Dante’s students agree that the character of Matelda represents the “prelapsarian” human being, that’s, the individual not weighed down by authentic sin. In yesterday’s DM, I argued, following Matthew Fox, that among the many peculiarities of ladies mystics of the Center Ages, it’s straightforward to discover a type of disregard for the doctrine of authentic sin. In Mechtild of Magdeburg’s work, particularly, Love/God calls the soul “Queen” and wishes solely to embrace her, with no trace of any have to purify it from any stain.
It appears to me, subsequently, that the identification of Dante’s character Matelda with Mechtild of Magdeburg is sort of stable. Which means that the essence of her spirituality was understood and praised at her time, not less than a couple of many years after she died, when Dante composed his poem.
In his voyage on the opposite facet, Dante meets Matelda as a solitary girl who walks across the backyard of Eden singing and culling flowers. And the brilliant colours of such flowers paint her complete path. When Dante asks about her joyful manner, she solutions that her smile comes from all the time considering the works of God within the universe. Are you able to get extra by way of positiva than that?
Then she sings a Psalm which begins with this verse: “Blessed are these whose sins are lined.” Granted that she guides Dante towards the highest of the mountain of Purgatory, the place souls abide for a time with a purpose to be cleansed of their vices — and Dante walks the identical approach — she shouldn’t be someone who had to do this. She is pure already.
Matelda submerging Dante in Lethe, as depicted by Gustave Doré. Wikimedia Commons
But she shouldn’t be a Pollyanna, nor an individual and not using a backbone. Impulsively, she plunges the reluctant Dante into the waters of the river Lete (= Overlook), retaining his head below for a second till he gulps some water — what a woman! — to win Dante’s reluctance to not be forgiven, however to neglect his previous sins.
The entire level is reaching a spot during which, no matter precise errors you will have dedicated in your life, you don’t linger even for a second on them. You’re free as a substitute to stay a lifetime of gratitude and contemplation.
Does this imply that we will spend our lives freed from ache, tragedy, and struggling? That we will merely cull flowers on a vivid pathway? In no way. In Mechtild’s works, we discover a complete by way of negativa facet, which she skilled absolutely in her life. She talks about “sinking into the night time”!
However she doesn’t linger within the by way of negativa. She doesn’t take pleasure in her lament. She somewhat provides a approach out of it, which is deep, pricey, but rewarding. “From struggling,”— she writes — “I’ve realized this: That whoever is sore or wounded by love won’t ever be made complete except she embrace the identical love which wounded her.”
We, after all, are likely to assume that it’s different individuals who wound us. That’s true, on a superficial degree. And we must always make them cease. However on a deeper degree, experiencing struggling “for love” in its true sense — that’s, for our deeper progress — is the one path to the wholeness and pleasure for which we had been created within the first place.
A lifetime of gratitude and awe and singing and dancing is our intention. At any time when we will, tenaciously, having walked by means of all of the darkish valleys. God says to Mechtild —and to every of us: “Lady, you ought to bop merrily, dance like my elected one! Dance just like the noblest, loveliest, richest Queen!”
Banner Picture: Flowers alongside a vivid backyard path. Photograph by Naoki Suzuki on Unsplash
Queries for Contemplation
What does it imply to you to be “wounded by love”? And does your path lead you towards the Backyard of Eden, or do you’re feeling nonetheless excluded?
Associated Readings by Matthew Fox
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for Our Time
Ardour for Creation: The Earth-Honoring Spirituality of Meister Eckhart
Authentic Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Presents for the Peoples of the Earth
Meditations with Meister Eckhart: A Centering E-book
Meditations with Julian of Norwich
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
