St. John of the Cross

Carve out a day every week

Carve out a day every week, or an hour a day, or a moment each hour, and abide in loving silence with the Friend. Feel the frenetic concerns of life in the world fall away, like the last leaves of autumn being lifted from the tree in the arms of a zephyr. Be the bare tree.

~ St. John of the Cross

In deepest solitude

In deepest solitude
I found the narrow way:
a secret giving such release
that I was stunned and stammering
rising above all science.

~ from I CAME INTO THE UNKNOWING by St. John of the Cross

Deep within your eyes imprinted grace

You looked with love upon me
And deep within your eyes imprinted grace.
This mercy set me free,
Held in your love’s embrace,
To lift my eyes adoring
to your grace.

~ by St. John of the Cross

These valleys are what my Beloved is to me

Lonely valleys are quiet, pleasant, cool, shady, and flowing with fresh waters; in the variety of their groves and in the sweet song of the birds, they afford abundant recreation and delight to the senses, and in their solitude and silence they refresh the soul and give rest. These valleys are what my Beloved is to me.

 
~ from THE SPIRITUAL CANTICLE by St. John of the Cross

How tenderly You dwell in my heart with love

How gently and lovingly
You wake in my heart,
where in secret You dwell alone;
and in your sweet breathing,
filled with good and glory
how tenderly You dwell in my heart
with love.

~ THE LIVING FLAME OF LOVE by St. John of the Cross

To behold ourselves in Your Beauty

Let us rejoice, Beloved,
Let us go forth
To behold ourselves
In Your Beauty.

~ from THE COLLECTED WORKS OF ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS by St. John of the Cross

Her Beloved is silent music

In that nocturnal tranquility and silence and in knowledge of the divine light, the soul becomes aware of Wisdom's wonderful harmony and sequence in the variety of her creatures and works. Each of them is endowed wíth a certain likeness of God and in its own way gives voice to what of God is in it. So creatures will be for the soul a harmonious symphony of sublime music surpassing all concerts and melodies of the world. Thus there ís in it the sweetness of music and the quietude of silence. AccordÍngly, she says that her Beloved is silent music because in the Beloved she knows and enjoys this symphony of spiritual music.

~ from SPIRITUAL CANTICLE by John of the Cross thanks to Gav Grissom

Loving infusion of God

Contemplation is a secret, peaceful and loving infusion of God, which, if admitted, will set the soul on fire with the spirit of Love.
~ by St. John of the Cross

A flame of the Divine Life

For inasmuch as this flame is a flame of the Divine Life, it wounds the soul with the tenderness of the life of God; and so deeply ... does it wound it and fill it with tenderness that causes it to melt in love, so that there may be fulfilled in it that which came to pass in the Bride in the Song of Songs; she conceived such great tenderness that she melted away.

~ from LIVING FLAME OF LOVE by John of the Cross

Secretly and quietly

God ... secretly and quietly ... inserts in the soul loving wisdom and knowledge.

~ from THE LIVING FLAME OF LOVE by St. John of the Cross
Syndicate content