Christopathy of St. John of the Cross
P. Vojtěch of St. Hedwig OCD, Prague
“One day, (Jesus) was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples’” (Lk 11:1).
In this single verse, the evangelist Luke shows all dimensions of Christ's presence in the Christian's prayer; it demonstrates that Jesus is not only a model and mediator of prayer (“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place”), but also its teacher (“Lord, teach us to pray”), and ultimately its content (the request itself is already a prayer!). Luke thus reminds us that Christian prayer must be not only Christological but also Christocentric and “Christic”: when a Christian prays, they must not only pray as Christ did, but also to Christ and through Christ.
And since prayer, while not the only means of spiritual life, remains its expression par excellence, we can make the same claim about the entire spiritual life, Christian spirituality, or piety in general. Thus, every spiritual author, if they are to be Christian, cannot overlook this tripartite (Christological, Christocentric, and Christic) dimension of the relationship to God.
The Christian Character of St. John of the Cross
Although from time to time we encounter claims to the contrary, it is essential to emphasize this Christian (i.e., Christ-centered) character of the works and teachings of St. John of the Cross. Some, perhaps under the influence of the fact that John's writings resonate to a great extent with the orants of Eastern religions, doubt his Christianity, but there is something lacking in such reasoning: the fact that even Buddhist monks read the works of the Mystical Teacher does not mean that John is a “closeted Buddhist”, just as certain Eastern authors are not “closeted Christians” simply because they are read (sometimes without a hint of discrimination) by many Christians!
In fact, St. John of the Cross is as Christian as very few spiritual authors. It is true that based on his works, one would hardly build a cohesive Christological treatise, but this is not due to a lack of interest in Christ, but rather because “1) it deals more with the person of Christ than with Christology; 2) it is more concerned with the life aspects related to theological community than with doctrinal information; 3) it does not want to repeat what has already been written in so many readily available theological and spiritual books.”1 Not accidentally did one of the witnesses during the beatification process of John of the Cross declare: “Of the mysteries that he loved the most, it was the Most Holy Trinity and also the Son of God who became man.”2 Therefore, it is rightly said that Christ “occupies the center of the theological life and mystical experience” of St. John.3 Rather than about Christology (“doctrine of Christ”), one can speak of Christopathy (“experiencing Christ”).4 In other words, John expresses himself more as a mystic than as a theologian, though these two titles do not contradict each other and both rightly belong to this author.
Let us take a panoramic and brief look at those three dimensions of the relationship to God that make the spiritual life truly Christian in the works of the Mystical Teacher; perhaps we will discover realities of which we have previously been unaware.
Christological Dimension
Just from the words that Saint John uses to designate or address Christ, we can sense the entire depth and scope of the attention that the mystic pays to Him. He is not merely “Jesus Christ” (Jesucristo), but also “Beloved, Lamb, Crucified, Word, Bridegroom, Son of God, Divine Teacher (Master), Messiah, Lord…”
The One Who Gives Himself
To see correctly the Sanjuanist perspective of viewing Christ, it is necessary to begin with what has been little emphasized in the past and what is actually the most important: the Son of God is, for John of the Cross, primarily the One who gives Himself; who shares, who is grace. The first in the logic of his theological thinking remains descensus Dei ad hominem (“the descent of God to man”). This is especially pronounced in John's poetry: his Romance and the poem Source are a kind of theological-spiritual reflection on the Most Holy Trinity, creation, redemption, and the Eucharist, where Christ holds a privileged position. In the poem Source, there is a shift from the “tractate De Deo uno” (stanzas 1–6), through a discussion of the Most Holy Trinity (stanzas 7–10) to a Christological/Eucharistic perspective (stanzas 11–13). John writes:
“That eternal source is hidden
in this living bread,
to give us life,
even though it belongs to night.
Here it calls to creatures,
and through this water they are strengthened,
even though in darkness,
because it belongs to night.
This living source,
for which I long,
I see in this bread of life,
even though it belongs to night.”
The longing for Christ and His closeness to our saint is particularly pronounced in the poem Shepherd. Originally, it was a popular song about the unfortunate love of a small shepherd5 for his shepherdess (presumably) in four stanzas, which John only slightly altered (if we read only these four stanzas, it is still unclear who it is about!) and in the fifth stanza, he interprets it Christologically:
“And finally, at a decisive moment, he climbed
the tree, where he spread His beautiful arms
and hanging on them died,
with a heart deeply wounded by love.”
How much love and attention is hidden not only in these words, but also in the very fact that when Saint John of the Cross heard this song sung, he perceived in it the Crucified!
Christocentric Dimension
If for him Christ is primarily the One who gives and shares, this is so for the mystery of the Incarnation that the Mystical Teacher contemplates. And this, of course, is manifested even in the few passages that directly address Christ.
Betrothal Theme
Jesus is in them primarily the Bridegroom of the soul, the Beloved, with whom one encounters in the intimate communion of prayer. This perspective permeates both the entire poem Spiritual Song and the verses In a Dark Night and Summary of Perfection. This symbolism is so strong and real in its expressions that many authors speak of the eroticism of his spiritual poetry (!) and mostly explain it very one-sidedly and distortedly as a sublimation of the author's sexuality.6 The Spiritual Song begins with a very expressive cry of the bride:
“Where have you hidden, Beloved,
and left me in wailing?
Like a stag, you fled
when you wounded me;
I ran after you, calling, and you were gone.”
In a similar spirit, the entire poem continues, in its second half reaching the desired meeting and exchange of love.
Christic Dimension
If the Christological and Christocentric dimensions are primarily found in the poems of Saint John, then the Christic aspect predominantly characterizes his prose works.7
Asceticism and Following Christ
The Mystical Teacher certainly does not only speak of God's descent in Christ but also of our “ascent to God” (ascensus homini ad Deum). This is a necessary response to God's self-giving in Christ, and it is no accident that one of the saint's writings, perhaps the most well-known, is called Subida al monte Carmelo (“Ascent to Mount Carmel”).
It is in this book that we find many thought-provoking reflections on our topic. The well-known 13th chapter of the first book of the Ascent, which is substantively (especially in points 5-6) related to the requirements of the outline of the Mountain of Perfection, consists of the well-known, and probably the most misunderstood principles:8 “Always strive to incline not towards what is easier, but towards what is more difficult; not towards what is pleasant, but towards what is more unpleasant…” (1V 13:6). Based on a one-sided understanding of these words, one might think that we can reach God through our own efforts (asceticism) and that it is important that we always desire only what is worse for ourselves. However, the first concept is Pelagianism,9 and the second carries the danger that we will, even if perhaps subconsciously, suspect God of not wanting our happiness.
Our asceticism, however, is not a means of achieving unity with God,10 but a response of love, as has already been said. The Mystical Teacher beautifully expresses this at the beginning of his commentary on the Spiritual Song: “When the soul realizes what it is obliged to do, when it sees that life is short (Job 14:5), the path to eternal life is narrow (Mt 7:14), that even the just are scarcely saved (1 Peter 4:18), that worldly matters are vain and treacherous, that everything ends and passes like water that flows (2 Kings 14:14), that the time is uncertain, the judgment is strict, rejection very easy, salvation very difficult; when on the other hand, it knows that the debt it owes to God, who created it only for Himself, so that it should serve Him throughout its entire life, and who redeemed it only for Himself, so it owes Him everything else (including a loving response of its will), is great, and that there are thousands of other benefits for which it feels itself bound to God even before its birth; and that a considerable part of its life has been wasted; and that for all this it will have to account, both for one and the other, down to the last penny (Mt 5:26), when God will examine Jerusalem with burning lamps (Zeph 1:12), and that it is late and the day is already running out (Mt 20:6); therefore, in order to repair so much evil and harm, all the more, since it feels that God is very angry and is hiding, because it wanted to forget Him amidst creatures, filled with fear and interior pain of heart for such rejection and danger, it renounces everything, begins to strive very hard (without delaying a day or an hour) and, with anxiety and lament pouring from the heart already wounded by God's love, it begins to call upon its Beloved…” (DP 1:1). But also, asceticism understood as a response to God's grace is not enough: one must know that the foundation of all spiritual striving is following Christ. For John of the Cross does speak of prioritizing the more difficult over the easier, he emphatically says: “First of all, let everyone always desire11 to follow Christ in everything, to become like Him in the life about which they must deliberate, in order to imitate Him and conduct themselves in everything as He did” (1V 13:3).
Christ and His life are the norms for the life of every Christian; a norm that is not optional! John also expresses this in other ways: “And since I said that Christ is the way, and that this way involves dying to our nature in what is sensory and spiritual, I wish to make it clear that this happens by imitating Christ, for He is our example and light” (2V 7:9). “... Practice the virtues of mortification and patience, with the desire to suffer at least a little like this great God of ours, humbled and crucified; for if this life does not serve to follow Him, it is not good” (K 25).
The Only Word of the Father
If our spiritual life consists in following Christ, to whom even asceticism is subordinated, it is because “everything is created through Him and for Him” (Col 1:16). Saint John of the Cross expresses this thought very originally when he speaks of the “only Word of the Father.” The text that was most frequently quoted at the Second Vatican Council and is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and in the Liturgy of the Hours,12 is so impactful that it would be worth contemplating it in its entirety. Let us at least quote the main passages: “(God) has given us His Son, who is His only Word (and He has no other), in this only Word He has said everything to us all at once, and He does not have anything else to say to us… what He once revealed to the prophets in parts, now He has spoken as a whole and has given us everything, that is His Son. (…) ‘If I have already told you everything in my Word, which is my Son, and I have no other to answer you or reveal anything more than this? Focus your gaze only on Him, for in Him I have said and revealed everything… (in Him) I have said everything, answered, shown, and revealed by giving Him to you as a brother, companion, and teacher, a treasure and a reward… If you want me to give you a word of comfort, look at my Son who is obedient to me and for my love subjected and crushed, and you will see what all He can answer you’” (2V 22:3–6).
These words can be understood as a summary of our entire discussion about Christ in the works of Saint John of the Cross and at the same time as advice for life. Only thus can Christ, for us as for the Mystical Teacher, become “the noble caves of the mysteries of God's wisdom” (cf. DP 37:3).
