#stjohnofthecross — Public Fediverse posts

Quote of the day, 4 May: St. John of the Cross

The Virgin, weighed
with the Word of God,
comes down the road:
if only you’ll shelter her.

Saint John of the Cross

Poetry, 13, “Christmas Refrain”

Original Spanish text:

Del Verbo divino
la Virgen preñada
viene de camino:
¡si le dais posada!

John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: AI-generated artwork in the style of Gari Melchers, created using Midjourney.

Quote of the day, 4 May: St. John of the Cross

The Virgin, weighed
with the Word of God,
comes down the road:
if only you’ll shelter her.

Saint John of the Cross

Poetry, 13, “Christmas Refrain”

Original Spanish text:

Del Verbo divino
la Virgen preñada
viene de camino:
¡si le dais posada!

John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: AI-generated artwork in the style of Gari Melchers, created using Midjourney.

Quote of the day, 4 May: St. John of the Cross

The Virgin, weighed
with the Word of God,
comes down the road:
if only you’ll shelter her.

Saint John of the Cross

Poetry, 13, “Christmas Refrain”

Original Spanish text:

Del Verbo divino
la Virgen preñada
viene de camino:
¡si le dais posada!

John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: AI-generated artwork in the style of Gari Melchers, created using Midjourney.

Quote of the day, 4 May: St. John of the Cross

The Virgin, weighed
with the Word of God,
comes down the road:
if only you’ll shelter her.

Saint John of the Cross

Poetry, 13, “Christmas Refrain”

Original Spanish text:

Del Verbo divino
la Virgen preñada
viene de camino:
¡si le dais posada!

John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: AI-generated artwork in the style of Gari Melchers, created using Midjourney.

Quote of the day, 26 April: St. John of the Cross

1. A lone young shepherd lived in pain
withdrawn from pleasure and contentment,
his thoughts fixed on a shepherd-girl
his heart an open wound with love.

2. He weeps, but not from the wound of love,
there is no pain in such affliction,
even though the heart is pierced;
he weeps in knowing he’s been forgotten.

3. That one thought: his shining one
has forgotten him, is such great pain
that he bows to brutal handling in a foreign land,
his heart an open wound with love.

4. The shepherd says: I pity the one
who draws herself back from my love,
and does not seek the joy of my presence,
though my heart is an open wound with love for her.

5. 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.

Saint John of the Cross

Poem 7, Stanzas applied spiritually to Christ and the soul

John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The Good Shepherd is an oil on canvas painting by American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner, dated 1902. This image comes from the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University. Image credit: Zimmerli Art Museum / Google Art Project (Public domain).

Quote of the day, 9 April: St. John of the Cross

Lest his disciples go without merit by having sensible proof of his resurrection, he did many things to further their belief before they saw him.

Mary Magdalene was first shown the empty sepulcher, and afterward, the angels told her about the resurrection so she would, by hearing, believe before seeing. As St. Paul says: Faith comes through hearing (Romans 10:17). And though she beheld him, he seemed only an ordinary man, so by the warmth of his presence, he could finish instructing her in the belief she was lacking (Matthew 28:1–6; Luke 24:4–10; John 20:11–18).

And the women were sent to tell the disciples first; then these disciples set out to see the sepulcher (Matthew 28:7–8).

And journeying incognito to Emmaus with two of his followers, he inflamed their hearts in faith before allowing them to see (Luke 24:15–32).

Finally, he reproved all his disciples for refusing to believe those who had told them of his resurrection (Mark 16:14).

And announcing to St. Thomas that they are blessed who believe without seeing, he reprimanded him for desiring to experience the sight and touch of his wounds (John 20:25, 29).

Thus, God is not inclined to work miracles. When he works them, he does so, as they say, out of necessity.

Saint John of the Cross

The Ascent of Mount Carmel, III.31.8–9

John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Op weg naar Emmaüs (Journey to Emmaus) is an ink and chalk drawing on paper by Harmen ter Borch, after Gerard ter Borch the Elder, his father. Harmen Ter Borch executed this drawing in Zwolle, Netherlands on 10 November 1650. Scholars at the Rijksmuseum explain that “despite Gerard the Elder’s inscription that Harmen is author of this drawing, Harmen may still have been inspired by one of his father’s Biblical drawings.” Image credit: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Public domain).

Quote of the day, 6 April: St. John of the Cross

Where signs and testimonies abound, there is less merit in believing.

God never works these marvels except when they are a necessity for believing. Lest his disciples go without merit by having sensible proof of his resurrection, he did many things to further their belief before they saw him.

Mary Magdalene was first shown the empty sepulcher, and afterward the angels told her about the resurrection so she would, by hearing, believe before seeing. As St. Paul says: Faith comes through hearing [Rom. 10:17]. And though she beheld him, he seemed only an ordinary man, so by the warmth of his presence, he could finish instructing her in the belief she was lacking [Mt. 28:1-6; Lk. 24:4-10; Jn. 20:11-18].

And the women were sent to tell the disciples first; then these disciples set out to see the sepulcher [Mt. 28:7-8]. And journeying incognito to Emmaus with two of his followers, he inflamed their hearts in faith before allowing them to see [Lk. 24:15-32].

Finally, he reproved all his disciples for refusing to believe those who had told them of his resurrection [Mk. 16:14]. And announcing to St. Thomas that they are blessed who believe without seeing, he reprimanded him for desiring to experience the sight and touch of his wounds [Jn. 20:25, 29].

Thus, God is not inclined to work miracles. When he works them, he does so, as they say, out of necessity. He consequently reprimanded the Pharisees because they would not give assent without signs: If you do not see signs and wonders, you do not believe [Jn. 4:48]. Those, then, who love to rejoice in these supernatural works suffer a great loss in faith.

Saint John of the Cross

The Ascent of Mount Carmel, III, ch. 31, nos. 8–9

John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Ushered in a Tearful Joy, Vasily Polenov (Russian, 1844–1927). Oil on canvas, c. 1900. Polenov captures the moment when Resurrection light breaks into the house of mourning. A woman—probably Mary Magdalene—stands in the doorway, clothed in blue, announcing news that will change everything. Seated in the shadows, one veiled figure turns to listen; another sits with head in hands, still bowed in grief. The painting evokes the Easter Monday Gospel (Matthew 28:8–10), in which the women, “fearful yet overjoyed,” run from the tomb to tell the disciples—and meet the Risen Lord along the way.

Quote of the day, 27 March: José Vicente Rodríguez, ocd

Among the laypeople who followed John of the Cross, one stands out in a particular way: Doña Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa. She left Granada and returned to her native city of Segovia, where she took up residence in small houses purchased and made ready beside the convent of the Discalced Carmelite friars, so as to remain close to her spiritual father, Fray John of the Cross, and to the monastery whose foundation she was helping to support.

This was not the construction of a new house, as some historians have supposed, but the purchase of two small dwellings. Gaspar de Herrera—a priest and administrator of the Mercy Hospital in Segovia—sold, with the permission of the city’s provisor, “to the prior, friars, and convent of the monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel of the Discalced, outside the city walls […] two houses and an enclosed plot with poplars and a well fed by a natural spring, which the said Hospital owned in the parish of Saint Mark.” The agreed price was “180 ducats, amounting to 67,500 maravedís,” to be paid in three installments.

The deed of sale was carried out with particular solemnity, since all the members of the Consulta and four chapter members of the Segovia convent took part in it. All the members of the Consulta signed, including John of the Cross himself. The purchase is dated August 11, 1589. A few days later, Doña Ana de Peñalosa paid the agreed sum. Shortly afterward, the two small houses were joined into a single dwelling where she could live for the rest of her life.

She still retained her palace in the city, however, and John of the Cross would often go there as well. One of the household servants, Leonor de Vitoria—who saw Fray John many times and went to confession to him—recalls how, when he came to the house, he would speak with Doña Ana and her niece, Inés de Mercado y Peñalosa. She saw him “in the presence of all the servants, speaking and conversing about holy and spiritual things, about heaven, and about how they might become saints. His words were always of this kind. At times, while speaking of these things, he would read them certain devout texts; at other times, he would leave them books in which such things were written, so that they might attend to them and serve our Lord.”

It is not clear whether Ana de Jesús was already among Doña Ana’s household servants; in her Testament, Doña Ana refers to her as “my servant… now in my service.”

Leonor also notes that Doña Ana would always invite Fray John “to sit down and not remain seated on the floor; but the saint would not agree, always seeking the humblest place in which to sit.” She adds, speaking of his modesty and bearing, that “simply by seeing him and hearing him, one was recollected and seemed moved to desire to serve our Lord. His words were holy and good, never idle. Everything that could be seen in him, whether in his words or his actions, was entirely holy, and he appeared to be very full of God and of virtues.”

Another witness, Lucas de San José, says that Fray John taught Doña Ana and her niece Doña Inés “the way of perfection,” and that “when the saint would go out to speak with them at the confessional, it was a common saying among the friars: ‘Now Saint Jerome, Saint Paula, and Eustochium are together.’”

Luis de Mercado y Peñalosa, Doña Ana’s nephew, also had much contact with John of the Cross. What he says about the saint’s virtues comes both from his own experience and from what he heard—especially about his humility and modesty—from his wife, Doña Inés de Mercado, “who for many years was in close contact with the holy father Fray John of the Cross, together with her aunt, Doña Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa.” He also recounts in detail the transfer of the saint’s remains from Úbeda and the veneration he received in Segovia.

José Vicente Rodríguez, o.c.d.

San Juan de la Cruz, ch. 27

Rodríguez, J.V. 2015, San Juan de la Cruz: la biografía, 2nd edn, San Pablo, Madrid.

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: This detail from an image of St. John of the Cross was engraved in 1788 by Gilles Antoine Demarteau. The technique used—of which Demarteau was a master—was crayon-manner in red and black, based on a drawing by Taillasson. The Art Institute of Chicago has a marvelous image of the tools used in crayon-manner engraving, with detailed figures of the process. Image credit: Rijksmuseum, Antwerp (Public domain)

Quote of the day, 27 March: José Vicente Rodríguez, ocd

Among the laypeople who followed John of the Cross, one stands out in a particular way: Doña Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa. She left Granada and returned to her native city of Segovia, where she took up residence in small houses purchased and made ready beside the convent of the Discalced Carmelite friars, so as to remain close to her spiritual father, Fray John of the Cross, and to the monastery whose foundation she was helping to support.

This was not the construction of a new house, as some historians have supposed, but the purchase of two small dwellings. Gaspar de Herrera—a priest and administrator of the Mercy Hospital in Segovia—sold, with the permission of the city’s provisor, “to the prior, friars, and convent of the monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel of the Discalced, outside the city walls […] two houses and an enclosed plot with poplars and a well fed by a natural spring, which the said Hospital owned in the parish of Saint Mark.” The agreed price was “180 ducats, amounting to 67,500 maravedís,” to be paid in three installments.

The deed of sale was carried out with particular solemnity, since all the members of the Consulta and four chapter members of the Segovia convent took part in it. All the members of the Consulta signed, including John of the Cross himself. The purchase is dated August 11, 1589. A few days later, Doña Ana de Peñalosa paid the agreed sum. Shortly afterward, the two small houses were joined into a single dwelling where she could live for the rest of her life.

She still retained her palace in the city, however, and John of the Cross would often go there as well. One of the household servants, Leonor de Vitoria—who saw Fray John many times and went to confession to him—recalls how, when he came to the house, he would speak with Doña Ana and her niece, Inés de Mercado y Peñalosa. She saw him “in the presence of all the servants, speaking and conversing about holy and spiritual things, about heaven, and about how they might become saints. His words were always of this kind. At times, while speaking of these things, he would read them certain devout texts; at other times, he would leave them books in which such things were written, so that they might attend to them and serve our Lord.”

It is not clear whether Ana de Jesús was already among Doña Ana’s household servants; in her Testament, Doña Ana refers to her as “my servant… now in my service.”

Leonor also notes that Doña Ana would always invite Fray John “to sit down and not remain seated on the floor; but the saint would not agree, always seeking the humblest place in which to sit.” She adds, speaking of his modesty and bearing, that “simply by seeing him and hearing him, one was recollected and seemed moved to desire to serve our Lord. His words were holy and good, never idle. Everything that could be seen in him, whether in his words or his actions, was entirely holy, and he appeared to be very full of God and of virtues.”

Another witness, Lucas de San José, says that Fray John taught Doña Ana and her niece Doña Inés “the way of perfection,” and that “when the saint would go out to speak with them at the confessional, it was a common saying among the friars: ‘Now Saint Jerome, Saint Paula, and Eustochium are together.’”

Luis de Mercado y Peñalosa, Doña Ana’s nephew, also had much contact with John of the Cross. What he says about the saint’s virtues comes both from his own experience and from what he heard—especially about his humility and modesty—from his wife, Doña Inés de Mercado, “who for many years was in close contact with the holy father Fray John of the Cross, together with her aunt, Doña Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa.” He also recounts in detail the transfer of the saint’s remains from Úbeda and the veneration he received in Segovia.

José Vicente Rodríguez, o.c.d.

San Juan de la Cruz, ch. 27

Rodríguez, J.V. 2015, San Juan de la Cruz: la biografía, 2nd edn, San Pablo, Madrid.

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: This detail from an image of St. John of the Cross was engraved in 1788 by Gilles Antoine Demarteau. The technique used—of which Demarteau was a master—was crayon-manner in red and black, based on a drawing by Taillasson. The Art Institute of Chicago has a marvelous image of the tools used in crayon-manner engraving, with detailed figures of the process. Image credit: Rijksmuseum, Antwerp (Public domain)

Quote of the day, 27 March: José Vicente Rodríguez, ocd

Among the laypeople who followed John of the Cross, one stands out in a particular way: Doña Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa. She left Granada and returned to her native city of Segovia, where she took up residence in small houses purchased and made ready beside the convent of the Discalced Carmelite friars, so as to remain close to her spiritual father, Fray John of the Cross, and to the monastery whose foundation she was helping to support.

This was not the construction of a new house, as some historians have supposed, but the purchase of two small dwellings. Gaspar de Herrera—a priest and administrator of the Mercy Hospital in Segovia—sold, with the permission of the city’s provisor, “to the prior, friars, and convent of the monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel of the Discalced, outside the city walls […] two houses and an enclosed plot with poplars and a well fed by a natural spring, which the said Hospital owned in the parish of Saint Mark.” The agreed price was “180 ducats, amounting to 67,500 maravedís,” to be paid in three installments.

The deed of sale was carried out with particular solemnity, since all the members of the Consulta and four chapter members of the Segovia convent took part in it. All the members of the Consulta signed, including John of the Cross himself. The purchase is dated August 11, 1589. A few days later, Doña Ana de Peñalosa paid the agreed sum. Shortly afterward, the two small houses were joined into a single dwelling where she could live for the rest of her life.

She still retained her palace in the city, however, and John of the Cross would often go there as well. One of the household servants, Leonor de Vitoria—who saw Fray John many times and went to confession to him—recalls how, when he came to the house, he would speak with Doña Ana and her niece, Inés de Mercado y Peñalosa. She saw him “in the presence of all the servants, speaking and conversing about holy and spiritual things, about heaven, and about how they might become saints. His words were always of this kind. At times, while speaking of these things, he would read them certain devout texts; at other times, he would leave them books in which such things were written, so that they might attend to them and serve our Lord.”

It is not clear whether Ana de Jesús was already among Doña Ana’s household servants; in her Testament, Doña Ana refers to her as “my servant… now in my service.”

Leonor also notes that Doña Ana would always invite Fray John “to sit down and not remain seated on the floor; but the saint would not agree, always seeking the humblest place in which to sit.” She adds, speaking of his modesty and bearing, that “simply by seeing him and hearing him, one was recollected and seemed moved to desire to serve our Lord. His words were holy and good, never idle. Everything that could be seen in him, whether in his words or his actions, was entirely holy, and he appeared to be very full of God and of virtues.”

Another witness, Lucas de San José, says that Fray John taught Doña Ana and her niece Doña Inés “the way of perfection,” and that “when the saint would go out to speak with them at the confessional, it was a common saying among the friars: ‘Now Saint Jerome, Saint Paula, and Eustochium are together.’”

Luis de Mercado y Peñalosa, Doña Ana’s nephew, also had much contact with John of the Cross. What he says about the saint’s virtues comes both from his own experience and from what he heard—especially about his humility and modesty—from his wife, Doña Inés de Mercado, “who for many years was in close contact with the holy father Fray John of the Cross, together with her aunt, Doña Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa.” He also recounts in detail the transfer of the saint’s remains from Úbeda and the veneration he received in Segovia.

José Vicente Rodríguez, o.c.d.

San Juan de la Cruz, ch. 27

Rodríguez, J.V. 2015, San Juan de la Cruz: la biografía, 2nd edn, San Pablo, Madrid.

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: This detail from an image of St. John of the Cross was engraved in 1788 by Gilles Antoine Demarteau. The technique used—of which Demarteau was a master—was crayon-manner in red and black, based on a drawing by Taillasson. The Art Institute of Chicago has a marvelous image of the tools used in crayon-manner engraving, with detailed figures of the process. Image credit: Rijksmuseum, Antwerp (Public domain)

Quote of the day, 27 March: José Vicente Rodríguez, ocd

Among the laypeople who followed John of the Cross, one stands out in a particular way: Doña Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa. She left Granada and returned to her native city of Segovia, where she took up residence in small houses purchased and made ready beside the convent of the Discalced Carmelite friars, so as to remain close to her spiritual father, Fray John of the Cross, and to the monastery whose foundation she was helping to support.

This was not the construction of a new house, as some historians have supposed, but the purchase of two small dwellings. Gaspar de Herrera—a priest and administrator of the Mercy Hospital in Segovia—sold, with the permission of the city’s provisor, “to the prior, friars, and convent of the monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel of the Discalced, outside the city walls […] two houses and an enclosed plot with poplars and a well fed by a natural spring, which the said Hospital owned in the parish of Saint Mark.” The agreed price was “180 ducats, amounting to 67,500 maravedís,” to be paid in three installments.

The deed of sale was carried out with particular solemnity, since all the members of the Consulta and four chapter members of the Segovia convent took part in it. All the members of the Consulta signed, including John of the Cross himself. The purchase is dated August 11, 1589. A few days later, Doña Ana de Peñalosa paid the agreed sum. Shortly afterward, the two small houses were joined into a single dwelling where she could live for the rest of her life.

She still retained her palace in the city, however, and John of the Cross would often go there as well. One of the household servants, Leonor de Vitoria—who saw Fray John many times and went to confession to him—recalls how, when he came to the house, he would speak with Doña Ana and her niece, Inés de Mercado y Peñalosa. She saw him “in the presence of all the servants, speaking and conversing about holy and spiritual things, about heaven, and about how they might become saints. His words were always of this kind. At times, while speaking of these things, he would read them certain devout texts; at other times, he would leave them books in which such things were written, so that they might attend to them and serve our Lord.”

It is not clear whether Ana de Jesús was already among Doña Ana’s household servants; in her Testament, Doña Ana refers to her as “my servant… now in my service.”

Leonor also notes that Doña Ana would always invite Fray John “to sit down and not remain seated on the floor; but the saint would not agree, always seeking the humblest place in which to sit.” She adds, speaking of his modesty and bearing, that “simply by seeing him and hearing him, one was recollected and seemed moved to desire to serve our Lord. His words were holy and good, never idle. Everything that could be seen in him, whether in his words or his actions, was entirely holy, and he appeared to be very full of God and of virtues.”

Another witness, Lucas de San José, says that Fray John taught Doña Ana and her niece Doña Inés “the way of perfection,” and that “when the saint would go out to speak with them at the confessional, it was a common saying among the friars: ‘Now Saint Jerome, Saint Paula, and Eustochium are together.’”

Luis de Mercado y Peñalosa, Doña Ana’s nephew, also had much contact with John of the Cross. What he says about the saint’s virtues comes both from his own experience and from what he heard—especially about his humility and modesty—from his wife, Doña Inés de Mercado, “who for many years was in close contact with the holy father Fray John of the Cross, together with her aunt, Doña Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa.” He also recounts in detail the transfer of the saint’s remains from Úbeda and the veneration he received in Segovia.

José Vicente Rodríguez, o.c.d.

San Juan de la Cruz, ch. 27

Rodríguez, J.V. 2015, San Juan de la Cruz: la biografía, 2nd edn, San Pablo, Madrid.

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: This detail from an image of St. John of the Cross was engraved in 1788 by Gilles Antoine Demarteau. The technique used—of which Demarteau was a master—was crayon-manner in red and black, based on a drawing by Taillasson. The Art Institute of Chicago has a marvelous image of the tools used in crayon-manner engraving, with detailed figures of the process. Image credit: Rijksmuseum, Antwerp (Public domain)

Quote of the day, 27 March: José Vicente Rodríguez, ocd

Among the laypeople who followed John of the Cross, one stands out in a particular way: Doña Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa. She left Granada and returned to her native city of Segovia, where she took up residence in small houses purchased and made ready beside the convent of the Discalced Carmelite friars, so as to remain close to her spiritual father, Fray John of the Cross, and to the monastery whose foundation she was helping to support.

This was not the construction of a new house, as some historians have supposed, but the purchase of two small dwellings. Gaspar de Herrera—a priest and administrator of the Mercy Hospital in Segovia—sold, with the permission of the city’s provisor, “to the prior, friars, and convent of the monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel of the Discalced, outside the city walls […] two houses and an enclosed plot with poplars and a well fed by a natural spring, which the said Hospital owned in the parish of Saint Mark.” The agreed price was “180 ducats, amounting to 67,500 maravedís,” to be paid in three installments.

The deed of sale was carried out with particular solemnity, since all the members of the Consulta and four chapter members of the Segovia convent took part in it. All the members of the Consulta signed, including John of the Cross himself. The purchase is dated August 11, 1589. A few days later, Doña Ana de Peñalosa paid the agreed sum. Shortly afterward, the two small houses were joined into a single dwelling where she could live for the rest of her life.

She still retained her palace in the city, however, and John of the Cross would often go there as well. One of the household servants, Leonor de Vitoria—who saw Fray John many times and went to confession to him—recalls how, when he came to the house, he would speak with Doña Ana and her niece, Inés de Mercado y Peñalosa. She saw him “in the presence of all the servants, speaking and conversing about holy and spiritual things, about heaven, and about how they might become saints. His words were always of this kind. At times, while speaking of these things, he would read them certain devout texts; at other times, he would leave them books in which such things were written, so that they might attend to them and serve our Lord.”

It is not clear whether Ana de Jesús was already among Doña Ana’s household servants; in her Testament, Doña Ana refers to her as “my servant… now in my service.”

Leonor also notes that Doña Ana would always invite Fray John “to sit down and not remain seated on the floor; but the saint would not agree, always seeking the humblest place in which to sit.” She adds, speaking of his modesty and bearing, that “simply by seeing him and hearing him, one was recollected and seemed moved to desire to serve our Lord. His words were holy and good, never idle. Everything that could be seen in him, whether in his words or his actions, was entirely holy, and he appeared to be very full of God and of virtues.”

Another witness, Lucas de San José, says that Fray John taught Doña Ana and her niece Doña Inés “the way of perfection,” and that “when the saint would go out to speak with them at the confessional, it was a common saying among the friars: ‘Now Saint Jerome, Saint Paula, and Eustochium are together.’”

Luis de Mercado y Peñalosa, Doña Ana’s nephew, also had much contact with John of the Cross. What he says about the saint’s virtues comes both from his own experience and from what he heard—especially about his humility and modesty—from his wife, Doña Inés de Mercado, “who for many years was in close contact with the holy father Fray John of the Cross, together with her aunt, Doña Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa.” He also recounts in detail the transfer of the saint’s remains from Úbeda and the veneration he received in Segovia.

José Vicente Rodríguez, o.c.d.

San Juan de la Cruz, ch. 27

Rodríguez, J.V. 2015, San Juan de la Cruz: la biografía, 2nd edn, San Pablo, Madrid.

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: This detail from an image of St. John of the Cross was engraved in 1788 by Gilles Antoine Demarteau. The technique used—of which Demarteau was a master—was crayon-manner in red and black, based on a drawing by Taillasson. The Art Institute of Chicago has a marvelous image of the tools used in crayon-manner engraving, with detailed figures of the process. Image credit: Rijksmuseum, Antwerp (Public domain)

Quote of the day, 15 February: St. John of the Cross

The soul at the beginning of this song has grown aware of her obligations and observed that life is short, the path leading to eternal life constricted, the just one scarcely saved, the things of the world vain and deceitful, that all comes to an end and fails like falling water, and that the time is uncertain, the accounting strict, perdition very easy, and salvation very difficult.

She knows on the other hand of her immense indebtedness to God for having created her solely for himself, and that for this she owes him the service of her whole life; and because he redeemed her solely for himself she owes him every response of love.

She knows, too, of the thousand other benefits by which she has been obligated to God from before the time of her birth, and that a good part of her life has vanished, that she must render an account of everything — of the beginning of her life as well as the later part — unto the last penny, when God will search Jerusalem with lighted candles, and that it is already late — and the day far spent — to remedy so much evil and harm.

She feels on the other hand that God is angry and hidden because she desired to forget him so in the midst of creatures. Touched with dread and interior sorrow of heart over so much loss and danger, renouncing all things, leaving aside all business, and not delaying a day or an hour, with desires and sighs pouring from her heart, wounded now with love for God, she begins to call her Beloved and say:

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.

Saint John of the Cross

The Spiritual Canticle: St. 1, no. 1

John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Saint John of the Cross (detail), Abel de Jesús (21st c. Spanish), digital illustration with Photoshop. Image credit: © Abel de Jesús (All rights reserved, used by permission).

Quote of the day, 31 December: St. Titus Brandsma

In his Explanation of “The Living Flame of Love”, St. John of the Cross draws the Holy Mother of God as clearly as possible into the circle of his metaphor clarifying the mystical life.

Speaking of the shining of the Lamps of God in us and our intake of the divine Light, which means as much as participating in God’s characteristics and works, he says that this bears still another name, i.e. “to overshadow”.

And in connection to this, he reminds (us) that also the Archangel Gabriel called the exquisite privilege of Mary to conceive God’s Son, an overshadowing of the Holy Spirit [Cf. Lk 1:35]. 

If one wants to understand, the Saint thus follows, what is meant by that spreading of God’s shadow or that overshadowing or that shining, for all these expressions have an equal meaning, then one should remember that every creature evokes a shadow according to its own nature and capacity. A dark opaque object gives an obscure shadow: a bright translucent object a clear and transparent shadow.

Thus, the shadow of something dark will call forth a different darkness, darker to the extent that its cause is also darker, while the shadow of something bright will be light according to the nature of the original light.

Therefore, the shadow brought forth by the lamp of God’s beauty will be a different beauty, the shadow by the lamp of strength a different strength, etc. or better said, all these shadows will be the beauty itself, the strength itself of God, but in shadow, because the soul here on earth cannot perfectly understand or take God into itself.

Over Mary, the Holy Spirit came in all his fullness, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her in the most perfect way [Cf. The Living Flame of Love, III, 12].

Saint Titus Brandsma

Mary’s motherhood of God, leading idea in the mystical life (excerpt), Carmelrozen 20 (May 1931), pp. 11–15

Brandsma, T. 1931, Mary’s motherhood of God, leading idea in the mystical life (excerpt), Carmelrozen, vol. 20, May, pp. 11–15. English translation by the Titus Brandsma Instituut, Nijmegen, available at: https://www.titusbrandsmateksten.nl/marys-motherhood-of-god/

Featured image: The Virgin and Child (detail), after Raphael (1483–1520), oil on canvas. Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery (public domain).

#BlessedVirginMary #MotherOfGod #overshadow #StJohnOfTheCross #StTitusBrandsma

14 December: SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS OUR FATHER (Transferred to 15 December 2025)

December 14
SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS
OUR FATHER
Priest and Doctor of the Church

Solemnity

Pastoral note: The Solemnity is transferred to
Monday, 15 December 2025

John was born at Fontiveros in Spain about 1542. He entered the Carmelites and with the permission of his superiors began to live a stricter life. Afterward, he was persuaded by Saint Teresa to begin, together with some others, the Discalced reform within the Order; this cost him much hard work and many trials. He died in Ubeda in 1591, outstanding in holiness and wisdom, to which his many spiritual writings give eloquent witness.

Evening Prayer I

Hymn

Soldier of the King eternal,
Valiant warrior, hail to thee!
Column raised to heights supernal
In unshaken majesty.
We revere thy glorious merits
And the tide of homage wells
From the fountain of our spirits,
Heav’nward rising as it swells.

Thou hast felt the strong protection
Of the Virgin Mother’s power,
Saving thee with sweet election
In the dread and dangerous hour.
Since thy youth she never swerveth
In her watchful care of thee,
And forever she preserveth
Him who vowed her slave to be.

Chosen offspring of our Mother,
In her labors thou didst share,
Aiding her, as son and brother,
Carmel’s beauty to repair;
Ruined shrine and temple raising
From the dust of slow decay,
Mary’s honor meetly praising,
In the dawn of fairer day.

Lo, the Cross thy weapon glorious,
As on Calvary’s height of yore,
When our Jesus reigned victorious,
Fallen nature to restore;
So thy burning love retrieveth
Glory of an ancient race,
And by suffering achieveth
Marvels of renewing grace.

Praise unto thy God be given
For the grace, O John, conferred,
When with chalice raised to Heaven,
Thine entreating prayer was heard:
In that first rapt celebration
Of the sacrifice divine,
Pledge of thine assured salvation
He hath deigned in love to sign.

87.87.D.
Regis aeterni generose miles

Psalmody

Ant. 1 He opened his mouth in prayer, and the Lord filled him with the spirit of understanding.

Psalm 113

Praise, O servants of the Lord, *
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed *
both now and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to its setting *
praised be the name of the Lord!

High above all nations is the Lord, *
above the heavens his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God, *
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down, *
to look down upon heaven and earth?

From the dust he lifts up the lowly, *
from his misery he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes, *
yes, with the princes of his people.
To the childless wife he gives a home *
and gladdens her heart with children.

Ant. He opened his mouth in prayer, and the Lord filled him with the spirit of understanding.

Ant. 2 The Lord gave him treasures out of the darkness, and riches that had been hidden away.

Psalm 146

My soul, give praise to the Lord; +
I will praise the Lord all my days, *
make music to my God while I live.

Put no trust in princes *
in mortal men in whom there is no help.
Take their breath, they return to clay *
and their plans that day come to nothing.

He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God, *
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth, *
the seas and all they contain.

It is he who keeps faith forever, *
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry, *
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,

the Lord who gives sight to the blind, *
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger *
and upholds the widow and orphan.

It is the Lord who loves the just *
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign forever, *
Zion’s God, from age to age.

Ant. The Lord gave him treasures out of the darkness, and riches that had been hidden away.

Ant. 3 No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived all that God has prepared for those who love him.

Canticle: Rev 4:11; 5:9, 10, 12

O Lord our God, you are worthy *
to receive glory and honor and power.

For you have created all things; *
by your will they came to be and were made.

Worthy are you, O Lord, *
to receive the scroll and break open its seals.

For you were slain; *
with your blood you purchased for God
men of every race and tongue, *
of every people and nation.

You made of them a kingdom +
and priests to serve our God, *
and they shall reign on the earth.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, *
to receive power and riches,
wisdom and strength, *
honor and glory and praise.

Ant. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived all that God has prepared for those who love him.

Reading
Ephesians 3:14-19

I, Paul, kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name; and I pray that he will bestow on you gifts in keeping with the riches of his glory. May he strengthen you inwardly through the working of his Spirit. May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, and may charity be the root and foundation of your life. Thus you will be able to grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, and experience this love which surpasses all knowledge, so that you may attain to the fullness of God himself.

Responsory

℟ The God who brought light out of darkness * has shone in our hearts. Repeat ℟
℣ To give the light of knowledge of God’s glory that appears in the face of Christ * and has shone in our hearts.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
℟ The God who brought light out of darkness * has shone in our hearts.

Canticle of Mary

Ant. I sought wisdom in my prayer; I found it abundantly within myself, and advanced greatly in it.

Intercessions

Christ our Redeemer inspired our Father Saint John of the Cross to follow him, and raised him to the heights of contemplation. Let us praise our Lord, and say:

℟  Glory to you forever!

Christ our God, you taught your servant John the science of the Cross; — kindle the fire of your love in those to whom you have entrusted the teaching and government of your Church. ℟

Christ, unfailing light, you reveal yourself in the night of faith to the poor in spirit; — let your face shine on all those who seek you in poverty amid the darkness of this world. ℟

Christ, our only teacher, you disclose your highest secrets to those who love and seek you; — grant the consummation of your love to those you have called to serve you in Carmel. ℟

Christ, triumphant in heaven in the midst of all your saints, — grant everlasting rest and peace in your glory to all our departed brothers and sisters. ℟

Our Father…

Prayer

Lord,
you endowed our Father Saint John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross.
By following his example
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Invitatory

Ant. Come, let us worship Christ Jesus, sole Word of the Father.

Invitatory psalm, as in the Ordinary

Office of Readings

Hymn

O John, rejoice this hallowed day
The triumph of the Cross to hail,
Whereon with Christ ‘twas thine to stay,
Transfixed with pang of spear and nail!

Nor insults, scorn, nor cruel scourge,
Bondage, nor hunger can restrain
The love thy panting soul doth urge
To taste the bitter draught of pain.

Thine only joy, thy sole reward,
The boon for which thy spirit sighed,
To mirror here thy suffering Lord,
Like Him in anguish crucified.

While thou dost search the mystic night,
Through darkness gleams a radiant star,
And Carmel’s camp is all alight,
With flame that leads to heights afar.

Let them that dwell in bliss above
Praise Thee, O Christ, with joyful lay,
Let them that run to Thee in love
Pursue, like John, the thorn-strewn way.

L.M.
Diem Ioannes advenit

Psalmody

Ant. 1 God chose us to be conformed to the image of his Son.

Psalm 16

Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. +
I say to the Lord: “You are my God. *
My happiness lies in you alone.”

He has put into my heart a marvelous love +
for the faithful ones who dwell in his land. *
Those who choose other gods increase their sorrows.
Never will I offer their offerings of blood. *
Never will I take their name upon my lips.

O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; *
it is you yourself who are my prize.
The lot marked out for me is my delight: *
welcome indeed the heritage that falls to me!

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, *
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight: *
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.

And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad; *
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead, *
nor let your beloved know decay.

You will show me the path of life, +
the fullness of joy in your presence, *
at your right hand happiness forever.

Ant. God chose us to be conformed to the image of his Son.

Ant. 2 Among you I claimed to know nothing save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Psalm 34: I

I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast. *
The humble shall hear and be glad.

Glorify the Lord with me. *
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me; *
from all my terrors he set me free.

Look towards him and be radiant; *
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him *
and rescued him from all his distress.

The angel of the Lord is encamped *
around those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good. *
He is happy who seeks refuge in him.

Revere the Lord, you his saints. *
They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong lions suffer want and go hungry *
but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.

Ant. Among you I claimed to know nothing save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Ant. 3 For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.

Psalm 34: II

Come, children, and hear me *
that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is he who longs for life  *
and many days to enjoy his prosperity?

Then keep your tongue from evil *
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn aside from evil and do good, *
seek and strive after peace.

The Lord turns his face against the wicked *
to destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The Lord turns his eyes to the just *
and his ears to their appeal.

They call and the Lord hears *
and rescues them in all their distress.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; *
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.

Many are the trials of the just man *
but from them all the Lord will rescue him.
He will keep guard over all his bones, *
not one of his bones shall be broken.

Evil brings death to the wicked, *
those who hate the good are doomed.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants. *
Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.

Ant. For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.

℣ In you, Lord, is the fount of life.
℟ It is your light that enlightens us.

First Reading
Colossians 1:11-29

A reading from the Letter of St Paul to the Colossians

God has transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved Son

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him, provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been preached to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the divine office which was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Christ. For this I toil, striving with all the energy which he mightily inspires within me.

Responsory

℟ This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; * listen to him.
℣ In many and varied ways God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us in his Son. * Listen to him.

The Second Reading (Alternative 1)
(B, st. 37,36)

A reading from the Spiritual Canticle of St John of the Cross

Knowledge of the mystery hidden in Christ Jesus

However numerous are the mysteries and marvels that holy doctors have discovered and saintly souls understood in this earthly life, all the more is yet to be said and understood. There is much to fathom in Christ, for he is like an abundant mine with many recesses of treasures, so that however deep individuals may go they never reach the end or bottom, but rather in every recess find new veins with new riches everywhere. On this account St. Paul said of Christ: ‘In Christ dwell hidden all treasures and wisdom.’ The soul cannot enter these caverns or reach these treasures if, as we said, she does not first pass over to the divine wisdom through the straits of exterior and interior suffering. For one cannot reach in this life what is attainable of these mysteries of Christ without having suffered much and without having received numerous intellectual and sensible favors from God, and without having undergone much spiritual activity; for all these favors are inferior to the wisdom of the mysteries of Christ in that they serve as preparations for coming to this wisdom.

Oh! If we could but now fully understand how a soul cannot reach the thicket and wisdom of the riches of God, which are of many kinds, without entering the thicket of many kinds of suffering, finding in this her delight and consolation; and how a soul with an authentic desire for divine wisdom wants suffering first in order to enter this wisdom by the thicket of the cross! Accordingly, St. Paul admonished the Ephesians not to grow weak in their tribulations and to be strong and rooted in charity in order to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and height and depth, and to know also the supereminent charity of the knowledge of Christ, in order to be filled with all the fullness of God.

The gate entering into these riches of his wisdom is the cross, which is narrow, and few desire to enter by it, but many desire the delights obtained from entering there.

Responsory

℟ What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, things beyond our imagining—all that God has prepared for those who love him: * these are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit.
℣ The Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God: * these are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit.

The Second Reading (Alternative 2)
(B, st. 5)

A reading from the Spiritual Canticle of St John of the Cross

Traces of the divine beauty in creation

Created things in themselves, as Saint Augustine declares, give testimony to God’s grandeur and excellence. For God created all things with remarkable ease and brevity, and in them he left some trace of who he is, not only in giving all things being from nothing, but even by endowing them with innumerable graces and qualities, making them beautiful in a wonderful order and unfailing dependence on one another. All of this he did through his own wisdom, the Word, his only begotten Son by whom he created them.

Saint Paul says: The Son of God is the splendor of his glory and the image of his substance. It should be known that only with this figure, his Son, did God look at all things, that is he communicated to them their natural being and many natural graces and gifts, and made them complete and perfect, as is said in Genesis: God looked at all things that he made, and they were very good. To look and behold that they were very good was to make them very good in the Word, his Son.

Not only by looking at them did he communicate natural being and graces, as we said, but also with this image of his Son alone, he clothed them in beauty by imparting to them supernatural being. This he did when he became man and elevated human nature in the beauty of God and consequently all creatures, since in human nature he was united with them all.

Accordingly, the Son of God proclaimed: If I be lifted up from the earth, I will elevate all things to me. And in this elevation of all things through the incarnation of his Son and through the glory of his resurrection according to the flesh, the Father did not merely beautify creatures partially, but rather we can say, clothed them wholly in beauty and dignity.

Responsory

℟ You will not deprive me, Lord, of what you have given me in Christ. * for in Christ you have given me everything.
℣ The heavens are mine, the earth is mine; mine are the people, mine the just, mine the sinners, the angels are mine and the Virgin Mother is mine, * for in Christ you have given me everything.

Where the Vigil Office is celebrated:

Canticles

Ant. Come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord, where God is pleased to dwell; there dwell his honor and glory alone.

Canticle I
Tobit 13:8-11,13-15

The future glory of Jerusalem

You have come to Mount Sion and the city of the living God (Heb 12:22)

Let all men speak of his majesty, *
and sing his praises in Jerusalem.

O Jerusalem, holy city, +
he scourged you for the works of your hands, *
but will again pity the children of the righteous.

Praise the Lord for his goodness, +
and bless the King of the ages, *
so that his tent may be rebuilt in you with joy.

May he gladden within you all who were captives; +
all who were ravaged may he cherish within you
for all generations to come.

A bright light will shine to all parts of the earth; *
many nations shall come to you from afar,
And the inhabitants of all the limits of the earth, +
drawn to you by the name of the Lord God, *
Bearing in their hands their gifts for the King of heaven.

Every generation shall give joyful praise in you, +
and shall call you the chosen one, *
through all ages forever.

Go, then, rejoice over the children of the righteous, +
who shall all be gathered together *
and shall bless the Lord of the ages.

Happy are those who love you, *
and happy those who rejoice in your prosperity.

Happy are all who shall grieve over you, *
over all your chastisements,

For they shall rejoice in you *
as they behold all your joy forever.

My spirit blesses the Lord, the great King.

Canticle II
Is 2:2-3

All the peoples will come to the house of the Lord

The kings of the earth will bring glory and honor to the holy city of Jerusalem (Rev 21:24)

It shall come to pass in the latter days *
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains +
and shall be raised above the hills, *
and all the nations shall flow to it.

And many people shall come, and say: +
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, *
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways *
and that we may walk in his paths.’

For out of Sion shall go forth the law, *
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Canticle III
Jer 7:2b-7

Amend your ways and I will dwell among you

Go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come and present your offering (Mt 5:24)

Hear the word of the Lord, +
all you men of Judah *
who enter these gates to worship the Lord.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, +
Amend your ways and your deeds, *
and I will let you dwell in this place.

Do not trust these deceptive words: +
‘This is the temple of the Lord, *
The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,’

For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, *
If you truly execute justice one with another,
If you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow. *
Or shed innocent blood in this place,
In the land that I gave of old *
To your fathers for ever.

Ant. Come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord, where God is pleased to dwell; there dwell his honor and glory alone.

Gospel
Jn 12:35-36a, 44b-50

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Believe in the light and you will become sons of light

Jesus declared publicly:

“The light will be with you only a little longer now.
Walk while you have the light,
or the dark will overtake you;
he who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
While you still have the light,
believe in the light
and you will become sons of light.”

“Whoever believes in me
believes not in me
but in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me,
sees the one who sent me.
and whoever sees me,
sees the one who sent me.
I, the light, have come into the world,
so that whoever believes in me
need not stay in the dark anymore.
If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully,
it is not I who shall condemn him,
since I have come not to condemn the world,
but to save the world:
he who rejects me and refuses my words
has his judge already:
the word itself that I have spoken
will be his judge on the last day.
For what I have spoken does not come from myself;
no, what I was to say, what I had to speak,
was commanded by the Father who sent me,
and I know that his commands mean eternal life.
And therefore what the Father has told me
is what I speak.”

Te Deum

You are God: we praise you; *
You are the Lord: we acclaim you;
You are the eternal Father: *
All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven, *
Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of power and might, *
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you. +
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you. *
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you: *
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all worship, *
and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the King of glory, *
the eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free *
you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death, *
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory. *
We believe that you will come, and be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people, *
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints*
to glory everlasting.

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.
— Govern and uphold them now and always.

Day by day we bless you.
— We praise your name for ever.

Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.
— Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Lord, show us your love and mercy,
— for we have put our trust in you.

In you, Lord, is our hope:
— And we shall never hope in vain.

Prayer

Lord,
you endowed our Father Saint John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross.
By following his example
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Morning Prayer

Hymn

Bearing His Cross, the gentle Lord drew nigh,
Offering the crown by merit richly won.
O Love! to quaff Thy cup and with Thee die,
Low answers John.

To live despised, in suffering and alone,
The one insatiate yearning of his breast;
To die devoid of honor, and unknown,
His heart’s request.

Death yielded triumph of the Cross at last,
While dazzling globes of fire from Heav’n descend,
And o’er his deeds the light of glory cast
To cheer his end.

His dying couch, with light irradiate,
Dims with celestial beam earth’s fitful flame,
Perfumes exhale, breathing of heavenly state
And saintly fame.

Honor supreme be to the Father given,
To Word and Paraclete in praise unite,
Upon whose Triune flame the hosts of Heaven
Feed with delight.

10.10.10.4.
Dum crucem gestat Dominus, Ioanni

OR:

Let us together
Up the high mountain
Go where the weather
Keeps a June glow.
You in your beauty,
I in your beauty,
Earth in your beauty,
All give delight.

Up past the steepest
Cliffs of our striving,
Up from the deepest
Thickets of pain
Where darkness bound you,
Ravaged and slew you,
Till daybreak found you,
Risen again.

Haste then our going
Up the high mountain,
Pure water flowing
Down from the height,
Wind in the spruces,
Light on the aspens,
Fruit of sweet juices
All give delight.

Deep caverns holding
Secrets of heaven,
Summits unfolding
Myst’ries divine,
Nightingale singing,
Grove lit with beauty
Each new day bringing
Taste of new wine.

Sweet the ascending
Up the high mountain,
Sweeter the ending
Love spread abroad.
Everyone sharing
Grace of your image.
Everyone bearing
The beauty of God.

54.54.D
Sr. Miriam of the Holy Spirit, O.C.D.

Psalmody

Ant. 1 Truly you are a hidden God, O God of Israel, our Savior.

Psalms and canticle from Sunday, Week I

Ant. 2 All things are yours, for you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

Ant. 3 Give thanks to the Lord in your hearts, sing him spiritual canticles.

Reading

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. All of us, gazing on the Lord’s glory with unveiled faces, are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image by the Lord who is the Spirit.

Responsory

℟ Your light will shine in the darkness * and the darkness will be as noon. Repeat ℟
℣ The Lord will fill your soul with his splendor, * and the darkness will be as noon.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
℟ Your light will shine in the darkness * and the darkness will be as noon.

Canticle of Zechariah

Ant. While you have the light, believe in the light, and you will be children of the light.

Or: The Lord has come to give light to those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet in the way of peace.

Intercessions

Jesus Christ, the head and bridegroom of his Church makes us joyful today on this feast of John of the Cross, his servant. Let us say to him:

℟  You, Christ, are the King of Glory.

Only Word of the Father, uttered eternally in the eternal silence, and in the fullness of time received in the Virgin’s womb; — may we hear your words today in the depths of our hearts, and put them into practice.

Wisdom of the Father, you showed your great love for us by emptying yourself in the Incarnation and on the Cross; — may we, who have been redeemed by your blood, always live in close communion with you. ℟

Perfect Image of the Godhead, in whom all the mysteries of eternal love are revealed and poured out, — may we go forward in the strength of your Spirit, toward your inaccessible light. ℟

Supreme Delight of the Father, in whom God looks mercifully on all men; — may we become perfect in compassion as our heavenly Father is perfect. ℟

First-born of all creation, through you the Father in his goodness created and re-created all things, — may our thoughts be turned today from the visible world to your invisible beauty. ℟

Our Father…

Prayer

Lord,
you endowed our Father Saint John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross.
By following his example
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Daytime Prayer

Complementary psalmody

Midmorning

Ant. Those who wish to come after me must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.

Reading

Ephesians 4:22-24

Acquire a fresh, spiritual way of thinking. You must put on that new man created in God’s image, whose justice and holiness are born of truth.

℣ A pure heart create for me, O God.
℟ Put a steadfast spirit within me.

Midday

Ant. Whoever would draw near to God must believe; the righteous live by faith.

Reading

Romans 5:1-2

Now that we have been justified by faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have gained access by faith to the grace in which we now stand, and we boast of our hope for the glory of God.

℣ I live by faith in the Son of God.
℟ Who loved me and gave himself for me.

Midafternoon

Ant. Your strength will lie in silence and hope.

Reading

Romans 8:24-25

In hope we were saved. But hope is not hope if its object is seen; how is it possible for one to hope for what he sees? And hoping for what we cannot see means awaiting it with patient endurance.

℣ The Lord is good to those who trust in him.
℟ To the soul who seeks him.

Prayer

Lord,
you endowed our Father Saint John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross.
By following his example
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Evening Prayer II

Hymn

Saint of the eagle eye,
Gazing enrapt on high
Mid dread abysses of Divinity;
Martyr by heart’s intent,
Virgin yet penitent,
Prophet and guide in realms of mystery.

Oft in thy life, ’tis told
Sweet converse thou didst hold
With the pure Virgin and her Son divine;
Thence came the wondrous light
Flooding with glory bright
Thy mystic page, for wisdom there did shine.

Clearly thou dost reveal
Secrets the clouds conceal
For thou hast seeped thy soul in rays above,
Pondering the mountain height,
Darkness of faith’s long night
And the reviving flame of mystic love.

When by God’s holy will
Thou dost His word instill,
Wondrous the marvels by the soul divined,
Like Him evoking light
From chaos deep as night,
Cheering with healthful beams the darkened mind.

O John, thy praise intone
Prostrate before the throne!
Thee hath the Father signed with light most true,
Gifts of the Spirit shine
And the meek Lamb divine
Openeth the book of life to thy pure view.

6.6.10.D.
O satis felix! Speculator alti

Ant. 1 God loved us so much that he brought us to life with Christ.

Psalm 15

Lord, who shall be admitted to your tent *
and dwell on your holy mountain?

He who walks without fault; *
he who acts with justice
and speaks the truth from his heart; *
he who does not slander with his tongue;

he who does no wrong to his brother, *
who casts no slur on his neighbor,
who holds the godless in disdain, *
but honors those who fear the Lord;

he who keeps his pledge, come what may; *
who takes no interest on a loan
and accepts no bribes against the innocent. *
Such a man will stand firm forever.

Ant. God loved us so much that he brought us to life with Christ.

Ant. 2 We know and believe in the love God has for us.

Psalm 112

Happy the man who fears the Lord, *
who takes delight in all his commands.
His sons will be powerful on earth; *
the children of the upright are blessed.

Riches and wealth are in his house; *
his justice stands firm forever.
He is a light in the darkness for the upright: *
he is generous, merciful and just.

The good man takes pity and lends, *
he conducts his affairs with honor.
The just man will never waver: *
he will be remembered forever.

He has no fear of evil news; *
with a firm heart he trusts in the Lord.
With a steadfast heart he will not fear, *
he will see the downfall of his foes.

Open-handed, he gives to the poor; +
his justice stands firm forever. *
His head will be raised in glory.

The wicked man sees and is angry, +
grinds his teeth and fades away; *
the desire of the wicked leads to doom.

Ant. We know and believe in the love God has for us.

Ant. 3 The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us.

Canticle: Ephesians 1:3-10

Praised be the God and Father *
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who has bestowed on us in Christ *
every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

God chose us in him *
before the world began,
to be holy *
and blameless in his sight.

He predestined us +
to be his adopted sons through Jesus Christ, *
such was his will and pleasure,
that all might praise the glorious favor *
he has bestowed on us in his beloved.

In him and through his blood we have been redeemed, *
and our sins forgiven,
so immeasurably generous *
is God’s favor to us.

God has given us the wisdom *
to understand fully the mystery,
the plan he was pleased *
to decree in Christ.

A plan to be carried out *
in Christ, in the fullness of time,
to bring all things into one in him, *
in the heavens and on the earth.

Ant. The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us.

Reading
1 Corinthians 13:8-10, 12-13, 14:1a

Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass. For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear. What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete—as complete as God’s knowledge of me. Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love. It is love, then, that you should strive for.

Responsory

℟ Love is as strong as death: * it flashes forth like flames of fire. Repeat ℟
℣ Who can separate us from the love of Christ? * It flashes forth like flames of fire.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
℟ Love is as strong as death: * it flashes forth like flames of fire.

Canticle of Mary

Ant. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and that I may be in them.

Intercessions

God the Father has given us his Spirit through Jesus Christ his beloved Son, so that we may be partakers in the divine nature and witnesses to his love in the Church. Let us praise him and say:

℟  Through the intercession of Saint John, hear us, O Lord.

Give your Church the living faith that will lead all men and women to seek you; — and bring them to the closest union with you. ℟

Give the hope of heaven to all who are faithful in seeking you; — may they obtain all that they hope for. ℟

Pour out your love upon us; — that where there is no love we may put love and so draw love out. ℟

May all Carmelites be imitators of the Virgin Mary, Mother of our Order; — may we follow every inspiration of the Holy Spirit. ℟

Grant final purification to our departed brothers and sisters, — so that they may come without delay to sing canticles of love with all your saints. ℟

Our Father…

Prayer

Lord,
you endowed our Father Saint John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross.
By following his example
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever.

Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.

Featured image: Saint John of the Cross (detail), Abel de Jesús (21st c. Spanish), digital illustration with Photoshop. Image credit: © Abel de Jesús (All rights reserved, used by permission)

#DiscalcedCarmelite #DoctorOfTheChurch #LiturgyOfTheHours #priest #Solemnity #StJohnOfTheCross

Quote of the day, 13 December: St. John of the Cross

Now, in 1591, death did intervene. While his body was succumbing to erysipelas, his heart and reputation were still being battered.

The prior of the community of Ubeda, where he had gone for treatmen,t had a grudge against him and made his dying quite difficult. Medicines were regarded as a financial drain, putrid bandages were not to be washed, visits were curtailed . . .

John’s nurse, Bernardo, captures it with a modern phrase: “It was just incredible what was taking place!”

Finally, Bernardo himself was forbidden to nurse John. Whatever about the sick man’s patience, Bernardo had had enough: he wrote in complaint, higher authorities intervened, and matters improved in time for John to die in a community at peace.

Through all this—the sidelining, the libel, the dying—John seems to have been drawing on a different source of energy. A letter written from Ubeda puts it this way:

Love greatly those who speak against you and do not love you, because in this way love will come to birth in a heart that has none. That is what God does with us: he loves us, that we might love him, through the love he has for us.

Letter 33 to a Carmelite nun
Late 1591

That is the God to whom John bears witness: a God loving first, with a love which creates good in us; a God pressing in to release new capacities in us.

Iain Matthew, O.C.D.

Chapter 12, Healing Darkness (excerpt)

Note: Saint Edith Stein gives an account of the dying hours of Saint John of the Cross on 13 December 1591. He predicted, “at midnight I shall stand before God to recite Matins.” When at last he heard the bells in the tower strike twelve midnight, he said, with the crucifix in his hand “In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum” [Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit]. Edith concludes her account: “A parting glance at all those present, a final kiss for the Crucified One—then he stood before the throne of God to pray Matins with the heavenly choirs.”

Matthew, I 1995, The Impact of God: Soundings from St. John of the Cross, Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd, London.

Stein, E 2002, The Science of the Cross, The Collected Works of Edith Stein, Book 6, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington D.C.

Featured image: Featured image: Escultura de San Juan de la Cruz en Segovia is a photograph by Javier Cuadrado. It appears in this post as part of a composite image created in Adobe Express. Source: Adobe Stock, Asset ID# 70762898.

#deathAndDying #history #love #stEdithStein #stJohnOfTheCross

Quote of the day, 6 December: Iain Matthew, OCD

On a cold night in early December, [Saint John of the Cross’s] chaplaincy in Avila was raided. The young man was taken away for interrogation and chastisement. Then he disappeared.

On hearing of this arrest by friars opposing her reform, Teresa feared the worst. She wrote to King Philip: ‘I would be happier if [he] had fallen into the hands of Moors – they might show [him] more pity.’

But for once, her personality failed to produce results.

Unknown to his friends, John was being taken across the freezing Sierra Guadarrama to the city of Toledo. There he was incarcerated first in a jail, then in a tiny closet, with little or no light, and left.

Toledo can be very cold in winter, asphyxiating in summer. For John, solitary confinement was to mean malnutrition, regular flogging (causing wounds, which stayed with him for years), putrid clothing, and lice.

With this went a kind of psychological torture. His captors apparently feigned conversation at the door of his cell, leaving their phrases to foment in his mind. They hinted that he would get out in a coffin. They said the reform—his life’s work—had fallen apart.

All this does seem to have affected John’s mind. As he ate his scant ration, he had to cope with the fear that it was poisoned. He had to cope, too, with the constant insinuation (the walls of his dungeon told him this if nobody else did) that he was a rebel—he, whose religious culture was built on obedience. And he confessed that what pained him deeply was the worry that Teresa and the others would think he had deserted them.

It was all happening together: physical and emotional abuse; a whirl of anxiety in his mind; and, in his relationship with God, darkness. At the time when, if ever, he needed to feel the divine presence, his God seemed distant, even alien, and John felt himself a stranger. His later writings will bear out what contemporary witnesses suspected: ‘During the time they had him in prison, he suffered great inner dryness and affliction’; ‘at times [the Lord] withdrew and left him in inner darkness along with the darkness’ of his cell.’

Father Iain Matthew, O.C.D.

The Impact of God, chapter 2

Matthew, I 1995, The Impact of God: Soundings from St. John of the Cross, Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd, London.

Featured image: Toledo con nieve is a photograph from Spain by Javi. It comes from Adobe Stock (Asset ID 407750521).

#iainMatthew #prison #stJohnOfTheCross #stTeresaOfAvila #torture

St. John of the Cross Novena Compendium

“What profit is there in anything that is not the love of God, and what value has it in God’s sight?”

St. John of the Cross
Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book III, Chapter 30

Seven Years With Saint John of the Cross (2018–2024)

This compendium brings together seven novenas to Saint John of the Cross, prayed over the years with varying themes, voices, and approaches, yet all rooted in the same desire to draw closer to God through the wisdom of the Mystical Doctor. Some novenas follow John’s classic texts in steady sequence; others explore particular dimensions of his teaching—humility, the dark night, the spousal love of the Bridegroom, or the daily work of conversion. Whether presented with simple questions, pastoral reflections, or the insights of guest authors, each novena offers a different doorway into John’s vision of the soul’s ascent to God. Taken together, they form a rich and varied path of prayer, inviting readers to encounter St. John anew and to walk with him toward the transforming union for which every heart is made.

2018 Novena: From Detachment to Peace

This 2018 novena brings together nine short texts from Saint John of the Cross—taken from the Ascent, the Sayings of Light and Love, his letters, the Spiritual Canticle, and the Living Flame. Presented with brief Scripture passages and a traditional novena prayer, these selections trace a simple but steady movement through John’s major themes: the call to walk the path of Christ, to live in peace, to embrace virtue and detachment, to receive instruction in the dark night, and to be drawn toward union with God.

Link to 2018 Day 1

2019 Novena: Humility and Inner Conversion

This 2019 novena on Humility and Inner Conversion invites the soul to stand in truth before God, following Saint John of the Cross along the path of self-emptying, contrition, and trust. Drawing especially from the Sayings of Light and Love, each day confronts the illusions of self-reliance and pride, calling the heart to descend into the “wholly loving trust” that alone opens us to God’s mercy. Through Scripture, John’s terse and luminous counsels, and the daily novena prayer, readers are led into a deeper formation of conscience and a more earnest desire for the transforming grace that restores humility and shapes a life of authentic discipleship.

Link to 2019 Day 1

2020 Novena: Journey to Union

This 2020 novena revisits the same readings from Saint John of the Cross that appeared in the 2018 series. Instead of introducing new material, it re-presents those earlier selections—drawn from the Ascent, the Sayings of Light and Love, his letters, the Spiritual Canticle, and the Living Flame of Love—with revised titles and a fresh presentation. This repetition was intentional: the same words of John can speak differently from year to year, offering another opportunity to pray more deeply with his teaching.

Link to 2020 Day 1

2021 Novena: Examining the Heart

The 2021 novena also draws on the familiar nine readings from Saint John of the Cross but approaches them in a new way. This time the familiar texts are framed by simple, searching questions—What do you want? What must I do? How can I understand?—inviting a more personal examen in light of John’s teaching. With the daily Scripture passage, John’s brief selection, and the novena prayer from Carmel in Nigeria, the focus is less on introducing new material and more on letting the saint’s words probe the heart again, offering fresh grace through repeated prayer and reflection.

Link to 2021 Introduction

2022 Novena: The Night That Gives Sight (with Fr. Quang D. Tran, S.J.)

In this 2022 novena, Father Quang D. Tran, S.J., reflects on Saint John of the Cross’s teaching on the “dark night,” the purifying work by which God strips away the artificial lights in our lives so that we may see the true Light more clearly. Drawing on John’s own suffering and the wisdom of other spiritual masters, he shows how faith—stripped of lesser consolations—guides us more surely toward God. In the spirit of Advent, with its call to watchfulness and discernment, this novena helps us distinguish between the lights that blind and the Light that strengthens faith, hope, and love even in our darkest moments.

Link to 2022 Introduction

2023 Novena: Our Bridegroom and Friend

In this 2023 novena, guest author Laura Ercolino reflects on Saint John of the Cross’s teaching on the soul’s spousal relationship with Christ, drawing deeply from the Song of Songs and John’s own Spiritual Canticle. She reminds us that John understood the Canticle as the scriptural key to the soul’s journey toward transforming union—the divine marriage for which every heart is made. As the novena pairs John’s writings with verses from the Song of Songs, Laura invites readers to notice how the Divine Bridegroom is already wooing and drawing them into intimacy, offering foretastes of union even as we continue our ascent toward the eternal wedding feast.

Link to 2023 Introduction

2024 Novena: Walking the Path of Love

The 2024 novena, Walking the Path of Love, presented the nine classic readings from Saint John of the Cross with added depth through daily “Thoughts to Ponder” and a podcast introduction. Each day unfolded one of John’s central themes—rejoicing in God alone, responding to divine love, cultivating peace, embracing suffering with Christ, detachment, guidance in the dark night, spiritual marriage, and union—while inviting readers to reflect personally on how these teachings speak to their own journey. With the traditional novena prayer from the Carmelite nuns of Little Rock, this year’s novena offered a more catechetical and reflective approach, encouraging a sincere engagement with John’s wisdom and a renewed openness to the transforming work of divine love.

Link to 2024 Introduction

How to Use This Collection

Each novena follows the same structure: a brief introduction followed by nine days of prayer and reflection. You can pray them:

• Around St. John of the Cross’s solemnity (14 December)
• During times of personal need for his intercession
• As part of your spiritual reading throughout the year
• With family or prayer groups seeking his guidance

If you’re new to Saint John of the Cross, the 2019 novena is an excellent place to begin. Drawing from the Sayings of Light and Love, it introduces John’s spirituality in short, accessible steps and provides a helpful foundation for the deeper themes explored in the other novenas.

Novena Prayer

O seraphic St. John of the Cross,
the ardent love which burned always in your heart
led you to see all things only in God
and to seek only His glory.
It was to increase this love
and thus unite yourself more closely to God
that you led such a penitential life.

Mention your request

I beg you, inflame my heart with a love like yours,
so that I may have the courage to mortify myself
and give myself generously to the practice of virtue.
Thus may I truly love God
with all the fervor of which I am capable.
Amen.

Our Father…

Hail Mary…

Glory be…

Saint John of the Cross, pray for us!

John of the Cross, St 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, rev. edn, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

All scripture references in this novena are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America as accessed from the Bible Gateway website.

Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.

Let us unite in prayer

Featured image: The bronze figure of Saint John of the Cross is part of the public artwork Homenaje al primer encuentro de Santa Teresa de Jesús y San Juan de la Cruz en Medina del Campo en 1567. Photograph by Ángel Cantero, October 2015. Image source: Iglesia en Valladolid on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Collage for the Novena Compendium created by Carmelite Quotes in Adobe Express.

#faith #love #novena #StJohnOfTheCross #unionWithGod

Quote of the day, 29 November: St. Teresa of Avila

… I tell you that ever present to me is what they did with Fray John of the Cross, for I don’t know how God bears with things like that; even you don’t know everything about it. For all these nine months [3 December 1577 to 15 August 1578], 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 subprior gave him one of his shirts. He underwent harsh scourges, and no one was allowed to see him.

I experience the greatest envy. Surely our Lord found in him the resources for such a martyrdom. And it is good that this be known so that everyone will be all the more on guard against these people. May God forgive them, amen.

Saint Teresa of Avila

Letter 260 to Padre Jerónimo Gracián
From Avila, 21-22 August 1578

Note: On 29 November, the Teresian Carmel recalls two of its martyred missionaries, Blesseds Denis of the Nativity and Redemptus of the Cross, who were killed in hatred of the faith while in Indonesia on 29 November 1638.

Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Carmelites are constantly reminded that we are descendants of hermits who also were killed in hatred of the faith on Mount Carmel in 1291. The Martyrdom of the Carmelites is a wall painting executed in 1517 by Jörg Ratgeb (German, c. 1480–1526) in the Carmelite Cloister of Frankfurt, Germany. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art (Public Domain).

#blessedsDenisAndRedemptus #martyrdom #prisoner #stJohnOfTheCross #stTeresaOfAvila

Quote of the day, 28 November: Peter Thomas Rohrbach, OCD

The Jesuits at Medina del Campo made the preliminary arrangements for her [second] foundation, and in the summer of 1567, she set off in three lumbering, creaking carts to establish the second house of the reform. She took six nuns with her… The prior of the Carmelite monastery in Medina, Anthony de Heredia… offered Mass in the new monastery, but a close inspection afterward showed that the building needed extensive repairs…

A wealthy merchant offered the nuns the upper story of his home while they waited… During that time Teresa… revealed to [Father Anthony] the permission she had from the general to found two houses of reformed friars. She was startled when he volunteered to become the first friar of the new reform… Teresa later wrote… “I thought it was a joke, and told him so.”

The following month Anthony brought another Carmelite to meet Teresa at her temporary dwelling. He was a newly ordained priest, twenty–five years old, and he had confided to the prior that he too wanted to leave the Order and join the Carthusians. Anthony felt that the young man had better speak to Teresa. His name was John de Yepes.

“When I spoke to the friar I liked him very much,” Teresa said, and she explained her project to him, asking him to put off his plan to enter the Carthusians until she had obtained a monastery for reformed friars. She told him that if he wanted to lead a more perfect life “he should lead it within his own Order” Teresa’s singular persuasiveness worked again, and John agreed to her proposal, “provided there were no long delay.”

John had to return to Salamanca for a final year of theology, and Teresa promised to do something about finding a house suitable for a monastery of friars during that time. Teresa was immediately enthused with John de Yepes. “Although he is small in stature,” she later wrote, “I believe he is great in the sight of God.”

After John and Anthony left her temporary convent that autumn day in 1567, she told the nuns that she now felt she could proceed with the establishment of the friars’ monastery, “although I was still not quite satisfied with the prior.” She said that she now had “a friar and a half,” and that phrase has caused a minor controversy among historians. Some have said that the “half friar” was the diminutive John of the Cross, while others have contended that she was referring to her doubts about Anthony, and that she would certainly not jest about the small stature of the future doctor of the church.

…A relative of hers, Raphael Mejía, offered her an abandoned farm house at Duruelo… They lost their way… and did not arrive… until dusk. And then they found the wooden farm house to be severely disappointing: “It had a fair-sized porch, a room divided into two, with a loft above it, and a little kitchen: that was all there was of the building which was to be our monastery.”… Teresa told [Anthony] that if he had the courage to at least begin the foundation, the Lord would provide better quarters in due time, but “the important thing was to make a start.” Anthony eagerly agreed… saying he would live “not only there, but in a pigsty.”

…Teresa herself sewed the new habit to be worn by the reformed friars… John tried on the habit in Valladolid… He reached Duruelo sometime in early October… On November 27, Anthony arrived at Duruelo… On the following day, the first Sunday of Advent, the provincial offered Mass, and then Anthony, John, and the deacon Joseph approached the altar, where they formally renounced the mitigation of Eugene IV and promised to live according to the rule of 1247. After this significant ceremony, they signed the deed of foundation:

“We, Brother Anthony of Jesus, Brother John of the Cross, and Brother Joseph of Christ, begin this day, 28 November 1568, to live the primitive rule.”

Peter Thomas Rohrbach, O.C.D.

Journey to Carith, chapter V

Rohrbach, P 1966, 2015, Journey to Carith: The Sources and Story of the Discalced Carmelites, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: A rustic stone farmhouse in Neila, Spain, set against the quiet Castilian landscape. Image credit: © ABUELO RAMIRO. Adobe Stock, Asset ID 35302703.

#antonioDeJesusHeredia2 #foundation #friars #stJohnOfTheCross #stTeresaOfAvila

Quote of the day, 19 October: St. John of the Cross

Regarding other ceremonies in vocal prayers and other devotions, one should not become attached to any ceremonies or modes of prayer other than those Christ taught us.

When his disciples asked him to teach them to pray, Christ obviously, as one who knew so well his Father’s will, would have told them all that was necessary in order to obtain an answer from the Eternal Father. And, in fact, he taught them only those seven petitions of the Pater Noster, which include all our spiritual and temporal needs, and he did not teach numerous other kinds of prayers and ceremonies [Lk. 11:1-4].

Instead, at another time he told them that in praying they should not desire much speaking because our heavenly Father clearly knows our needs [Mt. 6:7-8]. He only charged us with great insistence to persevere in prayer—that is, in the Pater Noster—teaching in another place that one should pray and never cease [Lk. 18:1].

He did not teach us a quantity of petitions but that these seven be repeated often, and with fervor and care. In these, as I say, are embodied everything that is God’s will and all that is fitting for us.

Accordingly, when His Majesty had recourse three times to the Eternal Father, all three times he prayed with the same petition of the Pater Noster, as the Evangelists recount: Father, if it cannot be but that I drink this chalice, may your will be done [Mt. 26:39; Mk. 14:36; Lk. 22:42].

And the ceremonies he taught us for use in our prayers are either of two. Our prayer should be made either in the concealment of our inner room (where without noise and without telling anyone we can pray with a more perfect and pure heart, as he said: When you pray enter your inner room, and having closed the door, pray [Mt. 6:6]); or, if not in one’s room, it should be made in the solitary wilderness, and at the best and most quiet time of night, as he did [Lk. 6:12].

No reason exists, hence, for designating fixed times or set days, or for choosing some days more than others for our devotions; neither is there reason for using other kinds of prayer, or phrases having a play on words, but only those prayers that the Church uses, and as she uses them, for all are reducible to the Pater Noster.

Saint John of the Cross

The Ascent of Mount Carmel: Book Three, Chapter 44, no. 4

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Outer cloister walkway at the Carmel du Pater Noster, Jerusalem. The walls of the monastery church are covered with panels carrying the Lord’s Prayer in different languages. The Swedish and Georgian versions are seen in the foreground. The Carmel is built on the spot where Jerusalem tradition says Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer to his disciples. Image credit: Alex-David Baldi / Flickr (Some rights reserved).

#OurFather #perseverance #prayer #simplicity #StJohnOfTheCross

Quote of the day, 5 October: St. John of the Cross

Shepherds, you who go
up through the sheepfolds to the hill,
if by chance you see
him I love most,
tell him I am sick, I suffer, and I die.

The Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 2

If by chance you see

This means: If by my good luck you so reach his presence that he sees and hears you.

It is noteworthy that even though God has knowledge and understanding of all, and even sees the very thoughts of the soul, as Moses asserts (Dt 31:21), it is said when he provides a remedy for us in our needs that he sees them, and when he answers our prayers that he hears them.

Not all needs and petitions reach the point at which God, in hearing, grants them. They must wait until in his eyes they arrive at the suitable time, season, and number, and then it is said that he sees and hears them.

This is evident in Exodus. After the 400 years in which the children of Israel had been afflicted by their slavery in Egypt, God declared to Moses: I have seen the affliction of my people and have come down to free them [Ex 3:7-8], even though he had always seen it.

And St. Gabriel, too, told Zechariah not to fear, because God had heard his prayer and given him the son for whom he had prayed those many years, even though God had always heard that prayer [Lk 1:13].

Every soul should know that even though God does not answer its prayer immediately, he will not on that account fail to answer it at the opportune time if it does not become discouraged and give up its prayer. He is, as David remarks, a helper in opportune times and tribulations [Ps 9:9].

Saint John of the Cross

The Spiritual Canticle, stanza 2, no. 4

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Photographer Christof Timmermann captures this image in absolute black and white photography, titled “Silent Moments.” You can view more of his street photography on Flickr. Image credit: © christof_tim / Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

#God #listening #perseverance #prayer #StJohnOfTheCross

Quote of the day, 29 September: St. Edith Stein

 Since September 29 we’ve had a new Mother who would like me to write something again.

Saint Edith Stein
Echt, 5 November 1940

Just now I am gathering material for a new work since our Reverend Mother wishes me to do some scholarly work again, as far as this will be possible in our living situation and under the present circumstances. I am very grateful to be allowed once more to do something before my brain rusts completely.

Echt, 17 November 1940

I am going about my new task like a little child making its first attempts at walking.

Echt, 16 May 1941

Please, will Your Reverence also pray a little to the Holy Spirit and to our Holy Father John for what I am now planning to write. It is to be something for our Holy Father’s 400th birthday (24 June 1942)…

Echt, 8 October 1941

Because of the work I am doing I live almost constantly immersed in thoughts about our Holy Father John. That is a great grace. May I ask Your Reverence once more for prayers that I can produce something appropriate for his Jubilee?

Echt, 18 November 1941

Dear Mother,

… I am satisfied with everything. A scientia crucis [science of the cross] can be gained only when one comes to feel the Cross radically. I have been convinced of that from the first moment and have said, from my heart: Ave, Crux, spes unica!

Echt, December 1941

Dear Sister Maria,

… while working on this task it often happened when I was greatly exhausted that I had the feeling I could not penetrate to what I wished to say and to grasp. I already thought that it would always remain so. But now I feel I have renewed vigor for creative effort. Holy Father John gave me renewed impetus for some remarks concerning symbols. When I finish this manuscript I would like to send a German copy to Father Heribert [Discalced Carmelite provincial in Germany] to have it duplicated for the monasteries.

The only reason I write so little is that I need all the time for Father John.

Echt, 9 April 1942

My dear ones,

A [Red Cross] nurse from [Amsterdam] intends to speak today with the Consul. Here, every petition [on behalf] of fully Jewish Catholics has been forbidden since yesterday. Outside [the camp] an attempt can still be made, but with extremely little prospect. According to plans, a transport will leave on Friday. Could you possibly write to Mère Claire in Venlo, Kaldenkerkeweg 185 [the Ursuline Convent] to ask for [my] manuscript if they have not already sent it. We count on your prayers. There are so many persons here who need some consolation and they expect it from the Sisters.

In Corde Jesu, your grateful

B.

Westerbork transit camp, 5 August 1942

Mother Antonia Ambrosia Engelmann, O.C.D. was elected prioress of the Carmel of Echt on 29 September 1940.  It is to her that we owe a debt of gratitude for Saint Edith Stein’s ultimate volume, The Science of the Cross. Gelber and Leuven (1993) note that although it was her final work, the manuscript was published as Vol. I in Edith Steins Werke. When Edith and Rosa were arrested in August of 1942, the completed portions of her manuscript had already been sent to a typist. Unaware of the fate that awaited her, Edith asks to retrieve that manuscript as if to continue working on it while in prison.

Stein, E. 1993, Self-Portrait in Letters, 1916-1942, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Vintage Remington Portable typewriter with German text. Original Flickr source no longer available.

#monasticLife #obedience #StEdithStein #StJohnOfTheCross #TheScienceOfTheCross

Quote of the day, 20 June: St. John of the Cross

Jesus be in your soul, my daughter in Christ.

The reason for my not having written during all this time is due more to my having been in such an out-of-the-way place, as is Segovia, than because of a lack of desire. My will to write remains ever the same, and I hope in God this will continue to be so. I have been sorry about your troubles.

I would desire that you not be so solicitous for the temporal things of the house because God will gradually forget you and you will come to a state of great spiritual and temporal need; for it is our anxiety that creates our needs.

Cast your care on the Lord, daughter, and he will sustain you [Ps. 55:22], for he who gives, and wants to give, the highest cannot fail to give the least. Be careful that you do not lack the desire to be poor and in want; for if you do, at that very hour devotion will fail you and you will gradually weaken in the practice of virtue.

If previously you desired poverty, now that you are superior, you ought to desire and love it much more. You ought to govern and provide the house with virtues and ardent desires for heaven rather than with worries and plans about temporal and earthly things. The Lord tells us not to be thinking about food or clothing or tomorrow [Mt. 6:31-34].

Saint John of the Cross

Letter 21 to Madre María de Jesús (excerpts)
Discalced Carmelite prioress of Córdoba
Madrid, 20 June 1590

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Study of a Woman’s Head was painted in oil on wood, ca. 1780 by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725–1805). Image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Public domain).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How has God shown you His care and sustained you through His Divine Providence?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#DivineProvidence #monasticLife #poverty #spiritualDirection #StJohnOfTheCross #trust

Quote of the day, 20 June: St. John of the Cross

Jesus be in your soul, my daughter in Christ.

The reason for my not having written during all this time is due more to my having been in such an out-of-the-way place, as is Segovia, than because of a lack of desire. My will to write remains ever the same, and I hope in God this will continue to be so. I have been sorry about your troubles.

I would desire that you not be so solicitous for the temporal things of the house because God will gradually forget you and you will come to a state of great spiritual and temporal need; for it is our anxiety that creates our needs.

Cast your care on the Lord, daughter, and he will sustain you [Ps. 55:22], for he who gives, and wants to give, the highest cannot fail to give the least. Be careful that you do not lack the desire to be poor and in want; for if you do, at that very hour devotion will fail you and you will gradually weaken in the practice of virtue.

If previously you desired poverty, now that you are superior, you ought to desire and love it much more. You ought to govern and provide the house with virtues and ardent desires for heaven rather than with worries and plans about temporal and earthly things. The Lord tells us not to be thinking about food or clothing or tomorrow [Mt. 6:31-34].

Saint John of the Cross

Letter 21 to Madre María de Jesús (excerpts)
Discalced Carmelite prioress of Córdoba
Madrid, 20 June 1590

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Study of a Woman’s Head was painted in oil on wood, ca. 1780 by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725–1805). Image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Public domain).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How has God shown you His care and sustained you through His Divine Providence?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#DivineProvidence #monasticLife #poverty #spiritualDirection #StJohnOfTheCross #trust

Quote of the day, 20 June: St. John of the Cross

Jesus be in your soul, my daughter in Christ.

The reason for my not having written during all this time is due more to my having been in such an out-of-the-way place, as is Segovia, than because of a lack of desire. My will to write remains ever the same, and I hope in God this will continue to be so. I have been sorry about your troubles.

I would desire that you not be so solicitous for the temporal things of the house because God will gradually forget you and you will come to a state of great spiritual and temporal need; for it is our anxiety that creates our needs.

Cast your care on the Lord, daughter, and he will sustain you [Ps. 55:22], for he who gives, and wants to give, the highest cannot fail to give the least. Be careful that you do not lack the desire to be poor and in want; for if you do, at that very hour devotion will fail you and you will gradually weaken in the practice of virtue.

If previously you desired poverty, now that you are superior, you ought to desire and love it much more. You ought to govern and provide the house with virtues and ardent desires for heaven rather than with worries and plans about temporal and earthly things. The Lord tells us not to be thinking about food or clothing or tomorrow [Mt. 6:31-34].

Saint John of the Cross

Letter 21 to Madre María de Jesús (excerpts)
Discalced Carmelite prioress of Córdoba
Madrid, 20 June 1590

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Study of a Woman’s Head was painted in oil on wood, ca. 1780 by Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725–1805). Image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Public domain).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How has God shown you His care and sustained you through His Divine Providence?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#DivineProvidence #monasticLife #poverty #spiritualDirection #StJohnOfTheCross #trust

Quote of the day, 26 April: Pope Francis & Blessed Anne of Jesus

These stanzas, Reverend Mother, were obviously composed with a certain burning love of God.

Saint John of the Cross to Blessed Anne of Jesus
Prologue to the Spiritual Canticle

The history of the Belgian Church is rich in examples of holiness. Let us consider Saint Gudula, the patron saint of this country (650–712 ca.), Saint Guy of Anderlecht, the pilgrim and friend of the poor (+1012), Saint Damien de Veuster, better known as Damien of Molokai, the apostle to the lepers (1840-1889), and the many Belgian missionaries who have proclaimed the Gospel in various parts of the world over the centuries, sometimes to the point of sacrificing their lives.

The witness of a Carmelite nun has also blossomed in this fertile land: Anne of Jesus, Anna de Lobera, whose Beatification we celebrate today. In the Church of her time, this woman was among the protagonists of a great reform movement. She followed in the footsteps of a “giant of the spirit”, Teresa of Avila, and helped spread her ideals throughout Spain, France, here, in Brussels, and in what was then called the Spanish Netherlands.

In a time marked by painful scandals, within and outside of the Christian community, she and her companions brought many people back to the faith through their simple lives of poverty, prayer, work, and charity. Some have called their foundation in this city a “spiritual magnet”.

She intentionally left no writings to posterity. Instead, she committed herself to putting into practice what she had learned (cf. 1 Cor 15:3), and by her way of life she helped lift up the Church at a time of great difficulty.

Let us then gratefully welcome the example she has given us of “feminine styles of holiness” (cf. Gaudete et Exsultate, 12), gentle but strong. Her testimony, together with those of so many brothers and sisters who have gone before us, our friends and fellow pilgrims, is not far from us: it is near us, indeed it is entrusted to us so that we may also make it our own, renewing our commitment to walk together in the footsteps of the Lord.

Pope Francis

Homily, Mass of Beatification of Anne of Jesus
Brussels, 29 September 2024

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Pope Francis passing through a jubilant crowd in St. Peter’s Square minutes before his Inaugural Mass, 19 March 2013 [Inizio Del Ministero Petrino Del Vescovo Di Roma]. Photo by Jeffrey Bruno (Some rights reserved).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
Is my life quietly bearing witness—or am I waiting to say something before I live it?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#beatification #BlessedAnneOfJesus #Brussels #founder #homily #PopeFrancis #StJohnOfTheCross

Quote of the day, 22 April: Blessed Marie-Eugène

Mary, Mother of the Risen One

Yesterday, we contemplated the Risen Jesus, and in a sense, we were carried away by His light and by the joy of the apostles, who recovered all their hope as they beheld their risen Master.

Today, it is good for us to pause with Mary, the Mother of the Risen One. She is our mother, and we want to understand what was happening in her soul.

We are drawn to seek her in her solitude—to contemplate her there. She does not step into the foreground; she remains hidden, always in the background. We have to make an effort to find her, to draw close to her, but we feel this need.

Let us linger with Mary for a few moments on the day of the Resurrection.

It seems certain that the Lord revealed Himself to her. Her risen Son surely wanted her to share in His joy and in His triumph.

We last saw her on the evening of Good Friday and throughout Holy Saturday, immersed in a sorrow we can hardly imagine. Yes, she remained noble and serene, magnified by suffering, above all by the living word her Son had spoken. On Calvary, He had consecrated her motherhood: a divine motherhood that had become a motherhood of grace for the Mystical Body of Christ and for all humanity made new.

She was great, yet profoundly sorrowful. We have tried to grasp this. In her suffering—in that sea of grief that threatened to bury her in its bitter waves—there burned a flame: the small flame of hope. But it was strong and immense—a hope that sustained the Virgin and, through her, sustained the Mystical Body of Christ.

Beside the cross, beside the body of her dead and buried Son, Mary remained the one true hope—a living hope, rooted in the fruitfulness of a Mother who never ceased to give life.

And now, Jesus is risen. He reveals Himself to her. What joy must have flooded her soul!

At the Visitation, she sang: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” [Lk 1:46–47]. How much greater her exultation must have been on this morning! Her soul rejoiced. Her hope took hold of its object. Her whole being exulted.

Yes, the angel’s words at the Annunciation were true. The Son she bore was truly the Son of God, truly the Messiah. He had been put to death—for it was necessary that He pass through suffering and death—and now He was alive again, risen.

He was the promised King, the God-Man of incomparable human stature, radiant now in the full glory of His divine majesty.

Mary rejoiced—not only in her soul, but in her body. Her whole being responded with joy at the sight, the touch, the embrace—if we may put it that way—of the risen body of her Son.

This was her joy, her exultation—a movement of the Holy Spirit through her entire being. And all of it unfolded in an outward serenity, a purity, a beauty that already belonged to heaven.

St. John of the Cross speaks of the awakenings of the Word in the soul (cf. The Living Flame Of Love, stanza 4). Here was one of those awakenings—the Word, seemingly at rest, stirring again in the soul under the flame and breath of the Holy Spirit. He sings within it, exults within it, and causes not only the soul and grace to rejoice, but even the body itself.

So it is when the source of joy is spiritual: it reaches the furthest edges of one’s being and person.

Here, it was more than just a radiance in Mary’s body or flesh—her very flesh exulted at the sight and the embrace of the risen body of the God-Man, her Son.

Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus

Homily for Easter Monday, 15 April 1963

Marie-Eugène de l’Enfant-Jésus 1986, Jésus, Contemplation du Mystère Pascal, Editions du Carmel, Toulouse.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: In Ushered in a Tearful Joy (c. 1890), Russian painter Vasily Polenov (1844–1927) captures the moment when Resurrection light breaks into the house of mourning. A woman—possibly Mary Magdalene—stands in the doorway, clothed in blue, announcing news that will change everything. Seated in the shadows, one veiled figure turns to listen; another sits with head in hands, still bowed in grief. The painting evokes the Easter Monday Gospel (Mt 28:8–10), in which the women, “fearful yet overjoyed,” run from the tomb to tell the disciples, and meet the Risen Lord along the way. Image credit: WikiArt (Public domain)

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How might I linger with Mary today, allowing her hidden joy to deepen my faith in the risen Christ?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#BlessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #BlessedVirginMary #embrace #hope #MotherOfChrist #MotherOfTheLiving #resurrectionOfChrist #solitude #sorrow #StJohnOfTheCross

Quote of the day, 29 January: St. John of the Cross

I went out seeking love,
and with unfaltering hope
I flew so high, so high,
that I overtook the prey.

That I might take the prey
of this adventuring in God
I had to fly so high
that I was lost from sight;
and though in this adventure
I faltered in my flight,
yet love had already flown so high
that I took the prey.

When I ascended higher
my vision was dazzled,
and the most difficult conquest
came about in darkness;
but since I was seeking love
the leap I made was blind and dark,
and I rose so high, so high,
that I took the prey.

The higher I ascended
in this seeking so lofty
the lower and more subdued
and abased I became.
I said: No one can overtake it!
And sank, ah, so low,
that I was so high, so high,
that I took the prey.

In a wonderful way
my one flight surpassed a thousand,
for the hope of heaven
attains as much as it hopes for;
this seeking is my only hope,
and in hoping, I made no mistake,
because I flew so high, so high,
that I took the prey.

Saint John of the Cross

Poetry 6, Stanzas given a spiritual meaning

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Photographer Elisa Stone captures this image of a bald eagle flying high in the mountains of Northern California. Image credit: Elisa Stone / Unsplash (Stock photo)

#adventure #ascent #heaven #hope #love #poetry #search #StJohnOfTheCross

Quote of the day, 2 January: St. John of the Cross

When something distasteful or unpleasant comes your way, remember Christ crucified and be silent.

Live in faith and hope, even though you are in darkness, because it is in these darknesses that God protects the soul.

Cast your care on God, for he watches over you and will not forget you. Do not think that he leaves you alone; that would be an affront to him.

Read, pray, rejoice in God, both your good and your salvation. May he grant you this good and this salvation and conserve it all until the day of eternity. Amen. Amen.

Saint John of the Cross

Letter 20 to a Discalced Carmelite nun (excerpt)
Shortly before Pentecost, 1590

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Photographer Christof Timmermann captures this image in absolute black and white photography, which he titles “Silent Moments.” You can view more of his street photography on Flickr. Image credit: christof_tim / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

#ChristCrucified #darkness #faith #God #good #hope #pray #read #salvation #silence #StJohnOfTheCross #trust

Day 9 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on forgetting all for peace: “When all things are forgotten, nothing disturbs the peace.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/11/juannov2024-9/

Day 9 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on forgetting all for peace: “When all things are forgotten, nothing disturbs the peace.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/11/juannov2024-9/

Day 9 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on forgetting all for peace: “When all things are forgotten, nothing disturbs the peace.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/11/juannov2024-9/

Day 8 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on union with the Bridegroom: “An awakening of God in the soul.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/10/juannov2024-8/

Day 8 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on union with the Bridegroom: “An awakening of God in the soul.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/10/juannov2024-8/

Day 8 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on union with the Bridegroom: “An awakening of God in the soul.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/10/juannov2024-8/

Day 7 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on spiritual marriage: “It is a total transformation in the Beloved.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/09/juannov2024-7/

Day 7 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on spiritual marriage: “It is a total transformation in the Beloved.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/09/juannov2024-7/

Day 7 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on spiritual marriage: “It is a total transformation in the Beloved.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/09/juannov2024-7/

Day 6 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on the guidance we need to navigate spiritual darkness. #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/08/juannov2024-6/

Day 6 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on the guidance we need to navigate spiritual darkness. #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/08/juannov2024-6/

Day 6 of our novena to St. John of the Cross reflects on the guidance we need to navigate spiritual darkness. #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/08/juannov2024-6/

Day 5 of our novena to St. John of the Cross: “Compared to the infinite goodness of God, all the goodness of creatures can be called wickedness.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/07/juannov2024-5/

Day 5 of our novena to St. John of the Cross: “Compared to the infinite goodness of God, all the goodness of creatures can be called wickedness.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/07/juannov2024-5/

Day 5 of our novena to St. John of the Cross: “Compared to the infinite goodness of God, all the goodness of creatures can be called wickedness.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/07/juannov2024-5/

Day 4 of our novena to St. John of the Cross: “Desire to resemble somewhat in suffering this great God of ours, humbled and crucified.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/06/juannov2024-4/

Day 4 of our novena to St. John of the Cross: “Desire to resemble somewhat in suffering this great God of ours, humbled and crucified.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/06/juannov2024-4/

Day 4 of our novena to St. John of the Cross: “Desire to resemble somewhat in suffering this great God of ours, humbled and crucified.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/06/juannov2024-4/

Day 3 of our novena to St. John of the Cross: “Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/05/juannov2024-3/

Day 3 of our novena to St. John of the Cross: “Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it.” #Novena #StJohnoftheCross

http://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/12/05/juannov2024-3/