Catholic Thought discussion
Dark Night of the Soul
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Prologue; Part 1, I thru IX
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message 51:
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Joseph
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Mar 11, 2021 06:45PM
Blame the secular culture for making us work hard on penances the High Middle Ages would have laughed at.
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Manny wrote: "Casey wrote: "So we are not moving through the seven Dante style. The idea is to show some of the many ways in which the beginners aim can be off. In removing those aims, God directs the aim at the..."Yes, that's right. Think about a little boy who gets candy when training for going potty. At some point the candy is removed and the boy probably misses the candy but nevertheless continues because dry pants are better than wet pants. If, at age 30, someone offers him candy again, he'd take it but the candy is not the reason he's going potty.
Now I'm not comparing God to potty, but I just want to illustrate that these feelings/sensations/etc that the beginner receives are an intermediate step toward the real thing. The seven deadlies format he's using are to show the ways in which we can begin to aim at the spiritual candy instead of God himself. At this point, God removes the candy.
In the absence of candy we feel something is missing. We've lost it. We're doing something wrong. We're in darkness. But the darkness is actually our blindness in the presence of God's great light.
From Ch XIV:
"WHEN THIS house of sensuality was now at rest—that is, was mortified—its passions being quenched and its desires put to rest and lulled to sleep by means of this blessed night of the purgation of sense, the soul went forth, to set out upon the road and way of the spirit, which is that of progressives and proficients, and which, by another name, is called the way of illumination or of infused contemplation, wherein God Himself feeds and refreshes the soul, without meditation, or the soul’s active help."
St. John of the Cross. Dark Night of the Soul (Dover Thrift Editions) (p. 80). Dover Publications. Kindle Edition.
Manny wrote: "Boy, I sound just like one of those beginners St. John is criticizing. ;)"Au contraire mon frère! Not criticizing. What I'm getting is that he's speaking to those in the period of aridity. Explaining that you aren't doing anything wrong if you aren't getting what you used to get. Rather, what you used to get was this but now you are being trained to get that. And that is better than this.
And that, we will discover in Book the Second. Looking forward to that!
A relevant excerpt from today's reflection in the Magnificat Lenten Companion:"Pharisees climb the social ladder through vehement religious observance; publicans use secular politics and business. Both Pharisee and publican are concerned with power and wealth in their spheres of influence; one seeks these secretly, under good deeds; one visibly, in bad deeds. Both men sin, both men pray, as we hear in today’s Gospel. How pervasive are pride and greed. How easy it is to insulate and delude oneself with religious practices, or secular accomplishments, while blind to the true state of one’s soul. How especially natural for us to think that, because we obediently attend Mass, fast properly, and give to charity—the biggies—God winks at the blind heart full of hidden sin."
Magnificat. 2021 Magnificat Lenten Companion (p. 67). Magnificat. Kindle Edition.
Kelly wrote: "I also think that our understanding is in darkness while undergoing this process. He says that to try to.understand and control it is to miss its power. It requires trust and a kind of abandonment."Kelly, that part stood out to me as well because it is in my nature to understand and to control, part of that a byproduct of motherhood! :-) Abandonment is a necessary aspect of growth in the spiritual life and St. John's point seems to be that to grow spiritually we must abandon our desires to control in order to follow God's will. French priest, Fr Jean Pierre de Caussade wrote a wonderful book, Abandonment to Divine Providence specifically on this topic. I've read it through once but periodically go back to it because I feel like for me this desire to control and understand is a big spiritual impediment.
Manny wrote: "I notice a lot of devotional books speak in this manner, where the author seems to project he has some special knowledge of others."The thing with devotional books is they typically have a specific reader in mind. The first time I tried reading St John of the Cross I quickly gave up because I wasn't in a place to where it made sense. Recently, I was purging the ridiculous number of spiritual books I have, scanning each on whether to keep or give away. I found some were so elementary that they no longer were of benefit to me. Please don't mistake that for me saying I'm in the company with a St. Teresa of Avila or St Catherine of Siena. Not even close! It was just that I was in a different place spiritually. One of my favorite spiritual books, "Abandonment to Divine Providence" was written for Nuns of the Visitation in Nancy. I believe St Francis de Sales wrote "Introduction to the Devout Life" for sisters as well. St John seemed to have a bit of difficulty with his Carmelite brothers, given they felt the need to imprison him. Did he have them in mind? Perhaps he was the spiritual director to the Carmelite sisters? It's interesting to consider who he had in mind when writing. Regardless, we benefit!
Mod
"Pharisees climb the social ladder through vehement religious observance; publicans use secular politics and business..."
Ah, I didn't get the Lenten companion this year. Thanks Casey.
Mod
The thing with devotional books is they typically..."
Interesting points. So who do you think St. John had in mind when he wrote Dark Night?
By the way we read Introduction to a Devout Life last year I think it was. Superb book. de Sales certainly had someone (a beginner looking for spiritual direction) in mind there.
I’m going to print part of an article I have that was originally printed in 1972. If I repeat something already mentioned by one of our members, I apologize; I just didn’t want to break up the article.“John of the Cross was professed in 1564 and ordained in 1567. It was in that same year that he met Teresa of Avila and, soon after, joined her in the reform of the order which she had undertaken with the hope of returning it to a more primitive Rule, stressing prayer and contemplation. By 1577, that reform was meeting with such violent hostility that John was kidnapped by the Calced Carmelites and imprisoned in Toledo.
“It was during his nearly nine months there, months in which he was cruelly treated, beaten and pressured to renounce the reform, that he began to write the great lyrical works — notably the Spiritual Canticle and the Dark Night of the Soul — that nearly four centuries later continue to be recognized as among the foremost mystical poetry of all time.
“Following a dramatic escape — complete with ropes made from the strips of a blanket — John resumed his work with the Discalced Carmelites, becoming superior at the convent of Calvario, where he undertook his major mystical commentaries, The Ascent of Mount Carmel and the Dark Night, which eventually were to be followed by those of the Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love.
“In the years that followed, John was to serve as prior in Granada and Segovia. When Christ appeared to him on one occasion, John requested: ‘What I wish You to give me are sufferings to be borne for Your sake . . .’ His desire was granted and in 1591, true to his prediction — ‘I shall be thrown into a corner’ — he was deprived of his offices and sent to La Penuela, where he fell ill. John of the Cross died in Ubeda on December 14, 1591. He was beatified in 1675 and canonized in 1726. On August 24, 1926, Pope Pius XI declared him a Doctor of the Church.
(Copyright 1972 by Sheed and Ward, Inc.)
There is an elegant painting, “Christ of St. John of the Cross,” by the artist Salvador Dali, who said the work was inspired by a sketch originally made by St. John of the Cross. One can see it on You Tube.
Thank you, Frances. I knew of his imprisonment, but not the rest of it. What a fascinating story, and how sad that these were fellow religious treating him so cruelly. That may help me get through this reading, which I admit I'm just not getting into as I should be.
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What is "spiritual luxury"? I think it corresponds to the capital sin of lust because I think that is the only sin from the list I know that I don't see named in another chapter. But, I am not quite sure what St. John is describing.
Irene wrote: "What is "spiritual luxury"? I think it corresponds to the capital sin of lust because I think that is the only sin from the list I know that I don't see named in another chapter. But, I am not quit..."That's right. It's an old-fashionedy synonym for lust. From the latin luxuria meaning "self-indulgent sexual desire"
Spiritual luxury was the one chapter that I did not understand. I don't know exactly what the symptoms of spiritual luxury are.
Irene wrote: "Spiritual luxury was the one chapter that I did not understand. I don't know exactly what the symptoms of spiritual luxury are."My understanding was one of two essential concepts. First, that one may lust after God as one lusts after a man or woman or even one's own spouse. That is, in the sense of consuming or possessing and the pleasure that comes with that. Emphasis on the self-indulgence. Secondly, the worldly lustful thoughts that come to the mind when trying to pray. The devil's temptation to disrupt our prayers.
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Manny wrote: "Interesting points. So who do you think St. John had in mind when he wrote Dark Night?"That is such a great question, Manny. It kept percolating in my head which is why I didn't answer immediately. It prompted two main thoughts. First, that St John didn't have a particular audience in mind as I first thought but was writing what the Holy Spirit inspired him to write. I think I was thinking more in linear terms with a designated timeline. I asked myself is it possible for someone to discover the Faith and immediately go into the dark night? If that's where God wants them I think so. I can also go back and read my journal entries from 10 years ago and still see the similar struggles. So I definitely still have the beginner tendencies St John describes, which leads to my next thought.
Is there really such a thing as a beginner, intermediate and advanced person? It implies a linear path but there is a lot of back and forth. Have there been individuals who reached the advanced stage only to fall completely down and leave the Faith? I don't know but it seems possible. In my own journey I feel like I bounce back and forth between beginner and intermediate as St John describes them. So I'm not sure a person can put themself in a bucket because it's always changing.
I still believe that many authors may have a particular audience in mind for a spiritual book but after chewing on it I've come to the conclusion that it depends on the Holy Spirit to enlighten the author on what to write and us when we're reading spiritual books to be able to comprehend it, no matter where we are in this earthly pilgrimage.
Mod
I really don't know but I imagine it's the novices, postulants, and the not fully professed from his Carmelite order. Perhaps whoever he is giving spiritual direction to. It's easy for me; I am a complete beginner. Prayer for me is merely maintaining a relationship with God. We haven't talked about it much, but the overall process St. John is leading us through is purgative, illuminative, and finally union with God. That is St. John's aim in all this and the aim of ultimate spirituality. For me I don't think I even reach the purgative stage. The same sins I've always had are always there. I confess, I praise, I bless, I say prayers of gratitude, I have prayers of requests but there is no aridity for me because I haven't even reached a contemplative stage.
Is there a such thing as a beginner, intermediate, and advanced? That's a really good question.
Mod
Here is a link:
https://www.celesteprize.com/_files/o...
It is certainly a unique perspective of the crucifixion, from above.
Mod
This is one of the classics we should read some time as well :-)
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LOL! I think so, and then you think how easy it is for us to make some kind of excuse in a culture that worships business. Some time ago we read The Noonday Devil: Acedia, the Unnamed Evil of Our Times, and what I remember most is that we are so hyper-busy we forget to be still, to be in the present moment and contemplate God. You can do that while doing the dishes!
One time visiting my family in Germany we went on a day trip to a nearby Benedictine monastery to hike, peruse the bookshop, etc. We got there in time for their noon-time prayers. And while we sat in the pews in rapt attention while the monks filed in, sat in their places and began to chant psalms, it occurred to me that I should have pauses during the day where I stop everything to give praise to God. This really made an impact. Work will always get done, but being in the present moment with God is priceless. I don't always follow my own insight, but I noticed that since then I fret less about things being left undone. This is a gift of peace in and of itself.
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The daily pages from Magnificat are in imitation of LOTH. Similar. At least the Morning Prayer. I never understood how they work Evening Prayer in the magazine.
I tried once to read Dark Night of the Soul, but did not finish it.My perception, and whether it is an accurate perception or not is hard to say, is that works like this that concentrate solely on the mystical aspect of the Love of God have a spiritual danger when they ignore the dual aspect of the Love of God, which is our love for our neighbor, and our eagerness to love and forgive our neighbor. It is far too easy to imagine that we who read and understand lofty works like those of St John of the Cross are truly devout while we neglect those around and beneath us.
But the few observations St John of the Cross does make about how we should love our neighbor are treasures. St John of the Cross teaches that we should only allow those people to become our close friends who increase in us our Love of God. How many more happy marriages there would be if we chose our husbands or wives as St John of the Cross teaches us how to chooses our close friends!
Bruce, I think that perhaps, because his poetry is so acknowledged, we hear less of John of the Cross's instructions on how a Christian ought to live. Probably you are familiar with the following words, but others may not be. These are random quotes:"Where there is no love, put love, and you will find love."
"You hasten joyfully and lovingly, O Lord, to raise up him who has
offended You, but I make no haste to honor and raise up him who has offended me."
"He that loves not his neighbor abhors God."
"Think not that, because in yonder man there shine not the virtues which you have in mind, he will not be precious in God's sight for that which you have not in mind."
"The soul that walks in love wearies not, neither is wearied."
"God makes use of nothing else but love."
And this imperishable line:
"In the evening of this life, you will be examined upon love."
Combined with his sublime poetry, John of the Cross gave us a complete program for a Christian life.
Bruce wrote: "I tried once to read Dark Night of the Soul, but did not finish it.My perception, and whether it is an accurate perception or not is hard to say, is that works like this that concentrate solely o..."
It's important to remember that this work is intended to help us understand where we are, where we've been, and where we are going. If we are experiencing a period of aridity or pride or eagerness or great joy, St. John is helping us understand our present, past, and future state, so that we may better cooperate with God's will.
Certainly there is a prideful danger in running one's eyes over any great book. But truly wrestling with a great work and ingesting and digesting and making it part of us can only bring us nearer the truth. Indeed, reading this work has challenged me to look more deeply into my own motives for many of the good things I do - including reading this work.
Thank you for those quotes, Frances.I also think that we have to remember that this is part of a larger body of work by St. John. It might have been helpful to have started with The Ascent of Mt. Carmel rather than with this text which deals with a more advanced place on the spiritual journey. St. John assumes love of neighbor by this point.
Irene wrote: "Thank you for those quotes, Frances.I also think that we have to remember that this is part of a larger body of work by St. John. It might have been helpful to have started with The Ascent of Mt...."
I was thinking that as I've been reading. Where does this fit into the larger body and why has this been culled out as a separate work?
Mod
You’re welcome, Irene and Kerstin. I am going to try to tie in the quotations in message 78 above with our discussion on the Dark Night. The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D., are divided into: Poetry, Sayings of Light and Love (from which come the quotations above) and The Ascent of Mount Carmel. At the end are letter fragments, “unfortunately small. . . One reason for the scarcity is that during the investigation against John in the final year of his life many of his disciples burned his letters. . . out of fear that calumnies would be spread against both him and themselves.” (Page 735)
As Irene points out, the Ascent of Mount Carmel is the major work. It is a deep and complex work, consisting of several books, Book One, chapter two of which explains the way to union with God as a dark night. “It provides a systematic presentation of both the theory and the practical norms governing the development of the spiritual life; it is a work of spiritual theology.” (Page 102)
But another work “called The Dark Night has come down to us from John of the Cross in manuscripts separate from The Ascent of Mount Carmel. Explaining the passive purification of both the senses and the spirit, this work fulfills John’s promises in The Ascent. . . The far-reaching demands of the Ascent, which John never finished expounding, are fully met through the passive purifications of the Dark Night. Though different in literary style, this latter work furnishes a necessary complement to The Ascent of Mount Carmel.”
I don’t want to take up too much space, but I do feel that this should be told about St. John of the Cross:
“On the night of December 2, 1577, a group of Carmelites, lay people and men-at-arms broke into the chaplain’s quarters,
seized John of the Cross, and took him away. By a secret journey they carried him off, handcuffed and often blindfolded, to the monastery in Toledo, the Order’s finest in Castile. . .
“ The acts of the chapter were read aloud to John, by which he stood accused of being rebellious and contumacious. . . The punishment he received was imprisonment.
“His accusers locked him first in the monastery prison, but at the end of two months, for fear of an escape, they moved him to a narrow and dark room without air or light except for whatever filtered through a small slit high up in the wall. There John remained alone, without anything but his breviary, through the terribly cold winter months and the suffocating heat of summer. Added to this were the flogging, fasting on bread and water, wearing the same bedraggled clothes month after month without being washed. . . Teresa wrote to the king and pleaded that for the love of God he order John set free.
“In the midst of this deprivation, John was seeking relief by composing poetry, leaving to posterity some of the greatest lyric poems in Spanish literature — among them a major portion of The Spiritual Canticle. . . The cramped conditions faded, the saint’s awareness expanded. ‘My beloved, the mountains.’ Here, in the dark emptiness, a spiritual synthesis began to flower. ‘Faith and love will lead you along a path unknown to you, to the place where God is hidden.’ Everything else gone, no one could divest him of these, and they gave him God.” (Pages 18-19)
(The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D., ICS Publications, Copyright 1991 by the Washington Province of Discalced Carmelite Friars, Inc.)
There are some lines of poetry of such transcendent beauty that, reading them, one feels, to paraphrase C.S. Lewis, that they were “breathed through silver.” The works of St. John of the Cross are among them.
Yes, thank you very much. I had misunderstood this to be an excerpt from the larger work. I appreciate the correction. Now I have to get a copy of that one!
You’re certainly welcome, Irene.Casey, I don’t know if you misunderstood anything at all. The Collected Works is a deep, intricate book about 800 pages long. If we were studying it in a college course I can see how it might cover two terms or semesters. I think your insights have been valuable. Thank you!
Mod
Frances wrote: "Bruce, I think that perhaps, because his poetry is so acknowledged, we hear less of John of the Cross's instructions on how a Christian ought to live. Probably you are familiar with the following w..."Personally, I think the complete program for a Christian life is provided by the Catholic Catechism and the Decalogue. By focusing on what it means to truly love our neighbor, then we can truly be receptive to what it means to truly Love God.
Certainly, I don’t disagree, Bruce. But over the centuries the Church has developed a rich abundance of thought and insight, and produced men and women exponents of Christ-consciousness with unique spiritual perspectives. So, among others, we have Ignatian spirituality, Benedictine spirituality, Dominican, Franciscan, and Carmelite spirituality, of which St. John of the Cross is an excellent example. Even within the same religious order the spiritual paths may differ. Bishop Robert Barron has pointed out that St. Therese of Lisieux, recognizing she was not “a spiritual athlete on the level of those great Carmelites St. Teresa of Avila or St. John of the Cross,”developed a theology of spiritual childhood which belongs “right at the heart of Christian faith and practice, her ‘little way.’ “
(Evangelizing the Culture, Issue No. 7, Spring 2021, p.14)
Personally, I think the complete program for a truly Christian life is provided by the Bible. But, even the Church understands that most of us need additional words of explanation and encouragement, so it has given us the Catechism and has raised up the writings of numerous spiritual authors and guides across the centuries. They may not be saying anything that I can't find in Scripture, but they say it a bit differently and so I am able to hear it and take it in to my heart in a new way.
Bruce wrote: "Personally, I think the complete program for a Christian life is provided by the Catholic Catechism and the Decalogue. By focusing on what it means to truly love our neighbor, then we can truly be receptive to what it means to truly Love God."The Dark Night, it should be noted, is not a program at all. There's nothing in the book that tells us what we ought to be doing. The book is to open our hearts to understanding our present state and become more receptive. In other words, it is a work of encouragement.
Irene wrote "Personally, I think the complete program for a truly Christian life is provided by the Bible." I agree, Irene, but few Catholics ever get through the whole thing (God bless Father Mike Schmitz for his effort!) But one thing I like about the current catechism is the footnotes that give us the Biblical authority or tradition or arguments of the early Church Fathers for the rules. Of course, not many Catholics will get through all that either! I wonder if the Baltimore Catechism is still in use....I believe the memorization we had in Catholic schools went a long way for planting dogma in our little minds in ways my children's generation missed out on.
Mod
I agree with you Casey. This book does not offer guidance like, Introduction to the Devout Life. Dark Night explains the evolution of the soul as it brings itself in union with God. It does not explain how to bring oneself in union. Which I think makes it frustrating.
The use of the word program seems to have created a misunderstanding, and I think it’s my responsibility to clear it up. If anyone would like to, please look back at message 78 above in which I quoted lines from The Sayings of Light and Love, by St. John of the Cross. Then see the following quotes from The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D.:
“John of the Cross gave spiritual guidance in writing through brief, compact counsels that are like dense summaries of his oral teaching. In the style of the Desert Fathers, his teaching first comes in these hard, clean sayings that overflow with spiritual wisdom. They give to their recipients treasures that must first be unlocked; as maxims they were to be repeated and mulled over.” (Page 83)
There Father Kavanaugh was speaking of the Sayings. Now, he is addressing The Ascent of Mount Carmel:
“In the opening pages of the Ascent, John of the Cross indicates the nature of his work, declaring his intention to explain how one reaches the high state of perfection. It is a work that explains the path one must follow in order to reach ‘union with God’ (to use his preferred expression). . . In addition to setting down rules, the Ascent analyzes the principles supporting them. It provides a systematic presentation of both the theory and the practical norms governing the development of the spiritual life; it is a work of spiritual theology.
“What specifically were John’s concerns in writing? He felt a sadness at seeing many who failed to advance because of what he calls darknesses and trials. They do not go through the darkness because they do not want to, or they do not accept all that this entails, or they misunderstand, or they lack suitable guides. Their guides do not comfort and encourage them but too often increase their trials and add gloom to the darkness. What John has learned and must explain is that God alone brings one to the summit, and so one ought to know how to adapt to the Lord’s method of procedure. Joys, afflictions, hopes, and sorrows accompany the journey, but can also come from not adapting, from resisting God. One must know which are which, discerning the signs of God’s work; and one must know how to journey. . . (Page 103)
“In Book One, chapter two of the Ascent, John explains that there are reasons for calling the path to the height of Mount Carmel a ‘dark night. . .’ “ Then Father Kavanaugh importantly writes:
“This treatise explains how to reach divine union quickly. It presents instruction and doctrine valuable for beginners and proficient alike that they may learn how to unburden themselves of all earthly things, avoid spiritual obstacles, and live in complete nakedness and freedom of spirit necessary for divine union. It was composed by Padre Fray John of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite.” (Page 113)
The Ascent of Mount Carmel
From today's Magnificant 2021 Lenten reflection:"How often we stress in our lives! We think we need to control the situation, and that if we don’t, we’ll lose something we just can’t lose: a small thing, like some pleasure, or a big thing like a job, health, a loved one’s life. But every time we cling with tunnel vision to something earthly, we lose sight of Christ the life-giver. And then even the created thing we’re clinging to loses its delight, because there is no lasting peace or sweetness without Jesus. But when we turn to him trustfully and thank him for all the seen and unseen ways he is blessing us, we’ll find our heart’s true desire in him."
Magnificat. 2021 Magnificat Lenten Companion (p. 98). Magnificat. Kindle Edition.
Timely:Bishop Barron - Word on Fire - The Dark Night of the Soul
Premiering March 29 10:30am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMA43...
Mod
Mod
Bishop Barron - Word on Fire - The Dark Night of the Soul
Premiering March 29 10:30am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMA43..."
Great!
It is 10:30 am ET - I had to check ;-)
Catholic Thought
Books mentioned in this topic
Introduction to the Devout Life (other topics)The Noonday Devil: Acedia, the Unnamed Evil of Our Times (other topics)
