Shepherds, you who go
Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 2
up through the sheepfolds to the hill,
if by chance you see
him I love most,
tell him I am sick, I suffer, and I die.
It should be pointed out that in this verse the soul does no more than disclose to the Beloved her need and suffering. The discreet lover does not care to ask for what she lacks and desires, but only indicates this need so the Beloved may do what he pleases. When the Blessed Virgin spoke to her beloved Son at the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee, she did not ask directly for the wine, but merely remarked: They have no wine (Jn 2:3).
Saint John of the Cross
Master of the Catholic Kings (Spanish, active c. 1485/1500)
Oil on panel, c. 1495/1497
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
‘Like’ is inadequate. I remember making this point of our Holy Father’s to my priest once, saying, without intending irreverence, “She didn’t grab Him by the lapels and say, ‘You have to do something!!'”. Wonderful painting!
This is another one of those gems that deserves its own entry in the sanjuanista HOF