John of The Cross, Keith Egan - Docx - Keith

A
NOW YOU KNOW MEDIA

STUDY GUIDE
John of the Cross: Poet and Mystic

by Professor Keith J. Egan, Ph.D.
LEARN WHILE LISTENING
ANYTIME. ANYWHERE.
JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC
STUDY
GUIDE
Now You Know Media Copyright Notice:

This document is protected by copyright law. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You are permitted to view, copy, print and distribute this document (up to seven copies), subject to your agreement that: Your use of the information is for informational, personal and noncommercial purposes only. You will not modify the documents or graphics. You will not copy or distribute graphics separate from their accompanying text and you will not quote materials out of their context. You agree that Now You Know Media may revoke this permission at any time and you shall immediately stop your activities related to this permission upon notice from Now You Know Media. Brother Bryan Paquette, OCD, Business and Promotions Manager of the Institute of Carmelite Studies, has graciously granted permission for this program to quote extensively from The Collected Works of Saint John of the Cross. Revised Edition. Translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD, and Otilio Rodriquez, O.C.D. Washington, DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1991.
STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011
STUDY
GUIDE
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used in the Written Guide for John of the Cross: Poet and Mystic:
The Ascent of Mount Carmel..A The Dark NightN The Spiritual Canticle (Second Version)CB The Living Flame of Love (Second Version)..FB Sayings of Light and Love. Sayings
STUDY
GUIDE
Table of Contents
Topic 1: Topic 2: Topic 3: Topic 4: Topic 5: Topic 6: Topic 7: Topic 8: Topic 9: Topic 10: Topic 11: Topic 12: Topic 13: Topic 14: Topic 15: The Weavers Son ........................................................................................... 7 John of the Cross Becomes a Carmelite........................................................ 10 The Encounter with Teresa of Avila ............................................................. 13 John and Teresa Collaborate on Reform ....................................................... 16 John of the Cross: Prisoner ........................................................................... 19 John the Escapee ........................................................................................... 22 John of the Cross: Spiritual Guide ................................................................ 25 John of the Cross: Sojourn in Andulasia ....................................................... 28 John of the Cross: Poet.................................................................................. 31 Love is as Strong as Death ............................................................................ 34 The Dark Night According to John of the Cross .......................................... 37 From the Search for the Hidden Christ to the Manifestation of Christs Beauty ........................................................................................................... 40 How Gently and Lovingly You Awake in my Heart ................................. 43 How to Read John of the Cross ..................................................................... 46 John of the Cross Prays Matins in Heaven ................................................... 50
STUDY
GUIDE
Program Summary
This program, entitled John of the Cross, Mystic and Poet, offers an exploration of the life, writings and central themes in the teachings of John of the Cross (1542 -1591), saint and doctor of the Church. This Spanish Carmelite mystic has had an enormous impact on the understanding of mysticism in Western Christianity. Yet, John of the Cross and his theology of the mystical life have often been misunderstood, principally because of the way his writings have been approached, and not infrequently because of the neglect of Johns extraordinarily beautiful poetry. Presentations in this program will address these issues and offer the listener ways to discover the primacy of Johns poetry and the relevance of his teaching on the spiritual and mystical life. The Christian community has extensively acknowledged John of the Crosss wisdom about the spiritual life. This program seeks to share this extraordinary wisdom with its listeners.
STUDY
GUIDE
About Your Presenter
Professor Keith J. Egan, Ph.D., taught historical theology and spirituality at Marquette University and holds the Aquinas Chair in Catholic Theology Emeritus at Saint Marys College, Notre Dame, Indiana. Here, he founded and directed the colleges Center for Spirituality as well as instituted and oversaw its famed Madeleva Lectures in Spirituality. The College awarded Egan its Spes Unica Award for teaching and service. Professor Egan is past president of the College Theology Society and a corresponding fellow of the Institutum Carmelitanum in Rome. He is presently serving as President of the Carmelite Institute in Washington, DC and has been a charter member of the North American Forum since its inception. Professor Egan has written extensively on Carmelite themes including Carmelite Prayer: A Tradition for the Twenty-First Century (Paulist Press), and Christian Spirituality: Themes from the Tradition (Paulist Press). Professor Egan received his doctorate from the University of Cambridge, England, and has lectured widely on Carmelite themes in North America, England, Ireland and Rome.
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 1:
I.
The Weavers Son
Traditional Prayer to the Holy Spirit A) John of the Cross insists that the principal guide of ones spiritual life is the Holy Spirit. B) Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. Enkindle in them the fire of your divine love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. Let us prayO God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, instructed the hearts of your faithful, grant that by that same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in your holy consolation. Through Christ our Lord, Amen
II.
Love is the Message of John of the Cross as it was the Message of Jesus of Nazareth A) John of the Cross reputation for harshness is undeserved. His compassion for the poor, the ill, the young, and the aged will be a theme that emerges often in these presentations.
III.
Juan de Yepes A) He was the third son of Catalina Alvarez and Gonzalo de Yepes. Catalina was a poor weaver whom Gonzalo encountered on his journeys on behalf of his well-to-do family of silk merchants. When Catalina and Gonzalo married, Gonzalos family disowned him, leaving the young star-crossed couple in dire poverty. B) Doomed to a life of poverty, Gonzalo joined Catalina in her weaving. Later their son Juan responded to someone: I am only a weavers son, in fact, he was the weavers son. C) Juan was only a toddler when his father died and only five when his brother Luis died. From then on, Catalina was the single parent of two sons, Francisco and Juan. D) Francisco was much older than Juan and mentally on the slow side while Juan was very bright. Juans mother saw to it that Juan received every educational advantage available to a poor boy. Juan had a great affection for his brother. He once said: Meet my brother, he is the gift I most cherish in the world.Juans relationship with his mother was very important to him. That close relationship may have made possible the mature relationships that Juan had with women throughout his life. E) Catalina enrolled Juan in a Catechism school for the poor where he had various duties including running errands for the nuns. As an adolescent, Juan became what we would call an orderly at the Hospital de las Bubas, a hospital that served those with infectious diseases like syphilis. As he had done for the nuns, Juan went begging for alms on behalf the hospital. Juans experiences of poverty and his tenderness toward the patients set the stage for a lifelong journey of gentle and compassionate care for anyone in need. F) Once more as a poor boy, Juan attended the recently opened college of the Jesuits in Medina del Campo where he received a solid liberal education that included the study of the ancient Latin writers. It as at this college that Juan no doubt learned to write verse. This poor young
STUDY
GUIDE
man would become the author of some of Spains and the worlds greatest poetry as well as a mystics mystic, renowned for the depth of his mystical writings. G) Juan de Yepes, later known as John of the Cross, grew up in poverty but with the solicitous care of a mother of deep faith who lavished her love on her two sons and saw to it that her gifted son, Juan, was well educated and grounded in faith. Catalinas solicitude has given the world a saint and doctor of the church. Juan de Yepes learned to love from his warm and caring mother, Catalina. Throughout his life, Juan showed that he learned well the lessons that his mother passed on in word and example. H) Years later, as a Carmelite friar in Granada known as John of the Cross, he wrote to a young woman, Juana de Pedraza: O great God of Love, and Lord! How many riches do you place in the soul that neither loves nor is satisfied save in you alone, for you give yourself to it and become one with it through love. (Letter 11)
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What impression do most people have of John of the Cross and his teachings?
2.
Ask yourself: what meaning is there in Catalinas loving care and concern for her son, Juan?
3.
Does the boyhood of John of the Cross offer lessons for our contemporary religious culture?
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 2:
I.
John of the Cross Becomes a Carmelite
Wisdom from John of the Cross: Where there is no love, put love, and you will draw out love. (Letter 26) Becoming a Carmelite A) Juan de Yepes grew up in the town of Medina del Campo, a large bustling commercial center where there were about a dozen religious orders of men. Juan had been educated by the Jesuits who had given him a thorough liberal education. Yet, Juan chose to enter the Carmelites at the convent of Santa Ana in Medina. At that time in Spain, mens religious houses were known as convents and the womens houses as monasteries. As a Carmelite, Juan de Yepes would now be known as Fray (brother) Juan de Santo Mata, John of Saint Matthias. Juan was twenty-one when he entered the Carmelites in 1563, in the year that the Council of Trent came to an end. B) It mattered that Juan had chosen to be a Carmelite, an order found around 1200 C.E. on Mount Carmel. His year in the novitiate was meant to introduce him to the Carmelite tradition and charism. Most of all during this year, Juan studied the Carmelite Rule. The first version of this rule was, in fact, a letter, a formula of life, given to a band of lay hermits between 1206-1214 C.E. by Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Albert, who because of the Muslim occupation of Jerusalem resided at nearby Acre, which was very close to the Carmelite hermits, lived in a ravine looking out into the beautiful waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The site was about three miles south of the modern city of Haifa. C) This formula of life was a description of a simple, eremitic life with the hermits living in their small cells separated from one another with an oratory in their midst. It would be known later that this oratory was dedicated to Mary and that the site was at the fountain of Elijah. The Carmelites would eventually be known officially as the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and they would look for inspiration to the prophet Elijah. D) The Carmelite formula of life emphasized solitude and community with sufficient community to support that solitude. The hermits were to meditate day and night on the law of the Lord (Ps. 1:2). When possible (perhaps no priests were among them), the hermits were to celebrate Eucharisteach morning. They were to follow the monastic fast and keep rules for silence, abstain from meat, and recite the psalms in their cells. This was a lifestyle that promoted a life of contemplation. E) Muslim incursions forced some of the Carmelites to migrate to the west around 1238 C.E., where they tried to continue their eremitic lives. By 1291, all of the Carmelite from the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem had migrated to the west. F) In the west, the Friars, Dominicans and Franciscans were thriving doing the work of evangelization in Europe. The Carmelite hermits could not survive as hermits so, in 1247, with slight changes to their formula of life, the Carmelite hermits sought and obtained permission from Pope Innocent IV to join the ranks of the mendicants. The Carmelite hermits were now friars.
II.
10
STUDY
GUIDE
G) John of the Cross not only studied the Carmelite Rule in the novitiate, but also in The Institution of the First Monks. This compilation composed by Felip Ribot toward the end of the 14th century made explicit the mystical orientation of the Carmelites as well as the key roles of Elijah and Mary in Carmelite life. H) After his year of novitiate, Johns Carmelite superiors assigned him to their convent at the University of Salamanca where he studied philosophy and the arts for the next three years, and then theology for an additional year (1564-68). Something in this experience made John decide against an academic career in theology; perhaps he found the academic life too hectic with too much competitiveness among its professors. What we do know is that John was an excellent student and was appointed prefect of studies for fellow Carmelite students in his fourth year at Salamanca. However, Johns principal ministry throughout his life was spiritual guidance. I) Upon completion of Johns third year at the university, he returned to Medina del Campo to celebrate his first mass with Catalina, Francisco and Franciscos spouse, Ana Izquierda. As an aside, John was especially devoted to the Eucharist. I close this lecture with words from Johns Romance 4: [The Son] would come to them/and dwell with them,/and God would be human/and humans would be God. Notice here the theme of deification or divinization which John refers to in various other writings.
J)
11
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Reflect for a few moments on the significance of Juan de Santo Matas choice to join the Carmelite Order.
2.
From what you know from this topic and whatever else you know about the Carmelites, how do you think the Carmelite charism shaped the identity of Juan de Santo Mata?
3.
Reflect on the rejection by Juan de Sano Matas of an academic career despite his high qualifications to earn a doctorate in theology?
12
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 3:
I. II.
The Encounter with Teresa of Avila
After all, this love is the end for which we were created. (CB 29.3) Teresa of Avila A) Teresa of Avila was active in the early stages of the reform of the Carmelites in Spain. Teresa had been a nun in the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation just outside of the walls of Avila for several decades. A profound encounter with the divine when she was thirty-nine changed Teresa and initiated a life as one of the Churchs major mystics. B) The Incarnation was a very large monastery with more than a hundred and fifty nuns. Teresa and her friends discussed how to live a deeper life of prayer. Teresa was impressed by what she knew of the lives of the early hermits on Mount Carmel, and she wanted to recapture the spirit of these hermits. Teresa decided at first that her monasteries should have 12 nuns plus a prioress. Later to insure that the nuns could support themselves the number rose to 20. In 1562 Teresa founded in vila her first new monastery in 1562. The Carmelite Reform was underway. C) Teresa wanted her monasteries to be places where women could flourish in prayer. It soon became evident to her that these nuns would need spiritual guidance from competent and experienced Carmelites. Hence, she had to recruit Carmelite friars to join her reform so that they could act as guides and confessors for her new monasteries. D) Word reached Teresa of a young Carmelite friar who had a reputation for holiness. He was none other than fray Juan de Santo Mata. Teresa who was in Medina del Campo to found a new monastery arranged to meet Juan who had been there to celebrate his first mass, but he had not yet returned to Salamanca. E) The meeting between Teresa and John was truly memorable. Teresa described it in this way: when I spoke with this young friar, he pleased me very much. When Teresa told John of her need for friars, he responded that he was thinking of becoming a Carthusian monk. The young friar must have yearned for a solitude that he did not experience in his order at that time. F) John gave Teresa a conditional yes. He would join her reform if he didnt have to wait too long. If John were anything, he was single-minded; his priority clearly was prayer. Teresa was no slacker herself and was quickly moving ahead with her reform. G) After his meeting with Teresa, John returned to Salamanca where he studied theology for a year. Once he completed that year, he made himself available for Teresas reform. From then on Teresa and Johns names would forevermore be linked to each other. Yet, while John collaborated closely with Teresa, their relationship was not like that of Francis and Clare or Francis de Sales and Jane Frances de Chantal. Rather Teresas closest male confidante was fray Jerome Gracin.
13
STUDY
GUIDE
H) Teresas idea of reform was a return to what she knew, not quite accurately, as the primitive Carmelite Rule. To introduce Juan de Santo Mata to the spirit of the reform, Teresa invited Juan to accompany her when she made a new foundation in Valladolid. I) This was an opportunity to teach Father Fray John of the Cross about our way of life. She concluded that He was so good that I, at least could have learned much more from him than he from me. Yet this is not what I did, But I taught him about the lifestyle of the Sisters. In addition, Teresa wanted John to realize the importance that she placed on common recreation for her nuns. (Book of Her Foundations 13.5). Teresa was given a ramshackle barn in the tiny village of Duruelo, so far into nowhere that Teresa got lost when she went to view the building. The structure was in very bad shape. But La Madre, as Teresa was known, was determined to launch her reform of the friars so she accepted the gift.
J)
K) Teresa visited Duruelo after the friars took up residence. She was shocked at their austerity. She watched them praying unaware that snow covered their habits as they prayed. Thus was inaugurated the Discalced Carmelite friars. Juan de Santo Mata to symbolize his new identity from now on called himself Juan de la Cruz, John of the Cross just as Teresa, once her reform got underway, was no longer Doa Teresa de Ahumada y Cepeda but she was known simply as Teresa of Jesus. For Teresa and John Jesus was everything, as John wrote: After a long time he climbed a tree,/and spread his shining arms,/and hung by them, and died,/his heart an open wound with love. - Johns Poem, 7
14
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What thoughts come to mind as you ponder this reform of a religious order by a woman with no formal education and a collaborator twenty seven years younger than she?
2.
What do you think of Johns decision not to pursue an academic career in theology, considering he still had a significant impact on the subsequent theology of the mystical life?
3.
Ponder the significance of Teresas choice to call herself Teresa of Jesus and of Johns choice to call himself John of the Cross.
15
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 4:
I.
John and Teresa Collaborate on Reform
As the love of neighbor increases, so does the love of God, and as the love of God increases so does the love of neighbor. (A 3.23.1) Reform A) From the 14th century, Christians knew that the church and religious orders needed to be reformed. But enduring reform was elusive. Among the Carmelites there were a number of effective reforms but none were as enduing and as far-reaching as was needed. B) In the later middle ages, there was a tendency to put the emphasis on institutional and external reforms; something like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. These reforms failed to instill an enduring reform of the heart, of the inner self. C) Something new occurred in the sixteenth century. Among Protestants, Martin Luther and John Calvin fostered inner reform through the reading of the bible. Then among Catholics there was Ignatius of Loyola who understood that ministry in the church required a firsthand encounter with the Word of God. Teresa of Jesus called for a surrender to Gods love as a way to prepare for a more contemplative church, that is, a church that listens to God in prayer and surrenders to the God of love. D) Teresas reform called for small communities of women where contemplative prayer was fostered within an atmosphere of solitude, silence and simplicity. Young women were filling Teresas new monasteries. Teresa knew that these young women needed guidance especially as they entered the domain of mystical prayer. E) Teresa found a friar who fit the bill perfectly: John of the Cross. Teresas choice of a partner in the reform was indeed insightful and prophetic. The friar she chose would eventually be declared a saint and doctor of the church. F) John of the Cross was crucial not only as a guide for the nuns, he also had a key role among the young men who signed up for the reform. In 1571, one of Johns first assignments was to bring balance to a Discalced (barefoot) novitiate in Pastrana, where an unreasonable novice master imposed extreme ascetical practices on the novices. John restored sanity to the novitiate. G) For John of the Cross, asceticism and mortification are not ends in themselves; in fact he inveighed against the penance of the beasts. (N 1.6.2) John of the Cross espouses an asceticism of the heart, demanding indeed. What John sought was freedom of the heart, an empty, naked heart so that God can fill the human heart with love. That is Johns program. H) In 1571, against her will, Teresa was called back to the monastery of the Incarnation to be its prioress. Again Teresa realized that she needed help in fostering a deeper prayer life at the Incarnation. She arranged to have John of the Cross assigned as chaplain and confessor to the nuns of the Incarnation.
II.
16
STUDY
GUIDE
I)
John, now thirty years old, would spend the next five monumental years as spiritual guide at the Incarnation. First of all, John became privy to the inner life of Teresa as her confessor, e.g., on November 18, 1572, Teresa received the great grace of spiritual marriage, the final stage in the mystical life. When she writes of spiritual marriage, in the seventh dwelling places of The Interior Castle, Teresa reveals the Trinitarian character of this encounter. John treats of spiritual marriage in The Spiritual Canticle, 22-45. He taught that in spiritual marriage, one is transformed into her God, deified. John is one of the rare voices in Western Christianity who explicitly treats of the theme of deification, divinization. In the early church, it became commonplace to declare that God became human so that humans could become God. Properly understood deification means that the destiny of a Christian is to become like ones maker.
J)
K) In Avila, John did not confine himself to the guidance of the Carmelite nuns. He ministered to many others, including children to whom he taught reading and writing and the catechism. During his ministry there, an unusually beautiful young woman became infatuated with John and came to his little house at the Incarnation to pour out her heart in love. John gently turned the woman away, and later he confided to a friar friend that this young woman was very attractive. L) John of the Cross knew the depths of participation in the life of the Triune God and the journey to deification. He wrote: This is transformation in the three Persons in power and wisdom and love, and thus the soul is like God through this transformation. [deification] He created her in his image and likeness that she might attain such resemblance. (CB 39.4)
17
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Does the inability of the late middle ages to achieve enduring religious reform have any wisdom for us who struggle for authentic reform in the post-Vatican II era?
2.
How does one find the ascetical balance that John of Crosss asceticism of the heart embodies?
3.
Do you find the doctrine of deification, or divinization, appealing for your spiritual life?
18
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 5:
I.
John of the Cross: Prisoner
Anyone truly in love will let other things go in order to come closer to the loved one (CB 29.10) John of the Cross in Prison A) On the cold wintry day of December 2, 1577, John of the Cross was kidnapped from his tiny residence next to the Incarnation. The Friars of the Cloth, as Teresa called them, dragged John a distance of roughly sixty-eight miles to the Carmelite convent in Toledo. B) Johns kidnappers alleged that John was rebellious and that the Teresian Reform would ruin the Carmelite Order. In fairness, one must realize that the lines of authority at the time were inconsistent, and communication from a variety of sources was far from clear. That said, the treatment of John of the Cross was cruel and uncalled for. C) Religious orders had rooms designated as prison cells for recalcitrant members. First, John was placed in a prison cell and then taken to a room that was easier to monitor. John spent nine months secretively imprisoned at Toledo in a very small cell, approximately nine by six feet, with a small slit on one upper wall that allowed very little light in. D) During the same time that John was imprisoned in Toledo, El Greco, the painter, came to Toledo. In the 1940s, an early modern biographer of John of the Cross edited a book Three Mystics with illustrations by El Greco that show why many see El Grecos paintings as reminiscent of John of the Cross. E) John of the Crosss treatment at Toledo was inhuman; yet, reports of this ill treatment at Johns beatification proceedings may have exaggerated the facts. Yet, after Johns escape Teresa wrote to Gracin: I tell you that ever present to me is what they did with Fray John of the Cross, for I dont know how God bears with things like that.For all those nine months he was held in a little prison cell where small as he is, he could hardly fit. In all that time he was given no change of tunic, even though he had come close to the point of death. Only three days before his escape the sub-prior gave him one of his shirts. He underwent harsh scourges, and no one was allowed to see himSurely our Lord found in him the resources for such a martyrdom An investigation should be conducted to show the nuncio what those friars did to this saint. (Teresa, Letter 260) F) There is much paradox concerning the imprisonment of John of the Cross. The unjust and cruel treatment of John by his brothers could easily have turned him into an angry and even vengeful man. Added to the physical mistreatment, his loyalty and sincerity were severely called into question by his captors, and he was fed false information about what was going on in the reform. Even a resolute and well balanced friar could have been turned into a very bitter person. G) Yet, John of the Cross emerged from his terrible confinement a changed man, a holier and more loving person than he had been before his imprisonment. John of the Cross, after his
II.
19
STUDY
GUIDE
imprisonment, had not a vengeful bone in his body. Rather, he left his prison cell as someone who was madly in love with God and who treated everyone with exceptional kindness. From prison he brought with him poetry that revealed how deeply he had grown in love with his Beloved. H) The last three months of Johns imprisonment were less severe than the previous six months. A more humane friar was appointed as Johns jailer. This friar, John of Holy Mary, gave testimony at Johns beatification process in 1616. At that time, he attested to Johns holiness and his gratitude for everything that was done for him. This friar called John a saint, and he reported that John had given him a crucifix that John of the Cross wore under his scapular, a crucifix that may well have been a gift from Saint Teresa. In 1616, the benign jailer still cherished this gift from his prisoner. I) Although John did not compose his Dark Night poem in prison, imagery from his prison experience appears in the commentary and may have been a reflection of how he suffered in prison: a description of hanging in midair, unable to breathe (N 2.6.5), or of one liberated from a cramped prison cell, (N 2.1.1). He also wrote: they resembled one who is imprisoned in a dark dungeon, bound hands and feet, and able neither to move nor see nor feel any favor from heaven or earth. (N 2.7.3) This vivid imagery most likely was ingrained in him during the dark, dreadful days in Toledo. John of the Cross left his prison more of a God seeker than he had ever been before, carrying with him these lines from The Spiritual Canticle. (Stanza 1): Where have you hidden,/ Beloved, and left me moaning?/ You fled like the stag,/ after wounding me;/ I went out calling you, but you were gone.
J)
20
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What lessons does John of the Crosss experience and imprisonment hold for us in times of suffering?
2.
Can you think of ways that John must have tried to cope with his inhuman treatment in prison?
3.
What regimen would you use to grow in faith, hope and love were you to face unjust treatment?
21
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 6:
I.
John the Escapee
Who can free themselves from lowly manners and limitations if you do not lift them to yourself, my God, in purity of love. (Sayings, 26) Johns Escape from Prison A) The city of Toledo is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. During the latter, stifling time, in fact, in the days after the feast of the Assumption, August 16, 1578, John executed what he must have been planning for some time: an escape from his squalid cell. Perhaps his new, kindly jailer made it easier for him to manage such a daring escape. B) Johns confinement over nine months must have seemed to him interminable. But, then, almost in cinematic style, John made his way past two sleeping visitors, out a window, letting himself down the steep embankment with the aid of bed clothes, and looking all the time down to the Tajo River below. C) After jumping down along various walls, John made his way to the monastery of Discalced nuns, founded some nine years before by Teresa. The solicitous nuns gave John a warm welcome. John shared with the nuns poems he had composed in prison as he would do with other monasteries of Carmelite nuns who in turn asked John questions which led to his composing commentaries on his poems. D) John would have been easily detectable had he remained with the Carmelites nuns. They arranged for John to be taken to the Hospital de Santa Cruz where Don Pedro Gonzlez de Mendoza was the administrator. This kindly canon of the Toledo Cathedral took John in and provided him with care and a cover for six weeks. Don Pedro wanted John to stay with him longer so that he could gain back his health, but John insisted that he must be on his way to one of his own convents. E) Don Pedro would notlet the fragile friar travel alone, so he sent two of his servants to accompany John of the Cross, who was intent on attending a meeting of Discalced Carmelites at Almodvar del Campo. F) Teresa was unhappy that John left his refuge in Toledo: It grieved me deeply to learn of what Fray John had to suffer and that they are allowing him, as sick as he is, to go down there right away. Please God he doesnt die on us. Be sure, as a favor to me, that they take good care of him in Almodvar and that he doesnt go any further (sic). Dont fail to give the necessary orders. And be careful not to forget. I tell you that you would have few like him, if he were to die. (Teresa, Letter 267) G) Teresa could make much happen, but she did not sway the Discalced chapter from appointing John of the Cross as prior of the Carmelite convent at El Calvario (Calvary) in Andalusia, where he would spend the next decade of his life, a region in Spain where he always felt himself an exile. Castile was home to John of the Cross.
II.
22
STUDY
GUIDE
H) With the help of Don Pedros servants, the still weakened friar set out for El Calvario. On his way, he made a memorable stop at the monastery of Discalced Carmelite nuns at Beas de Segura, which would become a very important place for his ministry of spiritual guidance. At Beas, he impressed the nuns with his thoughts on what suffering can do for ones spiritual life. It seems to me, for John and for much of the Carmelite tradition of suffering and pain, while not good in themselves, can bring one into greater consciousness of Gods loving presence as if there were only a thin veil between one who suffers and God, the God who seeks always and everywhere to enter more deeply into the consciousness of the human person. I) The community of friars at El Calvario was only two years old when John arrived. Some few ruins of the convent are all that are left, but the view of the mountains facing the convent are now and were then spectacular, a view that John would have in mind as he thought about the commentary he would write entitled The Ascent of Mount Carmel. As the new prior, John replaced a superior who was caught up in extreme penitential practices. Once again, John brought balance and sanity to a community. It cannot be said too often that John rejected the penance of the beasts. Johns asceticism is of the heart.
J)
K) No amount of physical penance can do what only God can do with Gods lavish love. In his The Living Flame of Love (FB 3.28), john would remind his readers: know this you who search for God, God searches for you much more. (FB 3.28) L) John of the Cross wanted those he directed to struggle to be free of whatever was an obstacle to Gods love. John knew that ones heart can be held bound by the most trivial attachments. He puts it this way: It makes little difference whether a bird is tied by a thin thread or by a cord. The effort and grace to become empty for God is Johns doctrine of nakedness and poverty of spirit. M) For John, Bridal Mysticism provided the imagery of Gods lavish love. John wants one to be free so that one may receive that love and enter into a loving relationship with God. Thus, in The Spiritual Canticle, (27), John offers a poetic version of that love:There he gave me his breast/there, he taught me a sweet and living science;/ and I gave myself to him,/keeping nothing back; /I promised to be his bride.
23
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What do you think gave John of the Cross the courage to undertake an escape from his prison cell in Toledo?
2.
What reaction do you have to the proposal that suffering can bring one into a closer and more intimate relationship with God?
3.
Do you find it convincing that John of the Cross favored an asceticism of the heart rather than an emphasis on overly rigorous physical asceticism?
24
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 7:
I.
John of the Cross: Spiritual Guide
I want to introduce this topic from John of the Cross as spiritual guide with a prayer that John wrote as a prologue to his Sayings of Light and Love. This prayer reveals much about John and his agenda as a spiritual guide: A) O my God and my delight, for your love I have also desired to give my soul to composing these sayings of light and love concerning you. Since, although I can express them in words, I do not have the works and virtues they imply (which is what pleases you, O my Lord, more than the words and wisdom they contain), may others, perhaps stirred by them, go forward in your service and lovein which I am wanting. I will thereby find consolation, that these sayings may be an occasion for your finding in others the things that I lack. Lord, you love discretion, you love light, you love love; these three you love above the other operations of the soul. Hence these will be sayings of discretion for the wayfarer, of light for the way, and of love in the wayfaring. May there be nothing of worldly rhetoric in them or the long-winded and dry eloquence of weak and artificial human wisdom which never pleases you. Let us speak to the heart words bathed in sweetness and love that do indeed please you, removing obstacles and stumbling blocks from the paths of many souls who unknowingly trip and unconsciously walk in the path of errorpoor souls who think they are right in what concerns the following of your beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in becoming like him, imitating his life, actions, and virtues, and the form of nakedness and purity of spirit. Father of mercies, come to our aid, for without you, Lord, we can do nothing.
II.
Spiritual Guidance from John of the Cross A) John of the Cross, as a Carmelite, belonged to an order than had become a mendicant community like the Dominicans and Franciscans. Neither John nor Teresa ever suggested that Carmelites men should be anything other than friars. As friars they were and are active ministers in the church. As mentioned previously, John chose not to be an academic; rather his principal ministry was spiritual guidance for Carmelite women and men as well as for clergy and lay persons. We also know that John preached but we do not have any of his sermons which is what they would have been called at that time rather than homilies. B) During the decade that John of the Cross spent in Andalusia he was much involved in spiritual guidance but at the same time ministered to the Discalced Carmelites as a busy administrator. John of the Cross does not use the terminology of spiritual direction. Rather he writes of spiritual guidance and spiritual guides, spiritual teachers (maestros) and spiritual fathers. The Kavanaugh-Rodriquez English translation uses the word director but that word is not found in the Spanish text. C) Not only did John of the Cross offer spiritual guidance orally and personally, it is clear that he intended his poems and commentaries as written spiritual guidance. I suggest that John of the Crosss writings are there for those who wish to pray more deeply, that is, John of the Cross is still offering spiritual guidance.
25
STUDY
GUIDE
D) John of the Cross thought that there was more than enough written on ordinary prayer. His intent was to offer guidance for those who were called to contemplative and mystical prayer. John has little to say about the practice of meditation, other than offering signs when it is time to forsake meditation for contemplation. There is, however, a report on what John taught his novices about meditation. Fr. Ian Matthew offers a summary of that teaching. See Impact of God, p. 143. E) John of the Cross had a calm and tranquil personality. But, like Jesus, who was angry with the money changers in the temple, John could get angry. For an example of Johns strong displeasure, see the long digression in The Living Flame of Love, stanzas 27-67. There, John takes to task spiritual guides who impede the transition from meditation to contemplation, calling them blind guides and blacksmiths of the soul. These blind guides are obstacles to the life of the soul, which is the Holy Spirit (FB 3. 62), and the enemies of the soul can be ones director, the devil or ones self. F) John of the Cross felt that too many spiritual guides were inexperienced in contemplative prayer themselves, and were unable to apply the three signs of the onset of mystical contemplation that John is famous for: A 2.13; N 1.9, and Sayings119. John thought that a bumbling guide may keep one trapped in meditation when God is calling that person to mystical prayer. A distaste for prayer and spiritual matters may be a sign that God wants one to surrender to Gods love and to let God be the giver of contemplation and the person the receiver. God gives, we receive. G) John of the Cross knew what a great gift the life of mystical love/contemplation is for the person and the church. He wrote: a little of this pure love is more precious to God and the soul and more beneficial to the Church, even though it seems one is doing nothing, than all these other works put together. (CB 29.2) H) As a spiritual guide, John of the Cross had the custom of giving to those whom he guided slips of paper with pithy spiritual sayings for their reflection. He, as we have noted, called the spiritual wisdom on these slips of paper Sayings of Light and Love. It is likely that he was imitating, consciously or unconsciously, the custom of the fathers and mothers of the desert in this regard. I) What remain of Johns correspondence contain much spiritual guidance. His letters show him to be tender, gentle and compassionate but also holding up a high ideal. In fact, John intended his poems and the rest of his writings to be spiritual guidance. That is why he wrote. The writings of John of the Cross now constitute a rich source of spiritual guidance for anyone who wishes to pray more deeply and who understands how to approach these writings. They are a great aid for a more contemplative Christianity. I conclude this topic with Johns words known as Prayer of a Soul Taken with Love., You will not take from me, my God, what you once gave me in your only Son, Jesus Christ, in whom you gave me all I desire. Hence I rejoice that if I wait for you, you will not delay. (Sayings, 26)
J)
26
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. If John of the Cross were alive now, would you consider asking him to be your spiritual guide?
2.
Since all we now have are John of the Crosss writings, would you look to these writings as a source of personal spiritual guidance?
3.
What do you think of the recommendation that one take up Johns poems as spiritual guidance?
27
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 8:
I.
John of the Cross: Sojourn in Andulasia
I said: How can I sing,/in a strange land where I weep/for Zion, sing of the happiness/that I had there? Romance on Ps. 137 John of the Cross in Andulasia A) John of the Cross spent a decade (1578-1588) in the southern Spanish region called Andalusia. For most of his time there, John felt like an exile and missed his homeland of Castile. In 1581, John wrote to Catalina de Jess, a spiritual directee: be consoled with the thought that you are not as abandoned and alone as I am down here. For after that whale swallowed me up and vomited me out on this alien port, I have never merited to see her [Teresa] again or the saints up there. God has done well, for after all, abandonment is a steel file and the endurance of darkness leads to great light. (Letter 1) The whale is a reference to Jonah 2: 1-2 and his imprisonment in Toledo. B) John missed his fellow Carmelites in Castile, as well as his mother and Francisco. Teresa wrote to Padre Gracin about John being a stranger in Anadalusia: I forgot to ask you for something as an Easter gift; please God you will do it. You should know that up until now in consoling Fray John of the Cross for the suffering he endures living in Andalusia (for he cannot bear those people) I told him that as soon as we became a separate province I would see to it that he got back up here... (Teresa, Letter, 384.4) C) Johns homesickness in Andalusia revealed Johns most vulnerable and human side. These feelings echo a conviction of mysticism that mystical transformation is a journey into full humanity. Despite his negative feelings, this decade in Andalusia was very productive. During this time John was a very busy administrator; moreover, John composed some of his most beautiful poetry and commentaries while he was in Andalusia. Finally, as we will come to see, John would die in Andalusia. D) While John was superior at the Discalced convent of El Calvario, he also served as a spiritual guide and confessor to the Carmelite nuns at Beas de Segura. Each Saturday he made his way on foot some six miles over mountainous terrain to minister to the nuns. Ana of Jesus was the young prioress at Beas who, when John first stopped there on his way to El Calvario, took offense that John referred to Teresa as my daughter. Teresa soon put her young friend in her place. I was amused daughter, at how groundless is your complaining, for you have in your very midst mi padre Fray John of the Cross, a heavenly and divine man. I tell you, daughter, from the time he left and went down there I have not found anyone in all Castile like him, or anyone who communicates so much fervor for walking along the way to heaven. You will not believe the feeling of loneliness that his absence causes me. Realize what a great treasure you have there in that saint. (Teresa, Letter 277) E) John of the Cross and Ana of Jesus became very good friends, and he dedicated The Spiritual Canticle to her. In the prologue to that commentary, John wrote to Ana that even though Your Reverence lacks training in scholastic theology, through which the divine truths are
II.
28
STUDY
GUIDE
understood, you are not wanting in mystical theology, which is known through love and by which these truths are not only known but at the same time enjoyed. (N. 3) F) There is a record of a memorable conversation at Beas between John and Magdalene of the Holy Spirit, who made copies of Johns poems and some of his Sayings. Magdalene reported on this conversation as follows, The freshness of the words in this book [Johns poems], together with their beauty and subtlety, caused me great wonder, and one day I asked him if God gave him these words which were so comprehensive and so lovely. And he answered: Daughter, sometimes God gave them to me and at other times I sought them. (E. A. Peers, The Works of John of the Cross, vol. 3, p. 298) G) In 1579, John founded a Discalced Carmelite convent at the University of Baeza, a university that had been established by Saint John of Avila, to provide pastoral education and formation. During the three years that John was the rector of this house, he made a deep impression on the academics and others in Baeza. There, John was given property outside the town where he and his student friars could relax, pray, and admire nature. John loved nature and derived many images from creation. H) In 1582, when Teresa was unavailable, John took Ana of Jesus with him to found a monastery of nuns in Granada. Later that year, Teresa of Jesus died, much to the grief of John and Teresas nuns. Only a few years before in 1580, John lost the most important woman in his life, his mother Catalina. She died during a severe epidemic of influenza that struck Spanish cities severely in that year. You could say that much of Johns gentleness and compassion was instilled in him by Catalina. There are reports of John caring for influenza victims during 1580, insisting that his friars eat meat to stay healthy, which they ordinarily abstained from, and telling stories and jokes to take their minds off their suffering. I) In 1582, John became prior of the Carmelite convent of Los Mrtires on a site near the Alhambra looking out over the lovely city of Granada. John spent six years at this unbelievably beautiful site where he built an aqueduct that brought water to the convent. In these gorgeous surroundings, which include the snow-capped mountains of the Sierra Nevada, John composed most of his commentaries and some of his most magnificent poetry. I leave you with a brief sample of that beauty, Stanza 13 of The Spiritual Canticle, My Beloved, the mountains/and lonely wooded valleys/ strange islands/and resounding rivers,/the whistling of love-stirring breezes.
J)
29
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What can we learn from Johns feeling of exile in Andalusia and his productivity there?
2.
Does it help to recall that John of the Cross, who has acquired in modern times a reputation for harshness, had close and mature relationships with the women in his life?
3.
What does it mean that John of the Cross, a mystics mystic, had so profound an appreciation for the beauty of creation?
30
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 9:
I.
John of the Cross: Poet
John of the Cross, doctor of desire, wrote with simple beauty of his desire for the Trinitarian life that he saw in the Eucharist: This living spring that I long for,/I see in this bread of life,/ although it is night. (Poem 8, stanza 11) Poetry of John of the Cross A) A favorite phrase of John of the Cross was un no s qu, in English, I dont know what. John used this phrase to share with his readers the great and gracious mystery that he encountered in God. These encounters were so ineffable and inexpressible that he had to resort to images, symbols, and especially to poetry to communicate at least partially the goodness and beauty that he encountered. When he becomes almost silent at the conclusion of The Living Flame of Love, John wrote: I do not desire to speak of this spiration, filled for the soul with good and glory and delicate love of God, for I am aware of being incapable of doing so; and were I to try, it might seem less than it is. (4.17) B) John of the Cross not only had a special gift of transforming encounters with God, he also had a gift that Thomas Aquinas called gratia sermonis, that is, the grace of speech, or, a gift for expressing to others something of the mystery of divine encounters. C) From the late 17th century until the middle of the 20th century, there was an eclipse of mysticism in Christianity. People becane suspicious of mysticism, resulting in the view that mysticism was the preserve of the elite Christians, only the few. The mystical writings of John of the Cross were held hostage to that suspicion. Some religious followers and seminarians were encouraged not to read John of the Cross. John was neglected for far too long. D) In the late 19th century, Johns poetry was re-discovered by Spanish literary critics who were stunned by the beauty and power of his writing. This discovery led Spanish poets of the first half of the 20th century to revel in the lush poetry of the Carmelite friar. Today, Johns poetry remains a staple of Spanish education. Some of Johns poetry ranks among the best in the world and certainly is prized as some of the very best in Spain. E) John of the Cross encountered great poetry himself, especially classical Latin poetry, while he studied at the Jesuit College in Medina del Campo. During his four years as a student at the University of Salamanca, John would also have heard fellow students singing love poems. There was at Salamanca an enthusiasm for the evolving Castilian language and a love affair with vernacular poetry. Castilian was still a malleable language that was handmade for someone like John, who wanted to share his mystical encounters with those he guided. F) One Spanish critic has called John the greatest of brief poets. The total of his poetry amounts to only a dozen poems, depending how we count them. John probably wrote more poems but only this small portion is extant. We first hear of Johns composition of verse from a note that Saint Teresa sent to her brother Lorenzo: [here] is a little song by Fray John of the Cross that they sent me from the Incarnation. Tell him that I told you I greatly enjoyed it. I would like Francisco [Lorenzos son] to sing it for you. (Teresa. Letter 171) Teresas Carmels sang
II.
31
STUDY
GUIDE
especially at recreation. Teresa wrote to Lorenzo again, saying, the sisters sing everything. This custom was still in vogue in 19th century France, when Thrse of Lisieux composed poems to be sung in her monastery. No melodies with which Johns poetry would have been sung are extant. G) In the past, Johns poetry was divided into what were called his major and minor poems. The major poems were those on which John wrote commentaries: the Dark Night, the Spiritual Canticle, and the Living Flame of Love. These poems have a power, intensity and beauty that makes them unique. The rest of his poetry was considered minor and of less value. What was not appreciated was that these so-called minor poems were of differing genres, and were romances and ballads instead of purely religious. Remarkable literary riches have been discovered in some of these once unappreciated poems. H) When were Johns poems composed? There are only two extant poems that were written before Johns imprisonment. Most of Johns poems were composed during his imprisonment in Toledo, which he shared with the Carmelite nuns in Toledo, Beas, and elsewhere. This program will begin with the romances that John composed in prison. They can be considered a kind of catechism for understanding Johns thought. I) Juan de la Cruz makes huge claims for some of his poetry. He says that the Spiritual Canticle was composed with a certain burning love of God, and that its lines are expressions of love arising from mystical understanding. (CB, Prologue 1-2.) Of the Living Flame of Love, John says that these stanzas treat of a love deeper in quality and more perfect within this very state of transformation [mystical marriage]. (Prologue, 3) In regard to the poem the Dark Night, John writes that the soul recites them [the stanzas] when it has reached the state of perfectionthat is, union with God through love (N, prologue) John of the Cross poetry offers readers a vicarious participation in his mystical experience. It is best to begin our study of John of the Cross by becoming thoroughly familiar with his poetry not reading his commentaries after attaining a familiarity with the poems. Johns poetry fully deserves a place of primacy among his writings. He wanted his readers to accord, as he did, this primacy to his poetry.
J)
K) Johns poems are also useful for personal prayer. Take a line or so and recite them like a mantra. That way, like music, these lines do their work long after we finish reciting them. John sang of the spring of life and love that arose in the Triune God when he wrote, I know that nothing else is so beautiful,/and that the heavens and the earth drink there, although it is night. (Poem 8, stanza 3)
32
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What do to think of the advice that you should become thoroughly acquainted with Johns poetry before moving onto his commentaries?
2.
Do you think that you can find a way to comfortably pray with lines of Johns poetry?
3.
What do you make of John of the Crosss claim that some of his poetry was written directly out of his mystical encounters with God?
33
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 10:
I.
Love is as Strong as Death
The soul would consider all the difficulties of the world, the fury of the demons, and infernal afflictions nothing if by passing through them she could plunge into the unfathomable spring of love. In this respect it is said in the Song of Songs : Love is as strong as death. (CB 12.9) Love and Death A) John of the Cross was convinced that it is for love that we were created (CB 29.3); not any love, but the love that God grants to one transformed in God, the love of spiritual marriage. All other love is oriented toward this love. The biblical assertion that love is as strong as death needs some explanation. At the time the Song of Songs were composed, men and women were defined by death. At that time, there was no thought of afterlife. But, according to the Song, we are defined by love, or as John of the Cross says: In the evening of life we shall be examined on love. (Sayings, 60) B) The Song of Songs tradition, known also as Bridal Mysticism, was introduced more fully into the Carmelite tradition by Teresa of Avila, and brought to perfection by San Juan de la Cruz. Jewish prophets used the imagery of God as spouse to Israel as bride. This was a way of communicating the power, beauty, intensity and fidelity of Gods love for Gods people. The symbolism of human marital love points to the God who loves his creation lavishly. As the Carmelite scholar Father Roland Murphy wrote: human love and divine love mirror each other. Murphy added, the love that forms human partnership and community, and that sustains the whole of creation, is a gift of Gods own self. C) Starting with Origen, the early Church saw the Song of Songs as a blueprint for the love that Christ has for the Church and for individual Christians. Origen and the tradition have proposed that the love of a woman and a man, as described so vividly in the Song of Songs, is a way to express the beauty, power and intensity of love between Christ and the Church, between Christ and individuals, and even at times has been used of the Blessed Virgin. D) The mystical tradition latched on to this Bridal Mysticism as the best way to create a Christian imagination about love and its primacy. Bernard of Clairvaux is probably the best known proponent of Bridal Mysticism with his Sermons on the Song of Songs. Bernards sermons were spread throughout sixteenth century Spain. My hypothesis is that Teresa and John brought Bridal Mysticism more fully into the Carmelite tradition in a way that it had not been before. E) John of the Cross would have heard much about the Song of Songs when he was a student at the University of Salamanca. The Augustinian friar and university professor Luis de Len got into trouble, in part, for translating the Song of Songs into Spanish. F) Fray Juan de la Cruz used the Song of Songs and its tradition extensively, and never apologized for doing so. John spoke of the divine Song of Solomon, (CB, Prologue,1) and of the bride of the divine Song of Songs. (CB 1.5) Johns bridal imagery helped him to
II.
34
STUDY
GUIDE
express the mystery of divine and human love. It may have been that Johns bridal imagination shaped the way he encountered God. G) When John of the Cross lay dying in beda with only a very brief time to live, he asked that the Song of Songs be recited for him. He listened avidly and commented: Oh, what precious pearls. H) Some contemporary voices have suggested that Bridal Mysticism has had its day, that this erotic language and symbolism will no longer be effective in a sex-soaked culture. One author prefers the friendship imagery of Thomas Aquinas. While bridal Mysticism predominates in John of the Cross, my response, which I have published elsewhere, is that we cannot afford to jettison a tradition that has served the Jewish and Christian imaginations so well for so long. It would be a loss if we were to say that human sexuality no longer has the power stir the imagination about divine love. I) Moreover, without an appreciation for the Song of Songs one can no longer understand the poetry and other writings of John of the Cross. John wants his directees to know that God loves them passionately and lavishly. John of the Cross would have his readers appreciate the power of Johns Gospel, 17:23 that the Father loves us in the same way that the Father loves the Son. (CB 39.5) Take away the Song of Songs and its imagery and one would be left with an empty shell. John of the Cross chose Bridal Mysticism as his way of plumbing the heights and depths of the divine-human love affair. Thus in his celebration of this love, wrote: There he gave me his breast;/ there he taught me a sweet and living knowledge;/ I gave myself to him;/keeping nothing back;/there I promised to be his bride. (CB 27)
J)
35
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. As a reader of John of the Cross, do you feel a need to be better informed about the Song of Songs and its tradition?
2.
Reflect on the need to appreciate the power of human sexuality as a metaphor for the power, intensity, and beauty of divine love.
3.
Do you think that the Song of Songs tradition can be a way of having a more positive appreciation for human sexuality?
36
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 11:
I.
The Dark Night According to John of the Cross
O guiding night!/O night more lovely than the dawn!/O night that has united/the Lover with his beloved,/transforming the beloved in her Lover. (N, 5) The Dark Night A) The sumptuous beauty of John of the Crosss Dark Night poem has placed this poem among the worlds great poetic achievements. And Johns own experience has enabled him to provide a commentary on the poem that guides spiritual seekers through the pain and joys of the dark nights. In this program, we will refrain from calling this experience the Dark Night of the Soul, and instead refer to it as the Dark Night, Johns preferred terminology. B) Johns pervasive use of soul for the whole human person is important for understanding his texts. While John may not have said so in the vivid terms of Thomas Aquinas, he would have agreed with Thomass bottom line: If only my soul is saved, I am not saved at all. The dark nights of sense and of spirit concern the whole human person. C) In modern times, there has been a tendency to apply the dark night imagery to any impasse in life, e.g., nuclear warfare, ethnic cleansing, pandemics, cancer, alcoholism, addictions, etc. While that usage can be appropriate, we need to keep in mind that John of the Cross uses this imagery to describe progress in contemplative prayer, when meditation is set aside for the gift of contemplation. For John of the Cross, the onset of the dark night signifies the need to surrender to Gods love, realize Gods gift of contemplation, and give way to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. D) Famously, John of the Cross has offered three signs to indicate the onset of the dark nights. With these signs, John helps spiritual guides understand that it is time to forgo meditation and to let God take over in prayer. John offers these signs in The Ascent of Mount Carmel (2.13), the Dark Night, (1.9) and Sayings 119. John describes how a person 1) finds meditation difficult or impossible 2) no longer finds joy in spiritual matters, and yet 3) maintains a strong desire to be with God. E) Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross set a very firm line between what we can do in prayer with Gods ordinary grace and what God in and through us does (supernaturally) on the journey to union with God in love. The Dark Night of the Senses begin this process with a purifying and liberating love that heals the senses of the obstacles to Gods love. F) In The Dark Night of the Spirit, Gods inflow of love cures our spiritual capacities of deeper obstacles. For John of the Cross, The Dark Night of the Spiritis the real night. This is when Gods love works deep within the human person to heal its spiritual faculties of intellect, will, and memory. John of the Cross is similar to Augustine in his us of these three faculties, while more people are used to the two-tier faculties of body and soul, as can be seen in Thomas Aquinas.
II.
37
STUDY
GUIDE
G) Thus far we have explored Johns use of darkness imagery as he used it in the Dark Night. In The Ascent of Mount Carmel 1.2.1-4, John uses night language more broadly: 1) to describe the departure from attachment 2) to describe faith for the intellect, and 3) to describe God, who is a dark night to the soul in this life (God as mystery) H) John of the Cross assures his readers that the dark nights are always about light, life, and love. However, Gods light is so strong that ones human sight is darkened. The pain of the dark night comes from the human resistance to Gods love by being attached to human rather than divine ways of being. God persists in curing and healing the human person so that we may be liberated from whatever is an obstacle to Gods love. That is the divine work of the dark nights. I) The Dark Night commentary, like The Ascent of Mount Carmel, is an unfinished document. John of the Cross was not a patient writer. He had other things to do, and he frequently indicates that he does not want to linger over his writing. There is an obvious difference between the love story of the Dark Night poem and the story in The Ascent of Mount Carmel. In the Dark Night, a woman sets out in the night seeking her lover. They meet and embrace with the beloved transformed in her lover. This is a sensual story woven from the imagery of the Song of Songs. The poem is an extended metaphor of the soul in search of God as Lover. The poem ends on this note: I abandoned and forget myself,/laying my face on my Beloved;/ all things ceased; I went out from myself,/leaving my cares/forgotten among the lilies. John explains in the prologue to the Dark Night that we should remember that the soul recites them [stanzas] when it has already reached the state of perfectionthat is, union with God through loveand has now passed through the severe trials and conflicts, that is, the poem was composed when the dark nights were completed and with love one flies (volar) to God. (N 2.25.4)
J)
38
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Restate for yourself the three signs that John has articulated for the transition from meditation to contemplation.
2.
Describe why, when it is Gods love that flows into ones heart, the dark nights are painful.
3.
Ask yourself how, even if one is a lifelong meditator, one can still learn about divine love from the dark nights.
39
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 12: From the Search for the Hidden Christ to the
Manifestation of Christs Beauty
I.
One day, John of the Cross asked Sister Francisca of the Mother of God what her prayer was like. She responded: In considering the beauty of God and in rejoicing that He has such Beauty. In reply, John spoke ecstatically about the Beauty of God, and then he composed the last five stanzas of the Spiritual Canticle, stanzas 36-40. I begin this topic with CB, stanza 36: A) Let us rejoice, Beloved,/and let us go forth to behold ourselves in your beauty/to the mountain and to the hill,/to where pure water flows,/and further, deep into the thicket.
II.
The Hidden Christ and Christs Beauty A) What all transpired physically, emotionally and spiritually during the long cold, wintry months and during the stifling hot summer days of John of the Crosss cruel imprisonment at Toledo has to be left to our imaginations. What we know for sure is that when he escaped undernourished, gaunt, fatigued and seriously in need of medical attention, he brought with him gorgeous poetry that is a report of his spiritual transformation, especially the 31 stanzas of the Spiritual Canticle. B) The Spiritual Canticle is a title derived from the Latin Canticum Canticorum, the Canticle of Canticles, also known as the Song of Songs. Johns poem is a precious gem of Spanish poetry, well known to Spanish students. In addition to its beauty as sheer poetry, the Spiritual Canticle tells the story of the bride who searches for her lover (Stanzas 1-12), enters into the relationship known as spiritual betrothal (stanzas 13-21), and finally is united to her lover in spiritual marriage (stanzas 22-40). We know those divisions from John of the Crosss commentary on the poem. C) This poem shows John at his very best as a poet who mined the scriptures, especially the Song of Songs, for their wisdom. He finds vignettes and symbols in the scriptures that enable him to tell the story of his own mystical transformation. Clearly, he wants the reader to learn about Gods love by joining him in both the poetry and commentary. D) There are two versions of the poem and commentary. The earlier version is known as Canticle A (CA), and the later version known as Canticle B (CB). Both versions of the poem appear in the Kavanaugh-Rodriquez translation, but only the commentary on CB is included. There had been some doubt about the authenticity of CB, but scholars no longer have any doubts about its being the work of John of the Cross. E) As an alumnus of the University of Salamanca, Juan de la Cruz belonged to a tradition that knew how important prologues were to readers, and knew that the author owed it to readers to give significant guidance in reading the work at hand. In the heading to the prologue to the Spiritual Canticle, we learn that this commentary was written at the request of Mother Ana de Jess, prioress of the discalced Carmelite nuns of St. Josephs in Granada.
40
STUDY
GUIDE
F) We have already indicated that this prologue was composed with a burning mystical love; John told Ana that she would benefit from this text, even though she had not been schooled in scholastic theology, because she was not wanting in mystical theology, which is known through love. John wants his readers to know that he offers his commentary as one interpretation of the poem, but that others can find their own unique interpretations as well. G) For guidance from John of the Cross on the stages of the journey to spiritual marriage, we turn to CB 22.3. John tells his readers that the soulbecomes divine, God through participation, in so far as is possible in this life. Note that John of the Cross represents a fairly rare case of a western author seeing the journey in grace as a process of deification, divinization, or becoming God-like. H) The Spiritual Canticle also shows how spiritual marriage brings one deeply into the life and love of the Triune God, where daringly John sees the human person gifted with a certain mutuality and certain equality with God, aspects of the friendship with God that are attained in this stage. I) John of the Cross sees in this culmination of the spiritual life that one has come to the anteroom of heaven. Such is the song of the soul in the transformation that is hers in this life, the delight of which is beyond all exaggeration. Yet since this song is not as perfect as the new song of the glorious life, the soul in this bliss becomes mindful of the new song of glory, hearing faintly in the song of this life the excellence of the possession of glory, which is incomparably more precious. (CB 39.10) The Spiritual Canticle has numerous truly memorable lines, such as Christ drawing the person to himself, and descriptions in lines such as this, the tranquil night/at the time of the rising dawn,/silent music,/sounding solitude,/ the supper that refreshes and deepens love. (CB 15)
J)
41
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Read the prologue to The Spiritual Canticle carefully, and make a list of things that John of the Cross wants his readers to know.
2.
How can one become comfortable with the language of spiritual betrothal and spiritual marriage?
3.
Ponder any one stanza from The Spiritual Canticle and ask yourself, what does it mean in the context of the journey to transformation in God through love?
42
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 13: How Gently and Lovingly You Awake in my
Heart
I.
It should be known that if anyone is seeking God, the Beloved is seeking that person much more. (FB 3.28) A) In the prologue to his final poem and commentary, The Living Flame of Love, John of the Cross, as with the climax of The Spiritual Canticle, brings his readers to the very vestibule of heaven. In the prologue to the Flame, John anticipates a question: Why, when already he had written about spiritual marriage, is he doing so once more in the Flame? John responds that he treats in this poem and commentary the highest degree of perfection one can reach in this life (transformation in God), [because] these stanzas treat of a love deeper in quality and more perfect within this very state of transformation. (FB Prologue) John wants us to know that there are degrees in spiritual marriage as one descends deeper and deeper into the gracious Mystery who is God. B) In the heading to the prologue of the Flame we learn that the commentary was requested by his friend and benefactor Doa Ana del Mercado y Pealosa who, in the prologue, he calls a very noble and devout lady. Once again, John wants to address the ineffability of the encounter with God: Since they [the stanzas] deal with matters so interior and spiritual, for which words are usually lackingin that the spiritual surpasses the senseI find it difficult to say something of their content; also, one speaks badly of the intimate depths of the spirit if one does not do so with a deeply recollected soul. (FB, Prologue) C) Thus in the Flame, John of the Cross shares with his directees the most profound encounter John had with Jesus Christ of which we know today. This is a poem and commentary more to be prayed over than studied. John reminds his reader that this flame is the Spirit of the Bridegroom, who is the Holy Spirit. (Flame 1.3) In fact, this commentary is in so many ways a treatise on the Holy Spirit who is the principal guide of souls. (Flame 3.46) The Spanish scholar Federico Ruiz calls The Living Flame of Love Johns Magnificat, that great New Testament hymn of praise and thanksgiving spoken by the Blessed Virgin. (Ephemerides Carmeliticae 13 (1962), 257-298. D) Because the Flame reports on Johns deepest encounter with God as relayed to us in his poem and explained in his commentary, it should be one of the first of Johns writings that you read. Dantes Divine Comedy is similar in that we do not truly understand the Inferno and the Purgatorio until we had read the Paradiso. Note how John becomes more and more wordless as he approaches the end of The Living Flame of Love. E) In the Flame, poem and commentary, one meets John of the Cross, blessed and graced with spiritual marriage, encountering Christ the Bridegroom. Some readers of John of the Cross at first seem to notice what seems like an absence of Jesus Christ. But, attention to Johns symbolism reveals that, while the words Jesus and Jesus Christ do not appear frequently, synonyms are everywhere: Son, Son of God, Word, Lord, Bridegroom, Spouse, Bridegroom, Savior, Messiah, etc. In Ascent 2.22.5, John has the Father say: Fasten your eyes on him alone
43
STUDY
GUIDE
because in him I have spoken and revealed all and in him you will discover even more than you ask for and desireFor he is my entire locution. For John of the Cross the Christian experiences God in Christ. F) For some time, the thurough permeation of The Living Flame of Love by the Song of Songs was not appreciated. By consulting the Spanish text of the Song of Songs, it becomes clear that the Song of Songs is the medium through which John shares his encounter with Christ in the poem and in the commentary. G) There is no doubt that popularly John of the Cross is best known for his Dark Night doctrine, but John uses the Spanish fuego, fire, some 310 times in his writings and luz, light, 436 times. Not only because of these images, but for many reasons like the Flame, John of the Cross is every bit the doctor of fire and light as he is the doctor of darkness and night. In the Flame, as elsewhere, John uses the imagery of the burning log of wood very effectively. H) John of the Cross sees the flame who is the Holy Spirit bathing the soul in glory and refreshing it with the quality of divine life. John tells us that the acts of love produced by the Holy Spirit are most precious; one of them is more meritorious and valuable than all the deeds a person may have performed in the whole of life without this transformation, however great that may have been. (FB 1.3 and see CB 29.2) I) The fourth and final stanza of the Flame may be a sacramental statement about the teaching in the tradition of the birthing of the Son of God in the womb or breast of the human heart. It is thought that John took the Spanish seno (bosom, breast even womb at times)from Johns Gospel 1: 18 where we hear: It is God the only Son who is close to the Fathers bosom (seno), who has made him known. One hears of this teaching in Flame 4: How gently and lovingly/you wake in my heart,/where in secret you dwell alone;/and in your sweet breathing, filled with good and glory,/how tenderly you swell my heart with love.
44
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What do you make of the suggestion that The Living Flame of Love is a text to be prayed with, especially the poem?
2.
What do you think of Johns insistence that the Flame is the key role of the Holy Spirit in the spiritual life?
3.
What impressed you most in the poem and commentary we call The Living Flame of Love?
45
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 14: How to Read John of the Cross

I.
With Gods help, then, we will propose doctrine and counsel for beginners and proficients that they may understand or at least know how to practice abandonment to Gods guidance when he wants them to advance. (A, Prologue 4) Reading John of the Cross A) Some thing in the psyche of Christians who want to pray more deeply and to advance in the spiritual life says that they ought to take a look at John of the Cross. After all, Johns poetry and commentaries have become Christian classics. Like other classics, Johns texts were composed in a very different time and in a culture very different from our own. Just as scripture scholars need to develop a hermeneutics, principles of interpretation, to help better interpret the scriptures, we must approach Johns writings with some basic principles for better understanding John of the Cross. B) I have met many people who say that John of the Cross is not their cup of tea, or who started to read John and gave up quickly. Those experiences are unfortunate. Usually, those who start to read John (and stop soon thereafter) do so because they begin by reading The Ascent of Mount Carmel. My work with the North American Forum has taught me some ways in which we can enhance our study of John of the Cross, which I have listed here. C) Take Johns Prologues seriously. There is useful advice in these prologues for understanding what John is trying to say. Pay special attention to the prologue to The Spiritual Canticle. D) John of the Cross life and writings are all about prayer.We need to approach these writings in a spirit of prayer and to pray as we read John, or else what he has to say will seem like abstract theory. E) We need to read John with a listening heart, a leb somea, the words that Solomon used when he responded to God in a dream. God made Solomon the wise man that he was because he wanted a leb somea. (1 Kgs 3.9) John of Crosss poetry and commentaries must be read very attentively considering how much wisdom is condensed in those texts. As John noted, there are many levels of meaning in his texts. (CB, Prologue) F) We must take John at his word when he says that there has been more than enough written about ordinary prayer. He decided to write from his experience about contemplative or mystical prayer. John had reason to make that choice because he had the gift of mystical prayer and also the gratia sermonis, the gift of speech that was described in a previous topicthe gift of sharing with others what one has experienced. John was a wise man who taught what he experienced, what he knew first hand. Mysticism has much to teach all of us and we might keep in mind Karl Rahners conviction that the Christian of the future will be a mystic or she will be nothing at all. The life of grace is a continuum from baptism to contemplation. Significantly, John says that grace of baptism and the grace of contemplation are the same grace. (CB 23.6) So mysticism has much to tell us who are trying to grow in our baptismal grace.
II.
46
STUDY
GUIDE
G) I have noticed that students often pass over the biblical citations in Johns writings without paying much, if any, attention to them. John of the Cross could not disagree more. Over and over again he stresses in his prologues that he bases his doctrine on scripture. It is interesting that John of the Cross imitates his professors at the University of Salamanca, who wrote commentaries on the scriptures verse by verse. John commented on his poetry in the very same way. When he turned to scripture he cited it sometimes with a quotation or sometimes with a mere phrase. It is good to take the biblical context of those few words into account. We ought to also know that John knew there was a literal interpretation of scripture, but was interested moreso in their spiritual interpretation. John had only two books of the Bible, and a collection of the lives of the saints, but he also had a Biblical imagination, which is a goal for every Christian. H) To understand John of the Cross on his own terms, we need a familiarity with the Song of Songs and its tradition. These contain key metaphors and symbols used by Juan de la Cruz. I) There is a need to recognize the various genres used by John of the Cross and their places within his writings. First of all, we must recognize the primacy of his poetry and develop a way of becoming thoroughly conversant with this poetry. Comments will be made below on the various genres when I recommend an order in which to read Johns writings. There is also a decided benefit in reading John, especially his poetry, in Spanish. John of the Cross does not want to discourage his readers. In the prologue to the Ascent, John says this: Readers should not be surprised if this doctrine on the dark nightappears somewhat obscure. Thiswill be the case as they begin to read, but as they read on they will understand it better since the latter parts will explain the former.I find that the order with which one reads John is critical. So I will now make a suggestion about that order: 1) Much has already been said about the primacy of the poems. In 1993, John Paul II declared John of the Cross patron of Spanish poets and song writers, something the Spanish government had done in 1952. 2) I would turn next to the surviving letters of John of the Cross, of which there are aound 33. Here one can listen to Johns advice to directees. These letters show John as a compassionate and caring correspondent. 3) The Dark Night, poem and commentary. Here we find John sharing his insights into the liberation of the human person by Gods love. Recall how important it is to read all the prologues before taking up any of the commentaries. 4) The Spiritual Canticle: Version B, poem, and commentary. Aided by the rich symbolism mined from the Song of Songs, John describes the whole contemplative journey to transforming union in God through love. 5) The Sayings of Light and Love. Johns pithy spiritual guidance that he shared with his directees. 6) The Ascent of Mount Carmel, a commentary on the Dark Night. Save reading this text till now. John had not yet found his rhythm as a commentator when he
J)
47
STUDY
GUIDE
composed this work. Moreover, John of the Cross is here exploring the freedom that humans need to let God love them as God wishes. Human freedom is no easy task, much talked about but more often than not avoided in practice. 7) The Living Flame of Love. In this stunningly beautiful poem and commentary John celebrates a journey that takes one to a time when one knows creatures through God and not God through creatures. (4.5) Now ones transformation in God through love has restored ones ability to love all things without inordinate attachments. K) When we read John of the Cross, we need to remember that John was writing primarily for the nuns and friars of the Discalced Carmelite Reform, and then for others who espoused a contemplatively oriented life. Modern readers must make the appropriate adjustments in reading John without, however, watering down Johns teachings. L) Other suggestions for a more profitable reading of John of the Cross are scattered throughout these lectures. It is such a delight to listen to the poetry of Juan de la Cruz, and to paraphrase Gerard Manley Hopkins, The poetry of John of the cross is charged with the grandeur of God. M) I will close these notes on reading John of the Cross with a letter written to a Discalced nun in Segovia during October or November of 1591, Have great love for those who contradict and fail to love you, for in this way love is begotten in a heart that has no love. God so acts with us, for he loves us that we might love by means of the very love he bears toward us. (Letter 33)
48
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Which one of Johns poems do you think you would most like to read? Why?
2.
Which ones of Johns poems do you think you would least like to read? Why?
3.
Have you ever felt like you didnt want to finish a poem or other piece of writing? What made you feel that way?
4.
After listening to this program, do you think it will be easier for you to read poems and commentaries by John of the Cross?
49
STUDY
GUIDE
Topic 15: John of the Cross Prays Matins in Heaven

I.
As John of the Cross became aware that his life was coming to a close, he realized more than ever the wisdom of his saying that he had shared with others: When evening comes you will be examined in love. (Sayings, 60) A) In 1588, John of the Cross left Andalusia to become prior of the Carmelite convent in Segovia. In that same year he was elected first councilor in a new form of government among the Discalced Carmelites. B) John, now prior in Segovia, returned to his beloved Castile. The Carmelites had come to Segovia several years before to take over a rundown discarded convent. John of the Cross was commissioned to oversee the construction of a new convent and church. Besides leading a large community and head up the new construction, John continued to offer spiritual guidance to the many who sought his advice. He acquired new property and liked to work in the garden. Yet, John, as always, found time for solitude and prayer. There were caves on the property, where shepherds used to take refuge in the cold weather. John was in the habit of frequenting one of those caves as a place for prayer. C) Johns directee Ana del Mercado y Pealosa moved to Segovia to be near him for guidance. Ana was a wealthy widow who underwrote significantly Johns building projects in Segovia. When John died, Ana insisted that Johns body be brought back to Segovia. One can visit Johns remains at the monastery of the Carmelite nuns in Segovia. D) While John was prior in Segovia, his brother Francisco was able to visit him. Francisco and his wife, Ana Izquierda, had lost five children. John was able to console his pious and simple brother who was very, very dear to John. Johns warm and caring relationship with Francisco and his mother, Catalina, as well as his loving care for his fellow friars offer a balanced perspective on Johns teaching on detachment. John encouraged his disciples to become free in their order relationships so that there was space for God to fill them with His love. John was convinced that our love of Jesus puts in order all other relationships. E) The years in Segovia were a happy time for John. For one thing, he did not have the hassle of constant travel. But troubling days were ahead. In Madrid, in June of 1591, Fray Nicholas Doria was re-elected superior of the Discalced Carmelites while, to the puzzlement of many, John of the Cross did not receive a single office. F) The 1591 chapter decided to heed the request for friars to be sent to Mexico. John happily was chosen to become a missioner to Mexico, and John made plans for departure. However, this mission had to be scuttled and, in any case, John became too ill to travel to the New World. G) Free of administrative positions, John chose to go to the convent at La Peuela, a very out of the way location that today is a small town known as La Carolina. John much enjoyed his time at La Peuela where he had some time to do a little editing of his writing, probably The Living Flame of Love.
50
STUDY
GUIDE
H) Three of Johns surviving letters are from La Peuela. In one of these letters, to Doa Ana del Mercado y Pealosa, John wrote of his work in the garden and his gathering of chick peas. John was never adverse to manual labor, obvious in his construction of the aqueduct at Los Mrtires and the heavy construction work at Segovia. I) It was at La Peuela that John contracted erysipelas on his right leg and foot, a disease that we now know is caused by a streptococcus infection. When the infection worsened, John was persuaded to travel to beda, an urban area not far away. A young boy was enlisted to travel with John. The youngster tried to get John to take something to eat, and John replied that he would like to have some asparagus. The boy found some on a rock and, as instructed by John, left a few coins on the rock as compensation. In September of 1591, John arrived in beda, a place he was never to leave. Even in these final months of his life, the gentle, sensitive and compassionate John suffered at the hands of his brother Carmelites. Diego Evangelista was bent on destroying Johns reputation. Diego carried on with his scurrilous mission even after John died. Locally, the prior at beda, Fray Francisco Crisostomo, held a grudge against John of the Cross. Fray Francisco even begrudged John medicine on the pretext that the convent could not afford it. Johns kindness to Francisco brought the stingy prior to his knees weeping, and led to his conversion.
J)
K) Johns disease progressed with much pain including that which came from an incision meant to reduce infection. The physician, Ambrosio de Villareal, apologized to John. In turn, John gave Ambrosio, a manuscript copy of The Living Flame of Love. L) On the 13th of December, 1591, the Carmelite community gathered around the dying friar. Johns condition worsened during the day. There was a rope hung so that John could lift himself. He joked that he had, indeed, become very light. John told those gathered in his cell that he looked forward to praying matins in heaven with our Lady. When the community was about to begin the prayers for the dying, John requested that instead someone recite the Song of Songs. He was heard to say: O, what precious pearls. The Song of Songs was more than an ancient text for John ; it was a graced way of coming to know more fully Gods lavish love. M) John of the Cross died shortly after midnight in time for matins in heaven. He was not beatified until 1675, or canonized until 1726. He was declared a doctor of the church in 1926. Now, both Christians and non-Christians have a sense that John of the Cross has important spiritual guidance for them. There is ever so much that one could say about John of the Cross, but it is time to say merely: Follow your instincts, if they beckon you to read the writings. They have been immensely profitable to many who have sought his guidance.
51
STUDY
GUIDE
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. From what you now know about John of the Cross what would encourage you to read his poetry and other writings?
2.
Would you recommend to a friend that she or he consider reading the poetry and other writings of John of the Cross?
3.
What aspect of John of the Cross life most intrigues you?
52
STUDY
GUIDE
Suggested Readings
I very highly recommend: Iain Matthew, The Impact of God: Soundings from St John of the Cross. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
For a brief and reliable biography: Richard P. Hardy, John of the Cross: Man and Mystic. Pauline, 2004.
53

John of The Cross, Keith Egan - Docx - Keith

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

John of The Cross, Keith Egan - Docx - Keith

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A

NOW YOU KNOW MEDIA

John of the Cross: Poet and Mystic

LEARN WHILE LISTENING

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

Now You Know Media Copyright Notice:

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

About Your Presenter

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

The Weavers Son

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

John of the Cross Becomes a Carmelite

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

The Encounter with Teresa of Avila

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

John and Teresa Collaborate on Reform

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

John of the Cross: Prisoner

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

John the Escapee

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC

John of the Cross: Spiritual Guide

STORE.NOWYOUKNOWMEDIA.COM / 1-800-955-3904 / 2011

JOHN OF THE CROSS: POET AND MYSTIC