This commentary on the stanzas that deal with the exchange of love between the soul and Christ, its Bridegroom, explains certain matters about prayer and its effects. It was written at the request of Mother Ana de Jesús, prioress of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of St. Joseph’s in Granada, in the year 1584.
PROLOGUE
1. These stanzas, Reverend Mother, were obviously composed with a certain burning love of God. The wisdom and charity of God is so vast, as the Book of Wisdom states, that it reaches from end to end [Wis. 8:1], and the soul informed and moved by it bears in some way this very abundance and impulsiveness in her words. As a result, I do not plan to expound these stanzas in all the breadth and fullness that the fruitful spirit of love conveys to them. It would be foolish to think that expressions of love arising from mystical understanding, like these stanzas, are fully explainable. The Spirit of the Lord, who abides in us and aids our weakness, as St. Paul says [Rom. 8:26], pleads for us with unspeakable groanings in order to manifest what we can neither fully understand nor comprehend.
Who can describe in writing the understanding he gives to loving souls in whom he dwells? And who can express with words the experience he imparts to them? Who, finally, can explain the desires he gives them? Certainly, no one can! Not even they who receive these communications. As a result, these persons let something of their experience overflow in figures, comparisons, and similitudes, and from the abundance of their spirit pour out secrets and mysteries rather than rational explanations.
If these similitudes are not read with the simplicity of the spirit of knowledge and love they contain, they will seem to be absurdities rather than reasonable utterances, as will those comparisons of the divine Song of Solomon and other books of Sacred Scripture where the Holy Spirit, unable to express the fullness of his meaning in ordinary words, utters mysteries in strange figures and likenesses. The saintly doctors, no matter how much they have said or will say, can never furnish an exhaustive explanation of these figures and comparisons, since the abundant meanings of the Holy Spirit cannot be caught in words. Thus the explanation of these expressions usually contains less than what they embody in themselves.
2. Since these stanzas, then, were composed in a love flowing from abundant mystical understanding, I cannot explain them adequately, nor is it my intention to do so. I only wish to shed some general light on them, since Your Reverence has desired this of me…
Mother Ana de Jesús (Lobera) was born in Medina del Campo on November 25, 1545, and entered the Teresian Carmel on August 1, 1570. In 1575 she went to Beas as prioress, where she became an intimate friend of St. John of the Cross. She later served as prioress also in Granada and Madrid. In 1604 she went to France and Belgium where she made numerous foundations. She died in Brussels on March 4, 1621. The cause for her beatification is in process. | Photo credit: Discalced Carmelite Order
Read the official biography of the Servant of God on the website of the Discalced Carmelite General Postulation of the Causes of the Saints
Mas ¿cómo perseveras, ¡oh vida!, no viviendo donde vives? Para cuya inteligencia es de saber que el alma más vive donde ama que en el cuerpo donde anima, porque en el cuerpo ella no tiene su vida, antes ella la da al cuerpo, y ella vive por amor en lo que ama. Cántico Espiritual (CB): Canción 8
And then we will go on to the high caverns in the rock
The rock mentioned here, as St. Paul says, is Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). The high caverns of this rock are the sublime, exalted, and deep mysteries of God’s wisdom in Christ, in the hypostatic union of the human nature with the divine Word, and in the corresponding union of human beings with God, and the mystery of the harmony between God’s justice and mercy with respect to the manifestations of his judgments in the salvation of the human race. These mysteries are so profound that she very appropriately calls them high caverns: high, because of the height of the sublime mysteries; and caverns, because of the depth of God’s wisdom in them. As caverns are deep and have many recesses, so each of the mysteries in Christ is singularly deep in wisdom and contains many recesses of his secret judgments of predestination and foreknowledge concerning the children of the earth. She then adds:
which are so well concealed;
They are so well concealed that however numerous are the mysteries and marvels that holy doctors have discovered and saintly souls understood in this earthly life, all the more is yet to be said and understood. There is much to fathom in Christ, for he is like an abundant mine with many recesses of treasures, so that however deep individuals may go they never reach the end or bottom, but rather in every recess find new veins with new riches everywhere. On this account St. Paul said of Christ (Col. 2:3):
In Christ dwell hidden all treasures and wisdom.
The Spiritual Canticle: Stanza 37
Mesa Arch, Arches National Park, Utah | Robbie Shade
Y luego a las subidas cavernas de la piedra nos iremos.
La piedra que aquí dice, según dice san Pablo (1 Cor. 10, 4) es Cristo. Las subidas cavernas de esta piedra son los subidos y altos y profundos misterios de sabiduría de Dios que hay en Cristo sobre la unión hipostática de la naturaleza humana con el Verbo divino, y en la respondencia que hay a ésta de la unión de los hombres a Dios y en las conveniencias de justicia y misericordia de Dios sobre la salud del género humano en manifestación de sus juicios, los cuales, por ser tan altos y profundos, bien propiamente los llama subidas cavernas, por la alteza de los misterios subidos y cavernas por la hondura y profundidad de la sabiduría de Dios en ellos; porque así como las cavernas son profundas y de muchos senos así cada misterio de los que hay en Cristo es profundísimo en sabiduría y tiene muchos senos de juicios suyos ocultos de predestinación y presciencia en los hijos de los hombres. Por lo cual, dice luego:
Que están bien escondidas.
Tanto, que por más misterios y maravillas que han descubierto los santos doctores y entendido las santas almas en este estado de vida, les quedó todo lo más por decir, y aun por entender; y así hay mucho que ahondar en Cristo: porque es como una abundante mina con muchos senos de tesoros, que, por más que ahonden, nunca les hallan fin ni término, antes van en cada seno hallando nuevas venas de nuevas riquezas acá y allá. Que, por eso, dijo san Pablo (Cl. 2, 3) del mismo Cristo, diciendo:
En Cristo moran todos los tesoros y sabiduría escondidos
December 14 SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS Priest, Doctor of the Church, and our Father
Solemnity
When December 14 falls on a Sunday, the solemnity is transferred to the following day.
John was born at Fontiveros in Spain about 1542. He entered the Carmelites and with the permission of his superiors began to live a stricter life. Afterwards, he was persuaded by Saint Teresa to begin, together with some others, the Discalced reform within the Order; this cost him much hard work and many trials. He died in Ubeda in 1591, outstanding in holiness and wisdom, to which his many spiritual writings give eloquent witness.
Evening Prayer I
HYMN
Soldier of the King eternal,
Valiant warrior, hail to thee!
Column raised to heights supernal
In unshaken majesty.
We revere thy glorious merits
And the tide of homage wells
From the fountain of our spirits,
Heav’nward rising as it swells.
Thou hast felt the strong protection
Of the Virgin Mother’s power,
Saving thee with sweet election
In the dread and dangerous hour.
Since thy youth she never swerveth
In her watchful care of thee,
And forever she preserveth
Him who vowed her slave to be.
Chosen offspring of our Mother,
In her labors thou didst share,
Aiding her, as son and brother,
Carmel’s beauty to repair;
Ruined shrine and temple raising
From the dust of slow decay,
Mary’s honor meetly praising,
In the dawn of fairer day.
Lo, the Cross thy weapon glorious,
As on Calvary’s height of yore,
When our Jesus reigned victorious,
Fallen nature to restore;
So thy burning love retrieveth
Glory of an ancient race,
And by suffering achieveth
Marvels of renewing grace.
Praise unto thy God be given
For the grace, O John, conferred,
When with chalice raised to Heaven,
Thine entreating prayer was heard:
In that first rapt celebration
Of the sacrifice divine,
Pledge of thine assured salvation
He hath deigned in love to sign.
87.87.D. Regis aeterni generose miles
PSALMODY
Ant. 1He opened his mouth in prayer, and the Lord filled him with the spirit of understanding.
Psalm 113
Praise, O servants of the Lord, *
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed *
both now and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to its setting *
praised be the name of the Lord!
High above all nations is the Lord, *
above the heavens his glory.
Who is like the Lord, our God, *
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down, *
to look down upon heaven and earth?
From the dust he lifts up the lowly, *
from his misery he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes, *
yes, with the princes of his people.
To the childless wife he gives a home *
and gladdens her heart with children.
Ant. He opened his mouth in prayer, and the Lord filled him with the spirit of understanding.
Ant. 2 The Lord gave him treasures out of the darkness, and riches that had been hidden away.
Psalm 146
My soul, give praise to the Lord; +
I will praise the Lord all my days, *
make music to my God while I live.
Put no trust in princes *
in mortal men in whom there is no help.
Take their breath, they return to clay *
and their plans that day come to nothing.
He is happy who is helped by Jacob’s God, *
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth, *
the seas and all they contain.
It is he who keeps faith forever, *
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry, *
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,
the Lord who gives sight to the blind, *
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger *
and upholds the widow and orphan.
It is the Lord who loves the just *
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign forever, *
Zion’s God, from age to age.
Ant.The Lord gave him treasures out of the darkness, and riches that had been hidden away.
Ant. 3 No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived all that God has prepared for those who love him.
Canticle: Rev 4:11; 5:9, 10, 12
O Lord our God, you are worthy *
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you have created all things; *
by your will they came to be and were made.
Worthy are you, O Lord, *
to receive the scroll and break open its seals.
For you were slain; *
with your blood you purchased for God
men of every race and tongue, *
of every people and nation.
You made of them a kingdom +
and priests to serve our God, *
and they shall reign on the earth.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, *
to receive power and riches,
wisdom and strength, *
honor and glory and praise.
Ant.No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived all that God has prepared for those who love him.
READING
Ephesians 3:14-19
I, Paul, kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name; and I pray that he will bestow on you gifts in keeping with the riches of his glory. May he strengthen you inwardly through the working of his Spirit. May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, and may charity be the root and foundation of your life. Thus you will be able to grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love, and experience this love which surpasses all knowledge, so that you may attain to the fullness of God himself.
RESPONSORY
The God who brought light out of darkness has shone in our hearts. —The God who brought light out of darkness has shone in our hearts.
To give the light of knowledge of God’s glory that appears in the face of Christ. —He has shone in our hearts.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit —The God who brought light out of darkness has shone in our hearts.
CANTICLE OF MARY
Ant. I sought wisdom in my prayer; I found it abundantly within myself, and advanced greatly in it.
INTERCESSIONS
Christ our Redeemer inspired our Father Saint John of the Cross to follow him, and raised him to the heights of contemplation. Let us praise our Lord, and say:
R/.Glory to you forever!
Christ our God, you taught your servant John the science of the Cross; —kindle the fire of your love in those to whom you have entrusted the teaching and government of your Church.
Christ, unfailing light, you reveal yourself in the night of faith to the poor in spirit; —let your face shine on all those who seek you in poverty amid the darkness of this world.
Christ, our only teacher, you disclose your highest secrets to those who love and seek you; —grant the consummation of your love to those you have called to serve you in Carmel.
Christ, triumphant in heaven in the midst of all your saints, —grant everlasting rest and peace in your glory to all our departed brothers and sisters.
Our Father…
PRAYER
Lord,
you endowed our Father Saint John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross.
By following his example
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Invitatory
Ant. Come, let us worship Christ Jesus, sole Word of the Father.
Invitatory psalm, as in the Ordinary
Office of Readings
HYMN
O John, rejoice this hallowed day
The triumph of the Cross to hail,
Whereon with Christ ‘twas thine to stay,
Transfixed with pang of spear and nail!
Nor insults, scorn, nor cruel scourge,
Bondage, nor hunger can restrain
The love thy panting soul doth urge
To taste the bitter draught of pain.
Thine only joy, thy sole reward,
The boon for which thy spirit sighed,
To mirror here thy suffering Lord,
Like Him in anguish crucified.
While thou dost search the mystic night,
Through darkness gleams a radiant star,
And Carmel’s camp is all alight,
With flame that leads to heights afar.
Let them that dwell in bliss above
Praise Thee, O Christ, with joyful lay,
Let them that run to Thee in love
Pursue, like John, the thorn-strewn way.
L.M. Diem Ioammes advehit
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 God chose us to be conformed to the image of his Son.
Psalm 16
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. +
I say to the Lord: “You are my God. *
My happiness lies in you alone.”
He has put into my heart a marvelous love +
for the faithful ones who dwell in his land. *
Those who choose other gods increase their sorrows.
Never will I offer their offerings of blood. *
Never will I take their name upon my lips.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; *
it is you yourself who are my prize.
The lot marked out for me is my delight: *
welcome indeed the heritage that falls to me!
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, *
who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight: *
since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.
And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad; *
even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead, *
nor let your beloved know decay.
You will show me the path of life, +
the fullness of joy in your presence, *
at your right hand happiness forever.
Ant. God chose us to be conformed to the image of his Son.
Ant. 2 Among you I claimed to know nothing save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
Psalm 34: I
I will bless the Lord at all times,
his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast. *
The humble shall hear and be glad.
Glorify the Lord with me. *
Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me; *
from all my terrors he set me free.
Look towards him and be radiant; *
let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him *
and rescued him from all his distress.
The angel of the Lord is encamped *
around those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good. *
He is happy who seeks refuge in him.
Revere the Lord, you his saints. *
They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong lions suffer want and go hungry *
but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing.
Ant. Among you I claimed to know nothing save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
Ant. 3 For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain.
Psalm 34: II
Come, children, and hear me *
that I may teach you the fear of the Lord.
Who is he who longs for life *
and many days to enjoy his prosperity?
Then keep your tongue from evil *
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn aside from evil and do good, *
seek and strive after peace.
The Lord turns his face against the wicked *
to destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The Lord turns his eyes to the just *
and his ears to their appeal.
They call and the Lord hears *
and rescues them in all their distress.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; *
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.
Many are the trials of the just man *
but from them all the Lord will rescue him.
He will keep guard over all his bones, *
not one of his bones shall be broken.
Evil brings death to the wicked, *
those who hate the good are doomed.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants. *
Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.
Ant.For me, to live is Christ, to die is gain. In you is the source of life. —In your light we see light itself.
FIRST READING
From the letter of the apostle Paul to the Colossians Colossians 1:11-29
God has transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved Son
By the might of his glory you will be endowed with the strength needed to stand fast, even to endure joyfully whatever may come, giving thanks to the Father for having made you worthy to share the lot of the saints in light. He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. Through him we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creatures. In him, everything in heaven and on earth was created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominations, principalities or powers; all were created through him and for him. He is before all else that is. In him everything continues in being. It is he who is head of the body, the church; he who is the beginning, the first-born of the dead, so that the primacy may be his in everything. It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in him and, by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person, both on earth and in the heavens, making peace through the blood of his cross.
You yourselves were once alienated from him; you nourished hostility in your hearts because of your evil deeds. But now, Christ has achieved reconciliation for you in his mortal body by dying, so as to present you to God holy, free of reproach and blameless. But you must hold fast to faith, be firmly grounded and steadfast in it, unshaken in the hope promised you by the gospel you have heard. It is the gospel which has been announced to every creature under heaven, and I, Paul, am its servant.
Even now I find my joy in the suffering I endure for you. In my own flesh I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church. I became a minister of this church through the commission God gave me to preach among you his word in its fullness, that mystery hidden from ages and generations past but now revealed to his holy ones. God has willed to make known to them the glory beyond price which this mystery brings to the Gentiles—the mystery of Christ in you, your hope of glory. This is the Christ we proclaim while we admonish all men and teach them in the full measure of wisdom, hoping to make every man complete in Christ. For this I work and struggle, impelled by that energy of his which is so powerful a force within me.
RESPONSORY
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;
—listen to him.
In many and varied ways God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us in his Son. —Listen to him.
The second reading and responsory may be taken from The Liturgy of the Hours or the following may be used:
ALTERNATIVE SECOND READING
From The Spiritual Canticle by Saint John of the Cross (Red. B, st. 1,4 — ed. Kavanaugh-Rodriguez 1979, pp. 434-45)
Traces of the divine beauty in creation
Created things in themselves, as Saint Augustine declares, give testimony to God’s grandeur and excellence. For God created all things with remarkable ease and brevity, and in them he left some trace of who he is, not only in giving all things being from nothing, but even by endowing them with innumerable graces and qualities, making them beautiful in a wonderful order and unfailing dependence on one another. All of this he did through his own wisdom, the Word, his only begotten Son by whom he created them.
Saint Paul says: The Son of God is the splendor of his glory and the image of his substance. It should be known that only with this figure, his Son, did God look at all things, that is he communicated to them their natural being and many natural graces and gifts, and made them complete and perfect, as is said in Genesis: God looked at all things that he made, and they were very good. To look and behold that they were very good was to make them very good in the Word, his Son.
Not only by looking at them did he communicate natural being and graces, as we said, but also with this image of his Son alone, he clothed them in beauty by imparting to them supernatural being. This he did when he became man and elevated human nature in the beauty of God and consequently all creatures, since in human nature he was united with them all.
Accordingly, the Son of God proclaimed: If I be lifted up from the earth, I will elevate all things to me. And in this elevation of all things through the incarnation of his Son and through the glory of his resurrection according to the flesh, the Father did not merely beautify creatures partially, but rather we can say, clothed them wholly in beauty and dignity.
RESPONSORY
Prayer of a Soul Taken with Love
O God, you will not deprive me of what you have given me in Christ. —In him you have given me all things.
Mine are the heavens, mine is the earth,
mine are the peoples, the just and the sinners,
mine are the angels, and mine is the Mother of God —In him you have given me all things.
Those who desire to extend, in accordance with tradition, the celebration of the Vigil of Solemnities and Feasts should first celebrate the Office of Readings; after the two readings and before the Te Deum they should add the canticles and Gospel as indicated below.
A homily may follow the Gospel. The Te Deum is then sung, followed by the concluding prayer and the conclusion of the Hour as usual.
VIGIL OFFICE
CANTICLES
Ant. Come, let us climb the mountain of the Lord, where God is pleased to dwell; there dwell his honor and glory alone.
Canticles from the Common of the Dedication of a Church
GOSPEL Jn 12:35-36a, 44b-50
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Believe in the light and you will become sons of light
Jesus declared publicly:
“The light will be with you only a little longer now.
Walk while you have the light,
or the dark will overtake you;
he who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.
While you still have the light,
believe in the light
and you will become sons of light.”
“Whoever believes in me
believes not in me
but in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me,
sees the one who sent me.
and whoever sees me,
sees the one who sent me.
I, the light, have come into the world,
so that whoever believes in me
need not stay in the dark anymore.
If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully,
it is not I who shall condemn him,
since I have come not to condemn the world,
but to save the world:
he who rejects me and refuses my words
has his judge already:
the word itself that I have spoken
will be his judge on the last day.
For what I have spoken does not come from myself;
no, what I was to say, what I had to speak,
was commanded by the Father who sent me,
and I know that his commands mean eternal life.
And therefore what thee Father has told me
is what I speak.
HYMN, Te Deum.
PRAYER
Lord,
may the patronage
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother,
and the prayers of all the saints of Carmel
help us to walk steadfastly in their footsteps,
and by our prayers and good works
ever further the cause of your Church.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Morning Prayer
HYMN
Bearing His Cross, the gentle Lord drew nigh,
Offering the crown by merit richly won.
O Love! to quaff Thy cup and with Thee die,
Low answers John.
To live despised, in suffering and alone,
The one insatiate yearning of his breast;
To die devoid of honor, and unknown,
His heart’s request.
Death yielded triumph of the Cross at last,
While dazzling globes of fire from Heav’n descend,
And o’er his deeds the light of glory cast
To cheer his end.
His dying couch, with light irradiate,
Dims with celestial beam earth’s fitful flame,
Perfumes exhale, breathing of heavenly state
And saintly fame.
Honor supreme be to the Father given,
To Word and Paraclete in praise unite,
Upon whose Triune flame the hosts of Heaven
Feed with delight.
10.10.10.4. Dum crucem gestat Dominus, Ioanni
OR:
Let us together
Up the high mountain
Go where the weather
Keeps a June glow.
You in your beauty,
I in your beauty,
Earth in your beauty,
All give delight.
Up past the steepest
Cliffs of our striving,
Up from the deepest
Thickets of pain
Where darkness bound you,
Ravaged and slew you,
Till daybreak found you,
Risen again.
Haste then our going
Up the high mountain,
Pure water flowing
Down from the height, Wind in the spruces,
Light on the aspens,
Fruit of sweet juices
All give delight.
Deep caverns holding
Secrets of heaven,
Summits unfolding
Myst’ries divine,
Nightingale singing,
Grove lit with beauty
Each new day bringing
Taste of new wine.
Sweet the ascending
Up the high mountain,
Sweeter the ending
Love spread abroad.
Everyone sharing
Grace of your image.
Everyone bearing
The beauty of God.
54.54.D Sr. Miriam of the Holy Spirit, O.C.D.
PSALMODY
Ant. 1 Truly you are a hidden God, O God of Israel, our Savior.
Psalms and canticle from Sunday, Week I
Ant. 2 All things are yours, for you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Ant. 3 Give thanks to the Lord in your hearts, sing him spiritual canticles.
READING
2 Corinthians 3:17-18
The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. All of us, gazing on the Lord’s glory with unveiled faces, are being transformed from glory to glory into his very image by the Lord who is the Spirit.
RESPONSORY
Your light will shine in the darkness and the darkness will be as noon. —Your light will shine in the darkness and the darkness will be as noon.
The Lord will fill your soul with his splendor, —and the darkness will be as noon.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit —Your light will shine in the darkness and the darkness will be as noon.
CANTICLE OF ZECHARIAH
Ant.While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light.
Or: The Lord has come to give light to those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet in the way of peace.
INTERCESSIONS
Jesus Christ, the head and bridegroom of his Church makes us joyful today on this feast of John of the Cross, his servant. Let us say to him:
R/.You, Christ, are the King of Glory.
Only Word of the Father, uttered eternally in the eternal silence, and in the fullness of time received in the Virgin’s womb;
—may we hear your words today in the depths of our hearts, and put them into practice.
Wisdom of the Father, you showed your great love for us by emptying yourself in the Incarnation and on the Cross; —may we, who have been redeemed by your blood, always live in close communion with you.
Perfect Image of the Godhead, in whom all the mysteries of eternal love are revealed and poured out, —may we go forward in the strength of your Spirit, toward your inaccessible light.
Supreme Delight of the Father, in whom God looks mercifully on all men; —may we become perfect in compassion as our heavenly Father is perfect.
First-born of all creation, through you the Father in his goodness created and re-created all things, —may our thoughts be turned today from the visible world to your invisible beauty.
Our Father…
PRAYER
Lord,
you endowed our Father Saint John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross.
By following his example
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Daytime Prayer
Complementary psalmody
Midmorning
Ant.Those who wish to come after me must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.
READING
Ephesians 4:22-24
Acquire a fresh, spiritual way of thinking. You must put on that new man created in God’s image, whose justice and holiness are born of truth.
A pure heart create for me, O God. —Put a steadfast spirit within me.
Midday
Ant. Whoever would draw near to God must believe; the righteous live by faith.
READING
Romans 5:1-2
Now that we have been justified by faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have gained access by faith to the grace in which we now stand, and we boast of our hope for the glory of God.
I live by faith in the Son of God. —Who loved me and gave himself for me.
Midafternoon
Ant. Your strength will lie in silence and hope.
READING
Romans 8:24-25
In hope we were saved. But hope is not hope if its object is seen; how is it possible for one to hope for what he sees? And hoping for what we cannot see means awaiting it with patient endurance.
The Lord is good to those who trust in him. —To the soul who seeks him.
PRAYER
Lord,
you endowed our Father Saint John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross.
By following his example
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Evening Prayer II
HYMN
Saint of the eagle eye,
Gazing enrapt on high
Mid dread abysses of Divinity;
Martyr by heart’s intent,
Virgin yet penitent,
Prophet and guide in realms of mystery.
Oft in thy life, ’tis told
Sweet converse thou didst hold
With the pure Virgin and her Son divine;
Thence came the wondrous light
Flooding with glory bright
Thy mystic page, for wisdom there did shine.
Clearly thou dost reveal
Secrets the clouds conceal
For thou hast seeped thy soul in rays above,
Pondering the mountain height,
Darkness of faith’s long night
And the reviving flame of mystic love.
When by God’s holy will
Thou dost His word instill,
Wondrous the marvels by the soul divined,
Like Him evoking light
From chaos deep as night,
Cheering with healthful beams the darkened mind.
O John, thy praise intone
Prostrate before the throne!
Thee hath the Father signed with light most true,
Gifts of the Spirit shine
And the meek Lamb divine
Openeth the book of life to thy pure view.
6.6.10.D. O satis felix! Speculator alti
Ant. 1 God loved us so much that he brought us to life with Christ.
Psalm 15
Lord, who shall be admitted to your tent *
and dwell on your holy mountain?
He who walks without fault; *
he who acts with justice
and speaks the truth from his heart; *
he who does not slander with his tongue;
he who does no wrong to his brother, *
who casts no slur on his neighbor,
who holds the godless in disdain, *
but honors those who fear the Lord;
he who keeps his pledge, come what may; *
who takes no interest on a loan
and accepts no bribes against the innocent. *
Such a man will stand firm forever.
Ant. God loved us so much that he brought us to life with Christ.
Ant. 2 We know and believe in the love God has for us.
Psalm 112
Happy the man who fears the Lord, *
who takes delight in all his commands.
His sons will be powerful on earth; *
the children of the upright are blessed.
Riches and wealth are in his house; *
his justice stands firm forever.
He is a light in the darkness for the upright: *
he is generous, merciful and just.
The good man takes pity and lends, *
he conducts his affairs with honor.
The just man will never waver: *
he will be remembered forever.
He has no fear of evil news; *
with a firm heart he trusts in the Lord.
With a steadfast heart he will not fear, *
he will see the downfall of his foes.
Open-handed, he gives to the poor; +
his justice stands firm forever. *
His head will be raised in glory.
The wicked man sees and is angry, +
grinds his teeth and fades away; *
the desire of the wicked leads to doom.
Ant.We know and believe in the love God has for us.
Ant. 3 The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us.
Canticle: Ephesians 1:3-10
Praised be the God and Father *
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Who has bestowed on us in Christ *
every spiritual blessing in the heavens.
God chose us in him *
before the world began,
to be holy *
and blameless in his sight.
He predestined us +
to be his adopted sons through Jesus Christ, *
such was his will and pleasure,
that all might praise the glorious favor *
he has bestowed on us in his beloved.
In him and through his blood we have been redeemed, *
and our sins forgiven,
so immeasurably generous *
is God’s favor to us.
God has given us the wisdom *
to understand fully the mystery,
the plan he was pleased *
to decree in Christ.
A plan to be carried out *
in Christ, in the fullness of time,
to bring all things into one in him, *
in the heavens and on the earth.
Ant. The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us.
READING
1 Corinthians 13:8-10, 12-13, 14:1a
Love never fails. Prophecies will cease, tongues will be silent, knowledge will pass away. Our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect. When the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. Now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. My knowledge is imperfect now; then I shall know even as I am known. There are in the end three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. Seek eagerly after love.
RESPONSORY
Love is as strong as death: It flashes forth like flames of fire. —Love is as strong as death: It flashes forth like flames of fire.
Who can separate us from the love of Christ? —It flashes forth like flames of fire.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit —Love is as strong as death: It flashes forth like flames of fire.
CANTICLE OF MARY
Ant. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and that I may be in them. INTERCESSIONS
God the Father has given us his Spirit through Jesus Christ his beloved Son, so that we may be partakers in the divine nature and witnesses to his love in the Church. Let us praise him and say:
R/.Through the intercession of Saint John, hear us, O Lord.
Give your Church the living faith that will lead all men and women to seek you; —and bring them to the closest union with you.
Give the hope of heaven to all who are faithful in seeking you; —may they obtain all that they hope for.
Pour out your love upon us; —that where there is no love we may put love and so draw love out.
May all Carmelites be imitators of the Virgin Mary, Mother of our Order; —may we follow every inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Grant final purification to our departed brothers and sisters, —so that they may come without delay to sing canticles of love with all your saints.
Our Father…
PRAYER
Lord,
you endowed our Father Saint John of the Cross
with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross.
By following his example
may we come to the eternal vision of your glory.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Saint John of the Cross and three miraculous apparitions in his relics Anonymous (Spanish, 17th c.) Engraving, used as a cover for the ms. Informaciones sobre la vida y milagros de San Juan de la Cruz Manuscrito 12738, Biblioteca Nacional de España
O souls, created for these grandeurs and called to them! What are you doing? How are you spending your time? Your aims are base and your possessions miseries! O wretched blindness of your eyes! You are blind to so brilliant a light and deaf to such loud voices because you fail to discern that insofar as you seek eminence and glory you remain miserable, base, ignorant, and unworthy of so many blessings!
¡Oh almas criadas para estas grandezas y para ellas llamadas!, ¿qué hacéis?, ¿en qué os entretenéis? Vuestras pretensiones son bajezas y vuestras posesiones miserias. ¡Oh miserable ceguera de los ojos de vuestra alma, pues para tanta luz estáis ciegos, y para tan grandes voces sordos, no viendo que, en tanto que buscáis grandezas y gloria, os quedáis miserables y bajos, de tantos bienes, hechos ignorantes e indignos!
Let us rejoice, Beloved,
and let us go forth to behold ourselves in your beauty
to the mountain and to the hill,
to where the pure water flows,
and further, deep into the thicket.
That is: to the morning and essential knowledge of God, which is knowledge in the divine Word, who in his height is signified here by the mountain. That they may know the Son of God, Isaiah urges all: Come, let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord[Is. 2:3]; in another passage: The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared[Is. 2:2].
Saint John of the Cross
Dawn on Mount Sinai (9) by Richard White. He writes, “After climbing Mt Sinai through the night we sat down to watch the dawn. As the sun rose above the mountains a group of nuns sang hymns whilst taking their own photographs.” See more photos from his Flickr album, Dawn from summit of Mt Sinai
Gocémonos, Amado,
y vámonos a ver en tu hermosura
al monte o al collado,
do mana el agua pura;
entremos más adentro en la espesura.
Esto es, a la noticia matutina y esencial de Dios, que es conocimiento en el Verbo divino, el cual por su alteza es aquí significado por el monte, como dice Isaías (2,3), provocando a que conozcan al Hijo de Dios, diciendo: Venid y subamos al monte del Señor; otra vez (2, 2): Estará aparejado el monte de la casa del Señor.
Escóndete, Carillo, y mira con tu haz a las montañas, y no quieras decillo; mas mira las compañas de la que va por ínsulas extrañas. Cántico Espiritual (CA): Canción 32
Descubre tu presencia, y máteme tu vista y hermosura; mira que la dolencia de amor, que no se cura sino con la presencia y la figura. Cántico Espiritual (CB): Canción 11
Maria Pilar of St. Francis Borgia (born at Tarazona on Dec. 30, 1877), Teresa of the Child Jesus and of St. John of the Cross (born at Mochales on March 5,1990), and Maria Angeles of St. Joseph (born at Getafe on March 6, 1905), Discalced Carmelite nuns of the Monastery of Guadalajara, Spain, were martyred on July 24, 1936, after having given witness to their faith in Christ the King and having offered their lives for the Church. The first fruits of the countless martyrs of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, they were beatified by Saint John Paul II on March 29, 1987.
From the Common of Martyrs or the Common of Virgins, except for the following:
Office of Readings
THE SECOND READING
Strophe 30,7-8
From the Spiritual Canticle of St. John of the Cross
The flowers of virginity and martyrdom
“We shall weave these garlands flowering in your love and bound with one hair of mine.”
This verse most appropriately refers to Christ and the Church, for in it, the Church, the Bride of Christ, addresses Him saying: let us weave garlands (understanding by garlands, all the holy souls engendered by Christ in the Church). Each holy soul is like a garland adorned with the flowers of virtues and gifts, and all of them together form a garland for the head of Christ, the Bridegroom.
The loving garlands can refer to what we call aureoles; these are also woven by Christ and the Church and are of three kinds:
The first kind is made from the beautiful flowers of all the virgins. Each virgin possesses her own aureole of virginity, and all these aureoles together will be joined into one and placed on the head of Christ, the Bridegroom.
The second aureole contains the resplendent flowers of the holy doctors. All these aureoles will be entwined into one and set upon the head of Christ over that of the virgins.
The third is fashioned from the crimson carnations of the martyrs. Every martyr has an aureole of martyrdom, and these red aureoles woven together will add the final touch to the aureole of Christ the Bridegroom.
So beautiful and fair will Christ the Bridegroom be with these three garlands when He is seen in heaven.
Therefore, we shall weave these garlands, the soul says, flowering in your love.
The flower of these works and virtues is the grace and power they possess from the love of God. Without love these works will not only fail to flower, but they will all wither and become valueless in God’s sight, even though they may be perfect from a human standpoint. Yet, because God bestows His grace and love, they are works that have blossomed in His love.
“And bound with one hair of mine.” This hair is her will and the love she has for the Beloved. This love assumes the task of the thread in a garland. As the thread binds the flowers together, so love fastens and sustains the virtues in the soul. As St. Paul remarks: “Charity is the bond of perfection” (Col 3:14).
RESPONSORY
R/. Even if you should have to suffer for justice’s sake, happy will you be.
Do not be afraid and do not stand in awe of them, but adore the Lord Christ in your hearts * always ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you. V/. It is better, if God so wills it, to suffer and do good deeds than to do evil, * always ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you.
PRAYER
Father, strength of the humble,
you sustained in martyrdom the virgins
Blessed Maria Pilar, Teresa and Maria Angeles.
As they willingly shed their blood for Christ the King,
may we, through their intercession,
be faithful to You and to your Church until death.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
A sad reminder of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War Francoist troops taking away Republican militiamen from a mountain, probably to take them to a firing block, in Somosierra, during the Battle of Guadarrama, July-August 1936. These men most likely were farmers or workers. Source: Cassowary Colorizations
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