St John of the Cross

Oct132015

Infused superior self-knowledge

Before the Divine Fire of Love is introduced into the substance of the soul, and is united with it, by means of a purity and purgation which is perfect and complete, the Divine Fire of Love wounds the soul; destroying and consuming the soul’s imperfections from evil habits; and this is the operation of the Holy Spirit, wherein He prepares it for Divine Union and the transformation of its substance in God through love…..Thus at this time the soul suffers great darkness in the understanding, many aridities and afflictions in the will, plus grievous knowledge of its miseries in the memory, for the eye of its spiritual self-knowledge is very bright….For as the Divine Fire of Love is of the brightest light, assailing the soul, it is a light that shines in the darkness of the soul, which is as dark as the light is bright.  In this brightness, the soul is conscious of its natural darkness, which opposes itself to the supernatural, and it is not conscious of the supernatural, because the darkness comprehends it not…only when the darkness has been driven out is the soul illumined and able to see the light, its eye having been cleansed and strengthened.  –St John of the Cross ‘Living Flame of Love’

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Oct122015

Starvation for the sake of one mouthful

The other blind eye of whom we have spoken, who can hinder the soul in this kind of recollection, is the devil, who, being himself blind, desires the soul to be blind also. When the soul is in these lofty and solitary places wherein are infused the delicate unctions of the Holy Spirit (the devil has great grief and envy, for he sees the soul flying beyond him, and can in no wise lay hold on it, though he sees that it is gaining riches), the devil tries to cover this detachment and withdrawal, as it were, with cataracts of knowledge and mists of sensible sweetness, which are sometimes good, so that he may entice the soul more surely, and thus cause it to have commerce once more with sense, and to look at these things and embrace them, so that it may continue its journey to God in reliance upon this good knowledge and these delights. And herein he distracts it and very easily withdraws it from that solitude and recollection…the Holy Spirit is working these great things secretly….The soul, being of itself inclined to sensible enjoyment…is very easily led to cling to such kinds of knowledge and such delights, and withdraws itself from the solitude wherein God works. The soul reasons, previously it was doing nothing (stillness and quiet—adoration), this other state (the devil’s liking, supplied with sweet consolations) seems better, for now it is doing something (talking, instructing, educating, receiving attention as a knowledgeable knower of God, an elevated one amongst other religious advocates, one with a recognized righteous cause, a proponent, an esteemed identity). It is a great pity that the soul cannot realize how, for the sake of one mouthful, it is presenting itself from feeding holy upon God Himself…

In this way, with hardly any trouble, the devil works the greatest injuries, causing the soul to lose great riches, and dragging it forth like a fish, with the tiniest bait, from the depths of the pure waters of the spirit, where it had no support or foothold but was engulfed and immersed in God. And hereupon he drags it to the bank, giving it help and support, and showing it something whereon it may lean, so that it may walk up on its own feet with great labour instead of floating in the waters of Siloe, that go with silence, bathed in the unctions of God. –St John of the Cross ‘Living Flame of Love’

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. We must work the works of Him who sent Me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” As He said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Silo’am” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he”; others said, “No, but he is like him.” He said, “I am the man.” They said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Silo’am and wash’; so I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.” –Gospel of Luke chapter 9

St John of the Cross. Euclid, Ohio.

St John of the Cross. Euclid, Ohio.

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Sep192015

Living Flame of Love

Oh, living flame of love that tenderly woundest my soul in its deepest centre,
Since thou art no longer oppressive, perfect me now if it be thy will, break the web of this sweet encounter.

Oh, sweet burn! Oh, delectable wound! Oh, soft hand! Oh, delicate touch,
That savors of eternal life and pays every debt! In slaying, thou hast changed death into life.

Oh, lamps of fire, in whose splendours the deep caverns of sense which were dark and blind,
With strange brightness give heat and light together to their Beloved!

How gently and lovingly thou awakest in my bosom, where thou dwellest secretly and alone!
And in thy sweet breathing, full of blessing and glory, how delicate thou inspirest my love!

St John of the Cross ‘Living Flame of Love’

St John of the Cross. Euclid, Ohio.

St John of the Cross. Euclid, Ohio.

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Sep142015

Humility and obedience to hierarchy, a blessing

St John of the Cross. Euclid, Ohio.

St John of the Cross. Euclid, Ohio.

…contemplation requires, on the one hand (since it is an utterly interior life), that we be loving spouses, formed under the direct tutelage of Jesus Himself; and the other hand, that we be pupils in a school, disciples of the magisterium; hence our contemplative life must develop in a society. This is very mysterious: God wants us in intimate relationship, which would seem to obviate any intermediary…yet this heart-to-heart intimacy has to be lived in a society of which we must be disciples. This is a mystery difficult to accept. It is the “yoke of faith” of which St Paul speaks, a veritable participation in the death of Our Lord. Our intelligence has to be crucified if it is to yield to the demands of love. –Father Thomas Philippe ‘The Contemplative Life’

Tossing in a bit of humor, I recall a common comment of Father David Mary. He would mock the statement made by many free thinkers, individuals believing themselves to be of a rarefied open mind able to embrace a spirituality of diversity and inclusiveness–a superior mind wrapping itself around all forms of spiritual thought, philosophy, psychology, and creative genius–the remark is often made that as an enlightened individual they did not subscribe to organized religion. Father David Mary would respond with the remark, ‘so in rejecting organized religion, are you making the statement you desire an unorganized religion’. It is funny, yet even more penetrating. Submitting to the magisterium of the Church, creates an emptiness allowing for proper purification and thus illumination. It is truly a blessing, a path to sanity. Keep in mind it is not just intellectual free thinkers adhering strictly to their mandates made upon truth. Many Catholics never truly submit to the Church. I know many extremely devout Catholics who will never deeply acquiesce to anything not of their controlling. Their Catholicism is one in which they rule over the Church. Their Catholicism is one in which they are a Church authority. Their Catholicism is one in which they rule over others. It can be no other way for a multitude who give their lives over to the pursuit of an extraordinary faith. The further we go in effort and devotion to the Church, the narrower the road becomes. An insidious evil, destructive and confrontational, brews where many believe a greater faith abides. What the devout controlling Catholic determines the Church to be is their weapon against the secular world and the Church itself. Such a dominating individual rallies against religious orders and fellow Catholics not falling into line with their point of view. I recall a statement by someone, I cannot recall who, said that the Church is truly most efficient when it disagrees with me. When my strongest beliefs conflict with the magisterium of the Church that is when the Church is most important for me. It is not about correcting a single point of contention. It is not about being right or wrong. It is about surrendering, truly the crucifying of our intelligence as Father Philippe so keenly states matters. We purify, emptying and cleansing, in order to allow God to illuminate.

Vanity of vanities

G.K. Chesterton said that the maniac was the man with the idea that he can explain everything. He is the completely rational man for whom everything made sense in terms of his ideas. It does no good to tell the man who thinks that he is Napoleon that he is not Napoleon. For if he were Napoleon and someone told him that he was not, he would be certain that the other person, not himself, was mad, since he knows he is Napoleon. The madman sees himself first and everything else in terms of himself.

In Walter Kaufmann’s chronology of Nietzsche’s life, under 1889, it states briefly, that “Nietzsche becomes insane early in January in Turin.”

In Walter Kaufmann’s chronology of Nietzsche’s life, under 1889, it states briefly, that “Nietzsche becomes insane early in January in Turin.”


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

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Aug132015

Detachment, fine tuning focus

It is certainly permitted and even expedient for beginners to find sweetness and pleasure in images, oratories, and other visible objects of devotion, since they have not yet weaned their desire from things of the world, so that they can leave one pleasure for the other. They are like a child holding something in one of its hands; to make it loosen its hold on it we give it something else to hold in the other hand in case it should cry because both hands are empty.

But the spiritual person who would make progress must rid himself of all the pleasures and desires in which the will can rejoice. Pure spirituality is bound little to any of those objects, but only to interior recollection and mental conversation with God. Although he makes use of images and oratories, he does so only fleetingly; his spirit at once comes to rest in God and he forgets all things of the senses. –St John of the Cross ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel’ presented by Henry L. Carrigan Jr.

St John of the Cross Adoring

St John of the Cross Adoring

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Aug102015

Poverty of spirit through images that negate images

Setting aside the natural rest that the soul obtains when it is free from images and forms, the soul becomes free from anxiety about whether they are good or evil……The soul has no need to desire to know all this if it devotes no attention to imaginary forms.  It can better use the time and energies that it would have wasted in dealing with these images in another more profitable practice, that of the will with respect to God, and in taking care to seek both detachment from the world and poverty of spirit and sense.  The more the soul withdraws itself completely from all figures of the imagination, the more it will approach God.  –St John of the Cross ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel presented by Henry L. Carrigan Jr.  

…the anawim, “the poor and lowly ones” The expression turns up often in the Psalter. It indicates not just the oppressed, the miserable, the persecuted for justice, but also those who, with fidelity to the moral teaching of the Alliance with God, are marginalized by those who prefer to use violence, riches and power. In this light one understands that the category of the “poor” is not just a social category but a spiritual choice. It is what the famous first Beatitude means:  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5,3). The prophet Zephaniah spoke to the anawim as special persons:  “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of wrath of the Lord” (Zep 2,3). —Pope John Paul II

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Aug092015

Counsel on into fortitude through Faith

The really essential thing, sisters, is that you should speak to your confessor very plainly and candidly — I do not mean here in confessing your sins, for of course you will do so then, but in describing your experiences in prayer. For unless you do this, I cannot assure you that you are proceeding as you should or that it is God Who is teaching you. God is very anxious for us to speak candidly and clearly to those who are in His place, and to desire them to be acquainted with all our thoughts, and still more with our actions, however trivial these may be. If you do this, you need not be disturbed, or worried, for, even if these things be not of God, they will do you no harm if you are humble and have a good conscience. His Majesty is able to bring good out of evil and you will gain by following the road by which the devil hoped to bring you to destruction. For, as you will suppose that it is God Who is granting you these great favors, you will strive to please Him better and keep His image ever in your mind. A very learned man used to say that the devil is a skilful painter, and that, if he were to show him an absolutely lifelike image of the Lord, it would not worry him, because it would quicken his devotion, and so he would be using the devil’s own wicked weapons to make war on him. However evil the painter be, one cannot fail to reverence the picture that he paints, if it is of Him Who is our only Good.  –St Teresa of Avila ‘Interior Castles’.  Sixth chapter 9.

Listening to ‘Interior Castles’ driving to Toledo, this section struck me.  I related the matter to brutal honesty.  Spiritual directors, confessors, are not just placed into my life to hear my sinful deeds, to work with what I perceive to be my imperfections.  I do not utilize a spiritual director or confessor to bewail myself.  False humility lurks within such one sided communication.  I must also relate my prayer life, including my spiritual aspects I perceive as positive.  In order to smash the work of Satan, in order to allow the works of God to shine, I must speak of those things I feel are my strongest spiritual assets.  Quite possibly, self-identified strengths could be the detriment of my spiritual life.  Nothing more than spiritual delusion.  If I see myself as a spiritual superior, someone advanced beyond those in my life, ministering to others as an authority, I must be reporting such thoughts and endeavors to my spiritual director.  If I am conducting self-prescribed heroic spiritual deeds I must present the fact to my spiritual director.  If I am hearing locutions, believing myself to be gifted in prayer, being graced with lofty wisdom, or other apparent spiritual blessings, I must be reporting the matters to my spiritual director.  I reflect upon good devout people I have encountered who believed marvelous things regarding their spiritual life: working with distinct souls in purgatory, receiving messages from deceased parents, visions of Mary, Jesus, and saints, locutions and divine dreams, constantly encountering miracles within their lives—photos placed upon their sleeping pillow at magical times, on and on infinitum.  All of these conditions must be discussed with a spiritual director.  Serious error, misinterpretation, devolves through repetition and time into the deconstruction of all spiritual aspirations to the good.  Subtler than mortal sin in its abrasive and distinct affront, a devout life of stealth misdirection inflicts the removal of God, and therefore grace, from one’s life.  The identification, through counsel, of who I truly am in the eyes of God is necessary to combat the desire to assign qualities to myself that are of not a part of God’s Will.  Unknowingly distancing myself from God creates distance from God.  Good intentions combined with tremendous effort do not bring about spiritual maturity.  The supernatural, the focus upon signs, the need for miracles, the dependence upon the sensational and extreme, the attachment to an elevated spiritual identity, must all be rejected.  I make the statement that the matter is so sublime in nature it can only be thoroughly rejected through counsel.  Growth demands fortitude through Faith most efficiently enacted through obedience, the dissolving of free will through brutal all-encompassing honesty with another.  I would venture to add surrendering, an acquiescing within prayer, comprehending my inability to truly rid myself of delusion.  Due to brokenness–acquired insecurities, I will intensely embrace matters magnifying self-esteem.  Being a sinner, truly a lowly being, struggling with life, it is only natural to seek recompense through perceived grandiose spiritual attributes.  I am wounded.  I must be careful in tendering merciful healing.  I cannot heal myself by becoming something I perceive as superior, or a receiver of supernatural gifts.

St John of the Cross elaborates in ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel’, taken from EWTN’s online edition, emphatically regarding the rejection of spiritual extremes.  Book Two chapter 11.

Regardless of the cause of these apprehensions, it is always good for people to reject them with closed eyes. If they fail to do so, they will make room for diabolical representations. And when the devil is given such a free hand, his representations multiply while God’s representations gradually cease, so that eventually all these apprehensions will come from the devil and none at all from God. This has happened with many incautious and uninstructed people who in their sureness concerning the reception of these communications met with real difficulty in returning to God through purity of faith. Many have been unable to return because of the deep roots the devil has taken in them. Consequently, it is expedient to be closed to these communications and to deny them all, for in this way diabolical errors coming from the bad apprehensions are eliminated, the hindrance to faith occasioned by the good communications is avoided, and the spirit gathers the fruit. 

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If individuals remain both faithful and retiring in the midst of these favors, the Lord will not cease raising them degree by degree until they reach divine union and transformation. Our Lord proves and elevates the soul by first bestowing graces that are exterior, lowly, and proportioned to the small capacity of sense. If the person reacts well by taking these first morsels with moderation for strength and nourishment, God will bestow a more abundant and higher quality of food. If individuals are victorious over the devil in the first degree, they will pass on to the second; and if so in the second, they will go to the third; and likewise through all the seven mansions (the seven degrees of love) until the Bridegroom puts them in the wine cellar of perfect charity [Sg. 2:4]. 

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