Visions of Sister Hadewijch

...steadfastness, nor despair, nor too much wishing for things that one does not possess, and that one does not lose oneself in the pleasure of belongings and possessions or in grief over what is lacking, and does not surrender to the passions; one should also not grow weary of love until one has carried it long enough, as is fitting, until it is fully ripened and one has so completely nourished it with perfect works that one overcomes the difficulty of carrying [it] and feels that there are yet much higher things to carry than love. For to carry love is grace, longing, desire, service, unceasing practice, and an ever-burning will. To feel love, that is a free sinking-of-oneself into love original: "Sich-in-die-Liebe-versenken." This refers to the mystical practice of immersion or "recollection," where the soul withdraws from the world to focus entirely on God.. But to be love itself, that surpasses everything The author distinguishes between three stages of spiritual life: performing the works of love (carrying), experiencing the emotion of love (feeling), and the final state of union where the soul’s essence is transformed into love itself..

The first of those uppermost branches, which had the golden hearts upon their leaves, was: to seek love by means of manifold virtues in its selfhood original: "Selbstheit." In mystical theology, this refers to the essential nature or "own-ness" of a thing—seeking love for its own sake rather than for any reward., wherein it is to be found in its entirety. The second branch was: to live according to the high will of God, full of love and for His pleasure; for whoever lives according to Him is, in turn, blessed by Him. The third branch was that balanced state where, through the variety of virtues, one is aware of love as the only virtue, where the two lovers merge completely into one another, where they throw themselves into the abyss original: "Abgrund." A central term in German mysticism (frequently used by Meister Eckhart and Hadewijch) describing the bottomless, infinite depth of the Divine where the soul loses its individual boundaries. and therein shall seek and find eternal enjoyment original: "Genießen." This translates the Latin fruitio, the ultimate goal of the soul: a state of blissful, restful possession of God..

Then the angel led me further, and we came to