San Juan de la Cruz

Father Greg recently made a comment in response to a person who asked about the “charismatic” experiences that many of us have had. He said:

John of the Cross and perhaps others have noted that conversions are often accompanied by extraordinary “consolations” which are transitory. However, sometimes, a person will create problems for themselves by seeking to maintain the spiritual high by their own effort. I think we’ve all seen that.

OK, so who is San Juan de la Cruz (St. John of the Cross)? He was born on 24 June 1542 and died on 15 December 1591. He was a contemporary of Santa Teresa de Ávila (St. Theresa of Avila). Since my father was born in Spain, I am particularly proud of both of them. They are considered to be among the people responsible for founding the Descalzos, The order of the “barefoot” Carmelites. But, as Father Greg has pointed out, they have something to say to us in the area of “consolations.”

Here are some quotes from him in translation:

God values in you the inclination to dryness and suffering for love of him more than all the consolations, spiritual visions, and meditations you could possibly have.

The soul that in aridity and trial submits to the dictates of reason is more pleasing to God than one that does everything with consolation, yet fails in this submission.

If you desire to discover peace and consolation for your soul and to serve God truly, do not find your satisfaction in what you have left behind, because in that which now concerns you, you may be as impeded as you were before, or even more. But leave as well all these other things and attend to one thing alone that brings all these with it (namely, holy solitude, together with prayer and spiritual and divine reading), and persevere there in forgetfulness of all things. For if these things are not incumbent on you, you will be more pleasing to God in knowing how to guard and perfect yourself than by gaining all other things together; what profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of one’s soul?

Notice that St. John of the Cross constantly keeps pointing us to dryness and sufferings. You see, it is all too easy to follow Our Lord Jesus Christ when all is going well. But, St. John of the Cross points us to what is all too often reality. The following of Our Lord does not necessarily mean that all will go well. Rather, the writings of saints such as St. John of the Cross point us to the horrid reality that Our Lord Jesus Christ may only be able to lead us to maturity by taking us through the road of dryness and sufferings.

I call it a horrid reality because for us it is a horrid reality that our way to maturity may very well lead us through that which we most dislike, suffering and pain. You see, we most want peace and quiet, but the sad truth is that peace and quiet may not be what we most need in order to grow in the image of Our Lord.

Now, this idea completely conflicts with our modern American idea that the Lord will not let us suffer. In fact, the whole point of the pre-millenial rapture is that God will never let us suffer too much. I am afraid that this idea is not what the saints in history have said to us. In fact, Martin Luther’s hymn Ein feste burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) is a whole hymn that has to do both with our constant spiritual warfare and our growth in Christ as a result.

That word above all earthly pow’rs, no thanks to them, abideth; The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth; Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.

It is only as we “let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also” that we can grow in God’s grace and maturity. And, so, as much as we hate it, let us give thanks to God not just for our trials and temptations but also for the times in which we cannot even feel God and know where He is, because, according to San Juan de la Cruz, those are precisely the times when we are being prepared for growth.