The process of
doing this paper has helped me to clarify my understanding of union with God.
It was a pleasant and useful process. In this paper I have given importance to
the life of St. John of the Cross as his life remains an important factor which
gives us the foundation on which the mystical path that John of the Cross shows
rests. The life and the doctrine that John proposed are closely linked with
each other. In this paper I have concentrated more on combining the life and
teachings of St. John of the cross, because his mystical path is the outcome of
his life that he lived out in fidelity to God whom he felt so close in his love
for His creatures.
1.1
Structure of the Paper
In this paper I
have given a brief idea about mysticism in general from different authors in
the first chapter. I have explained the
life of St. John of the Cross in the second chapter. I have explained his life
in detail so that we are able to combine the life and the mystical path he suggests
and have a better understanding. Naturally for any author the life remains an
important factor that sets the tenor for the thought. It is also true with
regard to St. John of the Cross. All his writings took shape in every peculiar
situation of his life. After having explained the life I have placed the
explanation on the mystical path of John of the Cross in the third chapter. In
third chapter I have given a summary of the mystical path that John of the
Cross suggests from his own life experience. In the fourth chapter titled
conclusion I have given my critique. The critique that I have placed in the
conclusion is mostly my positive reflection on the life and mystical path of
St. John of the Cross. In this chapter I have made it a point to state how St.
John of the Cross is a true mystic.
1.2
Methodological Limitations
The main
methodological limitation lies in the materials that I have used in this paper.
Though John has written many books, in humility I accept that I have not read
all his works. Even with regard to the secondary sources I have used limited
number of books in this paper
.
1.3
Mysticism in General
The word mysticism is coming from the Greeks which is
derived from root meaning “to close.”
Mystic is a person who has been initiated into the knowledge of the
divine things. It is not a separate religion but essential factor of all
religions. The aim of any mystic is to establish a conscious relation with the
absolute.
The central fact of mystical experience is nothing but the overwhelming
consciousness of God and our own soul.
The word mysticism was bought inside the Christian parlance by Pseudo-Dionysius
a sixth century Syrian monk who used this word to clarify the problems of
exegesis in his treatise, The Mystica
Theologia.
William Johnston says that mysticism is the wisdom or knowledge that is found
through love; it is loving knowledge of God.
Louis Dupré says that the mystical experience that an individual has is
accompanied by a new feeling of integration of his or her own self with the
reality.
The mystical path that John of the Cross proposes is very much in line with the
above basic concepts of mysticism that different authors speak about.
MYSTICAL LIFE OF ST. JOHN
OF THE CROSS
The life of any
mystic is very essential to understand the mystical path that they have shown
to us because it mirrors their teaching.
I think the detail explanation of the life of St. John of the Cross will
lead us to the better understanding of the third chapter where in I have
explained the mystical path that St. John proposed.
2.1
Juan De Yepes, the Young Man (1542-1564)
2.1.1
Social, Family and Economic Situation
The 16th
century is the most remarkable period in the history of Spain as it became a
United Nation.
It was a period of revenge for the Muslim and Jewish communities. The social
situation became much better yet the gape between the rich and the poor began
to grow more and more. In
this situation the father of St. John of the Cross, Gonzalo de Yepes
and mother Catalina Alvarez
got married. Gonzalo was an orphan and
he was staying with his uncle. Since Catalina was considered as Jewish women
Gonzalo’s uncle did not allow for the marriage. Against the will of his uncle
they got married in the year 1529. They had three children namely: Francisco
(1530), Luis and Juan de Yepes (1542).
The economic situation was very bad; Gonzalo was doing the business of weaving and
trying to provide the family at least for the food. The father passed away when
John was eight years old. After some years the second son Luis also passed
away. Catalina with her children wandered to many places in search of getting a
good place for their weaving business. At the end they got settled in Medina
del Campo,
yet the economic situation was still the same.
2.1.2
Work at the Hospital
John had a very
kind and mature way of relating with others as a result of his experience with
his sick father. Looking at his sensitivity to the needs of others Don Alvarez
offered him a job in his hospital Nuestra
Senora de la Concepcion (Las Bubas). There he leaned about the suffering
and the meaning of life. He was very close to the sick and always gave hope to
the dying. To say the truth it is here John began his ascetical life and got
inspiration for his life. He used to go out begging for the fund for the
hospital. The room in which he stayed was very small and filled with bugs.
Looking at his desire for study Don Alvarez made him to study in a Jesuit
school from 1559 to 1563. At his father’s death John lost God but in
this life at the hospital he found God in the poor sick people.
2.2
The Young Carmelite and the Reform (1564-1572)
2.2.1
Early life in the Monastery
In the 21st
year of his life John began to think about his future life. In the year 1560
the Carmelites have begun a monastery at Medina del Campo which was named as Convento de Santa Ana. After completing
his studies John joined in this monastery as novice and professed in the year
1564, May 21st as member of the Carmelite order. In the monastery he was very strict with the
rules and regulations and loved solitude. This ascetical life taught him to be
kind and gentle towards people. In the congregation he was named as Juan de Santa Matia. In the year 1564 he
was sent to Salamanca University to do his Theology. Day by day he increased
his ascetical practices to free himself from the worldliness. He was all the
time feeling that he was not doing enough penances. Among all his ascetical
practices he was an extraordinary student. In the year 1567 after his studies
he was ordained a priest.
2.2.2
Monk of the Reformed Order
The new priest
John was travelling back to his home town Medina del Campo to celebrate his
first mass. At this time he was confused and was thinking of joining the
Carthusian order as he felt the need for more radical life. It is during this
time John’s companion Fray Pedro de Orozco arranged a meeting with Madre Teresa de Avila (Teresa of Avila).
When John explained his status Avila was very happy.
She made him realize that the Lord will be very happy if he is able to serve
the Lord through his penances living in the same congregation and explained to
him about the reform. Hearing Teresa, John was very happy and assured that he
would join the reform.
Teresa wanted to live
the primitive rules of the order. The reforms she proposed were: contemplation
and silence are most important features of life, total abstinence form meat and
lengthy fasting from September 14th the feast of the exaltation of
the Holy Cross to the Easter. The religious habit was changed into a shorter
habit made of heavy material called coarse and the nuns where forbidden form
wearing shoes. The nuns belonging to this reformation were called as discalced
while the others of the order were called as calced. The General Padre Juan Bautista Rubeo (Rossi) gave
permissions to start two convents other than the convent Convento de San Jose, which Teresa had already started in Avila
In
the year 1568 Teresa was offered a new house at Durelo near Avila which she
found not easy for living after her visit.
Though Teresa abandoned this place John took up the task of setting this house
ready. He reached there and worked hard and got ready the place.
At the age of twenty six John was eagerly longing to join the reform at the
same time he had the doubt whether he was doing God’s will or trying to make
his will as God’s will and realized at the end that this is the life that God
is calling him to live.
In the year 1568 November 28th the Provincial Fray Alonso Gonzalez
came to open the house at Durelo. In that mass Fray John, Fray Antonio and Fray
Joseph renounced the mitigated rule of Carmelite order and professed the
primitive rule. At this time John changed his name as Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross). John was appointed as the
master of novices. With five others they began the life as Discalced
Carmelites.
His whole family came to that place to help out in the works of the monastery.
Then John was asked to go to Pastrana were he started the novitiate. In the
year 1571 he was appointed as the Rector of Colegio
de San Cyrilo in Alcala de Henares.
2.3
Avila and the Monastery of the Encarnacion
(Incarnation) (1572-1577)
2.3.1
Life in the Monastery of the Encarnacion
In the year 1571
Teresa was appointed as the Prioress of the Monastery of Encarnacion. There was complete rebellion against her because she
was a nun of the discalced order. Once she took up as the Prioress she
appointed John as the spiritual director and confessor of the monastery. She
knew for sure that his kindness and deep knowledge of God would make the
situation better. Yes the situation of the monastery improved because of his
kindness, but the trials began for John. The calced monks who were confessors
of the monastery of Encarnacion got
angry with John. This hatred made John to move form the monastery of men to a
hut where the workers were staying near the monastery of Encarnacion.
His confessions were filled with patience, compassion and understanding. It was
a meeting place of God with human beings for John.
Through his advice during confessions he was trying to make people realize that
God was as real as the flowers in the garden and He is very personal to the
humanity.
2.3.2
Social Life
John was very
friendly with the people around his hut. He went to their house, played and
taught to their children. Even people from the city would come to get advice
from him. He always showed the positive dimension of life to the people and
encouraged them to live in the spirit of God’s love.
As like any other human being he also failed and struggled in his way to God.
John’s actions showed the path to God. His ascetical actions were not to punish
himself but for his love for others and God. His consequent interaction with
others and his growing consciousness of God’s presence made him grow as man of
God that he was meant to be.
It is during this period he drew his famous drawing of crucified Christ which
is at present at the monastery of Encarnacion.
The Christ in that picture was broken body which was lifeless yet life giving.
This was based on John’s experience in life and his own reflection on the
passion of Christ.
2.4
The Dark Night of Imprisonment in Toledo (1577-1578)
As I have
already stated the calced monks of the Carmelite order were not so happy about
John’s appointment at the monastery of Encarnacion.
They arrested John and took him to the monastery of Medina del Campo in the
year 1576. The Papal Legate Ormaneto asked them to release him and ordered that
the calced monks should never interfere with the work of John. But the problem
for the discalced monks began when the Papal Legate passed away and Filoppo
Sega was appointed as the new Papal Legate. He was not in favor of the
discalced monks he started giving trouble to them.
In the year 1577 December 2nd gaining advantage of the situation the
monks of the calced order took John and his companion as prisoners. John
escaped but again he was caught and put in the monastery at Toledo. This
imprisonment was the most significant event for St. John of the Cross.
The
room in which he was prisoned was a dark room with absolutely no light. This
room was attached to the monastery toilet. In that room there was a blanket to
cover him and a bucket which served as his toilet. Every Friday he was dragged
to the common refectory and humiliated. Besides the bodily torture the mental
torture was too much. He began questioning whether he was doing the will of God
or doing his own will. The thing that caused him much pain was the absence of
God in his life, this seemed crueler to him.
In the spring a new jailer was appointed to look after John. This monk was very
considerate towards John. During this time John wrote his famous poem the song
of the soul and the romance poem on the Gospel and the Psalms.
He planed his escape, escaped and went to the discalced nuns’ convent.
2.5
Leadership in Andalusia (1578- 1588)
The life of John
after the imprisonment was filled with responsibilities and traveling. In the
year 1578 he was appointed as the superior of the monastery of El Calvario at Andalusia. He lived a
very simple life yet he never forced others to live like him.
Then in the year1579 he was asked to go the Bueza and start a study house. Many
monks who were serving would sacrifice their food in order to hear his talks
during the recreation which was always about God with lot of humor.
In 1582 he was elected as the superior of the monastery at Granada.
Most of his literary works were done in Granada.
In the year 1588 he was appointed as the superior of the monastery at Segovia
which he designed and built with his own hands. He worked with those workers.
He saw God in all those workers.
During his stay at Segovia he revealed to his brother Francisco the mystical
experience that he had when he was praying before the picture of Christ
carrying the cross. John told his brother that Christ asked him what he wanted
and John replied that he wants to suffer as like Christ himself suffered.
2.6
The Final Years: Segovia and Ubeda (1588-1591)
During the
General Chapter in the year 1591 John spoke against the Vicar General Padre
Dovia, this was the beginning of his sufferings again. The Vicar General took
away all the posts and sent him to La Penuela and an ordinary Fray.
There his health became very weak, his one leg was inflamed the fever was
spreading through out the body. He knowing that the superior at Ubeda Padre
Francisco wanted to have his revenge John chose to go to Ubeda.
When he reached there the treatment was very worst. The provincial came to know
this and came to that place and warned the Prior for his cruelty and took care
of John.
In the year 1591 midnight of 13th to 14th December John
passed away. The suffering and pain that he underwent with happiness attracted
many people both in the monastery as well as in the city.
After the mass his body was buried there. During his funeral itself people
started taking his cloth flesh and other material as relics.
After transporting his body from one place to another the whole body got
divided as people took part of his body as relics.
He was beatified in the year 1675 January 25th and Benedict XIII
canonized him in 1726, 27th December.
MYSTICAL PATH OF ST. JOHN
OF THE CORSS
3.1
John’s Idea about Ecstasy and Mysticism
St. John’s ideas
about ecstasy and union with God are totally different. Unlike the others he
gives a different understanding of union with God and ecstasy. Once he went to
Lisbon for a visit. There was a sister namely Madre Maria De la Vistacion who was believed to have visions,
ecstasies and stigmata. All went to see her but John did not go. When it was
asked to him why he did not go and visit her he said that his faith was not
built upon ecstasies and visions rather purely upon the trust in God. Later
that nun was proved to be fraud. When he spoke of God the words were not like
some thing which no body could understand. He used very simple words in his
prayer and his interaction with others. It was because he had an intimate
knowledge of God.
Though he was involved
in apostolic work he found his time for prayer. He remained in that intimate
relationship with God during the short moment of solitude that he found during
his work. It is this solitude provided him with the sense of freedom. In this
simple moment of ecstasy his mind and heart would wander with God over all the
things of beauty and life. He read scripture in his solitude which lead him to
sink into his heart more. These simple moments of ecstasy helped him to love
God in his brothers more fully. To reach this stage of ecstasy, people and the
whole creation became very important to him. This union with God made him to
see the beauty of the world and the equality of human beings.
The ecstasy that John proposed is not some thing very extra ordinary but is
very simple and down to earth. He was in union with God in simple moments of
his life.
3.2
Union of With God in the World
As I have
explained in the above paragraph the ecstasy or union with God that John had
were not some thing supernatural, rather he identified God in simple things of
life and entered in union with Him. What ever he did he felt the presence of
God in that. It is because of this consciousness of God he was able to bring
people to hope and peace. He was very much close to the nature. He was very
considerate to the sick all through out his life. John saw God in the creation and communicated
with God through this creation. This made him to have a very deep union with
God in this world itself.
His life was not marked with some spectacular happenings, he lead a very simple
life. He considered the path of cross as the path of his life. He did sacrifices and penances not for
punishing himself, but for serving God and people better.
3.3
Dark Night of the Soul
The dark night
of the soul is nothing but the way and method that leads us to attain the life
of love with God. This method makes us to negate our own self and enter into
deep contemplation. God is the true spouse of our soul. This process is that
God himself making us to enter inside this night in order to make us united
with him. As the mother makes her child to stand on its own leg God also makes
us to enter through this bitter process to make us more matured in our
spiritual life. When God is making us to enter inside this dark night there are
three enemies who try to stop us from entering inside this process they are:
the world, the flesh and the devil.
John identifies this night as contemplation which produces two kind of
darkness. One is unspiritual darkness and the other is spiritual darkness.
In this process of dark night the faith in God is the guiding principle of the
soul.
3.4
Six Imperfections of the Beginners in Spiritual Life
John says that
the beginners in religious life are already meditating on God, but they have
lots of imperfections. God brings this people through the dark night of the
soul and makes them capable of contemplating on Him or makes them capable of
living in His love.
The first imperfection that the beginners have is the pride. He says that this
kind of people think that they are very advanced in the way of union with the
Lord. These people always want to be praised by others. They want to teach
others about how to reach the union with the Lord rather than they learning
first. These people prefer to have public ecstasies so that others would call
them holy. John says that these kinds of ecstasies are given by devil.
The second imperfection is spiritual avarice. These people are never satisfied
with the spirituality that they already have. They buy lots of spiritual books
to make themselves more spiritual. They fill their rooms with holy pictures and
rosaries.
The Third type of imperfection is lust, John calls this as spiritual lust since
it arises as the result of spiritual life. When the spirit is in deep prayer
the flesh takes over and the spirit has no control over the flesh. There are
three basic reasons for this. The first reason is that when the spirit enjoys
the spiritual pleasure the flesh is also in every way rejoicing and so it
fulfills itself in any way possible. The second reason is the devil which
imputes the impure thought and makes us impure. The third reason is the fear of
getting bad thoughts during the prayer moment and so we give up prayer.
The
fourth imperfection is anger. When the spiritual experience that the soul had
been enjoying stops these beginners get angry. This anger also arises due to
the imperfections of others in their spiritual life as well as their own
imperfection in the spiritual life.
The fifth imperfection is spiritual gluttony. These people want to remain in
the spiritual pleasure all the time. They think that communion could give them
the spiritual pleasure and so they receive communion as much as possible some
times even without the assistance of any pastor they take the communion and
eat. They only respond to their instincts as like animals. They fail to realize
that it is the grace of God which gives them the spiritual pleasure.
The sixth imperfection is spiritual envy and sloth. Envy comes because they see
some body else growing more in the spiritual life or some body is overtaking
them in their path towards God. Spiritual sloth is nothing but the beginners in
spiritual life find spiritual things as tedious because they don’t give
tangible pleasure that they expect. These people think that their will is what
God’s will is.
Since there is lots of imperfections are there in the beginners God drags these
beginners into the dark night and makes them better.
3.5
Unspiritual Darkness
As I have
already stated there are two kinds of darkness that the dark night brings in.
The first one is unspiritual darkness. In this darkness the soul is purified
according to the human feelings. This darkness comes for all the beginners.
Through this darkness God wants to lead the soul from the lower degree of love
to the higher degree of love for Him. He wants to lead the soul to the
spiritual exercises in which they will be able to communicate with Him freely
and will be free form all their imperfections. In this period the soul
experiences dryness. In this darkness the inner senses of the soul are buried,
this leads the soul to see things clearly and in right manner.
There are three indications that indicate to us that we are undergoing this
unspiritual darkness. The first indication is that the soul finds no pleasure
in the things of God. The second indication is that the mind is always centered
on God and the soul feels that it is not serving God enough. The third one is
that the soul will never be able to meditate on the way it had been meditating
before. It will never be able to use the mind in this darkness period.
In this darkness the spirit gets strengthened but the body becomes weak. This
darkness brings spiritual peace which produces calmness and tranquility.
3.6
Spiritual Darkness
The soul which
has gone through the dryness of the first purification is very free and
contemplates on God. Here the soul does not need any mediation for it already
enjoys the loving contemplation. After this slowly the second darkness arises.
In this period of darkness the soul will not experience the suffering in the
body because it enjoys the freedom of the spirit and the senses no more
overtake the soul. The devil tries to give us the natural
desires and habits but to enter into true contemplation of God the soul has to
clear itself. These are the roots that were left without removing in the first
darkness.
This darkness is more painful than the previous one. Here the soul has to lie
in the grave of darkness until it attains spiritual resurrection.
Here as fire burns a wooden log so that it is transformed into fire the
darkness makes us illumined for the union with God.
To
reach this union with God there is a spiritual ladder which has ten steps.
The first step in this ladder is that the soul feels ill for the Lord. The
second step is that the soul continuously seeks for God. Thirdly the soul
receives the strength to proceed further in its actions. Fourthly the soul
suffers for God. Fifthly the soul begins to long for God with complete
abandonment. Sixthly the soul runs or moves faster towards God. Seventhly the
soul becomes passionate in its boldness. Eighthly the soul is enabled to
embrace God. Ninthly the soul is aflame with the passion for God. And finally
the soul is completely assimilated in God. In this stage the soul ceases to be
a human being and enters in complete union with God.
CONCLUSION
4.1
John of the Cross a True Mystic
In the introduction
I have mentioned some of the key elements of mysticism. Here in this section I
would like to compare the life and teaching of John of the Cross and highlight
how he was a mystic.A
true mystic is a person who is initiated into the knowledge of divine things.
This was true in John’s life. I have already explained that at his early age
when he was working in the hospital he was able to see the love of God in the
patients. He was able to feel that the God whom he had lost at his father’s
death was found in these people and that made him to enter inside a loving
relationship with God which provoked him to join the ascetical life of the
Carmelites. The aim of mysticism is to establish a conscious relationship with
the absolute and this factor was very much present in the life of John of the
Cross. His prayer and work made him to combine the world of God with the world
of human being and he was able to be conscious and build up the relationship
with God in His creation.
A
mystic is a person who has the overwhelming consciousness of God as well as his
own soul. At this mystical stage the mystic gains the knowledge and wisdom that
is found through love. In his whole life John was conscious of God and his own
soul which was in deep longing to reach God. He was of the idea that the soul
knows the creatures only through love of God. So ultimately he means to say
that the soul through love of God gains the knowledge. He was a true mystic
whose knowledge about creation was the result of love of God.
According to Louis Dupré the mystical experience lead a mystic to have the
integration of him or herself with the reality around. I think this point needs
no further explanations. The whole life of John is the enumeration for this
particular act of the mystic. He lived a life of integration that made him to
see God in the world. The perfect union that John enjoyed with God brought him
closer to nature and the creatures.
In fact he saw the beauty of God in the beauty of the nature.
The above points are just to give a practical example for saying that John was
a true mystic, but he is a mystic who was in perfect union with God for which
his life and writings stand as a valuable witness.
4.2
A Man and Mystic
I personally feel that this man John of the
Cross was a true man and mystic. I say this point because his life was a life
that perfectly had the integration of God in this world. He was able to remain
in union with God by discovering God in daily things of life. The simple
example that I could give here is John seeing God in the simple workers who
were working to build the monastery at Segovia. He is a man who felt the
presence of God in every event of his life. Like any other man he too failed.
When he was in the prison that was the only time when he felt the absence of
God. This event shows us very clearly how he was in every way same like any one
of us. Another example that shows his humanness could be the event of a
beautiful lady coming to his room when he was in Avila and saying that she
loves him. He narrates that though he liked her very much he tried his level
best to make her go away. I
would like to end this paper by quoting Richard P. Hardy, whose book I have
used excessively in explaining the life of St. John of the Cross. He says,
“John was no angel in disguise. He was fully human, living his life in the
world – and this was the life of God because he was rooted in creation, God’s
creation.”
SELECT BILIOGRAPHY
PIRMARY SOURCES
John
of the Cross. Ascent of Mount Carmel.
Edited and Translated by E. Allison Peers. New York: Image Books, 1958.
_____.
The Dark Night of the Soul. Edited by
Halcyon Backhouse. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1988.
SECONDARY SOURCES
A. BOOKS
Wood, Richard (ed.). Understanding Mysticism. New York: Image
Books, 1980.
B. UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL
John, The Dark Night of the Soul, 23.
The question about the
origin and nature of man or rather human beings and the world has been the
object of speculation from the very beginning of philosophy. Each school tried
to find answers for the questions like what is the primordial stuff or how did
it (the world inclusive of all beings) all come about into existence. The
answers were diverse and multitude. Which view is the best view among all the
answers given by different people leads to the second stage of speculation on
the same questions. Even now the recent philosophers and different fields of
science try to give convincing answers to the questions about the origin,
essence and existence of world and the beings that are present in it..jpg)
The theme that runs
through his philosophical Anthropology is, “There is a Supreme Being who created the world and all that it
contains. Among all the creatures man is created in the image and likeness of that
Supreme Being who is God. This Man is called to live in participation with
others to create a civilization of love and act to bring about common good in
freedom. This man is made up of spiritual soul which is eternal that is in
union with its creator and material body which perishes when it reaches its destiny
(death).”
