François Malaval
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François Malaval | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 December 1627 |
| Died | 15 May 1719 (aged 91) Marseille, Kingdom of France |
| Occupations | Spiritual writer, theologian |
| Notable work | Pratique facile pour élever l’âme à la contemplation |
| Theological work | |
| Tradition or movement | French school of spirituality; Catholic mysticism |
François Malaval (17 December 1627 – 15 May 1719) was a French Catholic spiritual writer and contemplative theologian associated with the contemplative currents of seventeenth-century French Catholic spirituality. Blind from infancy, he became known for his writings on recollection and interior prayer, especially the Pratique facile pour élever l’âme à la contemplation, a widely circulated guide to contemplative practice that initially received ecclesiastical approbation and was translated into several languages. An English translation by Lucy Menzies, with an introduction by Evelyn Underhill, was published in 1931 under the title A Simple Method of Raising the Soul to Contemplation.
Most of Malaval’s principal writings predated both the condemnation of Miguel de Molinos and the height of the Quietist controversies. Although some of his works were later placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, modern scholarship generally distinguishes his theology from the doctrines condemned under the name of Quietism and situates his work within the broader apophatic tradition of Catholic mysticism.
Historians of spirituality regard Malaval as an important figure in the transition between the seventeenth-century flowering of French contemplative theology and the subsequent anti-Quietist reaction.
Malaval was born in Marseille on 17 December 1627. He was the son of Jehan Malaval, a shipowner, municipal consul, and member of the Company of the Blessed Sacrament.[1] An accident left him blind at the age of nine months. Assisted by secretaries and readers, he studied humanities with the Oratorians of Marseille before undertaking theological and canonical studies with the Dominicans of the city. He later obtained a doctorate in theology at the Sorbonne.[1]
Malaval became known within learned and devotional circles for both his theological culture and his reputation as a spiritual guide. He maintained connections with Pierre Gassendi, Pierre Puget, François Picquet, Christina, Queen of Sweden, and Cardinal Giovanni Bona.[1] Through Bona’s influence, Pope Clement X permitted him to receive the tonsure in 1674, although his blindness prevented his ordination to the priesthood.[1]
He spent most of his life in Marseille, devoting himself to correspondence, charitable works, and the direction of souls. He has also been associated with the intellectual milieu that later contributed to the foundation of the Academy of Marseille.[2]
During the controversies over contemplative prayer in the late seventeenth century, Malaval publicly submitted to ecclesiastical authority and gradually withdrew from theological polemics. He died in Marseille on 15 May 1719. Contemporary and later accounts describe his funeral as attracting large crowds who regarded him as a holy man.[1]
Spiritual teaching
Malaval’s spirituality belongs to the apophatic tradition of Christian mysticism associated with Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, the Rhineland mystics, and later currents of Catholic contemplative theology. His writings emphasize recollection, interior silence, simplicity of prayer, and the loving contemplation of God beyond discursive reasoning, while remaining formally committed to Catholic sacramental and ecclesial life.
In the Pratique facile, Malaval distinguishes contemplative prayer from discursive meditation. Meditation proceeds through images, reflections, and successive acts of the understanding and will; contemplation, by contrast, simplifies the soul’s attention into what seventeenth-century spiritual writers often described as a “simple regard” or “simple view” of God. This simplicity is presented not as inactivity, but as a unified movement of faith and love.
A recurring theme in Malaval’s work is the inadequacy of conceptual language before the mystery of God. He teaches that divine reality exceeds images and discursive reasoning, and that contemplation involves a movement toward silent and loving awareness grounded in faith.[3]
His language of “learned ignorance” reflects the older apophatic tradition rather than a rejection of Christian doctrine. Evelyn Underhill interpreted the Pratique facile as presupposing ordinary Christian devotional and sacramental practice rather than replacing it.[4]
Quietist controversy
Most of Malaval’s principal writings predated both the condemnation of Molinos and the height of the Quietist controversies. Nevertheless, his emphasis on imageless contemplation and “simple regard” prayer later attracted criticism during the wider anti-Quietist campaigns of the late seventeenth century.[1]
The Jesuit Paolo Segneri criticized aspects of Malaval’s teaching in the context of broader debates over passive prayer, acquired contemplation, and the relation between meditation and mystical prayer.[5]
Following the condemnation of Molinos, the Italian translation of the Pratique facile was placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1688.[1] Malaval publicly submitted to ecclesiastical authority and avoided further public controversy.
Modern scholarship has generally treated Malaval as an earlier and more traditional contemplative author than Molinos. Bernard McGinn situates him within the broader crisis of seventeenth-century mysticism while distinguishing his theology from the more radical positions later condemned under the name of Quietism.[6]
Reception and legacy
Malaval’s reputation declined after the Quietist controversies, but his writings remained part of the wider history of Catholic contemplative theology and French mystical literature.
Modern historians of spirituality have reassessed his work in relation to apophatic theology, recollection, and the seventeenth-century debates concerning contemplation and interior prayer. Jean-Marc Vivenza interprets Malaval through the theme of the “divine darkness,” while Cousinié situates him within the broader French discourse on images, imagination, and contemplation.[7][3]
Works
Malaval’s writings include manuals of contemplative prayer, devotional prose, spiritual poetry, and correspondence.
His best-known work is the Pratique facile pour élever l’âme à la contemplation, first published anonymously in 1664 and later expanded. Written in the form of dialogues between a spiritual director and a soul named Philothea, the work presents a method of recollection and contemplative prayer centred on interior silence and simple attention to God.
The work circulated widely during Malaval’s lifetime and passed through several editions in France and Italy.[2] Sabrina Stroppa notes that an Italian translation appeared as early as 1666.[5] In 1931, Lucy Menzies published the first English translation under the title A Simple Method of Raising the Soul to Contemplation, accompanied by an introduction by Evelyn Underhill.[4]
Among his principal writings are:
- Pratique facile pour élever l’âme à la contemplation
- A Simple Method of Raising the Soul to Contemplation (English translation by Lucy Menzies with introduction by Evelyn Underhill, 1931)
- Poésies spirituelles (1671)
- La vie de S. Philippe Benizi (1672)
- Discours contre la superstition populaire des jours heureux ou malheureux (1688)
- Avertissement à tous les fidèles d'assister à la procession du Saint-Sacrement (1690)
- Lettre de M. Malaval à M. l'abbé de Foresta-Colongue (1697)
A Latin treatise on the prayer of quiet remained unpublished.[1]