Fr. GowSaint John of the Cross introduces his work, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by saying that the way one understands “the dark night through which a soul journeys toward that divine light of perfect union with God that is achieved, insofar as possible in this life, through love.”[1]
I could not help but think of the many times the love of God and for God are mentioned in the Scriptures.
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly scorned.
Song of Songs 8:6-7 RSV
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:2 RSV
He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.
John 4:8 RSV
So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
John 4:16 RSV
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, “For thy sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39 RSV
In the poem’s first stanza about the soul’s journey to God, he describes the soul of that individual as having love’s urgent longings[2]. A person is led to pass through the dark night by love, just as any relationship grows and intensifies by a love for another person. Likewise, a person whose love for God has grown cold won’t find the needed motivation to begin such a journey at that time. Their love for God needs to be rekindled first.
So, on this one dark night, in addition to the soul being moved by love for God, that person has obtained a stillness. In the first stanza, John describes the stilled house as the person whose appetites (inordinate longings or cravings) have been quieted and put to sleep[3]. The person in love with God is moved to remove themselves from attachment to sin, to remove themselves from any desire for anything that would separate them from God in any way.
Relying on our own strength to quiet our appetites is futile. Without help, taking the first step into the journey will seem next to impossible. There is good news concerning this. John of the Cross says it is also sheer grace because a soul could not enter this night or empty themselves of these appetites all on their own[4]. Again, this journey is not for one whose love for God has grown cold. To make the first movement in this journey, in addition to being in love with God, requires a dependency on God’s assistance and grace. As we grow in love with God, which is bound to happen, we are somewhat drawn to this process discussed at the beginning of John’s dark night.
Here are the notes from the talk given in February of 2024 to THE COMMUNITY OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, Rockford, Illinois. It was on the topic of the connections found between the voluntary penance we choose for Lent and the active part of the dark night that John speaks of. I try not to read from my notes so the actual talk given likely contained examples and content not found here. This is only the first part of the notes for talk given in order to make this more readable. The other notes will be released in a following post.
[1] St. John of the Cross. The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross. ICS Publications. Washington DC 1991. Pg. 144
[2] Ibid. Pg. 118
[3] Ibid. Pg. 118
[4] Ibid. Pg. 119
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