RICHARD OF ST VICTOR: The Twelve Patriarchs, The Mystical Ark, Book Three of the Trinity

The Classics of Western Spirituality

by Richard of Saint Victor

One of the great mystics of the Christian Tradition, Richard is the link between the early tradition of Pseudo-Dionysius and the great mystical awakening in Medieval Europe. For his genius in bringing together both the Latin and Greek Traditions all contemplatives owe him a great debt. Born in twelfth century Scotland, he joined the Abbey of St. Victor in Paris where he became Superior and Prior. The Twelve Patriarchs (or Benjamin Minor) is his preparation of the soul for contemplation. The framework is a scriptural allegory based on the story of Jacob. Richard uses the meaning of the names and the elements of the story to illustrate a unified view of the person and the relationship between contemplation and action. His Mystical Ark ( or Benjamin Major) completes this study.

In his Book Three of the Trinity we see Richard's doctrinal basis for the spiritual conclusions of his earlier work. Richard can teach us about the discipline and the dangers of the mystical quest. He can enlighten us concerning the relevance of symbols and symbolic structures as modes of communication.

Jean Chatillon, of the University of Paris, who wrote the preface, is the world's Victorine scholar.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Christianity, Spirituality, Mysticism, Nonfiction, Christian

Paperback

First published March 1, 1979

About the author

Richard of Saint Victor, C.R.S.A., Ricardo de Sancto Victore Scotus (died 1173), was a Medieval Scottish philosopher and theologian and one of the most influential religious thinkers of his time. A canon regular, he was a prominent mystical theologian, and was prior of the famous Augustinian Abbey of Saint Victor in Paris from 1162 until his death.

Reviews

[Kev Nickells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several million years ago I did an MA in Theology, and always wanted to get back to Richard. And so I have now. And I think I want to make the case for reading this for someone who's not studying Theology.

One of the things that happens with books like this is that they sit on Theological reading lists, _maybe_ on a list of works of mysticism - for people who are specialists in one area or another. Richard of St Victor is one of the lesser known figures from his world - Hugh of St Victor is probably the better known from the same Abbey and usually Hugh is a footnote to the works of Peter Abelard [my MA was a long time ago so do feel free to correct me] - Abelard being well-known to later traditions which were less Theologically-oriented.

This is all bread and butter to students of medieval theology and doubtless also students of medieval philosophy. My point here though is that there's a whole heap of stuff a reader could get from this.

The basic pitch is that Ricky chats about a few things - the 12 patriarchs of Christianity, a mystical reading of the ark of the covenant, and an extract of a treatise on the Trinity (non-Theologians may not that writing about the Trinity is eternally popular, even now, for Christian Theologians). I think the second is probably most interesting, for the non-historical-Theologian - it's a work that dotes on _how_ to meditate / contemplate. And those shouldn't be thought of in the same sense as contemporary uses - but we get an exhaustive analysis of different ways of understanding contemplation, different modes of thinking.

Ricky builds up his arguments in a really compelling way - it's by no means 'systematic' but there's lots of saying 'the lesser contemplation we call [x]' and distinguishing different modes of contemplation. And I think it's this modality that I find interesting - if you ignore the tendency towards Theological dogmaticism (which is super light here) then you've got a diary of a single person's approach to understanding his own intense study and contemplation. The wiki article discusses it in psychological terms and I think that's appropriate - Ricky's speaking out of a lifetime of meditation.

So perhaps reading one - exegesis on meditation. Reading two - hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is maybe a fussy word loaded with Christian (or Abrahamic religions') connotations so we can say textual interpretation, deconstruction [etc] if we prefer. The mystical ark is a mystical reading of the ark of the tabernacle, as revealed to Moses (etc). That's maybe not massively useful but as a study of how intensive readings lead to whole epistemologies, this is a beauty. Put another way - Ricky has a gorgeous way with imbibing a small amount of Biblical material and pushing out a bunch of ideas and images. Like Perec or Lispecter maybe - focussing on small allegedly incidental elements of text and reproducing it as a rainbow of interpretations.

What I mean really is that this holds up - holds up as intensive writing, as psychological writing, as an example of how some literary thinking spreads across the millennia (if it's not clear, this is from sometime late 1100s). His is a lush and an inviting tone and if you can put the exceptionally religious tone to one side, it's alarmingly current and non-denominational. He seems like a _nice guy_, in short.

Am I justifying reading old stuff to myself? Probably - but I'd like to think there's people out there thinking 'I'd like to have a go at a mystic reading of the ark of the tabernacle' but no idea where to start. Start here.

[booklady · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started this on the 10th of November 2004. Hope if I should meet St. Victor someday in the hereafter, I won't incur his disfavor; however, of all the books we read in Sr. Jan's Spiritual Classics class, this was my least favorite. It is dense, highly imaginative, ethereal and mystical in way so far above my understanding as to leave me feeling empty. It was the most difficult book I've read in a long time--before or since. However, that said, I spoke to others in my class and previous classes--with more mathematical- and musically-inclined minds than mine--who loved St. Victor. He has his devotees, but I'm not one of them.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FASCINATING COLLECTION OF THE WRITINGS FROM A 12TH CENTURY MYSTICAL THEOLOGIAN

Richard of Saint Victor (died 1173) was a mystical theologian, and the prior of the Augustinian Abbey of Saint Victor in Paris from 1162 until his death. He is the link between the early tradition of Pseudo-Dionysius and the later mystical awakening in Medieval Europe.

He suggests that "many things, even those that have been written concerning the torments of evil persons must be interpreted mystically. Similarly, many things concerning goods of the future life, although described corporally, must be understood simply." (Pg. 70-71) He says that "Certainly God made even those parts of the body that we call shameful. However, no one other than you made the shameful things of the heart." (Pg. 104)

He argues that "You must know the invisible things of your own spirit before you can be capable of knowing the invisible things of God. If you are not able to know yourself, how do you have the boldness to grasp at those things which are above you?" (Pg. 129) He adds, "we are able to separate into three stages that knowledge of God which one is able to possess in this life, and according to the triple difference of stages we are able to divide the heavens by three inasmuch as God is seen one way by faith, is known another way by reason, and is discerned another way by means of contemplation." (Pg. 132)

He suggests that concerning divine instructions, "it should be noted that we ought to understand some things simply and seek nothing in them according to the mystical sense, while some things ought to be employed according to the literal sense, and yet are capable of representing something according to the mystical sense." (Pg. 194) An example is the Trinity, "which you will discover are not only incomprehensible but even discordant to human reason." (Pg. 293)

Richard is a Medieval writer who is well worth "discovering," and this is a very attractive collection of his writings.

[Jonah Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only read his section on the Trinity.
Magnificent. Really a treatise on the shared love between the three persons. This is a philosophical work on the equality of the persons in the Trinity, and not a biblical exegesis (though I find it to be throughly biblical in its argumentation).
His section on why there must be a third person in order to say that the persons of the Trinity properly “share” love is wonderful. His word about the simplicity of God is invaluable.

Of course there is much more doctrinal development than will come after R.SV.
He does a masterful job showing why there must be no less than three persons in the Godhead. And though I can conclude on my own why it must be the case even based on R.SV’s work, he never explicitly shows why we cannot presume MORE than three persons.
I obviously believe that God’s revelation in Scripture helps us to see why this is, and makes it clear. Which is why the R.SV’s work, though immensely devotional and useful, is narrow in its scope.

[Stewart Lindstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though sometimes overly verbose, it is evident why Richard earned a place in Dante's Paradiso. The Mystical Ark is an allegorical commentary and spiritual manual in equal parts.

[Chris]

The Twelve Patriarchs
A beautiful and subtle account of the interplay of virtue, affect, and will, and how all three clear ground for reason and pave the way for contemplation. In particular, I'm struck by Richard's argument that virtue is precisely the fruit of ordered affections. I'd be curious to reread Edwards' Religious Affections with the relevant chapters here in mind. I also love that Richard, while performing an elaborate allegorical exegesis, invokes "the authority of Scripture" precisely at the very end, as the decisive counterpoint to the insights of contemplation.