The Ascent of Mount Carmel

The development of mysticism in the Carmelite Order, by Benedict Zimmerman

{ The Carmelite Order originally contemplative.—II. Becomes active under S. Simon Stock.—III. Reaction after his death.—

IV. Carmelite mystics. —V. Friar William Sothfeld. —

VI. Reforms.—VII. S. Teresa.—VIII. Her Reform.—

IX. S. John of the Cross.—X. Opposition.—XI. Imprisonment.—XII. His works.—XIII. Their relation to those of

S. Teresa.—XIV. Could S. John have known S. Teresa’s works ?>—XV. Allusions and quotations.—XVI. The ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel’,— XVII. S. John of the Cross and

Spiritualism. — XVIII. Is S. John’s system practical? —

Xix. Answer.—XX. Carmelite mystics of the 17th century.—

Xxi. Translations and editions of the ‘Ascent’.

I. THe Carmelite Order was originally devoted to a purely contemplative life. Its members lived as hermits on Mount Carmel, striving to imitate the holy prophets Elias and Eliseus. According to their Rule—which, given about A.D. 1210, records the customs observed by these hermits since they became a body corporate—they spent their time in or near their cells, meditating on the law of the Lord day and night, repairing only once a day to the oratory to hear mass. They said their office or their Paters privately, and took their more than frugal meals in solitude. James de Vitry thus speaks of these hermits: ‘Others, following the example of Elias, that holy anchorite and great prophet, embraced the eremitical life on Mount Carmel, chiefly on the part overlooking the town of Porphyry, now called Caiffa, near the fountain of Elias, not far from the monastery of S. Margaret, Virgin. There living in small cells, like bee-hives, they made a sweet spiritual honey (7)’,

This peaceful life was rudely interrupted by the inroads of the Saracens. For a time they did not interfere much with the harmless hermits, probably through respect for S. Elias, whom they held in veneration and awe. But the moment came when it was no longer safe to live, unprotected, in the Holy Land, and small bands of hermits took ship and migrated westward.

Some found a home in Cyprus, and built a convent in a desert place, called Fortani. Others proceeded as far as Sicily, settling not far from Messina. Others again reached the mainland and chose a place called Aygalades, some miles from Marseilles; a fourth colony ventured as far as Valenciennes where they were given some territory. This first migration took place in A.D. 1238. Three years later a second colony left the holy mountain, bound for England. They arrived towards Christmas and with the consent of the king established not less than four foundations: near Bradmer on the coast of Norfolk; near Newenden on the Kentish coast; in the forest of Hulne, three miles from Alnwick; and a mile or so outside the village of Aylesford on the river Medway. The ruins of Hulne are in good preservation, while Aylesford is almost intact. Part of the building is of a more recent date, but a considerable portion of the original convent is still extant. Here, too, every hermit had a small house of his own, though they were all under the same roof. The doors opened on a quadrangle, the chapel occupied in all probability the same place where in A.p. 1355 the present dwelling-house was erected. No arrangement seems to have been made for a common refectory, the

old rule of solitary meals still obtaining. For the Carmelites continued to be hermits and were thus styled in pontifical bulls ranging from 1226 to 1247.

II. In the last-named year was held the first General chapter, what might be termed the Constituent assembly, under the presidency of S. Simon Stock. Little as is known of him one thing is certain: he was intensely practical. Among other things he obtained permission from the Holy See to make foundations not only in desert places but in villages and towns, and thus abandoned the strictly eremitical life. From this time the Carmelites were numbered among the Mendicants—having previously been forbidden the acquisition of landed property—and entered upon the active life. Not that they renounced Contemplation altogether, for every form of religious life tends that way, but it no longer occupied the most prominent place in their lives. Foundations were made in university towns, Cambridge (1249), Oxford (1253), Paris (1259), Bologne (1260); in large centres like London (1251), York (1255), Cologne (1256), &c.; the Divine office was sung in choir, the meals were partaken of in common, and various mitigations brought the Rule within the requirements of Western countries and less fortunate climates than that of the Holy Land. In university towns the friars pursued chiefly scholastic work, elsewhere they devoted themselves to the exercise of the sacred ministry as far as they obtained the licence from tHe bishops.

III. A reaction set in after the death of S. Simon Stock (1265). His successor, Nicholas Gallicus, was undoubtedly one of those who had received their religious training on Mount Carmel, and who were by no means in favour of active work. He resigned his office of General in A.D. 1270, and withdrew to a hermitage on ‘Mount Erratroff,’ the situation of which is not known with precision; it appears to have been somewhere in the South of France. From that place he wrote a circular letter, entitled Ignea sagitta, in which he sharply inveighed against the abandonment of the contemplative in favour of the active life. He died at Orange in the odour of sanctity; his feast was for a time observed in some provinces of the Order on the 2nd of April.

Nicholas had for a successor in the generalship Radulph Alemannicus, also one of the old hermits of Mount Carmel. He, too, resigned after a short time and retired to Hulne to prepare himself by contemplation for death, which occurred on 18 December, 1277. Meanwhile the Order, having been formally acknowledged by the second council of Lyons (A.D. 1274), developed rapidly and increased its sphere of ministerial work.

IV. As already stated, every form of religious life contains the contemplative element. It is therefore not surprising that we find evidence of it at almost every turn. Some of the convents were so situated that there was hardly room for the exercise of the sacred ministry, ¢.¥., Hulne in Northumberland. It is nevertheless true that the Carmelites never founded a school of Mysticism, as did, ¢g., the Dominicans. All those who lectured on Divinity—their number was very large—were bound to deal with most of the questions concerning mystical theology, for in the middle ages theology was more encyclopedic than it is now. We also find a number of Carmelites who composed works on this subject. To mention only a few, and these at random, Arnestus de Saxonia, . who took his degree at Paris in the beginning of the fourteenth century, was so much given to the contemplative life that he spent all his spare time in prayer and meditation. Johannes de Marchinellis, of Liége (ca. 1410), is known to have written a work ‘On the spiritual combat’. Nicholas Dinckelspoele (ca. 1420) wrote on the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, the Lord’s prayer, and similar subjects: Johannes Sonneman, of Cassel (ca. 1460), composed a work ‘On the preparation of the heart’. ‘Blessed’ Albertus de Monte Calerio (+ 1515) founded a convent in the mountains of Lombardy, where he gave himself to prayer and fasting and wrought many miracles.

V. This list could be continued indefinitely, but the reader will probably prefer to learn some particulars about a saintly English Carmelite. “At that time,” writes Bale (+) “there lived in the convent at Norwich a man dear to God and renowned for sanctity, William Sothfeld, born somewhere in Norfolk. He had been received in the Carmelite convent in his tender youth, and having become priest in due course, dedicated his whole life to meditating on the law of the Lord and carrying out the sacred rites. He was a simple-minded man, endowed with ineffable devotion; for he surpassed even those who had a reputation of piety; he omitted nothing that could improve his manner of life, so that, both before and after death, he wrought many miracles. This venerable man was of cheerful countenance, pleasant demeanour, sweet and polite speech, however common his garments were. He put his whole trust in God, was full of holy desires for the welfare of the Order, and had a tender devotion towards the Blessed Virgin. It is asserted that he said the Hail Mary a thousand times a day; not content with this he seemed to have this prayer ever on his lips and never to grow satiated with it. Keeping a strict fast, given wholly to prayer, most punctual in the performance of his duties, of solid virtue, he had many a wonderful vision. Frequently the Mother of God spoke to him and showed him so much

familiarity that the brothers, peeping through the chinks of his door, saw and heard them sometimes saying the Hours together. He well knew how to practise humility of heart and bodily austerities. The story goes that he extinguished a fire threatening to consume the convent by waving his scapular. Besides this he did many wonderful signs too long for enumeration. This holy man died at Norwich on 26th August, 1414, and was buried by common consent in a distinguished place, the tomb being covered by a beautiful marble slab.. The body is said to have remained long incorrupt.”

VI. Early in the fifteenth century, when the schism which had divided the Carmelite Order as well as the Church, was happily ended, the Rule was mitigated by Papal authority. It was found more correct to have an easier rule well kept than an austere one which scarcely anybody could observe. There were, however, some who preferred the old rule and even wished to add to its rigour. Notwithstanding much opposition on the part of the heads of the Order, they succeeded in establishing a Reform which soon became known as the Congregation of Mantua, from the convent which formed the centre of the movement. To check this and similar separatist tendencies the General, Blessed John Soreth (A.D. 1451- 1471) laboured strenuously for the reform of the Order. He not only strove to extirpate every kind of abuse and to revive the zeal of the friars, but selected some houses in each province where the entire rigour of the Rule should be observed and the religious life be fashioned on the strictest lines. Thus, without causing further divisions, - and without laying undue burdens on those who were either unwilling or unable to bear them, provision was made for those who were anxious to resume the contemplative life. Soreth also incorporated in the Order a community of Beguines, and thus became the founder of the Carmelite nuns.

After his death (*) the Reform of Mantua grew very strong and was introduced into France where it became known as the congregation of Albi. Among its chief promoters were two Scotchmen, William MacGregor and William Wyle. Further Reforms were attempted in the provinces of Genoa and Portugal. Though in many respects differing from each other, all these offshoots of the Carmelite Order agreed in this that they limited as far as possible the external activity of the friars and accentuated the interior life. Thus the gulf between the ‘active’ and the ‘contemplative’ fractions of the Order became wider and wider. |

We have already mentioned that although the Carmelites could muster a large number of writers on Mystical theology, they had. produced so far no epoch-making author to be compared with, say, the Cistercian Bernard de Clairvaux, the Franciscan Bonaventure, the Dominican Henry Suso, or with Thomas a Kempis. They were destined, in the sixteenth century, to give to the Church two Saints who—if it is lawful to compare saints with saints—equalled, if they did not surpass, any of those just named: Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross. - VII. Spain, having just shaken off the Moorish yoke, was in the full enjoyment of youthful vigour, mental as well as physical. Here Teresa of Jesus was born in 1515 and took her vows in the convent of Avila in 1536(?). Having resumed with redoubled zeal the exercise of mental prayer after a period of lukewarmness occasioned

(1) It has been asserted over and over again, on the strength of a misunderstood passage of his biographer, that Soreth was poisoned by some discontented friars. The calumny is without the slightest foundation and can easily be disproved. ,

(2). For this date see Life of S. Teresa, translated by David Lewis. London, Thomas Baker, 1904. P. xiii. by serious illness, Saint Teresa soon began to experience strange effects of her renewed inward life. She fell, unfortunately, into the hands of certain amateur directors with little knowledge and no discernment of spirits, who thoroughly frightened her and made her believe, against her own sound judgement, that she was deluded by evil spirits. With such a record against her even her confessors, mostly Jesuits and Dominicans, found it hard to convince themselves, Teresa and the busy-bodies of Avila, that on the contrary she was being led by the Spirit of God in the highest paths of perfection. She has told the story of her sufferings and of the mercies of God in her admirable Life, as well as in the Way of Perfection, and the Interior Castle. In fact all her writings, even her poems and many of her letters, deal with this subject. In her perplexities she held firm to some leading principles: namely that so long as she did not wilfully swerve from the teaching of the Church, she could not be misled by the devil. So long as she was perfectly frank with her confessors, making known to them all her experiences, God was bound to give them at least the light to guide her. That she was bidden to render strict obedience to the living voice of the Church, her superiors and directors, rather than to what she might think was the voice of God Himself, but which, even if it came to her in prayer, might after all be nothing but an illusion or a deception. And finally that in the present life we must walk in Faith, while clear knowledge is reserved for the next.

With these guiding axioms she was able to steer safely between the cliffs and shoals which imperilled her journey. | Partly for her own satisfaction, partly for the benefit of others, she subjected the workings of her soul to a most searching analysis, and as she was not learned, either in divinity or in philosophical matters, she never failed to apply to the most renowned theologians for enlightenment.

VIII. One of the results of her great fervour was the foundation of a small convent where she, together with some kindred souls, might serve God in strict enclosure and the observance of the ancient Rule of Carmel as approved by Pope Innocent IV. In other terms, she once more set aside the active life to throw herself entirely into a life of pure contemplation. The General, on the occasion of a canonical visit, not only approved of what she had done, but gave her leave to found also two convents of Reformed friars; for S. Teresa felt rightly that so long as there were no houses of Discalced friars—Discalced friar was in the sixteenth century equivalent to Reformed friar—no stability, no firm guidance could be expected for the Reformed nuns. .

At this juncture she first met S. John of the Cross. - [X. John de Yepes was born of poor parents at Hontiveros in Old Castille, on 24th June, 1542 (7). At the age of twenty-one he entered the Carmelite Order, and from the beginning chose for himself the highest line of perfection, discarding mitigations, and keeping the Rule in its entirety. After profession he completed his studies at Salamanca and was ordained priest in 1567. But, shrinking from the responsibilities of the priesthood, he resolved to pass over to the Carthusian Order—a step open to almost any Religious, and frequently taken—when he was introduced to S. Teresa. Armed as she was with authority from the General to establish two houses of reformed friars, she was most anxious to find someone to make a beginning. She at once felt that Fray Juan de San Matia, as S. John was then called, was the instrument chosen by ' (1) See the excellent Life of S. = of the Cross:” — Lewis. London, Thomas Baker, 1888. : c God for such an undertaking. Two other friars having declared their willingness to join him, and a house, or rather a hovel, having been offered, the foundation of the Discalced Carmelite friars became an accomplished fact within a year of the first meeting of S. Teresa with S. John. She was not long in visiting the cradle of the new Order, and found that in poverty, austerity and fervour it surpassed anything she had ever witnessed. With a view to rendering S. John acquainted with the customs and observances of the nuns, S. Teresa took him to Valladolid, where she was founding a convent.

X. The Reform of the friars spread rapidly, in fact too much so, to work smoothly. The general chapters had done everything to encourage the reform of existing houses and the foundation of new ones with strict observance, and to facilitate the passage of friars from the unreformed to the reformed convents. On the other hand the Superiors naturally resented the loss, not of the useless and troublesome, but of the most useful and fervent subjects. Moreover, the establishment of new houses within a numerically weak province (*) was bound to lead to unpleasant rivalries. The Apostolic Nuncio, too, overruled in several points the restrictions made by the General. Thus, a storm was preparing, and at the death of the Nuncio it burst over the Reform, threatening to sweep it from the face of the earth. The general chapter (1575) decided upon its total suppression, and this the more readily as the previous Reforms had also been fruitful in troubles, and so far from strengthening the Order had weakened it.

S. John of the Cross was at that time at Avila. He had occupied for some time the position of master of

(1) ‘Seeing how very few friars there were in the province, for they seemed to me to be dying out.’ (S. Teresa, Bk. of Foundations, ch. ii. § 5.) "IN THE CARMELITE ORDER. '° w novices, and filled other important offices. When S. Teresa became prioress of the convent of the Incarnation she caused him to be appointed confessor to the nuns. The result of his direction on the numerous community was wonderful. The sisters spontaneously relinquished the relaxations to which they had been accustomed, and vied with each other in fervour and zeal. Many of them reached a high degree of spirituality. With the exception of a short interruption S. John remained at his post for nearly six years, from the beginning of 1572 to the end of 1577, when he was suddenly taken prisoner by the Calced Carmelites and hurried off to Toledo, where he was treated as one guilty of rebellion. All the convents founded in Spain without the sanction of the General were to be closed. S. John, as well as the other friars of the Reform, had been bidden to return to the houses to which they originally belonged; but as he held his post of confessor to the Incarnation on the authority of the Nuncio he paid no heed to the ruling of the provincial, and was therefore considered a rebel. Throughout the painful history of the Reform nearly all the mischief resulted from the existence of two different authorities, at variance with each other.

XI. S. John was cast into prison at Toledo and underwent most cruel treatment for more than eight months. During all this time he lived in a narrow, stifling cell, with no window but only a small loophole through which a ray of light entered for a short time of the day. There is an allusion to it in the ‘Ascent.’(1) Reading and writing were of course all but impossible. Instead of this he spent his time in uninterrupted prayer. He also composed here some of his most exquisite verses, notably the Spiritual Canticle. The explanation of this wonderful piece of (2) See bk. II., ch. xiv., §8 ae poetry, written many years later, gives us an insight into the workings of his soul during this trying time.

At length he made good his escape in a manner that can only be termed miraculous. It furnished the theme of the verses forming the argument of both the ‘Ascent’ and the ‘Obscure Night.’

The imprisonment of S. John marked the climax of the opposition of the Friars of the old Observance against the Discalced Carmelites. Shortly afterwards the latter constituted themselves as a special province of the Order, and, after the death of S. Teresa and S. John of the Cross, who perhaps would have demurred, they separated themselves entirely from the old stock and became an independent Order. For our present purpose it only remains to add that if S. John’s perpetual prayer was ‘to suffer and be despised,’ he was heard, for the treatment he received at the hands of the provincial of the Discalced Carmelites, Fr. Nicholas Doria, was hardly less severe than what he experienced in prison at Toledo, and had not even the excuse of a technical fault on his part. He - exchanged the cross for a heavenly crown on 14th December, 1591.

XII. S. John of the Cross wrote a number of works, namely, the ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel’ and the ‘Obscure IN THE CARMELITE ORDER. . Night of the Soul,’ in 1578; an explanation of the ‘Spiritual Canticle,’ and of the ‘Living Flame of Love,’ in 1584. Besides these we possess a certain number of Instructions, Maxims, Letters, and a collection of Poems. (1) We are here chiefly concerned with the book entitled ‘The Ascent of Mount Carmel.’

It has been recorded (7) that during his studies he particularly relished psychology; this is amply borne out by his writings. S. John was not what one would term a scholar. He was, however, intimately acquainted with the Summa of S. Thomas Aquinas, as almost every page of his works prove. Holy Scripture he seems to have known by heart, yet he evidently obtained his knowledge more by meditation than in the lecture room. Many of his quotations and applications appear to us far fetched, or at least, allegorical in the extreme. He does not seem to have ever applied himself to the study of the Fathers. He twice quotes the Soliloquies of S. Augustine, (*) once a sermon by the same, and another by S. Gregory. (*) In the Prologue to the ‘Ascent’ he says that he does not trust to knowledge but only to the Scriptures; but we think that, had he had an extensive acquaintance with the writings of S. Augustine, it would infallibly have betrayed itself. The fact that he shows no trace of influence of the great mystics of the middle age—Hugh of S. Victor, S. Bernard, S. Bonaventure, &c.—would justify the inference that he had not studied their works.

(2) San Juan dela Cruz. Poesias. Collection formada por el P. Angel Maria de S. Teresa. Burgos, 1904, Besides the well-known poetical works of the Saint, this collection contains a number of poems recently discovered. Mention may be made here of the new and elegant translation of the Spiritual Canticle, by a Cistercian Oblate (Miss Anne Monteith), Market Weight on, Yorkshire (without date).

(2) See Life of S. John of the Cross, p. 24.

(3) Or, to speak more correctly, a compilation ‘of the 13th century attributed to S. Augustine. -

(*) Which he must have known from the spoliers it occurs on Low Sunday.

Xiii. There is, however, one mystical author with whose writings he was thoroughly familiar: S. Teresa. During the two years they both lived at the Incarnation at Avila he was her confessor and director. The letters she wrote during the next few years were unfortunately destroyed at the outbreak of the persecution, but as S. Teresa returned to Avila (though not to the convent of the Incarnation) in July, 1577, the two Saints had plenty of opportunity to see each other before S. John was imprisoned. Hence it follows that S. John cannot but have been fully conversant with S. Teresa’s experiences and her interpretation of them, while she must have been well versed in S. John’s teaching. We are, therefore, prepared to expect complete identity of doctrine in their several works, But it can also be proved that S. John, when writing the ‘Ascent’ and the ‘Obscure Night,’ had read the three principal works of Teresa, her ‘Life,’ the ‘Way of Perfection,’ and the ‘Interior Castle.’ That he knew them later on is clear from a passage in the ‘Spiritual Canticle,’ (+) where he explicitly refers to them and expresses the hope that they would soon be published, as, in fact, they were about three years later.

Xiv. S. Teresa completed her ‘Life’ about the middle of 1565, and though the original manuscript eventually found its way into the archives of the Inquisition, several copies were circulating among her friends, and sometimes among her enemies. She was particularly anxious that her confessors should know her well and wished them to read her work. She can have made no exception with S. John of the Cross.

The first version of the ‘Way of Perfection’ dates from 1566 and the following year, and this book, too, soon became public property, even more so than the ‘Life.’

The ‘Interior Castle,’ begun at Toledo in the summer of 1577 was completed at Avila at the end of November, only four days before S. John was taken prisoner. He may, therefore, not have seen the concluding chapters, but he certainly knew the earlier parts, for he distinctly refers to this work (+) : “If the soul shall overcome the devil in the first combat it shall then pass on to the second; and if it shall be victorious there also, it shall then pass on to the third; and then through the seven Mansions, the seven degrees of love, until the Bridegroom shall bring it to the “cellar of wine” of perfect charity.’

Xv. There, are, moreover, some unmistakable allusions to various parts of her writings. Thus, her favorite parable of the Water and the Well appears twice in the ‘Ascent.’ (?) There is also the comparison with the fruit of the palmito (*); references to S. Teresa’s period of lukewarmness (*); to her inability to pray when God did not intend hearing her (°); to the difficulty she sometimes experienced in making known to her confessors the revelations, visions, and other favours she had received; (*) to the ‘Locution’ of Our Lord: ‘Be not afraid, it is I,’ which so wonderfully consoled her in sore distress ;(7) and to the help she found in the recollection of His word ‘Peace be with you.’(®) Again we find a distinct allusion in the ‘Ascent’ to a passage occurring in one of the Relations.(°) It need scarcely be said that all this cannot be mere

(1) Infra, p. 109. See ‘Interior Castle,’ v. Mansion. ch. ii., § 11.

(2) Infra, p. 123; 173. See ‘Life of S. Teresa,’ ch. xi., sqq. xxx., § 23. ‘Interior Castle,’ i. Mansion, ch. ii., § 3. iv. Mansion, ch. ii., §§ 3, 4, 3.

(8) ‘Interior Castle,’ i. Mansion, ch. ii.; § 8. Infra, p. 123.

(*) Infra, p. 143. Cf. * Life,’ ch. vii., § 11. _ (5) Infra, p. 246. Cf. * Life,’ ch. xxxix., §§ 8-10.

() B. 194. Cf. ‘Life,” ch. xxiii., § 19.

(7) P. 233. Cf. * Life,’ ch. xxv., § 22. Rel. vii., § 22. ‘Interior Castle,’ vi. Mansion, ch. iii., § 8.

(8) Infra, p. 253, ‘Interior Castle,’ v. Mansion, ch. i., § 10 ¢¢ passim.

(°) Infra, p. 280. Relation v. § 5. coincidence, but is a clear proof that S. John knew S. Teresa’s writings. . The question may be asked how far the two great mystics agreed with each other. To our mind there is no real difference in their teaching, beyond the fact that S. Teresa — starts with the record of her experiences and proceeds to analyse them, with the help of the general principles already enumerated; while S. John first establishes the principles and uses the personal experience, whether his own or that of others, as illustrations. It will, therefore, surprise no one that he is not quite so enthusiastic as S. Teresa about the effects of some of the phenomena, notably certain ‘Locutions.’ Teresa knew well what she had gained thereby, while S. John, from the standpoint of the philosopher, passes his verdict on the general aspect of the question.

Xvi. When S. John undertook to write on Mystical theology for the benefit of confessors and directors, he probably had before him a book mentioned by S. Teresa: Subida del Monte Sion, the Ascent of Mount Sion.(1) He naturally entitled his ‘Ascent of Mount Carmel’ as he intended to address himself chiefly to the members of his own Order. He took for his argument the poem on his escape from prison, to which the escape of the soul from the bonds of the senses and of earthly affections forms the counterpart. But he carried the allegory only as far as the beginning of the second verse, and, after the first chapter of the second book, dropped it altogether. He first intended to complete his work in four books, but for some reason that has not reached us he not even finished the third book, breaking off in the middle of the treatise on the sources of joy in the Will. His second work, the ‘Obscure Night,’ too, is left unfinished, though to some IN THE CARMELITE ORDER. | By extent the two books supplement each other. The ‘Ascent’ deals with the active purgation of the senses, the intellect and the will, that is with the need for, and the manner of, the complete mortification of these, as far as under the grace of God it depends on the power of man. The ‘Obscure Night’ treats of the passive purgation of the same faculties, brought about by Divine intervention which steps in where human endeavours fail.

The key to the whole treatise will be found in the seventh chapter of the second book of the ‘Ascent.’ As has already been stated the whole work is based upon the view S. Thomas Aquinas takes of the essence and operations of the senses and of the faculties of the soul, and upon his treatise on the virtues. P. 46 and again pp. 52-54 give in a nutshell the teaching of the great leader of scholastic philosophy and theology. Having fully mastered these important branches of knowledge, S. John had a great advantage over S. Teresa, who at every step was confronted with problems the solution of which she had to seek from her friends, especially those of the Dominican Order. The trained mind of S. John ensured also a more methodical treatment of his subject instead of the frequent and sometimes tedious interruptions so prominent in S. Teresa’s style. On the other hand, the absence of the personal element in his writings deprives S. John of much of the charm whereby S. Teresa has become one of the most popular writers on spiritual subjects. Only once he discovers his personal feelings, namely with regard to good taste in the art of painting.(*)

Xvii. Some readers may ask themselves whether S. John of the Cross is not dealing with subjects that have lost all practical importance? True, we now-a-days hear but little of mystical phenomena. The study of these

matters is, of course, always necessary, but should it not be reserved to specialists? We venture to think that the principles he establishes with such force and clearness may even assist those who are not engaged in the direction of souls, or who do not aspire to the highest walks of Christian perfection. For are there not such things, even at the present time, and now, perhaps, more than ever, as spiritualistic phenomena, visions, revelations, communications, &c., and do not the principles laid down in the 16th century form a sound basis for the discernment of spirits, and the distinction between what is good and wholesome, and what is evil and deleterious? (+)

Xviii. Of far greater importance than to the students of psychical phenomena is S. John of the Cross to those whose earnest endeavour it is to reach the height of perfection in the present life. Man is created for God, and is called to become like Him. He must be stripped, not only of what is contrary to God, but even of what is not conducive to the attainment of that high destiny. This constitutes the essence of contemplation, not visions and revelations. No writer has ever laid down with greater force than S. John the canons whereby contemplatives must regulate their conduct: his works, therefore, have a lasting value, and it is a real consolation to know that even in our materialistic age there are numerous souls ready to follow his guidance. Inexorable as he is, he only carries to the last consequences the firm rule of the Master: If any man come after Me let him deny himself. (7) But, perhaps, they may ask themselves whether the carrying out of S. John’s axioms would not — seriously interfere with their several positions in life? His principles are clear and unimpeachable, as everyone

(1). Infra, p. 182, sqq. 223.

(2) Mr W. R. Ing (Christian Mysticism, p. 223) is hardly consistent in passing a harsh judgement on S. John of the Cross must acknowledge who takes the trouble of examining them. They flow directly from the most elementary notions. But are they practical? S. John himself felt the weight of this question, for he puts it himself, but his answer will probably convince but few of his readers.(1) If I must mortify, not alone my unruly passions and my senses, but even all the powers of the intellect, the memory, the will, how shall I fulfil my duties in life? To say that God will supernaturally rouse my memory at the proper moment is hardly in agreement with the purpose for which it has been given me. To neglect the natural use and trust in miracles is nothing but presumption.

Xix. The true answer is that Christian perfection presupposes the fulfilment of all our duties, without which the cardinal virtue of justice is not even conceivable. This fulfilment of duty must itself be perfect, and to be so it requires the co-operation of all our faculties, physical as well as mental, according to the nature of the duties in question. S. John of the Cross himself—not to mention S. Teresa—is a splendid example of a Christian who placed all his energy and power at the disposal of his Master. The mortification of the faculties in his case consisted probably in this that he did not allow them to go beyond the narrow path of the line of duty. While writing his mystical works, no doubt many a brilliant idea may have occurred to him, yet he sacrificed a more spirited style in order to keep strictly within the lines traced for him. Now and then, however, God may have brought some happy comparison to his mind. This, we conceive, would exemplify his meaning when speaking of the mortification of the memory, and the rest of his remarks must be interpreted in a similar manner. From this it will be seen that his teaching, once again, is most

reasonable, for the man who has a great and difficult task before him, and little time to complete it in, cannot afford to squander it by unnecessary diversions, but goes straight to the goal, leaving everything else aside.

Even so we freely acknowledge that the contemplative man is in many ways at a disadvantage when compared. with others of a more worldly turn of mind. But this merely accentuates the position in which a true Christian finds himself, compared with one who is not hampered by a very sensitive conscience. It only adds a new proof to the old saying that ‘the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.’

Xx. The impulse given by S. Teresa and S. John of the Cross has borne abundant fruit. The annals and chronicles of the Order, so far as they are published, bear witness to the earnestness with which in almost every country of Europe, and even in remote parts of the world, the teaching of these great mystics has been carried into practice by countless souls. For our present purpose it will suffice to mention a few of the authors who have. systematically treated Mystical theology on the lines laid down by Teresa and John. The ascetical part has never had a more thoroughgoing exponent than the Ven. John of Jesus-Mary (+ 1615), while the purely mystical side has been exhaustively treated by the Ven. Jerome-Gratian - (+ 1614); the Ven. Thomas of Jesus (+ 1627); Fr. Philip of the Blessed Trinity (+ 1671), whose Summa theologiae mysticae (reprinted in three vols. at Brussels in 1874), may be considered as the official utterance of the Order on these subjects. We must, however, add the names of Antony of the Holy Ghost (+ 1674), Antony of the Annunciation (+ 1714), and Joseph of the Holy Ghost (+ 1739), and that of a lay-brother, Lawrence of the Resurrection (++ 1690). The Calced Carmelites, too, have produced a number of authors dealing with Mystical theology, notably Fr. Michael of S. Augustin (-++ 1684), and a lay-brother, John of S. Samson (+ 1636). Among those who personally experienced mystical phenomena, S. Mary-Magdalen de Pazzi (+ 1607), is second only to S. Teresa; scarcely less marvellous was the Ven. Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament (-++ 1648), whose beatification will shortly take place.

Xxi. The works of S. John of the Cross were first published in Spanish in 1619. An excellent, if somewhat antiquated, French translation appeared in 1652 from the pen of Fr. Cyprian of the Nativity, who had also translated those of S. Teresa. He enriched his edition by a translation of the Commentary on S. John of the Cross, by Fr. Nicholas of Jesus (+ 1660), and certain notes by Fr. James of Jesus, of Toledo. A recent publication by Sr. Berrueta Dominguez, El misticismo en la poesia: San Juan de la Cruz, 1897, deserves to be noticed in this place.

The first, and, so far, only English translation of S. John was made by the late David Lewis, M.A., at the request of Fr. Faber, and appeared in two volumes in 1864, with an excellent introduction by Cardinal Wiseman. In the second edition (Thomas Baker, 1888) this was replaced by the Life of S. John, otherwise the edition remained practically unchanged. The present volume is a reprint of the last-named edition, with a few printer’s errors corrected.

Prior, O.C.D. St. Luke’s Priory,

Feast of the Conversion of S. Paul, 1906.