The spiritual life is often destabilized by an inability to rightly order our soul's faculties. Drawing on Augustinian faculty psychology, this episode examines the telelogical alignment of the memory, intellect, and will with the theological virtues of hope, faith, and charity. We analyze St. John of the Cross's spatial metaphors of mountains, lowlands, and riverbanks to clarify how inordinate acts occur through excess, defect, or the subtle, precious "middle ground" of imperfections and venial sins.

In understanding these realities, the seeker can better identify where their spiritual movements fail to mirror the incarnate life of Christ, particularly when the lower inclinations attempt to subvert the right measure of the soul.

Philosophical Notes:

  • Understanding why St. John of the Cross prioritizes the triad of memory, intellect, and will as the principal seats of spiritual operation and their specific disposition via the theological virtues.
  • An analysis of “mountains” (excess) and “lowlands” (defect) as the extremes of vice that pull the soul away from its supernatural end.
  • Why venial sins and spiritual imperfections thrive in the “riverbank” state—acts that appear level but lack the right order and certitude of faith.
  • How the humanity of Christ serves as the objective “mean” between extremes, providing the necessary framework for interpreting reality and neighbor.

You have the concepts, but you need the tool. When the audio ends and the silence returns, don't go back to "trying harder." Use the "5-Minute Prayer Reset" to stabilize your interior life and prepare for the Divine Physician.

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TRANSCRIPT

Introduction to the Faculties

Hello there, and welcome to this week's episode of Midnight Carmelite. This week, I wanted to discuss the faculties: memory, intellect, and will. We'll talk about them, and then I want to discuss what makes the acts of these faculties either inordinate and vicious or not. Let's first talk about these faculties. John frequently uses Augustinian faculty psychology instead of Thomistic. There are many people who have tried to map St. John of the Cross to St. Thomas. I don't think there's a conflict between the two takes on the faculties of the soul, despite them using different terms; I think they're just coming from different principles. I don't want to go too far into this because it's a big debate, and you'll see books that try to map them and say John didn't mean “memory” like Augustine did. However, John was trained at Salamanca, and he knew St. Thomas well, just as he knew Augustine well. I just find that claim really difficult to believe. Anyway, we're going to use John's terms—memory, intellect, and will—and we will assume that he's talking about them from the principle of the soul of the person.

The Theological Virtues and Inordinate Acts

When John discusses the acts of these three faculties, we have to keep in mind that in the spiritual life, they are disposed through the theological virtues: hope for the memory, faith for the intellect, and charity for the will. In the Spiritual Canticle, he talks about how these acts can be inordinate or vicious if they reach what he calls a higher or lower level, or if they're inclined towards that. Let's unpack that real quick. By a higher or lower level, he's saying that if these acts are in defect or in excess, that is what causes the issue.

Mountains, Lowlands, and Riverbanks

He explores this in his poem using the imagery of mountains, lowlands, and riverbanks. Mountains are obviously high things. We can think of mountains in the United States, like the Appalachian Mountains or the Rocky Mountains—they're high up. For him, a mountain represents an extreme through inordinate excess. Lowlands, being low, symbolize a defect. Then, for John, the word “riverbanks” means neither high nor low, but they're not level either; it's a mix of both extremes. It refers to acts that exceed or lack something of the mean or right measure. In other words, these are acts that may be inclined towards one extreme or a mix of both but are not actually inclined towards the right order.

Finding the Right Measure in Christ

What does that mean for our spiritual life? Firstly, it's a precarious business. Due to our fallen nature, we have to be careful that we don't fall into excess, defect, or exceeding a right measure. And what does John mean by the “right measure”? Frankly, he means Christ. In other words, what would Christ do in this situation? In particular cases, the right measure will be different, obviously, but ultimately the measure is Christ—the life of Christ, the actions of Christ, and Christ's humanity. When you see God incarnate acting, we meditate on that, internalize it through our prayer life, and start to see the world as Christ sees it through the eyes of faith.

Applying the Measure: Defect, Excess, and Riverbanks

Here's a good example: Let's say you find someone particularly repulsive due to temperament or conflict. There may be legitimate reasons for this; some temperaments just have trouble getting along. It doesn't mean they can't be Christian to one another, but in day-to-day life, some people just don't get along. We see this in the Acts of the Apostles with the split between Paul and Silas. However, if a person uses their intellect to look at someone and says, “That person is completely no good,” without framing it through charity or wanting the good for them, that is a defect. It lacks the certitude that God loves them, made them in His image and likeness, and can work with them. Even if they are doing something bad, failing to view them as capable of redemption means you are not seeing them through the eyes of faith and truth.

You could also have the “riverbank” scenario where you say the right words but don't really mean it or truly believe they're worthy of being saved. Finally, you can have an excess, where you think, “It doesn't matter what this person does to me. God loves them, so I'm going to let them do whatever they want.” That's obviously not prudent, especially if someone is abusive.

Final Thoughts

I could go on about this forever, but as a final thought: in our spiritual lives, we have to watch out for excess and defect. If we really think about it, those extremes are pretty easy to spot. It's the riverbanks that are the real problem. John says that the riverbanks are where you find venial sins and imperfections. They're hard to spot because they seem right, but they're not. So take a look at your life and try to see if you are dealing with an excess, a defect, or a riverbank. I'll see you next time.