Saint Catherine of Siena has God the Father describe the “unitive way” or “mystical marriage” as follows:
Memory, being filled with the light of the intellect, and the affection with love, on being moved by the tribulations or delights of the world, will not resound with disordinate merriment or with impatience, because they are full of Me [God], who am every good.
This is, for Catherine, one description of what makes the “third step” different from the others in the spiritual life. There are other descriptions. This is one. The memory is flooded with the light of the intellect and becomes no further cause for disorders and, in particular, impatience. The memory bathes in the light of heaven. The memory, in one word, is transfigured.
Of course, this process begins at the beginning of the spiritual journey. And even on the “unitive way”, even on the “third step”, the memory can grow and, in the holy light, glow, more.
But there is something particular about the memory. It gets a special mention. It is a theme of Saint Augustine, too: memory is memory of the future, eschatological memory, memory flooded with the Light who is God. Memory is an important part in the process of transformation into God and of transfiguration of the whole human being, body and soul.
The way and what we remember are not merely biological processes, nor even exclusively natural processes of any kind. The Light can flood the memory, too, and this progress in love is a particular indicator of the journey so far.
Personally, I’ve thought about this today for a reason. Today is my birthday (number 30!). How far have I come with my memory? How well can I look back?
Some related posts:
Contemplative in the Mud 