St John of the Cross - The Dark Night of the Soul

The Spiritual Life is one of the most difficult things to write about. Not so much because of its subject matter. After all, we are primordially Spirits in bodies. It is difficult because it needs to be practically experienced.

Someone asked Aristotle: What is a friend?  Aristotle replied, ‘a friend is another self’. In a Christian context this has very profound consequences. Does not God want to be your friend? The book of Psalms describes God as a jealous lover; He wants you to be his friend, to be another Himself (emphasis mine).

The difficulty is not knowing that God wants you to be His friend, or that He loves you, but rather answering the question: ‘Do you truly love God?’ Our Blessed Lord Himself asked St Peter ‘Do you love me?’ Whilst we know the answer St Peter gave, the question should be Christ asking us. Do you love me?

One of the practical applications in learning to love God is to examine closely how to experience love itself. St Augustine when commenting on the Third person of the Blessed Trinity said ‘My love, my weight’. That is, the Holy Spirit is the ‘weighted-ness’ of God.

In examining the notion of love, the old adage goes ‘love makes the whole world go round’. That is, every form is followed by some inclination; love completes knowledge. It is this understanding of love that the Master of Mystical Theology, St John of the Cross explains in ‘The Dark Night of the Soul’.

When reading this majestic poem and its commentary associated with it, the use of the term ‘dark’ is of most interest. In this context it is to show how the Divine Light is just too bright for the soul. In other words, the soul is like the owl in the midday sun. The sunlight is just too bright, so blinding for the soul in its natural power that the soul is really left in the ‘dark’. From this does the soul experience a sense of abandonment; of a type of nakedness as it is being purified from all its imperfections and its attachment to creatures; but the love of God is the soul’s greatest comfort.

What can be seen when reading The Dark Night of the Soul is the brilliance of St John of the Cross as Master of Spiritual Souls. He says that we cannot do this on our own. Only God Himself can do this, and at His discretion. God Himself is the one that gives this experience to those who have that disposition. For whatever is received is received according to the manner of the recipient.

The lesson to be learnt is that we ourselves must be disposed to allow God to work in us. The doctrine of the Indwelling of the blessed Trinity is highlighted throughout. 

Indeed from this side of the grave the highest point any soul can reach is that of ‘Mystical Marriage’, a true spiritual bonding with God having direct action on the soul. Whilst some of the greatest saints in the Church, St Thomas Aquinas, St Catherine of Siena and St Teresa (just to name a few) speak of this, they cannot express what they experience with words. This highlights that it has to be experienced, lived, by the individual soul. St John of the Cross explains that for the soul to reach this, it has to be detached from all creatures. The parallels to the workings of the Holy Spirit are striking. 

Whilst St John of the Cross explains the various stages of the Spiritual Life, in order to answer the question of love you have to read this poem and commentary. Although it is the continuation of the Ascent of Mount Carmel, it does stand on its own. For it will give you the tools not just to enter into the spiritual life, but to practice and experience for yourself God’s workings in you. As many saints have stated ‘I must decrease so that Christ may increase.’

What is also of striking importance is how the purification of the soul in this life is to help us get directly to heaven. Our goal in this life must be to get to the highest place in Heaven. Instead of entering Purgatory at the end of our bodily life we must experience the process of detachment from creatures. We must detach ourselves from our bodily sensual desires. It is imperative to allow ourselves (our soul) to be wholly directed by God, to be purified by his love in this life. This is the true meaning of the dark night of the soul.

As St John of the Cross does say, this process can take many years. Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta (or Kolkata) said that she experienced this dark night for over forty-five years of her life. In order for us to be a true friend of God we must be united with him, especially that of His Son, in his suffering on the Cross. The dark night of the soul is this great union, of which the end is that of the Spiritual Marriage in this life and the Beatific Vision in the next.

The Dark Night of the Soul is comprised of two books. The first book deals with the imperfections of the soul in the beginners state. It proceeds to show how in the illuminative stage the soul suffers pains in its lower part, to rid itself of these sensitive attachments. The second book details how the purgation is had in the higher part of the soul. This is the dark night, the spiritual purgation of those who suffer. Souls in Purgatory experience this. The soul that experiences this in this life is on its way directly to Heaven. It finally then leads onto Spiritual Marriage explaining the ten steps of the mystic ladder of Divine love according to St. Bernard and St Thomas. It is describing the steps towards love itself.  

However, words do not give this justice. It must be experienced. A friend is another self. Allow God to be your friend. The Spiritual Life is not easy. It is most difficult. The devil and his minions will always look to attack us. St John however does treat of how to combat the devil. For the devil has no power over God, nor any power over the love God has for us.

The challenge for us is to love God in return. Can we detach ourselves from creatures and purify our sensitive desires? As St John of the Cross famously said: ‘Nada, Nada, Nada, nothing but Lord.’

Do you truly love God?