Pascal’s Memorial

March 25, 2016

Thanks to Alissa Simon, HMU Tutor, for today’s post.

Blaise Pascal composed his “Memorial” during a transcendent experience, a ‘night of fire’. I find this a fitting poem for discussion considering all of the religious holidays that fall during this time of year. I also recently attended a community seminar about Pascal, and as usual, was extremely pleased with the depth of discussion. From this discussion, I add my own thoughts here regarding Pascal’s “Memorial” (both the original and the English translation can be found here).

I find it difficult to believe in only a single thread of truth. Instead, truth for me contains various hues, many experiences and mountains of compiled moments. If we are talking about a religious ‘truth’ then I feel even moreso, the natural truth, the Truth, is something infinitely more inexplicable. Though they may be inexplicable however, I feel that discussion of these large truths is vital to humanity.

For this reason, Pascal’s “Memorial” captures my attention. Pascal dates this experience as: “The year of grace 1654/ Monday, 23 November, feast of St. Clement, pope and martyr, and others in the martyrology./ Vigil of St. Chrysogonus, martyr, and others./ From about half past ten at night until about half past midnight,/ FIRE.” Remarkable the specificity in his entry. Even more remarkable, however, is the fact that this moment, this fire, stuck with Pascal so intensely, that after jotting down this poem, he sewed it into his coat and carried it with him for the rest of his life. Obviously, whatever experience, feeling or development Pascal stumbled upon between ten and midnight, it struck a deep chord of truth within him.

For example, in the midst of his poem, Pascal wrote: “Deum meum et Deum vestrum./ ‘Ton DIEU sera mon Dieu.’” In nearly every French version that I come across, this passage is presented with the quote marks around the second phrase. Yet, in nearly every English version, the quote marks are missing as is the Latin. In the original document, I cannot find evidence to support or omit the quote marks. And my conundrum is this: I believe Pascal’s “Memorial” to be more than a single transcendental experience. I believe that it IS a conversation. Perhaps, it is a conversation from the exterior Pascal to his interior self. Perhaps it is more. Regardless, the importance he places on this single conversation (if you will indulge me the use of conversation) is overwhelming. He sewed it into his clothing and wore it daily. I believe that on this night in 1654, Pascal wrote himself a roadmap to transcendence. He wanted more of these moments, and more than just savoring the experience, he wanted to have it again and again. These words continued to guide him, this FIRE continued to control his thoughts for the rest of his life. Why?

Reading Pascal’s Pensées after reading the “Memorial” reinforces my belief that his single experience reinforced his desire to continue scribbling thoughts as they passed. Pascal’s deep, penetrating questions regarding God show his intellect. Yet, the meaning of Pascal’s “Memorial” continues to evade me. I feel that I understand a section only to lose it again as I fumble with the next. So, I have written a few questions that seem to me to be of importance…at least if we are trying to figure out Pascal in English (and I am). These questions deal mostly with translation from the original language. But I also think of it in larger terms than that. Pascal’s roadmap attempts to translate a transcendent experience. In the end, any language will most likely fall short of this lofty goal. (Perhaps for this reason, Pascal hid his poem and carried it close to his chest, among the things in his soul, privately.) However, the two versions do differ, and they offer some speculation.

Therefore, my questions are:

1] Why does the English translation often translate the original Latin phrases? There are only three phrases in Latin, and all of them have been rendered into English. Not so with the French, which maintains the original Latin phrasing. Why? If the Latin phrasing was important to Pascal, shouldn’t it be important to the reader? If Latin is the language of science, do the Latin phrases represent the questions that Pascal pursues in this short piece? Is the Latin stronger in some sense or does it carry more meaning?

2] Why does Pascal combine John 20:17 in Latin with Ruth 1:16 in French? Not only is he having a conversation with himself through himself, but he’s using different languages and different translations. Pascal was a serious mathematician and this is his most serious equation.

3] Who inserted the quotation marks into the printed copies of Pascal’s “Memorial”? Are they evident in the original somewhere?

4] Can we view this poem in the sense of a Trinity: three Latin phrases, which act as the frame of the entire document? Three seems to be important here (obviously important Biblically), but also for Pascal’s mathematical mind. More than the three phrases, Pascal repeats Jesus Christ and joy three times.

All of these questions get me to my final point: the Latin quotes are, of course, Biblical quotes. However, they transcend the Bible, they transcend the language, they are being used by a mathematician during a moment of religious enlightenment. “Your GOD will be my God” is Ruth, but it is not just Ruth. It is Pascal speaking to himself about Pascal. In his mind, writing down these two hours of fire gave him a solid moment worth pursuing. His Pensées, then, endeavor to reinforce this same kind of spirituality.

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