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Continuation of Commentaries
on the Maxims on Love of St. John of the Cross
by Fr. Bruno Cocuzzi, ocd
Maxim 45 .
Oh, how sweet your presence will be to me, You Who are the Supreme
Good! I must draw near You in silence and uncover
my feet before You that You may be pleased to unite me to You in marriage
(Ruth 3:7), and I will not rest until I rejoice in Your arms. Now I ask you Lord, not to abandon me
at any time in my recollection, for I am a squanderer of my soul.
Surely, as you read this Maxim with me, you understood
right away that this is a new type of Maxim in this series of Maxims on
Love. It is evident that it is not
an admonition or a practical instruction as we had at the very beginning of the
series. You can see, too, that it
is not a statement of a spiritual truth nor is it a doctrinal teaching. These latter kinds began to predominate
once we got further along in the series.
Also, it is clear to the reader at once that this Maxim 45 is a prayer, a
prayer addressed to God, and more exactly, to Jesus Himself, the Bridegroom of
the Christian soul. As such, it
gives a glimpse into the state of soul of St. John of the Cross at the moment he
wrote it. How are we to react to
this out-burst, this verbal expression of the love for God and Jesus burning in
his heart, and of the sentiments it generated in him? Well, I think we have to thank God for
it, in that St. John of the Cross did indeed write it down, and let us see in it
an opportunity to learn from it. It
is an opportunity to try to figure out, not only what St. John was
experiencing in his soul as he wrote it, but also to try to learn something that
will help us grow in holiness to the extent we can make such a prayer our very
own. It seems to me that St. John
of the Cross was already close to the summit of holiness when he wrote it, and
the Maxim is therefore a prayer typical of anyone who has advanced that close to the same summit. With all that in mind, and asking the
very special help of the Holy Spirit and St. John of the Cross himself, let us
begin the commentary.
"Oh, how sweet Your presence will be to me, you who are the Supreme
good!"
At
first sight, one is tempted to think that, by this first sentence, St. John is
stating that he does not, at the moment, experience sweetness. After all, in the prayer "Hail, Holy
Queen...," we do speak of this earth as a "valley of tears." As we all know, whatever it is that
causes us to weep is bitter to our souls.
As one who has a great love of God and is advanced in holiness, St. John
is surely vividly aware of what sufferings the human race brings upon itself
because of its separation from God due to sin, and of the bitterness that
accompanies that suffering, which bitterness he shares through compassion. As a result, he cannot but think of its
opposite, sweetness, and that the presence of God, in and of itself, excludes
all bitterness.
As
valid as that interpretation may be, I do not think it is the only one. I do believe that another interpretation
is required by the fact that St. John of the Cross refers to God, or to Jesus,
as "the supreme good." Thus, it
seems to me that St. John is thinking of all the lesser goods he has known and
experienced in the course of his lifetime, and thus of the sweetness he has
already derived from the presence of these created goods in this world. But then, realizing that these lesser,
created goods are not God, the Supreme, uncreated good, He cannot help but
understand that the sweetness derived from the unveiled presence of God far, far
exceeds the ability of the human soul to imagine. I do think, further, that some evidence
of the infinite goodness of God is causing the heart of St. John of the Cross to
be inflamed with love for God (or Jesus) and that the rest of this maxim 45
expresses what he perceives as the only appropriate way to respond to the
infinite, supreme good, which is God Himself.
"I must draw near You in silence."
How
did St. John of the Cross propose to carry out this resolution? Perhaps we can get some help from Maxim
21, where we are reminded that God the Father speaks His Word, Jesus, in
silence, and that it is in silence that the Word, Jesus, must be heard by the
soul. In the commentary on that
maxim we were concerned with outward silence, the absence of sound, as well as
with interior silence, the absence of thought. We also considered a further
silence, that is, the absence of the clamor of the senses and the appetites for
gratification. These were the different kinds of silence which enable
the soul to hear the Word, the Truth which is Jesus, and they are the same kinds
of silence which enables the soul to be present to God the supreme Good. As Jesus, Truth, is one aspect of the
Supreme Goodness which is God, and which aspect is captured by the sense of
hearing, so also, there are other aspects of goodness which are captured by each
of the other senses: sight, taste,
feeling and smell. Therefore the
silence St. John proposes to impose upon Himself in order to come into the
presence of the Supreme Good is to deny to all his senses the experience of
lesser, created goods, and to put all thought and remembrance of created goods out of
his mind and his memory. He is
going to impose upon himself the NADA of his drawing of the mount of
perfection. In the middle of it he
writes: "The path of Mt. Carmel -
the perfect spirit - nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing - and
even on the Mount nothing." St.
John speaks of 6 “nothings” on the path and one on the mountain. Five of them must mean “nothing” for
each of the five senses, and the sixth would mean nothing in the memory, which
is able to recall and re-experience all sense perceptions. The seventh “nothing” on the Mount would
mean Faith, which is darkness, or silence, to the intellect. Thus we could say
that all of the teaching of St. John of the Cross that is contained in
the Ascent -Dark Night is summed up in this first part of the second
sentence of this Maxim 45: "I must
draw near you in silence." He says
“I must draw near You in silence,” because his teachings in the
Ascent-Dark Night prove and make clear that one can only draw near
to God in the silence that is the NADA of the path of Mount Carmel, which of
course represents Union with God in and through the “supernatural” virtues
of Faith, Hope and
Charity.
“I must... uncover my feet before
you..."
This next part of the second sentence of Maxim 45 is
part of the episode in the book of Ruth cited a few words further along. In that story, Ruth the Moabite woman
was advised by her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, to go unobserved (and
therefore in silence) to where her deceased husband's relative, named Boaz, was
sleeping. She, Ruth, was to uncover
his feet, that is, lift up the part of the cloak covering his feet, and to lie
down there. That instruction by
Naomi was to lead to Ruth's asking her relative Boaz to exercise his right as a
relative of her deceased husband to buy the property of his deceased kinsman and
also to exercise his right to marry Ruth, the widow. So really, the citation
refers not only to this part of the second sentence which we are considering,
but to all that precedes the reference in that same Book of
Ruth..
That being the case, we must point out that St. John of
the Cross is not using the reference correctly. In this maxim, God is represented by
Boaz, and Ruth is represented by St. John of the Cross himself. Therefore, he should have said: "I must draw near you unobserved and
uncover Your feet, that You may be pleased to unite me to You in
marriage." In the story of Ruth,
Boaz does indeed decide to use his right to marry Ruth. Then in this maxim there is another
reference to the story of Ruth that is not cited by chapter and verse. It is the part that says: "I will not rest until I rejoice in your
arms." But again, St. John applies
to himself, representing Ruth, what he should have applied to Boaz, representing
God. After making known to Boaz
that she wanted him to exercise his right to marry her, it was Boaz who did not
rest until he saw to it that another kinsman, closer to Ruth and Naomi, declined
to use his right to marry Ruth, because this other kinsman had the first right
of acceptance or refusal.
What would be the reason why St. John of the Cross would
change the roles in the story when applying it to Himself and God (Jesus)? Probably because, in the story, it was
Boaz who had to remove the one obstacle that stood in the way of marrying
Ruth. In the case of St. John of
the Cross and Jesus, His beloved, it was St. John who had to remove the
obstacles in himself that stood in the way of the mystical marriage between his
soul and Jesus (God), As we have seen, drawing near in silence was one way of
removing the obstacles. In addition
to that, he had to uncover his feet before Jesus. What could this possibly
mean?
In the case of Ruth uncovering the feet
of Boaz and lying down at his feet and then covering herself and Boaz's feet
again with his mantle, that seems to indicate an act of humble submission on her
part. So, perhaps, the uncovering
of his feet before God, before Jesus, must also signify acts of humble
submission on the part of St. John of the Cross before the Infinite Majesty of
God. But it could also be a
reference to the command God gave to Moses from the Burning Bush: "Take off your sandals,(uncover your
feet) for you are standing on Holy Ground." In the case of the Burning Bush, taking
off his sandals meant that Moses' uncovered feet would be in direct contact with
that Holy Ground, ground made Holy by the presence of God. Thus, uncovering the feet would mean:
let nothing come between your feet and this Holy Ground, or, let nothing created
come between God and your soul. Uncovering his feet would then be a reference to
St. John of the Cross’ teaching in the Ascent-Dark Night, namely, that we
must purge ourselves to the extent possible, and then let God Himself complete
the purging, of all our voluntary appetites, which are a hindrance to union with God in
love..
Now
still another possibility exists as an interpretation for the uncovering of his
feet by St. John of the Cross. We
have already seen that Ruth was instructed to approach Boaz secretly, that is,
unobserved, and then to uncover his feet. Now in the first two stanzas of the poem
of St. John, which begins: "One
Dark Night," there is reference to
both going out "unseen" (first stanza) and going out "by the secret
ladder." perhaps St. John of the
Cross had in mind to uncover his feet so he could safely climb that secret
ladder. In his commentary on that
secret ladder, he tells us it represents the Supernatural Virtues of Faith, Hope
and Charity. As we have seen, I believe, in a previous conference, it is these
Theological Virtues which put our souls into direct contact with God, and so the
feet could represent the faculties of our soul, by which we journey to God. And uncovering them means letting no
created thing prevent us from being directly in touch with God by means of
Faith, Hope and Charity.
"That You may be
pleased to unite me to You in marriage."
In
the case of Ruth and Boaz, as we saw, Ruth was able to ask that Boaz
exercise his right to buy her deceased husband's property and to marry her, but
in no may could she force him to do so. All she could do was to give evidence
that she was “not unworthy” of such a great favor on his
part.
Thus it seems that St. John of the Cross was doing
exactly what Ruth was doing, namely, showing, or at least trying to show that he
was not unworthy to be joined to God (Jesus) in the mystical marriage, while at
the same time humbly acknowledging that no one could demand, or rather merit,
such an exalted favor. That is,
nothing a human soul is capable of doing can ever require that God be obliged in
justice to unite a soul to Himself in the Mystical Marriage. We know of course, that God is
bound in justice to admit to Heaven any soul that repents of his or her sins and
faithfully observes the commandments.
We can extend that to say that God binds Himself to admit into His
presence anyone who, as the maxim
says, draws near to Him in silence and uncovers his or her feet before Him. But to unite one to Himself in spiritual
marriage is a totally pure and free gift of God, who bestows it upon whomever He
wills.
At
this point it would be helpful to look up the teaching of St. Teresa and St.
John of the Cross concerning the Spiritual, or Mystical, Marriage. St. Teresa
speaks about it in the 7th mansions of the Interior Castle. One comparison of hers sticks in my
mind. She says that the union
achieved by the Mystical marriage between God and the human soul is like that of
rain drops and the body of water on the earth into which they fall. Once united the two cannot be separated,
they are so completely one.
"And I
will not rest until I rejoice in your arms."
This final part of the second sentence of the
Maxim/Prayer 45 can be understood in at least two ways. The first is to see in it a resolution
or a determination on the part of St. John of the Cross to be busy at something
at all times. What he intends to be
busy at is to keep himself always in readiness in the event God (Jesus) decides
to confer upon him the grace of the Mystical Marriage. That “busy-ness” would consist in his
maintaining the silence that brings him into God's presence, and keeps his feet
uncovered. Then the “rest” he
speaks of here would mean that, once united in Marriage to God, activity is no longer necessary. Once St. John of the Cross were to
become one single thing with God in
the mystical marriage, that fact alone takes away the possibility of losing His
presence and of losing the direct contact with Him through Faith, Hope and
love. Another way of saying it is
that even in the presence of God through silence, and being in touch with Him by
uncovering his feet, St. John would still be capable of falling into sin. But,
once united to God in the mystical marriage, sin becomes a practical
impossibility. We have to say practically impossible, because
in her teaching on the Mystical Marriage the 7th mansion of the Interior Castle,
St. Teresa says in effect that, theoretically it always remains possible for a free
human being to sin.
But
because St. John of the Cross, in his teaching on contemplative prayer and in
his teaching on the signs of when to advance from meditation to contemplation,
teaches that the soul can and should rest in a general, loving knowledge
of God wherein it drinks peaceably of wisdom and delight, he is thinking of a
“rest” other than that of being free from activity or "busy-ness." Actually there are two kinds of rest, or
better, two phases of the one identical rest. One phase would result from being joined
to God in the mystical marriage.
That is the “rest” that accompanies the joy of being in the
complete and total possession, here on earth, of the Supreme Good, which is God,
through the supernatural virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. It is a “foretaste” of Heavenly bliss.
The other “rest” is the heavenly phase. There the soul is united “directly” to
God. Only Charity remains. Faith and Hope are no longer needed.
In
the prayer/Maxim 45, St. John does not dare presume that God will choose to
unite him to Himself in the mystical marriage, but he does have the certitude
that God will admit him into the Divine embrace once he has died and his soul is
free from the limitations imposed by the body. Thus, any other joy and rest he may
experience on earth, particularly the rest enjoyed during contemplative prayer,
or the joy and rest enjoyed from time to time during the unions granted while in
the stage of the spiritual betrothal, are just pale images of the rest and joy
he aspires to once his earthly sojourn has ended. Wonderful as it is, the rest and joy of
the earthly phase of the mystical marriage can in no way compare to the rest and
joy of heaven. That exceeds the ability of the human mind to
imagine.
We come, then, to the final
sentence of Maxim/prayer 45. This,
really, is the true prayer, or petition, of this maxim. It reads: "Now I ask you Lord, do not abandon me
at any time in my recollection, for I am a squanderer of my
soul."
It
seems that St. John of the Cross is acknowledging that if he had been able to
approach in silence and uncover his feet before God (Jesus) it was in virtue of
the grace of God, sustaining him and making it possible for him to persevere in
that state of soul. In fact, he
seems to give a name to that state of soul. He calls it recollection. If that is the case, then recollection
here refers not only to a soul engaged in its daily time of mental prayer, but
also to a soul in the midst of its various activities throughout the day. It would be the practice of the presence
of God throughout the day as one
goes from one task or activity to another in the course of a day. The reason is clear, why St. John makes
this request of God. Were God to abandon him (withdraw actual graces), his
silence and his uncovering of his feet would go out the window, and he would no
longer remain in the presence of God and be free of obstacles that stand in the
way of the grace of the spiritual marriage. So when he tries to motivate God to hear
his prayer he reminds God of his misery.
St. John of the Cross reminds God that he is a squanderer of his
soul.
What does he mean by that? Well someone who squanders money spends
it on things that have no value in themselves, or which are useless, that
is, incapable of bestowing any benefit upon the purchaser. Surely St. John is thinking of his (and
our) tendency to spend our energy acquiring things that confer no true and
lasting spiritual benefits upon our souls.
In other words, we tend to spend our energy upon created, perishable
goods that cannot serve to keep our souls close to God in silence with our
feet uncovered. His use of the
word "squanderer" reminds me of the 37th and 38th maxims. One tells us that only God is worthy of
our thoughts, and the other tells us that we should apply our faculties and
senses only to things and activities required of us by God’s Will, and leave
the unused faculties unoccupied for God.
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