Benedict XVI during the general audience on February 16, 2011
Dear brothers and sisters,
two weeks ago I introduced the figure of the great Spanish mystic, Teresa of Jesus. Today I would like to speak about another significant saint from the same country, a spiritual friend of Saint Teresa and a reformer – along with her – of the Carmelite religious family: Saint John of the Cross, who was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1926 and is traditionally called Doctor mysticus (Mystical Doctor).
John of the Cross was born in 1542 in the small village of Fontíveros, near Avila, in Old Castile, as the son of Gonzalo de Yepes and Catalina Alvarez. The family was very poor, as the father, of noble descent from Toledo, was expelled from home and disowned for marrying Catalina, a poor silk weaver. At a young age, John's father died, and John moved with his mother and brother Francisco to Medina del Campo (near Valladolid), a commercial and cultural center, when he was nine years old. There, he attended the de los Doctrinos college and also performed simple tasks for the sisters at the convent church of Mary Magdalene. Subsequently, due to his human qualities and academic results, he was accepted first as a caregiver in the Hospital of the Conception and then into the Jesuit college, established in Medina del Campo only recently: John began attending there at the age of eighteen and studied humanities, rhetoric, and classical languages for three years. At the end of this formation, he was clear about his vocation: he decided on a religious life and felt called to Carmel among the many orders present in Medina.
In the summer of 1563, he entered the novitiate of the Carmelites in this city and took the religious name “of St. Matthew”. The following year, he was sent to study at the prestigious university in Salamanca, where he completed studies in humanities and theology for three years. In 1567, he was ordained a priest and returned to Medina del Campo to celebrate his first Mass, surrounded by the affection of his relatives. It was here that the first meeting occurred between John and Teresa of Jesus. This meeting was decisive for both: Teresa laid out her plan for the reform of Carmel also in the male branch of the order and invited John to join her “for the greater glory of God”; the young priest was so captivated by Teresa's ideas that he became a staunch supporter of her intentions. For several months, they worked together, sharing ideals and the purpose of opening a house of the Discalced Carmelites as soon as possible: this took place on December 28, 1568, in Duruel, in a secluded place in the Avila region. Along with John, this first reformed male community included two other companions. When renewing their religious profession according to the original rule, they took on new names: John named himself “of the Cross,” and by this name, he would subsequently be known. At the end of 1572, at the request of Saint Teresa, he became a confessor and vicar of the monastery of the Incarnation in Avila, where the saint became prioress. These were years of their close collaboration and spiritual friendship that enriched both. This period also includes the most important works of Teresa and the first writings of John.
His adherence to the reform of Carmel was not easy and cost John great suffering. The most painful event was his abduction and imprisonment in the convent of the Carmelites of the original observance in Toledo in 1577, based on an unjust accusation. The saint was imprisoned for several months, deprived of bodily and spiritual support and subjected to physical and moral pressure. During this time, he composed, among other poems, his famous Spiritual Canticle. Finally, on the night of August 16-17, 1578, he managed to escape in an adventurous way and seek refuge in the convent of the Discalced Carmelite nuns in the same city. Saint Teresa and his reformed fellow brothers welcomed his liberation with immense joy, and after a short time of physical recovery, John was assigned to Andalusia, where he spent ten years in various convents, especially in Granada. He held increasingly significant positions within the order until he became the provincial vicar and completed the writing of his spiritual treatises. He then returned to his homeland as a member of the general leadership of the Teresian religious family, which already enjoyed full legal autonomy. In 1591, he was relieved of all responsible duties and assigned to a new religious province in Mexico. While preparing for a long journey with ten other brothers, he withdrew to the solitude of a convent near Jaén. There he fell gravely ill. With exemplary calmness and patience, John bore great pains. He died on the night of December 13-14, 1591, while his brother priests were reciting Matins. He bid farewell to them with the words: “Today I will sing Matins in heaven.” His mortal remains were transferred to Segovia. He was beatified by Clement X in 1675 and canonized by Benedict XIII in 1726.
John is considered one of the most significant lyrical poets in Spanish literature. His major works are: The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love.
In Spiritual Canticle, Saint John presents the path of purifying the soul, and thus the gradual joyful acquisition of God, until the soul reaches the experience of loving God with the very love with which she is loved by Him. The Living Flame of Love continues in this perspective, detailing the state of transforming union with God. John consistently employs the metaphor of fire: as a fire that burns ever more, consuming wood until it transforms it so completely that it, too, becomes a flame, so the Holy Spirit, who purifies and refines the soul during the dark night, gradually illuminates and warms it until it itself becomes a flame. The life of the soul is a continuous celebration of the Holy Spirit, who allows one to glimpse the glory of union with God in eternity.
The Ascent of Mount Carmel represents the progress on the spiritual journey in terms of the gradual purifying of the soul, necessary to reach the peak of Christian perfection, symbolized by the summit of Mount Carmel. This purification is depicted as a pilgrimage, in which a person participates through cooperation with God's action to free the soul from any attachment or inclination that would be contrary to God's will. The purification, which – to lead to union of love with God – must be complete, begins with the cleansing of the senses and continues with that which is achieved through the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and love. These purify the mind, memory, and will. The Dark Night describes the “passive” aspect or God's intervention in this process of “purifying” the soul. Human effort is indeed incapable of reaching the deepest roots of bad inclinations and habits of a person: it can only slow them down, not completely eradicate them. For them to be truly uprooted, special divine action is required, which radically cleanses the spirit and disposes it for union of love with Himself. Saint John defines such purification as “passive” precisely because, although accepted by the soul, it is accomplished through the mysterious action of the Holy Spirit, who as a fiery flame burns away every impurity. In this state, the soul is subjected to all kinds of trials, as if it were in a dark night.
These references to John's main works assist us in approaching the main points of his extensive and profound mystical teaching, whose goal is to describe a certain way to reach holiness, to the state of perfection to which God calls everyone. According to John of the Cross, everything that exists is created by God and is good. Through creatures, we can come to discover Him who has left his marks in them. Faith is, however, the only source given to man to know God as He is in Himself, as the Triune God. Everything that God wanted to communicate to man, He said in Jesus Christ, in His Word, which became flesh. Jesus Christ is the only and definitive way to the Father (cf. John 14,6). Anything created is nothing compared to God and has no value outside of Him: it follows that in order for a person to achieve perfect divine love, every other love must resemble God's love in Christ.
Therefore, Saint John of the Cross emphasizes the necessity of purification and inner emptiness to be transformed into God, which is the sole aim of perfection. This “purification” does not simply consist of physical removal from things or their use; the soul is made pure and free when any disordered attachment to things is removed. Everything must have its place in God as the center and goal of life. The long and arduous process of purification certainly requires personal effort, but the true protagonist is God: all that man can do is to “dispose himself,” to be open to divine action and not resist it. The rhythm of growth in faith, hope, and love goes hand in hand with the work of purification and the gradual union with God until transformation into Him. When one reaches this goal, the soul plunges into the very trinitarian life, so much so that Saint John asserts that it comes to love God with the very love with which He loves it, because it loves in the Holy Spirit. Thus, the Mystical Doctor believes that true union of love with God does not occur unless it culminates in trinitarian union. In this supreme state, the holy soul knows everything in God and no longer needs the mediation of creatures to reach Him. The soul already feels flooded with divine love and fully rejoices in it.
This image of St. John of the Cross surely does not belong to the “sweetest” ones. It is a simple work by an anonymous painter, created at the request of the general superior of the Discalced Carmelites, Father John of the Holy Spirit. It is valuable that the painting was made at a time when many who personally knew John were still alive. It is kept in the convent of the Discalced Carmelites in Segovia.
Dear brothers and sisters, in the end, the question remains: does this saint with his noble mysticism, with this demanding journey to the peak of perfection, have anything to say to us, ordinary Christians living in today's life circumstances? Or is he merely an example and a model for a few chosen souls who can truly embark on this path of purification and mystical ascent? To find the answer, we must first be aware that the life of Saint John of the Cross was not some “floating on mystical clouds,” but was a very hard, very practical, and concrete life, whether as a reformer of the order, who faced so much resistance, as a provincial superior, or as a prisoner in the hands of his fellow brothers, during which he was exposed to incredible insults and physical torment. It was truly a hard life, but precisely during the months spent in prison, John wrote one of his most beautiful works. Thus we can understand that the journey with Christ, walking with Christ-the Way, is not an additional burden to the already sufficiently heavy yoke of our lives, it is not something that would make our load even heavier, but is quite different; it is light, it is a strength that helps us bear this burden. If a person carries great love within, this love almost gives him wings, so that he more easily endures all the hardships of life, because he carries this great light within. This is faith: to be loved by God and to let oneself be loved by God in Christ Jesus. “Letting oneself be loved” is the light that helps us carry the burdens of everyday life. And holiness is not our work, and it is very difficult, but it is precisely this “openness”: we must open the windows of our souls so that God’s light can penetrate inside, not forgetting God, for it is precisely in openness to His light that the strength and also the joy of the redeemed lie. Let us ask the Lord to help us find this holiness, to let ourselves be loved by God, which is the calling of us all and our true redemption.
Translated from Italian by P. Vojtěch Kohut, OCD.
