Jacopone da Todi, the prosperous lawyer converted to Christ's poverty, resorted to the most grotesque devices to express his utter separation from the world.

Others, it is true, have chosen quieter methods, and found in that which St.Catherine calls the cell of self-knowledge the solitude they required; but _some_ decisive break was imperative for all.

History assures us that there is no easy sliding into the life of the Spirit.
A secondary cause of such world refusal is the first awakening of the contemplative powers; the intuition of Eternity, hitherto dormant, and felt at this stage to be--in its overwhelming reality and appeal--in conflict with the unreal world and unsublimated active life.

This is the controlling idea of the hermit and recluse.

It is well seen in St.
Teresa; whom her biographers describe as torn, for years, between the interests of human intercourse and the imperative inner voice urging her to solitary self-discipline and prayer.