aeternus

I’ve been consumed in a project this week and it may continue for a little while. However, I read this little news item from Catholic News Services which I think would be of significance for those who may read this very modest blog. It harkens to our Holy Father JPII calling for the East and Western Churches to unite so that we may again “breathe together with two lungs” (I believe he hoped the Holy Spirit would initiate this unity through the Divine Breath of our Creator.) What a beautiful communion this would be and it will come, God willing, through P R A Y E R !

God Bless our Holy Father Benedict who is leading us this way too!

Here is the article..

Vatican City, May 14, 2008 / 10:18 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict dedicated his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square to the teachings of the figure Pseudo-Dionysius the Aeropagite, who is “a greater mediator in the modern dialogue between Christianity and the mystical theologies of Asia.”

“In today’s catechesis we return to the teaching of a sixth century author whose writings have been attributed to the first century disciple of St. Paul, Dionysius the Aeropagite.

Pseudo-Dionysius used Greek polytheism “to show the truth of Christ and transform the polytheistic world into a cosmos created by God” in which “all creatures together reflect the truth of God.”

“Because the creature is a glorification of God, the Pseudo-Dionysius’ theology becomes a theological liturgy. God is found, above all, by praising Him and not just through reflection.”

The Holy Father explained that Pseudo-Dionysius’ “two principal works, the Divine Name and Mystical Theology strive to present a knowledge of God which surpasses rational understanding and culminates in spiritual perfection and transforming contemplation.”

This Father of the Church created the first “great mystical theology. … With him the word ‘mystical’ took on a more personal and intimate meaning: it expresses the soul’s journey towards God. … The Pseudo-Dionysius shows that at the end of the road to God is God Himself, Who comes close to us in Jesus Christ.”

“Today Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite assumes fresh relevance”, said the Holy Father. “He appears as a greater mediator in the modern dialogue between Christianity and the mystical theologies of Asia, the well-known characteristic of which lies in their conviction that it cannot be said who God is, that He can be spoken of only in negative terms, … and that only by entering this experience of ‘no’ can He be reached.”

Pope Benedict also mentioned Pseudo-Dionysius’ influence on other prominent saints. “In the West, Dionysius’ writings influenced the early scholastics and Saint Thomas, as well as Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross. His vision of a great cosmic harmony reflecting the beauty of the Creator and the love freely bestowed on us in Christ, can also inspire our efforts to work for unity, reconciliation and peace in our world.”

Before bestowing his apostolic blessing on all those gathered, the Pope greeted all those English speaking pilgrims who had made it to Saints Peter’s square.

“I welcome all the English-speaking visitors present today, including the groups from England, Ireland, Japan, The Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States of America. May your visit to Rome be a time of deep spiritual renewal. Upon all of you I invoke God’s abundant blessings of joy and peace.”

Some thoughts from St. John of the Cross…

“‘I should like to persuade spiritual persons that the road leading to God does not entail a multiplicity of considerations, methods, manners, and experiences - though in their own way these may be a requirement for beginners - but demands only the one thing necessary: true self-denial, exterior and interior, through surrender of self both to suffering for Christ and to annihilation in all things

A person makes progress only by imitating Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

First, during his life he certainly died spiritually to the sensitive part, and at his death he died naturally. He proclaimed during his life that he had no place whereon to lay his head [Mt. 8:20]. And at his death he had less.

Second, at the moment of his death he was certainly annihilated in his soul, without any consolation or relief, since the Father had left him that way in innermost aridity in the lower part. He was thereby compelled to cry out: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? [Mt. 27:46] . This was the most extreme abandonment, sensitively, that he had suffered in his life. And by it he accomplished the most marvelous work of his whole life, surpassing all the works and deeds and miracles that he had ever performed on earth or in heaven. That is, he brought about the reconciliation and union of the human race with God through grace. The Lord achieved this, as I say, at the moment in which he was most annihilated in all things: in his reputation before people, since in watching him die they mocked him instead of esteeming him; in his human nature, by dying; and in spiritual help and consolation from his Father, for he was forsaken by his Father at that time, annihilated and reduced to nothing, so as to pay the debt fully and bring people to union with God.

I will not enlarge on this, though I would like to continue discussing the matter because from my observations Christ is little known by those who consider themselves his friends. For we see them going about seeking in him their own consolations and satisfactions, loving themselves very much, but not loving him very much by seeking his bitter trials and deaths.”

– Saint John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel, Book II chapter 7.

–Photo of the Cooper River at Mepkin Trappist Abbey, Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

A great posting over at “View from the Pews” blog on St. John of the Cross, the Dark Night and Depression…

Here is an excerpt:

“Those souls who are able to persevere do so by standing on Faith alone.
They feel no consolations and their souls are a barren landscape
of scorched earth, craggy edges and thorny pathways.

It is these souls who through the dreadful night find themselves
at the abyss and staring at it courageously they leave feelings
behind and embrace….. the dark.”

Please forgive me if I have been posting an over-abundance of meditations from Saint John of the Cross lately. I am in the middle of studying his work, The Ascent of Mt. Carmel, and am coming across all his most famous quotes that I just have to share…

In this quotation, John is trying to relate how God is present in the soul of even the greatest sinner in this world. He says:

“It is true that God is ever present in the soul, as we said, and thereby bestows and preserves its natural being by his sustaining presence. Yet he does not always communicate supernatural being to it. He communicates supernatural being only through love and grace, which not all souls possess. And those who do, do not possess them in the same degree. Some have attained higher degrees of love, others remain in lower degrees. To the soul that is more advanced in love, more conformed to the divine will, God communicates himself more. A person who has reached complete conformity and likeness of will has attained total supernatural union and transformation in God.”

As John wants to educate us on how to prepare our own souls for a deeper union with God. He is wont for a good illustration and so next he gives his famous “smudgy window” explanation…

“A ray of sunlight shining on a smudgy window is unable to illumine that window completely and transform it into its own light. It could do this if the window were cleaned and polished. The less the film and stain are wiped away, the less the window will be illumined; and the cleaner the window is, the brighter will be its illumination. The extent of illumination is not dependent on the ray of sunlight but on the window. If the window is totally clean and pure, the sunlight will so transform and illumine it that to all appearances the window will be identical with the ray of sunlight and shine just as the sun’s ray. Although obviously the nature of the window is distinct from that of the sun’s ray (even if the two seem identical), we can assert that the window is the ray or light of the sun by participation. The soul on which the divine light of God’s being is ever shining, or better, in which it is ever dwelling by nature, is like this window, as we have affirmed.

A soul makes room for God by wiping away all the smudges and smears of creatures, by uniting its will perfectly to God’s; for to love is to labor to divest and deprive oneself for God of all that is not God. When this is done the soul will be illumined by and transformed in God. And God will so communicate his supernatural being to the soul that it will appear to be God himself and will possess what God himself possesses.

When God grants this supernatural favor to the soul, so great a union is caused that all the things of both God and the soul become one in participant transformation, and the soul appears to be God more than a soul. Indeed, it is God by participation. Yet truly, its being (even though transformed) is naturally as distinct from God’s as it was before, just as the window, although illumined by the ray, has being distinct from the ray’s.”

– St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel Book II Chapter 5

More on St. John of the Cross’s counsel…

To reach satisfaction in all
desire satisfaction in nothing.
To come to possess all
desire the possession of nothing.
To arrive at being all
desire to be nothing.
To come to the knowledge of all
desire the knowledge of nothing.

To come to enjoy what you have not
you must go by a way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not
you must go by a way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not
you must go by a way in which you possess not.
To come to be what you are not
you must go by a way in which you are not.

-stained glass window and a shadow of St. Joseph at the Carmel of St. Joseph, Saint Louis, MO

O.K., well, like, the cow really has nothing to do with this blog entry, its just another photo from my photo adventure to Iowa during the political caucus there. I’m a city girl and was fascinated to spot this herd of beautiful moo cows in the snow… so sweet with its little pink eyes and nose… onto something completely different…

St. John of the Cross had a list of “spiritual maxims” he would use to educate souls how to manage through their spiritual trials and sufferings. He used them himself in order to “gain a great deal in a short time” while a soul is on the journey to the Father and may be navigating through the confusion of the “Dark Night.

John says in the Ascent of Mount Carmel (in book 1 chapter 13 which is perhaps the most important chapter in book 1)

“By this method you should endeavor, then, to leave the senses as though in darkness, mortified and empty of that satisfaction. With such vigilance you will gain a great deal in a short time.

Many blessings flow when the four natural passions (joy, hope, fear, and sorrow) are in harmony and at peace. The following maxims contain a complete method for mortifying and pacifying them.  If put into practice these maxims will give rise to abundant merit and great virtues.

Endeavor to be inclined always:

not to the easiest, but to the most difficult;
not to the most delightful, but to the most distasteful;
not to the most gratifying, but to the less pleasant;
not to what means rest for you, but to hard work;
not to the consoling, but to the unconsoling;
not to the most, but to the least;
not to the highest and most precious, but to the lowest and most despised;
not to wanting something, but to wanting nothing.
Do not go about looking for the best of temporal things, but for the worst, and, for Christ, desire to enter into complete nakedness, emptiness, and poverty in everything in the world.

You should embrace these practices earnestly and try to overcome the repugnance of your will toward them. If you sincerely put them into practice with order and discretion, you will discover in them great delight and consolation.”

- St. John of the Cross - Ascent of Mount Carmel Bk 1, Chs 13

This little list of spiritual maxims could be misunderstood quite easily. It seems as if St. John is asking us to volunteer for “KP duty” in God’s Army. But the truth is, if we are to purge ourselves of all personal vanity and attachment, John is giving us some very good advice to follow. If we are surprised by something good coming out of practicing this little set of rules, praise God. If we find no satisfaction at all through practicing them, praise God. Personal satisfaction has nothing to do with doing Gods will. But if we stick with this advice of St. John and practice, practice, practice we will see virtue grow even if we do not feel or notice it.

…to be prepared for this divine union the intellect must be cleansed and emptied of everything relating to sense, divested and liberated of everything clearly intelligible, inwardly pacified and silenced, and supported by faith alone, which is the only proximate and proportionate means to union with God. For the likeness between faith and God is so close that no other difference exists than that between believing in God and seeing him. Just as God is infinite, faith proposes him to us as infinite. Just as there are three Persons in one God, it presents him to us in this way. And just as God is darkness to our intellect, so faith dazzles and blinds us. Only by means of faith, in divine light exceeding all understanding, does God manifest himself to the soul. The greater one’s faith the closer is one’s union with God.

– St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel Bk 2, Chapter 9

— yet another snow photo from our Iowa trip..

Well, we made it. After a wonderful nine day novena we have arrived at the feast day of St. John of the Cross. It was a wonderful mass today at the Carmelite Monastery and we were reminded by our celebrant throughout the mass of how our dear late Holy Father, John Paul II was so inspired by John of the Cross. It was so very nice to ponder this relationship because in witnessing the life of John Paul II we can see how he always embraced his cross and carried it for us as an offering to our Lord. His mystical union with our Heavenly Father through this heavy cross is obvious to even those who do not know of the life of mystical prayer, or suffering, or Carmelite spirituality. It was his witness in silence that spoke louder than any words, any encyclical or any speech.

So, here is a meditation for the day, it comes from the intercessions in the Morning Prayer of the Carmelite Breviary:

Sole Word of the Father, silently uttered through all eternity, and in the fullness of time received into the Virgin’s womb; may we hear your words today in the depths of our hearts, and show their effect in our actions.

This photograph is from a recent hiking adventure with the children. We made this little ring of rocks on the lake beach.

Day 9 - our final day and our feast will be celebrated tomorrow….

Beginning Prayer to be said each day:

O glorious St. John of the Cross, through a pure desire of being like Jesus
crucified, you longed for nothing so eagerly as to suffer, to be despised,
and to be made little of by all; and your thirst after sufferings was so
burning that your noble heart rejoiced in the midst of the cruelest torments
and afflictions. Grant, I beseech you, O dear Saint, by the glory which
your many sufferings have gained for you, to intercede for me and obtain
from God for me a love of suffering, together with strength and grace to
bear with firmness of mind all the trials and adversities which are the sure
means to the happy attainment of all that awaits me in heaven. Dear Saint,
from your most happy place in glory, hear, I beseech you, my prayers, so
that after your example, full of love for the cross I may deserve to be your
companion in glory. Amen.

Ninth Day: Holy Abandonment

Prayer:

O my loving father St. John of the Cross, to imitate more perfectly our
Lord, you generously renounced every consolation, even the spiritual; prayed
to suffer and to be despised for God’s sake; and finally died suffering,
happy to be condemned by men. Obtain for me the grace of abandonment to the
Will of God that, placing all my joy and my hope in the passion of my
Savior, I may at last rest eternally with you in His glory. Obtain for me
also the special grace I ask through your intercession during this novena,
if it be for the glory of God and for my salvation (make request).

Three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys.

Day 8

Beginning Prayer to be said each day:

O glorious St. John of the Cross, through a pure desire of being like Jesus
crucified, you longed for nothing so eagerly as to suffer, to be despised,
and to be made little of by all; and your thirst after sufferings was so
burning that your noble heart rejoiced in the midst of the cruelest torments
and afflictions. Grant, I beseech you, O dear Saint, by the glory which
your many sufferings have gained for you, to intercede for me and obtain
from God for me a love of suffering, together with strength and grace to
bear with firmness of mind all the trials and adversities which are the sure
means to the happy attainment of all that awaits me in heaven. Dear Saint,
from your most happy place in glory, hear, I beseech you, my prayers, so
that after your example, full of love for the cross I may deserve to be your
companion in glory. Amen.

Eighth Day: Comfort in Affliction

Prayer:

St. John of the Cross, my glorious protector, in your lifetime you were the
father of the poor, the consoler of the afflicted and the assured refuge of
the suffering; you worked miracles of charity for all, miracles which you
repeat even now by means of your holy images and relics. Deign also to be
my consoler and my father; comfort me in my sorrows and aid me to see in
every cross a pledge of divine mercy that, through the cross, I may gain
heaven. Obtain for me, too, the special grace I ask through your
intercession during the novena, if it be for the glory of God and for my
salvation (make request).

Three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys.

As today’s Novena prayer to Saint John of the Cross focuses on humility, I thought it a good time to post the “Litany of Humility” which was written by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930). Cardinal dev Val was the Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X. The Cardinal made it his personal tradition to recite this prayer daily after the celebration of Holy Mass. Let us begin with the Novena:

Day 7

Beginning Prayer to be said each day:

O glorious St. John of the Cross, through a pure desire of being like Jesus
crucified, you longed for nothing so eagerly as to suffer, to be despised,
and to be made little of by all; and your thirst after sufferings was so
burning that your noble heart rejoiced in the midst of the cruelest torments
and afflictions. Grant, I beseech you, O dear Saint, by the glory which
your many sufferings have gained for you, to intercede for me and obtain
from God for me a love of suffering, together with strength and grace to
bear with firmness of mind all the trials and adversities which are the sure
means to the happy attainment of all that awaits me in heaven. Dear Saint,
from your most happy place in glory, hear, I beseech you, my prayers, so
that after your example, full of love for the cross I may deserve to be your
companion in glory. Amen.

Seventh Day: Humility

Prayer:

Blessed father St. John of the Cross, in you was joined the most profound
humility to the most sublime knowledge of the ways of God. Obtain for me
real humility of heart, making me love humiliation and contempt that,
despairing worldly vanity, I may learn from you to esteem only God and
heavenly things. Obtain for me also the special grace I ask through your
intercession during this novena, if it be for the glory of God and for my
salvation (make request).

Three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys.

And now we may continue with the Litany of humility…

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That in the opinion of the world,
others may increase, and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should. Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Amen

- Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val

Above Icon:
The Madonna of Humility, 1390-1400 by Lippo di Dalmasi

Day 6:

Beginning Prayer to be said each day:

O glorious St. John of the Cross, through a pure desire of being like Jesus
crucified, you longed for nothing so eagerly as to suffer, to be despised,
and to be made little of by all; and your thirst after sufferings was so
burning that your noble heart rejoiced in the midst of the cruelest torments
and afflictions. Grant, I beseech you, O dear Saint, by the glory which
your many sufferings have gained for you, to intercede for me and obtain
from God for me a love of suffering, together with strength and grace to
bear with firmness of mind all the trials and adversities which are the sure
means to the happy attainment of all that awaits me in heaven. Dear Saint,
from your most happy place in glory, hear, I beseech you, my prayers, so
that after your example, full of love for the cross I may deserve to be your
companion in glory. Amen.

Sixth Day: Purity of Soul and Body

Prayer:

Great St. John of the Cross, favored by our Lord and the glorious Virgin,
His mother, in reward for your angelic life and with the precious gift of
chastity, you converted many souls held captive by the most shameful
passions. Obtain for me some share in so priceless a gift that, pure and
chaste in soul and body, I may reach heaven where nothing stained may enter
and where choirs of virgins follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Obtain for me
also the special grace I ask through your intercession during this novena,
if it be for the glory of God and for my salvation (make request).

Three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys.

This Novena comes from The Little Book of Carmelite Spirituality and Practice complied and edited at the Carmel of the Mother of God Pewaukee, Wisconsin. I think it is no longer in print.

Day 5:

Beginning Prayer to be said each day:

O glorious St. John of the Cross, through a pure desire of being like Jesus
crucified, you longed for nothing so eagerly as to suffer, to be despised,
and to be made little of by all; and your thirst after sufferings was so
burning that your noble heart rejoiced in the midst of the cruelest torments
and afflictions. Grant, I beseech you, O dear Saint, by the glory which
your many sufferings have gained for you, to intercede for me and obtain
from God for me a love of suffering, together with strength and grace to
bear with firmness of mind all the trials and adversities which are the sure
means to the happy attainment of all that awaits me in heaven. Dear Saint,
from your most happy place in glory, hear, I beseech you, my prayers, so
that after your example, full of love for the cross I may deserve to be your
companion in glory. Amen.

Fifth Day: Protection from Temptation

Prayer:

Dear St. John of the Cross, you exercised dominion over the powers of hell,
often obliging them to relinquish the souls, as well as the bodies of their
victims. Have compassion on me; ask God to preserve me from the temptations
and deceits of these wicked spirits, not only throughout my life, but above
all at the hour of my death, that persevering to the end in the grace and
love of God, I may possess Him with you forever. Obtain for me also the
special grace I ask through your intercession during this novena, if it be
for the glory of God and for my salvation (make request).

Three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys.

Day 4

Beginning Prayer to be said each day:

O glorious St. John of the Cross, through a pure desire of being like Jesus
crucified, you longed for nothing so eagerly as to suffer, to be despised,
and to be made little of by all; and your thirst after sufferings was so
burning that your noble heart rejoiced in the midst of the cruelest torments
and afflictions. Grant, I beseech you, O dear Saint, by the glory which
your many sufferings have gained for you, to intercede for me and obtain
from God for me a love of suffering, together with strength and grace to
bear with firmness of mind all the trials and adversities which are the sure
means to the happy attainment of all that awaits me in heaven. Dear Saint,
from your most happy place in glory, hear, I beseech you, my prayers, so
that after your example, full of love for the cross I may deserve to be your
companion in glory. Amen.

Fourth Day: Holy Patience

Prayer:

Great St. John of the Cross, model of patience and generosity, for the glory
of God and for the propagation of the holy reform of Carmel, you endured
grievous trials and undertook heavy labors, finding, as did St. Paul, joy in
opprobrium. Obtain from our Lord for me the grace of unalterable patience
in adversity that I may thereby glorify God, have cleansed my souls of every
stain, advance in the practice of solid virtue, and obtain at last the crown
promised to those who suffer for the love of God. Obtain for me also the
special grace I ask through your intercession during this novena, if it be
for the glory of God and for my salvation (make request).

Three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys.

This Novena comes from The Little Book of Carmelite Spirituality and Practice complied and edited at the Carmel of the Mother of God Pewaukee, Wisconsin. It is no longer in print (as far as I know)

Day 3:

Beginning Prayer to be said each day:

O glorious St. John of the Cross, through a pure desire of being like Jesus
crucified, you longed for nothing so eagerly as to suffer, to be despised,
and to be made little of by all; and your thirst after sufferings was so
burning that your noble heart rejoiced in the midst of the cruelest torments
and afflictions. Grant, I beseech you, O dear Saint, by the glory which
your many sufferings have gained for you, to intercede for me and obtain
from God for me a love of suffering, together with strength and grace to
bear with firmness of mind all the trials and adversities which are the sure
means to the happy attainment of all that awaits me in heaven. Dear Saint,
from your most happy place in glory, hear, I beseech you, my prayers, so
that after your example, full of love for the cross I may deserve to be your
companion in glory. Amen.

Third Day: Holy Enlightenment

Prayer:

O my beloved father St. John of the Cross, your continual prayer merited for
you the name of Ecstatic Doctor, favored with special graces in the guidance
and direction of souls. I humbly beg you to enlighten my soul and to give
me a relish for holy meditation that, detached from earthly things, I may
love God alone and desire heaven only. Obtain for me also the special grace
I ask through your intercession during this novena, if it be for the glory
of God and for my salvation (make request).

Three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys.