Cantico Espiritual Joao Cruz

7/27/2019 Cantico Espiritual Joao Cruz

1/351


2/351


3/351

,


4/351


5/351

THE WORKS OFST. JOHN OF THE CROSS


6/351

NIHIL OBSTATHENRICUS S. BOWDEN

Censor Deputatus.

IMPRIMATUREDMD. CANONICUS SURMONT

Vicarius Generalis.

WESTMONASTERIIDIE 28 JUNII 1909.


7/351

A SPIRITUAL CANTICLEOF THE SOUL

ANDBVTHE BRIDEGROOM CHRIST

BYST. JOHN OF THE CROSS

TRANSLATED BYDAVID LEWIS

WITH CORRECTIONS AND AN INTRODUCTIONBY

BENEDICT ZIMMERMAN, O.C.D.Prior of St. Luke s, Wincanton

COLL RE

LONDONTHOMAS BAKERMCMXIX


8/351

First Revised Edition 1909Reprinted 1919


9/351

CONTENTSINTRODUCTION, BY REV. BENEDICT ZIMMERMAN, O.C.D. . . xi

SPIRITUAL CANTICLE OF THE SOUL ANDTHE BRIDEGROOM CHRISTPACK

Prologue .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. iSong of the Soul and the Bridegroom . . . . . . . . 5Argument .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 13

EXPLANATION OF THE STANZASNote 14

STANZA IGod essentially hidden. The Only-begotten Son. The hidden

treasure. The peaceful pain of hope . . . . . . . . 15STANZA II

Messengers of the wounded soul. The message of love . . . . 32STANZA III

The search after God commenced. Flowers by the roadside.Meeting the enemy . . . . . . . . . . . . 38STANZA IV

The Universe questioned about God . . . . . . . . 46STANZA V

Answer of the Creatures . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

v


10/351

Vi CONTENTSSTANZA VI PAGE

The Creature excites love for the Creator . . 53STANZA VII

God the desired message and messenger. Testimony ofrational creatures . . . . . . 57STANZA VIII

Death in the quiver of life . . . . . . . . . 62Note 65

STANZA IXComplaint of the wounded soul. Love the reward of love . . 66Note 70

STANZA XThe soul satisfied by God alone. The uncreated light . . . . 72Note 75

STANZA XIThe soul asks to see God and die. Man cannot see God and live.Death the friend. The cure of imperfect love . . . . 76Note .. ., 86

STANZA XIIThe crystal fount of faith reflects the face of God. Love begetslikeness and union . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

STANZA XIIIDark approach to Divine Light. Glance of the Divine eyes.Voice of the Beloved . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Note . . & . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

STANZA XIVSong of the Bride- soul. God the undiscovered country. Hisvoice upon the waters. The gentle air and the nightvision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105


11/351

CONTENTS VllSTANZA XV

PAGECalm morning twilight. Universal hymn of praise to God.Spiritual banquet of love .. .. .. .. .. 121

Note ... 128

STANZA XVIFoxes in the vineyard. The nosegay of roses. Solitude of theheart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Note 136

STANZA XVIIThe suffering of love. North and south winds. Breath of the

sweet-smelling flowers .. .. .. .. .. .. 137Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

STANZA XVIIIThe soul rebukes the rebellious motions of the flesh. The royal

captive in prison. Loiterers at the gate of the city . . 146Note . . . . . . . , . . . , . . . . . . 149

STANZA XIXSunlight on the mountains. The soul asks for purely spiritualcommunication with God .. .. .. .. .. 151Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

STANZA XXThe Bridegroom guards his bride. The soul restored to justiceby Christ. God a joy for ever . . . . . . . . 156

STANZA XXIThe reign of everlasting peace . . . . . . . . . . 167Note 169

STANZA XXIIRejoicing of the Good Shepherd over His recovered sheep. Frompenance to perfection. The spiritual marriage . . . . 170Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177


12/351

viii CONTENTSSTANZA XXIII PAGE

The trees of Paradise and of Calvary. The Cross our secondMother X 78Note .. l81

STANZA XXIVBliss of the state of perfect union with God. Perfume shed byDivine flowers. Virtues a crown and defenced . . . . 182Note 190

STANZA XXVThe soul gives thanks for graces bestowed on others. Runningin the way of life. New and old wine. The old friend ofGod 190Note , .... 198

STANZA XXVIHappy state of the soul in Divine love. Perfect fear, perfect

love. We may know little and love much. Wisdom andfolly. The shepherd loses his flock . . . . . . . . 200

Note , 2ii

STANZA XXVIIThe communion of God and the soul in love. Mutual and un

reserved surrender. Perfect fulfilment of the law of love . . 213Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

STANZA XXVIIIThe soul centred on love, its sole occupation. God, and nothingelse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218Note . . 222

STANZA XXIXLove highest in importance and profit. Loss and gain of thesoul. The better part. Mary and Martha .. .. .. 225Note .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 230


13/351

CONTENTS IXSTANZA XXX

PAGEFirst flowers of spring sweetest. The delight of the bride-souland Christ in the possession of the virtues and gifts of eachother. Christ crowned by His Saints. Beauty and strengthof the perfect soul . . . . . . . . . . . . 231Note 238

STANZA XXXI-God captive to pure strong love. The thread of Love bindingtogether God and the soul. Tower of trust in God . . . . 240Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

STANZA XXXIIGrace the cause of merit. The soul refers all to God, and givesthanks to Him for His mercy in looking lovingly upon her . . 245Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

STANZA XXXIIIThe soul prays for the continuance of the Divine spiritual union.The soul s beauty God s gift. God honours His own work 252Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

STANZA XXXIVThe olive branch of peace . . . . . . . . . . . . 258Note 261

STANZA XXXVThe Dove s nest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262Note 266

STANZA XXXVI"The soul ripe for heaven. Beauty of God in the soul. Infinite

depths of Divine truths . . . . . . . . . . 268-Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . t . . . 275


14/351

X CONTENTSSTANZA XXXVII

PAGETo know God is eternal life. Truth as it is in Jesus. New wineof the pomegranates . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5Not 282

STANZA XXXVIIILove for love. Day of God s eternity. Victory and Crown . . 283Note - -. 291

STANZA XXXIXBreath of eternal life. The nightingale s song. The grove andits beauty. Blissful and consuming fire of God s love . . 291

STANZA XLGoing up by the desert of death. Encampment by the watersof Life .. .. 303Index to passages from Holy Scripture 309General Index


15/351

INTRODUCTIONHPHE present volume of the works of St. John-I of the Cross contains the explanation of

the Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and theBridegroom Christ/ The two earlier works, theAscent of Mount Carmel and the Dark Night

of the Soul/ dealt with the cleansing of the soul,the unremittant war against even the smallestimperfections standing in the way of union withGod ; imperfections which must be removed,partly by strict self-discipline, partly by thedirect intervention of God, Who, searching thereins and hearts by means of heavy interior andexterior trials, purges away whatever is displeasing to Him. Although some stanzas referto this preliminary state, the chief object of theSpiritual Canticle is to picture under theBiblical simile of Espousals and Matrimony the

blessedness of a soul that has arrived at unionwith God.The Canticle was composed during the long

xi


16/351

xii INTRODUCTIONimprisonment St. John underwent at Toledo fromthe beginning of December 1577 till the middleof August of the following year. Being one ofthe principal supporters of the Reform of St.Teresa, he was also one of the victims of the warwaged against her work by the Superiors of theold branch of the Order. St. John s prison wasa narrow, stifling cell, with no window, but onlya small loophole through which a ray of lightentered for a short time of the day, just longenough to enable him to say his office, but affordinglittle facility for reading or writing. However,St. John stood in no need of books. Having formany years meditated on every word of HolyScripture, the Word of God was deeply writtenin his heart, supplying abundant food for conversation with God during the whole period ofhis imprisonment. From time to time he pouredforth his soul in poetry ; afterwards he communicated his verses to friends.One of these poetical works, the fruit of his

imprisonment, was the Spiritual Canticle/which, as the reader will notice, is an abridgedparaphase of the Canticle of Canticles, the Songof Solomon, wherein under the image of passionate love are described the mystical sufferingsand longings of a soul enamoured with God.


17/351

INTRODUCTION xiiiFrom the earliest times the Fathers and Doctors

of the Church had recognised the mystical character of the Canticle, and the Church had largelyutilised it in her liturgy. But as there is nothingso holy but that it may be abused, the Canticlealmost more than any other portion of HolyScripture, had been misinterpreted by a falseMysticism, such as was rampant in the middleof the sixteenth century. It had come to pass,said the learned and saintly Augustinian, FrayLuis de Leon, that that which was given as amedicine was turned into poison,* so that theEcclesiastical authority, by the Index of 1559,forbade the circulation of the Bible or parts ofthe Bible in any but the original languages,Hebrew, Greek, and Latin ; and no one knewbetter than Luis de Leon himself how rigorouslythese rules were enforced, for he had to expiateby nearly five years imprisonment the audacityof having translated into Castilian the Canticleof Canticles. t

Again, one of the confessors of St. Teresa, commonly thought to have been the Dominican, Fray

* Los nombres de Cristo. Introduction.f This exceptionally severe legislation, justified by the dangers of

the time, only held good for Spain and the Spanish colonies, and hasong since been revised. It did not include the Epistles and Gospels,Psalms, Passion, and other parts of the daily service.


18/351

XIV INTRODUCTION

Diego de Yanguas, on learning that the Saint hadwritten a book on the Canticle, ordered her tothrow it into the fire, so that we now only possessa few fragments of her work, which, unknown toSt. Teresa, had been copied by a nun.

It will now be understood that St. John spoetical paraphrase of the Canticle must havebeen welcome to many contemplative souls whodesired to kindle their devotion with the words ofSolomon, but were unable to read them in Latin.Yet the text alone, without explanation, wouldhave helped them little ; and as no one was betterqualified than the author to throw light on themysteries hidden under oriental imagery, theVenerable Ann of Jesus, Prioress of the Carmeliteconvent at Granada, requested St. John to writea commentary on his verses.* He at first excusedhimself, saying that he was no longer in thatstate of spiritual exuberance in which he had beenwhen composing the Canticle, and that there only

* Ann de Lobera, born at Medina del Campo, November 25, 1545,was a deaf-mute until her eighth year. When she applied for admission to the Carmelite convent at Avila St. Teresa promised toreceive her not so much as a novice, but as her companion and futuresuccessor ; she took the habit August i, 1570, and made her profession at Salamanca, October 21, 1571. She became the first prioressof Veas, and was entrusted by St. Teresa with the foundation of Granada(January 1582), where she found St. John of the Cross, who was priorof the convent of The Martyrs (well known to visitors of the Alhambraalthough no longer a convent). St. John not only became the director


19/351

INTRODUCTION XVremained to him a confused recollection of thewonderful operations of Divine grace during theperiod of his imprisonment. Ann of Jesus wasnot satisfied with this answer ; she not only knewthat St. John had lost nothing of his fervour,though he might no longer experience the samefeelings, but she remembered what had happenedto St. Teresa under similar circumstances, andbelieved the same thing might happen to St. John.When St. Teresa was obliged to write on somemystical phenomena, the nature of which she didnot fully understand, or whose effect she hadforgotten, God granted her unexpectedly a repetition of her former experiences so as to enableher to fully study the matter and report on it.*Venerable Ann of Jesus felt sure that if St. Johnundertook to write an explanation of the Canticlehe would soon find himself in the same mentalattitude as when he composed it.

St. John at last consented, and wrote the workand confessor of the convent of nuns, but remained the most faithfulhelper and the staunchest friend of Mother Ann throughout the heavytrials which marred many years of her life. In 1604 she went to Paris,to found the first convent of her Order in France, and in 1607 she proceeded to Brussels, where she remained until her death, March 4,1621. The heroic nature of her virtues having been acknowledged,she was declared Venerable in 1878, and it is hoped that she willsoon be beatified.

* See Life of St. Teresa : ed. Baker (London, 1904), ch. xiv. 12,xvi. 2, xviii. 10.


20/351

XVi INTRODUCTIONnow before us. The following letter, which haslately come to light, gives some valuable information of its composition. The writer, Magdalen of the Holy Ghost, nun of Veas, where shewas professed on August 6, 1577, was intimately acquainted with the Saint.When the holy father escaped from prison,he took with him a book of poetry he had writtenwhile there, containing the verses commencing" In the beginning was the Word," and thoseothers : "I know the fountain well which flowsand runs, though it be night," and the canticle," Where hast thou hidden thyself ? " as far as" O nymphs of Judea" (stanza XVII I.). The remaining verses he composed later on while rectorof the college of Baeza (157981), while some ofthe explanations were written at Veas at therequest of the nuns, and others at Granada. TheSaint wrote this book in prison and afterwardsleft it at Veas, where it was handed to me to makesome copies of it. Later on it was taken awayfrom my cell, and I never knew who took it. Iwas much struck with the vividness and thebeauty and subtlety of the words. One day Iasked the Saint whether God had given him thesewords which so admirably explain those mysteries,and He answered : " Child, sometimes God gave


21/351


22/351

xviii INTRODUCTIONhowever, pass over the more ordinary (effects ofprayer), and treat briefly of the more extraordinary to which they are subject who, by themercy of God, have advanced beyond the stateof beginners. This I do for two reasons : the firstis that much is already written concerning beginners ; and the second is that I am addressingmyself to Your Reverence at your own bidding ; foryou have received from Our Lord the grace ofbeing led on from the elementary state and ledinwards to the bosom of His divine love. Hecontinues thus : I therefore trust, though I maydiscuss some points of scholastic theology relatingto the interior commerce of the soul with God, thatI am not using such language altogether in vain,and that it will be found profitable for pure spirituality. For though Your Reverence is ignorant ofscholastic theology, you are by no means ignorantof mystical theology, the science of love, etc/From these passages it appears quite clearlythat the Saint wrote the book for Venerable Annof Jesus and the nuns of her convent. With theexception of an edition published at Brussels in1627, these personal allusions have disappearedfrom both the Spanish text and the translations,*

* Cf. Berthold-Ignace de Sainte Anne, Vie de la Mre Anne deJesus (Malines, 1876), I. 343 sqq.


23/351

INTRODUCTIONnor are they to be found in Mr. Lewis s version.There cannot be the least doubt that they represent St. John s own intention, for they are to befound in his original manuscript. This, containing, in several parts, besides the Explanationof the Spiritual Canticle, various poems by theSaint, was given by him to Ann of Jesus, who inher turn committed it to the care of one of hernuns, Isabelle of the Incarnation, who took itwith her to Baeza, where she remained elevenyears, and afterwards to Jaen, where she foundeda convent of which she became the first prioress.She there caused the precious manuscript to bebound in red velvet with silver clasps and giltedges. It still was there in 1876, and, for aughtwe know, remains to the present day in the keeping of the said convent. It is a pity that nophotographic edition of the writings of St. John(so far as the originals are preserved) has yetbeen attempted, for there is need for a criticaledition of his works.The following is the division of the work:

Stanzas I. to IV. are introductory; V. to XII.refer to the contemplative life in its earlier stages ;XIII. to XXI., dealing with what the Saint callsthe Espousals, appertain to the Unitive way,where the soul is frequently, but not habitually,


24/351

XX INTRODUCTIONadmitted to a transient union with God ; andXXII. to the end describe what he calls Matrimony, the highest perfection a soul can attainthis side of the grave. The reader will find anepitome of the whole system of mystical theologyin the explanation of Stanza XXVI.

This work differs in many respects from theAscent and the Dark Night/ Whereasthese are strictly systematic, preceeding on theline of relentless logic, the Spiritual Canticle/as a poetical work ought to do, soars high abovethe divisions and distinctions of the scholasticmethod. With a boldness akin to that of hisPatron Saint, the Evangelist, St. John rises to thehighest heights, touching on a subject that shouldonly be handled by a Saint, and which the reader,were he a Saint himself, will do well to treatcautiously : the partaking by the human soul ofthe Divine Nature, or, as St. John calls it, theDeification of the soul (Stanza XXVI. sqq.),These are regions where the ordinary mindthreatens to turn ; but St. John, with the knowledge of what he himself had experienced, notonce but many times, what he had observed inothers, and what, above all, he had read of inHoly Scripture, does not shrink from lifting theveil more completely than probably any Catholic


25/351

INTRODUCTION Xxlwriter on mystical theology has done. To passin silence the last wonders of God s love for fearof being misunderstood, would have been tantamount to ignoring the very end for which soulsare led along the way of perfection ; to revealthese mysteries in human language, and say allthat can be said with not a word too much, notan uncertain or misleading line in the picture :this could only have been accomplished by onewhom the Church has already declared to havebeen taught by God Himself (divinitus instructus),and whose books She tells us are filled withheavenly wisdom (coelesti sapientia refertos). Itis hoped that sooner or later She will proclaim him(what many grave authorities think him to be)a Doctor of the Church, namely, the Doctor ofMystical theology.*As has already been noticed in the Introduction

to the * Ascent/ the whole of the teaching ofSt. John is directly derived from Holy Scriptureand from the psychological principles of St.Thomas Aquinas. There is no trace to be foundof an influence of the Mystics of the Middle Age,with whose writings St. John does not appear tohave been acquainted. But throughout this

* On this subject see Fray Eulogio de San Jose, Doctorado de SantaTeresa de Jesus y de San Juan de la Cruz. C6rdoba, 1896.


26/351

XX11 INTRODUCTIONtreatise there are many obvious allusions to thewritings of St. Teresa, nor will the reader fail tonotice the encouraging remark about the publication of her works (p. TOO). The fact is thatthe same Venerable Ann of Jesus who was responsible for the composition of St. John s treatisewas at the same time making preparations for theedition of St. Teresa s works which a few yearslater appeared at Salamanca under the editorshipof Fray Lu,is de Leon, already mentioned.Those of his readers who have been struck with,

not to say frightened by, the exactionsof St. John

in the Ascent and the Dark Night/ wherehe demands complete renunciation of every kindof satisfaction and pleasure, however legitimatein themselves, and an entire mortification of thesenses as well as the faculties and powers of thesoul, and who have been wondering at his self-abnegation which caused him not only to accept,but even to court contempt, will find here the clueto this almost inhuman attitude. In his responseto the question of Our Lord, What shall I givethee for all thou hast done and suffered for Me ?Lord, to suffer and be despised for Thee hewas not animated by grim misanthropy or stoicindifference, but he had learned that in proportion as the human heart is emptied of Self, after


27/351

INTRODUCTION xxiiihaving been emptied of all created things, it isopen to the influx of Divine grace. This he fullyproves in the Spiritual Canticle/ To be made1 partaker of the Divine Nature/ as St. Petersays, human nature must undergo a radical transformation. Those who earnestly study the teaching of St. John in his earlier treatises and endeavour to put his recommendations into practice,will see in this and the next volume an unexpectedperspective opening before their eyes, and theywill begin to understand how it is that the sufferings of this time whether voluntary or involuntary are not worthy to be compared with theglory to come that shall be revealed in us.

Mr. Lewis s masterly translation of the works ofSt. John of the Cross appeared in 1864 under theauspices of Cardinal Wiseman. In the secondedition, of 1889, ne m^de numerous changes, without, however, leaving a record of the principlesthat guided him. Sometimes, indeed, the revisededition is terser than the first, but just as oftenthe old one seems clearer. It is more difficult tounderstand the reasons that led him to alter veryextensively the text of quotations from HolyScripture. In the first edition he had nearlyalways strictly adhered to the Douay version,which is the one in official use in the Catholic


28/351

XXIV INTRODUCTIONChurch in English-speaking countries. It maynot always be as perfect as one would wish it tobe, but it must be acknowledged that the wholesale alteration in Mr. Lewis s second edition is, tosay the least, puzzling. Even the Stanzas haveundergone many changes in the second edition,and it will be noticed that there are some variantsin their text as set forth at the beginning of thebook, and as repeated at the heading of eachchapter.The present edition, allowing for some slight

corrections, is a reprint of. that of 1889.BENEDICT ZIMMERMAN, PRIOR, O.C.D.

ST. LUKE S, WINCANTON, SOMERSET,Feast of St. Simon Stock,

May 1 6, 1909.


29/351

A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE OF THE SOULAND THE BRIDEGROOM CHRIST*

PROLOGUEINASMUCH as this canticle seems to have been writtenwith some fervour of love of God, whose wisdom andlove are, as is said in the book of Wisdom, f so vast thatthey reach from end unto end/ and as the soul, taughtand moved by Him, manifests the same abundance andstrength in the words it uses, I do not purpose here toset forth all that greatness and fulness the spirit of love,which is fruitful, embodies in it. Yea, rather it wouldbe foolishness to think that the language of love and themystical intelligence and that is what these stanzasare can be at all explained in words of any kind, for theSpirit of our Lord who helps our weakness as St. Paulsaith J dwelling in us makes petitions for us with

* [This canticle was made by the Saint when he was in the prisonof the Mitigation, in Toledo. It came into the hands of the VenerableAnne of Jesus, at whose request he wrote the following commentary onit, and addressed it to her.]

f Wisdom viii. i. + Rom. viii. 26.I


30/351

2 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLEgroaning unutterable for that which we cannot wellunderstand or grasp so as to be able to make it known.The Spirit helpeth our infirmity . . . the Spirit Himself

requesteth for us with groanings unspeakable/ For whocan describe that which He shows to loving souls inwhom He dwells ? Who can set forth in words thatwhich He makes them feel ? and, lastly, who can explainthat for which they long ?

2. Assuredly no one can do it ; not even they themselves who experience it. That is the reason why theyuse figures of special comparisons and similitudes ; theyhide somewhat of that which they feel and in theabundance of the Spirit utter secret mysteries ratherthan express themselves in clear words.

3. And if these similitudes be not received in thesimplicity of a loving mind, and in the sense in whichthey are uttered, they will seem to be effusions of follyrather than the language of reason ; as any one may seein the divine Canticle of Solomon, and in others of thesacred books, wherein the Holy Ghost, because ordinaryand common speech could not convey His meaning,uttered His mysteries in strange terms and similitudes.It follows from this, that after all that the holy doctorshave said, and may say, no words of theirs can explain it ;nor can words do it ; and so, in general, all that is saidfalls far short of the meaning.


31/351


32/351

4 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLEbeginners. This I do for two reasons : the first is, thatmuch is already written concerning beginners ; and thesecond is, that I am addressing those who have receivedfrom our Lord the grace of being led on from the elementary state and are led inwards to the bosom of Hisdivine love.

6. I therefore trust, though I may discuss some pointsof scholastic theology relating to the interior commerceof the soul with God, that I am not using such languagealtogether in vain, and that it will be found profitablefor pure spirituality. For though some may be altogether ignorant of scholastic theology by which thedivine verities are explained, yet they are not ignorantof mystical theology, the science of love, by which thoseverities are not only learned, but at the same time arerelished also.

7. And in order that what I am going to say maybe the better received, I submit myself to higher judgments, and unreservedly to that of our holy mother theChurch, intending to say nothing in reliance on my ownpersonal experience, or on what I have observed in otherspiritual persons, nor on what I have heard them saythough I intend to profit by all this unless I can confirm it with the sanction of the divine writings, at leaston those points which are most difficult of comprehension.

8. The method I propose to follow in the matter is


33/351

OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 5this : first of all, to cite the words of the text and thento give that explanation of them which belongs to thesubject before me. I shall now transcribe all the stanzasand place them at the beginning of this treatise. In thenext place, I shall take each of them separately, andexplain them line by line, each line in its proper placebefore the explanation.

SONG OF THE SOUL AND THE BRIDEGROOMi

THE BRIDEWhere hast Thou hidden Thyself,And abandoned me in my groaning, O my Beloved ?Thou hast fled like the hart,Having wounded me.I ran after Thee, crying ; but Thou wert gone.

ii

O shepherds, you who goThrough the sheepcots up the hill,If you shall see HimWhom I love the most,Tell Him I languish, suffer, and die.

inIn search of my LoveI will go over mountains and strands ;I will gather no flowers,I will fear no wild beasts ;And pass by the mighty and the frontiers.


34/351

A SPIRITUAL CANTICLEIV

O groves and thicketsPlanted by the hand of the Beloved ;O verdant meadsEnamelled with flowers,Tell me, has He passed by you ?

v

ANSWER OF THE CREATURESA thousand graces diffusingHe passed through the groves in haste,And merely regarding themAs He passedClothed them with His beauty.

VITHE BRIDEOh who can heal me ?Give me at once Thyself,Send me no moreA messengerWho cannot tell me what I wish.

VIIAll they who serve are telling meOf Thy unnumbered graces ;And all wound me more and more,And something leaves me dying,I know not what, of which they are darkly speaking.

VIIIBut how thou perseverest, O life,Not living where thou livest ;The arrows bring deathWhich thou receivestFrom thy conceptions of the Beloved.


35/351


36/351

A SPIRITUAL CANTICLEXIV

THE BRIDEMy Beloved is the mountains,The solitary wooded valleys,The strange islands,The roaring torrents,The whisper of the amorous gales ;

xvThe tranquil nightAt the approaches of the dawn,The silent music,The murmuring solitude,The supper which revives, and enkindles love.

XVICatch us the foxes,For our vineyard hath flourished ;While of rosesWe make a nosegay,And let no one appear on the hill.

XVIIO killing north wind, cease 1Come, south wind, that awakenest love 1Blow through my garden,And let its odours flow,And the Beloved shall feed among the flowers.

XVIIIO nymphs of Judea While amid the flowers and the rose-treesThe amber sends forth its perfume,Tarryjn^the suburbs,And touch not our thresholds.


37/351


38/351

10 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLEXXIV

THE BRIDEOur bed is of flowersBy dens of lions encompassed,Hung with purple,Made in peace,And crowned with a thousand shields of gold.

xxvIn Thy footstepsThe young ones run Thy way ;At the touch of the fireAnd by the spiced wine,The divine balsam flows.

XXVIIn the inner cellarOf my Beloved have I drunk ; and when I went forthOver all the plainI knew nothing,And lost the flock I followed before.

XXVIIThere He gave me His breasts,There He taught me the science full of sweetness.And there I gave to HimMyself without reserve ;There I promised to be His bride.

XXVIIIMy soul is occupied,And all my substance in His service ;Now I guard no flock,Nor have I any other employment :My sole occupation is love.


39/351

OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM IIXXIX

If, then, on the common landI am no longer seen or found,You will say that I am lost ;That, being enamoured,I lost myself ; and yet was found.

XXXOf emeralds, and of flowersIn the early morning gathered,We will make the garlands,Flowering in Thy love,And bound together with one hair of my head.

XXXIBy that one hairThou hast observed fluttering on my neck,And on my neck regarded,Thou wert captivated ;And wounded by one of my eyes.

xxxnWhen Thou didst regard me,Thine eyes imprinted in me Thy graceFor this didst Thou love me again,And thereby mine eyes did meritTo adore what in Thee they saw

XXXIIIDespise me not,For if I was swarthy onceThou canst regard me now ;Since Thou hast regarded me,Grace and beauty hast Thou given me.


40/351

12 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLEXXXIV

THE BRIDEGROOMThe little white doveHas returned to the ark with the bough ;And now the turtle-doveIts desired mateOn the green banks has found.

XXXVIn solitude she lived,And in solitude built her nest ;And in solitude, aloneHath the Beloved guided her,In solitude also wounded with love.

XXXVITHE BRIDE

Let us rejoice, O my Beloved Let us go forth to see ourselves in Thy beauty.To the mountain and the hill,Where the pure water flows :iet us enter into the heart of the thicket.

XXXVIIWe shall go at onceTo the deep caverns of the rockWhich are all secret,There we shall enter inAnd taste of the new wine of the pomegranate.

XXXVIIIThere thou wilt show meThat which my soul desired;And there Thou wilt give at once,O Thou, my life That which Thou gavest me the other day.


41/351


42/351


43/351

[STAN, i.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 15especially when it is conscious that God is grievouslyoffended, and that He has hidden His face from it, becauseit would forget Him for the creature, the soul, nowtouched with sorrow and inward sinking of the heartat the sight of its imminent risks and ruin, renouncingeverything and casting them aside without delaying fora day, or even an hour, with fear and groanings utteredfrom the heart, and wounded with the love of God,begins to invoke the Beloved and says :

STANZA ITHE BRIDE

Where hast Thou hidden Thyself,A nd left me to my sorrow, my Beloved IThou hast fled like the hart,Having wounded me.I ran after Thee, crying ; but Thou wert gone*

IN this first stanza the soul, enamoured of the Word,the Son of God, the Bridegroom, desiring to be unitedto Him in the clear and substantial vision, sets beforeHim the anxieties of its love, complaining of His absence.And this the more so because, now pierced and woundedwith love, for which it had abandoned all things, evenitself, it has still to endure the absence of the Beloved,Who has not released it from its mortal flesh, that it


44/351

16 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. I.]might have the fruition of Him in the glory of eternity.Hence it cries out,

Where hast Thou hidden Thyself ?2. It is as if the soul said, Show me, O Thou the Word,

my Bridegroom, the place where Thou art hidden/ Itasks for the revelation of the divine Essence ; for theplace where the Son of God is hidden is, according toSt. John, the bosom of the Father/ * which is thedivine Essence, transcending all mortal vision, andhidden from all human understanding, as Isaias saith,speaking to God, Verily Thou art a hidden God/ f Fromthis we learn that the communication and sense of Hispresence, however great they may be, and the mostsublime and profound knowledge of God which the soulmay have in this life, are not God essentially, neitherhave they any affinity with Him, for in very truth He isstill hidden from the soul ; and it is therefore expedientfor it, amid all these grandeurs, always to consider Himas hidden, and to seek Him in His hiding-place, saying,

Where hast Thou hidden Thyself ?3. Neither sublime communications nor sensible

presence furnish any certain proof of His gracious presence ; nor is the absence thereof, and aridity, any proofof His absence from the soul. If He come to me,

* St. John i. 18. t Is - xlv- J 5-


45/351

[STAN. i.J OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 17I shall not see Him ; if He depart, I shall not understand. * That is, if the soul have any great communication, or impression, or spiritual knowledge, it must noton that account persuade itself that what it then feelsis to enjoy or see God clearly and in His Essence, or thatit brings it nearer to Him, or Him to it, however deepsuch feelings may be. On the other hand, when allthese sensible and spiritual communications fail it, andit is itself in dryness, darkness, and desolation, it mustnot on that account suppose that God is far from it ; forin truth the former state is no sign of its being in a stateof grace, nor is the latter a sign that it is not ; for manknoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred fin the sight of God.

4. The chief object of the soul in these words isnot to ask only for that affective and sensible devotion,wherein there is no certainty or evidence of the possession of the Bridegroom in this life ; but principally forthat clear presence and vision of His Essence, of whichit longs to be assured and satisfied in the next. This,too, was the object of the bride who, in the divine songdesiring to be united to the Divinity of the BridegroomWord, prayed to the Father, saying, Show me whereThou feedest, where Thou liest in the midday/ J For toask to be shown the place where He fed was to ask to be

* Job ix. ii. f Eccles. ix. i. J Cant. i. 6.2


46/351


47/351


48/351

20 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. I.]you. * So saith the Bridegroom Himself, and His servant,St. Paul, adds : You are the temple of the living God. fWhat joy for the soul to learn that God never abandonsit, even in mortal sin ; how much less in a state of grace J

9. What more canst thou desire, what more canstthou seek without, seeing that within thou hast thyriches, thy delight, thy satisfaction, thy fulness and thykingdom ; that is, thy Beloved, Whom thou desirest andseekest ? Rejoice, then, and be glad in Him with interiorrecollection, seeing that thou hast Him so near. Thenlove Him, then desire Him, then adore Him, and go notto seek Him out of thyself, for that will be but distractionand weariness, and thou shalt not find Him ; becausethere is no fruition of Him more certain, more ready,or more intimate than that which is within.

10. One difficulty alone remains : though He iswithin, yet He is hidden. But it is a great matter toknow the place of His secret rest, that He may be soughtthere with certainty. The knowledge of this is thatwhich thou askest for here, O soul, when with lovingaffection thou criest,

Where hast Thou hidden Thyself ?11. You will still urge and say, How comes it, then,

that I find Him not, nor feel Him, if He is within my* St.Lukcxvii.2i. f2Cor.vi.i6. Mt. Carmel/Bk. 2, c. 5, 3.


49/351

[STAN, i.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 21soul ? It is because He is hidden, and because thouhidest not thyself also that thou mayest find Him andfeel Him ; for he that will seek that which is hidden mustenter secretly into the secret place where it is hidden, andwhen he finds it, he is himself hidden like the object ofhis search. Seeing, then, that the Bridegroom whomthou lovest is the treasure hidden in the field * of thysoul, for which the wise merchant gave all that he had,so thou, if thou wilt find Him. must forget all that isthine, withdraw from all created things, and hide thyselfin the secret retreat of the spirit, shutting the doorupon thyself that is, denying thy will in all things andpraying to thy Father in secret, f Then thou, beinghidden with Him, wilt be conscious of His presencein secret, and wilt love Him, possess Him in secret, anddelight in Him in secret, in a way that no tongue orlanguage can express.

12. Courage, then, O soul most beautiful, thouknowest now that thy Beloved, Whom thou desirest,dwelleth hidden within thy breast ; strive, therefore, tobe truly hidden with Him, and then thou shalt embraceHim, and be conscious of His presence with lovingaffection. Consider also that He bids thee, by the mouthof Isaias, to come to His secret hiding-place, saying, Go,, . . enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors upon

* St. Matt. xiii. 44. \ lb. vi. 6.


50/351

22 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. I.]thee ; that is, all thy faculties, so that no created thingshall enter : be hid a little for a moment/ * that is, forthe moment of this mortal life ; for if now duringthis life which is short, thou wilt with all watchfulnesskeep thy heart/ f as the wise man saith, God will mostassuredly give thee, as He hath promised by the prophetIsaias, hidden treasures and mysteries of secrets/ }The substance of these secrets is God Himself, for He isthe substance of the faith, and the object of it, and thefaith is the secret and the mystery. And when thatwhich the faith conceals shall be revealed and mademanifest, that is the perfection of God, as St. Paul saith,When that which is perfect is come/ then shall be

revealed to the soul the substance and mysteries of thesesecrets.

13. Though in this mortal life the soul will neverreach to the interior secrets as it will in the next, howevermuch it may hide itself, still, if it will hide itself withMoses, in the hole of the rock which is a real imitationof the perfect life of the Bridegroom, the Son of God-protected by the right hand of God, it will merit thevision of the back parts ; || that is, it will reach to suchperfection here, as to be united, and transformed by love,in the Son of God, its Bridegroom. So effectually will

* Is. xxvi. 20. f Prov. iv. 23. } Is. xlv. 3.i Cor. xiii. 10. || Exod. xxxiii. 22, 23.


51/351

[STAN, i.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 23this be wrought that the soul will feel itself so united toHim, so learned and so instructed in His secrets, that, sofar as the knowledge of Him in this life is concerned, itwill be no longer necessary for it to say : Where hastThou hidden Thyself ?

14. Thou knowest then, O soul, how thou art todemean thyself if thou wilt find the Bridegroom in Hissecret place. But if thou wilt hear it again, hear this oneword full of substance and unapproachable truth : SeekHim in faith and love, without seeking to satisfy thyselfin aught, or to understand more than is expedient forthee to know ; for faith and love are the two guides ofthe blind ; they will lead thee, by a way thou knowest not,to the secret chamber of God. Faith, the secret of whichI am speaking, is the foot that journeys onwards to God,and love is the guide that directs its steps. And whilethe soul meditates on the mysterious secrets of the faith,it will merit the revelation, on the part of love, of thatwhich the faith involves, namely, the Bridegroom Whomit longs for, in this life by spiritual grace, and the divineunion, as we said before,* and in the next in essentialglory, face to face, hidden now.

15. But meanwhile, though the soul attains to union,the highest state possible in this life, yet inasmuch as Heis still hidden from it in the bosom of the Father, as I have

* 4-


52/351


53/351

[STAN, i.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 25thou doest well, therefore, at all times, in prosperity aswell as in adversity, spiritual or temporal, to look uponGod as hidden, and to say unto Him, Where hast Thouhidden Thyself ?

And left me to my sorrow, O my Beloved ?18. The soul calls Him my Beloved/ the more to

move Him to listen to its cry, for God, when loved, mostreadily listens to the prayer of him who loves Him. ThusHe speaks Himself : If you abide in Me ... you shallask what thing soever you will, and it shall be doneto you/ * The soul may then with truth call HimBeloved, when it is wholly His, when the heart has noattachments but Him, and when all the thoughts arecontinually directed to Him. It was the absence of thisthat made Delila say to Samson, How dost thou saythou lovest me when thy mind is not with me ? f Themind comprises the thoughts and the feelings. Some thereare who call the Bridegroom their Beloved, but He is notreally beloved, because their heart is not wholly with Him.Their prayers are, therefore, not so effectual before God,and they shall not obtain their petitions until, perseveringin prayer, they fix their minds more constantly uponGod and their hearts more wholly in loving affection uponHim, for nothing can be obtained from God but by love.

* St. John xv. 7. f Judg. xvi. 15.


54/351


55/351


56/351

28 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. I.]should feel the pain and grief which Thy absence causes,and from which I am continually suffering, but Thoumust, after wounding me with the arrow of Thy love,and increasing my longing and desire to see Thee, runaway from me with the swiftness of the hart, and notpermit me to lay hold of Thee, even for a moment/

23. For the clearer understanding of this we are tokeep in mind that, beside the many kinds of God s visitsto the soul, in which He wounds it with love, there arecommonly certain secret touches of love, which, like afiery arrow, pierce and penetrate the soul, and burn itwith the fire of love. These are properly called thewounds of love, and it is of these the soul is here speaking.These wounds so inflame the will, that the soul becomesso enveloped with the fire of love as to appear consumedthereby. They make it go forth out of itself, and berenewed, and enter on another life, as the phoenix fromthe fire.

24. David, speaking of this, saith, My heart hathbeen inflamed, and my reins have been changed ; andI am brought to nothing, and I knew not/ * The desiresand affections, called the reins by the prophet, are allstirred and divinely changed in this burning of theheart, and the soul, through love, melted into nothing,knowing nothing but love. At this time the changing

* Ps. Ixxii. 21, 22


57/351

[STAN, i.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 29of the reins is a great pain, and longing for the visionof God ; it seems to the soul that God treats it withintolerable severity, so much so that the severity withwhich love treats it seems to the soul unendurable, notbecause it is wounded for it considers such wounds tobe its salvation but because it is thus suffering fromits love, and because He has not wounded it more deeplyso as to cause death, that it may be united to Him in thelife of perfect love. The soul, therefore, magnifying itssorrows, or revealing them, says,

Having wounded me/25. The soul says in effect, Thou hast abandoned

me after wounding me, and Thou hast left me dying oflove ; and then Thou hast hidden Thyself as a hartswiftly running away. This impression is most profound in the soul ; for by, the wound of love, madein the soul by God, the affections of the will lead mostrapidly to the possession of the Beloved, whose touchit felt, and as rapidly also, His absence, and its inabilityto have the fruition of Him here as it desires. Thereupon succeed the groaning because of His absence ; forthese visitations of God are not like those which recreateand satisfy the soul, because they are rather for woundingthan for healing more for afflicting than for satisfyingit, seeing that they tend rather to quicken the knowledge,


58/351

30 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. I.]and increase the longing, and consequently pain with thelonging for the vision of God. They are called thespiritual wounds of love, most sweet to the soul anddesirable ; and, therefore, when it is thus woundedthe soul would willingly die a thousand deaths, becausethese wounds make it go forth out of itself, and enterinto God, which is the meaning of the words that follow :

I ran after Thee, crying ; but Thou wert gone/26. There can be no remedy for the wounds of love

but from Him who inflicted them. And so the woundedsoul, urged by the vehemence of that burning whichthe wounds of love occasion, runs after the Beloved,crying unto Him for relief. This spiritual running afterGod has a two-fold meaning. The first is a going forthfrom all created things, which is effected by hating anddespising them ; the second, a going forth out of oneself,by forgetting self, which is brought about by the love ofGod. For when the love of God touches the soul withthat vividness of which we are here speaking, it so elevatesit, that it goes forth not only out of itself by self-forget-fulness, but it is also drawn away from its own judgment,natural ways and inclinations, crying after God, O myBridegroom/ as if saying, By this touch of Thine andwound of love hast Thou drawn me away not only fromall created things, but also from myself for, in truth,


59/351

[STAN. I.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 3soul and body seem now to part and raised me upto Thyself, crying after Thee in detachment from allthings that I might be attached to Thee :

Thou wert gone/27 . As if saying, When I sought Thy presence, I found

Thee not ; and I was detached from all things withoutbeing able to cling to Thee borne painfully by the galesof love without help in Thee or in myself. This goingforth of the soul in search of the Beloved is the rising ofthe bride in the Canticle : I will rise and go about thecity ; in the streets and the high ways I will seek HimWhom my soul loveth. I have sought Him and have notfound . . . they wounded me/ * The rising of the bride

speaking spiritually is from that which is mean tothat which is noble ; and is the same with the going forthof the soul out of its own ways and inferior love to theennobling love of God. The bride says that she waswounded because she found him not ; f so the soul alsosays of itself that it is wounded with love and forsaken ;that is, the loving soul is ever in pain during the absenceof the Beloved, because it has given itself up wholly untoHim, hoping for the reward of its self-surrender, thepossession of the Beloved. Still the Beloved withholdsHimself while the soul has lost all things, and even itself,

* Cant. iii. 2, v. 7 f Ib. v. 6, 7.


60/351


61/351

[STAN. II.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 33able to manifest the secret of its heart to the Beloved. Accordingly, it calls upon them to do this,saying :

O shepherds, you who go/2. The shepherds are the affections, and desires, and

groanings of the soul, for they feed it with spiritual goodthings. A shepherd is one who feeds : and by means ofsuch God communicates Himself to the soul and feeds itin the divine pastures ; for without these groans anddesires He communicates but slightly with it.

You who go/You who go forth in pure love ; for all desires and affections do not reach God, but only those which proceedfrom sincere love.

Through the sheepcots up the hill/3. The sheepcots are the heavenly hierarchies, the

angelic choirs, by whose ministry, from choir to choir,our prayers and sighs ascend to God ; that is, to thehill/ for He is the highest eminence, and because in

Him, as on a hill, we observe and behold all things, thehigher and the lower sheepcots. To Him our prayersascend, offered by angels, as I have said ; so the angelsaid to Tobias : When thou didst pray with tears, and

3


62/351

34 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. II.]didst bury the dead ... I offered thy prayer to theLord. *

4. The shepherds also are the angels themselves,who not only carry our petitions to God, but also bringdown the graces of God to our souls, feeding them likegood shepherds, with the sweet communications andinspirations of God, Who employs them in that ministry.They also protect us and defend us against the wolves,which are the evil spirits. And thus, whether we understand the affections or the angels by the shepherds,the soul calls upon both to be its messengers to theBeloved, and thus addresses them all :

If you shall see Him/That is to say :

5. If, to my great happiness you shall come intoHis presence, so that He shall see you and hear yourwords. God, indeed, knoweth all things, even the verythoughts of the soul, as He said unto Moses, f but it isthen He beholds our necessities when He relieves them,and hears our prayers when he grants them. God doesnot see all necessities and hear all petitions until the timeappointed shall have come ; it is then that He is said tohear and see, as we learn in the book of Exodus. Whenthe children of Israel had been afflicted for four hundred

* Tob. xii. 12. f Deut. xxxi. 21.


63/351


64/351

36 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. II.]that truly loves God with a love in some degree perfect,suffers in three ways in His absence, in its three powersordinarily the understanding, the will, and the memory.In the understanding it languishes because it does notsee God, Who is the salvation of it, as the Psalmist saith :I am thy salvation. * In the will it suffers, because

it possesses not God, Who is its comfort and delight,as David also saith : Thou shalt make them drink ofthe torrent of Thy pleasure/ f I*1 the memory it dies,because it remembers its privation of all the blessingsof the understanding, which are the vision of God, andof the delights of the will, which are the fruition of Him,and that it is very possible also that it may lose Him forever, because of the dangers and chances of this life.In the memory, therefore, the soul labours under asensation like that of death, because it sees itself withoutthe certain and perfect fruition of God, Who is thelife of the soul, as Moses saith : He is thy life/ J

8. Jeremias also, in the Lamentations, speaks of thesethree things, praying unto God, and saying : Remembermy poverty . . . the wormwood and the gall/ Povertyrelates to the understanding, to which appertain theriches of the knowledge of the Son of God, * in whomall the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid/ ||

* Ps. xxxiv. 3. f Ib. xxxv. 9. J Deut. xxx. 20.Lam. iii. 19. || Col. ii. 3.


65/351


66/351

38 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. III.]The sisters of Lazarus sent to Him, not to ask Him toheal their brother, but only to say that he whom Heloved was sick : Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovestis sick/ *

10. There are three reasons for this. Our Lord knowswhat is expedient for us better than we do ourselves.Secondly, the Beloved is more compassionate towardsus when He sees our necessities and our resignation.Thirdly, we are more secured against self-love and self-seeking when we represent our necessity, than whenwe ask for that which we think we need. It is in thisway that the soul represents its three necessities ; asif it said : Tell my Beloved, that as I languish, andas He only is my salvation, to save me ; that as I amsuffering, and as He only is my joy, to give me joy ;that as I am dying, and as He only is my life, to giveme life/

STANZA IIIIn search of my LoveI will go over mountains and strands ;I will gather no flowers,I will fear no wild beasts ;And pass by the mighty and the frontiers.

THE soul, observing that its sighs and prayers sufficenot to find the Beloved, and that it has not been helped

* St. Johnxi. 3.


67/351

[STAN, in.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 39by the messengers it invoked in the first and secondstanzas, will not, because its searching is real and itslove great, leave undone anything itself can do. Thesoul that really loves God is not dilatory in its effortsto find the Son of God, its Beloved ; and, even when ithas done all it could it is still not satisfied, thinking ithas done nothing. Accordingly, the soul is now, inthis third stanza, actively seeking the Beloved, andsaying how He is to be found ; namely, in the practiceof all virtue and in the spiritual exercises of the activeand contemplative life ; for this end it rejects all delights and all comforts ; and all the power and wiles of itsthree enemies, the world, the devil, and the flesh, areunable to delay it or hinder it on the road.

In search of my Love/2. Here the soul makes it known that to find God

it is not enough to pray with the heart and the tongue,or to have recourse to the help of others ; we mustalso work ourselves, according to our power. Godvalues one effort of our own more than many of otherson our behalf

; the soul, therefore, remembering thesaying of the Beloved, Seek and you shall find/*is resolved on going forth, as I said just now, to seekHim actively, and not rest till it finds Him, as many

* St. Luke xi. 9.


68/351


69/351

[STAN, in.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 41by day. The Bridegroom Himself teaches us this,saying, Wisdom is clear and never fadeth away, andis easily seen of them that love her, and is found ofthem that seek her. She preventeth them that covether, that she first may show herself unto them. Hethat awaketh early to seek her shall not labour ; forhe shall find her sitting at his doors/ * The soul thatwill go out of the house of its own will, and abandonthe bed of its own satisfaction, will find the divine Wisdom, the Son of God, the Bridegroom waiting at the doorwithout, and so the soul says :

I will go over mountains and strands/5. Mountains, which are lofty, signify virtues, partly

on account of their height and partly on account of thetoil and labour of ascending them ; the soul says it willascend to them in the practice of the contemplativelife. Strands, which are low, signify mortifications,penances, and the spiritual exercises, and the soul willadd to the active life that of contemplation ; for bothare necessary in seeking after God and in acquiringvirtue. The soul says, in effect, In searching after myBeloved I will practise great virtue, and abase myselfby lowly mortifications and acts of humility ; for theway to seek God is to do good works in Him, and to

* Wisd. vi. 13.


70/351


71/351

[STAN. III.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 43this road : If riches abound, set not your heart uponthem/ * This is applicable to sensual satisfactions,as well as to temporal goods and spiritual consolations.

8. From this we learn that not only temporal goodsand bodily pleasures hinder us on the road to God,but spiritual delight and consolations also, if we attachourselves to them or seek them ; for these things arehindrances on the way of the cross of Christ, the Bridegroom. He, therefore, that will go onwards must notonly not stop to gather flowers, but must also havethe courage and resolution to say as follows :

I will fear no wild beasts ; and I will go overthe mighty and the frontiers/

Here we have the three enemies of the soul which makewar against it, and make its way full of difficulties.The wild beasts are the world ; the mighty, the devil ;and the frontiers are the flesh.

9. The world is the wild beasts, because in the beginning of the heavenly journey the imagination picturesthe world to the soul as wild beasts, threatening andfierce, principally in three ways. The first is, we mustforfeit the world s favour, lose friends, credit, reputation,and property ; the second is not less cruel : we mustsuffer the perpetual deprivation of all the comforts

* Ps. Ixi. n.


72/351

44 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. III.]and pleasures of the world ; and the third is still worse :evil tongues will rise against us, mock us, and speakof us with contempt. This strikes some persons sovividly that it becomes most difficult for them, I do notsay to persevere, but even to enter on this road at all.

10 . But there are generou*s souls who have to encounterwild beasts of a more interior and spiritual nature-trials, temptations, tribulations, and afflictions of diverskinds, through which they must pass. This is whatGod sends to those whom He is raising upwards tohigh perfection, proving them and trying them as goldin the fire ; as David saith : Many are the tribulationsof the just ; and out of all these our Lord will deliverthem/ * But the truly enamoured soul, preferring theBeloved above all things, and relying on His love andfavour, finds no difficulty in saying :

I will fear no wild beats.And pass over the mighty and the frontiers/

11. Evil spirits, the second enemy of the soul, arecalled the mighty, because they strive with all theirmight to seize on the passes of the spiritual road; andbecause the temptations they suggest are harder toovercome, and the craft they employ more difficultto detect, than all the seductions of the world and the

* Ps. xxxiii. 20.


73/351


74/351


75/351


76/351

48 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. IV.]3. The groves are the elements, earth, water, air, and

fire. As the most pleasant groves are studded with plantsand shrubs, so the elements are thick with creatures, andhere are called thickets because of the number and varietyof creatures in each. The earth contains innumerablevarieties of animals and plants, the water of fish, the airof birds, and fire concurs with all in animating andsustaining them. Each kind of animal lives in its properelement, placed and planted there, as in its own groveand soil where it is born and nourished ; and, in truth,God so ordered it when He made them ; He commandedthe earth to bring forth herbs and animals ; the watersand the sea, fish ; and the air He gave as an habitation tobirds. The soul, therefore, considering that this is theeffect of His conmandment, cries out,

1

Planted by the hand of the Beloved.4. That which the soul considers now is this : the

hand of God the Beloved only could have created andnurtured all these varieties and wonderful things. Thesoul says deliberately, by the hand of the Beloved,because God doeth many things by the hands of others,as of angels and men ; but the work of creation has neverbeen, and never is, the work of any other hand thanHis own. Thus the soul, considering the creation, isprofoundly stirred up to love God the Beloved for it


77/351

[STAN, iv.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 49beholds all things to be the work of His hands, and goeson to say :

O verdant meads/5. These are the heavens ; for the things which He

hath created in the heavens are of incorruptible freshness,which neither perish nor wither with time, where the justare refreshed as in the green pastures. The presentconsideration includes all the varieties of the stars intheir beauty, and the other works in the heavens.

6. The Church also applies the term verdure toheavenly things ; for while praying to God for thedeparting soul, it addresses it as follows : May Christ,the Son of the living God, give thee a place in the ever-pleasant verdure of His paradise. * The soul also saysthat this verdant mead is

*Enamelled with flowers.

7. The flowers are the angels and the holy souls whoadorn and beautify that place, as costly and fine enamelon a vase of pure gold.

Tell me, has He passed by you ?8. This inquiry is the consideration of the creature

just spoken of, and is in effect : Tell me, what perfectionshas He created in you ?

* Ordo commendationis animsp.4


78/351


79/351


80/351

52 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. V.]God saw all things only in the face of His Son. Thiswas to give them their natural being, bestowing uponthem many graces and natural gifts, making them perfect,as it is written in the book of Genesis : God saw all thethings that He had made : and they were very good. *To see all things very good was to make them very goodin the Word, His Son. He not only gave them theirbeing and their natural graces when He beheld them, butHe also clothed them with beauty in the face of His Son,communicating to them a supernatural being when Hemade man, and exalted him to the beauty of God, and,by consequence, all creatures in him, because He unitedHimself to the nature of them all in man. For thiscause the Son of God Himself said, And I, if I be liftedup from the earth will draw all things to Myself. f Andthus in this exaltation of the incarnation of His Son, andthe glory of His resurrection according to the flesh, theFather not only made all things beautiful in part, butalso, we may well say, clothed them wholly with beautyand dignity.

NOTEBUT beyond all this speaking now of contemplation as itaffects the soul and makes an impression on it in thevivid contemplation and knowledge of created things

* Gen. i. 31. f St. John xii. 32.


81/351

[STAN, vi.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 53the soul beholds such a multiplicity of graces, powers,and beauty wherewith God has endowed them, that theyseem to it to be clothed with admirable beauty andsupernatural virtue derived from the infinite supernatural beauty of the face of God, Whose beholding ofthem clothed the heavens and the earth with beautyand joy; as it is written : Thou openest Thy hand andfillest with blessing every living creature. * Hence thesoul wounded with love of that beauty of the Belovedwhich it traces in created things, and anxious to beholdthat beauty which is the source of this visible beauty,sings as in the following stanza :

STANZA VITHE BRIDE

Oh, who can heal me ?Give me perfectly Thyself,Send me- no moreA messengerWho cannot tell me what I wish.

As created things furnish to the soul traces of theBeloved, and exhibit the impress of His beauty andmagnificence, the love of the soul increases, and consequently the pain of His absence : for the greater thesoul s knowledge of God the greater its desire to see Him,

* Ps. cxliv. 1 6.


82/351


83/351


84/351


85/351


86/351


87/351


88/351


89/351


90/351


91/351

STAN. VIII.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 63

enjoyment of its love, complains of the continuance of itsbodily life, by which the spiritual life is delayed. Herethe soul addresses itself to the life it is living upon earth,magnifying the sorrows of it. The meaning of the stanzatherefore is as follows : life of my soul, how canstthou persevere in this life of the flesh, seeing that itis thy death and the privation of the true spiritual life inGod, in Whom thou livest in substance, love, and desire,more truly than in the body ? And if this were notreason enough to depart, and free thyself from the bodyof this death, so as to live and enjoy the life of God,how canst thou still remain in a body so frail ? Besides,these wounds of love made by the Beloved in the revelation of His majesty are by themselves alone sufficientto put an end to thy life, for they are very deep ; andthus all thy feelings towards Him, and all thou knowest ofHim, are so many touches and wounds of love that kill,

But how thou perseverest, O life Not living where thou livest/

2. We must keep in mind, for the better understandingof this, that the soul lives there where it loves, ratherthan in the body which it animates. The soul does notlive by the body, but, on the contrary, gives it life,and lives by love in that which it loves. For beside thislife of love which it lives in God Who loves it, the soul


92/351


93/351


94/351


95/351


96/351

68 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. IX.]power and possession, and then abandoned it, withouttaking it into His own power and possession as the thiefdoes with the goods he steals, carrying them away withhim. He who is in love is said to have lost his heart, orto have it stolen by the object of his love ; because it isno longer in his own possession, but in the power of theobject of his love, and so his heart is not his own, but theproperty of the person he loves.

4. This consideration will enable the soul to determinewhether it loves God simply or not. If it loves Him itwill have no heart for itself, nor for its own pleasure orprofit, but for the honour, glory, and pleasure of God ;because the more the heart is occupied with self, the lessis it occupied with God. Whether God has really stolenthe heart, the soul may ascertain by either of these twosigns : Is it anxiously seeking after God ? and has it nopleasure in anything but in Him, as the soul here says ?The reason of this is that the heart cannot rest in peacewithout the possession of something ; and when itsaffections are once placed, it has neither the possessionof itself nor of anything else ; neither does it perfectlypossess what it loves. In this state its weariness is in proportion to its loss, until it shall enter into possession and besatisfied ; for until then the soul is as an empty vesselwaiting to be filled, as a hungry man eager for food, as a sickman sighing for health, and as a man suspended in the air


97/351


98/351


99/351


100/351


101/351


102/351

74 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. X.]4. Let me see Thee face to face with the eyes of the

soul,For Thou art their light.

5. God is the supernatural light of the soul, withoutwhich it abides in darkness. And now, in the excess ofits affection, it calls Him the light of its eyes, as anearthly lover, to express his affection, calls the object ofhis love the light of his eyes. The soul says in effect inthe foregoing terms, Since my eyes have no other light,either of nature or of love, but Thee, let them beholdThee, Who in every way art their light. David wasregretting this light when he said in his trouble, Thelight of mine eyes, and the same is not with me ; * andTobias, when he said, What manner of joy shall be tome who sit in darkness, and see not the light of heaven ? fHe was longing for the clear vision of God ; for thelight of heaven is the Son of God ; as St. John saithin the Apocalypse : And the city needeth not sun, normoon to shine in it ; for the glory of God hath illuminatedit, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof/ J

And I will keep them for Thee alone/6. The soul seeks to constrain the Bridegroom to let

it see the light of its eyes, not only because it would bein darkness without it, but also because it will not look

* Ps. xxxvii. u. f Tob. v. 12. } Apoc. xxi. 23.


103/351


104/351


105/351


106/351


107/351


108/351


109/351


110/351


111/351


112/351


113/351


114/351


115/351


116/351


117/351


118/351


119/351


120/351


121/351


122/351


123/351

[STAN. XIII.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 95He is exalting them and making them glorious, He sendsinto the soul, in the midst of its weariness, certain divinerays from Himself, in such gloriousness and strengthof love as to stir it up from its very depths, and to changeits whole natural condition. Thus, the soul, in greatfear and natural awe, addresses the Beloved in the firstwords of the following stanza, the remainder of whichis His answer :

STANZA XIIITurn them away, my Beloved I am on the wing.

THE BRIDEGROOMReturn, My Dove The wounded hartLooms on the hillIn the air of thy flight and is refreshed.

EXPLANATIONAMID those fervent affections of love, such as the soulhas shown in the preceding stanzas, the Beloved is wontto visit His bride, tenderly, lovingly, and with greatstrength of love ; for ordinarily the graces and visits ofGod are great in proportion to the greatness of thosefervours and longings of love which have gone before.And, as the soul has so anxiously longed for the divine


124/351


125/351

[STAN, xni.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 97love which thy contemplation involves/ The soul thensays to the Bridegroom :

Turn them away, O my Beloved 3. The soul, because of its intense longing after the

divine eyes that is, the Godhead receives interiorlyfrom the Beloved such communications and knowledgeof God as compel it to cry out, Turn them away, O myBeloved For such is the wretchedness of our mortalnature, that we cannot bear even when it is offered tous but at the cost of our life, that which is the verylife of the soul, and the object of its earnest desires,namely, the knowledge of the Beloved. Thus the soul iscompelled to say, with regard to the eyes so earnestly,so anxiously sought for, and in so many ways when theybecome visible Turn them away/

4. So great, at times, is the suffering of the soulduring these ecstatic visitations and there is no otherpain which so wrenches the very bones, and which sooppresses our natural forces that, were it not for thespecial interference of God, death would ensue. And, intruth, such is it to the soul, the subject of these visitations, for it feels as if it were released from the bodyand a stranger to the flesh. Such graces cannot beperfectly received in the body, because the spirit of manis lifted up to the communion of the Spirit of God, Who

7


126/351


127/351


128/351


129/351


130/351

102 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. XIII.]hill/ because He does not appear clearly. Howeverprofound the knowledge of Himself which God may grantto the soul in this life, it is, after all, but an indistinctvision. We now come to the third property of the hart,the subject of the line that follows :

In the air of thy flight, and is refreshed/13. The flight is contemplation in the ecstasy spoken

of before,* and the air is the spirit of love produced inthe soul by this flight of contemplation, and this loveproduced by the flight is here with great propriety calledair/ for the Holy Ghost also is likened to air in the

Sacred Writings, because He is the breath of the Fatherand the Son. And so as He is there the air of the flightthat is, that He proceeds by the will from the contemplation and wisdom of the Father and the Son, and isbreathed so here the love of the soul is called air by theBridegroom, because it proceeds from the contemplationof God and the knowledge of Him which at this time ispossessed by the soul.

14. We must observe here that the Bridegroomdoes not say that He cometh at the flight, but at the airof the flight, because properly speaking God does notcommunicate Himself to the soul because of that flight,which is, as I have said, the knowledge it has of God, but

* i.


131/351


132/351


133/351


134/351


135/351


136/351


137/351


138/351


139/351


140/351


141/351


142/351


143/351


144/351


145/351


146/351


147/351


148/351


149/351


150/351

122 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. XV.]the mind, most sweetly tranquil, is raised to a divinelight.

3. This divine light is here very appropriately calledthe approaches of the dawn, that is, the twilight ; foras the twilight of the morn disperses the darkness of thenight and reveals the light of day, so the mind, tranquiland reposing in God, is raised up from the darkness ofnatural knowledge to the morning light of the supernatural knowledge of God ; not clear, indeed, as I havesaid, but dim, like the night at the approaches of thedawn. For as it is then neither wholly night nor whollyday, but, as they say, twilight, so this solitude and divinerepose is neither perfectly illumined by the divine lightnor yet perfectly alien from it.

4. In this tranquillity the understanding is lifted upin a strange way above its natural comprehension to thedivine light : it is like a man who, after a profound sleep,opens his eyes to unexpected light. This knowledge isreferred to by David when he says, I have watched,and am become as the lonely sparrow on the housetop ; *that is, I opened the eyes of my understanding and wasraised up above all natural comprehension, lonely,without them, on the housetop, lifted up above all earthlyconsiderations. He says that he was become as thelonely sparrow/ because in this kind of contemplation,

* PS. ci. 8.


151/351


152/351


153/351


154/351


155/351


156/351


157/351


158/351


159/351


160/351


161/351

[STAN. XVI.] OF THE SOUL AND ITS BRIDEGROOM 133Aminadab is the evil spirit, and his chariots are hisassaults upon the soul, which he makes with greatviolence, noise, and confusion.

6. The bride also says what the soul says here,namely : Catch us the little foxes that destroy thevineyards ; for our vineyard hath flourished/ * Shedoes not say, Catch me but Catch us/ because she isspeaking of herself and the Beloved ; for they are one,and enjoy the flourishing of the vineyard together.

7. The reason why the vineyard is said to beflourishing and not bearing fruit is this : the soul inthis life has the fruition of virtues, however perfect theymay be, only in their flower, because the fruit of themis reserved for the life to come.

While of roses we make a nosegay/8. Now, at this time, while the soul is rejoicing in

the flourishing of the vineyard, and delighting itself inthe bosom of the Beloved, all its virtues are perfect,exhibiting themselves to the soul, and sending forthgreat sweetness and delight. The soul feels them tobe in itself and in God so as to seem to be one vineyardmost flourishing and pleasing belonging to both, whereinthey feed and delight. Then the soul binds all its virtuestogether, makes acts of love in each of them separately,

* Cant. ii. 15.


162/351


163/351


164/351


165/351


166/351


167/351


168/351


169/351


170/351


171/351


172/351


173/351


174/351


175/351


176/351


177/351


178/351


179/351


180/351


181/351


182/351

154 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. XIX.]to sense and to the ordinary perceptions of nature.It is as if the bride said, by way of constraining Himto yield : Seeing that my soul is tending towards Theethrough knowledge which is spiritual, strange, unknownto sense, do Thou also communicate Thyself to it sointeriorly and so profoundly that the senses may notobserve it.

NOTEIN order to the attainment of a state of perfection sohigh as this of the spiritual marriage, the soul thataims at it must not only be purified and cleansed fromall the imperfections, rebellions, and imperfect habitsof the inferior part, which is now the old man beingput away subject and obedient to the higher, butit must also have great courage and most exalted lovefor so strong and close an embrace of God. For inthis state the soul not only attains to exceeding purenessand beauty, but also acquires a terrible strength byreason of that strict and close bond which in this unionbinds it to God. The soul, therefore, in order to reachthis state must have purity, strength, and adequatelove. The Holy Ghost, the author of this spiritualunion, desirous that the soul should attain thus farin order to merit it, addresses Himself to the Fatherand the Son, saying : - Our sister is little, and hath


183/351


184/351

156 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. XX, XXI.]that He may not fail her on that ground. The bride,too, had expressed as much in the preceding stanzas,out of the fulness of her longing for the perfect union andtransformation, and particularly in the last, wherein sheset before the Bridegroom all the virtues, graces, and gooddispositions with which she was adorned by Him, and thatwith the object of making Him the prisoner of her love.

4. Now the Bridegroom, to bring this matter to aclose, replies in the two stanzas that follow, whichdescribe Him as perfectly purifying the soul, strengtheningand disposing it, both as to its sensual and spiritual part,for this state, and charging all resistance and rebellion,both of the flesh and of the devil, to cease, saying :

STANZAS XX, XXITHE BRIDEGROOM

Light-winged birds,Lions, fawns, bounding does,Mountains, valleys, strands,Waters, winds, heat,And the terrors that keep watch by night;By the soft lyresAnd siren strains, I adjure you,Let your fury cease,And touch not the wall,That the bride may sleep in greater security.

HERE the Son of God, the Bridegroom, leads the brideinto the enjoyment of peace and tranquillity in the con-


185/351


186/351

158 A SPIRITUAL CANTICLE [STAN. XX, XXI.]3. These are the distractions of the imagination,

light and rapid in their flight from one subject to another.When the will is tranquilly enjoying the sweet converse of the Beloved, these distractions produce weariness,and in their swift flight quench its joy. The Bridegroomadjures them by the soft lyres. That is, now that thesweetness of the soul is so abundant and so continuousthat they cannot interfere with it, as they did beforewhen it had not reached this state, He adjures them,and bids them cease from their disquieting violence.The same explanation is to be given of the rest of thestanza.

Lions, fawns, bounding does/4. By the lions is meant the raging violence of the

irascible faculty, which in its acts is bold and daring asa lion. The fawns and bounding does are the concu-piscible faculty that is, the power of desire, the qualitiesof which are two, timidity and rashness. Timiditybetrays itself when things do not turn ou

Documents

Cantico Espiritual Joao Cruz