Personification Allegory and Visions of Light in Richard of St Victor’s Teaching on Contemplation

GROVER A. ZINN, JR Personification Allegory and Visions of Light in Richard of StVictor's Teaching on Contemplation The purpose of this paper is to discuss two major symbolic representations used by Richard of St Victor (d 1173) in two of his treatises on contemplation, Benjamin minor and Benjamin major.1 In Benjamin minor the bulk of the discussion is presented in the form of personification allegory, a method as surprising as it is memorable, an indication that Richard wrote with inventive and persuasive power. Analysis of this personification allegory, a form of tropology, forms the first part of this paper. Near the end of Benjamin minor, Richard introduces the disciples' experience of the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor as a symbol which represents the fulfilment of asceticism in contemplation. Richard especially associates the light of Jesus' Transfiguration with interior, non-sensuous visionary experiences of light. In Benjamin minor visions of light are given a specific place in the experience of discipline and contemplation; in Benjamin major that place is explored in great detail, especially inrelation to contemptation in its severalvarieties. Discussion of such visionary experiences forms the second part of this paper. Like most of Richard's works, Benjamin minor and Benjamin major are difficult to date accurately and cannot even be placed precisely in a relative chronological order with other works. The best current estimate of dates places them between 1153 and 1162, although a later date cannot be excluded.2 In 1159 Richard was subpriorof the Abbey ofStVictor, and in 1162 he was elected prior, an office he held until his death.3 Both offices, but especially thelatter, may wellhave involved Richard with the instruction and guidance of novices and others in the abbey.4 Most of his time as prior coincided with the tenure of Abbot Ernisius who wasted the abbey's resources on building projects and created a great deal of conflict in the community in his role as abbot. Richard died in 1173, two years after the forced deposition of Ernisius had returned the abbey to some sort of order and concord. From the content of our two works, it appears likely that Benjamin minor was written first. Certainly the kind of discipline outlined there is presupposed in Benjamin major.5 A comment in De exterminatione mali et promotione bani indicates that this work was preceded by Benjamin minor, but whether Benjamin major also preceded it remains undetermined.6 Certainly the chapter on contemplation in De exterminatione lacks the UTQ, Volume XLVI, Number 3,Spring 1977 RICHARD OF ST V ICTOR ON CONTEMPLATION 191 multifaceted precision ofBenjamin major.7 1t also tends to emphasize the aspect ofbeing'asleep' to the world and the outer self while being vitally 'alive' inwardly in the ecstatic experience. This motif appears in Benjamin major also, but in a subordinate relationship to other aspects of ecstasy.s On this basis there is some reason to see Benjamin major as a more developed and more mature work on the varieties ofcontemplative experience, including ecstasy. The two Benjamin treatises were often known by other titles in the medieval period. Benjamin minor bore the title Liber de duodecim patriarchis or De patriarchis.9 This accurately reflected the dominantmotif of the work: the tropological significance of the twelve sons of Jacob. A subtitle found in the Migne edition.indicates the intention of the treatise quite well: 'Of the preparation of the soul for contemplation.' Only the last few chapters of Benjamin minor have direct bearing on what Richard calls contemplation. Contemplation proper is treated in detail in Benjamin major, which has as subtitle in Migne, 'Of the grace of contemplation.' Benjamin major also had a more descriptive title in the medieval period: De area mystica.10 Again, the title refers to the dominant symbol interpreted tropologically in the treatise. This time it is the Ark of Moses, taken togetherwith the cherubim in the Holy of Holies in Tabernacleand Temple. PERSONIFICATION ALLEGORY IN Benjamin minor The purpose and method of Benjamin minor are as simple as they are striking. Richard's purpose is to teach a pattern of discipline for the body, mind, and will, which leads to interiorization of attention and tranquillity...