghi hier ane yet ghebrect. Want die oetmoedeghe ridder en sal niet sorghen omme sine slaghe alse hi bescout de wonden van sinen heileghen graue. Alst gode tijt dunct soe saelt saen ghebetert werden: ghedoghet ghestadechleke. Soe sal god der redenen licht gheuen ende ewecheit ende waerheit; Soe sal de wille redene vercrighen, daer af sal hem nuwe cracht bliuen.

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Letter 4 I ask you that you notice all the points in which you have strayed and that you better yourself in these with all your might, because one strays in a great many things which one esteems good and which are so. Yet reason strays in all that if one does not understand it or follow where it is at its best: there reason strays. If reason darkens, then the will becomes weak and powerless, and then it is averse to exerting itself because reason does not illuminate it. This is why memory loses her high thought and her joyful and high trust and her profuse and closely turning to Him, with which trust teaches her to gladden the miserable waiting for the Beloved. This weighs down the noble soul. However, if this is how she fares, then the hope of God’s goodness consoles her. But one has to stray and endure before one is thus redeemed. Now you have to pay attention to all the things which I will tell you and in which reason strays, and to better yourself very diligently in those. And do not let pall on you that in which you fail, for the humble knight should not worry himself about the blows he receives, when he beholds the wounds of his holy earl. When to God it seems it is time, all will become better quickly: endure steadily. Thus God shall give to reason light and eternity and truth. Thus the will shall acquire reason and by this a new force shall remain with it.

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Brief 4

Dan sal memorie coene wesen alse god met siere moghentheit alrehande anxt ende veruaertheit af sal doen. Corteleke geseghet redene doelt Jn vresen Jn hopen Jn caritate Jn ordene te houdene Jn tranen Jn begherten van deuocien Jn oefeninghe van sueticheiden Jn veruaertheiden van dreigeden gods Jn onderscedecheiden van wesene Jn nemene Jn gheuene Jn menigherande dinc die men goet waent doelt redene. Redene kint wel datmen gode vresen moet ende dat god groet es ende de minsche cleyne. Alse dan redene vreset die groetheit gods bi hare cleynheit Ende laet hare ontbliuen die groetheit gods ane te uane, Ende te twifelne beghint dat si dat liefste kint gods niet en wert, Ende dat hare dunct dat hare soe groet wesen niet en besteet: Hier bi laten vele liede dat si gheen groet wesen ane en vaen. Hier in doelt redene ende in vele saken meer. Jn hope dolen vele liede die hopen dat hen gode alle hare sonden vergheuen heuet; Ende warense hen ghewareleke te vollen vergheuen, si minden gode ende wrachten werken van minnen; Ende si verlaten hem met hope op saken die hen nemmermeer en werden: Want si sijn te traghe ende laten haer scout achter die si sculdech sijn gode en der minnen, die men schuldech es pine toter doot. Jn hopen doelt redene, Jn vele saken dient alsoe steet: dies en behoefdi alsoe vele niet alse der ander pointen.

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Letter 4

Then memory shall be bold, when God through His omnipotence shall do away with all kinds of anxiety and dread. Put concisely, reason strays in fear in expectation in love of neighbour in observing a rule in tears in desiring devotion in making exercises for sweetness’ sake in dread of the terror of God in distinction-making between manners of being in taking in giving in all kinds of things which one takes for good reason strays. Reason well knows that one has to fear God and that God is great and the human being small. If reason then fears the greatness of God because of her smallness and omits to seize upon the greatness of God and begins to suspect that she is not becoming God’s dearest child and thinks that such a great Being does not belong to her therefore many people omit to seize upon this great Being. Herein reason strays and in a great many things more. In their expectation many people stray, who expect that God has forgiven them all their sins. But if they were truly forgiven them, they would love God and they would work the works of love. However, in their expectation they rely on things in which they will never share, because they are too slow and neglect the debt they owe to God and Love, to whom are owed exertions unto death. In expectation reason strays in many things if that is how one fares. On this point you are not as much in need as on the other points.

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Jn caritaten doelt men in onbescedenen dienste van gheuene bi onsten sonder noet van dienen sonder noet; Ende dat een minsche hem seluen quetset sonder noet. Vele doet affectie datmen caritate noemt. Met ordenen te houdene becommert men met vele dinghen diermen quite mocht sijn; ende dat doet reden dolen. Een gheest van goeden wille werct in binnen scoendere dan alle ordenen gheuiseren mochten. Jn tranen doelt men vele: al wiset wel redene datmen weent omme dat enen tsine ghebrect, Ja doch eest vele een wille; daer doelt men vtermaten vele in. Jn begherten van deuocien dolen alle die minschen diere yet in sijn soekende. Want men sal gode soeken ende el niet; ende dat hi daer bouen gheuet dat salmen gherne nemen.

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Jn oefeninghen van soeticheiden doelt men vele; Want daer es herde vele affectien in, eest te gode, eest ten minschen. Dreygede van gode ochte menichfout torment dat te ontsiene doet redene dolen, alsmen die meer ontsiet Ende daer omme dicwile meer doet Ende laet dan omme minne. Vele onderscedicheiden van werken in doene in latene benempt vele vriheiden van minnen.

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Letter 4

In love of neighbour one strays because of undiscerned service in giving out of affection without necessity and in serving without necessity, and in tormenting oneself without necessity. Affection does much of what is called love of neighbour. By observing a rule one concerns oneself about many things of which one could be free, and that makes reason stray. A spirit of good will works from within more beautifully than all rules would be able to devise. In tears one often strays. Though reason makes it seem that one cries because one is lacking what is his, yet this is often being headstrong. Therein one strays exceedingly often. In desiring devotion all those people stray who search something in it, because one has to search for God and nothing else, and what He gives in addition, that one has to accept eagerly.

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In making exercises for sweetness one strays often, for there is a great deal of affection in it, either towards God, or towards human beings. To shy away from God’s terror or all kinds of torment makes reason stray, if one shies away from those more and does and omits often more for them than for Love. Much distinction-making in working, in doing, in omitting, takes away much freedom from love.

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Jn nemen dies men ontberen mach van buten ende van binnen doelt redene. In alrehande hebbinghen ende in ghemac sonder noet ende in nauwen vrede van gode ende van menschen doelt redene.

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Jn gheuene doeltmen vele dat een hem seluen al op gheuen wilt voer sinen tijt, ende te menighen vreemden dinghen hem te gheuene daer hi niet toe en es ghemeynt noch ghemint. In rouwe, in pinen, Jn raste Jn belghen Jn soenen, Jn lief in leet: Te al desen goeden tijt te gheuene daer in doelt redene. Die menigherande ghehoersamheit doet reden ouer sere dolen: daer in sijn alle dese andere poenten besloten. Ghehoersam te sine der vresen alse wille, Ende alle den anderen poenten onghetempert alse wille. Ghehorsam te sine Jn vare In hope In affectien ende in al dien datmen ghehorsam es datter volcomenre Minnen niet en behoert: Daer doelt redene. Dat ic segghe dat redene doelt in al desen poenten die de liede pleghen te verlichtene, Dat es omme dat dit die hoghe poenten sijn ende redene elken van desen poenten bi natueren wiset na sine werdicheit.

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Letter 4

In taking what one can lack within and without reason strays. In having all kinds of things and in taking it easy without necessity and in meticulously keeping peace with God and with human beings reason strays.

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In giving one strays often, when one wants to give oneself wholly up before it is the time, and gives oneself over to all kinds of strange things to which one is neither called nor loved. In sadness, in taking pains, in looking for rest, in quarrelling, in reconciling, in joy and sorrow, in giving one’s precious time to all these things, therein strays reason. To be docile in many respects makes reason stray very much: therein all these other points are contained. Giving in willingly to fear and in all the other points being docile in an uncontrolled way, being docile in fright, in expectation, in affection and in everything in which one is docile and which does not belong to perfect love, therein reason strays. When I say that reason strays in all these points that usually [serve to] enlighten people, it is because these are the prominent points and reason, by nature, values each of these points at its proper value.

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Letter 4: Commentary At first sight, Letter 4 confirms the cliché about Hadewijch, that she is an “affective” mystic who puts aside – not to say abandons – reason. But two points should be made: firstly, as will become more evident later, “reason (redene)” plays an essential part even in the most advanced mystical union. The “noble reason of the rational human being (edel redene vanden redeleken ­mensche)” never disappears from the mystic’s life (30, 77). Reason is God’s enduring gift: “God has given the human being beautiful reason (scone redene), which guides the human being along every path and enlightens them in all their works” (14, 59-61). Secondly, although in Letter 4 Hadewijch is not engaged in the strictly mystical but in its adjuncts, even here the importance of reason is not diminished. Hadewijch points out that quite a few “things” are a stumbling block for religious people if reason grows dark (8), which is far from implying a disregard for reason. Just as those “things” are in themselves “good” (5), so is reason, for “by nature [she] values each of these points at its proper value” (109-10). Three of the many areas where reason errs deserve attention. In Dutch they are referred to with audibly cognate words that derive from the verb sceden “to separate”: onbesceden “undiscerned” (60) and onderscedecheit “distinction-making” (36 and 84). “Undiscerned” can be a love of neighbour in which “one strays through undiscerned service in giving out of affection without necessity” (60-1). This is a human phenomenon that ever since antiquity has occupied different thinkers: in the inner as well as in the outer world all kinds of things are good naturally, but not absolutely. In the Christian tradition this insight appears mainly under the title of discreta caritas, the careful, well–considered love of neighbour which is able to discern (discernere). Even when carrying out the second great commandment of God – one equal to the first – it is imperative to discern and to assess. In Letter 4 “undiscerned service” (60), contrasts with discreta caritas and threatens love of neighbour when reason does not do its work properly: instead, “affection does much of what is called love of neighbour” (63-4). The term “undiscerned” is used to indicate what happens when there is a lack of reason, because she does not “discern” enough. On the other hand, the expression “distinction-making” higlights the opposite error: reason may go too far and intervene too much in a person’s sense of life. This entails two consequences (36 and 84): (i) “distinction-making between manners of being (in onderscedecheiden van wesene)”, and (ii) “much distinction-making in working (vele onderscedicheiden van werken)”. Later in the Letters Hadewijch will show how the advanced mystic goes beyond rational distinctions (according to Letter 17 she experiences the multiplicity of her works as one single beingat-work, and in Letter 28 it appears that she sees the multiplicity of things as “wholeness”). In the present Letter, Hadewijch describes the state of mind of a person who is not (yet) a mystic and is under the sway of reason: the distinction-making reason makes such a person experience the sequence and diversity of different “manners of being (wesene)” as a succession of separate elements. There is then a danger that the inner and perhaps also the outer life will disintegrate. The reference to “distinction-making in working” indicates that in the case of a reason-ridden person,

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reason emphasises the difference between works so much that attention has to jump from one to the other, and the person in action divides interiorly. Clearly Letter 4 is not the place where Hadewijch sheds light on the role of reason in mystical union. Yet in one passage (39-48) she touches upon the relation between reason and love with regard to consciousness of God. Reason presents God’s transcendence to the human being, for it “well knows… that God is great and the human being small”. From her first Letter Hadewijch has been emphasizing God’s ineffaceable otherness: in Letter 3 she points out that “He [is] at all times untouchable” (3, 14). Is she now contradicting herself as she blames reason for stressing the greatness of God? In fact, she is not saying that reason errs by pointing to divine transcendence but because reason understands it in such a way that human awareness of God is permanently curtailed. Reason represents the “small” human being as a tiny vessel that simply cannot contain what exceeds its own size, and – “because of its smallness” (41) – limits her own notion of God. By proceeding in this way reason undermines trust in the promise of the Scriptures – God and the human being are to become one – and turns into illusion that for which and out of which ­Hadewijch is living: to feel how she is “becoming God’s dearest child” (44). Beginning with Letter 11 Hadewijch will throw light again and again on the role of natural reason in mystical union. In that capacity it will be called “enlightened reason”. But one may note here that in Letter 12 (31-9) Hadewijch goes even further than the “thinkers” of Letter 4 in ­representing God as the Unknowable.

Brief 5 God si met v, herteleke lieue, ende gheue v troest ende vrede met hem seluen. Dat saghic nv bouen alle dinc gherne dat v god met vrede onderstonde Ende troeste met sijns selfs goetheit Ende verlichte metter fierheit sijns gheests, alse hi wel sal ende gherne, wildijs hem ghetrouwen ende ghenoech in hem verlaten. Ay, lieue kint, sincke met al dijnre zielen in hem gheheel Ende buten al dien dinghen dat minne niet en es, Wat soe v ouer geet want onser stote sijn vele ende moghen wi ghestaen, soe selen wi vol wassen. Grote volmaectheit eest alle dinc te verdraghene van allen lidene. Mer, wet god, alremeeste vol maectheit eest te verdraghene vanden valschen broederen die schinen huus ghenoten des gheloefs. Ay dat en si v gheen wonder, al eest mi wee, dattie ghene die wi vercoren hebben met ons in Jubileerne in onse lief, Dat si ons hier beghinnen te stoerne ende te brekene onse gheselscap omme ghesceden te sine ende nameleec mi diese met nieman en willen laten. O wi, hoe ongheseggheleke suete doet mi Minne haer wesen Ende ghichten die mi van hare comen. Ay hare en maghic niet ontsegghen; ende ghi moghet haers ontbeiden ende gheduren vore hare die men seghet dat alle dinc verwint?

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Letter 5 God be with you, my dearly beloved, And give you consolation and peace through Himself. This is what I would wish most of all: that God would assist you with His peace and console you with the goodness which He is Himself and enlighten you through the frankness of His spirit, as He will do and gladly, if you will expect it from Him and rely enough on Him. Ah, dear child, sink with your entire soul entirely in Him and outside all those things which are not Love, whatever happens to you. For the thrusts we take are many, but if we can stand firm, then we will fully grow up. It is great perfection to endure all things from all people. But – God knows! – the greatest perfection is to endure the suffering inflicted on us by the false brethren who pretend to be members of the family of faith. Ah, it should not surprise you, though it pains me, that those whom we have chosen to jubilate with us in our Beloved, that they are out seeking to undermine us here and break our companionship, so that we be separated from one another, specifically me whom they do not want to be with anyone. Woe! How unspeakably sweet Love affects me with Her being and gifts which come to me from Her. Ah, Her I can refuse nothing, but you – can you wait for Her and hold out against Her who is said to conquer all?

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Ay lieue, waer omme en heuet di de Minne niet na ghenoech bedwonghen ende verswolghen in hare diepheit? O wi, soe suete soe Minne es, waer omme en valdiere niet diep inne, Ende waer omme en gheraecti gode niet diepe ghenoech in die diepheit der naturen die soe ongrondeleec es? Suete minne, gheuet v omme Minne in Minnen gode te vollen, dies es noet. Want ons eest beide quaet, Ja v quaet ende mi te swaer. Ay, lieue Minne, ten doechden en ghebrect niet doer ghene pine. Te sere veronledichdi v met vele dinghen Daer v soe vele niet ane en leghet. Ghi quist te vele tijts met uwer haesticheit dat ghi soe sere inden dinghen valt die v ontmoeten. Daer toe en constic v niet bringhen dat ghi mate daer ane hielt. Dies v yet lust te doene dat es v emmer soe haestich dat ghi gheberet ocht ghi el niet achten en const. Dat ghi al deghene die v vriende sijn troestet ende hulpet dat ware mi lief, Ja soe ghi best moghet, so dat ghijs ende si in vreden bleuet: dat ghedoechde ic gherne. Jc bidde v ende mane bi gherechter trouwen van Minnen dat ghi alle dinc doet ende laet die ic v beuolen hebbe, Ende dat ghi om onse onghetroeste bedroefnesse alle bedroefde troestet na uwe macht. Bouen al beuelic v dat ghi ons eweleec beuoelne ghebode der Minnen gheheel houdet ende onghequetset van allen vreemden sorghen ende van allen rouwe.

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Ah, dear, why has Love not closely enough subdued you and engulfed you in Her depths? Woe! As sweet as Love is, why don’t you fall deep into Her, and why don’t you touch God deep enough in the depth of that Nature which is so unfathomable? Sweet love, give yourself for Love’s sake through love fully to God, that is necessary. For this hesitating is bad for both of us, it harms you and to me it is too heavy. Ah, dear love, do not fail in virtues because of any exertion whatsoever. You busy yourself too much with many things which for you are not that important. You waste too much time with your hurry, thus too much taking to things that come your way. I could not bring you to be moderate in this. When you feel like doing something, there is for you always such a sense of urgency that it seems you cannot pay attention to anything else. That you console and help all those who are your friends, I would like. Especially if you do it as best you can, so that you and they remain in peace, I would gladly allow you. I pray you and urge you by the just fidelity of Love that you do and leave undone everything as I have ordered and that for the sake of our unconsoled sadness you console all who are sad as you are able. Above all I order you to observe the commandments of Love, ordered us from eternity, entirely, inviolate from all alien worries and grief.

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Letter 5: Commentary In the preceding Letters the musical quality of Hadewijch’s prose has been noticed more than once. So in Letter 1, there was the extended play with the sound of “clarity” (1-55), and in Letter 3 sentences like “… the deep wisdom which seeks to touch Him. Ah, He who is at all times untouchable but so deep to touch” (13-5) had a song-like quality. Clearly, Hadewijch likes to repeat key words as well as sentence structures, so that her text impinges on both the mind and the mood of the reader. In Letter 1 (18-24) repetition is used to gradually influence a sensitive heart and in Letter 4 (32-8) to inculcate a particular insight. However, Letter 5 surpasses all the other texts in the expressive use of sound. Here one can truly hear how the writer of Poems in Stanzas that are in fact Songs, is also singing in prose. The distinctive feature of Letter 5 is the acoustic change that runs from line 22 to line 36. The sentence rhythm here becomes different, and unusual combinations of sounds are heard. This passage, which has an altogether different ring from what precedes and what follows, clearly constitutes the core of the letter – an exulting praise of Love, and exhortation to “fall deep into Her”. In Groet gheruchte the poetic character of this key passage is displayed: lines 22-36 divide into five parts, “of the same length as if they are the strophes of a sequence”, and the “musicality of the different strophes is heard in the harmony of the sounds that each time is formed differently” (Daróczi 216; for the detailed analysis of the Middle Dutch sound association, see 216-8). The two framing sections (8-22 and 37-56) portray “our companionship”, in which are experienced tangible difficulties and the limitations of each individual’s disposition – such as the hyperactivity of the person addressed here. They adopt a matter-of-fact tone that contrasts with the central part of the letter. This contrast in literary form, distinguishing the different parts of Letter 5, provides a structure which accommodates well one of Hadewijch’s favourite themes. However deeply a human being may be absorbed by Love, however perfectly he or she may become one with the wholly Other, concrete reality must never be absent from consciousness of God. The sentiment evoked in the strophes – to taste “how unspeakably sweet” Love is, to be “subdued” by Her and “engulfed in Her depths” – must never be detached from the details and difficulties of living with others in the world. The love life of the mystic, even in its lofty and uncommon moments, must always be embedded in everyday human life.

Brief 6 Nv willic v waernen eens dincs daer vele scaden ane leghet. Dat seggic v dat dit nu es ene die siecste siecheit die onder al tfolc es van alden siecheiden die daer onder sijn, dier nochtan vele sijn ouer al Want elc minsche wilt nu trouwe weder eyschen ende sinen vrient proeuen, Ende emmermeer ouer trouwe claghen. Dit sijn nu die ambachte daer si in leuen, Die hoghe Minne draghen souden in onsen groten god. Wat heuet dies yeman te doene die wel wilt Ende die sijn leuen hoghen wilt in den groten hoghen god, wie hem trouwe ocht ontrouwe doet, Dies te danckene ochte ontdanckene, doet hi hem arch ocht goet. Ghebrect hem dat hi hem ghene trouwe noch recht en doet, hi heues selue meest scade. Ende dat eest tswaerste daer ane dat hi selue daruet diere suetheit der trouwen. Doet men v oec trouwe ocht doghet ende vele dies ghi behoeft wie soet es, Daer ouer en seldi niet letten te danckene noch te dienenne, Mer men salre gode omme te herteliker om dienen ende Minnen

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Letter 6 Now I want to warn you against something that involves much harm. I tell you that this is the worst sickness, that can affect anyone, of all the sicknesses which surround them, and of which there are many everywhere. For everyone now wants a return on fidelity and puts friends to the test, and complains always about lack of fidelity. These are now the occupations for which they live who should bear high love to our great God. What has anyone – who wants what is good and wishes to raise life higher up into the great high God – to busy oneself with asking who shows fidelity or infidelity, consequently giving thanks or not giving thanks according to whether the other does one evil or good? If anyone fails because she herself neither proves fidelity nor does justice to the other she will do herself the greatest harm. And what in this weighs most heavily, is that such a one lacks herself the sweetness of fidelity. If someone shows you fidelity or goodness, and if they give you mostly what you need, whoever it is, you shall not neglect to give thanks for it and render service. Yet, one shall all the more heartily serve and love God

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dat yeman trouwe pleghet, Ende laten gode ghewerden metten danckene ende metten ondanckene. Want hi es in hem seluen gherecht Ende es ghestaet recht te nemenne ende te gheuenne: Want hi es in de hoecheit sijns ghebrukens Ende wi sijn in die diepheit ons ghebreekens. Nameleke ghi ende ic, die noch niet worden en sijn dat wi sijn ende noch niet vercreghen en hebben dat wi hebben, Ende dien noch soe verre sijn dat onse es, wi behoeuen sonder sparen al omme al te daruene ende enichlike Ende ghenendichleke te leerne dat volmaecte leuen der Minnen die ons beiden beruert heuet te haren werke.

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Ay, lieue kint, te voren bouen al biddic v dat ghi v huet van onghestedicheiden. Want ghene dinc en mochte v noch en mach v alsoe saen van onsen here sceden alse onghestadicheit. Soe eenwillich en sijt oec niet in v seluen bi enegher onbehaechnissen, Dat ghi v immermeer yet laet twiuelen dat yet men uwe si dan de grote god gheheel in wesene van Minnen, Soe dat ghi bi twiuele ocht bi eenwille enighe doghet laet te doene; want wildi v ter Minnen verlaten, soe suldi saen volwassen; ende houdi v in twifele, soe werdi traghe ende onwillich, Ende soe wert v onbequame al dat ghi doen sout. Ghene dinc en sorghet noch en gheloeft van dien dat v behoert te dien dat ghi meynt,

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because someone shows fidelity, and let God have His way with thanks and with no thanks. For He in Himself is just and He is able to take away or give what is right: He is in the height of His enjoyment, but we are in the depths of our being in want, in particular you and me, who have not yet become what we are, and who have not yet received what we own, and who are still so far off from what is ours. We must, without sparing ourselves, leave all for all to learn exclusively and undauntedly the perfect life of Love who has urged us on to her works.

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Ah, dear child, above all I pray you to beware of inconstancy, for nothing could nor can separate you as quickly from our Lord as inconstancy. And, as for yourself, do not be so self-willed in case of any discomfort that you would ever doubt in anyway that anything less would be yours than the great God entirely in Love’s manner of being, so that, owing to doubt or self-will, you would neglect to do something good. For if you wish to rely on Love, you shall grow up soon, but if you remain in doubt, you will become slow and unwilling, and so everything you have to do will pall on you. Neither fear nor believe that anything which you need – to gain that on which you have set your sight –

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dat v yet ontstarcken mach ghine verwinnet wel, ochte ontlinghen ghine verhalet wel: Alsoe vlitich ende alsoe doergaende seldi sijn altoes met nuwer cracht. Oec sijt elken mensche noetdorftich van Minnen die gherne vercouerde Ende daer omme ellende ende menich vernoy doeghet: dien sijt alsoe gheonstich daer ghijt gheleisten moghet in alre hulpen alsoe dat ghi v seluen ute stortet vore hem: we herte in ontfermegher onsten, Uwe redene in troeste; uwe lede in dienste Ende in aerbeide; ende ten sundaren hebt ontfermen met groten beden te gode; Mer daer vore te lesene ocht ernsteleke van gode te willenne dat hise daer vte doe, Dies en onderwint v niet, want ghi mochter uwen tijt mede quisten, Ende anders en voerderet niet vele. Den minnenden moechdi met minnen ghelden, ende hulpen ghesterken dat hare god ghemint werde: Ende dat es voederlijc ende el niet. Ende alsoe den nederen die sonderen sijn ende vreemde van gode Daer en voerdert ghene pine ane noch ghene bede te gode, dan Minne die men gode gheuet. Ende soe die minne staerker es, soe si meer sonderen verledicht vte haren sonden ende de minnende sekerre maket.

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that any of that is beyond your strength, so that you will not overcome it well and good, or so goes beyond it that you will not reach it well and good, so diligent and resolute you shall be, always with new strength. Moreover, to every human being, who has a need for love and would like to recover, and who therefore has to endure misery and all sorts of sadness, be so benevolent unto them, when you help them as much as you can, that you pour out yourself for them: your heart in merciful affection, your intelligence in consolation, your limbs in service and labour. Have compassion on the sinners in urging prayers to God. But murmuring prayers for this, or desiring insistently from God that He takes them out of there, do not become involved therein, for you would waste your time on it and it does not help much anyway. Those who love you may treat them with love and help them to become stronger, so that their God may be loved. That and nothing else is beneficial. And this concerns also light-minded people who are sinners and estranged from God. There no exertion and no prayer unto God is of any help except love which one gives to God. And the stronger this love, the more sinners are delivered from their sins and the more steadfast it makes the one who loves.

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Gherecht leuen na der Minnen wille, dat es also enich te sine inden wille van gherechter Minnen Hare ghenoech te sine dat menre el niet vore en kiese noch en wensche al hadmen den wensch dan datmen hare ghetamen bouen al begheren soude wie soe daer bi verdoemt worde Ochte ghebenedijt; Ende el niewerint omme en soudemen der rasten Ende der liefheit willen deruen, dan omme dat een weten moet dat hi der Minnen niet ghenoech ghewassen en es. Ende dat salmen altoes weten dat ten leuene der menscheit behoert sconen dienst ende ellendich wesen, alsoe ihesus christus dede doen hi minsche leuede. Men en vindet niet ghescreuen dat christus ye in al sinen leuene yet veruinc ane sinen vader Noch ane sine moghende nature in ghebruken van rasten, Noch hine coste hem seluen nye, dan vanden beghinne van sinen leuene tot den inde altoes met nuwen arbeyde. Dit seide hi selue te selken minsche die noch leuet ende dien hi beual alsoe na hem te leuene, ende dien hi selue sede dat dat ware gherechticheit van Minnen: daer Minne es, daer sijn altoes grote werke ende sware pine. Nochtan es haer alle pine suete. Qui amat non laborat. Dat es: die mint hine arbeidet niet. Doen christus mensche leuede, aen alle sine werke was tijt; Ende alse de vre quam, so wrachte hi: Jn woerden Jn werken Jn predickenne Jn leerne Jn berespene Jn troestene

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To live justly in accord with the will of Love consists in being so exclusively in the will of just Love in order to be enough for Her, that we neither prefer nor wish anything else, even if we had a wish of our own, than to desire Her pleasure above all, whoever therefore might be doomed or blessed. And for nothing else should we be ready to miss rest and all that is lovely except that we know well that we have not grown up enough in regard to Love. And what we always have to know is this: to human life belongs serving beautifully and feeling miserable, like Jesus Christ when He lived as a human being. One does not find it written that Christ ever in his entire life relied at all on His Father or on His mighty nature to enjoy rest. Neither did He grant Himself anything except, from the beginning of his life until the end, always new exertion. This He Himself said to someone who is still alive and whom he commanded to live in the same way as He did, and to whom He Himself said that this is true justice of love: where love is, there are always great works and heavy burdens. Yet every burden is sweet to such persons. Qui amat non laborat. That is: Who loves, labours not. When Christ lived as a human being, there was a time for all His works, and when the hour came, then He worked in words, in works in preaching, in teaching in reprimanding, in consoling

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Jn miraculen Jn penitentien Jn aerbeide Jn scanden In versmaetheiden Jn anxte in noeden Ter passien ende ter doot: Jn allen verbeide hi verduldechlike sijns tijts. Ende alse de vre quam dat hem behoerde te werkene soe volbrachte hi sijn werc ghenendechleke ende moghendeleke, Ende quijte metter hogher trouwen dienste de scout menscheliker naturen ieghen de vaderlike gotlike waerheit. Daer ondermoeten hen die ontfermherticheit ende die waerheit, Ende die gherechticheit ende die vrede ondercusten hen. Metter menscheit gods suldi hier leuen in aerbeide ende in ellenden, Ende metten moghenden eweleken god suldi Minnen ende Jubileren van binnen met enen sueten toeuerlate. Ende haere beider waerheit es een enich ghebruken. Ende alsoe alse die menscheit hier plach dies willen der maiesteit, Also seldi hier met Minnen haerre beider willen in een pleghen. Oetmoedelike dient onder hare enighe moghentheit, Ende staet altoes vore hen alse de ghene die te al haren wille steet. Ende laetse met v werken watsi willen. Dus en onderwindet v el niet. Mer dient der menscheit met ghereeden handen van trouwen ende met starcken wille van allen doechden. Die godheit die en suldi niet allene minnen met deuocien, Mer met ontelleker begherten, altoes staende met nuwen vlite vore dat eyselike anschijn van wondere, Daer de Minne haer seluen al in openbaert ende alle werken daer in verswelghet;

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in miracles, in penances in exertion, in disgrace in being despised, in fear in suffering severely, in death’s agony. In everything He patiently abided His time. But when the hour came that He had to work, then He accomplished His work undaunted and mighty, and He payed off through high, loyal service the debt that human nature owed to the divine truth of the Father. There mercy and truth met together, and justice and peace kissed one another. [Ps 85: 10] With God’s Humanity you shall live here in exertion and misery, but with the mighty, eternal God you shall love and jubilate within in sweet surrender. And the truth of both is one single enjoyment. And just as the Humanity devoted itself here to the will of the Majesty, so you shall devote yourself here with love to the will of both together. Serve humbly under their one rule, and always stand before them as the one who is ready for their entire will. Let them do with you what they will. Do not become involved with anything else, but serve the Humanity with ready hands which are loyal and with a will strong in all virtues. You shall love the Godhead not only with devotion but with unspeakable desires, always with new zeal standing before the awesome Face of wonder, in which Love reveals herself fully and swallows up all works.

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Ende vte dien heileghen anschine leset al v vonnisse ende al v pleghen van uwen leuene; ende laet bliuen alle die swaerheit dier ghi pleghet, Ende al die nederheide die in v sijn die begheuet; ende hebbet lieuer van hem altoes ellendechleke te doelne, dan met alre rasten beneden hem te gherakene. Hier ane es al v volcomenheit belanc: Vreemde ghenuechte te scuwene die yet men es dan god seluer; Ende vreemde pine te scuwene die niet puerleec en es omme heme. Ay, te allen dinghen hebbet grote ontfermherticheit: Dies es mi grote noet. Ende keert v met gherechten wille ter ouerster waerheit. Gherecht wille dat es datmen el en ghene sake noch ghenoechte en wille inden hemel Noch inder eerden noch in ziele Noch in lichame dan die sake allene daer ons god in ghemint heuet ende ghemeint. Ende dat si v bouen al sonder vraghen van yemanne, wat soet si; Mer altoes te stane na sijn behaghen sonder sparen Ende sonder ontsien van yemanne diet merken soude Ochte in spotte Ocht in begripe, ocht in torne ocht in ernste. Noch om goet schinen, Noch om quaet schinen en laet die waerheit van goeden werken niet. Want dien lachter machmen gherne doghen

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And read from that holy Face all your judgments and your whole way of living, and leave behind all dejection with which you are occupied, and all littleness which is in you, let it go, and prefer always to wander miserably far away from Him than to end up with all those forms of rest falling short of Him. On this depends your entire perfection: to shun alien pleasures that are something less than God, and to shun alien burdens that are not purely for His sake. Ah, have much pity on everything, I need that greatly. And turn with a just will to the highest truth. A just will is that one would not want any other thing or satisfaction, not in heaven nor on earth not in the soul nor in the body except only that to which God has loved and destined us. And for you this be above all, with no need for you to ask anyone anything whatsoever: always strive to please Him, without omitting anything and without avoiding anyone who might notice it either with mockery or with criticism or with wrath or with severity. Neither because of the good impression you make, nor the bad, omit the truth of good works. For one shall gladly endure that insult

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die van goeden werken comt daer men den wille gods in weet; Ende dien prijs machmen gherne doghen die van doechden wast Ende daer onse werdeghe God bi gheert wert. Want dat vernoy ons suets gods, dat hi leet doe hi mensche leuede, dat es wel wert datmen dore hem al vernoy ende alrehande lachter gherne verdraghe, Ja ende alrehande vernoy beghere. Ende sine eweleke nature siere sueter Minnen es wel werdich dat elc mensche die doechde werke met volcomenen wille daer god sijn lief gheeert in es. Hier omme en spaert scande noch ere. Want het es der ghieregher Minnen al ghenoechleec datmen ghedoghen ocht ghewerken mach. Want si es dat bernende vier dat al verslindet Ende dat nummermeer vre cesseren en sal binnen al dien eweleken toecomenden tiden. Ende want ghi noch ionc sijt ende ongheproeft van allen dinghen, soe moeti sere pinen na wassen alse van niete, alse een die niet en heuet Ende dien niet werden en mach, hine pijnt vten gronde. Ende altoes suldi diepe vallen inden afgront der omoedicheit van allen dien dat ghi gheleisten moghet. Dat wilt God van v, dat ghi alle vren wandelt in oetmoedecheden van uwen seden met allen menschen daer ghi mede wandelt.

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which comes from good works wherein one discerns the will of God, and one shall gladly endure that praise which comes from virtues and through which our worthy God is honoured. For the suffering of our sweet God which He suffered when He lived as a human being, is well worth that for His sake all suffering and all manner of insult be endured, yes, all manner of sorrow be desired. And the everlasting nature of his sweet Love is well worth that every human being with a perfect will works those virtues wherein God, his Beloved, is honoured. Therefore avoid neither disgrace nor honour. For to greedy Love all is a pleasure that one can suffer or accomplish. For She is the burning fire which devours all, and which shall never cease for an instant during all the ages to come. And as you are still young and untested in anything, therefore you must exert yourself to grow up as if out of a nothingness, as someone who has nothing and to whom nothing can come unless one exerts oneself from the base upwards. And you should always fall deep in the abyss of humility with all that you can accomplish. This is what God wants from you: that you walk constantly in humility in your manner of behaving with regard to all those with whom you deal.

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Ende verheft v bouen alle nedere dinghen die yet men sijn dan god selue, Wildi werden dat v god wilt: dat es uwe vrede inde gheheelheit uwer naturen. Woudi volghen uwen wesene daer v God in ghemaect heuet, soe en soudi van edelheiden ghene pine ontsien; Ende soe en soudi van coenre fierheit v niet laten ontbliuen, Ghine soudet ane verden dat alre beste moghendleke, Ja die grote gheheelheit gods, alse uwe eyghen goet. Ende soe moesti oec mildeleke na uwe rijcheit gheuen ende alle arme rike maken: Want gherechter caritaten en ghebrac nie, sine quam emmer ouer die met fierheiden van gheheelen wille begonsten, Ende sine gaf dat si gheuen woude, Ende sine verwan dat si verwinnen woude, Ende sine onthielt dat si onthouden woude. Ay, nu biddic v, lieue kint, dat ghi altoes werct sonder murmereren Ende nuchterne met uwen wille metter gheselscap alre volcomenre doechde in alre doechde cleyne ende groet. Ende en wilt van gode noch en eyscht gheen dinc Noch van uwer behoeften Noch van uwer vrienden Noch ghenoechte van heme in ghenre manieren van rasten Noch van troeste, Dan alse hi selue wilt: come ende ga na sinen heileghen wille, Ende doe met v

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And rise above all the lowly things that are something less than God Himself, if you want to become what God wants for you: your peace in the wholeness of your nature. Were you to want to follow your being in which God has made you, you would out of noble-mindedness avoid no exertion and you would out of brave frankness let nothing escape you, but you would vigorously seize upon the very best, yes, the great totality of God, as your own good. And then you would also, according to your wealth, give generously and make all the poor rich. For just love of neighbour never failed to come over them who had started with the frankness of a whole will, and it gave what it wanted to give and it conquered what it wanted to conquer and it supported what it wanted to support. Ah, now I pray you, dear child, that you, always without grumbling and sober, guided by all the perfect virtues, accomplish with your will all virtues, the small and the great. And neither want nor demand anything from God, not what concerns your needs nor those of your friends, and do not demand the satisfaction which comes from Him in any form of rest or consolation, but as He Himself wants. May He come and go according to His holy will, and may He do, with you

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ende met dien daer ghijt af begheert in siere minnen te leerne al sinen wille na tghetamen siere werdicheit. Sinen wille moeti te uwer beider behoef begheren; seldi voer hen bidden, Ghine selt niet bidden omme yet dat si kiesen na hare gheraetsele. Want het dolen nu de menechste in schine van heilegher begherten, ende nemen wel haren para clijc van enen wel nederen troeste, mochte hi hen werden: dats te ontfermene. Daer omme seldi den wille gods in allen rechte kiesen Ende minnen van v seluen ende van uwen vrienden Ende van gode daer ghi alre ghernst yet af naemt dat v ghenoechde Daer ghi uwen tijt met leuet in troeste van rasten. Daer in mint nu elc hem seluen: in troeste ende in rasten ende in rijcheiden ende in moghentheiden met gode te leuene ende in siere ghebrukeleker glorileecheit te sine. Wi willen alle wel god met gode wesen; Mer, wet god, luttel es onser die mensche met siere minscheit wille leuen Ende sijn cruce met hem willen draghen Ende met hem ane den cruce willen staen Ende die scout der menscheit volghelden. Dit moghen wi wel aen ons seluen te recht kinnen, dat wi soe onuerdrachleec ende soe ondoechleec sijn in allen sinnen. Ende een cleyne vernoy dat ons staphans te beene gheet, Ochte versmaetheit ochte loghene die men ons ouerseghet Ochte waermen ons onser eren rouet ocht onser rasten Ochte ons willen:

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and with those for whom you desire that they learn it in His love, His entire will as His dignity requires. In the interest of both you and them, you must desire His will. If you pray for them, you should not pray for anything they prefer according to their own insight. For most people go astray now as they pretend at having holy desires, yet take their comfort in quite a low consolation, should it come to them. That is a pity. Therefore you shall, quite justly, prefer and love the will of God, for yourself and for your friends and for God, from whom you would like all too much to receive what might satisfy you, with which you would live your life in the consolation of rest. Everyone nowadays loves himself in suchlike: in consolation and in rest and in being rich and in power to live with God and to be in the enjoyment of His glory. We all want indeed to be God with God, but – God knows! – few of us want to live as a human being with His Humanity and want to carry His cross with Him and want to hang on the cross with Him and to repay fully the debt of humankind. In ourselves we can notice at once how intolerant and impatient we are in all respects. And a small pain that unexpectedly goes to the heart, or humiliating things or lies which people tell about us, or when they rob us of our honour or of our rest or of our will,

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Brief 6

dat gherijnt ons allen soe saen wel na, Ende weten soe wel wat wi willen ende wat wi niet en willen, Ende hebben te so uele ende te soe menighen dinghen wille ende onwille, Nu eens Nu anders, Nu lief Nu leet, Nu hier Nu daer, Nu af nu ane, Ende sijn te elken soe ghereet ons selues te pleghene daer ons yet rasten ane gheleghet. Hier omme bliuen wi onverlicht in onsen sinne ende in al onse wesene onghestadich Ende in onser redenen ende in onsen verstane onghewarich. Dus dolen wi arme ende onsalich Ende ellendich ende bistierich in vreemden lande Ende in swaren weghen, Dies wi alle cleyne noet hadden en dadent die valsche die ons ane vechten in allen sinnen, Daer wi daer bi tonen openbaer dat wi met christo niet en leuen alse hi leefde Noch niet al en begheuen alsoe christus dede, Noch van allen begheuen en sijn also christus was. Dat moghen wi kinnen in menighen sinne: Want wi poghen om onse ghemac waers ons yet werden mach, ende staen na ere waer wi moghen,

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that touches us all so quickly and very hard. And we know so well what we want and what we do not want, and we have for so many and such diverse things a liking and a dislike, now the one now the other, now love now sorrow, now here now there, now off now on, and we are in every instance so inclined to provide for ourselves where for us there is some rest to be found. Therefore we remain unenlightened in our thought, and unsteady in our entire manner of being and in our reasoning and in our understanding untruthful. So we wander, poor and unhappy and miserable and destitute in a strange land and along difficult ways. That would hardly be necessary if the falsities which impugn us in all respects did not cause this. Thereby we openly show that we neither live with Christ as He lived nor leave everything as Christ did nor are abandoned by all as Christ was. That we can see in many respects, for we try to have our ease where it can in any way fall to us, and we stand for our honour where we can,

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Brief 6

Ende vorderen gherne onsen wille, Ende wi kinnen ende Minnen ons seluen in onse ghenoeghen Ende nemen gherne onse gheuoech van buten ende van binnen: wat ons dies ghesciet dat es algader onse delijt, Ende willen dan weten dat wi sijn yet, Ende met dien seluen worden wi al niet. Ende aldus verderuen wi ons seluen in allen sinnen, Ende en leuen niet met christo, Ende en draghen dat cruce niet metten sone gods; Mer wi draghent met symonne die daertoe ghemiet was dat hi dat cruce ons heren droech. Alsoe eest met onser pinen ende met onsen doghene. Want wi eyschen gode van onsen goeden werken ende willen in desen leuene ieghen wordich gheuoelen, ende dat ons dunct dat wijs wel verdient hebben, Ende dat recht si dat hi om ons yet wederdoe dat wi van hem willen. Ende wi houdent vore groet dat wi dore hem doen ochte doghen, ende en gheroen nummermeer wi en hebben daer af miede, Ende wi en weten ende gheuoelen datter gode lieue toe si, Ende nemens daer altehant ieghenwordeghen loen in ghenoechten ende in rasten van hem. Oec nemen wiere een ander miede af in ons selues ghenoeghen, Alse wiere ons seluen in behaghen. Ende ten derden male als ons ghenoeghet dat wi den anderen behaghen Ende wiere af nemen prijs ende lof ende ere. Dit es al met symonne dat cruce ghedraghen, die dat cruce droech enen corten tijt; mer hine sterffer niet ane. Aldus eest met dusghedanen lieden die dus leuen: al waert haer leuen voren der lieden oghen verheuen Ende hare werke verclaert Ende gheopenbaert, soe datsi bi tiden schinen in ghewareghen ende in heileghen leuene

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and we like to execute our will, and we know and love ourselves in our satisfaction, and we like to take our satisfaction within and without, and what thereof comes our way, it is all our delight, and we want to know then that we are something and precisely thereby we become entirely nothing. Yet so we spoil ourselves in all respects, and we do not live with Christ and we do not carry the cross with the Son of God, but we carry it with Simon who was hired to carry the cross of our Lord. So it is also with our efforts and with our suffering, for we demand God in return for our good works and we want to feel Him present in this life. And it seems to us that we have merited it well and that it would be fair that He would do in return something which we want from Him. And we consider as great what we do or suffer for His sake and we never have rest unless we are rewarded for it, and we know about it and feel that it is pleasing to God, and we take immediately an instantaneous reward for it in the satisfaction and the rest which come from Him. We also take a second reward for it in our self-satisfaction when therein we take pleasure in ourselves. And thirdly, when it satisfies us that we please others, and take appreciation and praise and honour from it. All this is to carry the cross with Simon, who carried the cross a short time, but he did not die on it. Thus it is with those who live that way: even if their life were lofty in human eyes, and their works radiant and known, so that at times they seemed to lead a true and holy life

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Brief 6

Ende wel ende scone gheordineert ende beset met sedeleken doechden, Daer es gode nochtan luttel behagheleec ane: Want sine volstaen noch sine volgaen. Mer int selue dat si schinen soe faelgieren si saen; Ende een cleyne dinc dat si ontmoeten toent al haren gront. Si werden saen verheuen int suete, ende wederslaghen int suere: Want si inder waerheit niet ghefundeert en sijn, soe es hare gront onghewarich ende onuast. Wat menre opsticht, si bliuen onghestadich ende onghewarich in haren werken ende in haren wesene. Noch sine volstaen noch sine volgaen, Noch sine steruen niet met christo. Want al werken si doechde, haer meyninghen en sijn niet puer noch ghewarich. Want daer minghet soe vele onghewaericheiden met die de doechde Soe valschen datsi ghene cracht en hebben den mensche te berechtene Noch te verlichtene, Noch te onthoudene in ghestadegher vaster waerheit, daer hi sine ewicheit bi besitten soude. Want men es schuldich doghet te werkene, niet om heerscap noch om bliscap, Noch om rijcheit noch om hoecheit, Noch om gheen ghenieten inden hemel noch inder erden, Mer allene omme dat wel ghetamen der hoechster werdicheit gods, die menscheleke nature daer toe sciep Ende maecte

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and to be well and beautifully provided and adorned with moral virtues, therein is, however, little for God that may please Him, for they neither stand firm till the end nor go till the end. Yet precisely in that which they seem to be, they quickly fail and a little thing that comes their way shows their whole ground of being. They are quickly raised by the sweet and cast down by the bitter, for as they are not based in the truth, their ground of being is unsteady. Whatever one builds on it, they remain unsteady and untruthful in their works and in their being. They do not stand firm till the end and they do not go till the end and they do not die with Christ. For even if they practise virtue, their intentions are neither pure nor truthful. So much untruthfulness is mixed with it, thus falsifying the virtues, that these have no power to direct the person nor to enlighten her nor to sustain her with the steady, steadfast truth through which she would possess her eternity. We are due to practise virtue, not for glory, or for happiness, or for richness, or for loftiness, or for any enjoyment in heaven or on earth, but only because it surely befits God’s highest dignity. Human nature, He has created and made

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Brief 6

te siere eren ende te sinen loue ende te onser bliscap in eweliker glorien. Dit es de wech die de gods sone vore ghinc, Ende dien hi ons ane hem seluen bekinnen dede ende verstaen doen hi mensche leefde: Want hi in allen tide doen hi in ertrike was, van sinen beghinne toten inde, wrachte Ende volbrachte onderschedenleke den wille sijns vader in allen dinghen Ende in allen tide, met al dien dat hi was Ende met al dien dienste dien hi gheleisten mochte Jn woerden Jn werken, Jn lief Jn leet, Jn hoghen Jn nederen, Jn miraculen Jn versmaetheiden, Jn pinen In aerbeide, In anxte, Jn node der bittere doet. Met alre herten, met alre zielen, met alre cracht stont hi in elken ende in allen sinnen euen ghereet te voldoene dat ons ontbleuen was. Ende was ons op draghende Ende op treckende met godleker cracht Ende met menscheliken rechte te onser eerster werdicheit, ende te onser vriheit, daer wi in ghemaect waren ende ghemint, Ende nu gheroepen ende vercoren

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for His glory and His praise and our happiness in everlasting glory. This is the way which the Son of God has followed and which He by Himself made us know and understand when He lived as a human being. For the whole time He was on earth, from the beginning till the end, He worked and accomplished in detail the will of His Father, in everything and the whole time, with all that He was and with the service He could offer: in words, in works in joy, in sorrow in the high, in the low in miracles, in scorn in pains, in exertion in fear, in the need of bitter death. With His whole heart, with His whole soul, with all His might, He was in all respect equally ready to satisfy where we had failed. And he carried us upwards and pulled us upwards, with the power which He had as God and with the right which He had as a human being, to our original dignity and to our freedom in which we were made and loved, and are now called and chosen

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Brief 6

in siere predestinacien, daer hi ons van ewen in versien heuet. Dat teken van gracien es heilich leuen. Dat teken vander predestinacien es die inneghe ghewareghe opdraghende hertelecheit Met leuenden toeuerlate in ontelleker begherten ter eren Ende ter tamelecheit diere werdeleker ombegripeleker godleker werdecheit. Dat cruce dat wi metten leuenden gods sone draghen selen, dat es die soete ellende die men om gherechte minne draghet, daer wi met begherenden toeuerlate In ontbeiden selen dies hoghetijts, daer Minne haer seluen openbaren sal, Ende verclaren hare edele cracht Ende hare rike ghewout inder erden ende inden hemel. Daer met toent si haer seluen den minnenden soe temel, dat sine vte hem seluen doet gaen, Ende roeft hem herte ende sen, Ende doeten steruen Ende leuen in pleghene der gherechter minnen.

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through His predestination, in which He has foreseen us from eternity. The sign of grace is a holy life. The sign of predestination is the inner, truthful, uplifting urge of the heart, in lively trust, with unspeakable desires, for the honour and that which befits the worthy, incomprehensible, divine dignity. The cross that we must carry with the living Son of God, that is the sweet misery which one endures for just love, in which we wait with longing trust for the high feast when Love shall reveal Herself and clarify Her noble might and Her rich power on earth and in heaven. Therewith She shows Herself so boldly to the one who loves that She makes her go out of herself, and robs her of both heart and mind and makes her die and live in living just love.

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Brief 6

Mer eer Minne dus ouerbrake waert Ende eer si den mensche soe sere vte hem seluen nemt, Ende soe na met hare seluen gherijnt dat hi een gheest Ende een wesen si met hare in hare, soe sal hare de minsche bieden scoenen dienst ende ellendich leuen: Sconen dienst in allen doechdeleken werken, Ende ellendich leuen in alre ghehorsamheit: Ende alsoe altoes staende met nuwen vlite, Met ghereden handen te allen werken daer de doghet met gheoefent wert, Ende met ghereden wille te allen doechden daer minne gheeert in wort, Ende om anders niet dan dat minne besitte hare eyghene stad inden mensche ende in allen creaturen na hare betamen. Dit es met kerste ane den cruce ghestaen ende ghestoruen ende op verstaen met hem. Hier toe moet hi ons helpen altoes; Dies biddic hem dore die hoechste doghet.

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But before Love will so overflow and before She draws the human being so much out of itself, and so closely touches it with Herself that it become one spirit and one being with Her in Her, the human being must offer Her beautiful service and a miserable life: beautiful service through all the works of virtue, a miserable life through entire obedience. And thus always with new diligence, all ready with willing hands for all the works in which virtue is practised, and with a will ready for all the virtues wherein Love is honoured, and for nothing other than that Love may own Her own abode in the human being and in all creatures, as is becoming to Her. This is: to remain hanging with Christ on the cross and to have died and to rise with Him. May He always help us to this, for this I pray Him by the highest goodness.

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Letter 6: Commentary In Letter 6 Hadewijch introduces new material (at lines 121-127) only after a number of preliminary remarks. Among these, one passage in particular strikes the Dutch reader through the distinctive word/sound play around the key theme of “enjoyment”. He is in the height of His enjoyment (ghebruken) but we are in the depths of our being in want (ghebreeken). 6, 27-9

By repeating the soft gh (in Dutch this is hardly a guttural, and differs from both the Spanish “j” [in jota] and the English “g” [in go]) and combining the warm u with a long and sharp ee, Hadewijch allows the reader who listens to combine two contrary elements. Moreover, the two lines are syntactically identical while differing semantically: ghebruken means “to enjoy”, ghebreeken “to be in want” (further clarifications later). From the first Letter, the verb “to enjoy” has a key role. The disciple was given to understand that she should “let Him enjoy Himself”, and she must have listened with sympathy to Hadewijch’s complaint: “What He is, that He digests Himself in His sweet enjoyment and lets me always be bowed down with the non-enjoyment of Love” (1, 41-2 and 63-6). The other term “to be in want” was not used in Letter 1, but “non-enjoyment of Love” conveys exactly the meaning of ghebreeken in Letter 6. It is here for the first time that Hadewijch explicitly contrasts divine enjoyment and human being-in-want: in her view the relationship between the human being and God is essentially and forever built around this opposition – the implication being that even in mystical union God remains the wholly Other. A distinctive feature in lines 121-127 is the repetition (four times in quick succession) of the word “will”. The term appears frequently from this point onwards, reaching a climax in lines 231235 (in the translation here “want” stands for the Dutch willen): We all want indeed to be God with God, but – God knows! – few of us want to live as a human being with his Humanity and want to carry His cross with Him and want to hang on the cross with Him and to repay fully the debt of humankind. (6, 231-235; cfr. 241-6 in the original Dutch)

Thus the main theme of this letter is made clear: the human will struggles with the divine will, the mystic’s will with the will of Love. Clearly for Hadewijch any relationship with God is structured around two oppositions : to enjoy versus to be-in-want; God’s will versus the human will. Thus in Letter 6 Hadewijch is expressing in the language of experience what in Letter 4 appeared in the language of reason: “that God is great and the human being small” (4, 40). Then for those who are hoping to become one with “the great God entirely” (6, 42-3) a delicate problem arises. If “to be-in-want” means that the mystic does not share fully in what God himself enjoys, and if God’s will rules her will, can there be any real being-one? Surely “to be God with God” (230) must imply genuine union with God in love?

Commentary 89

Hadewijch does not attempt to reason on this issue. Her attitude is the same here as in Letter 3 when the key question arose, How can we touch the Untouchable (3, 14-15)? Both there and here she refers to the christocentric religious life that she shares with her disciples: the answer to the questions raised is to be found in union with the Godman. This comes about by putting into practice imitation of the Man hence the two striking passages in Letter 6 (lines 86-145 and 227360) which refer to the figure of Jesus Christ while specifying his role in mystical union with God. In the opening sentence of the first passage the words “to human life belongs…” (86-7) echo the warning words of Letter 3: “Ah, sweet love, now we live as human beings” (3, 5). Her addressee, who is keen on passing over the common human condition by “feel[ing] Him present in this life” (276-7), is thus put in her proper place, and Hadewijch sets about demythologizing Jesus (88-115). She humanizes the Godman in particular by ascribing to him both the lack of a comforting experience of God – “to enjoy rest” (92) – and at the same time a demanding and varied “exertion” (94). The word “to work” is repeated six times in lines 98-116, and specified almost like a litany. Obviously, Jesus is being held up here as an example for those who are eager to “enjoy rest”. Hadewijch confirms this human view of Jesus by referring to a revelation which she had received personally: “This He Himself said to someone who is still alive” (94-5). No doubt there is a reference here to Vision 1 where Christ teaches her an important lesson: He wants her to recognize that “I lived purely as a human being (ic leefde suuer mensche)” (Vis. 1, 316), implying that He lived without divine consolation: “I never – with my own might – granted myself an inner satisfaction, except the consolation that I was sure of my Father” (Vis. 1, 361-4). Here one should note that Christ does not say that He was feeling sure, but that He was sure even if the feeling was lacking. Once the attention of the addressee is drawn to the concrete reality of the human condition that the human being and Christ share, Hadewijch comes to the core of her mystical teaching: the experience of being one-with-God combines two contrary aspects that are interconnected so as to form an organic unity. This is expressed in three ways: (1) “to enjoy” alongside “to be-in-want”; (2) “to rest” combined with “to work”; and (3) “to be God with God” while at the same time “to live as a human being with God’s Humanity”. In reality, the different terms are interchangeable: “to rest” signifies almost the same thing as “to enjoy”, and “to be-in-want” of God’s felt presence is “to live with his Humanity”. Thus: With God’s Humanity you shall live here in exertion and misery, but with the mighty, eternal God you shall love and jubilate within in sweet surrender. (6, 117-20)

The same insight is expressed in Vision 1 in a chiastic construction: If you want to be like me in my Humanity, as you desire in the Divinity to enjoy all of me… (Vis. 1, 289-91)

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Letter 6:

In Letter 6 Hadewijch adds at this point one of her most revealing phrases: “And the truth of both is one single enjoyment (een enich ghebruken)” (6, 120-1). In the previous line she has inserted a subtle variation of terminology introducing jubileren (to “jubilate”). As a rule it is ghebruken (“to enjoy”) that denotes the delightful aspect of union, when the mystic is gloriously received in God who is Love. In the Letters and elsewhere “to enjoy” appears systematically as the opposite of “to be-in-want” (cf. Letter 29, 80-2). So one would have expected this term here to evoke the mystic’s inner delight “with the mighty, eternal God”, in contrast to what she experiences “with God’s Humanity”. Yet here Hadewijch replaces ghebruken with jubileren, which meant that one gives expression to the jubilus, a wordless song of joy, or even a shouting for joy. Saint Augustine had drawn attention to this phenomenon, and in Hadewijch’s days it frequently reappeared among religious women. Among these women there may have been some illusion of jubilation, but that did not stop Hadewijch from using both the verb, “to jubilate”, and the noun,“jubilation”. In Letter 5 “to jubilate” is used in the simple sense of mystical friends singing out together their joy (5, 19). However, in Letter 22, and still more in letter 28, Hadewijch makes use of these terms in a highly mystical context, and it appears most clearly how closely connected “to jubilate” and “to enjoy” are. The two words are practically synonymous to the extent that when delightful union with love occurs, “jubilation” is the mode of expression of “enjoyment”, as is the case here over felt union with the “mighty, eternal God”. Yet, however much “to jubilate” and “to enjoy” are linked, “to enjoy” is more common. This is the word that signifies the substance proper of perfect mystical union, often appearing alone and much more frequently than “to jubilate”. Thus we see the subtle nuance being suggested here: Hadewijch leaves the evocation of mystical delight to the less weighty “to jubilate”, and by the same token broadens the sense of “to enjoy”, which is not limited to the delight of union. It can include the pain that union entails. The enigmatic little sentence, “And the truth of both is one single enjoyment” (120-1), suggests that true full “enjoyment” lies in that union in which jubilating gladness and dull misery are experienced as one, in which being “God with God” and living “as a human being with His Humanity” (230-2) go together. That Hadewijch has really “one single enjoyment” in mind, is confirmed in the following lines: “the will of both together… under their one rule” (123-125). In the second christocentric passage (227-360), still more than in the first (86-145), Jesus is shown as the divine model who, paradoxically, brings the love mystics from their ecstatic heights down to earth. Hadewijch constantly uses the terms “to enjoy / to rest” in order to bring home to her disciples the contrast between “ourselves”, so keen on enjoyable rest, and Jesus who lived without “enjoying rest” (92). It is here that she criticizes most severely the eagerness for “satisfaction”, introducing the word ghenoechte, which in the Letters that follow will regularly appear in contrast to the very important word ghenoech, “enough” (see the commentary to Letter 7). Although Hadewijch in these christocentric passages lays such emphasis on the concrete reality of life, as the mystic follows the path of Jesus, she does not lose sight of the great prospect held out to love mysticism. On the contrary, she makes plain that “to grow up” mystically consists in becoming one with the Godman. It is to the one who carries the cross with Jesus that Love “shows Herself so boldly that She makes her go out of herself” (357-8). And the one who lives in misery and service like Jesus may expect that Love “so closely touches her with Herself that she become one spirit and one being with Her in Her” (363-4).

Brief 7 Ay ic gruete v lieue, metter minnen die god es, ende met dat ic ben ende dat god yet es. Ende ic dancke v dat ghi sijt, Ende ic ontdancke v dat ghi niet en sijt. Ay lieue allen saken sal men met hem seluen soeken: Cracht met crachte, liste met liste, Rike met rike, Minne met Minnen, Al met allen, Ende emmer gheliken met gheliken: dat mach hem ghenoeghen ende anders niet. Minne dat es die sake allene die ons mach ghenoech doen ende el en ghene; die behoert ons allen vren Met nuwen storme te bestane, Met alre cracht, met alre list, Met allen riken, Met alre minnen, Met al met een, dat es lieues ghebruken.

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Letter 7 Ah, I greet you, dear, with the Love which is God and with what I am and what is something of God. And I thank you for what you are, but I do not thank you for what you are not yet. Ah, dear, all things have to be sought after with themselves: strength with strength, cunning with cunning, power with power, love with love, all with all, and always the same with the same: every time that can be enough and nothing else. Love, that alone is what can be enough for us and nothing else. She is whom we continuously ought to challenge with new storming, with all strength, with all cunning, with all power, with all love, with all at once, that is dealing with the Beloved.

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Brief 7

Ay soete minne, onser minne en verghet niet te pleghene met nuwen werken, ende laetse werken, al en moghen wiere niet ghebruken met ghenoechten, Si es haer seluen ghenoech, al ghebreecse ons van buten. Minne loent altoes, al comt si dicke spade. Die hare al dat sine gheuet, hi sal haer al hebben wien lief wien leet.

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Letter 7

Ah, sweet love, do not forget to devote yourself to our Love with new works, and let Her work. Though we cannot enjoy Her to our satisfaction, She is for Herself enough, though we miss Her coming out of Herself. Love always rewards, though She often comes late. The one who gives Her all one has, shall have Her wholly, whether someone likes it or dislikes it.

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Letter 7: Commentary In Letter 7 Hadewijch uses a play of words such that the meaning of the words and their sound reinforce one another. She combines four words that sound alike in Middle Dutch, three with a similar import, and one that is different. Fortunately the English word “enough” allows the senseand-sound effect of the original ghenoegh to be preserved: thus we have “to be enough (ghenoeghen) / to do enough (ghenoegh doen) / to be enough for (ghenoech sijn)” (8, 9, 17). Only the fourth term, ghenoechte, lacks an English equivalent that sounds the same; it has to be rendered by “satisfaction” (see line 16: “to our satisfaction [met ghenoechten])”. This feature of Letter 7 is worth notice as a prelude to the Letters that follow; here Hadewijch extends and refines the network of homophones (Letters 8, 11, 12, 13, 16). The importance of this terminology with regard to mystical content will appear more and more clearly. It allows Hadewijch to draw attention to the core of her teaching: “to do enough” is a crucial point, while the spiritual weakness of some of her disciples hinges on the notion of “satisfaction”. Although Hadewijch first makes use of this family of words in Letter 7, her readers have been prepared for it. In Letter 6 “enough” appears, for instance where it is said that the mystic wants to be at one with the will of just Love “in order to be enough for Her” (6, 78). However, it is the idea of “satisfaction” that is most relevant here. Hadewijch highlights the figure of Jesus, who never wanted “to enjoy rest” (6, 92), only to point out that this is precisely what “we” are often looking for because “rest” and “consolation” give us “satisfaction”: [One should not] demand the satisfaction (ghenoechte) which comes from Him in any form of rest or consolation. (6, 209-10) You would like all too much to receive what might satisfy you (v ghenoechde), with which you would live your life in the consolation of rest. (6, 225-6) We know and love ourselves in our satisfaction (in onse ghenoeghen), and we like to take our satisfaction (onse ghenoech) within and without. (6, 263-6)

More specifically, Hadewijch writes of three forms of “instantaneous reward”: in the satisfaction (in ghenoechten) and the rest which come from Him; in our self-satisfaction (in ons selues ghenoeghen); when it satisfies us (ons ghenoeghet) that we please others. (6, 284-9)

On hearing in Letter 7 this interplay of sounds the reader is subconsciously aware that there is an opposition of “enough” and “satisfaction” even before the exact meaning of the phrases has sunk in. However, Hadewijch goes on to spell out the mystical content. Lines 4-8 concern the world of “things”, the human world in which there is also human “love”. Here, there must be balance, as “things have to be sought after with themselves”, or in other words, “the same with the same”. Then, in conclusion, one finds what is “enough” and with this balance, there is need for “nothing else”. Hadewijch goes on in lines 8-13 to repeat “enough” and “nothing else” but now changes their sense. These same words refer to another world, the world of commerce with Love. There is no

Commentary 97

question now of balance: Love stands alone as the thing “to be sought after” (line 5). She needs to be “challenged” with all the storming force at one’s disposal, indeed “all at once”, for one is “dealing with the Beloved”. In the final lines (14-20) Hadewijch refers back to the original “enough” of the preceding part by admitting that although Love, “and nothing else”, can “satisfy” the mystical lovers, we are for the present deprived of enjoying Love “to our satisfation”. To “deal with the Beloved” (13), however justly, does not necessarily imply that one is allowed to “enjoy her to our satisfaction”. Clearly, Letter 7 ends in a confession that must have chastened the addressee. The warning we heard in Letter 1 (63-4) and Letter 2 (84-5) is repeated here. If we ask what the sung recitative of Letter 7 is telling us, we have to acknowledge that both in the mystic’s dealing with Her in the “commerce of love” and in her being absorbed by Her in the “enjoyment of love” “our” Love, who is God, manifests Herself as the wholly Other.

Brief 8 Altemet dat Minne wast tusschen hen tween, soe wastere een vreese in. Ende dese vrese es tweerande. Die ierste vrese es: Si vresen datsi niet werdich en sijn selker Minnen, noch daer toe niet ghenoech en conen ghedoen. Dese vrese es alre edelst. Hier met wastmen meest, Ende hier met wertmen der minnen onderdaen. Met deser vresen steet men haren gheboden te dienste. Dese vrese houtse in Minnen ende in dies si behoeuen. Si houtse in oetmoedicheiden, behoeuen sijs dat sise wect ende datse hen verueren. Want alse si vresen dat si niet werdich en sijn soe groeter minnen, soe verstormt hare menscheit ende verbiedet hen alle ghenade: Want pine te doeghene doer minne, maect enen sijn redene soe wel gheraect; want hi vreset al dat hi sprect van Minnen Dat onghehoert sal sijn voer hare. Dese vrese maectene vri, soe dat hi gheens dincs ghedincken en can noch gheuoelen, soe gherne ware hi der minnen behagheleec. Dus chiert dese vrese den minnenden. Si claert hem sinen sin; Si leert sijn herte; Si suuert sine conscientie; Si maect sinen gheest wijs; Si enicht sine memorie; Si hoedet sine werke ende sine worde; Si en laet tene ghene doet ontsien. Dit doet al die vrese Die vreset datse der Minnen niet ghenoech en es. Die ander vrese es: Dat een vreset dattene Minne niet ghenoech en mint: Omme datsine soe sere bendet, soe duncket hem dattene Minne altoes verladet ende hem te luttel hulpet, ende dat hi allene mint.

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Letter 8 As love grows between the two of them, a fear grows in it. And this fear is twofold. The first fear is this: the fear that one is not worthy of such a Love and that one cannot do enough for Her either. This fear is most noble. Through this one grows most and becomes Love’s servant. Through this fear one is at the service of Her commandments. This fear keeps one in love and in what one needs. It keeps one in humility: when one needs it, it awakens one and one becomes afraid. For if a person fears that one is not worthy of such a great Love, then a storm arises in one’s being-human and forbids all rest: because to suffer pain for the sake of Love makes a person seemly in speaking, for she fears that everything she says about Love will not be heard by Her. This fear sets her free, so that she can neither think nor feel anything, so very much she would like to please Love. Thus this fear adorns the one who loves: it enlightens the reason, it teaches the heart, it cleanses the conscience, it makes the spirit wise, it unifies the memory, it guards works and words, it does not allow one to forego any death. All this is done by that fear which fears that one is not enough for Love. The second fear is this: someone fears that Love does not love one enough. Because She binds that person so much to Herself, it seems to the person that Love always burdens her heavily, and helps her too little and that she alone loves.

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Dese ontrouwe es hoghere dan der trouwen gront; Ja, die trouwe meine ic, die hare yet ghenoeghen laet sonder bekinnen; ende die trouwe oec die hare ieghenwordicheit ghenoeghen laet. Mer dese edele ontrouwe heuet de conscientie soe wijt, al mint een soe dat hi ontsinnen waent, Ende dat sijn herte versuchtet, Ende sijn aderen altoes recken ende scoren, Ende sine ziele smeltet, Nochtan datmen dus de minne mint, Nochtan en can die edele ontrouwe minnen gheuoelen noch trouwen, soe wijt maect begherte ontrouwe, Ende ontrouwe en laet begherten niewers ghedueren in gheenre trouwen, sine mestrout hare altoes, datse niet ghenoech ghemint en es. Dus hoghe es ontrouwe die hare altoes veruaert, Ocht dat si niet ghenoech en mint, Ochte dat si niet ghenoech ghemint en es. Die dese ghebreke volmaken wilt hi sal altoes van herten waken, Jn allen dinghen trouwe te voluorderne. Ende hem sal al leet dor Minne ghenoeghen, Ende hi sal scone antwerde verswighen Die hi node verswighen soude, en liete hijt doer de Minne niet. Ende hi sal swighen, alse hi gherne sprake; Ende alse hi gherne pensde omme ghebruken sal hi spreken, Omme datmen minne om minne niet en berespe. Ende hi soude lieuer wee doghen bouen macht dan hem een poent ghebrake vander minnen ere. Gramheit moetmen laten omme gherechter minnen vrede, Ja al mindemen oec den duuel:

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This distrust goes even deeper than grounded fidelity, yes, I mean that fidelity for which it is enough [to recieve] something without knowing [Love], and also that fidelity for which what is present is enough. Yet this noble distrust broadens consciousness very wide: though one loves so much that one thinks she is losing her senses and that her heart sighs and her veins constantly stretch and tear and her soul melts, even if a person loves Love in that way, yet noble distrust can neither feel nor trust Love, so very wide does distrust make desire. And distrust does not allow desire to remain still anywhere – in no trust –, but always distrusts that it is not loved enough. Thus far extends distrust that always fears that it does not love enough, or that it is not loved enough. Anyone who wants to make up for these deficiencies, will always attend wholeheartedly to increase fidelity to the fullest in everything. And every suffering shall be a pleasure to her for the sake of Love, and she will keep sharp retorts to herself, which she would never have kept to herself if it were not for the sake of Love. And she will keep silent when she would like to speak, and if she would like to reserve her thoughts for her own joy, she will utter them, so that Love will not be criticised because of her love. And she would rather endure sorrow beyond her strength than to fail Love’s honour even on a single point. One has to forsake anger for the sake of the peace which belongs to just love, even if one may feel love for the devil.

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die mint hi es al sculdich te latene, Ende hem seluen te versmadene bouen alle menschen, Om dat hi der minnen ghenoeghen mach na hare werdicheit. Die ghene die mint hi laet hem gherne doemen, dat hi hem niet ontsculdeghet, omme dat hi inder Minnen te vrier sijn wilt; Ende hi wilt gherne om Minne vele verdraghen. Die ghene die mint, hi es gherne ghesleghen om gheleert te sine. De ghene die mint es gherne verstoten om votseladen vri te sine. Die ghene die mint hi es gherne in enicheiden om die minne te minnene ende te besittene. Jc en mach v nu niet vele meer segghen, omme dat mi vele dinghen verladen hebben, Som die ghi wel wet, Ende som die ghi niet weten en moghet. Mocht sijn ic sprake v gherne. Mijn herte es onghesont ende siec; dat doet een deel der trouwen gront. Alse minne porret in mijn ziele, dan salic v van desen dinghen meer segghen dan ic v noch hebbe gheseghet.

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The one who loves, is obliged to forsake everything and to loathe herself as beneath all human beings, so as to be able to do enough for Love according to Her worthiness. The one who loves, likes to be criticised without apologizing, because she wants to be all the freer with regard to Love. And she likes to endure much for the sake of Love. The one who loves, likes to be beaten so as to become wiser. The one who loves, likes to be rejected so as to be free from trifles. The one who loves, likes to be by herself, so as to love and to possess Love. I cannot tell you much more now, for many things have burdened me heavily, some of which you well know, and some you cannot know. Were it to possible, I would like to speak to you. My heart is weighed down and sick. That is partly brought about by grounded fidelity. If love spurs my soul on, I shall say more to you about these things than I have said so far.

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Letter 8: Commentary As in Letter 7, so here in Letter 8 Hadewijch makes use of a group of related words connected with ghenoech (“enough”): there are four such expressions, (i) ghenoech doen) (“to do enough” 5); (ii) ghenoech minnen (“to love enough” 28. 44-47); (iii) ghenoech sijn (“to be enough” 26); (iv) ­ghenoeghen (also “to do enough” 62). Balancing these four expressions, she also uses hem ­ghenoeghen laten (“to be satisfied with” or literally “to feel it is enough”, 33-35). Linked to the second expression, “to love enough”, she mentions two forms of fear (3-26 and 27-47). Both forms are fundamentally of equal value because they express one and the same “noble distrust” (40), namely “distrust that always fears that it does not love enough, or that it is not loved enough” (45-7). This “noble distrust” forms the crux of this letter. As a rule “distrust” is a pejorative word but here it connotes a “noble” attitude. In fact this “distrust” is esteemed more than “fidelity”, at least a specific form of fidelity: “This distrust (ontrouwe) is higher than grounded fidelity (der trouwen gront)” (31-2 and 77). With this latter term Hadewijch refers to a fidelity that has much that is good, but either it is satisfied with something other than authentic love, or it fastens here and now on a side-effect of Love, for instance sensing God’s presence: “that fidelity for which what is present is enough” (345; 6, 276-7). Such untrue or partial experiences are the ground on which this person bases herself in her relationship with Love. As a result of this fidelity founded on the experience of the senses, the desire for Love loses its openness and élan, unlike the desire that is permeated by “noble distrust”. It is the latter that makes desire “very wide” and does not allow it to “remain still anywhere – in no trust” (41-3). Because of this “noble distrust” the lover does not find a foothold in what can be gained in living love, but in the Other who never receives enough nor gives enough. After describing the two forms of fear (3-47), Hadewijch explains how the distrustful mystic can “make up for these deficiencies” and “increase fidelity to the fullest in everything” (47-9). Instead of dwelling in the height of union with Love, she needs to descend into the depth where she will be faithful to Love “in everything”. Hadewijch then specifies the humble way the lofty mystic should follow (50-69) and indicates quite a few things that have to be done, or left undone, or undergone, yet she concludes by recalling that such loving Love in the concrete is part and parcel of mystical union: “the one who loves likes to be by herself, so as to love and possess Love” (69-71). In the closing paragraph Hadewijch returns to the notion of “grounded fidelity”, and the letter takes on a personal colour. She says that many things have weighed her down, and about some of these the addressee is informed: “some you well know” (73-4). She would like to speak to the addressee, probably about these things. Already in Letter 1 Hadewijch had admitted to being disappointed in Love, mentioning that she had opened her heart about it: “as you partly know” (1, 72). Now she acknowledges that her heart is “weighed down and sick”, and this time the reason lies “partly” with her, with her giving in to “grounded fidelity”. She would like to say more about this, “if love spurs [her] soul on”. One can appreciate here that even this mystical genius admits her immaturity and would like to chat about it. However, she does not tell the whole story. As with Letter 1, where the addressee is only “partly” informed, so here there are only hints of “some” things, and the imperfect nature of her fidelity has been revealed only “so far”. Briefly, Hadewijch knows how to speak and how to be silent.

Brief 9 God doe v weten, lieue kint, wie hi es Ende wies hi pleghet met sinen knechten, Ende nameleke met sinen meiskenen; Ende verslende v in hem: Daer de diepheit siere vroetheit es, daer sal hi v leren wat hi es, Ende hoe wonderleke soeteleke dat een lief in dat ander woent, Ende soe dore dat ander woent, Dat haerre en gheen hem seluen en onderkent. Mer si ghebruken onderlinghe ende elc anderen Mont in mont, ende herte in herte, Ende lichame in lichame Ende ziele in ziele, Ende ene soete godlike nature doer hen beiden vloyende, Ende si beide een dore hen seluen, Ende al eens beide bliuen, Ja ende bliuende.

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Letter 9 May God make known to you, dear child, who He is and how He deals with His servants, and specifically with His handmaids; and devour you in Him: where the depth of His wisdom is, there He will teach you what He is, and how wondrously sweetly one beloved indwells the other, and so through and through indwells the other that neither of them recognizes himself, but they mutually enjoy each other mouth in mouth, and heart in heart, and body in body, and soul in soul, and one sweet divine nature flowing through them both, and both of them one through each other and also both remain, yes, so they remain.

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Letter 9: Commentary In this short yet compelling letter a new facet emerges. In the previous Letters Hadewijch has emphasised two important points in her mystical teaching by making use of the term “enough” and its derivatives. Firstly, Love makes herself felt by the lover as the wholly Other, who is “for Herself enough” (2, 84-5): the Beloved is quite independent and lives sheer blissfulness, “one shall let Him enjoy Himself” (1, 41-2). This was summed up in Letter 7 with the words: “Though we cannot enjoy Her enough, She is Herself enough” (7, 16-8). Secondly, in the­ mystic’s relationship with Love there is a pivotal reciprocity of “to do enough / to be enough / to love enough”: on the one hand, the mystic asserts, “Love, that alone can be enough for us” (7, 9-10), on the other, she admits to knowing the “noble distrust”, which “always fears that it does not enough, or that it is not loved enough” (8, 45-7). Thus the term “enough” was repeatedly used, while references to “enjoy” were rare. But now in Letter 9 “enough” is not used. Here, for the first time, all the focus is on the “enjoyment of love” that is strictly distinguished yet not separated from “commerce of love” in which “enough” has the most important role. (The “commerce of love” will be described in Letter 11.) In the first lines, Hadewijch does deal for a moment with the “commerce of love”, the words “servants” and “handmaids” suggesting the distance between Love and the lover which is intrinsic to it. Yet soon a striking change of register occurs: “[may God] devour you in Him”. To be “devoured” in the Other is quite a change from dealing lovingly with him. The change of tone is reinforced by the transition from “who He is” (1) to “what He is” (5). Clearly, Hadewijch evokes here the experience to which the mystic is looking forward in her incessant trying to “do enough”. This is “enjoyment”, the delightful oneness with Love: “and both of them one through each other” (12-3). Letter 9 is so rich in sound and rhythm and so suggestive that it hardly permits a literal reading. However, with regard to its mystical content, two sentences deserve special attention: (i) “neither of them recognizes himself” (7-8); (ii) “one sweet divine nature flowing through them both” (11-2). According to the first of these it appears that “enjoyment” is accompanied by the fading away of the mystic’s consciousness. It is not that in “enjoyment” he or she is not aware of anything anymore: not consciousness as such fades, but self-consciousness. However, this has to be understood not as a being unaware of what happens “in me to me”, but as the mental state which makes the I mirror itself in what happens, and regard itself in it instead of letting it simply happen to the self. In contrast, Hadewijch will show by repeating the words “each other” and “between them” in Letter 11, how the “commerce of love” is characterized by the awareness of “I and you”. It is this inner distance which is removed in the “enjoyment of love”. In the second sentence there is a striking use of the word “flowing”; it points to the manner of being of both the mystic and God as experienced in the “enjoyment” of union. Later, in Letters 22 and 28, Hadewijch will give a fascinating account of this fluency.

Brief 10 Die gode mint hi mint sine werken. Sine werken sijn edel doghede. Daer omme die gode mint, hi mint doechde. Dese Minne es ghewarich ende vol van troeste. Doghende prouen de Minne ende niet soeticheit. Want het ghesciet selke wile dattie minsche die min mint, meer sueticheiden gheuoelt. Na dat elc gheuoelt, daer na en es Minne in hem niet; Mer na dien dat hi ghefundeert es in doechden Ende ghewortelt in caritaten. Begherte es sulke wile suete te gode waert; Nochtan en eest niet al god: Want het es meer porrende vten gheuoelen der sinne dan van gracien, Ende meer van natueren dan van gheeste. Dese suetheit beruert de ziele meer ten menderen goede, Ende min ten meeren goede, Ende si ualt diepere op dat hare smaket dan op dat hare nutte es: Want si natuert na die sake, daer si vte gheboren es. Dus ghedaenre suetheit gheuoelt Alse wel de onuolmaecte alse de volmaecte, Ende waent sijn in groter minnen, om dat hi sueticheiden ghesmaket, Nochtan niet puer, Mer gheminghet. Al es oec de sueticheit puer ende al god, dat subtijl te kennen es, daer na en es de minne niet te metene, Mer na de hebbinghe der doechde Ende der caritaten, also ghi ghehoert hebt, want wi proeuen in selke zielen: alsoe langhe als die suetheit duert in hem, soe sijn si sachte ende vet; Ende alse de sueticheit vergheet, soe te gheet haer minne Ende soe bliuet haer gront ru ende magher.

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Letter 10 Anyone who loves God, loves His works. His works are noble virtues. Therefore, anyone who loves God, loves virtues. This love is true and full of consolation. Virtues, not sweetness, are the proof of love, for at times it happens that the person who loves less feels more sweetness. Love is in someone, not according to their feeling but according to their being grounded in virtues and rooted in love of neighbour. At times desire is sweet when it is directed at God, yet this is not wholly from God, for it stems more from the feeling of the senses than from grace, and more from nature than from the spirit. This sweetness moves the soul to the lesser good and less to the greater good, and the soul falls deeper in what is to its taste than in what is to its use, because it takes after that from which it is born. Such sweetness is felt by those who are imperfect just as well as by those who are perfect, and the first believe themselves to be in great love because they taste the sweetness, although it is not pure but mixed. Even if the sweetness is pure and wholly from God, which is subtle to know, love cannot be measured on that score, but on permanently having the virtues and love of neighbour, as you have heard. Because in some souls we find this: as long as that sweetness lasts in them, they are soft and fat, but if the sweetness passes, their love passes away, and thus their ground remains rough and meagre.

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Dit es daer omme, want si noch niet beset en sijn met doechden. Want alse de doechden vroech gheplant sijn inder zielen Ende met langher oefeninghen vaste ghefondeert, Al mendert dan de suetheit, de doechde doen hare nature ende werken altoes der Minnen werc. Sine wachten na ghene suetheit, Mer hoe si ghedienen moghen altoes ghetrouweleke der minnen. Sine haken net na smake, Mer si soeken orbere. Si sien op hare hande, Niet op den loen. Si beuelent al der minnen; Dies en hebben si maer te bat. De Minne es soe edel ende soe riue, aen hare en bliuet niemans loen. Nieman en dorfte brayeren om loen; dade tsine, Minne soude thare wel doen. Dit weten wel die vroede die altoes na doechden staen. Sine soeken mer der minnen wille; si en bidden der Minnen om ghene andere sueticheit dan dat si hem gheue datsi in allen dinghen bekinnen moghen haren liefsten wille; Sijn si bouen, si der Minnen wille; Sijn si onder, si dat selue. Selke andere zielen zijn arm van doechden; alse die suetecheiden gheuoelen, soe minnense; Ende alse die sueticheit te gheet soe te gheet oec hare Minne. Jnden daghe der gratien sijn si coene, Ende inder nacht der tribulatien keren si den rugghe. Dit sijn armhertighe liede; si werden lichte verheuen int suete ende licht bedroeft int suere. Ende een cleyne gracie doet haer herte sere verbliden, Ende een cleyn vernoy sere bedroeuen. Hier omme ghesciet sulke wile dattie lichte herten meer werden beruert dan de weghende,

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This is because their virtues have not yet taken root in them, for if the virtues are planted early in the soul, and are firmly founded by long practice, even if the sweetness lessens, the virtues work according to their nature and always work the work of love. These [souls] are not looking for sweetness but for this: how they can always serve Love faithfully. They do not yearn for taste but for what is beneficial. They pay attention to their dealings, not to the wages. They leave everything to Love, which brings about that they are all the better for it: Love is so noble and generous, She keeps back no one’s wages. No one would have to bleat for wages: if they did their part, Love would do Hers. Wise people who apply themselves continually to virtues know this. They only seek Love’s will. They ask Love for no other sweetness than that She grant them that they can recognize in everything Her dearest will. Are they on top? the will of Love be done; are they down? so be it as well. Some other souls are poor in virtues. When they feel sweetness, they love, but when the sweetness disappears, their love disappears as well. In the day of grace, they are brave, but in the night of tribulation, they turn their backs. Those are poor-hearted people: they are lightly elevated by the sweet, and lightly saddened by the sour. A small grace greatly rejoices their hearts, a small sadness greatly saddens them. This is why it happens at times that light hearts are more stirred than those who weigh,

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Ende de arme van gratien dan de rike. Want alse god comt met siere gratien ende hi troesten wilt har armeherticheit Ende hulpen hare crancheit Ende porren haren wille, soe sijn si gods lustich ende sueticheiden gherende, Ende werden meer beruert dan die die met ghewoenten doer gaen sijn metten goede gods. Ende men waent sulke wile dat dus gedane liede grote gracie hebben Ende grote minne, die nochtan herde dieren tijt gods hebben. Hier omme es sulke wile ghebreken van gode meer sake der suetheit dan ghewande. Selke wile es oec die quade gheest sake der suetheit. Want selke wile alse de mensche sueticheiden gheuoelt, soe delecteert hi sere daer in ende volghet der delectacien soe verre dat hi valt in crancheiden van lichamen ende dat hi daer bi verlet orberleke dinghen. Ende oec daer bi alse de mensche siet dat hi guede ghewande sueticheiden heuet, soe beghint hi alleinskene hem seluen te ghelouene van volmaectheiden ende acht dies te min sijn leuen te hoeghene. Hier bi steet wel, dat elc sijn gracie besie ende dat goet ons heren wiselike vorwart kere. Want de ghichten der gracien en maken den mensche niet gherecht, Mer si bendenne; Want werct hi met siere gracien, soe behaghet hi gode; Ende en doet hijs niet, soe wert hi schuldich. Oec moet hi wise hebben, daer hi sijn gracie met oefene. Want ghelike dat de doghet mesdaet wert, alse mense buten haren tiden oefent, alsoe wert gracie niet gracie, sine werde bedect met gracien.

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and those who are poor in grace more than those who are rich. For when God comes with His grace and wants to console their poor-heartedness, and to support their weakness, and to revive their will, they are desirous for God and covetous for sweetness, and they are more stirred than those who are permanently permeated by Gods goodness. And it is sometimes thought that such people have a great grace and a great love, yet they have God but very little. Therefore at times a lack of God rather than abundance causes sweetness.

Sometimes the evil spirit is the cause of sweetness as well. For sometimes, when a person feels sweetness, she much enjoys it and indulges in it so much that she becomes weak of body, and therefore neglects what is of use to her. In addition, when a person sees that she abounds with sweetness, she gradually begins to believe in her own perfection and therefore is all the less intent on uplifting her life. Therefore it is fitting that all consider their grace and wisely advance the good of our Lord, for gifts of grace do not render a person just but they bind one. If they work with their graces, they please God, but if they do not, they incur guilt. They also need to have the wisdom with which to live their grace. Just as virtue becomes sin, if one practises it out of time, so grace becomes no grace, unless it is covered with (new) grace.

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Hier omme dien god coeman heeft ghemaect met sinen goede, hi behoeft Dat hi wijs si ende sine gracie alsoe hoede, datse hem bliue. Want alsoe alse de ghene die sonder gracie es behoeft gode te biddene om gracie, Alsoe behoeft di die in gracien es gode te biddene dat hise behoude. Want alsoe dicke alse die minsche dat goet ons heren minderen laet in hem ende niet en meerret, soe haet hijs al verboert, en dade die goedheit gods. Hier om de bruut daermen af leset in de canteken, Si sochte haren brugom niet allene begherleke, Mer oec wiseleke; ende alsine vonden hadde, sone wasse niet min sorfhertich hem te behoudene. Dus soude doen elc vroede ziele die in roere ware van minnen. Si soude altoes hare gracie met begherten ende wiseleke meeren Ende sorfherteleke oefenen haren acker, vte treckende ondrachticheit ende in sayende doghede; Ende maken een huus van suuere consciencien, daersi werdeleke in ontfa haer lief.

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Therefore those whom God has made merchants of his good, must be wise and so preserve their grace that it remains with them. For just as those who are without grace have to ask God for grace, so those who are in grace have to ask God that they may keep it. For every time we let the gift of our Lord diminish within us, and do not make it increase, we would forfeit all, if it were not for the goodness of God. Therefore the bride, about whom we read in the Song of Songs, searched for her bridegroom not only with desire, but also with wisdom, and when she had found him, she was no less careful to keep him. Every intelligent soul should do this, were she stirred by love. She should always increase her grace with desire and discretion, and cultivate her field with care, pulling out the weeds and sowing virtues, and make a house of pure conscience in which she would worthily receive her Beloved.

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Letter 10: Commentary The first ten lines of Letter 10 encapsulate the message of the whole letter as in a nutshell: to practise virtue is something distinct from tasting sweetness, “Virtues are the proof of love, not sweetness”. Moreover, from the start Hadewijch indicates why one is inferior to the other. It is only by putting the virtues into practice that a person becomes “grounded in virtues and rooted in love of neighbour”. Clearly, “sweetness” is the key word in this Letter. Usually it evokes pleasurable sensations and sentiments which may occur during contemplative prayer. Yet, “consolation” which appears first, deserves attention: the love of virtues is “full of consolation” (4). “Consolation” and “sweetness” are synonymous to some extent, for both are effects of God’s acting on one’s heart, effects that do one good. Yet “consolation” is connected with loving virtues actively, which as such does not involve “sweetness”. What sense does Hadewijch give to “consolation”? She has already indicated more than once the purpose of the virtuous life that she and her friends are living. They seek to accomplish the divine will of Love, who is thereby honoured as she deserves. According to Letter 6, the true mystic is the one who “with a perfect will works those virtues wherein God, her Beloved, is honoured” (6, 170-1). Therefore, love mystics “are due to practise virtue”: “[not] for any enjoyment in heaven or on earth, but only because it surely befits God’s highest dignity” (6, 316-20): in other words, to honour Love by putting into practice the virtues required by the Other is a most tangible manner of living one’s relation with God. These are virtues with effect both within and without; they are cut into the flesh and are a personal materialization day and night of giving praise to God. To be able to honour Love in this way is in itself pure “consolation”: one is consoled without feeling gratified. Thus “consolation” comes at the beginning of this letter devoted to “sweetness” to act as a signpost. Not that Hadewijch rejects “sweetness”, for it may well be a gift from God and she mentions both the “sweet desire”, “not entirely from God” (11), and notes: “Even if the sweetness is pure and wholly from God…” (22-3). “Sweetness” was a well-known concept in spirituality long before Hadewijch wrote her Letters. In fact, Letter 10 contains a passage from the Latin commentary on the Song of Songs by (pseudo-?) Richard of Saint-Victor which Hadewijch has translated and adapted. Treatments of “sweetness” come mainly in accounts of the prayer life of beginners. It is presented as a grace from God that helps a person to persevere in prayer and to keep drawing near to the Unseen. One may ask why Hadewijch deals so severely with sweetness in this Letter 10. She is concerned about those who might appropriate this gift as they come to feel mainly their own feeling. She deals acutely with the problem caused by “sweetness” when she writes of “light hearts”, keen on “sweetness”, whom God wants to “console” (59-67): “light hearts” enjoy the “sweetness” which momentarily goes with the consolation. They are “more stirred” by the divine influence than “those who weigh”. The latter allow “God’s goodness” to sink in, and as it is by nature permanent, it creates in these people stability in virtue. Whether or not the soul “weighs” depends on the state of its “ground (gront)”, which lies deeper in the psyche than the senses that are stirred by “sweetness”. In those who stop short at

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feeling “sweetness”, the inner part of their soul is untouched – “their ground remains rough and meagre” (30) – in contrast with those who do not content themselves with the “sweet” touches. In this case, the human “ground” appears to be a fertile soil that lends itself to be seeded and to have plants taking root in it. For Hadewijch, the genuine “work of love” (35-6) is “permanently having the virtues and love of neighbour” (25), and it comes from the “ground” of the soul of those who are “permanently permeated by God’s goodness” (67).

Brief 11 Ay, lieue kint, god gheue di dat mijn herte aen di begheert; dat ware dat god ghemint ware van di werdelike. Nochtan en hadde ic dat, lieue kint, noit moghen kiesen, dat dat yeman vore mi ghedaen hadde alsoe na alse ic. Jc gheloue nochtan datter vele waren diene Alsoe na ende alsoe sere minden, al en mochtic niet wel ghedoghen Datten yeman kinne[n] ochte Minnen soude alsoe herteleke alsic hebbe ghedaen. Seder dat ic x. iaer out was, soe hebbic alsoe na van herteleker minnen bedwonghen gheweest, Dat ic binnen den iersten twee iaren dat ics began hadde doot gheweset, en hadde mi god niet sonderlinghe[n] cracht ghegheuen dan den ghemeynen lieden ende mine nature weder ghemaect met sinen wesene; Ende dat hi mi saen gaf redene Die een deel verlicht was met menighen sconen orconden; Ende dat ic van hem ghehadt hebbe meneghe scone ghichte in gheuoelne ende in toenene van hem seluen. Ende bi al dien tekenen die ic vant tusschen hem ende mi in na pleghene van Minnen, Alsoe alse vriende pleghen deen den anderen luttel te helene ende vele te toenne, datmen alre meest heuet in na gheuoelne elc anders, Ende in doer smakene, Ende in doer etene, Ende in doer drinckene, Ende in verswelghene elc anderen. Bi desen tekene die god mijn lief soe menechfuldich dede te mi inden beghinne van minen leuene, Soe gaf hi mi toeuerlaet te hem, alsoe dat mi dicst van dien tide alsoe te moede gheweest heuet, datten nieman soe herteleke ghemint en heuet alse ic. Mer redene dede mi onder wilen wel weten dat ic die naeste niet en was. Mer de bant van nae gheuoelne van Minnen en liets mi nye gheuoelen noch oec ghelouen.

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Letter 11 Ah, dear child, may God give you what my heart desires of you: that God be loved by you as He is worthy. However, dear child, I could never have suffered this: that someone would have done so before me as intensely as I do. Yet, I believe that many have loved Him so intensely and so much, though I could not tolerate it well that someone would know or love Him as heartily as I have done. Since I was ten years old, I have been so intensely dominated by passionate love that, once I yielded, I would have been dead within the first two years, had God not given to me special strength more than to ordinary people, and restored my nature with what He is. But He soon gave me reason which was already partly enlightened by many beautiful revelations, and I have received many a beautiful gift from Him: I felt Him and He showed Himself. And through all those signs which I perceived between Him and me in the intense commerce of love, as friends are used to conceal little from one another and show much one to the other, what one has the very most in intense feeling of one another and in through and through savouring and through and through eating and through and through drinking and in devouring one another… Through these signs which God, my Beloved, gave me so manifold at the beginning of my life, He gave me confidence in Him, so much so that from that time on I mostly felt that, to my mind, no one has loved Him as heartily as I. But meanwhile reason made me understand that I was not the nearest. Yet, the bond of the intense feeling of Love never let me feel it nor believe it.

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Aldus eester mi met dat ics te naesten niet en gheloue dat hi van mi te naesten ghemint si; Ende ic en gheloefs oec niet dat enich mensche leuet, daer god alsoe sere af ghemint es. Dus maect mi minne bi vren Soe verlicht, Dat ic weet dats mi ghebrect daer ic minen lieue niet ghenoech en ben na sine werdicheit; ende bi vren maect mi der minnen suete nature Soe blent met hare te ghesmakene Ende te gheuoelne, dat mi ghenoeghet ende dat mi bi vren soe rike es daer met te sine, dat ic hare in mi seluen lie datse mi ghenoech es.

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Thus it is so with me that properly speaking I do not believe that He would be loved the nearest by me, but neither do I believe that there is one living human being by whom God is so much loved. Thus Love now makes me so enlightened that I know in what I fail, not being enough for my Beloved according to His worthiness, then again the sweet nature of Love blinds me so by tasting Her and by feeling Her that it is enough for me and that I sometimes feel so rich by living that experience that I, in myself, confess to her that she is enough for me.

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Letter 11: Commentary Early in Letter 11, Hadewijch admits to having wanted to outdo all those who preceded her in loving God (3-9). Later she returns to this point (30-40), but first she describes two delightful experiences which, however, clearly differ from the “enjoyment” she has evoked in Letter 9. The first of these frightened and gladdened her at once. It was the urge of love (10-16): Love so affected her sensibility that a vehement desire arose, which upset the young mystical lover, causing her to fall ill, and becoming even life-threatening. Hadewijch refers to this overreaction as orewoet. This is a mysterious word – woet perhaps signifying, like the modern woede, “rage” – that evokes a phenomenon often found in circles of pious women. (For more developed descriptions, see the opening of Visions 1, 7 and 14.) On the whole, Hadewijch’s first contact with Love was a pleasurable experience: what can a heart that is clearly keen on feeling love enjoy more than the passion provoked in her? Moreover, after about “two years”, the initial shock caused by orewoet was absorbed, the relationship with Love losing its impetuosity. Hadewijch ascribes this change to God who “restored [her] nature with what He is” (16). The second delightful experience consisted of the commerce of love (16-27). Hadewijch evokes the image of two personal beings who are engaged in a love relationship that is very close. Its heartfelt intimacy does not, however, alter the fact that each of them is conscious of self as usual, which means that each is aware of the distance that separates them. This is implied in the key word “signs”. The commerce of love concerns both persons, but one self does not meet directly with the other. Union takes place in their displaying themselves in the “gifts” which they reciprocate. Thus the distinctive feature of the commerce of love is reciprocity. No wonder that the young Hadewijch must have considered this to be the essence of her relationship with Love! Yet, she will learn to her dismay that this well-proportioned reciprocity does not last, a point that she has expressed strongly in Letter 1 (56-82), where Love appears as the one who does just as She pleases, who always has Her own way. Hadewijch does not complete her description of the commerce of love (25-7), but she indicates how it might develop: her unfinished sentence hints backward to Letter 9. What strikes one most, perhaps, in this evocation of the commerce of love, is that “reason (redene)” is God’s first gift. He takes care Himself of the young mystic, so that, after being overwhelmed by orewoet, she can once more use her reason which, moreover, has been “enlightened”. Not that she is miraculously gifted with superhuman intelligence: it is ordinary human reason that here is “partly enlightened”. “Reason” was first emphasised in Letter 4 as the intellectual faculty that gives the human being the capacity for “distinction-making”. In Letter 11 it is this function that enables Hadewijch to clarify her religious rivalry: “But meanwhile reason made me understand that I was not the nearest” (33-4). However, in Letter 4 Hadewijch also pointed out that reason may bring someone to dismiss even the possibility of a human being becoming one with God, for “God is great and man is small” (4, 40-5). Such is then Hadewijch’s view of “reason” as something that goes its own natural, rational way. Reason is an indispensable help in enlightening human life, but also a frustrating hindrance with regard to human knowledge of God. However, in Letter 11 appears a new aspect, as Hadewijch

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sounds a quite different, positive note. For the first time, she evokes the role that reason plays in mystical union, and as she specifies in the final lines of the letter (40-7), it appears that “enlightened reason”, following the natural process proper to human reason, is essential to the love mysticism for which Hadewijch stands. In these lines she specifies the role of “enlightened reason”, which indicates to the mystic how she falls short with regard to Love, however much she may feel at one: “… that I know in what I fail, not being enough for my Beloved”. It is incumbent upon “enlightened reason” to remind the love mystic that the Beloved is too great for her. This means that reason must achieve within union what, according to Letter 4, it achieves without it. In both cases, the “noble reason of rational man” (30, 77) has to shed light on God’s transcendence. This crucial point in Hadewijch’s mystical teaching is very striking as one compares the passage of Letter 4, where she criticizes speculative reason, with a passage of Letter 30, where she evokes the experience of being mystically one with God – there is an almost literal resemblance. On the one hand, the insight into divine Otherness – “God is great and man is small” – leads reason to infer that it is absolutely impossible for the human being to become one with God: “… that such a great being does not belong to her” (4, 40-5). Mystics, on the other hand, see in union “lightning” – which represents enjoyment – but after that they also hear the “thunder”: “Thunder is the fearful voice of threat… and enlightened reason, which displays the truth, and the debt, and our not having grown up, and that man is so small and Love so great” (30, 163-7; cfr. 13, 48-52). Hadewijch goes on to clarify the role of “enlightened reason” by making use once more of the term “enough” (see Letter 7 and 8): it is the mystic’s reason which makes perfectly clear to her that she is “not being enough” for Love. Again, in the very last lines Hadewijch mentions “enough” twice: “that it is enough for me” – “that She is enough for me”. Here she is speaking in her status as a fully-grown mystic who is influenced by Love herself. Surprisingly, the effect of this single influence is twofold: Love at once “enlightens” and “blinds” her, makes her aware that she is “not being enough”, while Love’s gifts – “tasting” and “feeling” her – are “enough for [her]”, and Love herself is “enough for [her]”. Thus Hadewijch, as a skilful writer, can with a complex phrase suggest how two contrasting elements make up together the one, perfect mystical union, which consists in “to fail (ghebreken) and “to enjoy (ghebruken)”.

Brief 12 God si v god ende ghi hem Minne. God gheue v te leuene der Minnen werc in allen dinghen die ter Minnen behoren. Dies beghinne ic ane die gherechte oetmoedicheit, daers sine minnersse ane began, daer sine in hare met trac. Noch moet hi alsoe doen die gode in hem trecken wilt ende sijns ghebruken in minnen. Hi moet onuerheuen bliuen van allen dinghen, Ende onuerwonnen van allen dienste, ende euen sterc in den storm, Ende euen vlietich int besoeken, Ende euen nydich int hanteren. Al wildi ghescreuen hebben, dus ghedanes dinghes wetti selue ghenoech watmen om volmaectheit doen soude te gode. Die daer na staen ende dat begheren, gode met minnen ghenoech te doene, si beghinnen hier dat ewelike leuen, daer god ewelike met leuen sal. Want omme hem Minnen te volgheuene ende ghenoech te sine na sine werdicheit, daer ouer es hemel ende erde allen vren in nuwen dienste, Ende daer en wert nummermeer voldaen. Want die hoghe Minne Ende die grote die god es die en wert nummermere verwlt noch bekint met aldien datmen Daertoe gheleisten mach:

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Letter 12 God be God for you and you for Him love. God grant you to live for the work of love in everything which belongs to love. That is why I begin with the just humility, with which His lover began, with which she drew Him into herself. Still the same has the one to do, who wants to draw God into herself and in love enjoy Him. Such a person has to remain not-elevated in all things, and unflinching in every service and equally strong in the storm and equally diligent in the attack and equally eager in the commerce of love. Although you want to have it in writing, you know well enough yourself what one has to do to be perfect before God. Those who are bent on and desire to do enough for God through love, begin here eternal life, wherein God shall live eternally. For to give Him love to the full and to be enough for Him according to His worthiness, that is the service which occupies heaven and earth hour after hour, time and again, and which is never fulfilled. Because the high Love and the great Love which is God, is never satisfied nor requited by all that one may accomplish to that purpose:

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alle hemelsche selenre ewelec euen sere Om bernen in Minnen om der minnen ghenoech te volgheuene. Daer omme die hem hier el niet ghenoeghen en laet noch vreemde troest en nempt dan alle vren omme der Minnen ghenoech te doene, hi begint hier dat ewelike leuen, daer die hemelsche gode met sijn in ghebrukeleker Minnen. Al dat den mensch van gode comt te siere ghedinckenessen Ende al dat hire af verstaen mach ende bi enigher figueren gheleisten, dat en es god niet; Want mochtene de mensche begripen ende verstaen met sinen sinnen Ende met siere ghedachten, soe ware gode mendere dan de mensche Ende soe ware hi saen vte ghemint, Alse nv de nedere menschen sijn, die soe saen te gronde ghemint sijn. Corteleke gheseghet, dat sijn alle de ghene die niet met eweleker Minnen ghebonden en sijn, ende altoes van herten niet en waken om der Minnen ghenoech te doene. Mer die daer na staen der Minnen ghenoech te doene, die sijn oec ewech ende sonder gront; Want al hare wandelinghe es inden hemel, Ende hare ziele volghet na hare lief dat sonder gront es. Ende al mindemen die oec met eweleker Minnen, si en worden oec nummermeer van Minnen gronde veruolghet, also si niet veruolghen en connen dat si Minnen noch hem ghenoech ghesijn, Ende nochtan al niet en willen: Ochte inden weghe steruen, ochte hem ghenoech doen, ocht el niet. Dies biddic v sere ende mane bi gherechter trouwen die god es, Dat ghi u haest ter Minnen, Ende hulpet ons dat god ghemint werde, dies biddic v te vorst bouen alle dinc. Ende der goetheit gods laet v alle vren ghedincken

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all the blessed in heaven shall evermore correspondingly strong burn in love to give Love enough to the full. Therefore, anyone who here is not satisfied with anything else nor accepts alien consolation, but hour after hour wants to do enough for Love, begins here the eternal life through which the blessed are with God in enjoying love. All that comes into a man’s thoughts about God and all that he can understand of Him and represent in whatever figure, that is not God. For if a human being could comprehend Him and understand with his senses and with his thoughts, God would be less than man, and soon His being lovable would come to an end, as now is the case for light-minded people who so soon run out of love. In brief, such are all those who are not bound by eternal love and who do not wholeheartedly take care to do at all time enough for Love. Those, however, who are bent on doing enough for Love, are also eternal and unfathomable because they walk all in heaven, and their souls take after their Beloved who is unfathomable. But even if they are loved with eternal love, they also are never attained by unfathomable Love as they themselves cannot attain the one they love nor be enough for Him. Yet, they want nothing else: either to die on the way, or to do enough for Him, and nothing else. That is why I pray you very much and urge you by the just fidelity which God is, that you make haste towards love and help us that God be loved, this I pray you above all. And let the goodness of God be continuously on your mind,

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Ende ontfermen dat si soe ongherenen es, ende dat hire soe wel ghebruket Ende wi soe ellindich daer af sijn, Ende hiere ende sijn vriende soe dore vloyeleke Ende soe weeldeleke ghebrukende sijn, Ende in siere goetheit sijn vloyende Ende weder vloyende in allen goede. Ay ia hi god, die men met ghenen wesene van arbeyde bekinnen en mach daer en si gherechte minne toe! Die haeltene neder ende doeten soe nae gheuoelen wie hi es; Also machtmenre af weten wie hi es. Dat es ene onseggheleke weeldeleke weelde; Mer, wet God, nochtan altoes weeleec met diere weelden. Mer dat es der hoesscher minnender herten recht, dat hare alre naeste raste si, Omme haer lief te aerbeitene ende hem lieue ende ere te doene om sijn ghetamen Ende om ghichten van sconen dienste, Niet om ieghenwordeghen loen, Mer omme dat minne haer seluen alle uren ghenoechten ende loen ghenoech es. Mer Minne wert nv vele sere ghelet ende hare recht wert vele sere te broken bi ongherechticheden. Want nieman en wilt emmer toe siere affectien ontberen om der minnen ere. Si willen alle na hare ghenoeghen haten ende Minnen, Ende na hare onste belghen ende soenen, Niet na gherechticheit van broederliker minnen. Si laten oech gherechtecheit van scamene; dat es oec affectie. Ende si storen die gherechticheit bi erheiden. Dat es ene affectie daer vele scaden bi ghesciet. Die eerste scade es: wijsheit wert daer bi vergheten. De ander es: de gheselscap werter bi ghestoert. Die derde es: die heileghe gheest werter bi verdreuen.

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and let it hurt you that it is so untouched, and that He rejoices in it so much while we are so miserably far from it, and that He and his friends are so transfused with it enjoying it in abundance, flowing into his goodness and flowing back into all that is good. Ah well, He is God, whom one cannot know by any kind of effort unless just love has a part in it! This pulls Him down and makes so intensely felt who He is. Thus one can know of Him who He is, which is an unspeakable wealth in abundance, yet, God knows, woe always goes together with that wealth. However, for the courteous loving heart it is a law that one’s deepest rest shall be: to exert oneself for the sake of the Beloved, and to allot Him love and honour according to His worthiness, and to give beautiful service not for immediate reward but because hour after hour love is for itself satisfaction and reward enough. Yet, Love is now hindered very much and its right greatly violated by injustice, for no one wants always to do without one’s affectations for the sake of Love’s honour. They all want to hate and love after their satisfaction, and to fight and make up at their own discretion, not according to the justice of brotherly love. They also omit justice because of shame, which is also an affectation. And they overturn justice by being irascible: which is an affectation through which much damage is done. The first damage is: wisdom is forgotten through it. The second is: the community is upset through it. The third is: the Holy Spirit is driven away through it.

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Die vierde es: die duuel werter bi ghesterket. Die vijfde es: die vrienscap worter bi vertwifelt ende bliuet ongheoefent ende al die wile vergheten. Die seste es: die doghet worter bi achter ghelaten. Die seuende es: de gherechtecheit worter bi ghestoert. Ende affectie van hatene ende van vreemden torne, dat gheen heilich toren en es, die benemt Minne Ende fiere begherte, ende doet af reynherticheit, Ende doet altoes merken met suspicien Ende doet vergheten der suetecheit van bruederleker minnen; Ende hem bliuen oec onbekint te oefenne de hemelsche wesene; Mer nijt oefent altoes de helsche wesene. Bi affectien van bliscapen verghet men der nauwer weghe die ter hogher Minnen behoren ende der scoenre seden ende dies suets ghelaets Ende der wel gheordender dienste die ter hoechster Minnen behoren. Bi affectien van lichter Minnen verghetmen der oetmoedicheit Die de werdechste stat es, Ende de reynste zale daer men minne in ontfeet. Ende in die affectie verliestmen verlichte redene, Die onse reghele es, die ons leert Wat wi doen souden in rechte van minnen, Daer men der minnen ghenoech wilt doen; want verlichte redene doer licht alle die weghe van dienste na dien bequamen wille der hoechster minnen, Ende toent clare alle de wesene die der Minnen ghenoech sijn. Ay aerme, dat dese twee verdreuen werden bi affectien van lichter minnen, Dat sijn de iamerleecste scaden die ic kenne, Dat ghescien moghen.

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The fourth is: the devil is strengthened through it. The fifth is: friendship is doubted through it and not practised, and forgotten all the time. The sixth is: virtue is neglected through it. The seventh is: justice is upset through it. And the affectation of hate and alien anger, which is not holy anger, encumbers love and frank desire, and takes away purity of heart, and makes one always observe with suspicion and forget the sweetness of brotherly love. And how to practise the heavenly ways of being also remains unknown unto them. Envy, however, always practises hellish ways of being. Through the affectation of happiness one forgets the narrow paths which belong to high love, and the beautiful morals and the sweet appearance and the well-ordered services which belong to the highest love. Through the affectation of light love one forgets humility, which is the worthiest dwelling place and the purest room in which one receives Love. And through that feeling one loses enlightened reason, which is our rule. It teaches us what we have to do as we want to do enough for love according to the law of Love. For enlightened reason throws light on all the ways of the service which is pleasing to the will of the highest Love and clearly shows all the manners of being which satisfy Love. Ah, what a pity it is that these two are driven out by the affectation of light love, that is the most regrettable damage, to my knowledge, which can be done.

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Met al desen affectien wert gherechticheit van Minnen ghestoert Ende ghelet onder die ghetoende. Onder dese groete poente die ic v hebbe gheseghet loepen vele cleynre die ontelleec sijn, ende benemen claerheit der minnen. Ay, al en letten v ende den anderen die meeste poente niet, Doch lopenre vele daer onder v lieden met ghescierden clederen, soe datsi gheen ocsuum en willen nemen die te verdriuene. Daer es ghecledet scande met oetmoedicheden, Ende erheit met gherechticheden, Ende niit met trouwen Ende met redenen, Ende bliscap met troeste ende met toeuerlate, Ende Minne met senne ende met langhen tide ende met ghelate van ouercomenheiden, Ende met sconen worden daer anders es dan god. Hier omme en canmen die niet ghehoeden, die de bant van binnen van ghewaregher Minnen niet en hoedet.

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Dat wet wel, dat ic al dit niet dore v en hebbe gheseghet, Mer dor die nose die ons hier af ghesciet Hier ende elre, die ons te onverwenlec es; dat schijnt ons allen iamerlike, die de een den anderen bederuen, Van doelne daerse ons met verladen Ende niet en hulpen dat onse lief ghemint worde. Ende om dat ghire een sijt doch bi wilen die dat int ghemeyne vorderen Ende letten moghet,

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Through all these affectations the justice of Love is overturned and hindered in those who are marked by Her. Under these main points which I have given you, many lesser ones are hidden which are innumerable and take away the clarity of love. Ah, although most of these points do not hinder you nor the others, there amongst you, however, many walk in sumptuous clothing, so that they do not wish to make an effort to remove them There is clad shame in humility, and irascibility in justice, and envy in loyalty and rationality, and gladness in consolation and trust, and love in meditation, and in biding one’s time and in an attitude of being above such things, and fine talk is clad in what is something other than God. That is why one cannot preserve those who do not inwardly guard the bond of true love.

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You should know that I have said all these things not simply for your sake but because of the harm that because of this is done to us, here and elsewhere, and which is insuperable. To us all it appears pitiful that [where you are] they spoil one another with errors that they blame upon us and do not help us that our Beloved be loved. And, as among them you are someone who could on different occasions either promote or prevent this love in the community,

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soe vermanics u Dat ghire hoede vore hebbet in v Ende in andere gherechticheit van minnen te vorderne in allen saken. Ende altoes met al dat ghi sijt toent hen der Minnen teken in al ende ouer al. Want dat swaerste dat ic weet inder screftueren, dat duncket mi dat ghebod van Minnen dat god seyde te moysen: Du salt minnen dienen here dinen god van al diere herten, van al diere zielen, van al dinen crachten. Doen hi dit hadde gheseghet, Doen seide hi na: Dese woert en saltu nummermeer vergheten slapende noch wakende. Slaepstu, di moet daer omme dromen; Waecstu, du moets daer omme peysen ende spreken ende werken. Dese woert saltu scriuen inden doerstijl Ende inden ouerdorpel Ende in de wande ende in al die stade daermen wesen sal, datmen niet en verghete watmen daer te doene heuet; Dat es: der Minnen nummermeer te verghetene, slapende Noch wakende, in gheenre manieren, alsoe god selue ghebiedet, met al datmen es, Met herten, Met zielen, Met sinnen, Met crachten, Met ghedachten.

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I urge you that you take care to further, in yourself and in the others, the justice of love in everything, and always to show them, with everything you are, the sign of Love in everything and above everything. The weightiest thing I know in Scripture is, in my eyes, the commandment of love which God spoke to Moses: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.” When He had said this, He continued: “These words you shall never forget, sleeping nor waking. If you sleep, you must dream about them, if you are awake, you must think of them and speak and carry them out. This word, you shall write it on the doorpost and on the lintel and on the walls and in all the places where one shall dwell, so that one does not forget what one has to do there.” Which is: never to forget love, not sleeping nor waking, in any way, as God Himself commands it: [remembering it] with all that one is, with the heart, with the soul, with the senses, with the mights, with the thoughts.

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Dit gheboet hi moysen ende inder ewangelien aldus ter minnen al te sine. O wi, hoe dorren wi hare dan yewerint mede men sijn. Ay en eest dan niet vreselec roef dat wi vore Minnen yet sparen ende yet onthouden? Ay hier omme penset ende werct sonder vergheten de minne te vorderne ane allen saken. Ghedinct oec wat abdias die prophete seghet: Jacobs huus sal sijn een vier; Josephs huus sal sijn een vlamme; Esaus huus sal sijn een stoppele. Jacob es ieghewelc die verwint: met crachte van minnen verwint hi gode hem te verwinnenne. Na dat hi verwonnen heuet soe dat hi verwonnen es ende benedictie ontfaen heuet, Soe sal hi voert hulpen, dat si verwonnen werden, die men verwonnen sijn Ende die noch rechte gaen op beide hare voete ende niet en houten, alsoe die doen die Iacob worden sijn. Want iacob bleef ten stride cranc, Ende ye sider ane die een side manc; doen hi manc verwonnen was, doen eerst gafmen hem die benedictie. Alsoe moet hi sijn die Iacob sijn sal ende die de benedictie van gode ontfaen sal. Ende die ieghen gode striden wilt houde hem te verwinnen dat hine verwinne. Ende hi moet houtende werden ane die eene side, daer hem yet el soude sijn dan god enechleke allene, Ende daer hem oec yet meer es.

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This commandment He gave to Moses and in the Gospel: to be quite completely focused on love. Woe to us! How dare we, with regard to her, in any way fall short of it? Ah, is it not, then, a terrible theft that, with regard to Love, we hold something back or withhold something? Ah, think of this and work for this without forgetting: to promote love in everything. Remember also what the prophet Obadiah says: the house of Jacob shall be a fire, the house of Joseph shall be a flame, the house of Esau shall be a field of stubble. Jacob is everyone who “conquers”: through the power of love one conquers God to be conquered by Him. After having conquered so as to be conquered, and having received the blessing, he shall help those along to be conquered, who are less conquered but who still walk upright on both feet and do not limp as do those who have become Jacob. For Jacob remained injured from the fight and ever after limped on one side. When he was limping and conquered, then he was first blessed. So shall anyone be who will be Jacob and wants to receive the blessing of God. And whoever wants to fight God, should defend herself so as to conquer in such a way that He conquers her. And one has to limp on that one side, where possibly there is for her something other than God alone exclusively, and where there is, then, for her, something more.

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Ende wien oec el meer es dan god, Ende die met hem niet een en es in siere enigher sueter benedictien, hi steet op twee voete Ende es onuerwonnen, ende hi en smaket ghere benedictien. Ghi moet v soe enichlike al omme al laten, dat ghi soe inuierechleke in uwe enicheit bernen selt in al uwen wesene, Ende in al uwen werken, dat v el niet sijn en sal dan god allene Noch lief Noch leet, Noch licht Noch swaer. Alse ghi in dit wesen woent sonder cesseren, Dan es iacobs huus een vier. Josephs huus sal sijn een vlamme. Alsoe alse ioseph was een behoudere Ende een berechtere dies volcs ende siere broedere, Alsoe moeti Ende die Ioseph worden sijn leideren ende bescermeren sijn der andere diet noch niet ghenoech en sijn, Ende noch inder ghebrekenessen sijn der vreemder mesquame. Metter inuierecheit van enighen bernenden leuene salmense ontsteken Ende metter vlammen der bernender Caritaten salmense verlichten. Die vreemde in die ghemeynte der lieden Die sijn esau; haer huus dat sijn stoppelen die saen ontsteken sijn met inuieregher vlammen: Alsoe selen die andere van v ontsteken, alse ghi dus ghedanich sijt. Dit behoert oec te uwen prelaetscape: dat ghi die droeghe stoppelen ontsteken selt met goeden exemplen Ende met manieren ende met biddene Ende met radene ende met dreighenne.

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For whom something else is more than God, and who is not one with Him in his exclusive, sweet blessings, she stands on her two feet and is unconquered and she tastes no blessing. You have to renounce yourself so completely, giving all for all, that you shall burn so fiery in your unity in your entire being and in all your works that there shall be nothing else for you but God alone, neither joy nor sorrow, lightness nor heaviness. If you live ceaselessly in this manner of being, then Jacob’s house is a fire. Joseph’s house shall be a flame. As Joseph had to protect and judge his people and his brothers, so you and those who have become Joseph have to be leaders and protectors of the others who are not yet Joseph enough, and still are in want because of alien sorrow. Through the fieriness of a life that burns exclusively for God one shall enkindle them, and with the flame of burning love of neighbour one shall enlighten them. The aliens among the common people, are Esau. Their houses are stubble which are quickly ignited by very fiery flames. So those others shall be ignited by you, if you are of such character. This belongs then to your office: that you ignite those who are dry stubble through good example and through a decent lifestyle and through constant petitition and through counselling and through threatening.

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Ende oec suldi uwe broedere berechten met innegher minnen, Ende hulpen hen Minnen, dat si Minnen in gode ende in gherechten werken te gode Ende ter gherechter doghet. Ende altoes ghedinct dattie screfture seghet: Sobrie, pie, iuste viuamus in hoc seculo. Dit hoert te uwen ambachte.

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Ay, met pure enigher Minnen hulpet ons, dat onse lief ghemint werde. Corteleke gheseghet, dit willic bouen alle dinc van v: gherechte Minne te gode. Dat manic v ende bidde gode te gheuene, Ende dat ghi hem voldoet dat ons ontbliuet. God si met v; haest u ter minnen.

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And you shall also reprimand your brothers with deep love and help them to love, so that they love in God and in just works which are aimed at God and at just virtue. And always remember that Scripture says: Sobrie, pie, iuste vivamus in hoc saeculo. This belongs to your task.

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Ah, with pure, exclusive love help us that our Beloved be loved. To put it briefly, this is what I desire above all else from you: love that is just aimed at God. Therefore I urge you and I pray you to give that to God, and that you give Him satisfaction where we fall short. God be with you. Make haste towards love.

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Letter 12: Commentary Early in Letter 12 is this intriguing sentence: “That is why I begin with the just humility with which His lover began, with which she drew Him into herself” (3-5). This lover is Mary, by tradition humility itself, the “servant of the Lord”, who in her Song of Praise (Magnificat) sang out in joy: “He has… lifted up the lowly”. Hadewijch and her friends were certainly in the habit of singing this hymn of Mary. In the next sentence Hadewijch indicates with the high-mystical expression “in love enjoy Him” that Mary is the paragon of the humility that must be the fundamental attitude of the love mystic. She will repeat on two other occasions that God is drawn down by the mystic. He is the Other who remains untouched except through just love: “This pulls him down and makes so intensely felt who He is” (65-6), and humility is “the worthiest dwelling place and the purest room in which one receives Love” (109-10). Thus Letter 12 begins with a chiasmus: Mary, the Mother of God, is also God’s “lover”, and the mystical lover of God resembles Mary, God’s Mother. Is Hadewijch’s mysticism Marian in essence? In the Letters she does not dwell upon this aspect. Yet, Letter 30 contains a significant passage (197-203). Hadewijch points out to the addressee that “our humility” lacks depth, for it is not brought about by “God’s greatness [and] our smallness”,

therefore we are not carrying like a mother the son of God nor do we nurse Him by practising love. (30, 201-3)

Here, Hadewijch alludes to Mary’s role in mystical union, which she evokes in her other writings, especially in the Visions. For her, the imitation of Christ in mystical union with God takes on an explicit feminine character as it blends in with the imitation of Mary. In Letter 9, Hadewijch indicated that God’s “handmaids” differ from his “servants” in their way of living union (9, 2-3). As we have seen, for Hadewijch mystical union is composed of contrary yet complementary aspects, so as to form an organic unity of “being in want (ghebreken)” and “enjoying (ghebruken)”. “Being in want” consists mainly in wanting to make every effort to “satisfy (ghenoech sijn / doen)” Love who is God, which means that one responds to the divine gift of “enjoyment” by “working” humanly. In other words, the mystic is incited – in union – to imitate Jesus. Now, as she experiences this dynamic “being in want”, the mystical “handmaid” differs from the “servant”. As a woman, she “satisfies” God and she “works” for his sake by serving as a mother to Jesus: united with Mary in her fundamental humility”, she “[draws] Him into herself” (5), and she associates herself with Mary’s tenderness and motherly care. God’s lover feels herself at once the Man’s mother. (For a thorough study of the Marian aspect of Hadewijch’s mystical experience, see Daróczi, 274-308.) In the introductory description of humility (7-13) Hadewijch refers to some traits which seem to have nothing to do with the generally accepted sense of “humility”: “strong in the storm… diligent in the attack”. Moreover, the urge to seek “what one has to do to be perfect” does not have a humble ring about it. How can this be humility? Hadewijch answers in the next passage (13-30), which she develops in two other sections (43-52; 177-90).

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The first passage is fascinating because of its mounting intensity. The repetition of the key expressions “to do enough / to be enough” is strengthened by a series of words which are related in meaning (and in the sound of Middle Dutch): “never fulfilled / never satisfied / give to the full”. This series culminates in “give enough to the full”, with a reference to infinity – “eternal” is repeated three times – and finally finds expression in “enjoying love”, Hadewijch’s term for the highest mystical experience. (For the everlasting urge to “satisfy” God, see Letter 16.) Thus one can see that the humility Hadewijch has in mind can be identified with the adventure of becoming one with the One whose incomparable “worthiness” arouses in the mystic the incessant urge to “do enough” in return. The mystic’s fundamental humility consists in seeking what lies beyond the bounds of the possible, a humility in which lives the “frankness” that appeared in Letter 6: Were you to want to follow your being in which God has made you, you would out of noble-mindedness avoid no exertion and you would out of brave frankness let nothing escape you, but you would vigorously seize upon the very best, yes, the great totality of God, as your own good” (6, 191-6).

Thus appears again how much the path of the mystical “mistress” with the “frank desire” (12, 97) diverges from that of the pusillanimous thinker who “omits to seize upon the greatness of God” (4, 42-3). In-between the two evocations of humility (13-30, and 43-52) Hadewijch inserts a general reflection (31-43) on the transcendence of God. She states that it is absolutely impossible for any human being to know anything of God himself by means of any “images”, whether mental or sensual. The key word is the verb “is” in the sentence “that is not God” (one can corroborate this with the passage in Letter 18: 80-99, on love and reason). The remarkable point here is how Hadewijch actually surpasses the rational-minded thinkers of Letter 4 in emphasizing God’s unknowability. However correct their line of reasoning, however purified their concepts, the outcome of their brainwork is undeniably something that humans think about God. Consequently it can give as little knowledge of God as “whatever figure”. Clearly, while exhorting her disciples to “seize upon” God, the humble mystical mistress does not slip into any sort of theological ingenuousness. In the second evocation of humility it is not the mystic’s inner “doing” that is scrutinised, but her inner being. The demands of Love to “do enough” are such that she cannot keep pace, and this brings her to self-knowledge by making her aware that she is “unfathomable”. She has to recognize that she is a being whose definition does not involve limitation: as unfathomable Love touches her, she cannot consider herself a firm receptacle but ever expanding receptivity. Love and the lover appear then as two abysses that unite again and again – a vertiginous image which Hadewijch will develop in Letter 18 (73-8). In the third evocation of humility (177-90) Hadewijch refers to Jacob’s fight with the Angel, God’s substitute (Genesis 32, 24-31); she may also be alluding to the knightly code of honor by

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which one would enter into a fight with an adversary known to be stronger than oneself. Jacob’s fight with this superior strength illustrates how the mystic experiences union with the divine Other: through humbly fighting the unequal fight to the finish, she learns that to be conquered by God is the only way to conquer Him and to receive, like Jacob, the blessing – here the blessing of being one with the transcendent Love who is God. There is a further important point dealt with by Hadewijch in Letter 12. She refers to two sufferings or woes that are integral to the mystic’s state of mind. The first consists in observing that “we are so miserably far from it”, that is from God’s enjoying his own goodness and from God’s friends “enjoying it in abundance (weeldeleke)” (59-61). The second suffering is not a question of being far from the enjoyment of the felicity of God and his friends, for the word that expresses blissfulness “in abundance (weeldeleke)”, reappears here but is now linked to “woe”:

Thus one can know of Him who He is, which is an unspeakable wealth in abundance, yet, God knows, woe always goes together with that wealth” (66-9).

Hadewijch’s Middle Dutch text at this point can evoke in sound an amazing combination, impressing upon the reader’s sensibility the abundance of wealth as well as the woe: Dat es ene onseggheleke weeldeleke weelde; Mer, wet God, nochtan altoes weelec met diere weelden.

For the first sort of suffering, Hadewijch explains clearly why she and her friends experience it: “we” are so far from enjoyment because “just love” is lacking or falls short. She is also clear about the reason for the second suffering: in this case, wealth to enjoy is not lacking but is always incomplete. For however great the wealth that in enjoyment falls to the mystic, it never becomes a final rest, because just by conferring this wealth on the mystic, the Beloved creates in her the urge

to exert oneself for the sake of the Beloved, and to allot Him love and honour according to His worthiness, and to give beautiful service. (12, 71-3)

Brief 13 Alsoe sal hem de mensche houden onnosel onder alle dinc, dat hi sijn wassen sal soeken in allen dinghen, Ende werken na die gherechte vorme der redenen bouen alle dinc. Ende soe sal god vor hem ende met hem wercken alle dinc, Ende hi sal met gode werken alle gherechticheit; Ende hi sal begheren dat god volwerke alle die gherechte werken van siere naturen in hem seluen ende in ons allen. Dat es der minnender herten recht te kiesene ende bouen al te wilne, weder dat het si verdoemenesse ocht benedictie. Ende dat es hare begherte altoes Ende hare bede, in enicheiden van Minnen te sine, alsoe men leset in die canteken: Dilectus meus mihi et ego illi. Aldus sal die enighe vergaderinghe sijn in enen wille van enigher minnen. Die wilt dat hem alle dinc onderdaen sijn, hi moet onderdanich sijn siere redenen bouen al dat hi wilt ocht dat hem yeman wilt. Want nieman en mach volmaect werden in Minnen dan die siere redenen onderdanich es. Want dese mint gode om sine werdicheit, Ende de edele minschen omme dat si ghemint sijn van gode, Ende de nedere minschen omme dat sijs behoeuen. Hier omme sal de minsche doen sine volcomene macht in allen dinghen na volcomenheit der Minnen, die emmer onghenoeghende es, watmen hare toe leghet:

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Want al es dat sake dat een minsche in alre menschen oghen van seden ghenoech es te gode, Nochtan ghebrect hen soe vele int volcomen ghenoeghen der Minnen, dattie mensche behoeft altoes in meere eyschinghen van Minnen te sine ende in staerker begherten bouen sijn hebben. Dat ghenoeghet der Minnen alre best, datmen te vollen bistierich si van alre rasten van vreemden ende van vrienden, Ende van haer seluen. Ende dat es een vreselijc leuen dat minne wilt, datmen ghenoechten van hare moet ontberen omme hare ghenoech te doene. Die aldus in Minnen ghetrocken ende onthaelt sijn, ende die sie beueet, die sijn soe ouer vele schuldich der Minnen inder groter ghewout haere staerker naturen altoes na ghenoch doen te stane. Ende dat leuen es ellende bouen al dat dat menscheleke herte doghen mach, want hem en ghenoeghet niet haers leuens, Noch in ghichten, Noch in dienste, Noch in troeste, Noch in al datsi gheleisten moghen. Want Minne trecse soe sere van binnen ende si gheuoelen Minne soe groet ende soe onbegripeleec, Ende vinden hen seluen daer toe te cleyne Ende te onghenoechleec, dien wesene ghenoech te sine dat Minne es. Ende si kinnen hen seluen so vele schuldich der minnen ghenoech te sine in allen wesene, soe dat hen in anderen dinghen noch lief noch leet ghescien en mach, noch in hen seluen Noch in anderen mensche, sonder omme die sake allene die Minne selue es. Om die sake soe macher hen lief ende leet in ghescien: Lieue in alsoe uelen als Minne gheuordert wort ende wast in hen ende in anderen; Leet in also volen alse Minne ghelet wert ende ghequest in de ghene die Minnen: in hen seluen ende in anderen Dien de vreemde gherne letten ende quetsen daer si moghen.

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For even if it is so that someone – in the eyes of all men – does enough for God by his way of living, nevertheless he falls short so much in doing enough for Love to the full, that he always has to submit to Love’s demanding more and to the strengthening of his desire, which rises above what he has. What pleases Love very best, is to be completely deprived of all rest which comes either from outsiders or from friends or from herself. It is a terrible life that Love wants: one has to miss the satisfaction that comes from Her in order to do enough for Her. Those who are thus drawn into Love and entertained, and whom She embraces, are so very much indebted to Love by the great overpowering of Her strong nature, always to apply themselves to do enough. And such a life is a misery which exceeds all that the human heart may have to suffer, for in their life nothing satisfies them: neither gifts, nor services, nor consolation, nor all they can possibly accomplish. For interiorly Love draws them so strongly, and they feel Love being so great and incomprehensible, and they experience themselves too small and not mighty enough to possibly do enough for that being which is Love. And they recognize that they themselves are so very much indebted to Love to be enough for Her in every way, that for the rest neither weal nor woe can come to them, neither with regard to themselves nor to someone else, unless it has solely to do with Love Herself. Weal and woe can come to them because of the following: weal insofar as Love is promoted and grows in them and in others; sorrow insofar as Love is hindered and hurt in those who love, that is in themselves and in others, whom the outsiders like to hinder and hurt wherever they can.

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Omme der Minnen vordernisse Pijnt v te aerbeidene ende omme hoghe caritate; want caritate begrijpt al de ghebode gods sonder dolinghe ende houtse sonder arbeit. Want die mint, hine arbeit niet: want hine gheuoeles arbeits niet. Ende die berrenleker mint, hi loept volleker ende hi volcomt haesteleker in die heilicheit gods, dat es hi selue, ende in die gheheelheit gods, dat es hi selue. Jn sire gheheelheit si v al die dienst volmaecteleke Ende die ernste die te diere volmaectheit behoert, die hem ghenoech es te siere gheheelre naturen, daer hi al minnende met es. God doe v kinnen al die scout die ghi hem schuldich sijt van sculdegher pinen ende alre vorst van enegher Minnen, die hi selue gheboet gode te minnen bouen al.

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Devote yourself fully to promoting Love and high charity as well. For charity understands all the commandments of God without straying and keeps them without labour. For he who loves, knows no labour, because he does not feel labour. And he who loves with fire, runs faster and he comes faster fully into God’s holiness, that is Himself, and into God’s wholeness, that is Himself. In the light of His wholeness may all your service be perfect, and also the zeal which belongs to your perfection, a zeal which does enough for Him in His whole nature, in which He is wholly loving. May God grant you to know the whole debt that you are indebted to Him: the debt of labour and, above all, of the single love which He Himself has commanded of us, so as to love God with it above all.

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Letter 13: Commentary Letter 13 consists of three parts. Each part is constructed around a key word which is repeated several times. In the first, “reason” is central (1-24), in the next, “enough” (25-64), and finally “wholeness” (65-80). Each part deals with the same theme: the manner in which the mystic experiences, or rather feels, God’s ineffaceable otherness. Hadewijch begins then by pointing out the role of “reason” in man’s relation with God (1-9), and likewise in the experience of the “loving hearts” (9) and those who “become perfect in love” (20). Next (20-7), she picks up the idea of God’s “dignity”, and she goes on to draw attention to the “perfection of Love”, whom she immediately characterizes as the one “who has never enough (die emmer onghenoeghende es)” (27). After this “never enough” there pours forth a succession of “to do enough” and “to be enough” that cascade all through 28-54. Actually, Hadewijch does not forget to remind the addressee of what might obstruct the desire to “do enough” for Love, that is the longing for “satisfaction”: “one has to miss the satisfaction (ghenoechte) that comes from Her in order to do enough for Her (hare ghenoech te doene)” (38-9) – see Letter 6 and the commentary to Letter 7. By using the term “enough” so profusely, Hadewijch stirs one’s curiosity, yet one may be puzzled as she unites “doing enough” with “paying the debt”: Those who are thus drawn into Love and entertained, and whom She embraces, are so very much indebted to Love, by the great overpowering of Her strong nature, always to apply themselves to do enough. (13, 39-43)

In 52-4, Hadewijch emphasises the close connection between the feeling of having to pay the “debt” and the desire to “do enough”, and then repeats this theme in the final lines of the letter: May God grant you to know the whole debt (scout) that you are indebted (schuldich) to Him: the debt of labour (schuldegher pinen) and, above all, of the single love. (13, 76-9)

This is then the new element in Letter 13: the need “to do enough” is accompanied by the notion of “being indebted”. Here for the first time, this combination of words is used to express mystical union, even if in Letter 6 Hadewijch had already suggested the mystical aspect which the term “indebted” takes on in Letter 13. In fact, in Letter 6 she first uses “indebted” without any mystical connotation. Just as the ­difference between God, who is “great”, and man, who is “small” applies to everybody without exception, so everybody is “indebted” with regard to the wholly Other, for this “debt” belongs to human nature: We are due to (schuldich) to practise virtue… only because it surely befits God’s highest dignity. Human nature, He has created and made

Commentary 155

for His glory and His praise and our happiness in everlasting glory. (6, 316-23)

And what Christ has done for us is expressed in a similar way: “and He paid off through high, loyal service the debt that human nature owed to the divine truth of the Father” (6, 111-3; cfr. 234-5: “to repay fully the debt of humankind”). Yet Letter 6 contains a passage where the mystical sense of “debt” is announced. Looking ahead to the addressee’s union with God, Hadewijch indicated there the inner attitude that should be hers: You shall love the Godhead not only with devotion but with unspeakable desires, always with new zeal standing before the awesome Face of wonder, in which Love reveals herself wholly and swallows up all works. And read from that holy Face all your judgments and your whole way of living. (6, 130-7; cfr. 18, 109-10; 22, 232-3)

In Letter 13 Hadewijch suggests once again how the mystic’s urge to “do enough” comes about. It is the influence of Love that provokes it. If certain mystics are “so very much indebted… to always apply themselves to do enough” (41-3), the reason is that they not only know about God’s transcendence, but feel it as a force that draws them: For interiorly Love draws them so strongly, and they feel Love being so great and incomprehensible, and they experience themselves too small and not mighty enough to possibly do enough for that being which is Love. (13, 47-52)

So far Love has appeared in the Letters as the Force that causes the mystic’s urge of love as well as her labour of love. Now, by using “debt / indebted” to evoke the experience of union, Hadewijch introduces something new. Clearly there is an affinity of meaning between these terms and the word “judgment” of Letter 6: to be “indebted” comes to mean that one learns one’s “judgment” by reading it from the “Face”. And to explain what she means by “to do enough”, Hadewijch emphasises words that belong to the sphere of personal relationship. It is not a matter here of some competent authority judging or passing sentence on a person: “indebted” has no moral meaning, and “judgment” no judicial meaning. Both these words point to the impulse that shows in the Face, the impulse to “do enough” in return – a task that cannot possibly be accomplished by the human being that is “too small” with regard to “that being which is Love”.

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By connecting the terms “indebted” and “judgment” with “Face”, Hadewijch is not putting some personalizing veneer on the Force beyond compare that has overwhelmed her. What she does want to do is to highlight – in her capacity as a mystic – a point which she confirms further in the Letters and develops fascinatingly in the Visions. She indicates how her awareness of God has been enriched: the Force takes on a Face. Love, which at first revealed itself as an ­ultra-­dynamic suprapersonal Reality, appears now as a Person, as the life-giving Face, and yet by this, divine Otherness is not cancelled but intensified. Needless to say, Hadewijch’s view of the Face draws on the theme of seeing God’s Face that runs all through the Bible. In the Old Testament the LORD says with regard to Moses: “With him I speak face to face” (Numbers 12, 8), and in the New Testament Paul holds out this prospect: “then we will see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13, 12). Hadewijch has adopted the biblical idea of God revealing himself in the Face: by first looking at the human being, God invites him or her to return the look. In Christian tradition, this effective ascendancy of the Face has found perfect pictorial expression in the icon. Such a way of representing Christ, the Lord, has even been considered suitable for cultic use: both the painter and the beholder adopt the active principle of reverse perspective. Usually, the person who looks at a painting has the dominant role, that of the subject looking at an object. With the icon, looking at and being looked at are reversed: the figure on the panel looks at the looker who gives a shy look back. For the meaning of caritate (13, 66), which does not evoke here love of neighbour but love for God, see Letter 14.

Brief 14 God si v grote ende ewelike Minne, ende gheue v wijs leuen ende die egregie doghet, daer ghi siere heilegher Minnen ghenoech mede doet. Daer omme werct alle vren sonder sparen. Sijt altoes ernst in oetmoedicheiden Ende dient wiselike. God si v hulpe ende v troest in allen uwen wesene; Ende lere v die gherechte doghet daer men der Minnen meest eren ende rechts met doet. God moete v leren die bequame enicheit die hi sinen vader gaf, doen hi hem enichlike mensche leuede ende puer. Ende hi lere v die heileghe enicheit die hi leerde ende ordineerde sinen heyleghen vrienden, Die dore die Minne van gode alle vreemde troeste begauen. Ende hi moet v doen kinnen met waerheiden Ende met werken die lieue suete enicheit die hi noch sinen lieuen vrienden doet bekinnen, Die hem bouen alle dinc te siere heilegher sueter Minnen voeghen. Siet dat ghi nuwe wert ende versch sonder moeden; ende ghedinct der hogher wesene vander eweliker caritaten, wat seden sinte Pauwels seghet dat si heuet, Watsi al es ende watsi al vermach; ende fundeerter v seluen inne. Dat moet emmer sijn, suldi gode leuen: Want watmen dade buten caritaten, dat ware al niet. Hier omme haest v te veruolghene karitate met crachte van vieregher begherten der gherechter minnen.

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Letter 14 God be for you great and eternal Love and give you to live wisely and with the outstanding virtue with which you do His holy Love enough. Work continuously for that without omitting anything. Always be persevering in humility and serve wisely. May God be your help and consolation, whatever your disposition, and He may teach you the just virtue with which we most honour Love and do her justice. May God teach you the proper exclusiveness which He devoted to His Father when as a human being He lived purely and exclusively for Him. And He may teach you the holy exclusiveness which He taught His friends and imposed on them, who gave up all alien consolation for the love of God. And He may make you know in truth and in works the dear, sweet exclusiveness which He still makes known to His dear friends, who attach themselves above all else to His holy, sweet love. See to it that you become new and fresh without tiring, and remember the high being of eternal charity [caritaten], her way of proceeding according to Saint Paul’s words, all that she is and all that she is able to do, and base yourself on that. That should be done always, if you want to live for God, for whatever one may do outside love, it would all be nothing. Therefore make haste to accomplish love with the power of fiery desire for just love.

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Te derre caritaten sijt wacker ende ernst inder peregrinacien des leuens, dit te voldoene Ende dan te comene in dat ghebruken inder minnen lant, Daer karitate ewelike dueren sal. Caritate dat es sculdeghe oetmoedicheit; Want die dat rike vander minnen gods van hem niet gheoefent en weet, hi moet hem oetmoedeghen onder de moghende cracht gods. Ay, dat es wel recht, die sinen lieuen allene es heimelec dat hem sijn lief weder heimelec si, Alsoe die bruut seghet indie canteken: Mijn lief mi ende ic hem. Ay, wien soudemen yet el sijn dan alleene den lieue? Want al dat yemant anderen doet dan lief lieue, dat es herde vreemde; Mer van lieue eest allene suete ende bequame in allen manieren. Wildi dese volmaectheit bekennen, soe moeti te alre eerst v seluen leren kennen Jn sake, Jn wille, Jn onwille, Jn seden, Jn minnen, Jn haten, Jn trouwen, Jn ontrouwen, Ende in allen dinghen die v ontmoeten. Ghi sult v proeuen hoe ghi verdraghen moghet al dat v mescomt, Ende hoe ghi ontberen moghet dat ghi lief hebbet. Dat es oec die meeste mesquame die ene ionghe herte doghen mach, dies te ontbeerne dat si gherne name. Ende proeft v seluen in al dat v wel becomt, hoe ghijt hanteert Ende hoe ghesinnich Ende hoe ghemate dat ghire ane sijt.

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With an eye to that love, be awake and persevering in the pilgrimage of life to accomplish that and then to come in the enjoyment in the land of love [minne], where charity [karitate] shall last forever. Love is the humility which one owes. For she who knows that she does not realize the kingdom of the love of God, she has to humble herself under God’s almighty power. Ah, it is the good right of the person who solely belongs to her beloved intimately, that her beloved from his side belongs intimately to her, as the bride says in the Song of Songs: “My beloved is mine and I am his.” Ah, for whom else would one want to be something except for the beloved? For all that one does for someone else other than what the beloved does for the beloved, is very alien, yet if it comes from the beloved, only then is it sweet and fitting in all respects. If you want to come to know these perfections, you need in the very first place to know yourself in motivation, in will, in unwillingness, in proceeding, in loving, in hating, in loyalty, in disloyalty, in all things happening to you. You should discern within yourself to what extent you can support all that turns out badly for you and to what extent you can miss what is dear to you. The worst adversity in this regard which a young heart may have to suffer, is to miss out on that which it would gladly accept. And examine yourself regarding all that pleases you, how you make use of it and how careful and how moderate you are with it.

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Jn al dien dat v onmoet houdet v effene, Jn rasten, Jn pinen; vroedeleke besiet altoes de werke ons heren; daer ane suldi volmaectheit leren. Hier omme steet wel, dat elc mensche besie de gracie ende dat goet gods wiselike ende vroedeleke: want god heuet den mensche ghegheuen scone redene, die den mensche in allen weghen leert Ende in allen werken licht: woude haer de minsche uolghen, Soe en worde hi nummermeer bedroghen.

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Whatever happens to you, keep your balance, in rest, in exertion. Always consider intelligently the works of our Lord. From this you shall learn perfection. That is why it is advisable for every human being to consider wisely and intelligently God’s grace and goodness, for God has given the human being beautiful reason, which guides the human being along every path and enlightens them in all their works. The human being following this, would never be deceived.

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Letter 14: Commentary Hadewijch begins and ends Letter 14 with a reference to “beautiful reason” (1-5 and 55-63). She repeats here a motif which was introduced in Letter 4 and developed in Letter 10: the human being must always, whatever the circumstances, make use of the power of reason. Such a principle also applies to the would-be mystic, who should both “serve wisely” (14, 5) – unlike those who serve unintelligently “because of undiscerned service” (4, 60) – and deal intelligently with contemplative “sweetness” (Letter 10). In Letters 4, 10, 14 Hadewijch was dealing with the role of reason in common as well as pre-mystical life. As mentioned in the commentary on Letter 4, it is only with Letter 11 that Hadewijch begins to evoke the way in which the same, “beautiful” natural reason plays a role in the experience of mystical union. In Letter 14 (lines 20-31) Hadewijch points to a dimension of caritate that one might fail to notice because caritate usually means “charity”, “love of neighbour”, as can be seen in a typical passage of Letter 2: “From time to time someone is so wounded by charity (bi caritaten) that he has to renounce God, [whom he experiences] in his enjoyment and bliss… That is how charity (caritate) makes that one human being supports another” (2, 124-32). Yet here, in Letter 14, Hadewijch speaks of “the high being of eternal charity (vander eweliker caritaten)” (20-1), and of “the land of love (inder minnen land), where charity (karitate) shall last forever” (30-1; but already in Letter 13, 65, she could speak of “high charity”; see also 15, 20). Obviously, it would not be correct to understand caritate here as “charity” (in the common sense of the word). Hadewijch indicates how she is using the word caritate here by refering to Saint Paul’s wellknown passage where the Latin caritas (Greek agape) is usually translated as “love” (1 Corinthians 13, 1-13). Caritas, Paul is arguing, is superior to all the charismata (special gifts of God, such as prophecy), for these are passing things while caritas “never ends” (13, 8). At the end of his hymn Paul indicates why caritas is forever: “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love” (13, 13). Clearly, caritas is one of the three virtues that are directed towards God himself (“theological virtues”) and these continue existing for they give form to the relationship between God and us. Yet caritas signifies at the same time love directed at fellow human beings: “Love is patient; love is kind… it is not irritable or resentful” (13, 4-5). Far from being in contradiction, these statements express for Paul the unquestionable truth that Jesus himself has preached: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…’ This is the greatest and first commandment, and a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (­Matthew 22, 37-9). No doubt the saying of Jesus is indelibly printed in Hadewijch’s heart and she emphasizes again and again that perfect mystical union with Love implies the practice of charity (see especially 3, 26-8). Yet she will also highlight the difference between “charity (caritate)” and “love (minne)”. Thus in Letter 20 she points out that “love (minne) can indwell love of neighbour (wonen in caritaten), yet love of neighbour cannot indwell love” (72-3), and in Letter 22 she states tersely: “For charity (caritate) does not seek what is hers, but love (minne) is occupied with nothing but herself” (4-5). Here again Hadewijch is referring to Paul’s praise of caritas: “charity does not seek her own” (1 Corinthians 13, 5), while apparently dissociating herself from him: while the Apostle

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presents the love of God primarily from the angle of charity, Hadewijch is gazing first of all at that love (minne) which is purely focused on the Love (Minne) who is God. In Letters 17 and 18 one will see how Hadewijch experiences both minne and caritate together, but first one has to consider with her, in Letter 15, what is the “pilgrimage of life” mentioned in this Letter 14 (28-29).

Brief 15 Neghene poenten horen ten pelgerijm die verre te varen heuet. Dat eerste es dat hi om den wech vraghe. Dat ander es dat hi goede gheselscap kiese. Dat derde es dat hi hem hoede voer dieue. Dat vierde es dat hi hem hoede uan ouerate. Dat vijfte es dat hi hem hoghe scorsse ende vaste gorde. Dat sesde es, alse hi den berch op gheet, dat hi sere nicke. Dat seuende es, alse hi den berch neder gheet, dat hi dan rechte ga. Dat achtende es dat hi goeder liede ghebet beghere. Dat neghende es dat hi gherne om gode spreke. Alsoe eest oec met onser godleker peregrinacien daer wi dat rike gods in soeken selen ende sine gherechticheit in volcomenen werken der minnen. Dat eerste es: ghi sult vraghen omme den wech; dat seghet hi selue: Ic ben de wech; ay na dien dat hi de wech es, soe merket sine weghe die hi ghinc: Hoe hi wrachte ende hoe hi berrende in karitaten van binnen, Ende in werken van doechden van buten te vreemden ende te vrienden;

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Letter 15 Nine points concern the pilgrim who has to go on a distant journey. The first is, that he asks for the way. The second is, that he chooses good travelling company. The third is, that he is on his guard against thieves. The fourth is, that he is on his guard against excess. The fifth is, that he pulls up his dress high and girds himself tight. The sixth is, that when he ascends the mountain, he bends forward greatly. The seventh is, that when he descends the mountain, he walks erect. The eighth is, that he asks for prayers from good people. The ninth is, that he likes to speak about God. So too it is with our pilgrimage to God, wherein we shall seek the kingdom of God and its justice in perfect works of love. The first point is: you shall ask for the way. He Himself says this: “I am the way.” Ah, since He is the way, notice then His ways, which He walked: how He worked and how He burned in love interiorly and exteriorly in works of virtue for strangers and for friends.

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Ende hoert hoe hi gheboet den mensche hoe sere si Minnen souden haren god van alre herten, van alre zielen, van alre cracht; Ende datse dies nummermeer vergheten en moghen, slapende noch wakende. Nu besiet hoe hi dit selue dede, die nochtan selue god was: Hoe hi al gaf ende hoe hi al leefde ter rechter Minnen sijns vaders ende ter karitaten der menschen Hi wrachte met wakender caritaten, ende hi gaf ter Minnen al sijn herte ende al sine ziele Ende al sine crachte. Dit es die wech dien ihesus wiset ende selue es, Ende dien hi selue ghinc, daer dat eweghe leuen in leghet Ende die ghebrukenisse der waerheit sijns vader glorie. Daer na vraghet omme den wech sinen heileghen die hi ghehaelt heuet, Ende dien die hier noch bleuen sijn, Ende sinen na volgheren in volmaecten doechden Die hem gheuolghet sijn op den berch van hoghen leuene vten diepen dale van oetmoedicheit, Ende sijn op gheclommen die hoghe berghe met staerken gheloue ende met hoghen toeuerlate der contemplacien der herteleker sueter minnen. Ende noch vraghet om den wech, dien die bi v sijn ende dien ghi siet Dat sinen weghen nu alre ghelijcst gaen ende hem ghehorsam sijn in allen aerbeide van doechden.

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And hear how He commanded the people how greatly they must love their God, with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their strength, and that they may nevermore forget this, neither sleeping nor waking. See then also how He did this Himself, although He Himself was God: how He gave everything and lived entirely for the sake of just love of His Father and charity for the people. He worked with vigilant love of neighbour and He gave for the sake of Love all His heart and all His soul and all His strength. This is the way which Jesus shows, and which He Himself is and which He Himself walked, and in which lies eternal life and real enjoyment of His Father’s glory. Furthermore ask for the way His saints, those He has come for and those who remain here, and those who imitate Him through perfect virtues, who have followed Him up the mountain of the high life out of the deep valley of humility, and who have climbed the high mountain through strong faith and through high trust wakened in the contemplation of warm-hearted, sweet Love. And further, ask those for the way who are with you and who you see now walking His ways most similarly and who you see being obedient to Him in all exertion of virtues.

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Dus volghet hem die selue de wech es, ende hen dienne ghegaen hebben, ende nu gaen. Dat ander es: ghi sult goede gheselscap kiesen: dat es die heileghe ordene daer ghi menichs goets deelachtich wert, Ende te alre vorst, metten heileghen minneren gods, daer god meest af es ghemint ende gheeert, Ende daer ghi af gheuoelt dat ghi meest met gheholpen wert, Ende daer uwe herte meest met gheenicht es ende op gheheuen wert te gode, Ende diere woerde ende gheselscap v meest trecken ende voerderen te gode. Mer scuwet hier in sere uwe raste ende uwe onste. Ende merct nauwe van mi ende van allen menschen daer ghi trouwe in soeket, wie si sijn, Daer ghi af ghebetert wert, Ende merct wat hare leuen es. Want diere es v nu overluttel in ertrike die ghewareghe trouwe hebben connen: Want alle die liede wel na willen nv van gode ende vanden Mensche dat hem ghenoeghet ende datsi begheren, ocht si ontberens. Dat derde es: ghi sult v hoeden voer dieue; dat sijn subtile coringhen van buten ende van binnen. Na dien datmen gheen ambacht connen en mach sonder meester, soe en sijt nummer soe coene Dat ghi v enich sunderlinghes wesens onderwindet sonder raet van gheesteleken vroeden. Dat vierde es: ghi selt v hoeden van ouerate; dat es van vreemder rasten, Ende dat v ghene sake buten gode nummermeer en ghenoeghe noch en smake vore dien male dat ghi gods ghesmaket hoe wonderlike suete hi es.

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Thus follow Him who Himself is the way, and those who have walked it and are walking it now. The second point is: you shall choose good travelling company, this is the saintly community in which you are blessed with many a good, and walk in the very first place with the saintly lovers of God, by whom God is most loved and honoured, and who you feel are most helpful to you, and with whom your heart is most at one and lifted up to God, and whose words and company pull and advance you most towards God. However, greatly shun to find your rest and your affection in this. Yet examine conscientiously, with regard to me and all those in whom you seek loyalty, who are those through whom you are improving, and examine what their life is. For there are very few on earth now who are capable of true loyalty: now nearly all people want from God and from the fellow human being what satisfies them and what they desire, otherwise they withdraw from it. The third point is: you shall be on your guard against thieves; these are subtle temptations without and within. Since one cannot learn a trade without a master, never be so bold as to become involved with any singular state without advice from people who know about spiritual matters. The fourth point is: you shall be on your guard against excess this is alien rest -, and take care that not a thing outside God ever satisfies you or is tasty to you till the moment when you taste God how wonderfully sweet He is.

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Ay, ghedinct ende wet altoes: al dat yemanne yet el ghenoeghet dan gode allene, dat es al oueraet. Dat vijfde es: ghi sult v hoeghe scursen Ende vaste gorden; dat es van alre ertscher vlecken ende van alre nederheit behoedet te sine, Ende soe vaste ghegordet te sine metter Minnen bande die god es, dat ghi v seluen yewerint el inne sinken laet. Dat seste es: alse ghi den berch op gaet, dat ghi sere nicken selt, Dat es dancken in al die pinen die v toe comen omme der Minnen; Ende dat ghi v van al uwer herten oetmoedeghen selt, al mochti allene alle die doechden werken Die alle menschen moghen die leuen, dat v al cleyne duncken soude ende al niet ieghen die groetheit gods Ende ieghen die scout die ghi gode schuldich sijt in dienste ende in Minnen. Dat seuende es: alse ghi den berch neder gaet, seldi recht gaen; Dat es: al moetti biwilen sinken int nemen uwer noetdorf ende int gheuoelen der behoeften uwes lichamen, nochtan seldi uwe begherte op houden te gode metten heyleghen Die hoghe leueden, ende seiden: al onse wandelinghe es inden hemel. Dat achtende es: ghi sult goeder liede ghebet begheren. Dat es: ghi sult van allen heileghen ende van allen menschen begheren gheuordert te sine ten ouersten wille gods, Ende selt alle dinc laten om met hem een te sine in gode.

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Ah, remember and always know: everything that satisfies someone while it is other than God alone, all that is excess. The fifth point is: you shall pull up your dress high and gird yourself tight. This is being preserved from all earthly stains and all lowliness, and being so tightly girded with the bond of Love who is God, that you do not let yourself sink into anything else. The sixth point is: when you ascend the mountain, you shall bend forward greatly. This is giving thanks in all the pains that come over you for the sake of Love, and humbling yourself with all your heart. Even if you were able to work alone all the virtues which all human beings who are alive could work, that all would seem little to you and absolutely nothing compared to God’s greatness and the debt which you owe God in serving and loving. The seventh point is: when you descend the mountain, you shall walk erect. This is that, even though at times you have to descend in order to meet your needs, feeling the necessities of your body, that you still lift your desires up to God, with the saints who lived loftily, and said: “All our commerce is in God”. The eighth point is: you shall ask for prayers from good people. This is: you shall desire to be helped on to God’s highest will by all the saints and by all people, and you shall renounce all things to be one with them in God.

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Dat neghende es: ghi selt gherne om gode spreken. Dat es een teken van Minnen, dat lieues name suete es. Daer af sprect Sente bernaert: Jhesus es honech inden mont. Het es ouer soete omme lief te sprekene, ende het beruert de Minne ouer sere, Ende het vlietecht de werke. Nu mane ic v bider heilegher Minnen Gods dat ghi scone ende suuerlike uwe peregrinacie doet Sonder vernoyen Ende sonder swaren van eenwillicheiden, in sueten vredeleken bliden gheeste. Ende dorwandelt soe gherecht ende soe puer ende soe berrende dit ellende, Dat ghi gode v lief vindet ten ende: dies hulpe hi v selue ende sijn heyleghe Minne.

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The ninth point is: you shall like to speak about God. It is a sign of love that the name of the Beloved is sweet to one. About this Saint Bernard says: “Jesus is honey in the mouth.” It is exceedingly sweet to speak about the Beloved, and it greatly awakens love, and it adds diligence to the works. Now I exhort you by God’s holy Love that you make your pilgrimage beautifully and purely, without being sad and without feeling encumbered through being self-willed, in a sweet, peaceful, and glad spirit. And walk through this place of exile so just and so pure and so burning that you find God your Beloved in the end. For that He Himself may help you and His holy Love.

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Letter 15: Commentary Letter 15 is not a mere mystical guideline in the form of an allegory. Here, Hadewijch deals with a well-known theme that concerns all the faithful and, moreover, all human beings – “the journey of life” – which she specifies by connecting it with the evangelical motif of “the way”. She works some of her mystical insights into this fabric, which as such has nothing of mysticism in it. As love mystic she accepts a common lesson in life. The image of the “pilgrim who has to go on a distant journey”, thus making his or her ­“pilgrimage (peregrinatie) to God” (1, 13. 116) is drawn from the Bible. In the Vulgate (the old Latin translation of the Bible), the original of Hadewijch’s peregrinatie – peregrinatio – appears again and again, suggesting how “pilgrim” and “pilgrimage” are to be understood. In Genesis, God promises that He will give to Abraham the land of Canaän, “the land where you are now an alien (terram peregrinationis)” (17, 8). In the Letter to the Hebrews, the author goes back to that place in Genesis, as he evokes the Old Testament fathers of Faith. Regarding Abraham, he states that “by faith he stayed in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land” (11, 9). Moreover, all those predecessors “confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth (peregrini et hospites)” (11, 13). This is where the theme of the homo viator appears: the human being is essentially “on the way”. There are plenty of passages in the Bible where peregrinatio / peregrinus has this sense. It is enough here to quote a few from Saint Paul’s second Letter to the Corinthians. Titus, he says, is his comes peregrinationis, travelling companion (8, 19). And he evokes the human condition as follows: “while we are in the body we are away from the Lord (peregrinamur a ­Domino)” / “we would rather be away from the body (peregrinari a corpore) and at home with the Lord” (5, 6 and 8). Thus it appears that in Letter 15 Hadewijch’s peregrinatie comes from the Bible. The “pilgrim” she has in mind is not in the first place the person who goes on a pilgrimage to a holy place, but the faithful who sets out on the journey to the land promised by God, on the journey from the earth to heaven. It is in the context of the “journey of life” that one of Hadewijch’s key terms – ellende, “exile” – is clarified. Ellende refers chiefly to what the human being fundamentally is, namely a stranger on the earth. The reason is that he or she belongs to heaven, for there is their home. Consequently, the earth where human life takes place is pre-eminently “this place of exile (dat ellende)” (120). Naturally, this structural, inborn being-exiled brings with it in most people an existential malaise, a miserable (ellendech) feeling (Hadewijch can use ellende in the current sense of “misery”). Yet it is in mystical life that this estrangement from what one primordially is makes itself most cruelly felt. For what defines the mystic as mystic is that while she is, like any human being, on her way to where her home is, Love comes to meet her so as to have her experience union. However, this forthcoming Love proves at the same time to go on living her own, independent life, so much so that at times she treats the mystical lover rudely, for instance by disappearing unpredictably. Then the mystic is forced to “wander miserably (ellendechleke doelne) far away from Him” (6, 140-1) and, as regards the enjoyment of God’s goodness, “to be so miserably far from it (so ellindich daer af sijn)” (12, 59).

Commentary 177

It would be no wonder if two themes like “the journey (peregrinatio)” and “the way (via)” would automatically merge. Yet the faithful’s asking for the right way appears also in the Bible. Thus in Jeremiah: “Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask… where the good way lies” (6,16). And there is in the Gospel of Saint Matthew the image of “the two ways (bivium)”: … the road is easy that leads to destruction… the road is hard that leads to life” (7, 13-4). However, it is in the Gospel of Saint John that the motif of “the way” comes most to the fore. There it almost coincides with “the journey of life”. Just before He sets about the Way of the Cross, Jesus first says to his disciples that He is going where they cannot come (13, 33). Next, He tells them: “ ‘And you know the way to the place where I am going’. Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him: ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life’” (14, 4-6). As Hadewijch quotes this passage in Letter 15 – “He Himself says: ‘I am the way’” (17) – we may assume that John’s Gospel inspired her to weave “the way” into “the journey of life”, giving this the christocentric bias so typical of her. A quotation from Letter 6 is in place here: “This is the way which the Son of God has followed and which He by Himself made us know and understand when He lived as a human being” (324-6). The “way” Hadewijch deals with in Letter 15 is to be followed by the faithful, it gives specificity to “the journey of life (peregrinatie des leuens)” which is “our pilgrimage to God (godleke peregrinacie)”. As such, this “way” is not a mystical way. However, Hadewijch does not hesitate to use the term “way” in a mystical context, for example in Letter 12: “to die on the way (inden weghe)” / “the narrow paths (weghe) which belong to high love” (51 and 104). It is well worth repeating that Hadewijch and her mystical friends do not follow a special way which exempts them from the common “journey of life”. As we have seen most clearly in Letter 6, there is no question for them of such privilege. The way and the paths which belong to love mysticism in no way replace the common way, they are its fulfilling. Mystical experience is the flowering of the tree of faith.

Brief 16 God si met v ende moet v leren die gherechte weghe die ter hogher minnen horen. Sijt wacker ende behendich op uwe materie, Ende ernstich in v seluen ende in uwen soekene, Ende vast in uwe gheloue: op dat ghi ghewarechleke soeket, niet na uwer affectien, Mer na den wille gods, soe seldi al vercrighen daer hi v toe ghemint heuet. Ghi sult oec leuen hoghe in hope van staerken toeuerlate, Dat v god gheuen sal hem te Minnen met dier groter Minnen daer hi hem seluen met mint driuoldich ende enich, ende daer hi hem seluen met ewelike ghenoech heuet gheweest ende eweleke sijn sal. Met diere Minnen hem ghenoech te doene, daer ouer sijn alle hemelsche onledich ende eweleke selen sijn. Dat es hare ambacht, dat nummermeer voldaen en wert. Ende dat ghebreken van dien ghebrukene dat es dat suetste ghebruken. Hier na selen staen die ertsche met oetmoedegher herten, Ende selen dat weten dat si te soe groter Minnen ende te soe hogher Minnen ende enen onghenoeghenden lieue alte cleyne sijn omme ghenoech te doene met Minnen.

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Letter 16 God be with you, and may He teach you the just ways which belong to high love. Be alert and shrewd in what concerns you, and serious with regard to yourself and your searching, and steadfast in your faith: if you search in truth, not according to your affection, but according to God’s will, you shall receive everything to which He has loved you. You must also live high in the hope which comes from the strong trust that God shall give you to love Him with that great love with which He loves Himself, threefold and one, and with which He has been Himself everlastingly enough and everlastingly will be. With doing Him enough with that love, therewith all those in heaven are occupied and everlastingly will be. That is their task, which is never accomplished, and to succumb to enjoyment, that is the sweetest enjoyment. On this shall be bent those on earth with a humble heart, and they should know that, regarding such great Love and such high Love and a Beloved who never receives enough, they are all too small to do Him enough with love.

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Ay, dat onghewarechste werc dat sal elke goede ziele verstormen Ende doen hare afwerpen alle ouertollicheit Ende al dat oneffene es, ende al dat min es dan alsoe daer toe ghenoech te doene der minnen. Daer twee dinghen selen een werden, daer en mach niet tusschen dan lijm daer ment met te gader bendet. Die bant van lime dat es die Minne, daer god ende de salighe ziele in een met ghebonden sijn. Te desen hoghen toeuerlate Maent die heileghe Minne alle vren die edele fiere diet verstaen willen ende die al af werpen willen om Minne, Alsoe hi al af warp doen hi ghesent was van sinen vader, Ende doen hi volbrochte dat werc dat hem de Minne beuolen hadde te doene, alse hi selue seide inde ewangelie: Vader, die vre compt. Daer in seide hi te sinen vader: ic hebbe voldaen dat werc dat ghi mi te doene gaeft. Nu merket hoe hi leefde, ende die heileghen die na hem bleuen sijn, Ende die goede menschen die noch leuen, ende die de grote Minne die god es werken selen: si leuen altoes in oetmoedegher herten ende in ernste van goeden werken sonder sparen. Leuet na gherechticheit, niet na uwe ghenoeghen noch na uwe gherieuen in gheere wisen dan alsoe vele alse ghi wet dat gode eren ende rechts ghesciet na sijn ghetamen. Verlaet v vaderleke op sine hoghe doghet. Sijt ghereet in rade die goet es ende dien v uwe vriende gheuen die gherne v vorwaertgaen saghen. Ende wie hi oec el es die v goeden raet gheuet ter doghet dien hoert gherne; Ende al uwe doghen doghet gherne om de Minne.

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Ah, in every good soul this hopeless task will raise a storm and make her throw off all surplus and all being-unlike and all that is less than therewith doing Love enough. Where two things are to become one, nothing should be between them but the glue with which they are bound together. The bond of glue is that love with which God and the blessed soul are bound into each other. To this high trust holy Love exhorts every moment the nobles with frankness who are willing to understand it and who are willing to throw off everything for the sake of Love, as He threw off everything when He was sent by His Father and when He accomplished the work which Love had commanded Him to do, as He Himself said in the Gospel: “Father, the hour comes.” Whith that He said to His Father: “I have accomplished the work which You have given me to do.” Now notice how He lived, and the saints who have lived after Him, and the good people who are still alive and who want to live the great Love which is God: they live all the time with a humble heart and persevere in good works without remitting. Live according to justice, not in any way according to your own pleasure or comfort, unless insofar as you know that to God is given the honour and right worthy of Him. Rely on his high goodness as on a father. Be ready to accept advice that is good and given to you by your friends who would llike to see you progress. And whoever else it is who gives you good advice for the sake of virtue, do like to listen to it. And all your suffering, suffer it gladly for Love’s sake.

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Ghi sijt te weec van herten ende te kinsch in al uwen seden. Ghi sijt te saen droue ende onghetempert in al v doen: wat hulpet gherekent van allen dinghen? Houdet v tameleke om die puerste werdicheit gods, Ende pijnt v te laboerne: Ledicheit es herde sorchleec den ghenen die gotleec werden wilt: Want ledicheit es meesterse alre quaetheit. Altoes bedet ocht mint, ocht werct doghet, ocht dient den sieken; om Minnen ere verdraghet den erren ende den onwetenden. Sijt blide inden gheest gods, omme dat hi hem seluen allene ghenoech ende Minne es. Sijt altoes blide onder v gheselscap, ende al hare pine si die uwe, Also sinte Paulus seghet: Wie es siec ende ic niet? Alle uwe worde hoedet also ghewarichleke alse vore Christo ghesproken te sine die selue de waerheit es. Dat ic v soe vele predicke, dat mach v pinen, van seden die ghi selue wel wet ende alle hebbet. Mer ic doet om een vermanen vander waerheit, Dat soe wie die minne hebben sal, dat hijs beghinnen moet ane die doechde, daers god selue ane beghan ende sine heileghen; Alsoe men leset vanden mertelaren datsi metten gheloeue verwonnen die conincriken. Men seghet niet metter Minnen. Dat es daer omme, Want dat gheloue stedeghet de Minne; Mer de Minne viereghet dat gheloue. Alsoe moeten de werke met dien gheloue vore de Minne sijn, soe saelt de Minne vierich maken. Daer omme latet v ghenoeghen, want ict v in goede schreef.

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You are too weak of heart and too much of a child in all your way of living. You are saddened too quickly and unbalanced in all your doing: to what avail does one take everything to heart? Keep yourself as is fitting for the sake of God’s purest dignity and apply yourself to working hard: idleness is very precarious for those who want to become godlike, for idleness is the mistress of all evil. Pray without ceasing, or love, or practice virtue, or serve the sick. For the honour of Love, bear with those who are irascible and those who are ignorant. Be glad in God’s spirit, for He is Himself alone enough and Love. Be always glad in your community, and may all their suffering be yours, as Saint Paul says: who is sick, and I am not? So truthfully mind your words as if they were spoken in the presence of Christ, who Himself is Truth. It may hurt you that I preach to you so much about manners of living which you know yourself well, and you master them all. Yet I do it as a reminder of this truth: anyone who shall possess love, must begin with the virtues with which God Himself began, and his saints as well. Thus we read of the martyrs that by faith they conquered kingdoms. It is not said, by love. That is because faith gives steadfastness to love, yet love rouses faith. Thus works of faith must precede love, then love will make them fiery. Be willing to consent to it, for I have written it for your good.

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Letter 16: Commentary What strikes one immediately on reading Letter 16, is the reappearance of “enough”, repeated six times in 9-27. Since Letter 7, the theme of “to do enough (ghenoech doen)” has been treated again and again – see Letters 8, 11, 12, 13 – yet here, in Letter 16, Hadewijch highlights a feature which she first intimated in Letter 12: “Those who are bent on and desire to do enough for God through love, begin here eternal life, wherein God shall live eternally” (12, 13-6; see also 23-5 and 28-30). Now she states that the experience of being bound in love to try and “do enough” is the impossible task with which “all those in heaven are occupied and everlastingly will be” (16, 15-6). It appears once more that the love mystic’s being-one with Love who is God is not a still status but a spiralling development: the Beloved is such that He “never receives enough (enen onghenoeghenden lieue)”, yet that is the One for whom the mystic is obliged “do enough with love (ghenoech doen)” (22-3). By touching the lover, Love arouses in her the impulse to do enough in return, which proves to be a hopeless endeavour with regard to the divine, overrich greatness; yet precisely in this falling short a still stronger urge to do enough arises, for Love inexhaustibly keeps making herself newly felt to the lover. Thus mystical union, far from being something compact, is a lively, organized whole that grows incessantly. In Hadewijch’s view this same living structure characterizes also, forever, the way in which “those in heaven” are one with Love. The mystic’s love experience reflects the ultimate being-one of God and the human being. There appears at the heart of the evocation of heavenly life an intriguing phrase: And to succumb to enjoyment, that is the sweetest enjoyment. Ende dat ghebreken van dien ghebrukene, dat es dat suetste ghebruken. (16, 17-9)

As for the form, sentence structure and sound play go hand in hand, each one building up to the same climax. As so often, Hadewijch structures by repeating words. Here, it is the subject – “to succumb to” – that reappears in the stressed “that” which begins the second part of the phrase. On reaching the end of it – “the sweetest enjoyment” – the reader cannot but experience the effect of surprise brought about by Hadewijch’s skill in structuring a sentence. He or she wonders: Ghebreken appears now to be ghebruken? Moreover, the sound play is just as striking in that the skeleton of the two key words, pronounced three times, is the same: gh br ken. Against this consonance the difference between the sharp e in ghebreken and the warm u in ghebruken comes out clearly, a sound shift that reaches its peak in suetste ghebruken. (See Letter 6, 27-9 and commentary). What is then the mystical meaning of this carefully crafted phrase? In order to appreciate its richness, one has to specify the sense given to ghebreken here, for Hadewijch’s use is not univocal. First, we have to notice the use of ghebreken in the distich of Letter 6: He is in the height of His enjoyment, but we are in the depths of our being in want. (6, 27-9)

Commentary 185

Here, ghebreken means “to be in want”: we, human beings, are far away from God’s “enjoyment”, and the mystics, characterized by their feeling of God’s presence, are especially sensitive to this remoteness, as at times they are deprived of this strengthening presence. Where the satisfactory aspect of union is lacking, mystics are left in “non-enjoyment (onghebruken) of Love”, as Hadewijch puts it in Letter 1 (66). Such then is their “being in want”. Ghebreken is predominant again in Letter 11, where “enlightened reason” shows Hadewijch – who is in union – “in what [she] fail[s], not being enough for [her] Beloved according to His worthiness” (41-3). Here, ghebreken means “to fall short” in responding sufficiently to Love; thus the word ghebreken would be suitable for the evocation, in Letter 16 (as in Letter 12) of the desire – impossible to realise – to “satisfy” God, which engages mystics (as well as the blessed in heaven). And now, in Letter 16, ghebreken appears once more in the expression dat ghebreken van dien ghebrukene. Which use of ghebreken are we dealing with here? Neither the first nor the second use of ghebreken just considered can be combined with ghebruken. If on this occasion neither “to be in want” nor “falling short” make sense, what is the meaning of ghebreken? To disentangle the conundrum, one has to move to Letter 18, where Hadewijch reflects on “love and reason (minne and redene)” (80-98). She explains that with regard to felt union with God, “love” has precedence over “reason”: “love does not rest except in what He is”(84). Yet Hadewijch goes on to ascribe to “love” a ghebreken that intensifies it: “love feels its failing, yet failing makes it go further than reason” (85-7). Moreover, Hadewijch uses words that invite us to take this ghebreken to mean, “to succumb”: “and [love] rejoices as it fails (ghebrect) with regard to what God is” (90-1). Hadewijch will explain in Letter 18 this use of ghebreken (see the commentary to 18, 189-201). As “love” comes into contact with God, she is overwhelmed by “what God is”, and as she tastes this gift, she succumbs joyfully. Thus the enigmatic phrase of Letter 16 – “to succumb to enjoyment (dat ghebreken van dien ghebrukene” (17) – is clarified, and fits with the context. We are dealing here with a ghebreken that is felt by mystics and by the blessed in heaven as they are deluged by Excess. It appears that, while they are not able to “be enough / to do enough” with regard to divine Transcendence, just as little can they enjoy it “enough”. However complete their “enjoyment”, a surplus keeps presenting itself. And even as they are gladly “succumbing”, with their delight spilling over, they are not kept from being aware of their incapacity of “enjoying” to the full what is offered them. By affirming that the human being never succeeds in “satisfying” God, neither on earth nor in heaven, Hadewijch evokes her experience of transcendent Love, that transcendence of Abundance welling up forever. And by adding that “to succumb” is the “sweetest enjoyment”, she suggests that there is no delight like ceaselessly feeling – in union with God – that He is the Inexhaustible. Finally, Hadewijch’s playing, in Letter 16, with the verb “to throw off” deserves attention. By introducing it three times, she emphasizes once again a most essential point of her mystical teaching: the mystic must never loosen, let alone break, the bond with common human life. That is to say, she must always live like Jesus. First, “to throw off” (afwerpen has a harsh ring) appears at the end of the lofty evocation of “doing enough” (9-27). One is brought down from the connection with “those in heaven”, because “doing enough” results here and now in rude renunciation. Next

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(33-5), it appears that those who have temperament and will enough to go for mystical union – the “nobles with frankness” – are bound to “throw off everything for the sake of Love”. Clearly, in union the advanced mystics (9-27) still “throw off” everything, while in anticipation of union the would-be mystics “throw off everything”. Third (35-41), there follows not unexpectedly this typical conclusion: “[Jesus] threw off everything” / “Now notice how He lived”. At all stages, real mystical life is based on living one’s life as Jesus did.

Brief 17 Te alre doghet wes onstich snel; En onderwinter di niet el. En ghebrect in ghenen dinghen, En werct te ghenen sonderlinghen. Te alre noet hebbet onste ende ontfermen, Ende en nemt niet in v beschermen. Dit haddic di gherne langhe gheseghet: Want mi wel groet op there leghet. God doe v kennen wat ic mene, Jnder enegher Minnen naturen allene.

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Dese dinghen waren mi van gode verboden, die ic v in desen worden verbiede. Daer omme beghericse v voert te verbiedene, om dat si volmaecteleec ter volcomenheit van Minnen behoren, Ende omme datse inder godheit volcomeleke ende gheheeleke behoren.

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Die wesene die ic daer noeme, die sijn volcomeleke hare nature: Want gheonstech ende snel, dat es de nature vanden heileghen gheest; Daer met es hi proper persoen. Ende niet sonderlinghe te onderwindene, dat es die nature vanden vader; daer met es hi enich vader. Dit vte gheuen ende dit op houden: dit es pure godheit ende gheheele nature van Minnen. Ende ghebrect te ghenen dinghen Ende en werct gheen sonderlinghe. Dat eerst woert es die cracht des vader, daer hi al mogende god met es. Dat ander waert es sijn gherechte willen, daer sine gherechticheit hare onbekinde moghende werke met werct, Die diep ende doncker sijn ende onbekint ende verborghen

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Letter 17 To every virtue be inclined and quick, But do not take this upon you any further. Do not fail in any thing but do for no one anything in particular. For every need have inclination and compassion, but do not take anything under your protection. This I would have told you long ago for it weighs heavy on my heart. May God make you understand what I mean in the one nature of Love alone.

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The things that I forbid you in these words were forbidden me by God. I want to forbid them to you as well, because they belong perfectly to the fullness of Love, and because they belong fully and wholly to the Godhead.

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The manners of being which I mention are fully her nature. For to be inclined and quick, that is the nature of the Holy Spirit, thus He is a Person all his own. And not to take in particular anything upon one, that is the nature of the Father, thus He is the one Father. This giving out and this keeping back, that is the pure Godhead and the whole nature of Love. And do not fail in any thing, but do no one in particular. The first verse signifies the power of the Father, by which He is the God almighty. The second verse signifies His just willing, by which His justice works its unknowable, mighty works that are deep and dark and unknown and hidden

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al den ghenen die beneden deser gheenechtheit vander godheit sijn, Aldus alse ic segghe, ende die nochtan den personen properleke dienen ende ouerscone, Alsoe na die eerste waerde die ic seide: Te alre doghet onstich ende snel te sine ende in ghenen dinghen te ghebrekene ende te alre noet ontfermeleke onste te hebbene: Dit schijnt nochtan dat volmaecste leuen datmen hebben mach op ertrike. Ende dit hoerdi altoes dat ict altoes gheraden hebbe bouen al; Ende oec leuede ict bouen al, ende diende daer inne ende wrachte ouerscone tote dien daghe dat mi verboden wart. Die drie andere waert die ic segghe die enicheit ende Minne volcomen maken, Ende na gherechticheit haer selues pleghen in enen persone al ene Minne ende el niet. Ay deus, wat vreseleker wesene es dat dat selc haten ende selke caritate in een verslent! Te alre noet hebbet onste ende ontfermen. Dat was de sone in properen persone; Dat was hi scone ende wrachte scone. En nemt niet in v bescermen. Daer met verslantene sijn vader: dat wrede grote werc es emmer sine. Ende dat es de alre scoenste enicheit vander Minnen der godheit; soe dat si daer es alsoe gherecht van gherechticheiden van Minnen, dat si op nemt dien ernst ende die menscheit Ende die cracht daermen nieman bi ghebreken en woude. Ende si nemt op die caritate ende die ontfermherticheit die men hadde op die vander hillen, Ende op die van purgatorien,

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for all those who are below this being-one of the Godhead, as I say, but who, however, serve the Persons as such and very beautifully, according to the first verses I spoke: to be inclined and quick to every virtue and not to fail in any thing and to have inclination and compassion for every need.

This seems to be, however, the most perfect life one can have on earth. And you always heard that I always recommended it above all, and I also lived it above all, and I served therein and I worked very beautifully until the day it was forbidden me.

The other three verses which I speak bring to plenitude unity and love: to experience according to justice [Love] Herself in one person, entirely one Love and nothing else. Ah, God, what awesome being is it, that such hatred and such charity devours in one! For every need have inclination and compassion. That was the Son in proper Person, beautiful He was and beautifully He did that. Do not take anything under your protection. Thereby his Father consumed Him: that awful, great work is always His. And the most beautiful unity of the Godhead through Love is this: where unity is so very just through Love’s justice that it absorbs in itself the diligence and the being-human and the force with which one wanted not to fail anyone. And it absorbs in itself the charity and the compassion which one had for those in hell and for those in purgatory

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Ende op die ombekinde van gode, Ende op die bekinde die dolen buten sinen liefsten wille, Ende op die minnende die wee hebben bouen al dit want si dies daruen dat si Minnen. Al dit nempt gherechticheit in hare seluen. Nochtan gaf elc persoen besondere tsine vte, alsoe ic gheseghet hebbe. Mer die gherechte eneghe nature, daer Minne haer seluen met Minne Ende volcomene ghebrukenesse es, sine onderwint hare noch doechde, Noch onste der doechde, noch werke sonderlinghe, Die soe scone sijn Noch van soe scoenre auctoriteit; Noch sine bescermet bi ontfermicheiden ghere noet, die si so moghende es rike te makene: Want in dat ghebruken van Minnen en was nie noch en mach ander werc sijn dan dat enighe ghebruken, daer die eneghe moghende godheit Minne met es. Dat verbot dat ic v gheseghet hebbe dat mi verboden was, dat was ongherechticheit van Minnen te hebbene op ertrike Ende niet te spaerne dat buten Minnen es, Ende soe na der Minnen te pleghene, dat alle dat dat buten Minne es si ghehaet Ende daer ouer ghewroken, soe dat menre andere onst toe en hebbe, Noch doghet, Noch sonderlinghen werc vore en doe, hen met te verdraghene, Noch ontfermicheit hen met te bescermene, Mer slach ouerslach in ghebrukenessen van minnen. Mer in dat faelieren Ende in dat sincken van ghebrukene, dan werctmen wel alle drie de verbodene werke bi scoude ende bi rechte: alse men Minne soeket ende hare dient, dan moetmen alle dinc doen om hare ere; Want alle die wile es men mensche ende behouende; Ende dan moetmen te allen dinghen scone werken ende onnen

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and for those who are unknown to God and for those who are known but who stray outside His dearest will and for those who love but who have a sorrow above all this for they are deprived of what they love. Justice absorbs all this into itself. And yet, every Person gave in particular what is His, as I said, but Nature just and one, by which Love is Love for Herself and full enjoyment, She does not take upon Herself either virtues or inclination to the virtues or works in particular which are so beautiful and of such beautiful authority, and She takes no need under her protection out of compassion, however much She is able to enrich it. For in enjoyment of Love, never was, nor ever can be, any other work than the one enjoyment, by which the one, mighty Godhead is Love. The command which, as I have told you, was commanded me, was to have on earth the injustice of Love and not to spare any thing that is outside Love, and to devote myself so closely to Love that all that is outside Love would be hated and therefore rejected, so that one would neither have an inclination to it nor goodwill, nor would one do a particular work to help them, nor have compassion to protect them, but increasingly be in the enjoyment of Love. But as enjoyment fails and sinks, then one works indeed all the three forbidden works, of obligation and in justice. Where one seeks Love and serves Her, one must do all for Her honour’s sake, because all that time one is a human being and needy. And then one must in all respects work beautifully and have an inclination

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ende dienen ende ontfermen, Want hem ghebrect alles ende behoeuet. Mer in ghebrukene van Minnen es men god worden moghende ende gherecht. Ende dan es wille ende werc ende moghentheit euen gherecht. Dat sijn die drie persone in enen god. Dit wert mi verboden, dies was te ascentien .iiij. Iaer, van gode den vader selue in dien tide dat sijn sone comen was ten outare. Bi diere comst werdic van hem ghecust, Ende te dien tekene werdic ghetoent; ende quam met hem .i. vor sinen vader. Daer nam hi hem ouer mi ende mi ouer hem. Ende in die enicheit daer ic doen in ghenomen was ende verclaert, daer verstondic dit wesen ende bekinde claerlikere dan men met sprekene ocht met redenen ocht met siene enighe sake Die soe bekinleec es in ertrike bekinnen mach. Doch schijnt dit wonder. Mer al segghe ic dat dit wonder schijnt, Jc weet wel dat v niet en wondert: Want hemelsche redene en mach ertrike niet verstaen. Want van allen dien dat in ertrike es, mach men redene ende dietsch ghenoech venden; Mer hier toe en weet ic gheen dietsch noch ghene redene. Nochtan dat ic alle redene can van sinne alsoe mensche connen mach, al dat ic v gheseghet hebbe, dat en es alse gheen dietsch daer toe: want daer en hoert gheen toe dat ic weet.

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and serve and have compassion, for one is lacking in everything and needy. But in enjoyment one has become God, mighty and just, and then will and work and might are equally just. Such are the three Persons in one God. That was forbidden me, on Ascension Day four years ago, by God the Father Himself at the moment when His Son had come upon the altar. In this coming I was kissed by Him, and by that sign I was designated, and I came, one with Him, before his Father. There He took Him together with me and me together with Him. And in the unity, in which I was then absorbed and clarified, there I understood this being-one and I knew more clearly than, by speaking or by reasoning or by seeing, one can know any object, however knowable on earth. This seems wonderful indeed, but although I say that this seems wonderful, I do know that it does not astonish you, for earth is not able to understand the language of heaven. Because for all that is on earth, one can find language and Dutch enough, but for this I do not know any Dutch nor any language. Although I know all about sensible speech of which a person can know, all I have said to you is like no Dutch in regard to this, for no Dutch belongs to this, as far as I know.

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Al verbiede ic v some die werke ende ghebiede de andere, Ghi sult noch vele moeten dienen. Mer sonderlincheit van dien dat ic v hebbe gheseghet verbiede ic v voert, alse mi verboden sijn inden wille gods. Mer ghi moet noch arbeiden inde werken van Minnen, alse ic langhe dede Ende sine vriende daden ende noch doen, Ende ic een deel enen tijt hebbe ghedaen ende noch allen tijt doe: El niet te onderwindene dan Minne, El niet te werkene dan Minne, El niet te bescermene dan Minne, El niet in staden te stane dan Minne; hoe ghi elc doen selt ende laten, dat moet v god wisen, onse lief.

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Although I forbid you some works and command you others, you will still have to serve much. But to be busy in particular with those works of which I told you, I forbid you from now on, as they are forbidden to me by the will of God. But you still have to labour at the works of Love, as I have done a long time, and as did his friends and still do, and as I have done a length of time and still do at all times: nothing else to take upon one than Love, nothing else to work than Love, nothing else to protect than Love, nothing else to further than Love. How you are to do and leave undone each of those things, may God, our Beloved, point that out to you.

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Letter 17: Commentary Letter 17 is a peak in the series of Hadewijch’s letters, for it puts the reader in touch with the core of her mystical experience. “In touch” because here more than ever her writing is meant to be felt as well as understood. Again and again one is brought up short by the refinement of form of Letter 17: sentence structure and rhythm as well as sound play touch the reader. Through these formal means even the unsayable is not only put into words but made perceptible. See, or rather listen to the audible silence that accompanies the high mystical moment which is central to Letter 17 (101-111). Briefly, this text is very characteristic of Hadewijch’s writing: the deeper the content, the finer the form. In Letter 17 Hadewijch addresses a question that often arises in mystical literature but is rarely if ever dealt with so penetratingly as here and in the following letter. This question is: when a human person is mystically one with God – the wholly Other – does he or she go on being truly human and functioning as such? How is it possible to be absorbed in the divine and to be at the same time effectively at work in the world? Hadewijch does not, as we have seen again and again, confine herself to evoking what the love mystic experiences interiorly. She keeps telling herself and her friends that they have to be active exteriorly, and what is to be done. To feel one with God in the inner self implies that one follows the Man in his outward action. Yet, mystical minds do not as a matter of course engage in the imitation of Jesus: “We all want to be God with God, but – God knows! – there are few of us who want to live as a human being with His humanity” (6, 230-2). And the mystic who is allowed to experience love which “is occupied with nothing but herself”, needs just as much to practise charity that “does not seek what is hers” (22, 4-5). Overwhelmed by the loving inflow of the Other in her inmost being, Hadewijch must have endured this opposition all the more painfully, wondering how the within and without might be combined. Captured by Love, she is supposed also to be interested in all kinds of people and their occupations – she may “rest” in Love but she has to “work” in the world, and so her “enjoying” Love goes together with her “being in want” of Love. Is it the case, then, that Hadewijch’s self-awareness is doomed to fall apart by moving outward as well as inward? Or does she necessarily get caught in a cyclic process of being one time in Love, another time in herself? Letter 17 attracts attention at once with its introduction in verse form. Thus Hadewijch gives the key: what she is about to say is of the utmost importance, for she received it directly from God (11). For Hadewijch and her circle, just as for the “pious women (mulieres religiosae)” in general, the authority of a spiritual leader was based foremost on authentic visions, and visions were considered authentic when the visionary not only saw divine truths and decisions but heard them. It is in visions then that Hadewijch’s authority is founded. In the first Letter this God-given leadership came to the fore only for a moment – “and I order you from your Beloved” (1, 21-2) – and in the last it will be just mentioned (31, 21-5). However, in Letter 6 Hadewijch refers in so many words to Vision 1 in order to substantiate an essential point in her teaching: her mystical companions ought to be human with the Man no less than divine with God. Their whole life has to be marked by this christocentric complexity. This same coming together of contraries is brought into Letter 17, but now in the form of the relation between working in the world and enjoying Love, between practising love of

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neighbour (caritate) and living love (minne). Just as Hadewijch in Letter 6 bases her mystical principles upon a vision of Christ Jesus, so in Letter 17 she calls upon an apparition of the Holy Trinity. The first six verses reproduce God’s words in three antitheses of two lines. Each time the first line represents a general commandment that in the second line is invalidated by a prohibition. In the preceding Letters Hadewijch has time and again emphasized that love mystics are bound to do what is said in the first verse, just as common Christians: “To every virtue be inclined and quick”. Yet, this commandment is now disregarded in the second line: “but do not take this upon you any further”. In the prose part of Letter 17 Hadewijch explains the verses. In the first place she shows that these opposites are paradoxes: what is advanced in the first verse is not annulled in the second but taken over. Already in the tenth line this is indicated by “in the one nature of love alone”: the preceding antitheses make sense, in the way paradoxes do, for the person who is absorbed in the one Love: only there, in that oneness, this twoness belongs. A few lines further on, Hadewijch emphatically makes the same point by means of a striking verbal form (13-6). She piles up words with a similar sense and which, in her Middle Dutch, sound alike: perfectly (volmaecteleec) / fullness (volcomenheit) / fully (volcomeleke). Moreover she enhances this verbal complex by “wholly” and by so placing the repeated “belong to” that the reader cannot be mistaken about the origin of the paradoxes, namely the plenitude of Love and Godhead (Daróczi 222). Next, Hadewijch goes on to explain the verses by linking those paradoxical “manners of being (wesene)” to the Persons of the Trinity. The first is attributed to the Holy Spirit and the second to the Father (16-21). This leads to an amazed consideration of the mysterious manner of being of Love who is God, ground and source of the manner of being the mystic should acquire: This giving out and this keeping back, that is the pure Godhead and the whole nature of Love. (17, 21-3)

Subsequently, Hadewijch connects the first line of each paradox repectively with the Spirit, the Father, and the Son. The second line is each time connected with the Father. For Hadewijch, who adopts the doctrine of the Trinity of the Greek Church Fathers, the Unity of the Trinity is in the Father: “He is the one Father” (21). The Father has, so to speak, a double function: He is one of the Persons as well as their Unity. The Father is “a Person all his own” (19) who, in the same manner as each Person “gives in particular” (66). Yet, “not to take anything upon one, that is the nature of the Father, thus He is the one Father” (19-21). Hadewijch’s Trinitarian consideration (her union with the Trinity will be evoked further on, in 101-11)) is not a theological ornament but an essential link in the elucidation of the paradoxes. Two distinguishing characteristics of the Trinity are relevant here. First, the Persons, even as they are absorbed in the fatherly Unity, do not perish. It is their own way of working that is removed in Unity. For Hadewijch, then, it is out of the question that the mystic, in whom the Trinitarian manner of being is transmitted, would disappear as the person she is when she is in “the most beautiful unity of the Godhead through Love” (54-5). The second characteristic of the Trinity that matters here is that the Persons keep coming back from the Unity so to speak to work, each in his own way. See, for instance, how the Holy Spirit

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comes to exist as a Person: “to be inclined and quick… thus He is a Person all his own” (17-9; cf. 49-51 about the Son). So, the divine activity, unhindered by the absorbing Unity, continues diverse in character. Consequently, the mystic who is called to live after the Trinitarian model does not lose in union what she is by nature, that is: properly a person with her own manner of working. The question is then what exactly she must let go as it is forbidden her to do anything “in particular” (25) or “to be busy in particular with those works I told you about” (125-6). The paradoxical attitude of mind that is treated in Letter 17 does not appear out of the blue. In Letter 2 the addressee was told to carry out a lot of good works (see how 2, 15 reappears almost literally in 17, 3). However, she is warned at the same time not to become interiorly divided but to remain “one in the spirit out of all creatures” (2, 28-9). Moreover Hadewijch, who has presented herself in Letter 3 as always in action (3, 26-32), urges upon the addressee of Letter 5 the need for works: “do not fail in virtues” (5, 37). (This looks like a combination of the first and third verses of Letter 17). Yet, the mistress goes on to formulate a sharp criticism of the disciple’s activism: “you busy yourself too much with many things…” (5, 37-48). Briefly, in Letters 2, 3, and 5 Hadewijch has already given an indication of the problem she will go into fully in Letter 17. She has broached the subject of Letter 17 in still another way: in Letter 4 she calls attention to what reason does by nature and rightly so: “distinction-making” (4, 36 and 84; cfr. 24, 2-3 and 6-7). By delimiting things in the inner as well as in the outer world, reason makes human life possible. Yet reason can “stray” either by failing in making distinctions or by being too attached to this approach. Later, in Letter 28, Hadewijch will show how this attachment can check mystical union: in the enjoyment of Love this “distinction-making” is to be “healed” (28, 262-3), so much so that the accomplished mystic needs to live beyond reason as well as with reason. From this brief review it appears that several attitudes of mind may hinder felt union with God in human activity. “Particularity” is one of them. The mystic who should not expose herself to inner division and occupation, caused by the multiplicity of things and her many occupations, who should not hold on to the “distinction-making” that goes together with her being rational, should also be able to let go her particular way of working which is connected with her being a person. In her action she should not fix her attention on the personal stamp she sets on her work but, like the divine Persons, she has to let herself be again and again absorbed in Unity, so much so that she “does not take [the work] upon herself except with the love of her Beloved. This is what I meant when I last wrote to you about those three virtues” (18, 45-9). Let us now have a close look at the literary form of Letter 17 (Daróczi 220-31). In this crucial piece of writing, Hadewijch makes virtuoso use of formal devices that have drawn attention ever since Letter 1. Most conspicuous is repetition – of words and word-sounds, sentence structures and rhythm – especially at the beginning and the end of the letter. We have already considered an introductory passage that intends the reader to perceive, in the accumulation of similar and almost homophonous terms, what Hadewijch is trying to put into words: the plenitude of Love and Godhead (13-6). Yet it is at the end of Letter 17 that repetition is used with such frequency that one passes directly from one example to another. First (123-7), Hadewijch repeats the initial repetition (113) of the different forms of “to forbid”. Next (127-31), she wants the reader to hear-and-feel what at the same time he is supposed to understand: although absorbed in unity, the mystic has to work. That is why she makes us listen to the five times repeated “do”. Finally (131-4), in the

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conclusion of Letter 17, Hadewijch gives literary form to the way of life proper to the mystic who takes to heart the interdictions which come from God: nothing else to take upon one than Love, nothing else to work than Love, nothing else to protect than Love, nothing else to further than Love. (17, 131-4)

“In the centre of the same, four times repeated, syntactic structure, stand four verbs that express activity, but these are put in the impersonal infinitive: ‘to take upon one / to work / to protect / to further’. This active core is enclosed by the harmonising ‘nothing else… than Love’, in which, obviously, the stress falls on ‘Love’” (Daróczi 230). The most helpful insight into Hadewijch’s way of shaping her text in Letter 17 is to see that she makes use over and over again of the “ABC structure”. Everywhere this form is functioning: ‘A’ referring to what is commanded, ‘B’ to what is forbidden. From beginning to end these two form the basic structure of Letter 17. Yet, it does not take long before ‘C’, the third structuring element appears, in which the union of A and B takes place: “May God make you understand what I mean in the one nature of Love alone” (9-10). “In the first part of Letter 17 Hadewijch refers back a few times to the opening verses, thus inculcating this basic structure in the reader. Yet, susequently she plays with those three elements, so much so that ABC becomes an abstract framework that the reader has constantly in mind, even when A or B appear separately, or when A and B overlap” (Daróczi 222-3). So, ABC proves to be a movable structure that first comes to the fore in the Trinitarian passage we have already considered. Here A indicates the Holy Spirit, B the Father, and C the mystery of A and B coinciding in divine Unity: This giving out A and this keeping back, B that is pure Godhead C and the whole nature of Love. (17, 21-3)

The suppleness of the ABC structure comes out most clearly in a much longer passage: 17, 35-49. Here, A consists in a self-portrait of Hadewijch’s that shows her as the active woman who has put into practice the three commandments (lines 1, 3, and 5) until this was forbidden her (35-43). B, announced by this “forbidden”, runs till line 47. Finally (47-9), in C the whole ABC framework appears in the form of CBAC: Ah, God, what awesome being is it, that such hatred and such charity devours in one!

C B A C

From the first lines of Letter 17, Hadewijch insists that God himself had inspired her with what she enjoins on her mystical friends. Yet, she does not base herself only on divine words, for she has been given an experience of God which made her feel one with the Father and the Son (101-11). Here, Hadewijch points to the “hidden essence of all the preceding evocations of C” (Daróczi 227).

Brief 18 Ay, suete lieue kint, sijt vroet in gode: Want vroetheide es v groet noet Ende elken mensche die godleec werden wilt: Want vroetheit leidet herde diepe in gode. Mer het es nu een tijt, dat wel nu nieman sine noet bekennen en wilt noch en can in scoude van dienste ende van Minnen. Ay, du heues vele te doene, saltu gode ende den mensche leuen ende vol wassen na dat betamen diere werdicheit Daer du in ghemint best van gode ende ghemeint. Set v vroedeleke ende gheweldechleke in al dat dine es alse een onuerueerde, ende in al v seden na uwe vrie edelheit. Die ghene die rike es bouen alle rike Ende gheweldich, hi geuet hem allen ghenoegh bi siere moghentheit ende bi siere onsten, Niet bi sijnre pinen noch bi sinen toedraghene, Noch bi sinen ghichten metter hant, Mer dat sine rike moghentheit ende sine gheweldeghe boden, dat sijn sine volcomene doechde, die hem dienen ende sijn rike berechten ende gheuen hen allen dies si behoeuen na ere ende na betamen des gheens die daer here af es. Ende si gheuen elc na dat hi gheboren es ende van ambachten: ontfermicheit gheuet allen ledeghen lieden die puer arm sijn, in allen manieren Daerse in begrepen sijn van ondoechden, daersi ereloes ende goedeloes bi bleuen sijn.

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Letter 18 Ah, sweet, dear child, be intelligent in God, for you badly need to be intelligent, and so does every human being that wants to become godlike: to be intelligent leads very deep into God. But nowadays almost nobody wants to recognize his need with regard to the obligation to serve and love. Ah, you have much to do, if you want to live as God and man and grow to adulthood, as becomes the dignity to which in love you are destined by God. Dedicate yourself intelligently and vigorously to all that is yours, undaunted, and also to all your course of action according to your free nobility. He who is rich above all riches and mighty, gives to everybody enough through his omnipotence and through his goodwill, not by making an effort nor by bringing along nor by giving his gifts with his own hands. That is done by his rich omnipotence and his mighty messengers, which are his full perfections that serve him and govern his empire and give to everyone what they need according to the honour and pleasure of him who is Lord over it. And each gives according to their nature and function. Compassion gives to all those without goods who are utterly poor through all the ways in which they are caught up in vices and because of which what they have remains unpossessed.

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Caritate bewaert dat ghemeyne vanden rike ende gheuet elken dat hi behoeuet. Wijsheit achemeert alle die edele ridderen die met groten wighe ende met staerken storme aerbeiten in berrender begherten metter edelre Minnen. Volmaectheit gheuet den ghenoten haer lantscap rike ghelijc den gheweldeghen heerscap der gheweldegher zielen daer ic af spreke, Die met gheweldeghen volcomen wille ende met volcomenen werken hare edele ghewoente heuet met alle den wille der Minnen. Dese .iiij. doechden sal de gherechticheit gheuen ende domen ende benedien. Hier bi pleghet de keyser selue vri ende in vreeden te sine, om dat hi ghebiedet den ambachteren die gherechten te houdene, Ende beset die coninghen ende die hertoghen ende de grauen Ende de vorste ghenoten metten hoghen lene siere rijcheit ende metten werdeghen gherechte der minnen, Die de crone es der riker zielen, die helpen mach elken na sijn behoeuen, Ende hare des selues nochtan niet en onderwint dan metter Minnen haers liefs. Dit eest dat ic meinde doen ic v lest die .iij. doechden screef: Alles te ontfermene ende niet in v bescermen te nemene Ende die andere die ic v seide. Dus ernsteleke houdet uwe edele volcomenheit van uwer werdegher volcomenre zielen. Ende merket hare sinne. Aldus gheheel houdet v van allen onderwendene van goeden ende van quaden, van hoghen ende van nederen, Ende laet al ghewerden,

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Charity guards the commoners of the empire and gives to each of them what they need. Wisdom arrays all the noble knights who with great struggle and strong storm pursue noble Love in ardent longing. Perfection gives the great of the empire their rich realm, which resembles the sovereign rule of the sovereign soul, of which I am speaking, who, through her sovereign, perfect will and through perfect works, is in noble manner familiar with all the will of Love. Those four virtues are to be given by justice, and justice has to condemn and to bless. In that way the emperor himself is accostumed to be free and at peace, for he charges the officers to exercise jurisdiction, and he invests the kings and dukes and counts and peers with the high feudal tenure of his riches and with the worthy jurisdiction of love, which is the crown of the rich soul, who can help all according to their needs, but who does not take it upon herself except with the love of her Beloved. This is what I meant when I last wrote to you about those three virtues: to have compassion for everything but not to take anything under your protection, and the others about which I spoke. Thus earnestly maintain the noble perfection of your worthy, perfect soul, and notice the sense of those words. Thus remaining whole, keep away from any concern with good and bad, with high and low, and let everything be,

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ende sijt vri om v lief te oefene ende om ghenoech te doene dien die ghi mint inder minnen. Dit es uwe gherechte scout, die ghi gode schuldech sijt van uwen gherechten wesene Ende hen dien du met hem best: Dus enichlike gode te Minnen, ende els niet te onderwindene dan der enigher Minnen, die ons te hare vercoren heuet. Nu verstaet die innicheit van uwer zielen, wat dat es: ziele. Ziele es een wesen dat sienleec es gode Ende god hem weder sienleec. Siele es oec een wesen dat gode ghenoech wilt sijn, Ende gherecht heerscap houdet van wesene daerse niet te uallen en es bi vreemder dinc die mindere es dan der zielen werdicheit. Daert aldus es, daer es de ziele ene grondeloesheit daer god hem seluen ghenoech met es, Ende sine ghenoechte uan hem seluen altoes te vollen in hare heuet, Ende si weder altoes in heme. Siele es een wech vanden dore vaerne gods in sine vriheit van sinen diepsten; Ende god es een wech vanden dore vaerne der zielen in hare vriheit, Dat es in sinen gront die niet gheraect en can werden, sine gherakene met hare diepheit; Ende god en si hare gheheel, hine waer hare niet ghenoech.

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and be free to devote yourself to your Beloved and to doing enough for the one you love in love. This is your just debt, which you owe to God for the sake of your being just and because of those for whom you exist with Him: solely to love God and not to be occupied with anything other than with the sole Love who has chosen us for Herself. Now understand the inmost being of your soul, what that is: the soul. The soul is a being that is visible by God and God by her in return. The soul is also a being that wants to be enough for God, and in justice keeps high her being, where she has not lapsed into something alien that is inferior to the soul’s dignity. There such a soul is a bottomless depth through which God is enough for Himself and finds His own satisfaction always to the full in her and she time and again in Him. The soul is a way of God’s passage into His freedom from His deepest, and God is a way of the soul’s passage into her freedom, that is in His ground, which cannot be touched unless she touches it with her depth; and were God not all hers, He would not be enough for her.

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Dat zien dat naturleec inde ziele ghescapen es, dat es caritate. Dat sien heuet .ij. oghen, Dat es Minne ende redene. De redene en can gode niet ghesien sonder in dat hi niet en es; Minne en rust niet dan in dat hi es. Redene heuet hare vrie pade, daer si bi begaet. Minne gheuoelt ghebreken; Nochtan ghebreken vordertse meer dan redene. Reden vordert in die dinc die god es Bi dier dinc die god niet en es. Minne settet achter die dinc die god niet es Ende verblidet hare daer si ghebrect in die dinc die god es. Redene heuet meer ghenoechleecheit dan Minne, Mer Minne heuet meer suetlicheiden van salicheiden dan redene. Doch hulpen dese twee hen herde sere onderlinghe: Want redene leert Minne, Ende Minne verlicht redene. Alse redene dan valt in begherten van Minnen ende hare Minne dwinghen laet ende benden ten steke der redenen, soe vermoghense een ouer groet werc: dat en mach nieman leren sonder met gheuoelne. Want de wijsheit en minghet hare daer toe niet, Te dien wonderleken nyede ende te dien grondelosen te ondersoekenne die alle wesen verborghen es, sonder ghebrukene van Minnen. Jn dese bliscap en mach niet werden gheminghet de vremde Noch nieman vremder Dan allene die ziele die moederleke gheuoestert es inde bliscap derre verweentheit der groter Minnen Ende te wreuen metter disciplinen der vaderliker ontfermherticheit, ende hanghet onschedeleke aen gode Ende leset van sinen anschine haer vonnisse, ende bliuet daer bi in vreden.

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The sight which by nature is innate to the soul, is love [caritate]. This sight has two eyes, love [minne] and reason. Reason cannot see God except in what He is not, love does not rest except in what He is. Reason has its secure paths, along which it proceeds, love feels its failing, yet failing makes it go further than reason. Reason goes further in what God is through what is not God, love pushes into the background what God is not, and rejoices as it fails with regard to what God is. Reason has more a sense of measure than love, but love has more sweetness of bliss than reason. However, these two help each other greatly, for reason teaches love and love enlightens reason. If reason, then, yields to the desire for love, and love lets itself be restrained and bound within the scope of reason, they are capable of a superb work. This work, nobody is able to learn it except by feeling, for wisdom does not interfere in it so as to fathom that wonderful urge which is fathomless, and which is hidden from whatever manner of being except from the enjoyment of Love. In this joy the alien cannot be involved nor anyone who is alien to it, but only the soul that is motherly being fed in the joy of the bliss of great love, and being crushed by the rod of fatherly mercy, and who inseparably clings to God, and from his Face reads her judgement and thereby remains in peace.

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Mer alse dese hoghe ziele weder keert ten mensche ende te menscheleken dinghen, soe bringhet si een anschijn Also blide ende also wonderleke soete vander olien der caritaten, Datse in allen dinghen die si wilt op de menschen wont met goedertierenheiden. Ende van ghewaricheiden ende van gherechticheiden der vonnissen Die si ontfaen heuet in dat anschijn gods, Soe scijntse ieghen de onedele menschen veruerleec ende onghehoert. Ende alse de onedele menschen dan sien dat alle der zielen dinghe beset sijn Na die waerheit ende gheordent in allen weghen, hoe eyselijc ende hoe vreeselijc si hen es! Si moeten hare wiken bi Minnen. Ende die te dusghedanen wesene sijn vercoren inder Minnen enecheit Ende noch daer toe niet volwassen en sijn, si hebben de ghewelt in hare moghentheit vander ewicheit, Mer si es hen onbekint ende oec anderen. Aldus secrete verlicht de redene. Dit sien der zielen verlicht de ziele in alre waerheit vanden wille gods: Want die sine vonnisse leset uten anschine gods, hi werct in alre redenen na die waerheit dier seden der Minnen. Der Minnen seden dat es ghehorsam te sine: dat is contrarie menichs vreems seden. Ende hi moet werken buten elcs werke na de waerheit der gheweldegher Minnen, die hare ghebod houdet na waerheit. Hine es nieman onderdaen dan der minnen allene, diene met Minnen beuaen heuet. Wie yet el ghesproken woude hebben, hi sprect nader Minnen wille.

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Yet, when this high soul returns to being human and to human things, she brings a face so very glad and so wonderfully sweet through the oil of charity that, in all charity wants, she turns to the people with loving kindness. But by the truth and by the justice of the judgements which she has received in God’s Face, she appears to people with no nobility fearsome and unheard-of. But when those people with no nobility see that this soul is provided in all according to truth and orderly in all respects, how awesome and how terrifying she is then for them! They are forced to yield to her through Love. And those who are chosen for such a state of being in unity with Love, but who are not yet adult enough for it, they have in their power the sovereignty of eternity but it is unknown to them, and to others as well. Thus reason is secretly enlightened. This seeing of the soul enlightens the soul regarding the whole truth of God’s will, for he who reads his judgement from God’s Face, works in all regards according to the truth of Love’s way of acting. The way of acting of Love, is to be obedient, which is contrary to the way of acting of many an alien. And otherwise than all others he has to work according to the truth of sovereign Love, who maintains her commandment according to the truth. He is subject to no one except Love alone, who has filled him with love. Would anyone want him to say something else, he speaks according to the will of Love.

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Ende hi dient ende werct der Minnen wercke na haren wille nacht Ende dach in alre vriheit, sonder beiden, sonder vaer Ende sonder sparen, na die vonnissen die hi ghelesen heuet vander Minnen anschine, Die verholen bliuen allen dien die bi vreemden wesene ende bi vreemden dinghen, der Minnen werken begheuen, om datse onghelouet sijn onder de vreemde die lieuer hebben ende beter recht dunct haren wille ghewracht dan der Minnen; want si niet comen en sijn in dat grote anschijn der gheweldegher minnen daermen vri bi leuen moet in alrehande pine. Ende dese vriheit suldi bekinnen, ende diere omme dienen seldi bekinnen. Die liede maken menegherande raet bi hen seluen, daerse der Minnen werken bi versmaden Jn ghelikenissen van groter vriheit, Ende dat doense oec om groete vroetheit. Ende selke ghebieden ghebode daer ieghen om der Minnen ghebode te latene. Mer de edele die sijn regule houden wilt, na dat hem verlichte redene leert, hine ontsiet der vreemder ghebode niet, Noch hare rade, wat tormenten hem soere af quame van niemaren, Van scanden, van claghen, van worden, van begheuenheiden, van gheselscape, van herbergheloesheiden, van naectheiden, van allen ghebreke, dies die mensche behoren soude in allen manieren.

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And he serves and works the works of Love according to Her will, night and day, in all freedom, without tarrying, without fearing, and without neglecting, according to the judgements he has read from the Face of Love. These remain hidden from all those who, because of an alien state of being and alien things, forsake the works of Love, because these are not valued among the aliens, who prefer and think it appropriate that their will be done rather than that of Love, for they have not come into the great Face of sovereign Love, by which one can live free in all sorts of trouble.

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And this freedom you shall know, 155 and those who serve for its sake you shall know. People plan all sorts of things by themselves, thereby scorning the works of Love for the sake of what appears greater freedom, and they do so also in order to be more intelligent. And in this regard some issue commandments, 160 so that one would forsake the commandments of Love. But the noble person who wants to keep his rule, according to what enlightened reason teaches him, he defers neither to the commandments nor to the counsels of the aliens, no matter what torment might follow from it for him from scandal, from shame, from complaints, 165 from words, from being abandoned, from his own circle, from being shelterless, from deprivation, from being completely in want of what that person would need in all regards.

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Dat en ontsiet hi niet Om quaet te hetene, noch om goet te hetene, hine wilt sijn altoes ghereet na ghehorsamheit van Minnen in al dat si wilt, ende pleghenre in allen dinghen na waerheit Ende dore alle tormenteleke werke in de blijscap sijns herten met al der Minnen ghewelt. Aldus suldi met ghehelen leuen gode soe staerkeleke anestaren metten soeten oghen der enigher affectien die altoes liefs pleghet na hare ghenoeghen; Dat es, du salt soe herteleke, Ja vele meer dan herteleke dinen lieuen god ane sien, Soe dat dine gheenichde oghen dijnre begherten bliue ane hanghende in dat anschijn dijns liefs Metten dore gaenden naghelen der berrender gherijnnessen die niet en cesseren. Dan alre eerst moechdi rusten met sente ianne die op jhesus borst sliep. Ende alsoe doen noch die ghene die in vrihede der Minnen dienen: Si rusten op die soete wise borst ende sien ende horen die heimelike worde die onuertelleec Ende onghehoert sijn den volke ouermids die soete runinghe des heilichs gheests. Du salt altoes staerkeleke sien op dijn lief dattu begheers: Want die anestaert dat hi begheert, hi wort ontstekelike onfunct, soe dat sijn herte in hem beghint te faelgerenne Omme de soete bordene der Minnen. Ende hi wert in ghetrect ouermids ghestadicheit dies goeds leuens der contemplacien Daermen gode met altoes ane staert; Soe dat Minne altoes haer seluen hem soe suete smaken doet, Dat hi al dies verghet dat in ertrike es, Ende penst wat hem de vremde doen, dat hi eer CM werf sijns selues verteghe, eer hi hem een poent liete ontbliuen te werkene vanden dienste der werdegher Minnen, daer Christus fondament af es.

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That, he does not shy away from, neither because he might be called bad, nor because he might be called good, but he wants always to be all ready, in obedience to Love, for everything She wants, and in all respects to devote himself to Her, according to the truth, and, through all the tormenting works, in the joy of his heart, with all the might of Love. Thus you shall with all your life fix your gaze so intently on God, through the sweet eyes of uniting affection, which always devotes itself to the Beloved according to his pleasure. That is: you shall so heartily, yes, more than heartily, regard your dear God, so that the united eyes of your desire keep clinging to the Face of your Beloved with the penetrating nails that touch you with burning which do not leave off. Only then you may rest with Saint John, who slept on Jesus’ breast. And this is what they do also who in freedom serve Love: they rest on that sweet, wise breast, seeing and hearing the secret words - unsayable and unheard by the people through the gentle whisper of the Holy Ghost. You shall always intently look at your Beloved whom you desire, for he who gazes at what he desires, is kindled and inflamed, so that his heart in him begins to succumb to the sweet burden of Love. And he is drawn within thanks to the steady, good life of contemplation, by which one always gazes at God, so that Love lets Herself be tasted by him so sweetly that he forgets everything on earth and thinks that, whatever the aliens do to him, he would rather renounce himself a hundred times than fail in carrying out be it one single point of the service of worthy Love, of which Christ is the foundation.

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Letter 18: Commentary Letter 18 is a continuation of Letter 17: “This is what I meant when I last wrote to you about those virtues” (18, 47-50; cfr. 17, 5-6). In both letters Hadewijch deals with the same mystical question but not from the same point of view. In Letter 17 she illuminates from her felt union with Love the divine foundation of the paradox with which the love mystic is faced: to practise charity (caritate) and to live love (minne) at the same time. In Letter 18 she explores the possibility of putting into practice the paradox, and for that purpose she takes as starting-point the human psyche. To begin with, Hadewijch makes a twofold comparison. She evokes the way in which the Creator occupies himself with humankind and, following God’s example, the emperor with his empire (13-38 and 38-44). The Creator as well as the human emperor have themselves represented by plenipotentiaries. God does not rule his creatures by working for them but by making them participate in his “perfections”, that are his “mighty messengers”. The emperor does not rule his empire by involving himself in government but by sending out “officers”, with the result that the emperor himself, like the Creator himself, “is accustomed to be free and in peace” (39). The link between this diptych and the problem of the mystic who must work in the world is indicated twice. First (33-4), Hadewijch says that the soul is like the divine and the human sovereign in that she too is characterized by sovereignty. However, she adds a crucial notification. The current sense of “sovereign” is that one does not depend on a higher authority. Yet, the soul she has in mind is sovereign precisely through her being dependent: she is “in noble manner familiar with all the will of Love” (35-6). Next (41-5), the similarity is indicated: the soul is similar to the emperor’s vassals who are invested with “the worthy jurisdiction of love”. That is why, as a perfect vassal of Love, she does not practise charity “except with the love of her Beloved” (46-7). So it appears that the soul is not compared with the Creator any more than with the emperor. She resembles their representatives, and her relationship with Love is like that of the vassal with his lord. It is an inner conformity so perfect that the soul represents Love, just as the vassal takes the place of his lord without following his own insights. That is to say that the mystic comes to experience how the soul’s inmost being is not confined but is open to the influence of the Other. Through this being-connected she is able to realize the paradox: “she can help all according to their needs, but does not take it upon herself” (45-7). Two elaborate parts of Letter 18 are devoted to presenting the soul (63-78 and 80-98). To start with, Hadewijch describes the soul’s openness, and for this she ties in a motif that first appeared in Letter 3, where God is represented as the One “who is at all times untouchable but so deep to touch” (3, 14-5; cfr. 18, 77-8). In Letter 12, seeds sown in Letter 3 develop into a suggestive evocation of the mystic being inwardly unconfined ground. Against those who are “low-minded [and] so soon run out of love” Hadewijch sets “those who are bent on doing enough for Love”. Such persons are “eternal and without ground… their soul takes after their Beloved who is without ground” (12, 38-47). By pointing out that the soul is unfathomable and essentially related to unfathomable Love – abyss attuned to Abyss – Hadewijch does not give a full solution to the pending problem of inner

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union and outer action. Yet, she gives a significant indication. As union with Love who is God takes place in “the inmost being of [the] soul” (63), the mystic’s working in the world will spring from there to give tangible shape to Love. Next (80-98), Hadewijch goes on to give the reader an idea of the soul as she is by nature. After looking into her depth, she now looks sideways in order to consider her two major forces: “love (minne)” and “reason (redene)”. At once she emphasizes that these two “eyes” are not self-reliant for they are rooted in something deeper in the soul. Actually, they are the eyes of “love (caritate)” – for once, caritate means the common love for God, not charity. This love is, with regard to God, the soul’s real eyesight, it is an “innate” gift from him that can develop into actual seeing through love and reason. Hadewijch’s assumption here that the human being is by nature able to see God shows how she moves with the times. Authoritative medieval writers such as Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), or William of Saint-Thierry (c 1085-1149) from whose work this passage is borrowed, are unaware of the dichotomy between natural and supernatural that haunts modern religious consciousness. Such then is Hadewijch’s account of the soul’s nature. In brief, she asks first what the soul is (63-76), next how the soul functions (80-98). It is revealing that she concludes both considerations with passages that play in the mystical register (77-9 and 98-111). Thus she signals that the natural and the supernatural merge into one another, that it is the mystic who fully possesses his soul. The description of the soul’s functioning focuses on the opposition between love and reason, yet it ends in a sentence that comes almost as a relief: there is a possibility for these two powers to be combined, so much so that together they “are capable of a superb work” (98). Obviously, this work consists in the implementation of the paradox of Letter 17, and from 18, 112 on Hadewijch will elaborate on this practicality. Meanwhile she connects this work with the most advanced mystical experience – see how the passage 99-103 builds up to a climax: “except by feeling / hidden from whatever manner of being / except from the enjoyment of Love”. It is surprising that the realization of the “superb work” is linked to “enjoyment of Love”, but even more so is the evocation of this enjoyment (105-11). This “joy” is composed of contrasting feelings: “motherly fed / bliss” is set over against “being crushed / [fatherly] rod”. Together these opposites form one, permanent union with Love, for this soul “inseparably clings to God”. The complexity of her state of mind is enforced by “reads her judgment / remains in peace”. More intriguing still than the link between the “superb work” and “enjoyment of Love” is the composite character of the enjoyment itself. In particular Hadewijch’s conviction that such painful feelings as being crushed and being judged are part of mystical enjoyment seems strange. Yet this point of her teaching does not come unannounced. We have already considered a passage of Letter 6 where this complexity of the enjoyment is evoked in a christocentric way (117-21). There the opposition between “to live in labour and misery with the humanity of God” and “to love and jubilate with the eternal God” is resolved in “and the truth of both is one single enjoyment”. Moreover, we have examined a passage of Letter 16 where mystical enjoyment appears likewise as such a composite manner of being: “and to be lacking in the enjoyment, that is the sweetest enjoyment” (16, 17-9).

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It is obligatory here to consider the meaning of two words that are central to Hadewijch’s discussion of love and reason (80-98). First, there is the finite form of “to be (sijn)”, repeated five times: “He [God] is (hi es)”. With regard to coming into touch with God, the difference between love and reason lies in this is: love reaches is, reason does not. This falling short of reason was highlighted in Letter 12: “All that enters into a man’s thought about God, and all he can understand of Him and represent in any figure, that is not God” (31-4). Without naming it, Hadewijch is pointing at reason here. She wants to shatter the illusion which is found not only among pious people but also, be it in a refined form, among critical thinkers: that what God actually is could ever come into human thought, and so come to belong to his knowledge, with the result that God would be part of what man is, even “less than man” (12, 36-7). Actually, to “comprehend” God – have him coincide with a concept – and “understand” him – define who or what he is – that is a hopeless task according to Hadewijch, for God’s is forever remains out of reason’s reach. The second word that is prominent in Hadewijch’s reflection on love and reason is “to fail (ghebreken)”, which in this text denotes love. Although love is in the face of God the strongest of the two powers – it rests only in what God is – it “feels its failing” and “rejoices as it fails with regard to what God is” (85-6 and 90-1). It would seem more logical to link “to fail” with reason that does not attain the divine is. In fact, this “to fail”, attributed to love, is only one of the meanings Hadewijch gives to the original word, which she makes into one of her key words: ghebreken. A brief review of how she enriches this word in the Letters is in place here. First, ghebreken means “to be lacking / to be missing”, and it is mostly linked with “enjoying (ghebruken)” – see 6, 27-9; 7, 16-8 and 16, 17-9. In this case ghebreken refers to the person who is in want because he is missing something that he ought to have or wishes to have. Next, Hadewijch uses ghebreken in the sense of “failing to do / falling short of”. This sense is most prominent in connection with “enlightened reason” which keeps alive the awareness of God’s transcendence: it makes the mystic in union see how much she lacks in “doing enough” for Love (11, 40-3 and 13, 30-1). The third sense of ghebreken appears in the passage of Letter 18 concerning love and reason (80-98). It is a pleasant surprise to see that Hadewijch herself, in this same letter, specifies the meaning of the failing she attributes to love. At the end of Letter 18 (189-201) she first evokes the person who “gazes at what he desires”, and whose “heart begins to succumb to the sweet burden of Love” (190-3). A little later it is said that the one “who always gazes at God”, feels how “Love lets Herself be tasted by him so sweet that he forgets everything on earth”. While the second ghebreken means that one is doing very little, the third means that one is receiving too much. On tasting to excess Love’s sweetness, the heart fails the lover, and the world is forgotten. This felt gift is so different from all others that the person who receives it cannot assimilate it and joyfully succumbs – love “rejoices as it fails with regard to what God is” (18, 90-1; cfr. 12, 177-8: “[Jacob] by the power of love conquers God in order to be conquered by him”). In the rest of Letter 18 (112-201) Hadewijch describes how the paradox that dominates Letter 17 and 18 is put into practice. She first refers to Moses who came down from Mount Sinai: “Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Exodus 34, 29). Likewise the soul, who in the height of her complex “enjoyment of Love” (103),

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“from his Face reads her judgment” (109-10 and 118-9), descends into human life with a face that shows her union with God to all, even to those “with no nobility”. She practises charity only “with the love of her Beloved” and she makes people “yield to her through Love” (47 and 125). Not from herself comes her charity but from Love. She gives shape without to what befalls her within.

Brief 19 God si met v ende gheue u mede gherecht bekinnen van Minnen sede; Ende make v condech wat dat si: Jc minen lieue ende mijn lief mi; Alse de bruut seghet inde canteken. Die ghenoech der Minnen woude wiken, Hi soude noch Minne verwinnen al. Jc hope dat noch wesen sal; Al eest ons een deel te lanc : Wete wi alles der Minnen danc. Die rechter Minnen wilt smaken, Eest in dolen, eest in gheraken, Hine sal houden pade noch weghe. Die dolen sal na der Minnen seghe, Beide in berghe ende in dale, Bi vreemden troeste in pine, in quale, Buten allen weghe van menschen sinnen, Dreghet hem dat starcke ors van Minnen. want redene en mach begripen niet, hoe Minne met Minnen lief doer siet, Ende hoe minne in allen leuet vri; Ja alse si ter vriheit comen si, Die vriheit die de Minne can gheuen, Sine spaert doet noch leuen. Si wilt al Minne, sine wilt niet men Jc late den rijm: hiers vte den sen. Want met ghenen sinnen en machmen te worde brenghen die materie van Minnen, Daer ic v in meyne ende wille; Jc en segghe niet el; daer toe behoeftmen metter sielen te sprekene. Onse materie es te wijt; want wi nemen Minne die god selue bi naturen es. Ghewarighe Minne en hadde nie materie. Si es sonder materie metter riker vriheit van gode altoes gheuende in rijcheiden, Ende werkende met fierheiden, ende wassende in edelheiden.

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Letter 19 God be with you and grant you at once to know rightly the manner of Love. And may He make you understand what this saying means, “I to my Beloved and my Beloved to me”, as the Bride says in the Song of Songs. Anyone who yields enough to Love, may some day conquer Love entirely. I hope that someday it will be Although it takes too long for our liking, let us give thanks to Love for everything. The one who wants to taste true Love, whether wandering about or attaining it, must abandon paths and ways. The one who shall wander for victory over Love, through mountains as well as valleys, in pain, in trouble estranged from consolation, alien to all the ways of the human faculties; that one, the strong steed of Love bears her. For reason is not able to understand how love through love is clear-sighted as to the Beloved, and how love lives freely in all things. Yes, once [love] comes to freedom, the freedom Love can give, it spares neither death nor life. It wants Love entirely, it wants nothing less. I leave off rhyming: sensible speaking is finished here. For through none of our faculties can be put into words the matter of the love which I have in mind and wish upon you. I say no more: for that [the matter of love] one needs to speak with the soul. Our matter is too broad, for we deal with Love who by nature is God Himself. True love never had any matter. It is without matter, it is with the rich freedom of God always giving in richness and working with self-esteem and growing in nobility.

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Ay, moesti volwassen na uwe werdicheit, daer ghi van gode toe ghemaent sijt sonder beghin! Hoe moechdi ghedoghen dat god uwes ghebruket met siere naturen ende ghi niet sijns en ghebruket. Hoe mi dat becomt, dies moetic swighen; wat dat ghi hebbet dat leset; alse ghi wilt, ic sal swighen. God moet werken na sijn ghetamen. Jc mach segghen alsoe iheremias seide: Here, du heues mi bedroghen, ende ic ben gherne bedroghen van di. Die ziele die ongherijnlext es die es gode alre ghelijcst. Ongherijnleec houdet v van allen menschen inden hemel ende inder erden tote dien daghe dat god verheuen es vander erden, Ende dat hi v alle dinc met hem mach trecken. Sulken segghen dat hi meynde ane den cruce daer hi ane verheuen was. Mer alse god ende die salighe ziele een sijn, Soe es hi metter zalegher zielen alre scoenst volhoghet vander erden; Want alse haer el niet en es dan god, Ende si ghenen wille en behoudet dan dat si sijns enechs willen leuet, Ende de ziele te nieute wart, Ende met sinen wille wilt al dat hi wilt, ende in hem verswolghen es ende te nieute worden, soe es hi volhoghet vander erden Ende soe trect hi alle dinc te hem; Ende soe wertse met hem al dat selue dat hi es.

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Ah, would that you were to grow up according to your dignity, to which you are called by God from the beginning! How can you tolerate it, that God enjoys you through His Nature while you do not enjoy Him? How I digest this: about that I must keep silent. Read, if you want, what you already have; I shall be silent. God must work as He pleases. I can say as Jeremiah said: “Lord, You have deceived me, yet I like to be deceived by You”. The soul that is most untouchable, is the most like to God. Keep yourself untouchable by all human beings in heaven and on earth, till the day that God is “lifted up from the earth” and is able to draw you entirely with Him. Some say that by this He meant “upon the cross on which He was lifted up”. Yet when God and the blessed soul are one, then He is, together with the blessed soul, most beautifully entirely exalted from the earth. For when there is nothing else for her but God, and when no will is left to her but to live out of His sole will, and the soul comes to nought and with His will wills all that He wills, and is engulfed in Him and come to nought, then He is entirely lifted up from the earth, thus He draws everything to Himself, thus she becomes with Him the very same that He is.

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Die verswolghene zielen die aldus in hem verloren sijn die ontfaen in Minnen hare ziele half, Also de mane haer licht ontfeet vander zonnen. Die enighe kinnisse die si dan bringhen van dien nuwen lichte, danen si comen Ende daer si wonen, soe veet dat enighe licht dat ander ane, Ende soe werden die twee halue zielen een: ende soe eest tijt. Haddi na dit licht ghebeidet v lief te kiesene, soe mochtijs vri sijn; Want si met dien eneghen lichte, daer god hem seluen met cledet, vergadert ende ghecleet sijn. Hoe dese twee halue zielen een werden, Daer hoert herde vele toe. Ic en darre nummeer af segghen; Want mijn ongheual es te groet ter Minnen, Ende oec om dattie vreemde netellen souden planten daer de rosen staen souden. Daer laten wijt nv; god is met v.

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The engulfed souls, thus lost in Him, receive in Love half of their soul, just as the moon receives its light from the sun. In the knowledge of oneness which they bring then with them from that new light, from where they come and where they dwell, the light of oneness seizes the other [half], and thus the two halves become one, and thus the time has come. Had you waited for this light so as to put first your Beloved, you would have been freed through it. For with that light of oneness, with which God clothes Himself, one is united and clothed. How these two halves of the soul become one, for that very much is needed. I do not dare to say anything more about it, for my misfortune regarding Love is too great, and also because the outsiders would plant nettles where roses should stand. We leave it at that now. God be with you.

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Letter 19: Commentary With the opening verses, all in rhyme, of Letter 19, Hadewijch seems to be pointing back to two themes mentioned in Letter 18: (i) the words, “For reason is not able to understand how love… ” (19, 19) recall the opposition between “love” and “reason” (18, 80-98); (ii) the repetition (three times in three lines) of the word “free-” (21-3) reminds one how the mystic “works the works of Love according to her will, night and day, in all freedom” (18, 142-3; see Letter 19, 55-8). However, in these verses Hadewijch suggests also that she does not focus now upon “reason” (as she did in Letter 18), but upon the phenomenon in which the operation of “reason” becomes audible and visible: speech and writing. This point is summed up in a subtle way by the very last words of the rhymed section: hiers vte den sen (“sensible speaking is finished here”) (26). Once again Hadewijch plays on words: sen in line 26 hints back to sinnen in line 17. Sinne, on the one hand, signifies the mental powers (not the senses as the English reader might easily be inclined to think). Among these there is “reason” which cannot understand “love” because “love” is active not in the field of “reason” but beyond it. Sen, on the other hand, means that which is produced by the mind (sinne) through its reason; sen is the fruit of sound reasoning which is usually put into words so as to give shape to intelligible speech. The message of this semantic word-play is clear: as love is beyond the human mind, reason cannot make sense of it, and consequently in this case speech cannot carry any sense, not even in rhyming form. Thus Hadewijch points to the incapacity of poetic form when it comes to putting into words felt union with the Love who is God. In Letter 17, she made use of verses in order to render the words God had spoken to her. Yet she made clear that even those words, though directly inspired by God, cannot communicate the experience: “May God make you understand what I mean” (17, 9). In Letter 19 Hadewijch cuts short the rhyming part of her letter because nothing she could say in this way would be comprehensible. In Letter 19 Hadewijch adopts a very critical attitude towards trying to express mystical experience in a sensible way (“sensible speaking is finished here”). Prose is also inadequate: “For through none of our faculties (met ghenen sinnen) can be put into words love’s matter” (27-8).Yet speech by the mystic is not definitively rejected. “Love’s matter” may well be too “broad”, but Hadewijch seems to know of a form of communication that does not depend on “reason”, as it is done “with the soul” (30). The question pending is then wherein this speech consists, and ­Hadewijch deals with this in Letters 22 and 28. So far Hadewijch has indicated the main reason that she prefers not to speak about her experience. But there is another reason for her silence, the dark side of mystical union, which she has mentioned already in Letter 1 and designated “non-enjoyment (onghebruken)” (1, 66; see also 8, 72-9). In contrast to the addressee’s nonchalance about “non-enjoyment”, Hadewijch reacts: “How I digest this, about that I must keep silent” (19, 41). In fact this “non-enjoyment” reappears at the end of Letter 19 (73-6) in the form of the “misfortune” which Hadewijch endures: “my misfortune regarding Love is too great”. She is reduced to silence about mystical union: “How these two halves of the soul become one… I do not dare to say anything more about it”.

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This restriction imposed by her “misfortune”, making her incapable of expressing the core of love mysticism, must have weighed upon Hadewijch, for in Letter 22 she reformulates it as follows: Ah, God, what wonder happens then there where a great inequality [between God and the human being] is evened out and wholly made one… ! Ah, over this I do not dare to write more: I must always keep most silent about the best, because of my misfortune (dore mijn ongheval). (22, 72-6)

That Hadewijch cannot speak about “the best” because of her “misfortune”, is understandable. When she herself does not see how the way in which Love treats her could be in keeping with mutual love, she is not in a position to evoke for the benefit of others that union of which she is deprived. Briefly, Hadewijch’s “misfortune” causes a double silence: one concerns “the best” of her experience, the other how she “digests” her “misfortune”.

Brief 20 Die nature daer gherechte minne vte comt die heuet .xij. vren die de Minne berueren vte hare seluen Ende bringhense weder in haer seluen. Ende alse Minne dan weder comt in hare seluen, soe bringhet si daerse de onghenoemde vren omme vte hadden gheiaghet, Dat es: een soekende sen, Ende ene begherende herte, Ende ene minnende ziele. Ende alse Minne dese bringhet, soe worpt sise inden abis der starker naturen, daer Minne vte gheboren es ende gheuoedet. Dan comen die onghenoemde vren inde onbekinde nature. Dan es Minne te hare seluen comen Ende ghebruket hare naturen beneden hare ende bouen hare ende al omme hare. Ende alle die dan beneden derre kinnessen sijn, hen gruwelt vanden ghenen die daer in gheuallen sijn Ende daer in werken moeten ende leuen ende steruen Also Minne ghebiedet ende hare nature. Die eerste onghenoemde vre vanden .xij. die de ziele inder naturen der Minnen trecken dat es: Dat de Minne haer seluen openbaert ende beruert onuersien ende onbeghert, alse mens menst moedet na hare werdecheit, Ende dat sise, soe sterke nature soe si es in hare zelven, dat blivet te verstane: ende daer omme hetet wale ene onghenoemde ure. Die ander onghenoemde vre es, Dat de Minne der herten vander starker doot gheuet smakeleecheit ende doetse steruen sonder sterfleecheit;

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Letter 20 That Nature, from which comes the love that is just love, has twelve hours that draw Love out of Herself and bring Her back into Herself. And when Love, then, comes back into Herself, She brings along what the unnamed hours had driven Her out for, that is: a seeking mind and a desiring heart and a loving soul. And when Love brings these along, She throws them into the abyss of that strong Nature from which Love is being born and fed. Then the unnamed hours come into the unknown Nature. Then Love has come to Herself and enjoys her Nature below Herself and above Herself and everywhere around Herself. And all those who are then beneath this knowledge abhor those who have fallen in it and therein have to work and to live and to die as Love and Her Nature command. The first unnamed hour of the twelve that draw the soul into Love’s Nature is this, that Love manifests Herself and moves, unforeseen and unasked, when one suspects it least, considering Her worthiness, and that She does not allow the soul, however strong a nature in itself, to understand this. Therefore this is rightly called an unnamed hour. The second unnamed hour is this, that Love makes an awful death taste good to the heart, and causes it to die while not being mortal.

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Nochtan dat de ziele dus cortelike de Minne bekent heuet, ende datse cumeleke es ghevallen vander eerster uren in die andere.

Die derde onghenoemde vre es, Dat de Minne doet leren bi wat saken datmen steruen ende leuen mach in hare, ende openbaert datmen niet Minnen en mach sonder grote pine. Die vierde onghenoemde vre es, Dat de Minne der zielen gheuet te ghesmakene hare verhoelne ordele die diepere ende donckere sijn dan die afgronde. Dan doetse haer weten hoe ellendich men es sonder Minne. Nochtan en kintse dat wesen der Minnen niet. Daer mach wel sijn ene onghenoemde vre: eermen de Minne bekint datmen hare ordeele ontfeet. Die vijfte onghenoemde vre es, dat Minne de ziele verleidet ende dat herte ende doet haer doen ene opuaert ute haer seluen ende vte der naturen der Minnen in de nature der Minnen. Ende dan verliest si dat wonderen vander cracht Ende de donkerheit vanden ordele, ende verghet der pinen vander Minnen. Ende dan en kintse de Minne niet in ghene nature dan slechts in Minnen. Dat schijnt ene nederheit ende en es niet. Daer omme maghet wel heten ene onghenoemde vre: alse men alre naest soude kinnen, datmen dan der kennissen alre slechst es. Die seste onghenoemde vre es, dat Minne versmadet redene ende al dat in redenen es, ende daer bouen ende daer onder. Wat dat ter redenen behoert, dat es al ieghen saluut der gherechter naturen der Minnen:

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Yet the soul has come to Love only lately, and has hardly fallen from the first hour in the second.

The third unnamed hour is this, that Love teaches in which way one can die and live in Her, and makes known that one cannot love without much sorrow. The fourth unnamed hour is this, that Love grants the soul to taste Her hidden judgments, which are deeper and darker than any abyss. Then She has the soul know how miserable one is without Love. Yet she does not know Love’s manner of being. This is indeed an unnamed hour: even before knowing Love, one undergoes Her judgments. The fifth unnamed hour is this, that Love entices the soul and the heart, and makes them ascend out of themselves and out of Love’s Nature into Love’s Nature. Then the soul loses her being astonished at the power and the darkness of the judgment, and forgets about the sorrow that comes from Love. Then she knows Love in none of her effects but in love. That seems to be a lowering, yet it is not. Therefore this can be called an unnamed hour: when one should know the very most, then one is the very poorest in knowledge. The sixth unnamed hour is this, that Love despises reason and all that is within reason and above it and below it. Whatever belongs to reason, all of it goes counter to the well-being of love’s just nature,

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Want redene en mach der Minnen nemen noch gheuen; Want gherechte redene der Minnen, dats altoes ene wassende vloet sonder peys ende sonder vergheten. Die seuende onghenoemde vre es, dat gheen dinc wonen en mach in de Minne noch hare en mach gheen dinc gherienen sonder begherte; Ende hare verborghenste name dat es ghereinen; Ende dat es ene nature, die vter Minnen selue springhet. Want Minne es altoes begherende ende ghereinende ende terende in haer seluen. Nochtan es si in haer seluen al volmaect. Minne mach wonen in alle dinc. De Minne mach wonen in caritaten, Mer caritate en mach niet wonen in Minnen. Jn Minnen en mach wonen ontfermicheit, noch ghenadicheit, Noch oetmoedicheit, Noch redene, Noch vrese, Noch sparen, Noch mate, Noch gheen dinc. Mer in al dese woent Minne, Ende alle dese werden vte Minnen gheuoedet; Mer sine ontfeet gheen voetsel dan vter gheheelheit haers selues. Die achtende onghenoemde vre es, Dat der Minnen nature in haer anschijn es alre wonderleecst te kinnenne. De anschijn pleghen nochtan alre openbaerst te sine. Ende dat es hare dat verborghenste: Want dat esse selue in hare seluen. Hare andere lede ende hare werke sijn beter te bekinne ende te verstane.

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for reason can neither take away from love nor give her anything. For love’s just reason, that is an ever-rising flood without reposing without ceasing. The seventh unnamed hour is this, that nothing is able to indwell Love and nothing is able to touch Her except desire. Her most secret Name, that is “to touch”, and that is a power which springs from Love Herself. For Love is in Herself always desiring and touching and digesting. Yet in Herself She is utterly perfect. Love can indwell all things. Love can indwell love of neighbour, yet love of neighbour cannot indwell Love. In Love cannot dwell mercy nor graciousness nor humility nor reason nor fear nor sparing nor measure nor whatever. Yet Love indwells all these, and all these are being nourished from Love, but She does not receive any nourishment except from the wholeness She Herself is. The eighth unnamed hour is this, that Love’s Nature is most wonderful to know in her Face. Yet the face is usually most open; with Love, however, it is most secret, for that is She – Herself in Herself. Her other parts and Her works are easier to know and understand.

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Die neghende onghenoemde vre es, Daer Minne es in haren staercsten storme Ende in haren scaerpsten onmoete Ende in haren diepsten besoekene, daer es hare anschijn alre suetst Ende alre ghemackeleecst ende alre minleecst, Ende daer heuet si alre liefleecste ghedane. Ende soe si dieper wondet dien daer si op stormt, soe si metter werdicheit van haren anschine dien si mint sachtere in hare seluen verdrinket. Die tiende onghenoemde vre es, dat Minne niemanne te rechte en steet, Mer hare steet alle dinc te rechte. De Minne nemt gode de cracht vanden ordele vanden ghenen die si mint. De Minne en wiket heileghen, noch menschen, Noch inghele, Noch hemele, Noch erde. Si heuet de godheit bedwonghen in hare nature. Si roepet in al de herten der minnender met luder stemmen sonder peys ende sonder vergheten: Mint de Minne. Die stemme maect soe grote cracht, si ludet van onghehoertheiden vreseleker dan de donder. Dit wort es de bant daer si hare gheuanghene met bendet. Dit es dat swert daer si haer ghereenne met wondet. Dit es de roede daer si hare kindere met casteyt. Dit wort es die meesterie daer si hare ionghere met leert. Die elfte onghenoemde vre es, Dat si besit met ghewelde dien si mint, soe dat sijn sen ene vre buten Minnen niet wandelen en mach,

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The ninth unnamed hour is this: where Love is in Her strongest storm and in Her sharpest encounter and in Her deepest assaults, there Her Face is most sweet most gentle and most lovable, and there She appears most lovely. And the deeper She wounds the one She storms, the more She makes the one She loves drown in Herself through the worthiness of Her Face. The tenth unnamed hour is this, that Love is not tried by anybody, yet all things are tried by Her. Love takes away from God the power to judge those whom She loves. Love does not yield to saints or to human beings or to angels or to heaven or to the earth. In Her Nature She keeps in check the Godhead. She cries with loud voice in all the hearts of those who love, without reposing and without ceasing: love Love. That voice has such a strong power that – unheard as it is – it makes a more dreadful noise than thunder. This word is the bond with which She binds Her captives. This is the sword with which She wounds those who have been touched. This is the rod with which She chastises her children. This word is the teaching which She teaches Her disciples. The eleventh hour is this, that She possesses mightily the one She loves, so much so that outside Love her mind cannot for a moment wander,

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Noch sijn herte begheren, Noch sine ziele Minnen. Die minne maect sine memorie soe enech dat hi ghedinken en can omme heyleghen Noch omme menschen, Noch dies hemels, Noch dier erden, Noch der Jnghele, Noch sijns selues, Noch gods, dan der Minnen allene, diene beseten heuet in nuwer ieghenwordicheit. Die tweelfste onghenoemde vre es, Datter Minnen ouerste nature ghelijct; daer eerst springhet vte hare seluen Ende si werket met hare seluen, Ende si es soe sinckeleec in hare seluen; si doet al ghenoeghen in hare nature. Si es soe ghenoechlec in hare seluen: al en Minde nieman de minne, hare name gaue haer minsamheiden ghenoech in de eersamme nature haers selues. Hare name dat es hare wesen binnen hare. Hare name sijn hare werken buten hare. Haer name es haer crone bouen hare. Hare name dats hare gront onder hare. Dit sijn de .xij. onghenoemde vren der Minnen; want in ghene vre van desen .xij. en can men der Minnen Minne verstaen, Dan die ic seide die inden abys der starcker naturen der Minnen gheworpen sijn ochte die daer toe behoren. Die dat sijn, die ghelouenre vordere in dan sij verstaen.

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nor her heart desire, nor her soul love. Love makes her memory so unified that she cannot think of saints or of human beings or of heaven or of the earth or of angels or of herself or of God, but of Love alone, who keeps her in Her possession through Her always renewed presence. The twelfth unnamed hour is this, that it is like the highest Nature of Love. Only there it springs out of itself and She works with Herself and She sinks so much in Herself that She finds full satisfaction in her Nature. She is such satisfaction in Herself that, even if no one loved Love, Her Name would give Her enough amiability in the glorious Nature which She Herself is. Her Name, that is Her manner of being within Her. Her Name, are Her works outside Her. Her Name, is Her crown above Her. Her Name, that is Her ground beneath Her. Those are the twelve unnamed hours of Love, for in none of these twelve hours can one understand the love of Love, except those of whom I said that they are being thrown in the abyss of Love’s Nature or are destined to it. Those who are such, they believe in it more than they understand about it.

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Letter 20: Commentary When Hadewijch speaks of mystical union with Love as a passing through successive “hours”, she is clearly not thinking of a clock with a clock dial over which the hand turns. Rather, what she has in mind, is the circular movement which the sun – obviously representing Love – produces on the sundial: Hadewijch does not depict here a linear, once and for all return, a process towards Love, but a circular movement that takes place in Love: it starts, makes progress and ends, so as to start again. Through the twelve unnamed hours the mystic, who is already in Love, is being drawn deeper and deeper into Her… On the sundial appear the twelve manners in which the mystic undergoes the influence of Love – these are Love’s works and the mystic’s hours. (Daróczi 418, see the picture on page 419)

The key word in Letter 20 is “Nature”: it is connected to both “love” and “Love” (1-2), and conjures up great depth and power: “[Love] throws them [those who would love] into the abyss of that strong Nature” (9). Hadewijch repeats this thought at the end of the letter, where she says that only those who “are being thrown in the abyss of Love’s strong Nature” (138-9) can understand what she has been talking about. However, two other terms appear frequently: “Face” and “Name” and it soon becomes clear that these words indicate two forms in which “Nature” manifests itself. “Name” is first given prominence in Letter 20, and it recurs in Letter 22: it therefore deserves special attention here. Hadewijch belongs to a religious tradition that gives great importance to the notion of the “name”, in particular to the “name of God”. Here, as on so many occasions, Scripture pervades Hadewijch’s writing. The basic biblical text here is the passage of Exodus where Moses asks God what is His name. The Israelites reacted against those people who claimed to name their gods, and therefore to have some power over them – on the principle that a name is identical with what is named. The tautological no-name, “I am who I am” (Exodus 3: 14) indicates that, for the Israelites, God cannot be comprehended: they are face-to-face with nameless Incomprehensibility. Yet Moses is allowed to satisfy his people in the name of God: “Thus you shall say to the Israelites: ‘The Lord has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations” (Exodus 3, 14-15).

The point lies in the word “title”. Far from being a predicate that would enable them to know who God is, “Lord” allows them to speak to God, to come into contact with Him. It is a name for God only in so far as He enters into a relationship with human beings. The Name of God-inHimself remains hidden. To sum up, the Bible ascribes two names to God: the secret Name points to what God is in Himself, the revealed Name points to how He is for us; the first suggests that He is forever the wholly Other, the second that – simultaneously – He is approachable. Hadewijch uses the term “Name” only to indicate God in his coming near to us. Thus in Letter 1, she distinguishes the “three Names” of the divine Persons from “their one Being” (29-30), and in Letter 22, she makes the same distinction: “to know what He is in His Name and in His Being” (22, 1-2). It is in this letter that Hadewijch’s understanding of the “Name” is most clearly expressed

Commentary 239

as she describes extensively (22, 255-344) how God’s Name is “poured out over all ways” / “poured out over all the earth and over all people” (259-60 and 341-2). As for the Love who is God, her naming evokes likewise the One who goes out of Herself towards human beings. The basic principle – the name is identical with the one who bears it – now works in reverse: what Love shows of Herself to the mystical lover is one of her names. Thus, in “the seventh unnamed hour”, – “Her most secret Name, that is ‘to touch’’’ – “Name” first appears. Obviously, “to touch” belongs to Love’s going out to human beings, for it is “a power which springs from Love Herself” (66-8). The word “secret” here signifies the mysteriousness of this name, because the mystic’s being “touched” occurs too deep in the soul for human faculties to grasp. Next, “Name” appears in “the twelfth unnamed hour”, which is such an advanced moment in union with Love that it “springs out of itself”. Here, Love allows the mystic to become aware of how She is (not what She is) in Herself, thus revealing Her most intimate Name: she is independent “amiability” (124-30). There follows a song of praise to Love’s Name (130-4). After reformulating the preceding Name – “amiability” – as “Her manner of being within Her”, Hadewijch goes on to evoke different dimensions in which Love unfolds, thus hinting at the hymn that is central to Letter 22 (21-4). The other term which, together with “Name” and “Nature”, gives structure to Letter 20 is “Face” (81-96). In Letter 6 Hadewijch had evoked the “awesome Face of wonder, wherein Love reveals herself fully”; it was from there that the mystic reads “all her judgments” (6, 133-7). Moreover, in Letter 13 she gave this Face more prominence by adding to those “judgments” the notion of “debt” (13, 41). Now, in Letter 20, it is in “the eighth unnamed hour” that Hadewijch presents the Face of Love even as the way in which Love’s Nature appears to the mystic: “Love’s Nature is most wonderful to know in her Face” (20, 81-3). Yet she goes on immediately to qualify this self-revelation of Love’s Nature. In this eighth component of mystical union, Love’s Face, “usually most open”, is “most secret”, because the mystic is now received beyond Love’s “judgments”, thus penetrating to Love’s very own Nature: “That is She – Herself in Herself” (84-5). However, by stipulating “most secret” Hadewijch puts this revelation into perspective: the Face allows the mystic to know how Love Herself is, not what She is. Indeed, in the “ninth unnamed hour”, the advanced “knowing”, granted to the mystic by Love’s Face, is specified: Love makes Herself known to the beloved by “drown[ing her] in Herself through the worthiness of Her Face” (94-6). This means that such “knowing” does not include comprehension, as it ­consists in participating in Love’s own manner of being. It is a knowing of the Other that does not yield knowledge. Returning to the term “Nature”, so prominent in Letter 20, while in the other Letters it is used in connection with God and Christ, though also with reference to human beings (see mainly Letter 22 passim), Hadewijch focuses here on the Nature of Love, and stresses two features. Firstly, the Nature of Love is depth, bottomless depth: “the abyss of that strong Nature” (9 and 138). In Letter 5 there is a poetic passage which anticipates this point: “Ah, dear, why has Love not… engulfed you in Her depths?… why don’t you fall deep into Her, and why don’t you touch God deep enough in the depth of that Nature which is so unfathomable”? (5, 28-33)

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Hadewijch suggests not only that the Nature of Love is depth, but that God indwells this depth, for that is where He is to be “touched deep enough”. Thus Love holds utter dominance: it is only in her bosom that God himself is to be found. This leads on to “the tenth unnamed hour” of Letter 20, where Hadewijch explicitly ascribes dominance to Love: she asserts that Love as such “takes away from God [Christ] the power to judge those whom She loves”, and she goes on to emphasize this point, claiming that the Nature of Love is such that, “In her Nature she keeps in check the Godhead” (99-103). The second notable feature of the Nature of Love is that it is defined by a cyclic movement: “out of Herself… back into Herself / “comes back into Herself… had driven Her out” (2-3 and 4-6). The active principle of Love’s circular movement is her Nature: the soul is “draw[n] into Love’s Nature” (20) / “out of Love’s Nature into Love’s Nature” (46-7). Here appears most clearly how the mystic’s love, insofar it is “the love that is just love”, does not originate with her but with Love, with Love’s Nature going out of Herself to affect the mystic in the threefold way of seeking, desiring and loving (6-8); then Love returns into Herself “bring[ing] these along”. Thus Love acting out of her Nature comes full circle, “throwing” the effects of Her going out “into the abyss of that strong Nature”. This idea of Love’s cyclic movement has a platonic ring, but so far no literary source from which Hadewijch might have borrowed it has been found. Perhaps here also she was inspired by the Gospel of Saint John, where Christ is presented as the One who, after going out from the Father, returns to Him. In Letter 22, which is related to Letter 20, Hadewijch refers more than once to John’s Gospel and writes, “The Father poured out His Name and gave us the Son and took Him back into Himself” (22, 279-80).

Brief 21 God si uwe Minne, lieue herte, sijt vlietech in gode Ende en laet v niet verdrieten, wat soe v ontmoet: Want de tijt es cort ende hier es vele te doene, Ende de loen es groet. Jc en hebbe niet vele gheclaecht, Ende ic en wille niet dat ghi moede wert ochte claghet; ende pleghet onser Minnen Ende laetse haers selues ghebruken. Sijt vroet ende pijnt v te verstane welc de doechde sijn daer men gherechte Minne met beiaghet; hebbet ontfermherticheit Ende en begheuet niemant ter noet. Den lieden dunct dat hun haer hebbinghe al besech wert ende hare vrede Ende al dat si vercrighen moghen. Dus hebbense lieuere haren vrede dan der andere. Ghi sout v alsoe bloet houden om gode Ende alsoe bistierich van alre vreemder rasten, dat v nummermeer dinc te goede werden en mochte dan god allene; Ende alse dies niet en ware, soe soudi also wee hebben om hem, alse ene vrouwe die haers kints niet en can ghenesen. Alsoe eest met hen die Minnen: sine connenre ghebruken, ende sine moghenre ontberen; dus comt dat si veruaeren ende verderuen.

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Letter 21 God be your Love, dear heart. Be diligent with regard to God and let nothing sadden you, whatever happens to you, for the time is short and much is to be done here and the reward is great. I have not complained much, and I do not want you to tire or complain. Yet devote yourself to our Love and let Her enjoy Herself. Be wise and make an effort to understand with what virtues one pursues just Love. Be merciful and do not let down anyone who is in distress. People think they are already occupied enough with their property and keeping peace, and with all they can acquire. Thus they prefer their own peace to that of others. Yet you are to keep yourself so naked for God’s sake, and so very much without any alien rest, that nothing could ever be to your liking but God alone. If you cannot be like this, you should have such pain for His sake as a woman has, who is not able to bring her child into the world. This is how things are with those who love: they cannot enjoy Her, yet they cannot miss Her. That is why they are anxious and perish.

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Hier omme eer men lief vercrighet, soe salmen om lief te vrienne alle dinc scone ende wel doen: Te allen dinghen ende te allen lieden, te vremden ende te bekenden, om de werdicheit sijn liefs, Ende om hoghe mare ende om goede, die sijn lief van hem vernemen sal; Want hi houeschs es ende hem wel versteet. Alse hi dan bekint die grote pine Ende die sware ellende, die sijn lief doer hem ghedoghet heuet ende dien sconen cost, Seker soe en mach hijs niet laten, hine moet meten met Minnen Ende hem seluen al weder gheuen. Hier met vrijtmen lief: alsoe langhe alse men lief niet en heuet, soe heuet ment met dienste van allen doechden. Mer alse men lief selue pleghen sal, soe selen alle die dinghen daer dienst te voren omme ghedaen was, buten ghesloten sijn ende binnen vergheten. Alse men om Minne dient, soe salmen dienst doen; Ende alse men met Minnen lief Minnen sal, So salmen al buten sluten ende Minnen ghebruken met alden nyede, Met al den wesene, ende sijn ghereet te ontfane die sonderlinghe vroetheit, die lief in Minnen can ghewinnen. Daer ieghen sele de crachte altoes ghereet sijn ende alle de aderen, Ende de oghen selen altoes daer in staren, Ende alle de vloede der soeter vloede al in al doer vloten. Dus soude Minne in Minnen leuen.

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Letter 21 

Therefore one must, before conquering the Beloved, do everything beautifully and well, so as to court the Beloved: in all circumstances and regarding all people, regarding strangers and regarding acquaintances, for the dignity of the Beloved and for the high and good word which the Beloved will hear about one. For He is courtly and He knows about this. When He then acknowledges the great burden and the heavy exile which His beloved has been bearing for His sake, and the high price paid, He certainly cannot fail to reward with love and give in return Himself entirely. One courts the Beloved with this: as long as one does not possess the Beloved, one possesses Him by being at His service by means of all the virtues, but as one has to devote oneself to the Beloved Himself, then all things for which one was serving before will be shut out and inwardly forgotten. When one serves for Love’s sake, one will be in service, but as one is to love the Beloved with love, one will shut out everything and enjoy Love with all one’s passion, with all that one is, and be ready to receive the exceptional wisdom which the beloved can win in love. For this the powers of the mind are always to be ready, and all the veins, and the eyes will always gaze at that, and all the floods of the sweet flood will fully flow into one another. Thus love has to live in Love.

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Letter 21: Commentary The addressee of Letter 21 is not happy with her love life, and the reason soon becomes clear. There is a pain intrinsic to mystical love, about which Hadewijch has repeatedly warned her disciples, and now with the words, “let [Love] enjoy Herself” (7) she hints at the cause of that pain. Already in Letter 1 she has impressed on the addressee that one must “let Him enjoy Himself” (41-2), a phrase that reappeared in Letter 7 as “[Love] is for Herself enough” (7, 17). In her experience of this unalterable Otherness, the addressee of Letter 21 has been exposed to the seduction of “alien rest” (15-6). The nature of this “rest” was specified in previous Letters: “Even if you came to rest in anything that would be less than precisely that God who will be yours in enjoyment, in whatever thing that would be, therein you should prefer not to establish yourself” (Letter 2, 77-81; cfr. 6, 141-2). What saddens the addressee of Letter 21 is that her lofty desire – to be one with Love Herself in enjoyment – is not being fulfilled, and the danger for her is that she might try to find rest in something less. Hadewijch adopts a more impersonal tone from line 21, replacing “you” with “one”, yet indirectly she continues to counsel the addressee. In the first place, she makes a general statement with a cautionary ring (21-3). Some are so frantic to feel the “enjoyment” being withheld from them, there is a danger that they “perish”. This is the phenomenon of orewoet (the “rage” of love) mentioned in Letter 11, where it appears as life-threatening: “I would have been dead” (11, 10-3). Apparently, such frantic rage is the psychosomatic repercussion of the mystic’s incapacity to seize God. Yet what Hadewijch mentions in Letter 21 is different from what appears in Letter 11. Whereas in the latter she is talking about the religious excitement brought about by the inviting presence of Love, in Letter 21 it is the frantic excitement resulting from Love’s frustrating absence. In the next section (23-34), Hadewijch appears as the cultivated lady, perfectly at home in the cultural sphere of her time. To describe the love-life of the mystic she draws on a theme that is central to courtly love: just as the dignity of the noble, beloved domna creates in the lover the urge to serve, so does the dignity of Love in the mystic: the latter cannot but serve “for the dignity of the Beloved”. Moreover, the mystical lover is supposed to “do everything beautifully (scone)” (257). As appeared mainly in Letter 6, Hadewijch likes to qualify “service” as “beautiful”: The human being must offer [Love] beautiful service and a miserable life: beautiful service through all the works of virtue, a miserable life through entire obedience. (6, 365-7)

The word “beautiful” here connotes a chivalrous service, one that is brave and fair (see also Letter 4, 22-4). However, Hadewijch’s use of the language and notions of courtly love extends more deeply into Letter 21. Not only does the dignity of Love demand “beautiful service”, such service aims to

Commentary 247

“court the Beloved” (24 and 35). In order to “conquer the Beloved” (24), to “possess the Beloved” (36), and to “enjoy Love” (43), one has to court Him by practising the virtues. Thus Hadewijch makes it perfectly clear to her disciples that putting virtues into practice is integral to mystically loving Love who is God. Also as love of neighbour is the most important virtue, it is especially “charity (caritate)” which links up with “love (minne)”. So far in the Letters, only once (in Letter 12) has Hadewijch made such unadulterated use of courtly language to express mystical experience: However, for the courteous loving heart it is a law that one’s deepest rest shall be: to exert oneself for the sake of the Beloved, and to allot Him love and honour according to His worthiness, and to give beautiful service not for immediate reward but because hour after hour love is for itself satisfaction and reward enough. (12, 69-75)

The similarity of language between the two Letters should not conceal their differences. In Letter 12 Hadewijch describes those mystics who have received the experience of “resting”, yet this enjoyment is accompanied by a feeling of pain: “woe always goes together with that wealth” (12, 69). In Letter 21 she speaks to a person who expects “enjoyment” to be granted her (“resting” and “enjoying” are quasi-synonymous). Even if the love relationship is the same, since “rest” or “enjoyment” are linked to giving “beautiful service”, the full-grown mystic and the beginner have a different approach: for the latter to serve is to reach out for “enjoyment / rest”, while for the “grown-up” to serve is to incarnate “enjoyment / rest”. There are signs that the addressee of Letter 21 is “young” indeed, for here, as distinct from Letter 17, Hadewijch presents the mystic’s inner and outer activity as mutually exclusive, especially when she writes: When one serves for Love’s sake, one will be in service, but as one is to love the Beloved with love, one will shut out everything and enjoy Love. (21, 40-3)

Brief 22 Die gode wilt verstaen ende kennen wat hi es in sinen name Ende in sijn wesen, hi moet gode al gheheel sijn, Ja also gheheel dat hi hem al si ende sonder hem seluen: Want caritate en soeket niet dat hare es, Ende Minne en pleghet niet dan haers selues. Daer omme verliese hem seluen, die gode vinden wilt ende bekinnen wat hi es in hem seluen. Die luttel weet, hi mach luttel segghen: dat seghet die wise Augustinus. Alsoe doen ic oec, wet god; vele gheloue ic ende hope van gode. Mer mijn weten van gode es cleine: een cleyne gheraetsel maghic van hem gheraden; Want men mach gode niet tonen met menschen sinnen. Mer die metter zielen gherenen ware van gode, hi soudere yet af moghen toenen den ghenen diet metter zielen verstonden. Verlichte redene toent den inneghen sinnen een lettel van gode, Daer si bi moghen weten dat god es ene eyselike ende ene ouervreselike suete nature ane te siene van wondere, Ende dat hi alle dinc es te allen Ende in allen gheheel. God es bouen al ende onuerhauen; God es onder al ende onuerdruct; God es binnen al ende onghesloten; God es buten al ende al omgrepen.

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Letter 22 Anyone who wants to understand God and to know what He is in His Name and in His Being, must be completely His, yes, so completely that she be wholly His and without herself. For charity does not seek what is hers, but love is occupied with nothing but herself. Therefore, whoever wants to find God and to know what He is in Himself, must lose herself. Anyone who knows little, can say little – so says the wise Augustine, and so do I, God knows. There is much I believe and hope of God, but my knowledge of God is small: I can disentangle a little bit of the riddle He is, for one cannot show God by means of human senses. Yet whoever happens to be touched by God in the soul, she might be able to show something of Him to those who with the soul would understand it. Enlightened reason shows a little of God to the inward-turned faculties, through which they can know that God is an awesome and all too dreadfully sweet Nature, a wonder to contemplate, and that He is all to all things and in all things wholly. God is above all but not high; God is beneath all but not low; God is within all but not shut in; God is outside all but wholly enclosed.

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Brief 22

Hoe god bouen al es ende onuerhauen: dat es dat hi die onmeteleke nature, die hi selue es In siere naturen, eweleke heuet ende heffen sal in hoegheden. Daer omme dat hi selue es dat hi heeft, soe en verheft hi hem seluen niet ende es onuerhauen. Ende want die ewelecheit sijns selues oefent sijn wesen sonder inde, Ende oefent metten wesene sonder beghin in enen ghebrukenne siere hebbeleker Minnen, Dus houdet die diepte van sinen wesene sonder aneghinghe sine hoghe linghde onuerhauen. Sijns selues vreseleke soete nature custene alre best. Soe valt siene onuerhauenheit in de diepte sijns gronts. Dus bliuet hi onuerhauen. Ende meer hi maent den menschen altoes enecheit van sijns selues ghebrukene; Ende si roeren ende waghen alle bider cracht siere vreseliker maninghen: Den selken vereyset hare gheest bi siere gherechter maninghen ende dolen. Ende selke wect hi met fieren gheeste, Ende staen op met enen verstormden nuwen wille, Ende heffen hen na sine onuerhauenheit, die ons eweleke ontlinghet ende ontheft int hoechste hoghe. Ende want wij sijn rike roepen dat ons toe come, Ende wi so weder manen sine enicheit in drien personen: wi eyschen de crachte van hem Ende sijn rike wesen in enen vaderleken toeuerlate; wi eyschen sine onste ende sine wise leringhe Ende wi begheren sine minne bruederleke met onsen vader toe oefenne ende al dat selue kint met heme te sine in Minnen ende in erue dat hi es;

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Letter 22

How God is above all and not high, is like this: the immense Nature, which He is in His Nature, He raises It and forever shall raise It on high. As He Himself is what He raises, He does not raise Himself, and is not high above. And as the eternity, which He Himself is, realizes His being without end as well as His being without beginning in enjoyment of His own Love, therefore the depth of His being, which is without beginning, keeps His high height not high. His own dreadfully sweet Nature satisfies Him fully. In that way His being not high falls in the depth of His ground. Thus He remains not high. Moreover, He always claims from human beings the unity which lies in the enjoyment of Himself. And all stir and move themselves through the strength of His dreadful claiming. In some their spirit is awe-struck by His just claiming, and they go astray. In some He arouses a proud spirit, and they stand upright with a stormy new will, and they lift themselves up to His being not high, which for us is forever too far away and too high in its highest height. Yet we cry out for His reign to come to us, and thereby we from our side claim His Unity in three Persons: we demand the strength that is His and His mighty essence, relying on the Father; we demand His affection and His wise teaching, and we desire like brothers to live His love for our Father and to be with Him wholly the same child – in love and by the right of inheritance – that He is.

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Brief 22

Wi eyschene in siere goedden ende in siere claerheit Ende in siere ghebrukenissen ende in sinen wondere. Ende soe werden wi metten vaste lime der anecleuenessen een gheest met gode, omme dat wi metten sone Ende mettien heileghen gheest dus manen den vader, Ja die drie persone met al dat si sijn. Om dat dit dus es, soe bliuet god oec onverhaven. Ende want wi sijn rike eyschen te ons, wine moghenne oec niet heffen: Want hine verwaghet niet dan van hem seluen; Ende daer met roeren alle creatueren in haren wesene: dus bliuet god onuerhauen, want god bouen al es, ende alles al euen effen es, Dus es hi alre hoechst ende onuerhauen. Dien dan god met hem seluen verhoghet, Ja sonder den ertschen man, dien sal hi diepst in hem trecken ende sijns ghebruken in onuerhauenheiden. Ay deus, wat wonder ghesciet dan daer, Daer groet onghelijc effene ende al een wert sonder verheffen. Ay ic en dar hier af nummer scriuen; ic moet emmer vanden besten meest swighen dore mijn ongheual, Ende om dat wel na nieman en ghemest ane hem seluen dat hi van gode niet en weet. Den lieden dunckes soe lichte ghenoech; Ende horense datsi niet en verstaen, soe twifelen si. Ende hier omme quetse ic mi, dat ic niet segghen en dar jeghen menschen, noch scriuen, dat ter pinen wert es, ocht woerde na miere zielen gront.

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Letter 22

We demand Him in His goodness and in His clarity and in His enjoyment and in His wonderfulness. In that way we become, by the tight glue of our adhering, one spirit with God, because with the Son and with the Holy Spirit, we claim the Father, yes, the three Persons with all that they are. Because this is so, also therefore God remains not high. And although we demand His kingdom for ourselves, we cannot elevate Him, for He does not move except of Himself, and thereby all creatures are stirred in their essence. Thus God remains not high, for God is above all but remains just as level with all. Thus He is most high and not high. The person whom God elevates then with Himself, yes, without the earthly man, him or her He will draw most deeply in Himself and in enjoyment possess them while not high. Ah, God, what wonder happens then there where a great inequality is evened out and wholly made one without elevation! Ah, over this I do not dare to write more: I must always keep most silent about the best, because of my misfortune, and because almost nobody feels it as a personal want that they know nothing about God. People find it enough as it is, and on hearing something that they do not understand, they doubt. And this is what hurts me: that I dare neither tell people nor write that which is worth while, or words according to the ground of my soul.

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Brief 22

Dat ander, dat god onder al es ende onuerdruct, dat es dattie gront siere eweleker naturen alle dinc onthoudet Ende voedet ende rike maket met alsoe selker rijcheit alse god es in godliker rijcheit. Om dat sine diepe onderste ende sine ouerste hoeghede heues ene hoghede, soe es god onder al ende onuerdruct. Om dattene alle menschen oec louen na sijn hoechste hoghe, dat Minne es, ende niet men ane hem, Soe minnen sine oec sonder aen beghin in sine eweleke nature, daer hi allen dien die god met gode selen werden, eweleke ghenoech met sal doen, Daer al met te sine onder al daer hi onder al met es Jn onthoudene al Ende in voedene: alsoe bliuet hi onuerdruct. Want si heffene ewelec alle vren met nuwer begheringhen van treckender vieregher Minnen. Nu en dar icker oec nummeer toe segghen, omme dat wi gods niet en kinnen, hoe hi al es te allen. Dat derde, dat god binnen al es ende al onghesloten, dat es in die eweleke ghebrukenesse sijns selues, Ende inde deemstere cracht sijns vader, Ende in die wondere der Minnen sijns selues, Ende inde clare ouervloedeghe vloede sijn heilichs gheests. Hi es oec in die enighe storme die alle dinc doemen ende benedien na hare ghetamen. Daer binnen es hi ghebrukeleke na sijns selues glorie die hi in hem seluen es.

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Letter 22

The second point – God is beneath all but not low– is that by the ground of His everlasting Nature all things are maintained and fed and enriched with just such richness as God is in divine richness. Because His deepest deep and His highest height have one height, God is beneath all but not low. Because all people also praise Him for His highest height, Love, and not for anything in Him that is less, therefore they also love Him who has no beginning in His everlasting Nature. With this He shall for all those who are to become God with God forever do enough, so as to be wholly beneath them all with what He is beneath all in maintaining all and in feeding. Thus He remains not low, for they elevate him forever and hour after hour with new desires because of fiery Love’s drawing them. Now, again, I dare not say more about this, for we do not know with regard to God how He is all for all things. The third point – God is within all but not at all shut in – is that He is in the everlasting enjoyment of Himself and in the dark power of His Father and in the wonder of the Love that He Himself is and in the clear, profuse floods of His Holy Spirit. He is also in the uniting storms that condemn or bless all things as they deserve. In there, He is in the enjoyment that is in accord with His own glory which He Himself is.

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Brief 22

Alle die waren ende sijn ende wesen selen, ia in welken hen behoert te sine, hi ghebruket siere weldegher wondere daer met in alre volre glorien. Ay dat daer binnen es, dat moet meest versweghen sijn, Want daer en sijn der vreemder weghe niet in.

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Al es hi dan binnen al, daer omme es hi onghesloten, Want god sine enicheit vte gheuet in personen ende heeftse gheneighet in .iiij. weghen.

Hi gheuet dien eweleken tijt, dat hi selue es, in onuervolchleker Minnen ende in onbegripelecheiden alre gheeste die een gheest met hem niet en sijn; Also in al dat hise selue met sinen gheeste geeft ende al gheuet dat hi heuet, ende al es dat hi es. Dien hi den wech leidet, dien en mach nieman volghen bi crachte noch bi liste, sonder die die sijn hoghe gheest daer met een met hem gheeft. Dese sijn met hem vte allen ghemenen weghe. Dit es die eerste wech vanden .iiij. ende de ouerste, daer niet met redenen toe te segghen en es, Het en ware daer men met ghegheester zielen te ghegheester zielen sprake. Die wech es daer, daer hi vten wesene wech es.

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With all those who were and are and will be, yes, in whatever state they deserve to be, He enjoys with them His tremendous wonders in the very fullest glory. Ah, as to what is in there, silence, the very greatest, must be kept about it, for the ways of the outsiders are not in there.

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Although He is within all, He is nevertheless not shut in, for God shares out His Unity in three Persons, and He has brought it close in four ways.

He gives everlasting time, which He Himself is, in unsearchable Love and in incomprehensibility for all the spirits that are not one spirit with Him. He gives it so fully that He inspires them with His Spirit and He gives all that He has and all that He is. Those whom He leads along this way, no one can follow them, neither by force nor by cleverness, except those whom His high Spirit so inspires as to make them one with Him. These people are out of all common ways. This is the first of the four ways and the highest, about which there is nothing to be said with words except where one would speak with an inspired soul to an inspired soul. That way is where it is away from the human being.

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Brief 22

Die .iij. ander weghe daer hi hem toe gheneighet heuet, sijn dit: Die ene es, dat hi ons gaf sine nature; Die andere es, hi velde sine substancie; Die derde es, hi neyghede den tijt. Hi gaf sine nature inder zielen met .iij. crachten, sine drie persone met te minnen: Met verlichter redenen den vader; metter memorien den wisen gods sone; Met hoghen berrenden wille den heyleghen gheest. Dit was die ghichte die sine nature der onser gaf, hem met te minnen. Hi velde sine substancie, dat was sinen heileghen lichame, die viel in die hande siere viande om de Minne siere vriende; ende heuet hem seluen ghegheuen te etene ende te drinckene, alsoe vele ende alsoe na alsmen wilt. Dat es ongheliker dan ene ziere ieghen alle die werelt. Ja vele cleynre eest datmen van gode heuet ieghen dat men van gode hebben mochte, ghetroude men hem ende woude ment van hem hebben. Ay hoe ongheuoedet blijfter nu harde vele Ende hoe cleyne teren si op hem diere vele diene alse van rechtsaluen eten ende drincken. Hi neyghede den tijt; dat es: verste na onse goede leuen te beidene alse wi willen. Sinen mont sietmen gheneighet tote ons te cussene diene wilt. Sine arme sijn onploken: loepere in die ghehelset wilt sijn. Ja corteleke gheseghet, alsoe heuet hem god gheneighet metten tide in allen datmen hebben mach, Datmen hebben wilt Ende kinnen mach, alsoe vele als men wilt Ende also na alsmen wilt, dat hi si in Minnen ende in ghebrukenessen met ons.

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Letter 22

The other three ways in which He has brought Himself close are the following: The first is that He gave us His Nature. The second is that He brought low His Substance. The third is that He brought time close to us. He gave His Nature in the soul through three faculties in order to love with them the three Persons: with enlightened reason the Father; with memory the wise Son of God; with a high, burning will the Holy Spirit. This was the gift that His Nature gave ours in order to love Him with it. He brought low His Substance, that was His holy Body, which fell into the hands of His enemies out of love for His friends. And He has given Himself to be eaten and drunk, as much and as intimately as we will. More unequal than the tiniest thing compared to the whole world, yes, much smaller, is what we have from God than what we could have from God, if we trusted in Him and wanted to receive it from Him. Ah, how very many remain now unfed, and how little they absorb Him, the many who eat and drink Him as by right. He brought time close to us, which means: He prolonged it, waiting till we live a good life, if we will. His mouth, we see it inclined toward us in order to kiss the one who wants Him. His arms are opened wide: he who wants to be embraced may run into them. Yes, to put it briefly, thus God has, through time, brought Himself close in all that we can have, that we want to have and can know, as much as we want and as close as we want, so that He may be with us in Love and in enjoyment.

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Brief 22

Die dien weghe volghen dat hi sine nature gaf die leuen hier alse inden hemel: si oefenen hen in Minnen sonder groet wee ende in deuocien Ende in ghenoechten ende in weelden, daer sise hebben moghen sonder groet wee. Die andere die dien wech gaen dat hi sine substancie velde, die leuen alse in de helle: Dat comt vander vreseleker maninghen van gode. Hen es soe vreseleke te moede; hare gheest versteet de crachtecheit dies na vals Ende hare redene en caens niet verstaen. Hier omme doemen si hen seluen alle vren. Al datsi spreken ende werken ende dienen, dat dunct hen onbequame Ende hare gheest en ghelouet niet dat grote te veruolghene. Dit houdet hare herte buten hope. Dese wech leidse herde diepe in gode: Want die grote onthope leidse ouer alle stercke ende dore alle passagen Ende in allen ghewarighen staden. Die in den derden weghe sijn die volghen den gheneichden tide, die leuen alse int vagheuier. Si berren met Innegher begherten sonder cesseren omme dat hen alle es vore gheneighet: De mont gheboden, de arme ontploken ende dat rike herte ghereet. Dat vreeseleke ontpluken maect hen haerre zielen gront soe diep Ende soe wijt, datse niet verwlt en connen ghewerden. Dat wilde ontdoen van gode maentse alle vren van binnen bouen hare gheleisten: Want in sinen rechteren arm sijn behelst alle sine vriende hemelsche Ende ertsche in ene oueruloyeleke weelde.

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Those who follow the way in which He gave His Nature, they live here on earth as in heaven: they practise love without great woe, in devotion and in satisfaction and in abundance, where they can have these without great woe. The others, who walk the way in which He brought low His Substance, they live as in hell. This comes about through God’s fearful demanding. They feel full of dread at heart: their spirit understands the tremendousness of this being brought low with Him but their reason cannot understand it. Therefore they condemn themselves every moment. All that they say and work and serve, to them it seems inadequate, and their spirit does not believe that it will reach that Greatness. This keeps their heart bereft of hope. This way leads them very deep into God, for that great hopelessness leads them over all strongholds and through all passes and into all the places where the truth is. Those who are in the third way follow this time brought close to us, they live as in purgatory. They burn incessantly with inner desire, because all is being brought close to them: the mouth offered, the arms opened, and the rich heart ready. This fearful opening makes their soul’s ground in them so deep and so wide that they cannot be filled. God’s tremendous opening makes its demand on them within, hour after hour, above their capacity, for within His right arm are embraced all His friends, heavenly and earthly, in overflowing abundance.

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Brief 22

Ende inde slincke side behelst hi de vreemde, die met bloten verscraepten gheloeue te hem selen comen Om siere vriende wille, Soe dat verwlt werde die enighe volle bliscap in hem diere hen nye en ghebrac. Om sine goede ende om sine gheminde gheuet hi den vreemden sine glorie Ende maectse alle vriende van maysnieden. Ay die soete maninghe ende dat opene herte Doetse manen om ghebruken. Die vloyeleke rike wondere vte siere rikere herten, Die doense gapen bouen redene ende berren sonder blusschen. Daer omme eest uagheuier. Want al berren si dat si vanden viere soe ongheberrent sijn (Die volcomene Minne es een brant), Si berren om hem ghenoech te werdene Ende die waerheit siere rikere openre herten seghet heren gheeste dat hi al hare sal sijn. Met dien toeuerlate doer vlieghen si al de hoechde der Minnen. Dese sijn int teren sonder voeden. Om dies god alle sine weghe vte heuet ghegheuen, hem met te volminne, dat hi van binnen es, soe es hi binnen al Ende al onghesloten: Want men met desen .iiij. weghe in sijn alre binnenste comen mach.

Den vijften wech gaen de ghemeyne metten slechten gheloue Die met allen vterste dienste te gode gaen.

Die den tijt in gaen den eersten wech, die god selue es in onueruolchleker cracht ende onbegripeliker Minnen, Die gaen te mids in hem van diepten in diepten. Si gaen vte alre sinne weghe.

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And with His left He embraces the outsiders, who with a naked and meagre faith will come to Him, for the sake of His friends, so that there be fulfilled the one, full gladness in Him, which has never been lacking to Him. For the sake of His goodness and His beloved ones He gives to the outsiders His glory and makes all of them friends of the house. Ah, the sweet demanding and the open heart cause them to demand enjoyment. The rich wonders flowing from His rich heart make them yearn above reason and burn unquenchably. Therefore it is a purgatory. For although they burn because they are so little burnt up by the fire – perfect love is one single fire – they burn in order to become enough for Him, and the truth of His rich open heart tells their spirit that He will be wholly theirs. Trusting that, they fly through all love’s height. These people experience satiety without being fed.

Because God has disclosed all His ways on the outside to love Him fully in what He is on the inside, therefore He is within all but not at all shut in, for by these four ways one can come into His inmost depth.

The fifth way is walked by the common people of simple faith, who go to God with all their outer kinds of service. Those who go into time by the first way, which is God Himself in unsearchable power and incomprehensible love, they go right into Him from depths to depths. They go out of all the ways of human senses.

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Brief 22

Die den wech dore den hemel te gode gaen, si hebben teren ende voeden: Want hi sine nature gaf, so nemen sise vrileke. Dese wonen hier int lant des vreden. Die den wech dore de helle gaen te gode, Si werden gheuoedet sonder teren: Want sine connens ghelouen nocht ghehopen Dat si der Minnen in hare substantileken wesene voldoen mochten. Dese wonen int lant der scout, Ende redene dore rent alle hare aderen ende hetet hen heffen den inual van gode Ende van allen gheminden menschen in een hoghe. Sine connen ghelouen datsi gheuoelen: Dus roertse god van binnen in woede sonder hope. Die den wech dore dat vagheuier te gode in sine diepte gaen, die wonen int lant dies heilichs torens: Want wat hen in toeuerlate ghegheuen wert, Dats saen verteert in dien gapenden diepen nyed. Dit doet altoes wassen die tornicheit der zielen: Dat si met inneghen gheeste weet dat ouerbliuen van gode, dat hi yet heuet datse niet en volheuet, noch hare niet en es uol. Dits de tornecheit der zielen. Noch es een nare toren selker zielen dies ic swighen moet; wantmen met al desen weghen in gode gheet, Dore hem seluen, Dore den hemel, Dore de helle, Dore dat vagheuier, Daer omme es god onghesloten, al es hi binnen al.

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Those who go to God by the way through heaven, experience satiety as well as being fed: as He gave them His Nature, they take it freely. These people live here in the land of peace. Those who go to God by the way through hell, are being fed without being satiated for they can neither believe nor hope that they might be able to satisfy Love in Her being brought low. These people live in the land of debt, and reason races through all their veins and commands them to lift up God’s falling down and that of all beloved people to a height They cannot believe what they feel, God so much stirs within a rage without hope. Those who walk the way through purgatory to God in His depth, live in the land of holy wrath, for what is given them for the sake of their trust, is soon consumed by their deep, yawning lust. What makes the soul’s wrath grow continuously, is that in her inmost spirit she knows what remains of God: that He has something which she does not have fully and which is not fully hers. That is the soul’s wrath. In some souls there is a wrath still worse about which I must keep silent. Since by all those ways one goes into God through Himself, through heaven, through hell, through purgatory, therefore God is not shut in, although He is within all.

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Brief 22

Dat vierde es dat god buten al es ende al omgrepen. Hi es buten al: want hine rustet in ghene dinc dan in die druusteghe nature siere vloyender vloedegher vloede, die al omme ende al ouervloyen. Dat eest datmen seghet inden cantiken: Oleum effusum et cetera. Als olie es dijn name vte ghegoten. Daer omme Minnen di de opwassende. Ay hoe waer seghet de bruut die dat wel versteet Ende van hem seghet dat sijn name vte es gheghoten bouen alle weghe, vet te makene elken na sine noet Ende na sine werdicheit Ende na sijn ambacht van dienste dat god van hem hebben sal. Dat vloyen van sinen name gaf ons te kinnen in properen persone sinen eneghen name. Die vloet sijns enechs eweleecs namen storte wt met vreseleker druust van maninghen, die si hem onder manen eenuoldich ende drieuoldich. De vader storte vte sinen name in crachteghen werken Ende in riker ghichten Ende in gherechter gherechtecheit. Die sone goet wt sinen name in toenlecheiden van berrenden onsten Ende in ghewarigher redenen Ende in herteleken tekenen van Minnen. De heyleghe gheest goet vte sinen name in groeter claerheit sijns gheests ende sijns lichts Ende in groter volheit van vloyeliken goeden wille Ende in iubilatien van hoghen sueten toeuerlate om ghebrukenisse van Minnen.

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The fourth point is that God is outside all but wholly enclosed. He is outside all, for He rests in nothing but in the impetuous Nature of His flowing, flooding floods, which flow around all and over all. That is what is said in the Song of Songs: Oleum effusum et cetera. Like oil your name is poured out, therefore the growing girls love you. Ah, how truly the bride speaks, who understands this well and says of Him that His Name is poured out over all ways, so as to make everybody strong according to their need and their dignity and their services which God expects from them. The flowing of His Name gave us to know in each Person His one Name: the flood of His one everlasting Name poured itself out with the tremendous tempestuousness of the demand which They mutually demand, onefold and threefold. The Father poured out His Name in mighty works and in rich gifts and in just justice. The Son poured out His Name in showing burning affection and in true teaching and in hearty signs of love. The Holy Spirit poured out His Name in the great clarity of His Spirit and of His light and in the great fullness of a flowing good will and in the jubilation of the high, sweet trust through the enjoyment of Love.

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Brief 22

Die vader goet vte sinen name ende gaf ons den sone ende haeldene weder in hem seluen. De vader goet wte sinen name ende sinde ons den heyleghen gheest. De vader goet vte sinen name, doen hi den heyleghen gheest maende weder inte comene met al dat hi hadde ghegheest. De sone goet vte sinen name, doen hi gheboren wert ihesus, Doen hi met dien name woude vet maken al onse magherheit, ende behouden al dat behouden woude sijn. De sone goet wt sinen name doen hi ihesus christus waert ghedoept. Daer met besciet hi ons der kerstenne vetheit, die na sinen name heten ende met sinen name ende met sinen lichame werden gheuoedet, Ja ende verdoenne int teren alsoe beghereleke ende also vetteleke ende also smakeleke alse si selue willen. Dat es alsoe onghelijc alse dat scaerpe van eenre naelden ieghen al de werelt metter zee. Onghelijc meer vetheiden mochte men smaken ende gheuoelen van gode, sochtement ane hem met beghereleken minnenden toeuerlate, Ende alse men wel met rechte op hem proeuen mochte. Die fierleke bekinnen woude dat vte sturten van sinen name, Hi soude de opwassende sijn diene Minnen soude. Die sone goet vte sinen name in wondere, doe hi met siere doet leuen Ende licht voerde ter hellen, die doch doet es sonder leuen. Daer voerde hi leuen ende licht, daer gheen licht wesen en sal. Daer haelde sijn name sine gheminde in claren lichte Ende in volre vetheit.

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The Father poured out His Name and gave us the Son and took Him back into Himself. The Father poured out His Name and sent us the Holy Spirit. The Father poured out his Name when He demanded the Holy Spirit to come in again with all that He had inspired. The Son poured out His Name when He was born Jesus, when through this Name He wanted to cram full all our meagreness and to save whatever wanted to be saved. The Son poured out His Name when He was baptized Jesus Christ. Thereby He imparted Christian strength to us, who are called after His Name and fed with His Name and His Body, and, yes, who consume Him by digesting Him so desirously and with such strength and so much savour as they want it themselves. Yet this is as unequal as the needle point compared to the whole world and the sea with it. Incomparably more growth could be savoured and felt from God, if we sought it from Him with desirous, loving trust, and what we might rightly experience from Him. He who would proudly recognize the pouring out of His Name, would be the growing girl who would love Him. The Son poured out His Name in wonders, when through His death He brought life and light into hell, which indeed is dead without life. There He brought life and light where no light may be. There His Name recovered His beloved in the clear light and in [the] full strength.

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Brief 22

Die selue name berrede die daer bleuen metten eweleken viere der deemster doet. Ay hoe deemster es die doet Daer men sinen name niet en kint! De sone goet wt sinen name, doen hi seide: vader, verclaert mi met diere claerheit die ic hadde bi di, eer de werelt was. Niet dat hem die claerheit ye vre ghebrac, Mer hi woudse met hem verclaren, doe hi met hem alle dinc ghetrect hadde, Alsoe hi doe seide: Jc wille, vader, dat si alsoe een sijn in ons alsoe du, vader, in mi ende ic in di. Dit was dat liefleecste dat god ye openbare seide, datmen inder scrift leset. Doen voer hi in met sinen name, dien hi ouergroet vte hadde gheghoten ende dien hi oec herde vet menechfout weder in hem storte; Al en wasser nemmeer, het was ghemenichfoudet; want alle dinc was sonder aen beghin alsoe groet in hem alset sonder ende wesen sal, Al eest bider vetter olyen sijns hoghes namen vte gheghoten ende ghemenechfoudet. Die heileghe gheest goet vte sinen name, dat van hem vloyen alle die heileghe gheeste Ende die inghele die daer regneren in glorien. Hare namen daerse in gheordent sijn die heten coere Ende die sijn vte dien name gheghoten. Ende die heileghe gheeste vanden hemele ende vander erden, Ende die goede gheeste die noch niet gheheilicht en sijn, Noch selke sere gheheilicht en selen sijn,

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That same Name burnt those who remained there with the everlasting fire of dark death. Ah, how dark is death where His Name is not known! The Son poured out His Name, when He said: Father, clarify Me with the clarity which I had with You before the world was. Not that He was lacking in this clarity for a moment, but He wanted to clarify it with His own clarity, when He had drawn with Him all things. As He said then: I will, Father, that they be so one in Us, as You, Father, in Me, and I in You. This was the loveliest word that God openly spoke of all that one reads in Scripture. He then proceeded inside with His Name, which He had poured out profusely and which, very strong, He also poured manifold into Himself. Although there was not anything more, it was multiplied, for all was without beginning so very great in Him as it will be without end, even if, with the strong oil of His high Name, it is poured out and multiplied. The Holy Spirit poured out His Name as from Him flow out all the holy spirits and the angels who rule there in glory. Their names, after which they are ordered, are called choirs, and they are poured out of that Name. And the holy spirits of heaven and earth, and the good spirits, who are neither sanctified yet nor will be sanctified that much,

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Brief 22

Ende alle gheeste sonderlinghe ende ghemeyne, die heuet sijn name alle ghegheest elken na de mate van ghemintheiden sijns gheests. Sijn name gheeste alle wise gheeste ende alle snelle gheeste ende alle starcke gheeste ende alle soete gheeste: Dese gheest hi al. Sijn name es ouer al ertrike gheghoten op de ghemeynte, te onthoudene ende te voedene elken na sine ghemintheit.

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Dus es god buten al, want yet van gode es god altemale. Ende want elc van hem heuet na sijn ghetamen, soe beghript elc van hem al dat hijs heuet; dus es hi al omgrepen.

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Ende want de vaderlike cracht alle vren soe vreselike maent sine enicheit om ghebruken Daer hi hem seluen ghenoech met es, so begrijpt hi hem selven alle vren al, ende ia al elcs wesen, hoe sijn name gheheten es, al begript hijt inde enicheit sijns selues, Ende al maent hijt in ghebrukene sijns selues.

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Oec omgripene die inneghe gheeste vanden vieren eersten weghen Die in hem seluen gaen, Ende die dat selue sijn willen in al dat hi es, ende hem niet te voren gheuen en willen, sine willene met toeuerlate ende met Minnen al vercrighen, Ende al dat selue sijn dat hi es, sonder men. Die innighe gheeste van Minnen die omgripene al omme; Ende die iubilatie sijns wonders die omgriptene met volre weelden bouen al; Ende die vader die omgriptene met gherechticheiden in sijn enich recht.

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and all spirits, separately and together, His Name has inspired all of them, each one insomuch as his spirit is loved. His Name inspires all wise spirits and all swift spirits and all strong spirits and all sweet spirits: He inspires all of them. His Name is poured out over all the earth and over all people in order to sustain and to feed everyone insomuch as they are loved.

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Thus God is outside all, for something of God is God in His entirety. And as everyone has from Him his due, everyone embraces all that he has from Him, thus He is wholly enclosed.

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And because hour after hour the fatherly power so dreadfully claims from His Unity the enjoyment with which He is Himself enough, therefore He encloses Himself every moment wholly, and, yes, every being wholly, whatever its name. He encloses all that in the Unity He Himself is, and all that, He claims it for the enjoyment of Himself.

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And He is also enclosed by the intimate spirits of the first four ways, who go into Himself, and who want to be the same in all that He is and who do not want to concede anything to Him, but they want to obtain, by being confident and loving, all from Him and to be wholly the same that He is, nothing less. The spirits, intimate through love, enclose Him entirely, and the jubilation because of the wonder that He is encloses Him with full wealth above all. And the Father encloses Him with the justice of His only right.

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Ende daer omme sijn sine ordele diep ende doncker alse die afgronde ende bouen al die gherechicheit des vaders ende die Jubilatie sijns gheestes. Ende also begript die vader des soens gherechticheit ende des heilichs gheests, Ende ia in allen gheesten die hi ghegeest heuet in iubilatien ende in vol ghebrukene van Minnen. Ende daer in eest wonder dat god te vollen omgrepen es. Dus es god met alden vloeden van sinen name oueruloyende in al ende om al ende onder al ende bouen al ende in ghebruken van Minnen omgrepen. Nu sijn die .iiij. wesene van gode in een gheheel ghebruken comen. Die gheheelheit omsit cierleke in enen cierkele met .iiij. dieren. Die aer sal alle vren vlieghen met vlieghende vloghelen na die hoechde: Hoe god bouen al es ende onuerhauen. Die osse sal besitten die stat: Hoe god onder al es ende onuerduct. Die leeu hoedet die stadt: hoe god binnen al es ende onghesloten. Die minsche besiet die stat: hoe god buten al es ende al omgrepen. Die inneghe ziele die aer sal sijn die sal vlieghen bouen hare seluen in gode, alsoe men leset vanden .iiij. dieren. Die vierde vloech bouen hem .iiij., Alsoe hi dede doen hi seide: Jn principio etc. Die aer siet in de sonne sonder keren; Soe doet oec die inneghe ziele sonder wedersien in gode. Johannes sal de wise ziele sijn inden coer, Dats inde oefeninghe van gode in Minnen.

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And therefore his judgments are deep and dark like abysses, and also above all the justice of the Father and the jubilation of his Spirit. Thus the Father encompasses the justice of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and, yes, in all the spirits whom He has inspired with the jubilation and with the full enjoyment of Love. In that lies the wonder of God’s being fully enclosed. Thus God is with all the floods of His Name overflowing in all and around all and beneath all and above all while enclosed in the enjoyment of Love. Now God’s four qualities have come together in an enjoyment that is whole. That wholeness sits gracefully around in a circle formed by four animals. The eagle must hour after hour fly with flying wings into the height: how God is above all but not high. The ox must occupy the place: how God is beneath all but not low. The lion must guard the place: how God is within all but not shut in. The human being regards the place: how God is outside all but wholly enclosed. The inner soul that shall be eagle, must fly above itself into God, as we read about the four animals. The fourth flew the highest of the four, as he did when he said: In principio etc. The eagle looks at the sun without turning away, thus the inner soul also looks at God without looking back. John must be the wise soul in the choir, that is: in being occupied with God in love.

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Daer en salmen ghedincken heyleghen noch menschen, dan allene vlieghen in die hoechde gods. Alse des aers ionc in de sonne niet ghesien en can, soe werpt hij vte. Alsoe sal de wise ziele van hare werpen al dat de claerheit haers gheests verdonckeren mach: Want der wiser zielen en steet niet te rustene al die wile dat si aer es, sien vlieghe alle vren na dien onuerhauen hoecheit. Die diere ghinghen ende keerden weder; Ende si ginghen ende keerden niet weder; Datse niet weder en keerden, dats dattie hoecheit nummermeer volhauen en weert. Datse weder keerden, dat es in die wijdde Ende in die diepte Ende in die effene wesen te sine ende te siene.

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There one is not allowed to think either about saints or human beings, but only to fly in God’s height. If the eagle’s young is not able to look at the sun, it is thrown out. Thus the wise soul must throw away all that can darken the clarity of her spirit, for the wise soul is not free to rest as long as she is eagle, but hour after hour she must fly to that not-high height. The animals went and returned. And they went and did not return. That they did not return, means that the height is never fully elevated. That they returned, means: in the breadth and in the depth and in the even qualities to be and to look.

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Letter 22: Commentary Letter 22, with Letters 17 and 30, makes up a triad of difficult yet fascinating texts that deal with God’s inner life. As Hadewijch makes perfectly clear in Letter 17, “inner” does not imply “separated”, or “absolute” in the sense of unconnected. The way in which Holy Trinity exists is what underlies and clarifies the paradoxical manner-of-being of the mystic at work in the world. Thus we see that while considering the life of the triune God, Hadewijch does not lose herself in a theological or speculative reflection that would take her away from mystical union. In Letter 22, Hadewijch gives a fuller picture of her view of Holy Trinity, bringing into focus the inner divine pulsation that is transmitted outwards. To evoke this vital movement she plays with the rich term manen that can mean “to demand” and also “to claim”. According to Letter 22, one may say of God Himself: The flood of His one, everlasting Name poured itself out with the tremendous tempestuousness of the demand (van maninghen) which They [the Persons] mutually demand (manen), onefold and threefold. (265-8)

And here is how the triune “demanding” appears in the relationship between God and the human being: Moreover, He always claims (hi maent) from human beings the unity which lies in the enjoyment of Himself. (39-40) And thereby we from our side claim (manen) His Unity in three Persons. (49-50)

Following St Augustine, Hadewijch begins by admitting her lack of power to comprehend and express God: “I can disentangle a little bit of the riddle He is” (12). She is referring here to Letter 19 where she has made it very clear that with sense-anchored thinking we can never utter words of sense about the Love who is God. Moreover, in Letter 17 she had recognized her personal incapacity in this regard, “although I know all about sensible speech that a person can know” (17, 118-9). Yet here, in Letter 22, she suggests that “who happens to be touched by God in the soul, might be able to show something of Him…” (14-5). It seems then that Hadewijch is about to disclose what “enlightened reason” makes her understand (17-24), for she starts by using her own mystical terminology (for “Nature” and “wonder”, see Letters 3 and 20). However, this same sentence ends in a statement that takes her text into another register: “that He is all to all things and in all things wholly”. This raises a speculative theme that had occupied well-known thinkers since long before Hadewijch’s time. It was discussed at length by Augustine (+ 430), Gregory the Great (+ 604) and Isidore of Sevilla (+ 636). The doctrine which says that God is present everywhere implies that He is everywhere wholly present, and this challenges rational thought. If God neither divides Himself among things, nor multiplies Himself, how can the one God be wholly everywhere? Hadewijch had been introduced to traditional speculation through the work of Hildebert of Lavardin (+ 1133), the archbishop of Tours and a Latin-writing poet. For her Letter 22 she

Commentary 279

borrows a few verses from his poem Alpha et Omega, a hymn known as the Rythmus de Sancta Trinitate. Hildebertus takes over from Isidore the following paradoxes: Intra cuncta non inclusus, Extra cuncta non exclusus, Super cuncta non elatus, Subter cuncta nec sustratus.

This is the passage which Hadewijch translates from Latin into Brabant Middle Dutch (Letter 22: 21-24; compare the translation from William of Saint-Thierry in Letter 18, 80-99). Admittedly, she changes the order of the verses and “non exclusus” becomes “wholly enclosed”: God is above all but not high, God is beneath all but not low, God is within all but not shut in, God is outside all but wholly enclosed.

The way in which Hadewijch, the love mystic, deals with such theoretical reflection is remarkable. Far from shying away, she embraces the intellectual challenge. She isolates the crucial point of the theme – contained in those four paradoxes – and indicates how the truth that lies hidden in them may become clear: God should not be thought of as a static Essence, but as the incessantly active Reality: The immense Nature, which He is in His Nature, He raises It and forever shall raise It on high. As He Himself is what He raises, He does not raise Himself and He is not high above. (22, 25-30)

With her introduction of the word “Nature” (a favourite word of hers as is clear from Letter 20) into the traditional terminology, Hadewijch suggests that she is about to leave her mark on this discussion of the paradoxes. Thus, starting with line 50, she replaces the static philosophical term “God” with “Holy Trinity”. Given that the divine “Nature” is always in motion, this transition to the triune Life is only natural. Next, she will rework the paradoxes more and more thoroughly by connecting each of them with different moments of mystical union. For example, in her analysis of the first paradox, she switches from the God evoked by religious thought to the God who makes himself mystically felt: In some He arouses a proud spirit, and they stand upright with a stormy new will, and they lift themselves up to His being not high. (22, 44-6)

Hadewijch is referring here to a movement that takes place in the praying mystic’s own consciousness, which is in conformity with God’s manner of being: He “realizes His being” (31) by having it ascend and descend. Hence, through God’s stimulating influence on the soul, the spiritual faculties lift themselves up to the divine height, which “in its highest height” remains untouchable. However, this upward movement has as its complement one that is downward, as the human being is drawn into God’s own depth: The person whom God elevates then with Himself, yes, without the earthly man, him or her He will draw most deeply in Himself and in enjoyment possess him while not high. (22, 69-72)

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Having evoked the experience linked to the first paradox, Hadewijch regrets that she must not say more about it. She gives two reasons for this silence: her “misfortune” (see the poignant complaint in Letter 1, 56-82) and the lack of attentive listeners. She fears to express that which happens to her inner self (72-83). Throughout the discussion of the three first paradoxes she will repeat, like a warning refrain, this need to stay silent. Thus with regard to the experience connected with the second paradox (99-101), she admits that she is unable to clarify that of which she is mystically aware: “how He is all for all things”. In the exposition of the third paradox the same refrain is repeated three times. The mystical participation in God’s “enjoyment that is in accord with His own glory” (109) must be kept a secret for the “outsiders”, because it is beyond them and, moreover, some are lurking for the chance to “plant nettles where roses should stand” (19, 76-7). However, Hadewijch shows what she thinks about mystical speech when she refers to the “highest way” in which God “gives all that He has and is all that He is” (123-4). Like the mystical lovers of Letter 19 (17), those who follow this way are “out of all common ways”, so much so that “there is nothing to be said with words about it”. Yet, it is precisely in this context that Hadewijch takes up the theme of speaking and understanding “with the soul” that has appeared on other occasions (see 19, 29-30 and 22, 14-6), but is reformulated here. She introduces a special word, intended to evoke the character of the soul, that is capable of lifting the veil of silence. This soul must be ghegheest, “inspired”, in the sense of being filled with spirit, of becoming spiritual by the influence – in the strong sense of “flowing into” – of the Holy Spirit. Ghegheest is the perfect participle of the verb gheesten: He gives everlasting time, which He Himself is, in unsearchable Love and in incomprehensibility for all the spirits that are not one spirit with Him (een gheest met hem). He gives it so fully that He inspires them with His Spirit (met sinen gheest) and He gives all that He has and all that He is. Those whom He leads along this way, no one can follow them, neither by force nor by cleverness, except those whom His high Spirit so inspires as to make them one with Him (een met hem gheest). These people are out of all common ways. This is the first of the four ways and the highest, about which there is nothing to be said with words except where one would speak with an inspired soul (met ghegheester zielen) to an inspired soul (te ghegheester zielen). That way is where it is away from the human being. (22, 119-32)

Commentary 281

By the frequent repetition in this passage of the word “spirit” and its derivatives Hadewijch emphasises the role of the Holy Spirit in realizing mystical union with God. Those who actually are “one spirit with Him”, God “inspires them with His Spirit”, “His high Spirit so inspires them as to make them one with Him”. This specification clarifies the meaning of “inspired” in the significant expression “[to speak] with an inspired soul” (130). Such speech is not a matter of certain souls receiving an inspiration. In that case, a supernatural impulse would provide them with suggestions, notions and other gifts which might enable them to find words in accord with what happens to them in their “ground”, out of the reach of the faculties. In contrast, the “inspired souls” Hadewijch evokes here are capable of conforming experience and speech in that they are, through the agency of the Spirit, mystically one with God. Thus it appears that to be “one with [God]” and to be capable of mystically correct speech tend to coincide. Is Hadewijch suggesting that such perfect speech is intrinsic to perfect mystical union? That it streams forth out of oneness? Before hearing Hadewijch’s answer to this question, let us consider how she deals with the fourth paradox (251-375) where significantly the note of warning is omitted. Here Hadewijch appears in full as a creative mystical writer. She begins by reformulating the paradox: Extra cuncta non exclusus. This becomes: “outside all but wholly enclosed”, and she breathes new life into that formal non exclusus: He is outside all, for He rests in nothing but in the impetuous Nature of His flowing, flooding floods, which flow around all and over all. (252-5)

Hadewijch’s mastery of musical-sounding language appears so brilliantly in this passage that the Dutch original has to be considered: He es buten al: want hine rustet in ghene dinc dan in die druusteghe nature siere vloyender vloedegher vloede, die al omme ende al ouervloyen. (252-5)

Her prose here has a sonorous quality that strikes the reader poetically. The succession of rather sharp u’s is followed by a fluid sequence of liquids and oe-sounds that suggest something continually overflowing. Any reader hearing this play of sounds and rhythm, is intrigued by the combination of self-contained “resting” and boundless “overflowing”. Hadewijch’s great talent as a writer is seen here at its most impressive. She resolves the philosophical paradox as she interlocks two points that are essential in her teaching. Her God, who is “Himself enough” (350-1), is at the same time the divine “Nature”, which is always and everywhere flowing out. Felt union with this God tells her that it is not by His entering all things that He is “not enclosed”, but by allowing Himself to be “enclosed” by the mystic and her world. Once Hadewijch has revealed her own way of dealing with the fourth paradox, she specifies that this divine out-flowing is God’s “one everlasting Name pouring itself out” in the three

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­ ersons (264-8). In a hymn to the Trinity she shows, in a series of repetitions, that the one P Name is incessantly differentiating and spreading. Two words central to this part of the Letter (251-375) are used: “jubilation (iubilatie)” and “inspired (ghegheest)” (277, 284). First, in 336-41, Hadewijch stresses the word “inspired (ghegheest)”, next, in 355-71, she brings “inspired” and “jubilation” together: And He is also enclosed by the intimate spirits of the first four ways, who go into Himself, and who want to be the same in all that He is and who do not want to concede anything to Him, but they want to obtain, by being confident and loving, all from Him and to be wholly the same that He is, nothing less. The spirits, intimate through love, enclose Him entirely, and the jubilation because of the wonder that He is encloses Him with full wealth above all. And the Father encloses Him with the justice of His only right. And therefore his judgments are deep and dark like abysses, and also above all the justice of the Father and the jubilation of his Spirit. Thus the Father encompasses the justice of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and, yes, in all the spirits whom He has inspired with the jubilation and with the full enjoyment of Love. Ende ia in allen gheesten die hi ghegheest heuet in iubilatien ende in vol ghebrukene van Minnen. (22, 355-71)

Here, “jubilation” is mentioned three times. First, Hadewijch uses the same word, “to enclose”, to describe the love of “the spirits” as well as their jubilation: “The spirits… enclose Him entirely, and the jubilation… encloses Him with full wealth above all” (361-3). To live love and to give joyful cries are brought together, so much so that this jubilation appears to be inherent in the full experience of mystical union. Next, “jubilation” is seen as an attribute of the Holy Spirit (367-8). Third, “jubilation” is linked with “inspired”: “inspired with the jubilation” (370). The passage of this letter quoted above (119-32) showed that Hadewijch uses “to inspire” in the strong (one might say substantial) sense of the word. The fact that God “inspires” those mystics led along the “highest way” (129) means that He fills them with the Spirit, who infuses them with oneness with God. Here (355-71), Hadewijch elucidates this gift which, given by the Father, is actualized by the Spirit who inspires them at once “with the jubilation and with the full enjoyment of Love” (370-1).

Commentary 283

It appears then that in being mystically one with God, “enjoyment” is accompanied with “jubilation”, which, therefore, is part of the deepest mystical experience. While in this way she indicates the highly mystical character of “jubilation”, Hadewijch seems to overlook the self-imposed rule of staying silent which she defends so strongly. Yet, “to jubilate” means mostly that one lets out cries of joy, exuberant joy. According to saint Augustine, this happens, for example, to people who are working in the fields and rejoice as they consider the fertility of the earth and its richness: “exulting they chant, and between the chants, which they express using words, they insert some wordless sounds of the voice… and that is called jubilation (et inter cantica, quae verbis enuntiant, inserunt voces quasdam sine verbis… et haec vocatur jubilatio)” (Ennarationes in Psalmos 99, 2). Generally speaking, jubilation does not imply the use of words. And it is precisely words that Hadewijch makes the target of her silence, all the words which are supposed to render intelligible that which is “the best” in her experience (22, 75). A question then arises: what is the “jubilation” Hadewijch ascribes to mystics who are “inspired (ghegheest)” by God? Is she familiar with a jubilation-in-words? Only in Letter 28 will Hadewijch allow us to hear that “inspired” speech. In Daróczi’s work the theme of “jubilation” is described as follows: Iubilatie is the reaction of the human being to the feeling that Love allows herself to be enjoyed. This reaction is spiritual as well as corporeal, verbal as well as musical. The word iubilatie refers to breaking the barrier of the unsayable; what earlier in the letter was indicated as just a possibility, is now presented as a reality: there really exists a manner of expressing what cannot be talked about with reasoning (met redenen). This utterance of the unspeakable is iubilatie. The speaking that takes place between souls that are “inspired (ghegheeste)” – that by which they “show (tonen)” each other something (22, 14-15 and 130-1) – consists in the iubilatie brought about by the “poured out” Spirit (445).

Brief 23 God si v inder waerheit, Daer hi god ende Minne met een es: Es hi v inde Minne, soe moetti hem met v seluen Minne leuen. Op dat toeuerlaet soe gheuet v ter waerheit die hi selue es. Alsoe enigh leuet der heylegher Minnen om pure Minne, Niet om uwe ghenoechte siere Minnen te pleghene in uwer oefeninghen Mer in die werken sijns te pleghene die Minnen ghenoeghen. Jn al dien dat v god gheuet, hoe scone dat es, dien en gheuet v cussen niet voer dien dach dat ghi wet dat ewelike duren sal. Sijt vroet nu daer ghi sijt; ghi hebbes wel te doene. Ende bouen alle dinc beuelic v dat ghi v hoedet daer herde wiseleke van sunderlingheiden diere daer herde vele es. Noch van lieuen noch van leden en onderwindet v van hen niet. Sijt oetmoedich al vren in al ende oec niet soe oetmoedich dat ghi yet sot wert, Ende waerheit ende gherechticheit achter latet in al dien dat ghise gheleysten moghet: Want ic segghe v voer waer: die lieghet in oetmoedicheiden hi wert daer berespt. Si connen daer herde vele. Siet vore v seluen ende bestaet uwen tijt, Ende sijt ghetrouwe ende wast met ons. Si souden v gherne van ons trecken met hen. Haren herten es wee om onse sonderlinghe trouwe.

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Letter 23 May God be for you in truth the One who is God and Love at once. If He is there for you in love, then you must live in love for Him. In that confidence give yourself to the truth which He Himself is. Live thus only for holy Love out of pure love, not for your satisfaction devoting yourself to His love in your exercises but devoting yourself to Him in those works which satisfy Love. Whatever God gives you, no matter how beautiful it is, do not content yourself with it before the day when you know it will last eternally. Be wise where you now are, such is your need And above all I command you that you guard yourself there wisely against the strange practices of which there are very many there. Leave them alone, be it in joy or sorrow. Be humble, constantly, in everything, but not so humble that you become somewhat foolish and abandon truth and justice wherever you can practise them. For verily I say unto you: whoever lies out of humility, shall be punished. Over there they are ready for anything. Look after yourself and make good use of your time. And be faithful and grow up with us. They would like to pull you away from us to them. They break their hearts over our exceptional faithfulness.

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286 Nu en sijt niewerint met te onledich; doet alle dinc op der Minnen sach, Ende leuet in enighen vlite met ons, ende laet ons inder soeter Minnen leuen. Leuet gode ende hi v ende ghi ons.

Brief 23



Letter 23

Do not be now too busy with anything. Do everything under the authority of Love. And live with us in the very same fervour, and let us live in sweet love. Live for God and may He live for you and you for us.

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Letter 23: Commentary Hadewijch begins Letter 23 by reminding the addressee of the right attitude to the mystical life. In the previous Letters she has dealt with this point here and there, but now she concentrates those scattered indications in an ingeniously composed sentence: Live thus only for holy Love out of pure love, not for your satisfaction devoting yourself to His love in your exercises, but devoting yourself to Him in those works which satisfy Love. (23, 6-8)

The basic message implied by this complex structure is suggested in auditory fashion. Two words, similar in form and sound but differing in meaning provide, so to speak, the pillars: on the one hand, ghenoechte (“satisfaction”), and, on the other, ghenoeghen (“to satisfy”). In meaning, these two terms are opposed to one another, as we first saw in Letter 7 (see Letter 7, Commentary, §1) and the opposition is reinforced here by the stress on “your” satisfaction while it is “Love” that the works have to satisfy. While she specifies them, Hadewijch keeps the two concepts in perfect balance: “your satisfaction” and “to satisfy Love” are both connected with “devoting yourself”. The same word pleghen (“to devote oneself”) is repeated, so that the difference between the two satisfactions stands out all the more. The first “devotion” consists in the satisfaction of doing “exercises”, the inner activity which belongs to the pleghene van Minnen (“the commerce of love”), as it was called in Letter 11 (21-2); the mystic is occupied with experiencing the love relationship in itself, with feeling “His love” and reacting to it with love. However, the second “devotion” differs from the first in being aimed at Love herself, not at gaining satisfaction, but at satisfying the Other by undertaking the “works” she demands from the mystic. The second part of Letter 23 (11-29) portrays Hadewijch’s life as a beguine. We see her engaged in the way of life of a “devout woman (mulier religiosa)” who can be classified among the “orderly beguines (beghinae disciplinatae)”. The word disciplinatae does not mean that these women were subject to any central authority or living in a convent-like community. They formed small, scattered groups that kept in contact without being formally linked to each other. Hadewijch belonged to such a gheselscap (society), as appeared in Letter 5 (20), and although she is a spiritual leader, she is also occupied with domestic business and preoccupied with conflicts both within her own gheselscap and with other beguine communes. Thus Letter 23 complements Letter 5, where we first learned about the place the gheselscap takes in Hadewijch’s life; more information will be provided by Letters 24, 25, and 26. From the historical point of view, some aspects are of special interest. First, these beguines do not hesitate to move from one group to another, as they are not obligated to “stability of place” (stabilitas loci) characteristic of monastic communities. So we learn that the addressee of Letter 23 has left the group where she had been living together with Hadewijch. Letters 24, 25, 26 are addressed to the same person, and it appears from Letter 25 that she was the bosom friend of two others – “Sara,

Commentary 289

Emma and you” (25, 17-8) – and all three are living in another gheselscap, although earlier they had been living with Hadewijch – “since I lived with you” (26, 11). Next, it appears that Hadewijch herself was a strong character who fermented trouble. Already in Letter 5 she tells the addressee that in her group a few wish “that we be separated from one another, specifically me whom they do not want to be with anyone” (20-2). This is confirmed in Letter 23 – “they would like to pull you away from us to them” (23-4) – and in Letter 26 as well: “I am wandering about alone” (27). Even Hadewijch’s most dearly loved friend kept a distance from her: “if [Sara]… can endure and bear my heartfelt grief, that she let me then wander about” (25, 11-2). In the Letters Hadewijch often strikes the kind of warning note heard in Letter 23: the ­addressee(s) must not be occupied with Love’s “love” for the sake of “satisfaction” but with “working” for the sake of Love. This implies that they must live in accordance with “reason”, as she emphasizes in the first lines of Letter 24. Moreover, Hadewijch disengages herself repeatedly from the satisfaction she finds in friendship (see in particular, her reaction to Sara’s being ­indifferent to her, Letter 25). Most of the otherwise like-minded followers of Hadewijch highly valued the “satisfaction” and “consolation” coming from Love as well as from friends, yet on this point Hadewijch kept herself and her friends under a critical gaze, which may more than once have led to breaks and divisions. In addition, Hadewijch was ready to point out that the penchant for satisfactory contemplative experience brought with it “strange practices” (23, 13-4) and, when frustrated, transformed into activism (23, 25-6 which echoes 5, 38-48).

Brief 24 Jc sal v segghen sonder voeghen: en laet v niet men dan Minne ghenoeghen. Gheuet der redenen haren tijt Ende merct altoes waer ghi hare sijt Te lettel ocht ghenoech. Ende en versuemt v aen ghene ghenoechte, daer bi v redene te verliesene; Vwe redene die ic meyne dat es, dat ghi uwe kennesse altoes wakende selt houden in onderscedicheiden. Ghi en sult v niet laten vernoyen eneghe wile te dienne cleynen ochte groten, Sieken ochte ghesonden: Ende soe si siekere waren ende min vrienden hadden, soe ghi hen eer dienen soudet. Ende de vremde verdraghet altoes gherne. Ende alle die v belieghen die en weder segghet niet. Ende alle die v versmaden, met hen begheert te wandelen: Want si rumen v den wech der Minnen. Bi toren moede en ghebrect niemanne. Bi toren moede en laet ghene wijsheit ongheuraghet die ghi niet en weet, Noch van scanden dat ghire niet en wet: Want ghi sijt sculdich van gode te wetene alle die doghet die ghi gheleren moghet Met arbeite, Met vraghene, Met studeerne, Met ernste. Ende alse ghi yeman mesdaen hebbet met uwer scout, Soe en beidet niet langhe ghi en beteret alte hant ieghen hem. Dat sidi schuldich der doet ons heren, hem ghenoech met te doene.

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Letter 24 I shall tell you straight out: do not be satisfied with anything less than Love. Give reason her time and always notice in what way you are hers, enough or too little. And do not forget yourself in any satisfaction, so as to lose your reason in it. What I mean with “your reason” is that you always have to keep your sense of discernment awake. You must not allow yourself even for a moment to dislike serving the small or great, the sick or healthy. And the sicker they are, and the fewer friends they have, the sooner you should serve them. And the outsiders, always put up with them easily. And all those who tell lies about you, do not contradict them. And all those who despise you, desire to go about with them, because they clear for you the path of Love. Do not fail anyone out of spite. Do not, out of spite, neglect to ask about anything you do not know, nor because you are ashamed about not knowing it, for you owe to God to come to know all the good which you can learn through effort, through asking, through studying, through perseverance. And if, by your fault, you have done wrong to someone do not wait long to make up for it fully. You owe that to our Lord’s death, to give Him satisfaction thereby.

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Brief 24

Daer ghine naest ende best in vreden bi waent bringhen dat doeter toe: Hem te voeten te vallene ende vredeleke woerde weder te seghene Ochte vrede weder te doene, Dat en suldi laten om toren noch om scade Noch om scande, Eest dat ghi gode ghecrighen wilt uwe lief te sine ende uwe brudegom. Lieti oec dat bi houerden, Ghi souter in vele quader poente mede comen. En houdet u aen gheen dinc soe crigheleke datter v god sine gracie bi mach ontseggehen. Bi houerden en spaert ghenen dienst. Bi houerden en midet v niet te gheuene cleine ghijften noch arme. Bi houerden en laet ghene dinc te eyschene dies ghi behoeuet Ende niet wel ontberen en moghet. Bi houerden en scaemt v niet dat v honghert ocht dorst, Ocht vaket, Ocht vriest, Ochte siecheit die niet scone en es, Ochte onsen, ochte onseden: want dats grote ere ende hoefscheit van buten Dattie liede hare confusen lien; Ende het es grote houerde dat mense verswighet; Ende het es onnere ende lachter dat mense vordere bedraghen mach dan si hen seluen bedraghen. Ende oec eest gode onsen lieue ene valsche gheueistheit Ende ene onbequame ontrouwe. Want dat es hogher trouwen recht ende Minnen, dat lief den lieue ontdeckt si in al dat hi es, neder ende hoghe.

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Letter 24

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What you think is the quickest and the best way to be reconciled, do that: to fall at their feet and speak words of peace to them, or to do acts of peace towards them. You must not neglect that out of spite, fear for damage, or shame, if you want to have God as your Beloved and your Bridegroom. Were you to neglect that too out of pride, you would be in a very sorry state. Do not be so stubbornly attached to anything that God would therefore refuse you His grace. Out of pride, do not neglect any service. Out of pride, do not neglect to give small gifts or poor. Out of pride, do not neglect to ask for something you need and cannot lack easily. Out of pride, do not be ashamed to acknowledge that you are hungry or thirsty or drowsy or cold or have a repulsive disease or have spoken nonsense or behaved unbecomingly. For it shows a great sense of honour and exterior courtliness when people acknowledge what is shameful to them. Yet it is great pride when one conceals it. And it is dishonour and shame when one attaches more weight to these things than they have in themselves. And it is, moreover, toward God, our Beloved, false insincerity and unwarranted infidelity. For it is the law of high fidelity and love that, before the Beloved, the beloved be uncovered in all that he or she is, the low as well as the high.

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Brief 24

Alsoe segghe ic v: al dat v vore gode allene messchiet, dies seldi v vore hem confuus gheuen, Alsoe dat ghijt soe lieflijc vore hem kint ende met wetenheiden vore hem beclaghet, Dat hi de claghe ghehoert hebbe ende de mesdaet vergheuen, ende gratie toe ghegheuen, eer ghijs vore den priestere toe cont comen te belienne. Al dat ghi vore den mensche mesdoet, diere confusen liet openbare. dat ghi van herten allene mesdoet, Dat beliet, alsoe ic v vore seide, tusschen v ende gode in biechten. Met uwen oghen suldi gode anesien eenuoldechleke sonder meer ende puerleke, Nummermeer ander dinc te besiene, Noch anderen troest te nemenne dan in hem. Memorileke seldi gode van herten draghen, Ende lieflec behelsen met openre hopender herten, Ende gapen altoes ieghen sine herteleke soetheit Ende ieghen die hertelecheit siere herteleker soeter naturen. Daer omme doet al ende laet al, Alsoe ghi v van buten aldus scone houdet, na de wet Ende volcomen alsoe alst behoert. Ende al dies ghi ontberen moghet, dies ontbeert, ende uwe noot nempt nauwe van allen dinghen. Sijt soe oetmoedich van buten, dat god niet te v te segghene en hebbe, Ende sijt dan van binnen alsoe vri, altoes reikende na hem seluen met eenre ellendegher droeuer herten. Ende bidt starkeleker siere minnender soeter herten Ende siere starker minnen, Datse v hare te Minnen gheue, Ende dat hi bekinne hoe ene ionghe herte Minnen ontberen mach:

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Letter 24

I tell you then: whatever wrong happens through you before the eye of God only, you shall therefore humble yourself before Him, in such a way that you avow it very gently before Him and regret it before Him, conscious that He has heard the lament and forgiven the wrong and with it granted you grace before you are able to confess it to the priest. Whatever wrong you do in the sight of people, confess your shame about it in the open. The wrong you do only in your heart, confess it, as I said to you before, between you and God in confession. With your eyes you shall look at God, simply, just like that, and purely, so as never to look upon anything anymore and to take no other consolation except in Him. Thinking of Him, you shall carry God in your heart and embrace [Him] sweetly with an open, expectant heart, always longing for His hearty sweetness and for the heartiness of His hearty, sweet nature. Therefore do everything and leave everything undone so as to behave in public irreproachably, in accord with the law and as perfectly as is right. Whatever you can dispense with, do without, and take of everything only just what you need. Be so humble outwardly that God has no criticism to make of you, and be so free inwardly that you always reach for God Himself with a miserable, sad heart. And implore with more insistence His loving, sweet heart and His strong Love that these may give you themselves to be loved, and that He acknowledge how much a young heart can miss Love,

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Brief 24

want hi es god der Minnen ende bekint wel de noot van Minnen.

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Want hi dan der Minnen seden wel kint, houdi v alsoe puer als ic v gheseghet hebbe: hoe mochte hem god v onthouden, die soe soete es ende soe diepe in valt Ende die al dore valt, daermen teghen hem gaept?

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Ende altoes roept binnen sonder vergheten op uwe herteleke lief: Ghi almoghende ende rike alre ghichten, en laet mi, grote god, dijns dus arm niet. Van al dien dat ghi beghint ochte werct, Dat segghet hem ernsteleke, dat ghi niet idel sceden en wilt daer af sonder vrocht. van ghenen dienste en wilt danc noch loen, Maer van allen dinghen ende in allen dinghen nemt hem seluen oetmoedeleke. Ende van allen creaturen suldi gode nemen, Maer van niemanne en suldine ontfaen dan vter gheheelheit siere enegher natueren altoes te oefenne liefleke. Want sijn soete name maectene allen menschen bequame in de ore der redeleker zielen. Ende alle die woerde die ghi hoert van hem inde scrifture, ende die ghi selue leset Ende die ic v gheseghet hebbe Ende die v yeman seghet in dietsche Ochte in latine, die laet in uwe herte gaen; Ende merct ende benyedt te leuene na sine werdicheit. Dus oefent v in al dat ic v gheseghet hebbe. Want menne mach nieman Minnen leren, Mer dese dogheden volleiden den mensche ter Minnen. God gheue v spoet, dit te verwlne. Amen.

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Letter 24

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for He is the God of love and understands well the need for love.

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Since He knows well Love’s proceeding, if you keep yourself as pure as I have told you, how could God withhold Himself from you, He who is so sweet and falls in so deeply and wholly penetrates there where one hankers for Him?

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And always cry inwardly, without ceasing, to your heartily Beloved: “You, Almighty and rich in all gifts, let me, great God, not be so very poor in You.” In everything you begin or are carrying out, tell Him earnestly that you do not want to go away from it empty, without fruit. Desire neither thanks nor reward for any service, but from all things and in all things take humbly Himself. And from all creatures you shall take God, yet you shall receive Him from no one but from the wholeness of His one nature so as always to devote yourself to it with love. For His sweet name makes Him pleasing to the ear of the rational soul among all people. And all the words which you hear about Him in Scripture and which you read yourself and which I have told you and which someone else tells you, in Dutch or in Latin, let those go into your heart. Pay attention, and do your best to live according to His dignity. Apply yourself then to everything I have told you, for one cannot teach love to anyone, yet these virtues fully lead the human being to Love. May God grant you to succeed in accomplishing this. Amen.

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Letter 24: Commentary Hadewijch begins Letter 24 by drawing attention once again to the problem that a mystic’s growth may be hampered by contemplative pleasure: “do not forget yourself in any satisfaction (ghenoechte)” (4-5). In the previous letter she had warned the addressee about this by reminding her of the love-mystic’s first duty: “to satisfy (ghenoegen) Love” (23, 8). Now she considers a person’s “satisfaction” from a psychological angle; it may seize upon one so as to deprive one of the use of “reason”, the mental faculty that is meant to objectify reality by setting it in order. Just as “reason” introduces structure and distinctions into the outer world, it distinguishes in the inner world what is imagined from what is observed. In Letter 11 Hadewijch had shown that she is free from the delusion of being the best of mystical lovers: it was “reason” which made her realize that, with regard to God, she was “not the nearest” (11, 34). Obviously, “satisfaction” can cause one to “dislike serving” (8-9): why leave the delightful commerce of love for the ordinary works of charity? In the case of the contemplative, mystical “satisfaction” may render a person unfit for concrete human life; it is incumbent on “reason” to keep her “sense of discernment awake” (6-7) by directing her to concrete works. These are in the first place God’s own works when, as she says elsewhere, He lived “as a human being”. Then He served his fellow humans. Hadewijch has already emphasised in Letter 4 the importance of “reason” in its function as the “distinction-making” faculty. There, Hadewijch pointed at two possible faults with “reason”, when it brings about either too little or too much “distinction-making”. Yet this does not alter the fact that for Hadewijch natural reason is the indispensable guide for the human being: “by nature reason values each of these points at its proper value” (4, 109-10). In both Letters, 4 and 24, Hadewijch does not deal with the role of reason in advanced mystical experience: in the first she is writing to a person who is not (yet) a mystic, in the latter to a beginner. However, “reason” and “distinction-making” will reappear in a high mystical context in Letter 28.

Brief 25 Groet mi oec saren metten seluen yet ende niet, dat ic ben. Dat ic hare al dat vol wesen conste, daer si in ghemint es, dat dade ic hare gherne, Ende ic saelt hare oec voldoen, hoe si mi aldus doet. Si heuet miere ellendicheit ouersere vergheten, Ende ic en wilre hare oec niet vermanen noch verwiten, nadien dattere hare de Minne quite laet te vermanenne, Diese alle vren in nuwer persen houden soude, ende onledich met haren edelen lieue. Nu alse si andere onlede heuet ende ghedueren mach ende ghedoghen mijns herten leet, soe laete mi dolen. Doch weetse wale datse sake soude sijn miere recreacien in dit leuen des ellendes, ende ghinder in ghebrukenissen. Daer sal sijt doch wel sijn, al laet si mi dus dwasen. Ende ghi die meer van mi gheleisten moghet dan yeman die nu leuet sonder sare, Emme ende ghi, die sijt mi al eens. Oec keerdi v beide te luttel ter Minnen die mi soe vreseleke omuaen heuet in beroeringhen van onghecoster Minn Mine herte, noch mine ziele, Noch mine sinne en rusten dach Noch nacht Noch vre; de vlamme berrent allen vren int march miere zielen.

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Letter 25 Greet also Sara from me with the same something and nothing which I am. Could I fully be all that for her which in love I am for her, I would love to do it for her, and I shall also fully do it for her, whatever she thus does to me. All too much has she forgotten my desolation but I do not want to admonish or blame her for this, since Love leaves her for this in peace and does not admonish her, [Love] who should put pressure on her hour after hour anew and have her occupy herself with her noble Beloved. Now, if she has other occupations, and can endure and bear my heartfelt grief, that she let me then wander about. Yet she knows well that she should be a source of repose for me, here in this life of misery and there in enjoyment. There she will be that, although she lets me be so miserable. And you, who are able to get more from me than any living person except Sara, Emma and you, you are entirely equal to me. The two of you turn also too little to Love, who keeps me so perilously enclosed in the unrest of unsatisfied love. Neither my heart, nor my soul, nor my senses find rest, neither day nor night, not a single instant. The flame burns hour after hour in the marrow of my soul.

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Segghet margriten datsi haer hoede van houerdicheiden, Ende datse vroede ende ane gode va elcs daghes, Ende datse hare trecke ter volmaectheit waert Ende ghereide hare met ons te wonenne daer wi versamenen selen, Ende datse metten vreemden niet en wone noch en bliue. Dat ware groet ontrouwe, ontbleue si ons, soe gherne soe si ons lieue dade, Ende nu met ons es, Ende soe sere es, Ende soe sere soe wiese oec met ons begheren. Te enen tide hoerdic een sermoen, Daer men seide van sinte Augustine. Op die vre Dat ic dat hoerde, werdic soe sere ontfunct van binnen, Dat mi te moede was, Ochte alle dat in ertrike was, verberrent soude hebben vander vlammen die ic in mi gheuoelde. De Minne es al.

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Letter 25

Tell Margriet to guard herself against haughtiness, and to be wise and seize on God every day, and to pull herself up to perfection, and to prepare herself to come and live with us, where we shall go to live together, and not to go on living with the outsiders. It would be great disloyalty were she to stay away from us, she who would like to do what we love, and who is already with us now and so much, and whom we too desire so much to have with us. Once I heard a sermon which spoke of Saint Augustine. At the moment when I heard it, I became so inflamed within, that I felt as if everything on earth was to be burned by the flame which I felt within me. Love is all.

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Letter 25: Commentary With Letter 25 Hadewijch offers again a quick glimpse of some concrete aspects of her life as a beguine. This Letter, like Letter 24, is an addition to Letter 23 (see the commentary Letter 23, 11-29). No notes are needed on this affectionate letter addressed to two dearly loved friends, both Emma “and you” (18), with a reference to another dear friend, Sara, who seems, however, to have become quite distant (she reappears briefly in Letter 29, 16-7).

Brief 26 Jn gode si v groete ende trouwe volcomeleke ghesendet van mi ende van mi ontboden; Ende dat alle vren in ghewaregher Minnen ghemaent, dat ghi leuet der waerheit ende der volmaectheit, om gode ghenoech te doene, Ende lieue Ende ere ende recht, Jn hem seluen te vorst, Ende daer na in de goede die ghemint sijn van hem ende hi van hen; Ende hen alle noetdorfte te gheuene, in welken manieren soe si sijn. Dit mane ic altoes te doene, Ende hebbe ghedaen ye sider dat ic te uwent woende. Want dat es dat beste werc ende dat cuuschte, dat ic te gode weet. Dat toent v de screftuere, wel eest waer; ende bouen al ghedinct der enegher Minnen, die ic minne ende meine, Al en canic hare niet ghenoegh ghedoen. Ay gheuoelt ende verstaet hoe gherne ict saghe ende dat ghijt oec dadet. Ende gheuoelt oec ende smaket hoe wee mi dat doet, dats ghebrect. Ons mach onse ellindicheit meer sijn Ende ghebreke onser ellendicheit van Minnen, dat wi niet ghebruken en moghen onserlijc anders noch sijns.

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Letter 26 In God may my greetings and fidelity be sent to you in their fullness, offered by me. And may you be urged from hour to hour in true love to live for the truth and perfection: to do what is enough for God, and what pleases and honours Him and does Him justice above all with regard to Himself but next for the good people who are loved by Him and He by them and to give them everything they need, in whatever state they may be. This is what I always urge you to do, and I did myself since the time I lived with you, for it is the best work and the purest that I know with regard to God. In fact Scripture shows you this. Yet above all do think of the one Love whom I love and have in my sight, even though I cannot do enough for her. Ah, feel and understand how I would love to see you doing this as well. And also feel and taste what sorrow it brings to me that this is lacking. Our adversity should be harder for us to bear because we suffer being in want through our being exiled by Love: we can enjoy neither one another nor Him.

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Brief 26

Ic wille dat ghi leuet omme te wassene in uwe volcomenheit. Mer ic, onsaleghe, diet met Minnen beghere van v allen, die mi soudet sijn recreacie in mijnre pinen ende solacie van miere droeuer ellenden Ende peys ende soetheit, Ende ic dole allene ende moet van hen bliuen dien ic ben bouen al dat ic ben, Ende dien ic alsoe gherne volcomene Minne ware. Ende wet god, hi ghebruket alles Ende ic darue alles daer mine ziele in rasten soude in hem.

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Ay waer omme laet hi mi alsoe sere hem te dienne ende te ghebrukene ende der siere, Ende onthoudet mi dan van hem ende vanden sinen? Vaert wel ende leuet scone.

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Letter 26

I want you to live so as to grow up to your perfection. Yet unhappy me, who in love expects this from all of you, who for me should be repose in my tribulation and consolation in my sad misery, and peace and sweetness, I am wandering alone, and I have to remain far from Him, for whom I am above all that I am and for whom I so much long to be perfect love. And, God knows, He enjoys everything and I lack everything in which my soul could rest in Him.

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Ah, why does He allow me to serve and enjoy Him so much with those who are His, and then keeps me separated from Him and from those who are His? Farewell and may you live beautifully.

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Letter 26: Commentary This letter was probably addressed to the same person as the two letters that precede, and gives some more information about Hadewijch’s life as an official “beguine” belonging to a small, non-monastic community (see Letter 23 Commentary). As Letters 5 and 23 have already suggested, this Letter makes clear that community life did not come easily to Hadewijch, so much so that more than once she was left on her own “since the time I lived with you – I am wandering alone” (26, 11 and 27). Yet the end of their life together did not entail that their ties of friendship were broken off, as is clear from the emotional letters written by Hadewijch to her former housemates. Letter 23 shows what lies at the heart of the friendship that links her with them; she warns them of the danger of a more fundamental separation when she says: “what sorrow it brings to me that this is lacking” (18-19). With the word “this” she refers back to two points. The first (mentioned in lines 5-13) is that the addressee should “do enough for God” by doing good works: “to give them everything they need, in whatever state they may be” (5-9). She then points out that she herself has always put into practice what she recommends, for that is “the best work and the purest with regard to God” (1013). Here Hadewijch teaches how the ordinary faithful are to express their love for God, and necessarily the love mystics are to do so in the same way, as she has said repeatedly elsewhere. It consists in putting into practice love of neighbour by doing works of charity, so as to honour God: briefly, to love God is to do what God has commanded in order to glorify him (note how Hadewijch repeats the word “God” in lines 5 and 12). This first point concludes with a reference to the word of God: “Scripture shows you this”. The second point is formulated in lines 14-16: here the word “God” is replaced by “Love” and Hadewijch “cannot do enough for Her”, repeating the characteristic phrase of her mystical love experience, “to do enough for God” (5). It appears then that Hadewijch’s “sorrow”, as she writes to the friends who are now living separate from her, is due to their common falling short of “doing enough” with regard to the two forms of love for God that are inextricably bound up with one another: “charity (caritate)” and “love (minne)”. Thus Letter 26, written with such feeling and occasioned by a concrete situation, refers once more to the profound subject dealt with in Letter 14. The danger to which Hadewijch alerts her friends is that by failing in the full, twofold love for God they put a distance between themselves and Love. This will draw them apart from each other, for the love that binds them together is rooted in their mutual knowing about each other’s complete devotion to Love. Their friendship does not depend on their living together, but it becomes deprived of vigour and meaning when their personal relation with Love weakens. However, Hadewijch is not indifferent to the break-up of their life together; the way in which she speaks about it expresses great pain and a willingness to be open about this. But perhaps the most striking phrase in Letter 26, is when ghebruken (“to enjoy”) is used with a double object: “we can enjoy neither one another nor Him” (21-2). This leads to the final complaint where enjoyment and its lack are linked to both Love and the loved ones:

Commentary 311

Ah, why does He allow me to serve and enjoy Him so much with those who are His, and then keeps me separated from him and those who are His? (26, 32-4)

Brief 27 God si met v ende make v condech alle die verhoelne weghe die ghi schuldech sijt te gheuenne ende te leuenne in ghewaregher Minnen, Soe dat hi v condech moet maken die ontelleke grote soeticheit siere herteleker soeter naturen, die soe diep es, ende soe ongrondeleec, dat hi van wondere ende van onbekintheiden diepere ende donckerre es dan de afgront. God gheue v v seluen te bekinne in allen dies ghi behoeft. Soe moechdi comen in dat bekinnisse vander hogher Minnen die hi selue es, onse grote god. Gheuet v seluen onderdaen vol oetmoedech te allen dinghen ende niewerint af te verheffene, Ende besiet uwe cleinheit ende sine groetheit; uwe nederheit Ende sine hoecheit uwe blentheit Ende sine clare sien doer al; Ende dat hi al dore siet, hemelsche ende ertsche, ende de abis gronde Ende de verborghene diepte. Ende alse v ghedinct der volcomenheit sijns selues: Hoe hi hem seluen te vollen ghenoech es in Minnen ende in glorien,

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Letter 27 God be with you and may He make you familiar with all the hidden ways on which you are bound to set out and to go through in true love, so that He may make you familiar with the unspeakably great sweetness of His heartfelt, sweet Nature, which is so deep and unfathomable that He is, through wondrousness and unknowableness, deeper and darker than an abyss. May God grant you to know yourself regarding everything you need. Thus you are able to come to the knowledge of the high Love which He Himself is, our great God. Submit yourself in thorough humility in all respects and do not exult in anything, and see your smallness and His greatness, your lowness and His highness, your blindness and His clearly seeing through all things, and that He sees through all the heavenly and the earthly, and the unfathomable abysses and the hidden depth. And when you think about the perfection which He Himself is, and how He is Himself enough in fullness, in Love and in glory,

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Brief 27

Ende alse ghi siet dat ghi soe ellendich sijt van allen oefeninghen van Minnen, die lief van lieue sal ontfaen In helsene, In cussene, Jn enicheiden, Jn bekinnissen, Jn nemene, Jn gheuene, Jn oetmoedicheiden, In onderlinghe groetene, Jn ghenadeghen ontfane, Ende dat lief den lieue soe luttel helen mach, ende v noch soe verborghen es Ende soe verholen van hem weder hi v in Minnen si ochte en si: Ay dese saken moghen di wel doen oetmoedich sijn: Want ghi en wet v wies verheffen, alse v ghedinct der groeter doncker ellenden die ic v gheseghet hebbe, Die doch drieuout meere sijn dan ic v segghen sal. Dats waer; dies lie ic wel. Ic seide v wel een deel meer daer toe dan ic doe. Mer ghi ghemisses soe luttel, dat ghi niet en wet wattere ane gheleghet ende ghebrect, Ende welc de soetheit es die lief van lieue heuet. Dat ic segghe van cussene van lieue, Dat es: met hem gheenecht te sine buten alle dinc, Ende gheen genoeghen buten dat te ontfane, dat men in ghenoechten van enicheiden binnen hem ontfeet. Dat omme helsen es sine onthoudenesse van sconen toeuerlate te hem met ongheueisder caritaten. Dit es helsen ende cussen van lieue in redenen. Mer in gheuoelne van binnen ende in ghebrukene van lieue dat daer es van soetheiden, dat en mochten v niet alle de ghene te vollen tellen die ye menschelike vorme ontfinghen, Mer men mochte v vele meer daer af segghen, bescoet yet. Dit late ic aldus bliuen.

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Letter 27

and when you see that you are so far away from all the tokens of love which the beloved ought to receive from the Beloved, in embracing, in kissing, in oneness, in knowing, in taking, in giving, in humility, in greeting one another, in receiving lovingly, and that one beloved can conceal so little from the other, and that it is still so hidden from you and so concealed as for Him whether He is yours in love or not, ah, these things should well render you humble, for you do not know wherein to exult when you think about the great, dark miseries of which I have told you and which are three times greater than I want to tell you. That this is true, I am convinced of it. I could well tell you more about it than I do, but you feel this so little as a lack that you ignore what its importance is, and what is missing, and what the sweetness is which the beloved has from the Beloved. Where I am speaking of kissing the Beloved, that is to be united with Him out of all things and not to receive any satisfaction beside of what one receives in Him in the satisfaction of oneness. To embrace is to be supported by Him as one trusts entirely in Him in genuine love. Such is embracing and kissing the Beloved, where it is put into words, but in the feeling within and in enjoying the Beloved, what there is of sweetness, that could not fully tell you all those who have ever received human shape. Yet one might say more about it, if it were of any use. I leave it then at that.

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Mer bekinnedi nu dese ghebreke Dat ghi niet en hebt van gode die u ghemint heuet, dat ghi van hem te rechte hebben soudet ware hi van u ghemint bouen al, alsoe hi sculdich es ghemint te sine, Minnedine aldus ende waerdi sijn lief, so soudi al de ontelleke wondere oueruloedeghe van hem hebben die ic gheruert hebbe. Dat ghi nu wet dat ghi dit sijt ende hi dat es, Ende v bi uwer nederheit Dat ontbliuen moet, dies behoefdi v wel te oetmoedeghenne bouen al ende niet te verheffene. Dit sijn de inneghe saken waer omme dat men oetmoedech sal sijn.

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However, would you acknowledge this lack in yourself, namely that you do not have from God, who has loved you, what you would rightly have from Him if He were loved by you above all, as it is His due to be loved, were you to love Him thus and to be His beloved, then you would have from Him in abundance all the unspeakable wonders of which I told you. As you know now that you are this and that He is that, and that you must lack that because of your lowness, therefore most of all you will have to humble yourself and not to exult. Such are then the deep reasons one has to be humble.

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Letter 27: Commentary Hadewijch begins Letter 27 with the finest salutation of all her letters, breathing new life into the customary salutatio which had become at this time a formal stylistic device. She develops the formula (1-11) and gives it a new meaning: this greeting has the ring of personal spiritual guidance. In addition, this greeting fulfils the criteria Hadewijch follows when wishing to communicate with her mystical friends and disciples. Already in Letter 1 (see the Commentary) she had indicated her need, and that of the addressee, for God-given “light” as the medium through which to communicate: only God can bring home to the addressee what Hadewijch teaches. Similarly here, at the start of Letter 27, with the phrases “may He / He may / May God”, she prays God repeatedly to grant the addressee a clear insight into the points Hadewijch can only enunciate: in fact, three points of vital importance for someone on the way to becoming a love mystic. In its central part (4-8) Hadewijch breaks the normal bounds of a salutation with a Middle Dutch word-play. First comes an almost sensuous phrase, soeticheit siere herteleker soeter naturen (“sweetness of His heartfelt, sweet Nature”), where the sibilants predominate, and then one hears the startling image, diepere ende donckerre es dan de afgront (“deeper and darker than an abyss”). Moreover, Hadewijch introduces in this sonorous phrasing a striking combination of words that evokes the unfathomable otherness of the Beloved: “sweet Nature (soete nature)”. In Letter 20 the divine nature was spoken of as the abyss into which Love “throws” the mystical lover (9 and 138). The word “nature” points to the inner dynamics of the Godhead, whose outwards manifestations are so overwhelming. Thus in Letter 22: [God] rests in nothing but in the impetuous Nature of His flowing, flooding floods, which flow around all and over all. (22, 252-5)

In Letter 27, Hadewijch mentions both what is “sweet” about that “Nature” and the Abyss which is its strength. Similarly in Letter 5 she had conjured up the image of the sweetness of Love, stretching into the depths of her Nature, and the truth that in order to enjoy this sweetness, the mystic is bound to be engulfed by those depths into which she “falls”: Woe! As sweet as Love is why don’t you fall deep into her, and why don’t you touch God deep enough in the depth of that Nature which is so unfathomable? (5, 30-3)

One can see here that for Hadewijch the experience of Love’s “sweetness” can hardly be a sweet “feeling”. It comes in fear and trembling when the abyss of God’s Nature, which is Sweetness, is opened. By “sweetness” Hadewijch does not mean a sort of friendly attitude adopted by Love, but (to use a technical expression) her ontological being-sweet. Hadewijch has repeatedly mentioned the frightening character of Love’s divine sweetness: e.g. in Letter 3, “remember the sweet Nature of Love… which is so awesome to behold because of her being marvellous” (8-10);

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and in Letter 22 where the paradoxical expression “dreadfully sweet” is used to evoke the transcendence of God’s Nature making itself felt in mystical union with Love (19-20 and 35-6). The following lines (12-33), describing in quite objective terms “thorough humility”, contrast sharply with the impressive opening presentation of God’s greatness. Clearly this humility is the essence of the self-knowledge for which one is asking God (8). Yet here, “to know yourself” is not a matter of rational insight as in Letter 2, 37-8 (“by closely examining your thoughts, knowing yourself in all respects”), nor, as in Letter 14, 44-49, is it a process of identifying a list of inner motions. In Letter 27 Hadewijch is urging her addressee to appreciate her smallness in the light of God’s countenance, rather than to “discern within [her]self” what needs to be put right. Once again it is by repeating a word that Hadewijch indicates the main point of the Letter: she does this three times – right after the opening, practically in the middle, and at the end (12-3. 30-1. 59-60). The addressee is told that she must not “exult” because there is nothing wherein to find glory. In Letter 6 this point was strongly made when Hadewijch urged the addressee: to grow up as if out of a nothingness, as someone who has nothing and to whom nothing can come. (6, 179-81)

The justification for this humility is presented in two parts, each introduced by “see” (14-18 and 21-33). The first recalls the structural contrast between God and the human being, a point that has been made repeatedly since Letter 4: “that God is great and the human being small” (4, 40). With lines 19-20 Hadewijch inserts a link that shifts attention to God who “is Himself enough in fullness, in Love and in glory”. Then the second cause for humility is made clear: the would-be love mystic experiences in her inner life the poorness of her part in the commerce of love when compared with that of God (cf. Letter 11, 10-25), and the “great dark miseries”. Thus the “thorough humility” which should be lived by the addressee of Letter 27 is twofold: on the one hand, it hangs on the objective relation between God and the human being, the fact of one being “great” and the other “small”; but on the other hand, it stems from the personal relationship between Love and the mystical lover, who must ask the question “whether He is yours in love or not” (28-9). In Letter 27 Hadewijch also hints at one of the extrinsic reasons for her not speaking about the mystic’s experience (see Letter 22 Commentary for the two intrinsic reasons). It appears that she was silenced by kindred souls lacking empathy for the joys and the miseries of full-grown mystical life (35 and 48-9). The insensitivity of those supposed to be fellow mystics may well have been a more painful obstacle to Hadewijch’s self-expression than the opposition and evil will of “outsiders” (19, 76-7), or the lack of understanding of “devout people” (28, 227), or even the ignorance of those who with their “distinction-making” came to question her: asking me what it is, that I mean and feel with God in God” (28, 257-9).

Brief 28 Jn de rijcheit der claerheit des heilichs gheests, Daer inne maket de salighe ziele verweende feeste. Die feeste dat sijn heileghe woerde gheuoeghet in heilicheden metter heilicheid ons heren. Die woerde sijn elker zielen diese horet ende naturlike versteet, gheuende .iiij. dinghen met volre heilicheit: Si gheuen hare gheuoelicheid Ende soetheid Ende bliscap Ende verweentheid Ende al in ghewaregher gheestelijcheit. Soe wanneer god der zalegher zielen gheuet die claerheit dat sine besien mag in siere godheit, soe besiet sine in siere ewelecheit, Ende in siere groetheit, Ende in siere wijsheit, Ende in siere edelheit, Ende in siere ieghenwordicheit, Ende in siere vloyelecheit, Ende in siere gheheelheit. Sie siet hoe god es in siere ewelecheit: god met naturleker godheit. Sie siet hoe god es in siere groetheit: gheweldich met naturleker gheweldicheit. Sie siet hoe god es in siere wijsheit: verweent met naturleker verweentheit.

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Letter 28 In the richness of the clarity of the Holy Spirit, therein the blessed soul celebrates blessed-making feasts. Those feasts are holy words fitting in holiness for the holiness of our Lord. Those words give every soul who hears them, and understands them in accord with their nature, four things in full holiness. They give her sensitivity and sweetness and gladness and blessedness. and all this in a truly spiritual way. When God gives the blessed soul clarity, so that she can regard Him in His Godhead, then she regards Him in His everlastingness, and in His greatness, and in His wisdom, and in His nobility, and in His presence, and in His fluidity, and in His wholeness. She sees how God is in His everlastingness: God with natural Godhead. She sees how God is in His greatness: mighty with natural might. She sees how God is in His wisdom: blessed-making with natural blessedness.

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Sie siet hoe god es in siere edelheit: clare met natuerleker claerheit. Sie siet hoe god es in siere ieghenwordicheit: soete met natuerleker soetheit. Sie siet hoe god es in siere vloyelecheit: rike met natuerleker rijcheit Sie siet hoe god es in siere gheheelheit: weelde met naturleker weldicheit. In al desen besietse gode in enen persoen Ende in elken van desen besietse gode in menichfuldegher godleker rijcheit. Wanneer si in deser bescouwinghen es soe behoeft si te wesene in rasten van herten wat si anders es van buten. Dit seghet de soete Ziele die met Minnen in groten vernoye hevet ontbeidet haers heren met sinen toeverlate: Ende hare here hevet verclaert hare herte; Ende in die claerheit esse comen in gheheelleker ghetoenlecheit. Ende si sprect van feesten ende seghet van welheyden: Wat es mi al dan god? God es mi ieghenwerdechleke; God es mi vloyeleke; God es mi gheheelleke. God es mi metten sone iegenwerdechleke met soetheiden; God es mi metten heyleghen gheest vloyeleken met rijcheiden;

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She sees how God is in His nobility: clear with natural clarity. She sees how God is in His presence: sweet with natural sweetness. She sees how God is in his fluidity: rich with natural richness. She sees how God is in His wholeness: abundance with natural profuseness. In all these qualities she regards God as one Person, and in each of them she regards God in His manifold godlike richness. When she is in this consideration, she ought to be in tranquillity of heart, no matter how different she may be on the outside. This the sweet soul says, who with love in great sorrow has awaited her Lord, trusting Him. And her Lord has enlightened her heart, and in that clarity she has come to the whole revelation. And she speaks in festive joy and she says in rapture: What else do I have but God? God is for me present, God is for me fluid, God is for me whole, God is for me in the Son present with sweetness, God is for me in the Holy Spirit flowing with richness,

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God es mi met den vader gheheelleke met verweentheiden. Aldus es mi god met .iii. personen een here, Ende een here met .iii. personen, Ende met .iii. personen in menichfuldegher godleker rijcheit es hi te miere zielen. Ende si seghet selve voert: Die ziele die met gode wandelt in sine ieghenwordicheit, Si sprect gherne om sine ghevoellecheit Ende om sine soetheit Ende om sine groetheit. Die ziele die noch wandelt voert met gode in sine vloyelecheit, Sie sprect gherne om sine Minne Ende om sine verweentheit Ende om sine edelheit. Die ziele die noch vort wandelt met gode in sine gheheelheit Si sprect gherne om hemelsche rijcheit Ende om hemelsche bliscap Ende om hemelsche weeldecheit. Die zalighe ziele die met al desen wandelt in gode ende met gode wandelt in al desen, si kint alre hande gracie, Ende si es meester ende verweent met alsoe selker verweentheit alse god in godleker rijcheit, Die een ewich here es Ende die al goed es Ende die god es, Ende die alle dinc ghemaect hevet.

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God is for me in the Father whole with blessedness. Thus God is for me in three Persons one Lord, and one Lord in three Persons, and in three Persons He is in manifold godlike richness for my soul. And furthermore she herself says: The soul who wanders with God in His presence, she speaks with pleasure about His being perceivable and about His sweetness and about His greatness. The soul who wanders still further with God in His fluency, she speaks with pleasure about His Love and about His blessedness and about His nobility. The soul who wanders still further with God in His wholeness, she speaks with pleasure about heavenly richness and about heavenly gladness and about heavenly profusion. The blessed soul, who with all this wanders in God and with God wanders in all this, she knows all kinds of grace, and she is masterful and blessed with such blessedness like God in godlike richness, He who is an everlasting Lord and who is wholly good and who is God and who has made all things.

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God es groetheit ende gheweldecheit Ende wijsheit. God es goetheit ende ieghenwerdicheit Ende soetheit. God es subtijlheit ende edelheit ende weeldicheit. God es hoechleke in siere groetheit Ende volcomen in siere gheweldicheit Ende verweent in siere wijsheit. God es wonder in siere goedheit Ende gheheeleke in siere ieghenwordicheit Ende bliscap in siere soetecheit. God es ghewarich in siere subtijlheit Ende weldich in siere edelheit Ende vol oueruloedich in siere weeldicheit. Aldus es god in drie persone met hem seluen in menichfuldegher godleker rijcheit. God es ene verweende salicheit, Ende hi es op ghehouden met ouergaender crachticheit in wonderleker hoechleker rijcheit.

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God is greatness and might and wisdom. God is goodness and presence and sweetness. God is sublety and nobility and abundance. God is elevated in His greatness and perfect in His might and blessed-making in His wisdom. God is wonderful in His goodness and whole in His presence and gladness in His sweetness. God is truthful in His sublety and profuse in His nobility and wholly overflowing in His abundance. Thus God is in three Persons on His own in manifold godlike richness. God is a blessed-making blessedness and He exists by all-surpassing power in wonderfully elevated richness.

Letter 28

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Dit sijn woerde die met verweentheiden comen wallende vter fijnheit gods. Ende welc es die fijnheit gods? Dat es dat wesen der godheit in enicheiden, Ende die enicheit in gheheelheiden, Ende die gheheelheit in ghetoenlecheiden, Ende die ghetoenlecheit in glorilecheiden, Ende die glorilecheit in ghebrukelecheiden, Ende die ghebrukelecheit in ewelicheiden. Gods gracien die sijn alle fijn. Mar die dit versteet, hoe dit es in gode ende in die throne der throne Ende in die rijcheit der hemele, Hi heuet die fijnheit alre hande gracien. Die hier toe iet spreken wilt, hi behoeuet metter zielen te sprekene. God es met verweentheiden wesende in midden sire glorien. Ende daer in es hi in hem seluen onghescreuen van goetheiden Ende van rijcheiden Ende van wondere. God es met hem seluen in hem seluen ghescreuen met volre salicheit te salicheiden sinen creaturen. Om dies dit god es. Daer omme es hemel ende erde vol van gode, Die soe gheesteleke ware dat hi gode bekinnen conste.

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These are words which well in blessedness up out of the fineness of God. And what is God’s fineness? That is the being of the Godhead in unity and the unity in wholeness and the wholeness in revelation and the revelation in glory and the glory in enjoyment and the enjoyment in everlastingness. All God’s graces are fine. Yet he who understands this, how this is in God and in the throne of thrones and in the richness of the heavens, he has the fineness of all kinds of graces. He who about this wants to say something, he must speak with the soul. God is dwelling in blessedness in the midst of His glory, and therein is He in Himself inexpressible out of goodness and out of richness and out of wonderfulness. God is through Himself in Himself expressed in full blessedness for the blessedness of His creatures. Because this is God, therefore heaven and earth are full of God for him who would be so spiritual that he might come to knowledge of God through experience.

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Brief 28

Ende zaleghe ziele sach met gode na gode ende si sach gode gheheeleke ende vloyeleke. Ende si sach gode vloyeleke in gheheelecheiden ende gheheelleke in vloyelecheiden Ende si sprac met haerre gheheelheit Ende seide: God es een groet here in ewicheiden, Ende hi heuet in siere godheit dat hi es in .iij. persone. Hi es vader in sine gheweldicheit; Hi es sone in sine bekinnelecheit; Hi es heilich gheest in sine glorilecheit. God gheuet inden vader; ende hi toent inden sone; Ende hi doet smaken inden heilighen gheest. God werct metten vader gheweldichleke; ende metten sone bekinneleke; Ende metten heileghen gheest subtyleke. Aldus werkt god met .iij. personen in enen here, Ende met enen here in .iij. persone, Ende met .iij. personen in ere menichfuldegher gotleker rijcheit, Ende met menichfuldegher gotleker rijcheit, in sine verweende ziele, die hi gheleidet heuet in de heimelijcheit sijns vader, ende maectse alle verweent.

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And the blessed soul looked with God at God and she saw God whole and flowing and she saw God flowing in wholeness and whole in fluency. And she spoke with her wholeness and said: God is a great Lord in everlastingness and in His Godhead is He in three Persons. He is Father in His supremacy, He is Son in His knowability, He is Holy Spirit in His gloriousness. God gives in the Father and He displays in the Son and He causes to taste in the Holy Spirit. God works in the Father as supreme and in the Son as knowable and in the Holy Spirit as subtle. Thus God works with three Persons as one Lord and as one Lord in three Persons, and in three Persons with manifold godlike richness and with manifold godlike richness in the blessed soul that is His, whom He has led right into the hiddenness of His Father, and He makes all of them blessed.

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Brief 28

Tusschen gode ende de zaleghe ziele die god worden es met gode es ene gheestelike caritate. Soe wanneer god openbaert dese gheesteleke caritate inder zielen, soe gheet in hare op ene gheuoelleke vrientscap. Dat es: si gheuoelt in hare, hoe hare god vrient es vore alle vernoye ende in allen vernoye Ende bouen alle vernoye, Ja bouen allen vernoye tote inde trouwe sijns vader. In dese gheuoeleke vrienscap gheet op een hoghe toeverlaet. In desen hoghe toeverlate gheet op ene gherechteleke soetheit. In dese gherechteleke soetheit gheet op ene ghewareghe bliscap. In dese ghewareghe blijscap gheet op ene godlike claerheit. Soe siet si; Ende sine siet niet. Si siet ene properlike, een vloyeleke, ene gheheeleke waerheit, die god selue es in ewelecheiden. Si steet, ende god gheuet Ende si ontfeet. Ende watsi dan ontfeet van ghewaricheiden ende van gheestelecheiden ende van gheuoelecheiden ende van wondere dat en can niemanne ghemeine ghewerden.

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Between God and the blessed soul, who has become God with God, exists a spiritual love. When God reveals this spiritual love in the soul, then in her arises a perceivable friendship. This means: she feels in herself how God is a friend to her before all sorrow and in all sorrow and above all sorrow, yes, above all sorrow right into the faithfulness of His Father. In this perceivable friendship arises a high trust. In this high trust arises a right sweetness. In this right sweetness arises a genuine gladness. In this genuine gladness arises a godlike clarity. Thus she sees, and she sees not. She sees a substantial, a fluid, a whole truth, which is God Himself everlastingly. She stands, and God gives, and she receives. And what she receives then in truthfulness and in being spiritual and in sensitivity and in wonderfulness, that can be communicated to no one.

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Brief 28

Ende si moet bliuen in stilheiden Jn die vriheit derre verweentheit. Wat god dan te hare sprect van hoghen gheesteleken wondere, dan weet niemand dan god, diet hare gheuet Ende die ziele, die gheestelec es alse god bouen alle gheestelecheit. Dit seide een mensche in gode: Mine ziele si es al gheschoert metter cracht der ewelecheit; Ende si es al versmolten metter vrientscap der vaderlecheit; Ende si es al gheuloyt metter groetheit gods. Die groetheit es sonder mate Ende de herte miere herten es ene rike rijcheit, die god ende here es in siere ewicheit. Dat seide ene ziele inde vrienscap gods: Jc hebbe ghehoert de stemme der verweentheit. Jc hebbe ghesien dat lant der claerheit, Ende Jc hebbe ghesmaect de vrocht der bliscap. Sint dat dit heuet gheweest, so hebben alle de sinne miere zielen ghewacht na hoghe gheesteleke wondere, Ende alle mine iegenwerdeghe bedinghen sijn altoes beuaen met enen soeten toeuerlate, Dat god selue es in ghewaeregher waerheit. Om dat dit dus es, daer omme benic ommateleke verweent met alsoe selker verweentheit Alse god in siere godheit.

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And she must remain in stillness in the freedom of that blessedness. What God speaks to her then of lofty spiritual wonders, thàt nobody knows except God, who gives this to her, and the soul, who is spiritual like God, above all spiritualness. A human being in God said this: My soul is completely torn with the force of eternity, and she is completely melted by the friendship of the Fatherhood, and she has completely flowed away with the greatness of God. That greatness is without measure, and the heart of my heart is a rich richness, God and Lord in His everlastingness. A soul in God’s friendship said this: I have heard the voice of blessedness, I have seen the land of clarity, I have tasted the fruit of gladness. Since this has happened, all the senses of my soul have been waiting for lofty spiritual wonders and all my present prayers are always enclosed in sweet trust which is God Himself in His truthful truth. Because this is so, therefore am I blessed without measure with the same sort of blessedness as God in His Godhead.

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Brief 28

God es vlotende met heilicheden bouen alle heylegen in de vaderlecheit van hem seluen; Ende daer vte es hi gheuende sinen alre liefsten kinderen nuwe rijcheit al vol van glorien. Omdat dit god es, daer omme mach hi heden ende merghen Ende altoes gheuen nuwe rijcheide die nye ghehoert en waren, sine waren den personen ghehoret van hem seluen in siere ewicheit. God es in sine persone ende hi es in sine crachte. God es bouen sonder ende, Ende hi es onder sonder ende, Ende hi es al omme sonder ende in sine crachte. God es in midden sinen personen uollende alle sine crachte met gotleker rijcheit. Aldus es god inde persone met hem seluen in menichfuldegher gotleker rijcheit.

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God flows with holiness above all the saints in the Fatherhood that He Himself is. And from there He gives His very dearest children new richness, wholly filled with gloriousness. Because this is God, therefore He is able today tomorrow and always to give new richnesses which had never been heard of, except by the Persons, who had heard about them from Him in His everlastingness. God is in His Persons and He is in His powers. God is above without end and He is below without end and He is around everything without end through His powers. God is in the midst of His Persons, filling all his powers with godlike richness. Thus is God in the Persons in Himself in manifold godlike richness.

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Brief 28

Jet van gode, dat es god, Ende daer omme roert god in siere menster gauen alle sine crachte. Ja yet van gode, dat es god selue: hi es in hem seluen. Die rijcheide gods sijn menichfuldich, Ende god es menichfuldich in enicheiden, Ende hi es eenuoldich in menichfuldicheiden. Om dat dit god es, daer omme sijn alle sine kindere verweent; Ende emmer deen verweender dan dander; ende alle sine kindere sijn verweent. De saleghe ziele sprect gheesteleke wijsheit met Minnen; Ende si sprect hogheleke met waerheden; Ende si sprect moghendeleke met rijcheden. God gheuet Minne ende waerheit Ende rijcheit vter volheit siere godheit. God gheuet Minne met verstandelijcheden; God gheuet waerheit met besculeecheiden; God gheuet rijcheit met ghebrukeleecheiden. Dat seide ene ziele in de ieghewordicheit gods: Een god es alder hemele; Ende de hemele sijn ontploken, Ende de crachticheiden dies grots gods schinen inde herten siere heimelijker met gheuoelecheiden Ende met soeticheiden ende met blijtheiden.

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Something from God, that is God, and therefore God in the least of His gifts sets in motion His powers. Yes, something from God, that is God Himself: He is in Himself. God’s richnesses are manifold, and God is manifold in unity, and He is onefold in manifoldness. Because this is God, therefore all His children are made blessed, nevertheless always one is more blessed than the other, and yet all his children are made blessed. The blessed soul speaks spiritual wisdom with love, and she speaks loftily with truth. and she speaks mightily with richness. God gives love and truth and richness out of the fullness of His Godhead. God gives love that has to be understood, God gives truth that has to be considered, God gives richness that has to be enjoyed. This is what a soul said in the presence of God: There is a God for all the heavens, and the heavens are opened up. And the powers of this great God shine in the hearts of His intimate ones with sensitivity and with sweetness and with gladness.

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Brief 28

Dan wert de zaleghe ziele gheleidet in ene gheesteleke dronckenscap, daer si inne moet spelende sijn, Ende hare ghelatende na die soeticheit die si van binnen gheuoelt. Nieman en begrijpt op hare; si es dat kint gods ende es verweent. Ene andere ziele hetet mine ziele noch verweendere. Dat es die ziele die met waerheiden ende met edelheiden Ende met claerheiden ende met hoecheiden wert gheleidet in ene verweende stilheit. Ende in die verweende stilheit hoertse een groet gheruchte van dien wondere, dat god selue es in ewecheiden. Si sijn beide de kindere gods ende sijn verweent in desen tide. Die ghene die soe verre comen es met gode dat hi Minne heuet Ende wijsheit werkende es in godleker waerheit, Hi es dicste wile verweent met alsoe selker verweentheit alse god es. Waer omme want alsoe vele alse hi besien can met wijsheiden, soe mint hi met Minnen; Ende also vele als hi gheminnen can met minnen, soe besiet hi met wijsheiden; Ende es dicste wile werkende met wijsheden ende met Minnen in die rijcheit gods. Ende dats ene hoghe verweentheit: Die soe langhe heuet ghestaen met gode dat hi alsoe ghedane wondere versteet, alse god es in siere gotheit; hi scijnt dicste wile vore die godleke menschen, Dies niet en kinnen, van godleecheden ongodelec, Ende onghestadich van ghestadicheiden, Ende onconstich van consticheiden.

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Then the blessed soul is guided into a spiritual drunkenness in which she has to take delight, and adapt herself to the sweetness which she feels within. Nobody reproaches her with this: she is God’s child and she is blessed. Another soul pronounces my soul still more blessed. Such is the soul who through truth and through nobility and through clarity and through loftiness is guided into a blessed stillness. And in that blessed stillness she hears a great murmur from the wonder which is God Himself in everlastingness. They are both children of God and are being blessed in this life. He who has come so far with God that he possesses love and accomplishes wisdom in godlike truth, he is often blessed with the same blessedness as God. This is why: in so far as he can regard with wisdom, so much he loves with love, and in so far as he can love with love, so much he regards with wisdom. And he is often at work with wisdom and with love in the richness of God. And this that follows is a lofty blessedness: he who has so long stood in God that he understands such wonders as how God is in His Godhead, he often appears in the eyes of devout people, who have no knowledge of this, irreligious through being godlike, and unsteady through steadiness, and ignorant through knowing.

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Brief 28

Jc sach gode god ende den mensche mensche. Ende doe en wonderde mi niet, dat god god was, ende dat de mensche mensche was. Doen saghic gode mensche, Ende ic sach den mensche godlec. Doen en wonderde mi niet dattie mensche verweent was met gode. Jc sach hoe god den alre edelsten mensche met vernoye sen gaf, Ende met vernoye sen nam. Ende daer hi hem sen nam, gaf hi hem den alre scaerpsten sen in senne. Doen ic dat sach, doen troeste ic mi met gode in allen vernoye. Dat seide ene ziele inde rijcheit gods: Godeleke wijsheit ende volcomene oetmoedicheit, dats grote verweentheit inde claerheit dies vaders, Ende dats grote volmaectheit inde waerheit dies soens, Ende dat es grot spel inde soetheit des heilichs gheests.

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I saw God as God and man as man. And then it did not surprise me that God was God and that man was man. Then I saw God as man and I saw man godlike. Then it did not surprise me that this man was blessed in God. I saw how God gave to the very noblest man through sorrow insight and through sorrow took away insight. And where He took away insight from him, He gave him the very sharpest insight of all insights. When I saw that, then I consoled myself with God in all sorrow. A soul in God’s richness said this: godlike wisdom and complete humility, that is great blessedness in the clarity of the Father, and that is great perfection in the truth of the Son, and that is great delight in the sweetness of the Holy Spirit.

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Brief 28

Sint dat mi die heilicheit gods swighen dede, Sint hebbic vele ghehoert. Ende sint dat ic vele ghehoert hebbe, waer inne hieldict dan? Jc en hielt niet sotteleke dat ic hielt. Jc hielt alle dinc vore ende na. Soe swighe dan ende ruste mi met gode tote dien tide dat mi gode spreken hetet. Jc hebbe al mine bescedelecheit gheheelect, Ende ic hebbe alle mine gheelheit gheproperlect. Ende ic hebbe al mine properleecheit ghehouden ghedaen in gode tote in dien tide dat yemant comt met alsoe selker onderscedecheit, Die mi vraghet wat dat es dat ic meine, Ende dat ic dies gheuoele met gode in gode, dat ics maer te meer en ben ondersceden, Alse mi es te sprekene, Ende hier omme swighic sachte.

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Dat seide ene ziele inde vriheit gods: Jc verstont alle bescedelecheit in ere gheheellecheit Ende doen bleuic spelende in de sale des heren, Ende doen lietic sinen ambachteren sijn rike achterwaren.

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Ay in dien tiden vloyden alle de lantscapen der lande in den lande. Dat hietic den tijt der verweentheit. Daer in bleuic staende ouer al ende in al midden. Doen saghic ouer al in de glorie sonder ende.

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Since God’s holiness made me keep silence, since then I have heard much. And since I have heard much, why did I keep it for myself? I did not without reason keep for myself what I kept for myself. I kept everything for myself, before and after. Therefore I am silent and rest with God till the moment when God commands me to speak. I have healed all my distinction-making, and I have appropriated all my wholeness, and I have kept all that is proper to me enclosed in God till the moment when someone comes with that sort of distinction-making, who asks me what it is, that I mean and feel with God in God. Then am I all the more distant [from God] in so far as I have to speak, and therefore I gently keep silent.

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In God’s freedom a soul said this: I understood all distinctions in a wholeness, and then I kept taking delight in the dwelling of the Lord, and then I let his servants manage His realm.

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Ah, at those times all the regions of the land were flowing together into the land. I called that the time of blessedness. Therein I remained standing, above everything and in the middle of everything. Then I looked out, above everything, in the gloriousness without end.

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Letter 28: Commentary In the preceding Letters Hadewijch has repeatedly emphasized that, with regard to mystical union as such, she must keep silent. In Letter 19, she has shown, on the one hand, that it is absolutely impossible for her to put her experience into words, either in prose or in verse, and on the other hand, that her “misfortune” – this is her “non-enjoyment of Love” (1, 66) – reduces her to silence. However, this critical attitude towards language did not prevent her from indicating that there might be a way to “put into words the matter of love”, however unsayable it is: to do so, one would have to be enabled to “speak with the soul” (19, 27-30). In Letter 22, Hadewijch went on to emphasize the same point by repeating her warning about mystical speech. Yet one of these quasi-refrains takes up the hint given in Letter 19: “about [the mystic’s highest way to God] there is nothing to be said with words, except where one would speak with an inspired soul to an inspired soul (met ghegheester zielen te ghegheester zielen [spreken])” (22, 129-31; cfr. 14-6). It comes then as a surprise that here, in Letter 28, she treats us to extensive word-play. It seems that mystical “clarity” gives rise to a stream of words and unrestrained speech. Mention is made of “feasts” that are “holy words”, and this is followed by several series of words before the identity of the speaker becomes clear: “this the sweet soul says” (33). From here to the end of the letter, the soul is allowed on eight occasions to speak “in festive mood” (37). These utterances alternate at times with an evocation of the soul’s state (see, for instance 101-4 and 121-42), and it appears that God also is speaking: “What God speaks to her then… thàt nobody knows except God… and the soul” (142-4). Although a verbal richness distinguishes Letter 28 and astounds the reader, it does not prevent one from recognizing that “He who about this wants to say something, he must speak with the soul” (91-2). Perhaps what is happening in this letter is what was suggested in Letters 19 and 22. On a first reading, then, one senses what Hadewijch specialists have found again and again. The whole of this text eludes the way of reading with which we are familiar. Its meaning is not transmitted as mystical “content” to be displayed as we define the sense of the words, analyse the phrases and consider their logical coherence. It is useless to try to make Letter 28 intelligible by following such rules. The very first linguistic series, consisting of abstract nouns held together by means of “and”, does not allow the diligent reader to grasp what is being said. Not only do the words break free from their normal meaning, but the sentences do not function as they should: Those words give every soul who hears them, and understands them in accord with their nature, four things in full holiness. They give her sensitivity and sweetness and gladness

Commentary 347

and blessedness. and all this in a truly spiritual way. When God gives the blessed soul clarity, so that she can regard Him in His Godhead, then she regards Him in His everlastingness, and in His greatness, and in His wisdom, and in His nobility, and in His presence, and in His fluidity, and in His wholeness. (28, 5-15)

As it is not possible to state precisely the content of Letter 28, this is a good moment to do continuously what so far has been done only intermittently: we need in the first place to study the formal aspect of this text. And since the oral character of Hadewijch’s writing has already been stressed many times, we need to focus first on how she speaks, and postpone the question of what she says. Perhaps this surprising letter is meant to teach us that the mystic’s feasting with words in godlike “clarity” occurs without “content”, or at least without the “content” we are accustomed to seek in a written text. Our close reading of Hadewijch’s Letters has profited more than once from Anikó Daróczi’s work. In what follows, we borrow from “A reading of Letter 28” (452-82). She notes that the relevance of sounds is predominant. In order to read this text properly one needs above all to perceive, to hear, and to consider the “audible units” that compose it. (Needless to say such a reading, with its emphasis on hearing, applies mainly to the Middle Dutch original. However, the English reader may get some impression of what is meant from the lay-out of the text here.) This approach reveals that all of Letter 28 is “written in a particular, mystical mode”, which in this case is “one, great jubilation” (452; for jubilation, see Letter 22). And as the “feasts” celebrated here are specified as “words”, this jubilation consists in speaking words, not in the mere uttering of sounds. The mystic “speaks in festive joy and says in rapture” (28, 37). “Words” is not used here in a figurative sense. Hadewijch is dealing with real words that are to be pronounced, and may be understood by the one who “understands them in accord with their nature” (5-6). Later the phrase “to understand” occurs a few more times (81-9. 192-3. 262-3). It appears then that the festive words imply the mystic’s intellectual activity in her being “blessed”. The deepest union with God does not bring Hadewijch into an unmoved silence which she has to undergo without words or thoughts. This point is confirmed by the use in this jubilation of “to see (sien)” and “to regard (besien)”. These words do not differ much in meaning (sien connoting momentariness, besien duration), for the first passage in which both appear (10-29) is summed up as follows: “When she is in this consideration” (30). It is worth noting that the addressee of Letter 1 is urged by Hadewijch to “see and regard” (1, 23-40). Exactly the same words are used in a quite different context: what the “beginner” (Letter 1) learns to do in her seeking union, the fully-fledged mystic (Letter 28) is inspired to do in her jubilant enjoyment of union. It appears that

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human intelligence as such is functioning in both cases, although in a different mode. The “consideration” of the “young” mystic is active and predicative, that of the “adult” mystic, passive and expressive: “Thus she sees, and she sees not” (28, 134). From where do these words come? The second sentence already suggests that they belong to God’s own “holiness”, to how God is, not to what or who he is. This is explained further on, where Hadewijch uses a very precise expression: “to well up out of”: These are words which well in blessedness up out of the fineness of God. And what is God’s fineness? That is the being of the Godhead in unity and the unity in wholeness and the wholeness in revelation and the revelation in glory and the glory in enjoyment and the enjoyment in everlastingness. All God’s graces are fine. Yet he who understands this, how this is in God and in the throne of thrones and in the richness of the heavens, he has the fineness of all kinds of graces. He who about this wants to say something, he must speak with the soul. (28, 80-92)

Now the mystic is not only aware that her words stem from God, but she touches the well-head that feeds the source of godlike words: “These are words that in blessedness well up out of the fineness of God” (80). Now she does not experience God’s “fineness” in its flowing out – in “all God’s graces [that] are fine” – but in “understand[ing]… how this is in God… she has the fineness of all kinds of graces” (87-91). It is that understanding which is expressed in words, in the interweaving of abstracts. And Hadewijch ends this passage stating clearly what we suspected already: it is “to speak with the soul”. This expression invites us to consider the final section of Letter 28, where Hadewijch resumes the question of her speaking and being silent (247-70). In this letter she not only evokes, but abundantly expresses, her deepest union with Love who is God. Such speaking out – and singing out – happens only very rarely: because of God’s holiness she “kept silence”, and of her own accord she

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remained silent about what she had “heard” in that union. As a rule she is “silent and rest[s] with God”. Only exceptionally does Hadewijch “speak with the soul” as she does in Letter 28. However, this wordless resting in God is not a fixed state. It can be interrupted for two reasons. The first is that, when it is “the moment… God commands [her] to speak” (252). This is when she utters the kind of speech we are hearing in Letter 28. To do this she has “healed all her distinction-making”. We came across this expression in Letters 4 and 24 where to make distinctions is considered the essential function of human reason. Hadewijch has had to quieten her reasoning, or rather let it be quietened, so as to be enabled to regard God’s being, and that of all things, not as differentiated but as one: “I understood all distinctions in a wholeness” (262-3). As a result, her way of speaking has changed as well: “and she spoke with her wholeness” (104). To put it in another way, at that moment she had to give up speaking “sense”, which, as she explains in Letter 19, fails with regard to union with Love: “here sense is over” (19, 26). The second reason that Hadewijch speaks is that occasionally there is another such “moment”: “when someone comes with that sort of distinction-making”, who wants to question her about her being in God (256-9). She is not saying that she is unable or unwilling to converse with this kind of person. The repetition here of “till the moment” suggests that it is again God who “commands” this (252), and so do the words, “I have to speak” (261). What Hadewijch does say, however, is that in so far as the blessed-making experience of union has to be put into a language that is in accord with reasonable distinction-making, she feels “distant” from God. Obviously, “distant” does not mean that by speaking rationally she falls outside mystical union. Ever since Letter 1 Hadewijch has emphasized that “working” – in the outer as well as in the inner world – and “enjoying” are the complementary aspects of being one with God in its fullness. Her talking with the logical questioner only puts her at a distance from “blessedness”. As for the form that makes Letter 28 into an expanded jubilation-in-words, it is clear that Hadewijch again and again uses repetition, which often resembles a litany, a series of reiterated supplications or exaltations, which by repeating the same sentence structure, while changing the words, attempts to put into words what cannot be circumscribed: both that the kind of need that demands God’s help exceeds human strength, and that God himself, whom the litany-singers want to praise, exceeds human comprehension. Usually a litany originates with the human being, in front of God, able neither to pray nor to praise him enough. In Letter 28 the litanies go in reverse: words that come from God go through the mystic in “blessedness” to the reader. And just as in a litany of praise the singer keeps repeating himself, because he knows that “God is great but man small” (4, 40; cfr. 30, 166-7), so in her jubilation Hadewijch keeps repeating herself because she experiences inexhaustible Abundance. Moreover, she uses abstract nouns because Love who is God remains incomprehensible. An example of this is the passage where Hadewijch repeats seven times the same sentence structure (16-26), which takes this form: She sees how God is in his everlastingness: God with natural Godhead. (28, 16-7)

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In this passage the symmetry comes partly through the enumeration of abstract nouns – “everlastingness / Godhead” – and, on the other hand, partly through the repetition of “she sees how God is”. In this way, the litany takes on the strength of an incantation: “If the reader does not dwell on each abstract in order to comprehend its content, he hears the predominant regularity and goes along with it. The abstract nouns pass before his mind’s eye in a seeing without imagining, in a knowing without comprehending” (456). The reader may be struck by the great number of unusual formations of nouns ending in -ness. This is how we have tried to reflect Hadewijch’s repeated use of unusual Dutch noun formations ending in -heid. Once the formal richness of Letter 28 has been displayed, the mystical content comes into focus. In this jubilant effusion of the mystic, who “is often blessed with the same blessedness as God” (217-8), what appears strikingly is the humanity. In the midst of the world of the “blessed soul”, the Man comes forward and with him all human existence, which as man he lived through. Thus the soul, who speaks, ends her evocation of the Holy Trinity: “Thus God works with three Persons as one Lord… and with manifold godlike richness [He works] in the blessed soul that is His, whom He has led right into the hiddenness of His Father” (114-20). So the mystic, who sings out in God her “blessedness”, makes clear that she is in the Father, and that she has arrived there by following the Son of Man, who is also the Son of God. That is how she has “become God with God” (121-2), an expression we came across in Letter 6 (230-1). From here on, Jesus appears as the key figure of Hadewijch’s jubilation. She enables the reader to see and hear that what the “blessed soul” carries in her is not a sort of keepsake, something that is over and done with, but is an actual, permanent state of mind: her felt union with Jesus. Hence in two impressive passages the “blessed soul” appears as what she is fundamentally and forever: “a human being in God” (146). In the first of these christocentric passages, Hadewijch evokes – not in the past but in the present tense – “a perceivable friendship”: This means: she feels in herself how God is a friend to her before all sorrow and in all sorrow and above all sorrow yes, above all sorrow right into the faithfullness of His Father. (28, 125-8)

In the second passage where humanity is emphasised (231-41), Hadewijch first sees the figure of the God-man, her attention shifting from “I saw God as God and man as man” to “I saw God as man and I saw man godlike”. Next she sees the Man – “the very noblest man” indicating Jesus – who neither escapes from, nor goes beyond, human sorrow but lives through it as a man. As Hadewijch has Jesus say in Vision 1, to which she refers in Letter 6: “Never did I change through my omnipotence my sorrow or pain” (Vision 1, 340-1): Then it did not surprise me that this man was blessed in God. I saw how God gave to the very noblest man

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through sorrow insight and through sorrow took away insight. And where He took away insight from him, He gave him the very sharpest insight of all insights. When I saw that, then I consoled myself with God in all sorrow. (28, 236-41)

Anikó Daróczi concludes: Letter 28 has reminded us that for Hadewijch mystical union with God signifies union with Christ. That is why the “perceivable friendship” with the God-man and the speech of “a human being in God” are central to… the letter. Christ who, as God and Man in one, is pre-eminently the living paradox, is experienced by Hadewijch as the Wonder, and it is her becoming one with Him that makes her jubilate, for with Him and in Him she lives pain and joy in one, she tastes at the same time being in want and enjoying. In Letter 28, in which all is “healed”, Hadewijch’s jubilating is expressed in one great jubilation – a more beautiful wholeness of matter and form is hardly imaginable (482).

Brief 29 God si met v ende gheue v troest metten ghewareghen troeste sijns selues, Daer hi hem seluen ghenoech met es, Ende alle creaturen na haer wesen ende na hare ghetamen. Ay soete kint, uwe bedroeuen es mi leet, Ende uwe swaerheit ende uwe rouwe. Ende dies biddic ouer sere Ende mane ende rade Ende ghebiede alse moeder haren lieuen kinde Dat si mint ter hoechster eren Ende ter soetster werdicheit der Minnen, dat ghi alle vreemde rouwen van v doet, Ende dat ghi v om mi bedroeft, soe ghi minst moghet, Hoe soet met mi gaet, Eest in doelne achter lande, Eest in gheuancnessen: want hoet sijn sal, het es der Minnen werc. Jc weet oec wel dat ic v gheen vremt rouwe ben, Ende dat ic v na ben van herten ende bekint Ende de liefste mensche die leuet na saren. Daer bi weetic wel dat ghijt ghelaten niet wel en cont, ghine bedroeft v om mine mesquame. Doch wet wel, lieue kint, Dat vreemt rouwe es; want dat merct selue: na dien dattu van al diere herten gheloefs dat ic van gode ghemint ben,

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Letter 29 God be with you and may He give you consolation with the true consolation which He Himself is, with which He is Himself enough and all creatures according to what they are and is due to them. Ah, dear child, your sadness hurts me and your dejection and your sorrow. Therefore I pray you very much and admonish and counsel and command, like a mother her dear child, whom she loves for the sake of the highest honour and the sweetest dignity of Love, that you dismiss from you all alien sorrow and be sad as little as possible for my sake, whatever happens to me if I am wandering about in the country, if I am imprisoned for, however it may be, it is the work of Love. I know well that I am not the cause to you of alien sorrow and that I am near to your heart and agreeable to you and the most dearly loved human being among all those alive, after Sara. I also know well that you cannot abstain just like that from growing sad about what happens to me. Know well, however, dear child, that this is still alien sorrow. See for yourself: if you believe with all your heart that I am loved by God

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Ende hi sine werke werct in mi stille ende openbare, Ende sine oude wondere vernuwet in mi, Soe moechdi oec wel weten datter Minnen werke sijn, Ende datten vreemden wonderen moet van mi ende eysen. Want si en connen aldaer niet werken daer Minne gheet. Want sine kinnen niet hare comen noch hare gaen. Ende ic hebbe noch ouerlettel metten menschen hare seden gheploghen in haren etene noch in haren drinckene, Noch in haren slapene; Noch mi ghesciert met haren clederen, Noch met hare verwen, Noch met haren schine; Noch mi en wart nie bliscap te goede van allen dien dat menschelike herte verbliden mach ochte vercrighen, ochte ontfaen, Sonder bi corten vren van gheuoelene van Minnen dat al verwint. Mer teerst dat dan die opslach miere verlichter redenen ontwaecte, die mi oyt sint datter god in scheen, verlicht heuet In al dien dat mi volmaectheit ghebrac ende oec den anderen, Soe toenese mi Ende gheleide ter stat, daer ic mijns lieues na werdicheit van door gane een ghebruken soude. Die stat van Minnen die mi verlichte redene toende, was soe verre bouen menscheleken sennen, dat ic dat weten moeste, Dat mi niet en behoerde te hebbene bliscap noch rouwe en gheen, groet noch clene, Sonder van dien dat ic mensche was, Ende dat ic gheuoelde Minnen met Minleker herten,

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and that He is working His works in me, secretly and openly, and that He renews his old wonders in me; then you can also know well that these are the works of Love, and that any outsiders must be amazed at me and quake over me. For they cannot work there where Love goes about, as they know neither Her coming nor Her going. Yet I have joined the people very little in their customs, in their eating or in their drinking or in their sleeping; neither did I adorn myself with their clothing or with their colours or with their embellishments; nor has ever fallen to me any gladness from all that the human heart can be glad about or obtain or receive, except at moments [the gladness of] feeling Love, which exceeds everything. Yet when the eye of my enlightened reason first awoke – ever since God shone in it, – it has always enlightened me about everything where I was lacking in perfection, and the others as well; that is when she showed me the place and led me there where I would enjoy my Beloved in being-one according to the worth of my passing through. Love’s place, which enlightened reason showed me, was so far beyond human senses that I had to know this: I should not have gladness nor sorrow, none, great or small, except for this reason: that I was a human being and felt Love with a loving heart;

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Ende dat god soe grot es ende ic soe onghebrukeleke metter menscheit ane de gotheit gherinen can. Die onghebrukeleke begherte die mi Minne altoes om ghebruken te hare heuet ghegheuen, Die heuet mi ghequetst Ende ghewondet inde borst ende in dat herte: Jn armariolo Ende in antisma. Armariolo, Dat es dat binnenste vander aderen der herten daer men met mint. Ende antisma, dat es dat binnenste vanden gheeste daer men mede leuet Ende alsoe gheuoeleke es inden meesten ernste. Doch hebbe ic metten menschen gheleuet in allen dienste van werken, Ende daer toe hebbense mi vonden beset te al haren behoeuene met ghereeder doghet, Dat te onrechte es openbare. Jc hebbe oec in allen met hen gheweest: sint mi god eerst met gheheelheiden van Minnen ghereen, soe gheuoelde ic elcs menschen noet, na dat hi was. Met siere caritaten gheuoelde ic ende gaf elken onste na sijn behoeuen. Met siere wijsheit gheuoelde ic siere ghenadicheit Ende waer omme datmen den mensche soe vele vergheuen moet; Ende hare vallen ende haer opstaen; Ende dat gheuen van gode Ende dat weder nemen; Ende dat slaen ende dat heilen; Ende sijn toegheuen hem omme niet.

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yet that God is so great that I thus in non-enjoyment can touch the Godhead with the humanity.

The desire incapable of enjoying, set on enjoying Her, which Love has always given me, that is what has wounded me and injured in the breast and in the heart: in armariolo and in antisma. Armariolo, that is the inmost part of the veins in the heart with which one loves, and antisma, that is the inmost part of the spirit by which one lives and which is so very sensitive to love’s greatest urge. Yet I have lived with the people, serving them in everything with my works. And for that they have found me fitted with ready virtue for all their needs, which has come to be known unduly. I have also been with them in everything: ever since God touched me with the wholeness of His Love, I felt everyone’s need just as it was. With His charity I felt affection and gave it to everyone according to their need. With His wisdom I felt His mercifulness and why one must forgive a human being so much; and their falling and getting up again, and God’s giving and taking back, and the hitting and the healing, and, moreover, His giving of Himself for nothing.

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Met siere hoecheit gheuoelde ic alle der gheenre mesdaet, die ic hier hoerde noemen ende sach. Ende daer op gauic oyt seder met gode alle gherechte doemsele na den gront siere waerheit op ons allen, soe wie wi waren. Met siere enicheit van Minnen gheuoelde ic oyt sider verlorenheit van ghebrukene in Minnen ende passien van ghebrekenne Dies ghebrukens, Ende gherechter Minnen weghe in allen Ende hare seden in gode Ende in allen menschen. Jn Minnen hebbic alle dese wesene Ende de minsche hebbic ghenoech ghedaen, die mi soe vele te luttel sijn. Al hebbic dat in Minnen met eweleken wesene, Jc en hebt noch niet in ghebrukenne van Minnen in mijns selfs wesen. Ende ic ben die mensche die met christo toter doet doghen moet in Minnen; Want met gherechter minnen salmen scande doghen onder alle vremde, tote dien dat Minne te hare seluen comt Ende tote dien datse met ons in doechden vol wast, daer Minne .i. wert metten menschen.

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With His loftiness I felt what all those did wrong whom in this life I heard named and saw, and ever since, I passed just judgments with God on all that on the basis of His truth, on all of us, whoever we may be. With His unity in love I felt since then the being-lost through the enjoyment in love and the suffering through want of that enjoyment, and the ways of just love in all things, and her proceeding with regard to God and all human beings. In Love I have all those manners of being and I have done enough for the people, those who fail me so much. Although I have that in Love according to my eternal being, I do not have it yet, in the enjoyment of Love, in my own being For I am indeed the human being who with Christ must suffer in love till death, for with just love one must suffer insult among all outsiders, till love comes to itself and till it becomes full-grown in us through the virtues, through which Love becomes one with the human beings.

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Letter 29: Commentary In Letter 29 prominence is given once more to the humanity that characterizes the love mystic even in the course of her union with God. Hadewijch’s focus on the human person is all the more striking because she starts the letter with the affectionate friendship that links her with the addressee The introductory greeting (1-4) is very similar to that of Letter 1 (1-7). The form is almost identical, and even if the “clarity” of God is replaced here by his “consolation”, the essence of Hadewijch’s desire is the same: that God may allow one of his own attributes to flow into the friend and into all creatures. In Letter 1 it had been the “clear clarity by which He is clear to Himself”; in Letter 29 it is the “consolation which He Himself is, with which He is Himself enough”. Then Hadewijch asks the addressee “to dismiss from [herself] all alien sorrow” (9-10). Again, as in Letter 1 (18-22), her request takes the form of an affective crescendo (I owe this insight and some in the following three paragraphs to Daróczi’s work (248-51). Her friend suffers from “sadness” and from “sorrow”, because something terrible has befallen Hadewijch. “Sorrow”, emphasized by repetition, indicates the pain that afflicts a person in her or his soul of souls (compare the “Five Sorrows of Our Lady” and the “Man of Sorrows”), while “sadness” indicates the way in which sorrow shows itself. Hadewijch lays stress on the friend’s “sorrow” because this might enter the depths of her soul and hinder her inmost union with Love: her sorrow could turn into “alien sorrow”. Hadewijch goes on to explain herself in a passage which in its simplicity is formally perfect. Her words have an audible unity as she repeats words and phrases. Thus “to know well” comes four times forming something like four stanzas. Variety is introduced by changing the subject, using the first or the second person, and there is a sort of counter-point with the repetition of the phrase “alien sorrow” at lines 10, 15 and 20. As regards content: to start with (stanza 1, 14-17), she acknowledges that her friend’s sorrow is no “alien sorrow”, for their friendship, with the affection it encloses, is embedded in their union with Love. Next (stanza 2, 17-19), Hadewijch accepts that her friend “grows sad”, that she exteriorizes the sorrow which stirs her depths. Sadness is part of the affectionate relationship they share, even though this rests upon their union with Love. However, in stanza 3 (19-24) ­Hadewijch strikes a different note when she says, “this is still alien sorrow”. Does this imply a contradiction with stanza 1, “I am not the cause to you of alien sorrow”? How can stanzas 3-4 be reconciled with stanzas 1 and 2? The answer is given in stanza 4: Hadewijch does not gainsay her initial understanding of the friend’s “sadness” and “sorrow” but she evokes the full-grown mystic’s attitude to life. Her friend understands that God “is working His works in [Hadewijch]”, and therefore believes that Hadewijch is united with God. When she sees the terrible things that happen to Hadewijch, she should have faith that, “these are the works of Love” (24-5). Here Hadewijch deliberately replaces “God” with “Love”: it is indeed Love, Hadewijch’s loving Love, that brings with it the pain she endures. What the friend “can also know well” contrasts with the ignorance of the “outsiders”, who wonder (in fright) not about the “works” which God is working in Hadewijch, but about her ordeal. Such people will never grasp the truth which the friend can

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come to know: Hadewijch’s uncertain lot is the changeable “working” of Love who loves Her mystical lovers in “Her coming and Her going”. Hadewijch gives structure to her text mainly by repeating words and phrases and this can be seen in the rest of the letter (28-95). Thus, the word mensche (“human being”) and its derivatives, menscheit / menscheleke, comes no less than twelve times (and had already been heard, de liefste mensche, in stanza 1, line 17). The heart is the location of human feeling, as is shown by the occurence of “heart” at lines 15 and 21. Those repetitions strenghten the focus of the whole letter on the human. In these lines (28-95), Hadewijch develops the paradox that was mentioned at the end of the previous section (14-28). Her present trials belong to her union with Love: they are “the works of Love” and constitute “Her coming and Her going”. Hadewijch goes on to describe how this has been true in her mystical life, making it into an incessant going up and down. This typical presentation of how the mystic becomes steadily one with Love while being moved in opposite directions is worth examining in detail. Initially (28-37), Hadewijch evokes the upward movement: for the sake of “feeling Love” she has kept at a distance from ordinary human life, from “all that the human heart can be glad about”. Yet this high-minded detachment is not final, for a contrary movement follows: “enlightened reason” makes her go down by pointing out “everything where [she] was lacking in perfection, and the others as well” (38-41). Still, it is this same “enlightened reason” that had led Hadewijch upwards by showing her “Love’s place… far beyond human senses” (41-5). Yet what Hadewijch learns up there (“I had to know” with a glance back to the four-times-repeated “know well” of 14-28) is linked to what she experiences down here. Then an answer is found to the key problem addressed in Letter 29: why does the love mystic experience such divergent feelings in the course of her union with Love? Such differences reflect the fundamental paradox that is intrinsic to the union of a human being with the divine Other: that I was a human being and felt Love with a loving heart, yet that God is so great that I thus in non-enjoyment can touch the Godhead with the humanity.  (29, 48-52)

To be a human being implies for Hadewijch the ability to experience this essential gladness: she “felt Love with a loving heart”. Yet to be a human being also implies just as much this essential sorrow: “that I thus in non-enjoyment can touch the Godhead with the humanity”. At this point (52-54) Hadewijch introduces the intriguing expression onghebrukeleke begherte which is almost untranslateable, but may be rendered inadequately as “the desire incapable of enjoying”. It is formed from onghebrukeleke (“in non-enjoyment”) and begherte (“desire”). There is no question of Hadewijch not desiring to experience the “enjoyment of Love”. Starting with Letter 1 she has constantly expressed her suffering at being kept “out of that enjoyment” (1, 65) by Love, and in the present Letter 29 she will write of “the suffering of being in want of that enjoyment (passien van ghebrekene Dies ghebrukens)” (81-2), even using the word passien, (with its evocation of the Passion, cf. 90-1). Moreover, Hadewijch has already hinted that the desire is

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“incapable” not because of some self-induced attitude, but because it has “always [been] given [her]” as such by Love. In the other letters this theme has found expression through the phrase “to do enough” (see Letter 7 Commentary). In Letter 13 Hadewijch described Love as the One “who has never enough (die emmer onghenoeghende es)” (26-7), and in Letter 16 she referred to “a Beloved who never receives enough (enen onghenoeghende lieue)” (22). It is by Her constant giving, for which no return is possible, that Love causes in the mystic a desire “incapable of ­enjoying”. The desire of the mystic to enjoy is constantly overwhelmed by Love’s new giving. Just as human beings cannot “touch” Love in a satisfactory way, their desire for Love cannot find repose in any satisfactory enjoyment. Throughout 38-60 Hadewijch seems to be placed on a mystical plateau to which “enlightened reason” has led her. From there she can throw light on human existence with its gladness and sorrow, without actually descending into it. But with 61-79, this descent takes place: “Yet I have lived with the people… I have also been with them in everything” (61-5). Hadewijch’s account of her way of living “with the people” is remarkable: she has lived in this manner “ever since God touched [her] with the wholeness of His Love” (65-6). Here a very lofty mystical expression breaks into the description of the mystic’s ordinary life. Already in Letter 1 the term “wholeness” served to indicate both God’s all-embracing Being, “the Wholeness that makes all life into a whole… in their one Being” (1, 27-30), and the mystic’s desire for that “wholeness”: “Stretch your mind through high desiring for God’s wholeness” (1, 52-3). And in Letter 20 Love was called “the wholeness She Herself is” (79-80). Thus, when Hadewijch says here that God has “touched [her] with the wholeness of His Love”, she is assuring the addressee that the one source from which stems both her going up to “Love’s place” as well as her going down to lead an active life, charitable to all, is the deepest mystical union. Surely a thought-provoking assertion, even if we have been prepared by Letter 17 for the realization that such contrasting movements constitute God’s own manner of being: This giving out and this keeping back, that is the pure Godhead and the whole nature of Love. (17, 21-3)

Brief 30 God die ye was ende emmermeer wesen sal fundament van gherechter Minnen Ende van volcomenre trouwen, Hi es onse volcomene trouwe der alre volcomenster minnen, daer hi hem seluen met mint in hem seluen, Ende alle sine vriende die hi mint, hem seluen te minnen met volmaecter volcomenheit. Te derre volcomenheit souden de ghene sijn die hi gheroepen ende vercoren ende ghetekent heuet te sinen dienste. Dese mochten grote werke doen ende sere vorderen, warense datse schinen ende sijn souden na gherechte scout van volcomenre trouwen Ende van gherechter Minnen. Die mint, hi werct grote werke Ende hi en spaert niet Noch hi en wert niet moede van enigher noet die hem toe comt, Noch van wat tormente dat hem verschinen mach; Mer daer in wert hi altoes nuwe ende versch; Ende oec met alle dinghen, cleyne ende groet, licht ende swaer, daer hi doghet bi vercrighen mach, die der Minnen wel ghetamet.

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Letter 30 God, who at all times was and forever shall be the foundation of just love and perfect fidelity, He is for us perfect fidelity of the very perfect Love with which He loves Himself in Himself and by which He loves all His friends, whom He loves so that they love Himself in the fullness of perfection. On that perfection should be bent those whom He has called and chosen and designed for His service. They would be able to work great works and advance much, were they what they seem to be and ought to be according to the perfect fidelity and just love which they rightly owe [to Love]. He who loves, works great works and neglects nothing, nor does he tire from any need that comes his way, or from any torment that may happen to him. Yet hereby he is again and again renewed and refreshed as well as by all the things, small and great, light and heavy, by which he can acquire virtuousness that very much pleases Love.

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Ay arme, na hogher Minnen ghetamen wilt nu luttel yeman leuen, Mer nae sijns selues gherieuen. Ende men wilt vele van Minnen hebben ende luttel hare werdeleke leuen. Want wij sijn cranc in doghene ende vlietich in ghenoechten. Ons connen lettel soe cleine dinc gheletten in vernoye, wi en legghen wel Minne ghehouden inne ende vergheten haers te pleghene. Dat es groete cleynheit. Want men in alle vren der Minnen ghenoech soude leuen: Jn soetheiden van Minnen verloren te sine, Ocht in groter tormenteleker smerten te sine, omme hare werdicheit Ende om hare ghenoech te doene. Dat hoechste leuen ende dat seerste wassen es: dat verderuen ende dat verdoyen in smerten van Minnen. Ende in soeten gheuoelne es meere nederheit. Want daerin waertmen lichte verwonnen. Ende soe faelgeert de cracht der begherten; Ende datse gheuoelen, dat es hen soe groet, datse niet en moghen bekinnen der Minnen groetheit Ende hare volmaecte wesen. Want alse dat herte Ende de neder sinne, die lichte verwlt sijn, gherenen werden na onse affectie, soe sintse alse hemele metten hemelen, Dat dunct hen. Ende in deser ghenoechten verghetense der groter scout Die alle vren inder maninghen es, die de Minne der Minnen maent. Die maninghe meyne ic, die de vader maent in eweleken ghebrukene van enicheiden den sone ende den heileghen gheest,

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Ah, nowadays hardly anyone wants to live in accord with Love’s pleasure but with what suits them. And we want to have much from Love but not to live much as She deserves. For we are weak in enduring but strong in having pleasure. Trifles that matter so little can hinder us, whom they sadden, and then we put love away and we forget to devote ourselves to it. That is great faint-heartedness. For from hour to hour we must live so that it is enough for Love, either by being lost in Love’s sweetness, or by being in great, tormenting pains for the sake of Her dignity and in order to do enough for Her. The loftiest life and quickest growth is to be consumed with, and pining from, pangs of love. Yet in sweet feeling lies more lowness, for thereby one is easily conquered and so the strength of desire falls short: what they feel, they find so great that they are not able to realize the greatness of Love and Her perfect manner of being. For when the heart and the lower faculties, which are easily filled, are affected in accord with our inclination, they are in seventh heaven, so it seems to them. And in this pleasure they forget about the huge debt which hour after hour lies in the demand that Love claims from love. I mean that demand, which the Father claims from the Son and the Holy Spirit in the everlasting enjoyment of Unity,

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Ende die scout die de sone ende de heileghe geest den vader manen in ghebrukene der heylegher drieheit. Ende dat manen es eweleke euen nuwe in enen hebbene Ende in enen wesene. om dat manen te eyschenne vander vaderleker enicheit, soe comt die gherechticheit van alre wraken. Biden manenne der wijsheit des soens Ende der goetheit des heilichs gheests, datse manen der vaderleker moghentheit in der drieheit, So wart de mensche ghemaect. Ende biden manenne der enicheit, dat de mensche hare niet ghenoech en was, soe viel hi. Biden manenne der drieheit wart de gods sone gheboren; Ende bider scout der enicheit soe staerf hi. Biden manenne der drieheit dede hi op verstannesse onder menschen. Ende bider scout der enicheit voer hi op te sinen vader. Aldus eest noch met ons. Bider scout die ons vander drieheit wert ghemaent, soe wert ons gracie ghegheuen werdeleke na die edele drieheit te leuenne tameleke. Ende alse wi dat meswerken met vremden wille Ende vte diere enicheit vallen in onse gherieuen, soe bliuen wi onghewassen Ende onuercoeuert vander volmaectheit, Daer wi dus toe ghemaent sijn van aenghinne der enicheit ende der drieheit. Mer woude de edel redene vanden redeleken mensche haer werdeghe scout verstaen Ende volghen den gheleide dat hem de Minne soude gheuen in hare lant ocht si hare volchen na hare ghetamen,

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and that debt which the Son and the Holy Spirit claim from the Father in the enjoyment of the Trinity. And the demand being made is forever just as new in the one possessing and in the one manner of being. With the aim of demanding from the fatherly Unity its claim, all God’s just revenge is done. Through the wisdom of the Son, making with the goodness of the Holy Spirit their demand on the fatherly omnipotence in the Trinity, the human being was created. Yet, through the claim of Unity, which was not fulfilled by the human being, it fell. Through the demand of the Trinity the Son of God was born. Yet, because of the debt with regard to Unity, He died. Through the demand of the Trinity He rose among the people, Yet, because of the debt with regard to Unity, He ascended unto the Father. That is how it also fares with us. With the debt which the Trinity requires from us, is given us the grace to live in a way worthy of the Trinity and due to It. Yet, if herein we do wrong with an alien will, and fall out of that Unity into what suits us, we do not grow up and do not advance in the perfection which in that way is claimed from us from the beginning by Unity and by the Trinity. Yet, were the noble reason of rational man willing to understand its rightful debt, and follow the guidance to her land which Love would give, and if he would follow her as is due to her,

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Soe stonde hem wel dat grote te vervolghene ende rike te sine in gode met godleker rijcheit. Die hem cleden wilt ende rike sijn ende een metter godheit, hi sal hem seluen cieren met allen doechden, Ja daer god hem seluen met cleedde ende cierde, doen hi mensche leuede, Ende dies salmen beghinnen ane die selue oetmoedicheit daer hijs ane began. Dat was van allen vremden troeste begheuen te sine, Ende van alre edelheit onverheuen, Ende van alre doghet Ende van werken, ende van moghentheiden, daer hi de ouerste af was ende onuerheuen af bleef, Tote dien male dat hi op was verheuen vander vreseleker wonderleker maninghen der enicheit. Wi sijn nu inde maninghe van Minnen ter heilegher drieheit. Daer omme souden wi ons seluen ter Minnen manen, dat wi gheleisten mochten met allen vlite; Ende en souden gheen ander dinc manen dan sine enicheit. Ende na hare behaghen souden wi leuen die allen vren enicheit ghemaent heuet, Ende die onuerhauenne oetmoedicheit met gherechten werken gheciert heuet, Ende na de maninghe der heylegher drieheit, die soe volcomene doechde altoes maent na hare ghetamen, Daer men hier met wast ende wert volmaect, beide drieuoldich ende enich. Jn drie dinghen leuet men hier der Minnen met drieheiden ende ghinder bouen in enicheiden. Dat een es datmen hier begheert Minne met redenen Ende hare ghenoech te doene met allen gherechten werken van volcomenheiden, ende volcomen te sine ende werdech alre volcomenheit. Daer met leuet men den sone gods.

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he would well be able to reach greatness and to be rich in God with godlike richness. He who wants to clothe himself with the Godhead, and be rich and one with It, he must adorn himself with all the virtues, yes, with which God clothed and adorned Himself when He lived as man, and therefore one must begin precisely with that humility with which He began. That was to be deprived of all alien consolation and not to take pride in any nobility whatever, nor in any virtue whatever, nor in works nor in might, by which He was the highest and in which He never took pride, till the moment He was lifted up through the fearsome, wonderful claim of Unity. We are now claimed by Love for Holy Trinity. Therefore we should claim ourselves for Love, for which we should be all zeal, not claiming anything else but God’s Unity. And we should live, on the one hand in accord with what pleases Her who has constantly claimed Unity and adorned low-placed humility with just works; on the other hand, in accord with the demand of Holy Trinity, who is always claiming such perfect virtues as are due to Her, through which one grows up here and becomes perfect, threefold as well as one. There are three ways of living, here for Love with the Trinity and up there in Unity. The first is, here to desire Love, reason leading one by the hand, and to desire to do her enough by all the just works which belong to perfection, desiring to be perfect and worthy of full perfection. With that one lives for the Son of God.

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Dat ander es datmen wilt aldus Minnen wille alle vren met nuwen vlite Ende werke alle doghede met vloyeleker begherten, Ende verlichte alle creaturen na hare wesen ende na hare ghetamen haerre edelheit, daer mense in bekint Eest in edelheiden ocht in nederheiden: Daer na salmen in hare werken Ende Minnen dore der Minnen ere den enighen wille ons gods. Hier met leuet men den heileghen gheest. Dat derde es in bande te sine van ghestaden pleghene in soeten bedwanghe, Ende van onuerwonnenre cracht Dit wesen wel te vermoghene staerc ende onuerwonnen ende blide, Ende euen nidech lief in lief dore wassen in al, Te werkene met sinen handen, Te wandelne met sinen voeten, Te hoerne met sinen oren daer de stemme der godheit niet en cesseert te sprekenne Dore liefs mont in alre waerheit van rade, van gherechtheiden, van soeter soetheit van troeste elken te siere noet, Ende van dreighene vander mesdaet, Met lieue te ghelatene sonder ghelaet onghechiert, Ende nieman el te doene dan den lieue met lieue selue,

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The second is, to be willing the will of Love in Her way, hour after hour with new zeal, and to be working all virtues with desire abounding, and to throw light on all creatures, according to their manner of being and as due to their nobility, which one recognizes in them, whether they are noble or low. Accordingly, one must bring about in them, and love, for the sake of the honour of Love, the sole will of God. With that one lives for the Holy Spirit. The third one is, to be bound by steady devotion under sweet pressure and by unconquered strength to be ready for this manner of being, strong and unconquered and glad, and always, with equal fire, as the beloved in the Beloved, to grow up fully in all, to work with His hands, to walk with His feet, to hear with His ears, where the voice of the Godhead does not stop speaking through the mouth of the Beloved all truthfully of counsel, of justice, of sweet sweetness, of consolation for everyone according to their need, and of warning against sin, to appear with the Beloved without a pleasant appearance, without elegance, and to exist for none other than for the Beloved with the Beloved Himself.

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Alse een lief in lief met enen seden, met enen sinnen, Met eenre borst De andere te dore sughene die onghehoerde soetheit die sine pine verdient heuet, Ay ia herte in herte te gheuoelene met eenre enigher herten Ende ere enegher soeter Minnen, Ende woensamleke te ghebrukene ene volwassene Minne; Ende dat men emmer seker wete buten allen twifele datmen gheheel es in enigher Minnen. Met desen wesene es men den vader.

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Dus gheldet men hier de scout der drieheit, die si maent Ende die si der enicheit oyt ghemaent heuet sonder beghin. Dat es waer, die dus der Minnen leuen, si doen menighe scone opuaert in haer lief met haren lieue; Maer alse de ghene die dit volwassen gheheel ende sonder keren hare opuaert doen in op bliuene, Ende daer versament werden, daer dat grote licht die clare blixeme hier vore gescoten heuet, Ende die staerke donder daer na gheslaghen heuet.

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Blixeme dat es licht van Minnen die hare toent in enen vliene, Ende gheuet gracie in menighen dinghen om hare te toenne wie si es, Ende hoe si can nemen ende gheuen in soetheiden van omuane, Jn lieuer behelsinghen, Jn soeten cussene Ende in ouerherteleken gheuoelne,

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Like a beloved in the Beloved, of one way of life of one mind of one heart, to taste through and through the Other’s unheard-of sweetness, earned by Him through His sorrow, oh yes! to feel heart in heart with one single heart and one single sweet love, and, indwelling each other, to enjoy one fully-grown love; and always to know with certainty beyond all doubt that one is wholly in the sole love. With this manner of being one lives for the Father.

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In that way one pays off here the debt due to the Trinity, which She demands and which She has always demanded from Unity from before the beginning. Verily, those who live for Love in that way, experience many a beautiful ascent in their Beloved with their Beloved. However, when those who in this grow up fully and with no returning make their ascent to stay up there and are gathered there where the great light, the clear lightning, has first flashed and after that the strong thunder has struck…

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Lightning, that is the light of Love, who shows Herself fleetingly and gives grace in many respects in order to show who She is and how She can take away and give by the sweetness of enfolding by embracing affectionately by kissing sweetly and by making Herself felt very heartily,

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Dat Minne selue sprect: Jc beent die di gheuaen hebbe. Dit benic. Jc ben di al. Jc gheue di al. Maer dan comt de donder na. Donder dat es die vreseleke stemme der dreighinghen, Ende dat ophouden Ende de verlichte redene die toent waerheit ende scout ende onghewassenheit Ende hem soe cleyne ende Minne soe groet. Alse dit versament wert vten menichfuldeghen ghichten, dan wert men al dat selue dat dat es. Ende dan alre eerst heuet de enicheit datse ghemaent heuet, Ende dan eerst eest manen te rechte begonnen, Ende dan machmens ghebruken vander drieheit die hare tot noch bedwonghen hadde. Dan selense emmermeer met ere vren manen Ende ghelden enen wesene, Jn enen wille, Jn enen hebbene, Jn enen ghebrukene. Hoe dit es, daer en daer ic nu niet af segghen; want ic te onghewassen ben Ende te cleyne Minne hebbe. Dats mi ghebrect ende den ghenen diet ontbliuet, Dat doet die bedrieghenisse vander waerheit; Dat wi soe sconen beghin hebben Ende cleyne werke, Ende op dat selue saen vervaen willen Ende ons daer op verlaten.

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whereby Love Herself speaks: It is I who have caught you. This is me. I am all yours. I give you all. But then after this comes the thunder. Thunder is the fearful voice of threat and of holding back, and enlightened reason which displays the truth and the debt and our not having grown up and that man is so small and Love so great. When this is gathered from gifts of many kinds, then one becomes the very same as what that is. And then, for the very first time, Unity has what she has demanded, and only then has the demanding begun rightly, and then can one enjoy that on the part of the Trinity, who till then had withdrawn. Then they will, forever one single being, continuously demand and repay of one will, in one having, in one enjoying. How this is, I do not dare to say anything about it, for I have all too little grown up and my love is too small. That that is lacking to me and to those to whom it fails to come results from distorting the truth, because our beginning is so beautiful but small are our works, and precisely on those we soon want to rest and to rely on them.

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Brief 30

Wi willen sijn verdreghen van onsen langhen tide Ende gheeret van goeden werken, Ende vergheten der Minnen scout te vroech. Wi houden onse werke vore goet; Daer omme werdense ydel. Wi weten onse ellende; Daer omme en venden wiere onse lief niet inne. Wi kennen onsen aerbeit vore groet; Daer omme en venden wiere gheen rike herberghe van troeste inne Ende van soeter rasten, die lief lieue gheuet, dattene van verren met groter auentueren besocht heuet. Wi willen dat onse doghet bekint si; Daer omme en hebben wiere dat brulocht cleet niet af. Wi werken onse caritate bi onste, niet bi noede; Daer omme en besitten wi niet hare wide ghewout. Onse oetmoedicheit es in de stemme Ende int ghelaet Ende inden schijn, Ende niet te vollen omme gods groetheit Ochte omme dat wi onse cleynheit bekinnen. Daer om en draghen wi den gods sone niet moederleke, Noch en soghene niet met oefeninghen van Minnen. Wi hebben te vele wils Ende wi willen te vele rasten Ende soeken te vele ghemacs ende vredes. Wi werden te lichte moede ende wedersleghen ende mestroestet. Wi soeken te vele solaes van gode Ende vanden menschen. Wi en willen ghene mesquame doghen. Wi willen te wel weten Wat ons ghebrect, Ende dan si wi te sorfhertich dat te ghecrighene, Ende en willen niet doghen. Ons mach gherinen, versmaetmen ons Ocht mestrout men ons iet van gode,

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We want time to go by, for it drags with us, and ourselves to be honoured because of good works, and we forget too soon about what we owe to Love. We consider our works to be good, therefore they become vain. We are conscious of our misery, therefore we do not find in it our Beloved. We consider our efforts to be great, therefore we do not find in them a hostelry full of consolation and sweet rest which the Beloved vouchsafes to the beloved who, coming from afar very adventurously, has gone to find Him. We want our virtue to be known, therefore we do not receive the wedding dress that comes from it. We practise our love of neighbour out of affection not of necessity, therefore we do not possess its broad strength. Our humility is in the voice and in the appearance and in the semblance but not fully for the sake of God’s greatness, or because we recognize our smallness, therefore we are not carrying like a mother the Son of God nor do we nurse Him by practising love. We are too self-willed and we want too much rest and we look too much for ease and peace. We are tired all too easily and weighed down and discouraged. We look for too much consolation from God and from people. We are unwilling to endure setbacks. We want to know too much what is lacking us and we are then too worried about obtaining it and unwilling to endure that want. It may strike us when we are despised, or distrusted because of something that comes from God,

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Ochte rouet men ons onser rasten, Ochte onser eren, Ocht onser vriende. Wi willen godeleec sijn inde kerke Ende van allen dinghen van buten weten Dat ons hulpet ende deret binnen huus ende elre. Ende daer si wi ghestadet te pleghen onser vriende in sprekene, Jn oefene, Jn belghene, Jn soenne. Wi willen hebben goeden name met cleynen dienste van Minnen, Ende wi sijn sorfhertech in suuerleke clederen. Jn cleynre spisen, in sconen dinghen, Jn uterster vermakenissen, dier nieman noet en es. Want nieman en darf hem verspelen om gode te scuwene. Hi comt all vren met nuwer cracht. Want werden wi cranc bi onsere nederheit, Dat moghen wi bespotten met beteren sinne Ende met meeren orbere. Mer om dat wi onse crancheit te vroech lauen, Ende met nederheiden troesten, ende ons seluen bedrieghen, Ende der wijsheit van bouen vergheten, Daer omme en vertrecken wi de recken gods niet, Ende daer omme en werden wi van gode niet onthouden, Noch ghetroest, Noch gheuoet. Want wi faelgeren gode, Niet hi ons, Ende omme dat wi ons seluen vore Minne iet onthouden, Daer omme en draghen wi hare crone niet, Noch en werden van hare niet verhauen Noch gheeret.

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or when we are deprived of our rest, of our honour, of our friends. We want to be godly in church, but we want to know about all that happens out of doors what is to our advantage and to our disadvantage indoors and elsewhere. And there we have the opportunity to devote ourselves to our friends in talking in keeping company in getting angry in reconciling. We want to be well-reputed with small labours of love and we bother about nice clothing about choice food about beautiful things about worldly entertainment, for which no one has a need. For nobody is allowed to entertain themselves in order to evade God. He comes from hour to hour with new strength. For if we become feeble because of our weakness, we would with more reason and with more profit mock at ourselves. Yet, as we refresh and console our feebleness too soon with little things and cheat ourselves and forget about the wisdom that comes from above, therefore we do not march with God’s warriors and therefore we are not supported, nor consoled, nor fed by God. For we fall short with regard to God, not He with regard to us. And because we withhold something from Love for ourselves, therefore we do not wear Her crown and are neither lifted up by Her nor honoured.

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Hier omme werden wi ghelettet in allen sinnen Ende hier omme ontbliuet ons gherechte trouwe ende Minne. Ende om dat van al desen ghebreken soe vele in ons sijn, so bliue wi onghewassen in gheestelecheiden Ende onuolmaect in allen dogheden. Ende hier omme en can nieman anderen ghehulpen. Ach arme dit es ons alte swaer. Nu moet god in ons allen beteren ende gheuen ons soe volmaecten wesen, Dat wi der driheit ghenoch moeten leuen, Ende der enicheit der godheit moeten gheeenecht werden. Amen.

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This is why we are hindered in all respects and lack just fidelity and love. And because there are in us such a lot of those shortcomings, we remain not-grown up in what is spiritual and not-perfect in all the virtues. And therefore no one can help others. Ah, this lies heavily upon us. May God now increase in all of us and give us such a perfect manner of being that we may live so that it is enough for the Trinity, and may be united with the Unity of the Godhead. Amen.

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Letter 30: Commentary This letter, even more than the related Letters 17 and 22, abounds in Trinitarian passages. This feature may well puzzle the present-day reader, possibly because of the preconception that a mystic as “mystic” does not speculate nor speak about God. It is often assumed that, as he or she experiences God “without intermediaries”, they forego all intellectual reflection. Consequently, if the mystic thinks about the Holy Trinity and tries to evoke God’s own Life, such a person must have stepped out of union with God. A text like Letter 30 is considered an accidental piece of speculation, best left out of account so as to focus on “real” mystical writing. The main reason, however, for such a view probably lies in the prevailing concept of God. The word “God” leads many to think of the one Supreme Being or First Cause: “God” is a sort of Entity, an intelligent Something which, if it ever concerns itself with the world, works as the Prime Mover or the divine “clock-maker”. Briefly, God is mostly considered as the Essence that is “absolute”, in the original sense of being detached from everything else. What then about the Christian dogma of the Holy Trinity? Does the word “God” not evoke the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit rather than the supreme Being? Certainly, but the Western concept of the Holy Trinity has shown a tendency, from very early in its development, to consider the Persons of less importance than the Essence in which they are thought to be absorbed, not to say “consumed”. Consequently, in the Christian notion of God held by many present-day readers of Hadewijch, stress is laid on the one and undivided Essence at the expense of the Persons. But for Hadewijch God is fluency, within as well as without, and He is Three, essentially characterized by differentiation and relationship. On reading Hadewijch’s flowing evocations of Holy Trinity, we may feel that the idea of God to which we are accustomed is absent. Here it is worth reading again the passage of Letter 12 where Hadewijch evokes God’s “goodness”: in her view this is not something like a benevolent attitude of God (an “accident” in philosophical jargon) but his very manner of being: And that He and His friends are so transfused with it, enjoying it in abundance, flowing into His goodness and flowing back into all that is good. (12, 60-3)

She assumes that for the human being to be mystically one with God means not to find a safe haven in an Essence, but to flow and to keep forever flowing with God’s very own tide: the reason is that God is as He appears in Letter 22: He rests in nothing but in the tempestuous Nature of His flowing, flooding floods which flow around all and flow over all. (22, 252-5)

With Letter 30 Hadewijch completes her evocation of the Blessed Trinity, first introduced in Letter 17 and developed in Letter 22: in these passages she is dealing with the inner and outer Life of God Himself. In her view the One who “rests” in the “fatherly Unity” “flows out” at the same time into his Creation, “making” and “sustaining” all creatures, in particular all human beings. To them He manifests himself mainly as Love, so that in some He brings about mystical love.

Commentary 385

In the present Letter, Hadewijch begins to evoke the Trinity by taking up the theme of the mystic’s “debt” to Love (see Letter 13 and 22, 232), and combining it with Love’s “claim” (see Letter 22): And in this pleasure [the lower faculties] forget about the huge debt which hour after hour lies in the claim (maninghen) that Love claims (maent) from love. (30, 45-8)

We noted that in Letter 13 “debt” has no moral meaning. Like the word “judgment”, it is one way to describe the relationship with Love that the love-mystic experiences. The soul’s reaction to Love’s felt presence – to her incessant giving and inexhaustible otherness – is to feel “indebted”. It is only natural for the mystic to want to return like for like, to “do enough” and to “be enough” for Love (see Letters 7, 8, 11). In Letter 30, Hadewijch reinforces the notion of the mystic’s “debt” by connecting it with the idea of Love’s “demanding” or “claiming” (introduced in Letter 22). Again, this “claiming” has no moral nor juridical connotations: if Love lays a claim on the lover, it is through her gracious giving. Hadewijch then specifies the type of “claiming” that characterizes the Love, who is God, by evoking its threefold manifestation. In God it appears as the mutual reclaiming of Unity and Trinity (49-57). In the life of Jesus it is present in several ways (57-67). And so it “fares with us”, for the way in which the human being responds to it defines his or her perfection (68-76). This account of God’s inner “claiming”, that realizes itself in Jesus and in humankind, is repeated three times: in 93-106, 107-44 and 145-76. The most striking feature here is how easily Hadewijch inserts into these lofty passages two basic elements of her mystical teaching. First, christocentrism is emphasised once more – with special poignancy – in the description of the mystic’s union with Christ, with His humanity as well as His divinity (123-44). From her first Letter, Hadewijch insists that Christ – and in particular His humanity – is pivotal to authentic mystical union. Even in the great “jubilation” (Letter 28), she puts Jesus at the centre (231-41), and Letter 29 ends with the words: “For I am the human being that with Christ must suffer in love till death” (90-1). Second, in the preliminary remarks to the passages about Love’s “claiming”, Hadewijch recalls the complex character of union: “to enjoy” and “to be in want” are indissolubly intertwined. To frame this teaching she refers yet again to being “enough” and doing “enough”: For from hour to hour we must live so that it is enough for Love, or by being lost in Love’s sweetness, or by being in great, tormenting pains for the sake of her dignity and in order to do enough for her. (30, 30-4).

This essential point reappears in the account of mystical union with Holy Trinity (145-76), which consists in “paying off the debt due to the Trinity, which She demands and which She has always demanded from Unity from before the beginning” (145-7). At the heart of this lofty evocation it appears that the experience of those who reach this union is composed of “lightning” and “thunder” (155-67), a reminder in particular of Letter 11.

Brief 31 Ay lieue kint, dat beste leuen dat es, Dat es: daer na te stane gode met Minnen ghenoech te doene ende hem te ghetrouwene bouen al. Want met toeuerlate comtmen hem alre naest; want hi seide selue tote enen mensche, Dat gherechte ghebet el niet en ware dan hoghe toeverlaet te hem seluen, met volcomenre trouwen hem te betrouwene met al dat hi es. Want hi seghet selue: Die liede die mi niet en kinnen Ende mine goetheit, wie ic ben, die dienen mi met vastene ende met wakene, ende met menegherhande arbeide. Ende met dien arbeide verlaten si hen op mi. Mer mi en mach niet so na bedwinghen alse volcomen toeverlaet van hogher trouwen. Die hongher dijnre zielen, seghet hi, doet mi di al ghereiden, dat ic dine sal sijn dat ich ben. Omme dinen hongher van mi ghenoech te sine, Daermet volwasti, ende sijt mi alse ic: Dine doet ende de mine selen een sijn. Daeromme selen wi met enen leuene leuen, ende een Minne sal onser beider hongher saden.

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Letter 31 Ah, my dear child, the best life that exists is this: to apply oneself to do enough for God with love and to trust in Him above all. For by relying on Him one comes closest to Him, since He has said Himself to someone that just prayer is nothing else but to rely highly on Himself, so as to trust Him with perfect fidelity to all that He is. For He says Himself: “People who do not know Me and My goodness, how I am, serve Me with fasting and with staying awake and with all kinds of exertion, and with that exertion they rely on Me. Yet nothing can overpower Me as much as to fully rely on Me in high fidelity. The hunger of your soul, He says, has Me to prepare everything for you so as to be yours in what I am. Your satisfying your hunger for Me, that is what makes you grow up and be to Me like Me: your death and Mine shall be one. Therefore we shall live out of one life and one love shall satisfy the hunger of the two of us.”

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Brief 31

Daer omme vertelle ic v dese bliscappe, Die onse here seide, omme dat ghi te bat gheloeuen selt ende ghedincken ende weten, dat toeverlaet ende trouwe die naeste volcomenheit es, daer men gode volcomenlext ende best met voldoen mach. Hier bi manic v ter alre volcomenster vriheit der Minnen, omme dat mi hier voermaels van v droemde, Dat ghi mine tekene sout leren; soe vermanicker v. Want dese houdi mi liefst bouen alle saken. Haest v ter doghet in gherechter Minnen: Ende siet dat god gheeert si van v ende van allen dien daer ghijt af vorderen moghet met crachte, met coste, met rade ende met allen dien dat ghi gheleisten moghet sonder sparen.

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Letter 31

This is why I let you know these glad words which Our Lord has said: so that you may so much the better believe and remember and know that to rely on Him and to trust in Him comes closest to the perfection with which one can satisfy God most perfectly and best. With this I exhort you to the most perfect liberty of love; for, some time ago, I had a dream about you: that you would fall into line behind my pennant, therefore I am exhorting you to this. For the very dearest to me above all is that you hold on to this. Make haste to virtue in just love, and see to it that God is honoured by you and by all those of whom you can demand it with strength with effort with counsel and with all that you are able to do, without neglecting anything.

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Letter 31: Commentary Again in this, the last letter of the series, Hadewijch ensures that the theme is clear to her addressee by combining cognate words which sound similar in Dutch: on four occasions (3-4, 6-8, 23-4) toeverlaet (“to rely on”) is linked to trouwe (“fidelity”) or ghetrouwen / betrouwen (“trust”). “Fidelity” suggests an inner activity: one is faithful, for instance, by keeping to a pact into which one has entered, or by persevering with what one has started. Thus for the addressee “fidelity” consists in holding on to the mystical love-life by continuing or enduring the risky adventure with Love. Yet “to rely on” also suggests inner passivity: one parts company with one’s own fidelity and submits to the “fidelity that God Himself is” (Letter 3, 2) to bring about progress in union with Love. “To trust” forms the link between “fidelity” and “reliance”, and so the fidelity of the mystic goes through a circular movement: she learns that by “relying on Him(self)” her activity is embedded in passivity, her fidelity is carried by God’s fidelity: to trust in Him above all. For by relying on Him, one comes closest to Him…

but highly to rely on Himself, so as to trust in Him with perfect fidelity in all that He is. (31, 3-4 and 6-8)

In contrast to the mystic’s reliance on God, there is the attitude of “people who do not know Me”, although they are actively serving God. Yet it is “with that exertion [that] they rely on Me” (9-12). In such cases “fidelity” and “trust” are based on something of one’s own. with the result that one “relies on God” only partially. This reminds us of the striking passage in Letter 8 where Hadewijch criticises “grounded fidelity”, while shedding light on “noble distrust” (31-47). This “fidelity” is the attitude of someone who is satisfied with a false or incomplete experience of Love, a person for whom “what is present is enough”, so that the “ground” on which one stands in the love relationship with God is one’s own feeling of God or, in the case of Letter 31, one’s own effort towards God. With the “glad words which Our Lord has said” (31, 21-2) Hadewijch refers for the third time in the Letters to words which God Himself had said to her. In Letter 6 the things that “He Himself said to someone who is still alive” (94-5) concern the harsh reality of the humanity of Christ. In Letter 17 God’s “words” indicate the paradoxical manner in which the fully-fledged mystic has to be active in the world (11-2). Here, in Letter 31 (8-20), the words “He says Himself” seem to be God’s reaction both to those who rely on “all kinds of exertion” (12) and to the situation Hadewijch described at the end of the preceding Letter: she herself as well as her friends and disciples do not succeed in living up to perfection: we remain not-grown up in what is spiritual and not-perfect in all the virtues. And therefore no one can help others. (30, 241-4)

Commentary 391

This persistent lack of perfection cannot be overcome by any human efforts. It is when, before God, one only “hungers” for Him, that one is given thereby the “closest perfection”. Then it is the Other who “helps”: to rely on Him and to trust in Him is the closest perfection with which one can satisfy God most perfectly and best. (31, 23-5)