The Fire of Love: Chapters I-III, by Richard Rolle of Hampole

Benjamin Brénainn
Jul 13
11 min read

El Greco. The Vision of Saint Francis (also known as Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata). Oil on canvas, c. 1580–1595.

Base Text: Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love (Incendium Amoris), translated by Richard Misyn and edited by Evelyn Underhill (London: Methuen & Co., 1914). This public-domain edition served as the principal source text for this modern-language paraphrase.

Chapter I: On turning to God, and what helps or hinders that turning

Let everyone living in this fallen world of exile understand this: no one can be filled with the love of eternal life or anointed with the sweetness of heaven unless they are truly turned toward God.

Before anyone can experience even the smallest taste of God's love, the heart must first be genuinely turned to Him and inwardly freed from attachment to earthly things. This turning takes place through rightly ordered love: loving what is truly worthy of love, refusing to love what is unworthy, loving most what deserves to be loved most, and loving lesser things only according to their proper place.

God alone is worthy of our highest love. The realities of heaven deserve our deep affection. Earthly things should be loved only in the measure that they are truly needed. A person is truly turned toward Christ when nothing is ultimately desired above Him.

Turning away from the passing goods of this world—which deceive those who love them yet cannot save them—requires the denial of fleshly desires and the rejection of every form of sin. Such a person no longer delights in earthly things or seeks to possess more than is genuinely necessary.

Those who spend their lives gathering wealth without considering its eternal end, and who place their comfort and security in riches, are not prepared to rejoice in the joy of heavenly love. Though they may appear outwardly devout and imagine they have tasted something of the happiness to come, such experiences are empty if their hearts remain attached to worldly treasure.

Because of this proud self-deception, they lose the sweetness by which God gently softens and transforms those who truly love Him. Their disordered love of earthly wealth has separated them from the delight of God's presence.

Every love that does not ultimately end in God is a disordered love that leads the soul astray. Those who set their hearts on worldly honour, possessions, and earthly greatness are consumed by a false fire. They stand farther from the holy fire of divine love than the greatest distance imaginable—from the highest heaven to the lowest depths of the earth.

They become like whatever they love, for they are shaped by disordered desires. Clinging to their old sinful ways, they love the passing vanities of this life more than the holy love of God. They exchange the joy of eternal glory for a beauty that is fleeting and destined to fade. They would never make such a choice unless they had been blinded by the fire of disordered love, which destroys the growth of virtue and nourishes every kind of vice.

Many, however, are not captivated by physical beauty or guilty of sexual immorality. Because of this, they confidently assume they are secure in their salvation. Since they outwardly preserve chastity, they imagine themselves holier than others. Yet they deceive themselves in vain if they have not rooted out covetousness, the source of so many sins. As Scripture teaches, nothing is more destructive than the love of money. As long as the heart is occupied by the love of earthly things, it cannot be truly devoted to God.

The love of God and the love of this world can never dwell together in the same soul. Whichever love is stronger will drive out the other. In this way it becomes clear who truly loves the world and who truly follows Christ, for the fire of love always reveals itself through visible actions.

Just as those who love Christ relate to the world and to the desires of the flesh, so those who love the world relate to God and to their own souls.

Those whom God has chosen eat and drink, yet even in these ordinary things their minds remain fixed on God. In everything earthly they seek only what necessity requires, never what sinful desire demands. They speak of worldly matters only when needed and without lingering on them, for their hearts remain with God. The rest of their time they gladly devote to His service. They do not waste their lives in idleness, empty amusements, or a restless fascination with worldly curiosities—these are the marks of those who reject God. Instead, they strive to live honourably, desiring that their words, actions, and even their thoughts belong to Him.

Those who reject God, however, remain spiritually idle. They hear God's Word with hardened hearts. They pray without love and think of God without delight. They enter the church and fill its walls, striking their breasts and offering sighs, yet their devotion is only outward. They seek the attention of people rather than the ear of God. Though their bodies are present in worship, their hearts are occupied with the wealth they possess or long to possess. Therefore their hearts remain far from God.

They eat and drink, not to satisfy their needs, but to indulge their appetites, finding their greatest pleasure in bodily enjoyment. They may give bread to the poor and clothing to those in need, but if their generosity is offered while living in un-repented sin, or is motivated by pride, or comes from wealth gained unjustly, it should not surprise anyone that such offerings do not please our Redeemer but instead call forth the judgment of the righteous Judge.

Just as God's chosen people attend to the necessities of this life while keeping their hearts continually fixed on Him, so those who reject Him appear to serve God while their hearts remain consumed with worldly desires. Their deepest thoughts are captivated by the things of this world and by the desires of the flesh. The chosen do not offend God when they meet their genuine needs, but the rejected do not please Him even in the good works they appear to perform, because their few good deeds are corrupted by many sinful ones.

The devil also has many followers who appear to be good. Among them are generous people, those who appear chaste and humble, those clothed in garments of repentance and devoted to outward acts of self-denial. Yet beneath the appearance of spiritual health, deadly wounds often remain hidden.

The devil also has many who are eager to work and quick to preach. Yet all such labor is empty if it is not warmed by true love—the love of those who continually seek to love God and who are slow to pursue empty and passing things. The wicked are always hungry for worthless pleasures and either remain spiritually lifeless or grow weary in every holy pursuit. Their love is always disordered, for they love temporal things more than eternal ones, and they care more for their bodies than for their souls.

Chapter II: No one can suddenly attain deep devotion or become immersed in the sweetness of contemplation

Those who truly love God understand that, during the early years of turning toward Him, no one immediately reaches deep devotion or enters fully into the sweetness of contemplation. At first, they are given only brief and infrequent glimpses of heavenly realities, lasting no more than a moment. But as they faithfully continue, growing little by little, they become strong in spirit. Through many trials they develop spiritual maturity and, as far as this changing life allows, gain a steadfast heart. It is through this patient perseverance that they gradually come to know the joy of God's love.

Even so, not everyone who grows strong in virtue immediately experiences the warmth of God's uncreated charity. Nor does everyone who is melted by the immeasurable flame of divine love find within themselves the song of God's praise. This mystery remains hidden from many and is revealed only to a very few, for the higher this gift, the fewer there are who receive it in this life.

It is no surprise, then, that we rarely find a saint so mature in holiness and so caught up in the love of God that, in contemplation, he is lifted into the sweetness of heavenly melody. Such a soul receives a heavenly song from God and, as though singing it back to Him, offers praise with countless spiritual notes. At the same time, the soul feels within itself the burning warmth of God's love. This is the nature of true contemplation. As the psalmist says, speaking as one who has entered this life: "I will enter the house of God with the voice of joy and praise." This is the song of one who rejoices in the heavenly feast, whose soul has been made glad by heavenly sweetness.

Those who are drawn into this overflowing friendship with God, filled with a sweetness that never fades, begin to live a new life in the pure chalice of divine charity. In the holy joy of His presence they receive into their souls a blessed warmth that fills them with a spiritual refreshment beyond anything this world can offer. This is a foretaste of the eternal inheritance prepared for those who truly love God. Though they still endure suffering during this earthly exile, none of it is wasted. It prepares them to dwell forever in the heavenly places. Among all people they are especially beloved by their Creator and will one day receive a glorious crown.

Like the seraphim who burn with love before God, they too are set ablaze with divine love. Though they live outwardly in solitude, their hearts already walk among the angels with Christ, their Beloved, for whom they have longed. Rejoicing in Jesus, they continually sing the sweet prayer of everlasting love.

O honey-sweet fire, sweeter than every delight and more precious than all the riches of the world.

O my God, O my Love, come into me. Pierce me with Your love and wound me with Your beauty. Comfort me in my weariness, heal my misery, and reveal Yourself to the one who loves You.

You are the desire of my whole heart, and You alone are all that I seek.

My heart longs for You, and my whole being thirsts for You.

Yet You remain hidden. You do not open Yourself to me but hide Your face. You keep Your door closed, and in my suffering You seem silent.

Even so, You draw those who love You away from every earthly attachment. You lift them above the desires of this world, fill them with Your love, and make them strong in loving You. From hearts burning with holy love, songs of praise rise to You, and in Your sweetness they feel the piercing dart of Your love.

Hail, everlasting Love, who lifts us above the passing things of this world and so often draws us into the presence of God's majesty. Come to me, my Beloved. Everything I had I gave up for You, and whatever I might have gained I willingly left behind, so that You might make Your home within my soul and fill it with Your comfort.

Never abandon the one whom You have awakened with such a sweet longing for You. Grant that my deepest desire may always be to remain in Your loving embrace. Give me the grace to love You, to find my rest in You, and at last to behold You forever in Your kingdom.

Chapter III: God has ordained a place for each of His chosen servants

Those who burn most deeply with the love of eternal life are consumed most fully by that blessed love and are especially beloved by the Eternal Lover. Because of this, they rarely become occupied with the affairs of the world or accept positions of leadership and honor within the Church. Instead, they remain quietly withdrawn within themselves, and with joy and songs of praise their hearts continually rise to Christ.

In this, the Church reflects the order of the angels. The highest angels are not sent out on outward missions because they remain continually in the presence of God. In the same way, those who are deeply absorbed in the love of Christ and the life of contemplation are so occupied with beholding God that they do not seek authority over others. That work is entrusted to those whose calling requires greater attention to the needs of people and allows less time for the inward delight of contemplation.

God has ordained a different calling for each of His chosen servants. One is called to lead the Church, while another is drawn inward to attend continually to God, leaving behind outward occupations because God Himself calls him to that hidden life. Such people are often among the holiest of God's servants, yet they are regarded as the least by the world because they remain hidden and seldom go out to perform miracles.

Others faithfully devote themselves both to the service of God and to the wise care of those entrusted to them. Others again embrace lives of bodily discipline and repentance, hidden from the sight of others. During their lives God may grant signs through them, or He may choose to honor them after death, even though they may first undergo purification in purgatory.

Not every saint has performed miracles, whether during life or after death, and neither is everyone who has performed miracles among the saved. The judgments of God remain hidden so that visible signs given through sinners will not lead others more deeply into evil, and so that those who truly love God will not set their hearts on gifts that may be shared alike by both the righteous and the wicked, but will instead love their Creator all the more.

Some have done many good works, yet they sought their own honor rather than the glory of God. Their reward perishes with this life because they have already received what they desired. It often happens that those who are less mature in holiness are granted miracles, while many whose devotion is deepest quietly enter heaven and rest before the majesty of God, receiving their reward among the highest company of the saints. The feast of Saint Michael is honoured with special reverence, yet he is not generally considered to belong to the highest order of angels.

There are also those who sincerely turn to God, do penance, and leave behind worldly pursuits, yet secretly rejoice at the thought that their names may be honoured after their death. A true servant of Christ should pay no attention to such desires, for by seeking them he may lose the reward for which he has laboured.

The gifts that are found among both the righteous and the wicked should never be the desire of the saints. Instead, charity and every spiritual virtue should be firmly rooted in their hearts without ceasing. These not only keep the soul from the filth of sin but, on the day of judgment, will also raise the body to everlasting glory.

Everything accomplished in this life quickly passes away. But there, whether in honour or in the confession of God's praise, what belongs to Him will endure forever. Therefore, those called to active life, even when distinguished by wisdom and virtue, should regard contemplative souls as greater than themselves before God. They should not presume themselves worthy of contemplative life unless God's grace Himself calls them into it.

Translator's Note

This modern-language paraphrase has been translated, edited, and prepared by Benjamin Brénainn. Artificial intelligence was used only as a supporting tool for grammatical refinement, historical language research, and translation comparison. Every passage has been personally evaluated, revised, and approved by the translator, who exercised independent judgment throughout the translation process to preserve the meaning, theology, and contemplative character of Richard Rolle's writings.

This edition is not an AI-generated work, nor is it intended to be a strictly literal translation or a work of literary-critical scholarship. Instead, it is a faithful modern paraphrase that seeks to communicate Richard Rolle's original message in clear contemporary English while remaining true to the spirit, theological intent, and devotional depth of the original text.

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