THIRD REVISED EDITION

  Translated and edited, with an Introduction,

by E. ALLISON PEERS

from the critical edition of
P. SILVERIO DE SANTA TERESA, C.D.

TO THE
DISCALCED CARMELITES OF CASTILE,

WITH ABIDING MEMORIES OF THEIR HOSPITALITY AND KINDNESS
IN MADRID,VILA AND BURGOS,
BUT ABOVE ALL OF THEIR DEVOTION TO
SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS,
I DEDICATE THIS TRANSLATION
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PREFACE TO THE ELECTRONIC EDITION

This electronic edition (v 0.9) was scanned in 1994 from an uncopyrighted
1959 Image Books third edition of the Dark Night. The entire text except for
the translators preface and some of the footnotes have been reproduced.
Nearly 400 footnotes (and parts of footnotes) describing variations among
manuscripts have been omitted. Page number references in the footnotes have
been changed to chapter and section where possible. This edition has been
proofread once, but additional errors may remain. The translators preface
to the first and second editions may be found with the electronic edition of
Ascent of Mount Carmel.
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PRINCIPAL ABBREVIATIONS

A.V.”Authorized Version of the Bible (1611).

D.V.”Douai Version of the Bible (1609).

C.W.S.T.J.”The Complete Works of Saint Teresa of Jesus, translated and
edited by E. Allison Peers from the critical edition of P. Silverio de Santa
Teresa, C.D. London, Sheed and Ward, 1946. 3 vols.

H.”E. Allison Peers: Handbook to the Life and Times of St. Teresa and St.
John of the Cross. London, Burns Oates and Washbourne, 1953.

LL.”The Letters of Saint Teresa of Jesus, translated and edited by E.
Allison Peers from the critical edition of P. Silverio de Santa Teresa, C.D.
London, Burns Oates and Washbourne, 1951. 2 vols.

N.L.M.”National Library of Spain (Biblioteca Nacional), Madrid.

Obras (P. Silv.)”Obras de San Juan de la Cruz, Doctor de la Iglesia,
editadas y anotadas por el P. Silverio de Santa Teresa, C.D. Burgos,
1929“31. 5 vols.

S.S.M.”E. Allison Peers: Studies of the Spanish Mystics. Vol. I, London,
Sheldon Press, 1927; 2nd ed., London, S.P.C.K., 1951. Vol. II, London,
Sheldon Press, 1930.

Sobrino.”Jose Antonio de Sobrino, S.J.: Estudios sobre San Juan de la Cruz y
nuevos textos de su obra. Madrid, 1950.
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DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL

INTRODUCTION

SOMEWHAT reluctantly, out of respect for a venerable tradition, we publish
the Dark Night as a separate treatise, though in reality it is a
continuation of the Ascent of Mount Carmel and fulfils the undertakings
given in it:

The first night or purgation is of the sensual part of the soul, which is
treated in the present stanza, and will be treated in the first part of
this book. And the second is of the spiritual part; of this speaks the
second stanza, which follows; and of this we shall treat likewise, in the
second and the third part, with respect to the activity of the soul; and
in the fourth part, with respect to its passivity. [1]

This˜fourth part is the Dark Night. Of it the Saint writes in a passage
which follows that just quoted:

And the second night, or purification, pertains to those who are already
proficient, occurring at the time when God desires to bring them to the
state of union with God. And this latter night is a more obscure and dark
and terrible purgation, as we shall say afterwards. [2]

In his three earlier books he has written of the Active Night, of Sense and
of Spirit; he now proposes to deal with the Passive Night, in the same
order. He has already taught us how we are to deny and purify ourselves with
the ordinary help of grace, in order to prepare our senses and faculties for
union with God through love. He now proceeds to explain, with an arresting
freshness, how these same senses and faculties are purged and purified by
God with a view to the same end”that of union. The combined description of
the two nights completes the presentation of active and passive purgation,
to which the Saint limits himself in these treatises, although the subject
of the stanzas which he is glossing is a much wider one, comprising the
whole of the mystical life and ending only with the Divine embraces of the
soul transformed in God through love.

The stanzas expounded by the Saint are taken from the same poem in the two
treatises. The commentary upon the second, however, is very different from
that upon the first, for it assumes a much more advanced state of
development. The Active Night has left the senses and faculties well
prepared, though not completely prepared, for the reception of Divine
influences and illuminations in greater abundance than before. The Saint
here postulates a principle of dogmatic theology”that by himself, and with
the ordinary aid of grace, man cannot attain to that degree of purgation
which is essential to his transformation in God. He needs Divine aid more
abundantly.˜However greatly the soul itself labours, writes the Saint,˜it
cannot actively purify itself so as to be in the least degree prepared for
the Divine union of perfection of love, if God takes not its hand and purges
it not in that dark fire. [3]

The Passive Nights, in which it is God Who accomplishes the purgation, are
based upon this incapacity. Souls˜begin to enter this dark night

when God draws them forth from the state of beginners”which is the state
of those that meditate on the spiritual road”and begins to set them in the
state of progressives”which is that of those who are already
contemplatives”to the end that, after passing through it, they may arrive
at the state of the perfect, which is that of the Divine union of the soul
with God. [4]

Before explaining the nature and effects of this Passive Night, the Saint
touches, in passing, upon certain imperfections found in those who are about
to enter it and which it removes by the process of purgation. Such
travellers are still untried proficients, who have not yet acquired mature
habits of spirituality and who therefore still conduct themselves as
children. The imperfections are examined one by one, following the order of
the seven deadly sins, in chapters (ii-viii) which once more reveal the
authors skill as a director of souls. They are easy chapters to understand,
and of great practical utility, comparable to those in the first book of the
Ascent which deal with the active purgation of the desires of sense.

In Chapter viii, St. John of the Cross begins to describe the Passive Night
of the senses, the principal aim of which is the purgation or stripping of
the soul of its imperfections and the preparation of it for fruitive union.
The Passive Night of Sense, we are told, is˜common and˜comes to many,
whereas that of Spirit˜is the portion of very few. [5] The one is˜bitter
and terrible but˜the second bears no comparison with it, for it is
˜horrible and awful to the spirit. [6] A good deal of literature on the
former Night existed in the time of St. John of the Cross and he therefore
promises to be brief in his treatment of it. Of the latter, on the other
hand, he will˜treat more fully . . . since very little has been said of
this, either in speech or in writing, and very little is known of it, even
by experience. [7]

Having described this Passive Night of Sense in Chapter viii, he explains
with great insight and discernment how it may be recognized whether any
given aridity is a result of this Night or whether it comes from sins or
imperfections, or from frailty or lukewarmness of spirit, or even from
indisposition or˜humours of the body. The Saint is particularly effective
here, and we may once more compare this chapter with a similar one in the
Ascent (II, xiii)”that in which he fixes the point where the soul may
abandon discursive meditation and enter the contemplation which belongs to
loving and simple faith.

Both these chapters have contributed to the reputation of St. John of the
Cross as a consummate spiritual master. And this not only for the objective
value of his observations, but because, even in spite of himself, he betrays
the sublimity of his own mystical experiences. Once more, too, we may admire
the crystalline transparency of his teaching and the precision of the
phrases in which he clothes it. To judge by his language alone, one might
suppose at times that he is speaking of mathematical, rather than of
spiritual operations.

In Chapter x, the Saint describes the discipline which the soul in this Dark
Night must impose upon itself; this, as might be logically deduced from the
Ascent, consists in˜allowing the soul to remain in peace and quietness,
content˜with a peaceful and loving attentiveness toward God. [8] Before
long it will experience enkindlings of love (Chapter xi), which will serve
to purify its sins and imperfections and draw it gradually nearer to God; we
have here, as it were, so many stages of the ascent of the Mount on whose
summit the soul attains to transforming union. Chapters xii and xiii detail
with great exactness the benefits that the soul receives from this aridity,
while Chapter xiv briefly expounds the last line of the first stanza and
brings to an end what the Saint desires to say with respect to the first
Passive Night.

At only slightly greater length St. John of the Cross describes the Passive
Night of the Spirit, which is at once more afflictive and more painful than
those which have preceded it. This, nevertheless, is the Dark Night par
excellence, of which the Saint speaks in these words:˜The night which we
have called that of sense may and should be called a kind of correction and
restraint of the desire rather than purgation. The reason is that all the
imperfections and disorders of the sensual part have their strength and root
in the spirit, where all habits, both good and bad, are brought into
subjection, and thus, until these are purged, the rebellions and depravities
of sense cannot be purged thoroughly. [9]

Spiritual persons, we are told, do not enter the second night immediately
after leaving the first; on the contrary, they generally pass a long time,
even years, before doing so, [10] for they still have many imperfections,
both habitual and actual (Chapter ii). After a brief introduction (Chapter
iii), the Saint describes with some fullness the nature of this spiritual
purgation or dark contemplation referred to in the first stanza of his poem
and the varieties of pain and affliction caused by it, whether in the soul
or in its faculties (Chapters iv-viii). These chapters are brilliant beyond
all description; in them we seem to reach the culminating point of their
authors mystical experience; any excerpt from them would do them an
injustice. It must suffice to say that St. John of the Cross seldom again
touches those same heights of sublimity.

Chapter ix describes how, although these purgations seem to blind the
spirit, they do so only to enlighten it again with a brighter and intenser
light, which it is preparing itself to receive with greater abundance. The
following chapter makes the comparison between spiritual purgation and the
log of wood which gradually becomes transformed through being immersed in
fire and at last takes on the fires own properties. The force with which
the familiar similitude is driven home impresses indelibly upon the mind the
fundamental concept of this most sublime of all purgations. Marvellous,
indeed, are its effects, from the first enkindlings and burnings of Divine
love, which are greater beyond comparison than those produced by the Night
of Sense, the one being as different from the other as is the body from the
soul.˜For this (latter) is an enkindling of spiritual love in the soul,
which, in the midst of these dark confines, feels itself to be keenly and
sharply wounded in strong Divine love, and to have a certain realization and
foretaste of God. [11] No less wonderful are the effects of the powerful
Divine illumination which from time to time enfolds the soul in the
splendours of glory. When the effects of the light that wounds and yet
illumines are combined with those of the enkindlement that melts the soul
with its heat, the delights experienced are so great as to be ineffable.

The second line of the first stanza of the poem is expounded in three
admirable chapters (xi-xiii), while one short chapter (xiv) suffices for the
three lines remaining. We then embark upon the second stanza, which
describes the souls security in the Dark Night”due, among other reasons, to
its being freed˜not only from itself, but likewise from its other enemies,
which are the world and the devil. [12]

This contemplation is not only dark, but also secret (Chapter xvii), and in
Chapter xviii is compared to the˜staircase of the poem. This comparison
suggests to the Saint an exposition (Chapters xviii, xix) of the ten steps
or degrees of love which comprise St. Bernards mystical ladder. Chapter xxi
describes the souls˜disguise, from which the book passes on (Chapters
xxii, xxiii) to extol the˜happy chance which led it to journey˜in
darkness and concealment from its enemies, both without and within.

Chapter xxiv glosses the last line of the second stanza”˜my house being now
at rest. Both the higher and the lower˜portions of the soul are now
tranquillized and prepared for the desired union with the Spouse, a union
which is the subject that the Saint proposed to treat in his commentary on
the five remaining stanzas. As far as we know, this commentary was never
written. We have only the briefest outline of what was to have been covered
in the third, in which, following the same effective metaphor of night, the
Saint describes the excellent properties of the spiritual night of infused
contemplation, through which the soul journeys with no other guide or
support, either outward or inward, than the Divine love˜which burned in my
heart.

It is difficult to express adequately the sense of loss that one feels at
the premature truncation of this eloquent treatise. [13] We have already
given our opinion [14] upon the commentaries thought to have been written on
the final stanzas of the˜Dark Night. Did we possess them, they would
explain the birth of the light”˜dawns first breathings in the heavns
above”which breaks through the black darkness of the Active and the Passive
Nights; they would tell us, too, of the souls further progress towards the
Suns full brightness. It is true, of course, that some part of this great
gap is filled by St. John of the Cross himself in his other treatises, but
it is small compensation for the incomplete state in which he left this
edifice of such gigantic proportions that he should have given us other and
smaller buildings of a somewhat similar kind. Admirable as are the Spiritual
Canticle and the Living Flame of Love, they are not so completely knit into
one whole as is this great double treatise. They lose both in flexibility
and in substance through the closeness with which they follow the stanzas of
which they are the exposition. In the Ascent and the Dark Night, on the
other hand, we catch only the echoes of the poem, which are all but lost in
the resonance of the philosophers voice and the eloquent tones of the
preacher. Nor have the other treatises the learning and the authority of
these. Nowhere else does the genius of St. John of the Cross for infusing
philosophy into his mystical dissertations find such an outlet as here.
Nowhere else, again, is he quite so appealingly human; for, though he is
human even in his loftiest and sublimest passages, this intermingling of
philosophy with mystical theology makes him seem particularly so. These
treatises are a wonderful illustration of the theological truth that grace,
far from destroying nature, ennobles and dignifies it, and of the agreement
always found between the natural and the supernatural”between the principles
of sound reason and the sublimest manifestations of Divine grace.
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[1] Ascent, Bk. I, chap. i, sect. 2.

[2] Op. cit., sect. 3.

[3] Dark Night, Bk. 1, chap. iii, sect. 3.

[4] Op. cit., Bk. I, chap. i, sect. 1.

[5] Dark Night, Bk. 1, chap. viii, sect. 1.

[6] Op. cit., Bk. I, chap. viii, sect. 2.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Dark Night, Bk. I, chap. x, sect. 4.

[9] Op. cit., Bk. II, chap. iii, sect. 1.

[10] Op. cit., Bk. II, chap. i, sect. 1.

[11] Dark Night, Bk. II, chap. xi, sect. 1.

[12] Dark Night, Bk. II, chap. xvi, sect. 2.

[13] [On this, see Sobrino, pp. 159“66.]

[14] Cf. pp. lviii“lxiii, Ascent of Mount Carmel (Image Books edition).
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MANUSCRIPTS OF THE DARK NIGHT

The autograph of the Dark Night, like that of the Ascent of Mount Carmel, is
unknown to us: the second seems to have disappeared in the same period as
the first. There are extant, however, as many as twelve early copies of the
Dark Night, some of which, though none of them is as palaeographically
accurate as the best copy of the Ascent, are very reliable; there is no
trace in them of conscious adulteration of the original or of any kind of
modification to fit the sense of any passage into a preconceived theory. We
definitely prefer one of these copies to the others but we nowhere follow it
so literally as to incorporate in our text its evident discrepancies from
its original.

MS. 3,446. An early MS. in the clear masculine hand of an Andalusian: MS.
3,446 in the National Library, Madrid. Like many others, this MS. was
transferred to the library from the Convento de San Hermenegildo at the time
of the religious persecutions in the early nineteenth century; it had been
presented to the Archives of the Reform by the Fathers of Los Remedios,
Seville”a Carmelite house founded by P. Greci¡n in 1574. It has no title and
a fragment from the Living Flame of Love is bound up with it.

This MS. has only two omissions of any length; these form part respectively
of Book II, Chapters xix and xxiii, dealing with the Passive Night of the
Spirit. It has many copyists errors. At the same time, its antiquity and
origin, and the good faith of which it shows continual signs, give it, in
our view, primacy over the other copies now to come under consideration. It
must be made clear, nevertheless, that there is no extant copy of the Dark
Night as trustworthy and as skilfully made as the Alcaudete MS. of the
Ascent.

MS. of the Carmelite Nuns of Toledo. Written in three hands, all early. Save
for a few slips of the copyist, it agrees with the foregoing; a few of its
errors have been corrected. It bears no title, but has a long sub-title
which is in effect a partial summary of the argument.

MS. of the Carmelite Nuns of Valladolid. This famous convent, which was one
of St. Teresas foundations, is very rich in Teresan autographs, and has
also a number of important documents relating to St. John of the Cross,
together with some copies of his works. That here described is written in a
large, clear hand and probably dates from the end of the sixteenth century.
It has a title similar to that of the last-named copy. With few exceptions
it follows the other most important MSS.

MS. Alba de Tormes. What has been said of this in the introduction to the
Ascent (Image Books edition, pp. 6“7) applies also to the Dark Night. It is
complete, save for small omissions on the part of the amanuensis, the
˜Argument at the beginning of the poem, the verses themselves and a few
lines from Book II, Chapter vii.

MS. 6,624. This copy is almost identical with the foregoing. It omits the
˜Argument and the poem itself but not the lines from Book II, Chapter vii.

MS. 8,795. This contains the Dark Night, Spiritual Canticle, Living Flame of
Love, a number of poems by St. John of the Cross and the Spiritual
Colloquies between Christ and the soul His Bride. It is written in various
hands, all very early and some feminine. A note by P. Andr©s de la
Encarnaci³n, on the reverse of the first folio, records that the copy was
presented to the Archives of the Reform by the Discalced Carmelite nuns of
Baeza. This convent was founded in 1589, two years before the Saints death,
and the copy may well date from about this period. On the second folio comes
the poem˜I entered in”I knew not where. On the reverse of the third folio
begins a kind of preface to the Dark Night, opening with the words:˜Begin
the stanzas by means of which a soul may occupy itself and become fervent in
the love of God. It deals with the Dark Night and is divided into two books.
The first treats of the purgation of sense, and the second of the spiritual
purgation of man. It was written by P. Fr. Juan de la Cruz, Discalced
Carmelite. On the next folio, a so-called˜Preface: To the Reader begins:
˜As a beginning and an explanation of these two purgations of the Dark Night
which are to be expounded hereafter, this chapter will show how narrow is
the path that leads to eternal life and how completely detached and
disencumbered must be those that are to enter thereby. This fundamental
idea is developed for the space of two folios. There follows a sonnet on the
Dark Night, [15] and immediately afterwards comes the text of the treatise.

The copy contains many errors, but its only omission is that of the last
chapter. There is no trace in it of any attempt to modify its original;
indeed, the very nature and number of the copyists errors are a testimony
to his good faith.

MS. 12,658. A note by P. Andr©s states that he acquired it in Madrid but has
no more detailed recollection of its provenance.˜The Dark Night, it adds,
˜begins on folio 43; our holy father is described simply asœthe second
friar of the new Reformation, [16] which is clear evidence of its
antiquity.

The Codex contains a number of opuscules, transcribed no doubt with a
devotional aim by the copyist. Its epoch is probably the end of the
sixteenth century; it is certainly earlier than the editions. There is no
serious omission except that of six lines of the˜Argument. The authors of
the other works copied include St. Augustine, B. Juan devila, P. Baltasar
lvarez and P. Tom¡s de Jesºs.

The copies which remain to be described are all mutilated or abbreviated and
can be disposed of briefly:

MS. 13,498. This copy omits less of the Dark Night than of the Ascent but
few pages are without their omissions. In one place a meticulous pair of
scissors has removed the lower half of a folio on which the Saint deals with
spiritual luxury.

MS. of the Carmelite Friars of Toledo. Dates from early in the seventeenth
century and has numerous omissions, especially in the chapters on the
Passive Night of the Spirit. The date is given (in the same hand as that
which copies the title) as 1618. This MS. also contains an opuscule by Suso
and another entitled˜Brief compendium of the most eminent Christian
perfection of P. Fr. Juan de la Cruz.

MS. 18,160. The copyist has treated the Dark Night little better than the
Ascent; except from the first ten and the last three chapters, he omits
freely.

MS. 12,411. Entitled by its copyistspiritual Compendium, this MS.
contains several short works of devotion, including one by Ruysbroeck. Of
St. John of the Crosss works it copies the Spiritual Canticle as well as
the Dark Night; the latter is headed:song of one soul alone. It also
contains a number of poems, some of them by the Saint, and many passages
from St. Teresa. It is in several hands, all of the seventeenth century. The
copy of the Dark Night is most unsatisfactory; there are omissions and
abbreviations everywhere.

M.S. of the Carmelite Nuns of Pamplona. This MS. also omits and abbreviates
continually, especially in the chapters on the Passive Night of Sense, which
are reduced to a mere skeleton.

Editio princeps. This is much more faithful to its original in the Dark
Night than in the Ascent. Both the passages suppressed [17] and the
interpolations [18] are relatively few and unimportant. Modifications of
phraseology are more frequent and alterations are also made with the aim of
correcting hyperbaton. In the first book about thirty lines are suppressed;
in the second, about ninety. All changes which are of any importance have
been shown in the notes.

The present edition. We have given preference, as a general rule, to MS.
3,446, subjecting it, however, to a rigorous comparison with the other
copies. Mention has already been made in the introduction to the Ascent
(Image Books edition, pp. lxiii“lxvi) of certain apparent anomalies and a
certain lack of uniformity in the Saints method of dividing his
commentaries. This is nowhere more noticeable than in the Dark Night.
Instead of dividing his treatise into books, each with its proper title, the
Saint abandons this method and uses titles only occasionally. As this makes
comprehension of his argument the more difficult, we have adopted the
divisions which were introduced by P. Salablanca and have been copied by
successive editors.

M. Baruzi (Bulletin Hispanique, 1922, Vol. xxiv, pp. 18“40) complains that
this division weighs down the spiritual rhythm of the treatise and
interrupts its movement. We do not agree. In any case, we greatly prefer the
gain of clarity, even if the rhythm occasionally halts, to the other
alternative”the constant halting of the understanding. We have, of course,
indicated every place where the title is taken from the editio princeps and
was not the work of the author.

The following abbreviations are adopted in the footnotes:

A = MS. of the Discalced Carmelite Friars of Alba.

B = MS. 6,624 (National Library, Madrid).

Bz. = MS. 8,795 (N.L.M.).

C = MS. 13,498 (N.L.M.).

G = MS. 18,160 (N.L.M.).

H = MS. 3,446 (N.L.M.).

M = MS. of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Toledo.

Mtr. = MS. 12,658.

P = MS. of the Discalced Carmelite Friars of Toledo.

V = MS. of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Valladolid.

E.p. = Editio princeps (1618).

MS. 12,411 and the MS. of the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Pamplona are cited
without abbreviations.
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[15] [It contains a series of paradoxical statements, after the style of
those in Ascent, Bk. I, chap. xiii, and is of no great literary merit. P.
Silverio reproduces it in Spanish on p. 302 (note) of his first volume.]

[16] The˜first friar would be P. Antonio de Jesºs, who was senior to St.
John of the Cross in the Carmelite Order, though not in the Reform.

[17] The longest of these are one of ten lines in Bk. I, chap. iv, [in the
original] and those of Bk. II, chaps. vii, viii, xii, xiii, which vary from
eleven to twenty-three lines. Bk. II, chap. xxiii, has also considerable
modifications.

[18] The chief interpolation is in Bk. I, chap. x.
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DARK NIGHT

Exposition of the stanzas describing the method followed by the soul in
its journey upon the spiritual road to the attainment of the perfect union
of love with God, to the extent that is possible in this life. Likewise
are described the properties belonging to the soul that has attained to
the said perfection, according as they are contained in the same stanzas.

PROLOGUE

IN this book are first set down all the stanzas which are to be expounded;
afterwards, each of the stanzas is expounded separately, being set down
before its exposition; and then each line is expounded separately and in
turn, the line itself also being set down before the exposition. In the
first two stanzas are expounded the effects of the two spiritual purgations:
of the sensual part of man and of the spiritual part. In the other six are
expounded various and wondrous effects of the spiritual illumination and
union of love with God.

STANZAS OF THE SOUL

1. On a dark night, Kindled in love with yearnings”oh, happy chance!”
I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest.

2. In darkness and secure, By the secret ladder, disguised”oh, happy
chance!”
In darkness and in concealment, My house being now at rest.

3. In the happy night, In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught, Without light or guide, save that which burned in my
heart.

4. This light guided me More surely than the light of noonday
To the place where he (well I knew who!) was awaiting me” A place where
none appeared.

5. Oh, night that guided me, Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover, Lover transformed in the
Beloved!

6. Upon my flowery breast, Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping, and I caressed him, And the fanning of the
cedars made a breeze.

7. The breeze blew from the turret As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand he wounded my neck And caused all my senses to be
suspended.

8. I remained, lost in oblivion; My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself, Leaving my cares forgotten among the
lilies.

Begins the exposition of the stanzas which treat of the way and manner which
the soul follows upon the road of the union of love with God.

Before we enter upon the exposition of these stanzas, it is well to
understand here that the soul that utters them is now in the state of
perfection, which is the union of love with God, having already passed
through severe trials and straits, by means of spiritual exercise in the
narrow way of eternal life whereof Our Saviour speaks in the Gospel, along
which way the soul ordinarily passes in order to reach this high and happy
union with God. Since this road (as the Lord Himself says likewise) is so
strait, and since there are so few that enter by it, [19] the soul considers
it a great happiness and good chance to have passed along it to the said
perfection of love, as it sings in this first stanza, calling this strait
road with full propriety˜dark night, as will be explained hereafter in the
lines of the said stanza. The soul, then, rejoicing at having passed along
this narrow road whence so many blessings have come to it, speaks after this
manner.
_________________________________________________________________

[19] St. Matthew vii, 14.
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BOOK THE FIRST

Which treats of the Night of Sense.

STANZA THE FIRST

On a dark night, Kindled in love with yearnings”oh, happy chance!”
I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest.

EXPOSITION

IN this first stanza the soul relates the way and manner which it followed
in going forth, as to its affection, from itself and from all things, and in
dying to them all and to itself, by means of true mortification, in order to
attain to living the sweet and delectable life of love with God; and it says
that this going forth from itself and from all things was a˜dark night, by
which, as will be explained hereafter, is here understood purgative
contemplation, which causes passively in the soul the negation of itself and
of all things referred to above.

2. And this going forth it says here that it was able to accomplish in the
strength and ardour which love for its Spouse gave to it for that purpose in
the dark contemplation aforementioned. Herein it extols the great happiness
which it found in journeying to God through this night with such signal
success that none of the three enemies, which are world, devil and flesh
(who are they that ever impede this road), could hinder it; inasmuch as the
aforementioned night of purgative [20] contemplation lulled to sleep and
mortified, in the house of its sensuality, all the passions and desires with
respect to their mischievous desires and motions. The line, then, says:

On a dark night
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CHAPTER I

Sets down the first line and begins to treat of the imperfections of
beginners.

INTO this dark night souls begin to enter when God draws them forth from the
state of beginners”which is the state of those that meditate on the
spiritual road”and begins to set them in the state of progressives”which is
that of those who are already contemplatives”to the end that, after passing
through it, they may arrive at the state of the perfect, which is that of
the Divine union of the soul with God. Wherefore, to the end that we may the
better understand and explain what night is this through which the soul
passes, and for what cause God sets it therein, it will be well here to
touch first of all upon certain characteristics of beginners (which,
although we treat them with all possible brevity, will not fail to be of
service likewise to the beginners themselves), in order that, realizing the
weakness of the state wherein they are, they may take courage, and may
desire that God will bring them into this night, wherein the soul is
strengthened and confirmed in the virtues, and made ready for the
inestimable delights of the love of God. And, although we may tarry here for
a time, it will not be for longer than is necessary, so that we may go on to
speak at once of this dark night.

2. It must be known, then, that the soul, after it has been definitely
converted to the service of God, is, as a rule, spiritually nurtured and
caressed by God, even as is the tender child by its loving mother, who warms
it with the heat of her bosom and nurtures it with sweet milk and soft and
pleasant food, and carries it and caresses it in her arms; but, as the child
grows bigger, the mother gradually ceases caressing it, and, hiding her
tender love, puts bitter aloes upon her sweet breast, sets down the child
from her arms and makes it walk upon its feet, so that it may lose the
habits of a child and betake itself to more important and substantial
occupations. The loving mother is like the grace of God, for, as soon as the
soul is regenerated by its new warmth and fervour for the service of God, He
treats it in the same way; He makes it to find spiritual milk, sweet and
delectable, in all the things of God, without any labour of its own, and
also great pleasure in spiritual exercises, for here God is giving to it the
breast of His tender love, even as to a tender child.

3. Therefore, such a soul finds its delight in spending long
periods”perchance whole nights”in prayer; penances are its pleasures; fasts
its joys; and its consolations are to make use of the sacraments and to
occupy itself in Divine things. In the which things spiritual persons
(though taking part in them with great efficacy and persistence and using
and treating them with great care) often find themselves, spiritually
speaking, very weak and imperfect. For since they are moved to these things
and to these spiritual exercises by the consolation and pleasure that they
find in them, and since, too, they have not been prepared for them by the
practice of earnest striving in the virtues, they have many faults and
imperfections with respect to these spiritual actions of theirs; for, after
all, any mans actions correspond to the habit of perfection attained by
him. And, as these persons have not had the opportunity of acquiring the
said habits of strength, they have necessarily to work like feebler
children, feebly. In order that this may be seen more clearly, and likewise
how much these beginners in the virtues lacks with respect to the works in
which they so readily engage with the pleasure aforementioned, we shall
describe it by reference to the seven capital sins, each in its turn,
indicating some of the many imperfections which they have under each
heading; wherein it will be clearly seen how like to children are these
persons in all they do. And it will also be seen how many blessings the dark
night of which we shall afterwards treat brings with it, since it cleanses
the soul and purifies it from all these imperfections.
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CHAPTER II

Of certain spiritual imperfections which beginners have with respect to
the habit of pride.

AS these beginners feel themselves to be very fervent and diligent in
spiritual things and devout exercises, from this prosperity (although it is
true that holy things of their own nature cause humility) there often comes
to them, through their imperfections, a certain kind of secret pride, whence
they come to have some degree of satisfaction with their works and with
themselves. And hence there comes to them likewise a certain desire, which
is somewhat vain, and at times very vain, to speak of spiritual things in
the presence of others, and sometimes even to teach such things rather than
to learn them. They condemn others in their heart when they see that they
have not the kind of devotion which they themselves desire; and sometimes
they even say this in words, herein resembling the Pharisee, who boasted of
himself, praising God for his own good works and despising the publican.
[21]

2. In these persons the devil often increases the fervour that they have and
the desire to perform these and other works more frequently, so that their
pride and presumption may grow greater. For the devil knows quite well that
all these works and virtues which they perform are not only valueless to
them, but even become vices in them. And such a degree of evil are some of
these persons wont to reach that they would have none appear good save
themselves; and thus, in deed and word, whenever the opportunity occurs,
they condemn them and slander them, beholding the mote in their brothers
eye and not considering the beam which is in their own; [22] they strain at
anothers gnat and themselves swallow a camel. [23]

3. Sometimes, too, when their spiritual masters, such as confessors and
superiors, do not approve of their spirit and behavior (for they are anxious
that all they do shall be esteemed and praised), they consider that they do
not understand them, or that, because they do not approve of this and comply
with that, their confessors are themselves not spiritual. And so they
immediately desire and contrive to find some one else who will fit in with
their tastes; for as a rule they desire to speak of spiritual matters with
those who they think will praise and esteem what they do, and they flee, as
they would from death, from those who disabuse them in order to lead them
into a safe road”sometimes they even harbour ill-will against them.
Presuming thus, [24] they are wont to resolve much and accomplish very
little. Sometimes they are anxious that others shall realize how spiritual
and devout they are, to which end they occasionally give outward evidence
thereof in movements, sighs and other ceremonies; and at times they are apt
to fall into certain ecstasies, in public rather than in secret, wherein the
devil aids them, and they are pleased that this should be noticed, and are
often eager that it should be noticed more. [25]

4. Many such persons desire to be the favourites of their confessors and to
become intimate with them, as a result of which there beset them continual
occasions of envy and disquiet. [26] They are too much embarrassed to
confess their sins nakedly, lest their confessors should think less of them,
so they palliate them and make them appear less evil, and thus it is to
excuse themselves rather than to accuse themselves that they go to
confession. And sometimes they seek another confessor to tell the wrongs
that they have done, so that their own confessor shall think they have done
nothing wrong at all, but only good; and thus they always take pleasure in
telling him what is good, and sometimes in such terms as make it appear to
be greater than it is rather than less, desiring that he may think them to
be good, when it would be greater humility in them, as we shall say, to
depreciate it, and to desire that neither he nor anyone else should consider
them of account.

5. Some of these beginners, too, make little of their faults, and at other
times become over-sad when they see themselves fall into them, thinking
themselves to have been saints already; and thus they become angry and
impatient with themselves, which is another imperfection. Often they beseech
God, with great yearnings, that He will take from them their imperfections
and faults, but they do this that they may find themselves at peace, and may
not be troubled by them, rather than for Gods sake; not realizing that, if
He should take their imperfections from them, they would probably become
prouder and more presumptuous still. They dislike praising others and love
to be praised themselves; sometimes they seek out such praise. Herein they
are like the foolish virgins, who, when their lamps could not be lit, sought
oil from others. [27]

6. From these imperfections some souls go on to develop [28] many very grave
ones, which do them great harm. But some have fewer and some more, and some,
only the first motions thereof or little beyond these; and there are hardly
any such beginners who, at the time of these signs of fervour, [29] fall not
into some of these errors. [30] But those who at this time are going on to
perfection proceed very differently and with quite another temper of spirit;
for they progress by means of humility and are greatly edified, not only
thinking naught of their own affairs, but having very little satisfaction
with themselves; they consider all others as far better, and usually have a
holy envy of them, and an eagerness to serve God as they do. For the greater
is their fervour, and the more numerous are the works that they perform, and
the greater is the pleasure that they take in them, as they progress in
humility, the more do they realize how much God deserves of them, and how
little is all that they do for His sake; and thus, the more they do, the
less are they satisfied. So much would they gladly do from charity and love
for Him, that all they do seems to them naught; and so greatly are they
importuned, occupied and absorbed by this loving anxiety that they never
notice what others do or do not; or if they do notice it, they always
believe, as I say, that all others are far better than they themselves.
Wherefore, holding themselves as of little worth, they are anxious that
others too should thus hold them, and should despise and depreciate that
which they do. And further, if men should praise and esteem them, they can
in no wise believe what they say; it seems to them strange that anyone
should say these good things of them.

7. Together with great tranquillity and humbleness, these souls have a deep
desire to be taught by anyone who can bring them profit; they are the
complete opposite of those of whom we have spoken above, who would fain be
always teaching, and who, when others seem to be teaching them, take the
words from their mouths as if they knew them already. These souls, on the
other hand, being far from desiring to be the masters of any, are very ready
to travel and set out on another road than that which they are actually
following, if they be so commanded, because they never think that they are
right in anything whatsoever. They rejoice when others are praised; they
grieve only because they serve not God like them. They have no desire to
speak of the things that they do, because they think so little of them that
they are ashamed to speak of them even to their spiritual masters, since
they seem to them to be things that merit not being spoken of. They are more
anxious to speak of their faults and sins, or that these should be
recognized rather than their virtues; and thus they incline to talk of their
souls with those who account their actions and their spirituality of little
value. This is a characteristic of the spirit which is simple, pure, genuine
and very pleasing to God. For as the wise Spirit of God dwells in these
humble souls, He moves them and inclines them to keep His treasures secretly
within and likewise to cast out from themselves all evil. God gives this
grace to the humble, together with the other virtues, even as He denies it
to the proud.

8. These souls will give their hearts blood to anyone that serves God, and
will help others to serve Him as much as in them lies. The imperfections
into which they see themselves fall they bear with humility, meekness of
spirit and a loving fear of God, hoping in Him. But souls who in the
beginning journey with this kind of perfection are, as I understand, and as
has been said, a minority, and very few are those who we can be glad do not
fall into the opposite errors. For this reason, as we shall afterwards say,
God leads into the dark night those whom He desires to purify from all these
imperfections so that He may bring them farther onward.
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[21] St. Luke xviii, 11-12.

[22] St. Matthew vii, 3.

[23] St. Matthew xxiii, 24.

[24] [Lit.,˜Presuming.]

[25] [The original merely has:˜and are often eager.]

[26] [Lit.,˜a thousand envies and disquietudes.]

[27] St. Matthew xxv, 8. [Lit.,˜who, having their lamps dead, sought oil
from without.]

[28] [Lit.,˜to have.]

[29] [Lit.,˜these fervours.]

[30] [Lit.,˜into something of this.]
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CHAPTER III

Of some imperfections which some of these souls are apt to have, with
respect to the second capital sin, which is avarice, in the spiritual
sense.

MANY of these beginners have also at times great spiritual avarice. They
will be found to be discontented with the spirituality which God gives them;
and they are very disconsolate and querulous because they find not in
spiritual things the consolation that they would desire. Many can never have
enough of listening to counsels and learning spiritual precepts, and of
possessing and reading many books which treat of this matter, and they spend
their time on all these things rather than on works of mortification and the
perfecting of the inward poverty of spirit which should be theirs.
Furthermore, they burden themselves with images and rosaries which are very
curious; now they put down one, now take up another; now they change about,
now change back again; now they want this kind of thing, now that,
preferring one kind of cross to another, because it is more curious. And
others you will see adorned with agnusdeis [31] and relics and tokens, [32]
like children with trinkets. Here I condemn the attachment of the heart, and
the affection which they have for the nature, multitude and curiosity of
these things, inasmuch as it is quite contrary to poverty of spirit which
considers only the substance of devotion, makes use only of what suffices
for that end and grows weary of this other kind of multiplicity and
curiosity. For true devotion must issue from the heart, and consist in the
truth and substances alone of what is represented by spiritual things; all
the rest is affection and attachment proceeding from imperfection; and in
order that one may pass to any kind of perfection it is necessary for such
desires to be killed.

2. I knew a person who for more than ten years made use of a cross roughly
formed from a branch [33] that had been blessed, fastened with a pin twisted
round it; he had never ceased using it, and he always carried it about with
him until I took it from him; and this was a person of no small sense and
understanding. And I saw another who said his prayers using beads that were
made of bones from the spine of a fish; his devotion was certainly no less
precious on that account in the sight of God, for it is clear that these
things carried no devotion in their workmanship or value. Those, then, who
start from these beginnings and make good progress attach themselves to no
visible instruments, nor do they burden themselves with such, nor desire to
know more than is necessary in order that they may act well; for they set
their eyes only on being right with God and on pleasing Him, and therein
consists their covetousness. And thus with great generosity they give away
all that they have, and delight to know that they have it not, for Gods
sake and for charity to their neighbour, no matter whether these be
spiritual things or temporal. For, as I say, they set their eyes only upon
the reality of interior perfection, which is to give pleasure to God and in
naught to give pleasure to themselves.

3. But neither from these imperfections nor from those others can the soul
be perfectly purified until God brings it into the passive purgation of that
dark night whereof we shall speak presently. It befits the soul, however, to
contrive to labour, in so far as it can, on its own account, to the end that
it may purge and perfect itself, and thus may merit being taken by God into
that Divine care wherein it becomes healed of all things that it was unable
of itself to cure. Because, however greatly the soul itself labours, it
cannot actively purify itself so as to be in the least degree prepared for
the Divine union of perfection of love, if God takes not its hand and purges
it not in that dark fire, in the way and manner that we have to describe.
_________________________________________________________________

[31] The agnusdei was a wax medal with a representation of the lamb stamped
upon it, often blessed by the Pope; at the time of the Saint such medals
were greatly sought after, as we know from various references in St.
Teresas letters.

[32] [The word n³mina, translated˜token, and normally meaning list, or
˜roll, refers to a relic on which were written the names of saints. In
modern Spanish it can denote a medal or amulet used superstitiously.]

[33] [No doubt a branch of palm, olive or rosemary, blessed in church on
Palm Sunday, like the English palm crosses of to-day.˜Palm Sunday is in
Spanish Domingo de ramos:˜Branch Sunday.]
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CHAPTER IV

Of other imperfections which these beginners are apt to have with respect
to the third sin, which is luxury.

MANY of these beginners have many other imperfections than those which I am
describing with respect to each of the deadly sins, but these I set aside,
in order to avoid prolixity, touching upon a few of the most important,
which are, as it were, the origin and cause of the rest. And thus, with
respect to this sin of luxury (leaving apart the falling of spiritual
persons into this sin, since my intent is to treat of the imperfections
which have to be purged by the dark night), they have many imperfections
which might be described as spiritual luxury, not because they are so, but
because the imperfections proceed from spiritual things. For it often comes
to pass that, in their very spiritual exercises, when they are powerless to
prevent it, there arise and assert themselves in the sensual part of the
soul impure acts and motions, and sometimes this happens even when the
spirit is deep in prayer, or engaged in the Sacrament of Penance or in the
Eucharist. These things are not, as I say, in their power; they proceed from
one of three causes.

2. The first cause from which they often proceed is the pleasure which human
nature takes in spiritual things. For when the spirit and the sense are
pleased, every part of a man is moved by that pleasure [34] to delight
according to its proportion and nature. For then the spirit, which is the
higher part, is moved to pleasure [35] and delight in God; and the sensual
nature, which is the lower part, is moved to pleasure and delight of the
senses, because it cannot possess and lay hold upon aught else, and it
therefore lays hold upon that which comes nearest to itself, which is the
impure and sensual. Thus it comes to pass that the soul is in deep prayer
with God according to the spirit, and, on the other hand, according to sense
it is passively conscious, not without great displeasure, of rebellions and
motions and acts of the senses, which often happens in Communion, for when
the soul receives joy and comfort in this act of love, because this Lord
bestows it (since it is to that end that He gives Himself), the sensual
nature takes that which is its own likewise, as we have said, after its
manner. Now as, after all, these two parts are combined in one individual,
they ordinarily both participate in that which one of them receives, each
after its manner; for, as the philosopher says, everything that is received
is in the recipient after the manner of the same recipient. And thus, in
these beginnings, and even when the soul has made some progress, its sensual
part, being imperfect, oftentimes receives the Spirit of God with the same
imperfection. Now when this sensual part is renewed by the purgation of the
dark night which we shall describe, it no longer has these weaknesses; for
it is no longer this part that receives aught, but rather it is itself
received into the Spirit. And thus it then has everything after the manner
of the Spirit.

3. The second cause whence these rebellions sometimes proceed is the devil,
who, in order to disquiet and disturb the soul, at times when it is at
prayer or is striving to pray, contrives to stir up these motions of
impurity in its nature; and if the soul gives heed to any of these, they
cause it great harm. For through fear of these not only do persons become
lax in prayer”which is the aim of the devil when he begins to strive with
them”but some give up prayer altogether, because they think that these
things attack them more during that exercise than apart from it, which is
true, since the devil attacks them then more than at other times, so that
they may give up spiritual exercises. And not only so, but he succeeds in
portraying to them very vividly things that are most foul and impure, and at
times are very closely related to certain spiritual things and persons that
are of profit to their souls, in order to terrify them and make them
fearful; so that those who are affected by this dare not even look at
anything or meditate upon anything, because they immediately encounter this
temptation. And upon those who are inclined to melancholy this acts with
such effect that they become greatly to be pitied since they are suffering
so sadly; for this trial reaches such a point in certain persons, when they
have this evil humour, that they believe it to be clear that the devil is
ever present with them and that they have no power to prevent this, although
some of these persons can prevent his attack by dint of great effort and
labour. When these impurities attack such souls through the medium of
melancholy, they are not as a rule freed from them until they have been
cured of that kind of humour, unless the dark night has entered the soul,
and rids them of all impurities, one after another. [36]

4. The third source whence these impure motions are apt to proceed in order
to make war upon the soul is often the fear which such persons have
conceived for these impure representations and motions. Something that they
see or say or think brings them to their mind, and this makes them afraid,
so that they suffer from them through no fault of their own.

5. There are also certain souls of so tender and frail a nature that, when
there comes to them some spiritual consolation or some grace in prayer, the
spirit of luxury is with them immediately, inebriating and delighting their
sensual nature in such manner that it is as if they were plunged into the
enjoyment and pleasure of this sin; and the enjoyment remains, together with
the consolation, passively, and sometimes they are able to see that certain
impure and unruly acts have taken place. The reason for this is that, since
these natures are, as I say, frail and tender, their humours are stirred up
and their blood is excited at the least disturbance. And hence come these
motions; and the same thing happens to such souls when they are enkindled
with anger or suffer any disturbance or grief. [37]

6. Sometimes, again, there arises within these spiritual persons, whether
they be speaking or performing spiritual actions, a certain vigour and
bravado, through their having regard to persons who are present, and before
these persons they display a certain kind of vain gratification. This also
arises from luxury of spirit, after the manner wherein we here understand
it, which is accompanied as a rule by complacency in the will.

7. Some of these persons make friendships of a spiritual kind with others,
which oftentimes arise from luxury and not from spirituality; this may be
known to be the case when the remembrance of that friendship causes not the
remembrance and love of God to grow, but occasions remorse of conscience.
For, when the friendship is purely spiritual, the love of God grows with it;
and the more the soul remembers it, the more it remembers the love of God,
and the greater the desire it has for God; so that, as the one grows, the
other grows also. For the spirit of God has this property, that it increases
good by adding to it more good, inasmuch as there is likeness and conformity
between them. But, when this love arises from the vice of sensuality
aforementioned, it produces the contrary effects; for the more the one
grows, the more the other decreases, and the remembrance of it likewise. If
that sensual love grows, it will at once be observed that the souls love of
God is becoming colder, and that it is forgetting Him as it remembers that
love; there comes to it, too, a certain remorse of conscience. And, on the
other hand, if the love of God grows in the soul, that other love becomes
cold and is forgotten; for, as the two are contrary to one another, not only
does the one not aid the other, but the one which predominates quenches and
confounds the other, and becomes strengthened in itself, as the philosophers
say. Wherefore Our Saviour said in the Gospel:˜That which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [38] That
is to say, the love which is born of sensuality ends in sensuality, and that
which is of the spirit ends in the spirit of God and causes it to grow. This
is the difference that exists between these two kinds of love, whereby we
may know them.

8. When the soul enters the dark night, it brings these kinds of love under
control. It strengthens and purifies the one, namely that which is according
to God; and the other it removes and brings to an end; and in the beginning
it causes both to be lost sight of, as we shall say hereafter.
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[34] [Lit.,˜recreation.]

[35] [Lit.,˜recreation.]

[36] [Lit.,˜of everything.]

[37] All writers who comment upon this delicate matter go into lengthy and
learned explanations of it, though in reality there is little that needs to
be added to the Saints clear and apt exposition. It will be remembered that
St. Teresa once wrote to her brother Lorenzo, who suffered in this way:˜As
to those stirrings of sense. . . . I am quite clear they are of no account,
so the best thing is to make no account of them (LL. 168). The most
effective means of calming souls tormented by these favours is to commend
them to a discreet and wise director whose counsel they may safely follow.
The Illuminists committed the grossest errors in dealing with this matter.

[38] St. John iii, 6.
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CHAPTER V

Of the imperfections into which beginners fall with respect to the sin of
wrath.

BY reason of the concupiscence which many beginners have for spiritual
consolations, their experience of these consolations is very commonly
accompanied by many imperfections proceeding from the sin of wrath; for,
when their delight and pleasure in spiritual things come to an end, they
naturally become embittered, and bear that lack of sweetness which they have
to suffer with a bad grace, which affects all that they do; and they very
easily become irritated over the smallest matter”sometimes, indeed, none can
tolerate them. This frequently happens after they have been very pleasantly
recollected in prayer according to sense; when their pleasure and delight
therein come to an end, their nature is naturally vexed and disappointed,
just as is the child when they take it from the breast of which it was
enjoying the sweetness. There is no sin in this natural vexation, when it is
not permitted to indulge itself, but only imperfection, which must be purged
by the aridity and severity of the dark night.

2. There are other of these spiritual persons, again, who fall into another
kind of spiritual wrath: this happens when they become irritated at the sins
of others, and keep watch on those others with a sort of uneasy zeal. At
times the impulse comes to them to reprove them angrily, and occasionally
they go so far as to indulge it [39] and set themselves up as masters of
virtue. All this is contrary to spiritual meekness.

3. There are others who are vexed with themselves when they observe their
own imperfectness, and display an impatience that is not humility; so
impatient are they about this that they would fain be saints in a day. Many
of these persons purpose to accomplish a great deal and make grand
resolutions; yet, as they are not humble and have no misgivings about
themselves, the more resolutions they make, the greater is their fall and
the greater their annoyance, since they have not the patience to wait for
that which God will give them when it pleases Him; this likewise is contrary
to the spiritual meekness aforementioned, which cannot be wholly remedied
save by the purgation of the dark night. Some souls, on the other hand, are
so patient as regards the progress which they desire that God would gladly
see them less so.
_________________________________________________________________

[39] [Lit.˜they even do it.]
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CHAPTER VI

Of imperfections with respect to spiritual gluttony.

WITH respect to the fourth sin, which is spiritual gluttony, there is much
to be said, for there is scarce one of these beginners who, however
satisfactory his progress, falls not into some of the many imperfections
which come to these beginners with respect to this sin, on account of the
sweetness which they find at first in spiritual exercises. For many of
these, lured by the sweetness and pleasure which they find in such
exercises, strive more after spiritual sweetness than after spiritual purity
and discretion, which is that which God regards and accepts throughout the
spiritual journey. [40] Therefore, besides the imperfections into which the
seeking for sweetness of this kind makes them fall, the gluttony which they
now have makes them continually go to extremes, so that they pass beyond the
limits of moderation within which the virtues are acquired and wherein they
have their being. For some of these persons, attracted by the pleasure which
they find therein, kill themselves with penances, and others weaken
themselves with fasts, by performing more than their frailty can bear,
without the order or advice of any, but rather endeavouring to avoid those
whom they should obey in these matters; some, indeed, dare to do these
things even though the contrary has been commanded them.

2. These persons are most imperfect and unreasonable; for they set bodily
penance before subjection and obedience, which is penance according to
reason and discretion, and therefore a sacrifice more acceptable and
pleasing to God than any other. But such one-sided penance is no more than
the penance of beasts, to which they are attracted, exactly like beasts, by
the desire and pleasure which they find therein. Inasmuch as all extremes
are vicious, and as in behaving thus such persons [41] are working their own
will, they grow in vice rather than in virtue; for, to say the least, they
are acquiring spiritual gluttony and pride in this way, through not walking
in obedience. And many of these the devil assails, stirring up this gluttony
in them through the pleasures and desires which he increases within them, to
such an extent that, since they can no longer help themselves, they either
change or vary or add to that which is commanded them, as any obedience in
this respect is so bitter to them. To such an evil pass have some persons
come that, simply because it is through obedience that they engage in these
exercises, they lose the desire and devotion to perform them, their only
desire and pleasure being to do what they themselves are inclined to do, so
that it would probably be more profitable for them not to engage in these
exercises at all.

3. You will find that many of these persons are very insistent with their
spiritual masters to be granted that which they desire, extracting it from
them almost by force; if they be refused it they become as peevish as
children and go about in great displeasure, thinking that they are not
serving God when they are not allowed to do that which they would. For they
go about clinging to their own will and pleasure, which they treat as though
it came from God; [42] and immediately their directors [43] take it from
them, and try to subject them to the will of God, they become peevish, grow
faint-hearted and fall away. These persons think that their own satisfaction
and pleasure are the satisfaction and service of God.

4. There are others, again, who, because of this gluttony, know so little of
their own unworthiness and misery and have thrust so far from them the
loving fear and reverence which they owe to the greatness of God, that they
hesitate not to insist continually that their confessors shall allow them to
communicate often. And, what is worse, they frequently dare to communicate
without the leave and consent [44] of the minister and steward of Christ,
merely acting on their own opinion, and contriving to conceal the truth from
him. And for this reason, because they desire to communicate continually,
they make their confessions carelessly, [45] being more eager to eat than to
eat cleanly and perfectly, although it would be healthier and holier for
them had they the contrary inclination and begged their confessors not to
command them to approach the altar so frequently: between these two
extremes, however, the better way is that of humble resignation. But the
boldness referred to is [46] a thing that does great harm, and men may fear
to be punished for such temerity.

5. These persons, in communicating, strive with every nerve to obtain some
kind of sensible sweetness and pleasure, instead of humbly doing reverence
and giving praise within themselves to God. And in such wise do they devote
themselves to this that, when they have received no pleasure or sweetness in
the senses, they think that they have accomplished nothing at all. This is
to judge God very unworthily; they have not realized that the least of the
benefits which come from this Most Holy Sacrament is that which concerns the
senses; and that the invisible part of the grace that it bestows is much
greater; for, in order that they may look at it with the eyes of faith, God
oftentimes withholds from them these other consolations and sweetnesses of
sense. And thus they desire to feel and taste God as though He were
comprehensible by them and accessible to them, not only in this, but
likewise in other spiritual practices. All this is very great imperfection
and completely opposed to the nature of God, since it is Impurity in faith.

6. These persons have the same defect as regards the practice of prayer, for
they think that all the business of prayer consists in experiencing sensible
pleasure and devotion and they strive to obtain this by great effort, [47]
wearying and fatiguing their faculties and their heads; and when they have
not found this pleasure they become greatly discouraged, thinking that they
have accomplished nothing. Through these efforts they lose true devotion and
spirituality, which consist in perseverance, together with patience and
humility and mistrust of themselves, that they may please God alone. For
this reason, when they have once failed to find pleasure in this or some
other exercise, they have great disinclination and repugnance to return to
it, and at times they abandon it. They are, in fact, as we have said, like
children, who are not influenced by reason, and who act, not from rational
motives, but from inclination. [48] Such persons expend all their effort in
seeking spiritual pleasure and consolation; they never tire therefore, of
reading books; and they begin, now one meditation, now another, in their
pursuit of this pleasure which they desire to experience in the things of
God. But God, very justly, wisely and lovingly, denies it to them, for
otherwise this spiritual gluttony and inordinate appetite would breed in
numerable evils. It is, therefore, very fitting that they should enter into
the dark night, whereof we shall speak, [49] that they may be purged from
this childishness.

7. These persons who are thus inclined to such pleasures have another very
great imperfection, which is that they are very weak and remiss in
journeying upon the hard [50] road of the Cross; for the soul that is given
to sweetness naturally has its face set against all self-denial, which is
devoid of sweetness. [51]

8. These persons have many other imperfections which arise hence, of which
in time the Lord heals them by means of temptations, aridities and other
trials, all of which are part of the dark night. All these I will not treat
further here, lest I become too lengthy; I will only say that spiritual
temperance and sobriety lead to another and a very different temper, which
is that of mortification, fear and submission in all things. It thus becomes
clear that the perfection and worth of things consist not in the multitude
and the pleasantness of ones actions, but in being able to deny oneself in
them; this such persons must endeavour to compass, in so far as they may,
until God is pleased to purify them indeed, by bringing them [52] into the
dark night, to arrive at which I am hastening on with my account of these
imperfections.
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[40] [Lit.,˜spiritual road.]

[41] [Lit.,˜these persons.]

[42] [Lit.,˜and treat this as their God.]

[43] [The Spanish is impersonal:˜immediately this is taken from them,
etc.]

[44] [Lit.,˜and opinion.]

[45] [Lit.,˜anyhow.]

[46] [Lit,˜the other boldnesses are.]

[47] [Lit.,˜they strive to obtain this, as they say, by the strength of
their arms. The phrase is, of course, understood in the Spanish to be
metaphorical, as the words˜as they say clearly indicate.]

[48] [Lit.,˜who are not influenced, neither act by reason, but from
pleasure.]

[49] [Lit.,˜which we shall give.]

[50] [¡spero: harsh, rough, rugged.]

[51] [Lit.,˜against all the sweetlessness of self- denial.]

[52] [Lit.,˜causing them to enter.]
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CHAPTER VII

Of imperfections with respect to spiritual envy and sloth.

WITH respect likewise to the other two vices, which are spiritual envy and
sloth, these beginners fail not to have many imperfections. For, with
respect to envy, many of them are wont to experience movements of
displeasure at the spiritual good of others, which cause them a certain
sensible grief at being outstripped upon this road, so that they would
prefer not to hear others praised; for they become displeased at others
virtues and sometimes they cannot refrain from contradicting what is said in
praise of them, depreciating it as far as they can; and their annoyance
thereat grows [53] because the same is not said of them, for they would fain
be preferred in everything. All this is clean contrary to charity, which, as
Saint Paul says, rejoices in goodness. [54] And, if charity has any envy, it
is a holy envy, comprising grief at not having the virtues of others, yet
also joy because others have them, and delight when others outstrip us in
the service of God, wherein we ourselves are so remiss.

2. With respect also to spiritual sloth, beginners are apt to be irked by
the things that are most spiritual, from which they flee because these
things are incompatible with sensible pleasure. For, as they are so much
accustomed to sweetness in spiritual things, they are wearied by things in
which they find no sweetness. If once they failed to find in prayer the
satisfaction which their taste required (and after all it is well that God
should take it from them to prove them), they would prefer not to return to
it: sometimes they leave it; at other times they continue it unwillingly.
And thus because of this sloth they abandon the way of perfection (which is
the way of the negation of their will and pleasure for Gods sake) for the
pleasure and sweetness of their own will, which they aim at satisfying in
this way rather than the will of God.

3. And many of these would have God will that which they themselves will,
and are fretful at having to will that which He wills, and find it repugnant
to accommodate their will to that of God. Hence it happens to them that
oftentimes they think that that wherein they find not their own will and
pleasure is not the will of God; and that, on the other hand, when they
themselves find satisfaction, God is satisfied. Thus they measure God by
themselves and not themselves by God, acting quite contrarily to that which
He Himself taught in the Gospel, saying: That he who should lose his will
for His sake, the same should gain it; and he who should desire to gain it,
the same should lose it. [55]

4. These persons likewise find it irksome when they are commanded to do that
wherein they take no pleasure. Because they aim at spiritual sweetness and
consolation, they are too weak to have the fortitude and bear the trials of
perfection. [56] They resemble those who are softly nurtured and who run
fretfully away from everything that is hard, and take offense at the Cross,
wherein consist the delights of the spirit. The more spiritual a thing is,
the more irksome they find it, for, as they seek to go about spiritual
matters with complete freedom and according to the inclination of their
will, it causes them great sorrow and repugnance to enter upon the narrow
way, which, says Christ, is the way of life. [57]

5. Let it suffice here to have described these imperfections, among the many
to be found in the lives of those that are in this first state of beginners,
so that it may be seen how greatly they need God to set them in the state of
proficients. This He does by bringing them into the dark night whereof we
now speak; wherein He weans them from the breasts of these sweetnesses and
pleasures, gives them pure aridities and inward darkness, takes from them
all these irrelevances and puerilities, and by very different means causes
them to win the virtues. For, however assiduously the beginner practises the
mortification in himself of all these actions and passions of his, he can
never completely succeed”very far from it”until God shall work it in him
passively by means of the purgation of the said night. Of this I would fain
speak in some way that may be profitable; may God, then, be pleased to give
me His Divine light, because this is very needful in a night that is so dark
and a matter that is so difficult to describe and to expound.

The line, then, is:

In a dark night.
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[53] [Lit.,˜and, as they say, their eye (el ojo) grows”a colloquial phrase
expressing annoyance.]

[54] 1 Corinthians xiii, 6. The Saint here cites the sense, not the letter,
of the epistle.

[55] St. Matthew xvi, 25.

[56] [Lit.,˜they are very weak for the fortitude and trial of
perfection.]

[57] St. Matthew vii, 14.
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CHAPTER VIII

Wherein is expounded the first line of the first stanza, and a beginning
is made of the explanation of this dark night.

THIS night, which, as we say, is contemplation, produces in spiritual
persons two kinds of darkness or purgation, corresponding to the two parts
of mans nature”namely, the sensual and the spiritual. And thus the one
night or purgation will be sensual, wherein the soul is purged according to
sense, which is subdued to the spirit; and the other is a night or purgation
which is spiritual, wherein the soul is purged and stripped according to the
spirit, and subdued and made ready for the union of love with God. The night
of sense is common and comes to many: these are the beginners; and of this
night we shall speak first. The night of the spirit is the portion of very
few, and these are they that are already practised and proficient, of whom
we shall treat hereafter.

2. The first purgation or night is bitter and terrible to sense, as we shall
now show. [58] The second bears no comparison with it, for it is horrible
and awful to the spirit, as we shall show [59] presently. Since the night of
sense is first in order and comes first, we shall first of all say something
about it briefly, since more is written of it, as of a thing that is more
common; and we shall pass on to treat more fully of the spiritual night,
since very little has been said of this, either in speech [60] or in
writing, and very little is known of it, even by experience.

3. Since, then, the conduct of these beginners upon the way of God is
ignoble, [61] and has much to do with their love of self and their own
inclinations, as has been explained above, God desires to lead them farther.
He seeks to bring them out of that ignoble kind of love to a higher degree
of love for Him, to free them from the ignoble exercises of sense and
meditation (wherewith, as we have said, they go seeking God so unworthily
and in so many ways that are unbefitting), and to lead them to a kind of
spiritual exercise wherein they can commune with Him more abundantly and are
freed more completely from imperfections. For they have now had practice for
some time in the way of virtue and have persevered in meditation and prayer,
whereby, through the sweetness and pleasure that they have found therein,
they have lost their love of the things of the world and have gained some
degree of spiritual strength in God; this has enabled them to some extent to
refrain from creature desires, so that for Gods sake they are now able to
suffer a light burden and a little aridity without turning back to a time
[62] which they found more pleasant. When they are going about these
spiritual exercises with the greatest delight and pleasure, and when they
believe that the sun of Divine favour is shining most brightly upon them,
God turns all this light of theirs into darkness, and shuts against them the
door and the source of the sweet spiritual water which they were tasting in
God whensoever and for as long as they desired. (For, as they were weak and
tender, there was no door closed to them, as Saint John says in the
Apocalypse, iii, 8). And thus He leaves them so completely in the dark that
they know not whither to go with their sensible imagination and meditation;
for they cannot advance a step in meditation, as they were wont to do afore
time, their inward senses being submerged in this night, and left with such
dryness that not only do they experience no pleasure and consolation in the
spiritual things and good exercises wherein they were wont to find their
delights and pleasures, but instead, on the contrary, they find insipidity
and bitterness in the said things. For, as I have said, God now sees that
they have grown a little, and are becoming strong enough to lay aside their
swaddling clothes and be taken from the gentle breast; so He sets them down
from His arms and teaches them to walk on their own feet; which they feel to
be very strange, for everything seems to be going wrong with them.

4. To recollected persons this commonly happens sooner after their
beginnings than to others, inasmuch as they are freer from occasions of
backsliding, and their desires turn more quickly from the things of the
world, which is necessary if they are to begin to enter this blessed night
of sense. Ordinarily no great time passes after their beginnings before they
begin to enter this night of sense; and the great majority of them do in
fact enter it, for they will generally be seen to fall into these aridities.

5. With regard to this way of purgation of the senses, since it is so
common, we might here adduce a great number of quotations from Divine
Scripture, where many passages relating to it are continually found,
particularly in the Psalms and the Prophets. However, I do not wish to spend
time upon these, for he who knows not how to look for them there will find
the common experience of this purgation to be sufficient.
_________________________________________________________________

[58] [Lit.,say.]

[59] [Lit.,say.]

[60] [pl¡tica: the word is frequently used in Spanish to denote an informal
sermon or address.]

[61] [Lit.,˜low; the same word recurs below and is similarly translated.]

[62] [Lit.,˜to the better time.]
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CHAPTER IX

Of the signs by which it will be known that the spiritual person is
walking along the way of this night and purgation of sense.

BUT since these aridities might frequently proceed, not from the night and
purgation of the sensual desires aforementioned, but from sins and
imperfections, or from weakness and lukewarmness, or from some bad humour or
indisposition of the body, I shall here set down certain signs by which it
may be known if such aridity proceeds from the aforementioned purgation, or
if it arises from any of the aforementioned sins. For the making of this
distinction I find that there are three principal signs.

2. The first is whether, when a soul finds no pleasure or consolation in the
things of God, it also fails to find it in any thing created; for, as God
sets the soul in this dark night to the end that He may quench and purge its
sensual desire, He allows it not to find attraction or sweetness in anything
whatsoever. In such a case it may be considered very probable [63] that this
aridity and insipidity proceed not from recently committed sins or
imperfections. For, if this were so, the soul would feel in its nature some
inclination or desire to taste other things than those of God; since,
whenever the desire is allowed indulgence in any imperfection, it
immediately feels inclined thereto, whether little or much, in proportion to
the pleasure and the love that it has put into it. Since, however, this lack
of enjoyment in things above or below might proceed from some indisposition
or melancholy humour, which oftentimes makes it impossible for the soul to
take pleasure in anything, it becomes necessary to apply the second sign and
condition.

3. The second sign whereby a man may believe himself to be experiencing the
said purgation is that the memory is ordinarily centred upon God, with
painful care and solicitude, thinking that it is not serving God, but is
backsliding, because it finds itself without sweetness in the things of God.
And in such a case it is evident that this lack of sweetness and this
aridity come not from weakness and lukewarmness; for it is the nature of
lukewarmness not to care greatly or to have any inward solicitude for the
things of God. There is thus a great difference between aridity and
lukewarmness, for lukewarmness consists in great weakness and remissness in
the will and in the spirit, without solicitude as to serving God; whereas
purgative aridity is ordinarily accompanied by solicitude, with care and
grief as I say, because the soul is not serving God. And, although this may
sometimes be increased by melancholy or some other humour (as it frequently
is), it fails not for that reason to produce a purgative effect upon the
desire, since the desire is deprived of all pleasure and has its care
centred upon God alone. For, when mere humour is the cause, it spends itself
in displeasure and ruin of the physical nature, and there are none of those
desires to sense God which belong to purgative aridity. When the cause is
aridity, it is true that the sensual part of the soul has fallen low, and is
weak and feeble in its actions, by reason of the little pleasure which it
finds in them; but the spirit, on the other hand, is ready and strong.

4. For the cause of this aridity is that God transfers to the spirit the
good things and the strength of the senses, which, since the souls natural
strength and senses are incapable of using them, remain barren, dry and
empty. For the sensual part of a man has no capacity for that which is pure
spirit, and thus, when it is the spirit that receives the pleasure, the
flesh is left without savour and is too weak to perform any action. But the
spirit, which all the time is being fed, goes forward in strength, and with
more alertness and solicitude than before, in its anxiety not to fail God;
and if it is not immediately conscious of spiritual sweetness and delight,
but only of aridity and lack of sweetness, the reason for this is the
strangeness of the exchange; for its palate has been accustomed to those
other sensual pleasures upon which its eyes are still fixed, and, since the
spiritual palate is not made ready or purged for such subtle pleasure, until
it finds itself becoming prepared for it by means of this arid and dark
night, it cannot experience spiritual pleasure and good, but only aridity
and lack of sweetness, since it misses the pleasure which aforetime it
enjoyed so readily.

5. These souls whom God is beginning to lead through these solitary places
of the wilderness are like to the children of Israel, to whom in the
wilderness God began to give food from Heaven, containing within itself all
sweetness, and, as is there said, it turned to the savour which each one of
them desired. But withal the children of Israel felt the lack of the
pleasures and delights of the flesh and the onions which they had eaten
aforetime in Egypt, the more so because their palate was accustomed to these
and took delight in them, rather than in the delicate sweetness of the
angelic manna; and they wept and sighed for the fleshpots even in the midst
of the food of Heaven. [64] To such depths does the vileness of our desires
descend that it makes us to long for our own wretched food [65] and to be
nauseated by the indescribable [66] blessings of Heaven.

6. But, as I say, when these aridities proceed from the way of the purgation
of sensual desire, although at first the spirit feels no sweetness, for the
reasons that we have just given, it feels that it is deriving strength and
energy to act from the substance which this inward food gives it, the which
food is the beginning of a contemplation that is dark and arid to the
senses; which contemplation is secret and hidden from the very person that
experiences it; and ordinarily, together with the aridity and emptiness
which it causes in the senses, it gives the soul an inclination and desire
to be alone and in quietness, without being able to think of any particular
thing or having the desire to do so. If those souls to whom this comes to
pass knew how to be quiet at this time, and troubled not about performing
any kind of action, whether inward or outward, neither had any anxiety about
doing anything, then they would delicately experience this inward
refreshment in that ease and freedom from care. So delicate is this
refreshment that ordinarily, if a man have desire or care to experience it,
he experiences it not; for, as I say, it does its work when the soul is most
at ease and freest from care; it is like the air which, if one would close
ones hand upon it, escapes.

7. In this sense we may understand that which the Spouse said to the Bride
in the Songs, namely:˜Withdraw thine eyes from me, for they make me to soar
aloft. [67] For in such a way does God bring the soul into this state, and
by so different a path does He lead it that, if it desires to work with its
faculties, it hinders the work which God is doing in it rather than aids it;
whereas aforetime it was quite the contrary. The reason is that, in this
state of contemplation, which the soul enters when it forsakes meditation
for the state of the proficient, it is God Who is now working in the soul;
He binds its interior faculties, and allows it not to cling to the
understanding, nor to have delight in the will, nor to reason with the
memory. For anything that the soul can do of its own accord at this time
serves only, as we have said, to hinder inward peace and the work which God
is accomplishing in the spirit by means of that aridity of sense. And this
peace, being spiritual and delicate, performs a work which is quiet and
delicate, solitary, productive of peace and satisfaction [68] and far
removed from all those earlier pleasures, which were very palpable and
sensual. This is the peace which, says David, God speaks in the soul to the
end that He may make it spiritual. [69] And this leads us to the third
point.

8. The third sign whereby this purgation of sense may be recognized is that
the soul can no longer meditate or reflect in the imaginative sphere of
sense as it was wont, however much it may of itself endeavour to do so. For
God now begins to communicate Himself to it, no longer through sense, as He
did aforetime, by means of reflections which joined and sundered its
knowledge, but by pure spirit, into which consecutive reflections enter not;
but He communicates Himself to it by an act of simple contemplation, to
which neither the exterior nor the interior senses of the lower part of the
soul can attain. From this time forward, therefore, imagination and fancy
can find no support in any meditation, and can gain no foothold by means
thereof.

9. With regard to this third sign, it is to be understood that this
embarrassment and dissatisfaction of the faculties proceed not from
indisposition, for, when this is the case, and the indisposition, which
never lasts for long, [70] comes to an end, the soul is able once again, by
taking some trouble about the matter, to do what it did before, and the
faculties find their wonted support. But in the purgation of the desire this
is not so: when once the soul begins to enter therein, its inability to
reflect with the faculties grows ever greater. For, although it is true that
at first, and with some persons, the process is not as continuous as this,
so that occasionally they fail to abandon their pleasures and reflections of
sense (for perchance by reason of their weakness it was not fitting to wean
them from these immediately), yet this inability grows within them more and
more and brings the workings of sense to an end, if indeed they are to make
progress, for those who walk not in the way of contemplation act very
differently. For this night of aridities is not usually continuous in their
senses. At times they have these aridities; at others they have them not. At
times they cannot meditate; at others they can. For God sets them in this
night only to prove them and to humble them, and to reform their desires, so
that they go not nurturing in themselves a sinful gluttony in spiritual
things. He sets them not there in order to lead them in the way of the
spirit, which is this contemplation; for not all those who walk of set
purpose in the way of the spirit are brought by God to contemplation, nor
even the half of them”why, He best knows. And this is why He never
completely weans the senses of such persons from the breasts of meditations
and reflections, but only for short periods and at certain seasons, as we
have said.
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[63] [Lit.,˜And in this it is known very probably.]

[64] Numbers xi, 5-6.

[65] [Lit.,˜makes us to desire our miseries.]

[66] [Lit.,˜incommunicable.]

[67] Canticles vi, 4 [A.V., vi, 5].

[68] [Lit.,satisfactory and pacific.]

[69] Psalm lxxxiv, 9 [A.V., lxxxv, 8].

[70] [The stress here is evidently on the transience of the distempers
whether they be moral or physical.]
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CHAPTER X

Of the way in which these souls are to conduct themselves in this dark
night.

DURING the time, then, of the aridities of this night of sense (wherein God
effects the change of which we have spoken above, drawing forth the soul
from the life of sense into that of the spirit”that is, from meditation to
contemplation”wherein it no longer has any power to work or to reason with
its faculties concerning the things of God, as has been said), spiritual
persons suffer great trials, by reason not so much of the aridities which
they suffer, as of the fear which they have of being lost on the road,
thinking that all spiritual blessing is over for them and that God has
abandoned them since they find no help or pleasure in good things. Then they
grow weary, and endeavour (as they have been accustomed to do) to
concentrate their faculties with some degree of pleasure upon some object of
meditation, thinking that, when they are not doing this and yet are
conscious of making an effort, they are doing nothing. This effort they make
not without great inward repugnance and unwillingness on the part of their
soul, which was taking pleasure in being in that quietness and ease, instead
of working with its faculties. So they have abandoned the one pursuit, [71]
yet draw no profit from the other; for, by seeking what is prompted by their
own spirit, [72] they lose the spirit of tranquillity and peace which they
had before. And thus they are like to one who abandons what he has done in
order to do it over again, or to one who leaves a city only to re-enter it,
or to one who is hunting and lets his prey go in order to hunt it once more.
This is useless here, for the soul will gain nothing further by conducting
itself in this way, as has been said.

2. These souls turn back at such a time if there is none who understands
them; they abandon the road or lose courage; or, at the least, they are
hindered from going farther by the great trouble which they take in
advancing along the road of meditation and reasoning. Thus they fatigue and
overwork their nature, imagining that they are failing through negligence or
sin. But this trouble that they are taking is quite useless, for God is now
leading them by another road, which is that of contemplation, and is very
different from the first; for the one is of meditation and reasoning, and
the other belongs neither to imagination nor yet to reasoning.

3. It is well for those who find themselves in this condition to take
comfort, to persevere in patience and to be in no wise afflicted. Let them
trust in God, Who abandons not those that seek Him with a simple and right
heart, and will not fail to give them what is needful for the road, until He
bring them into the clear and pure light of love. This last He will give
them by means of that other dark night, that of the spirit, if they merit
His bringing them thereto.

4. The way in which they are to conduct themselves in this night of sense is
to devote themselves not at all to reasoning and meditation, since this is
not the time for it, but to allow the soul to remain in peace and quietness,
although it may seem clear to them that they are doing nothing and are
wasting their time, and although it may appear to them that it is because of
their weakness that they have no desire in that state to think of anything.
The truth is that they will be doing quite sufficient if they have patience
and persevere in prayer without making any effort. [73] What they must do is
merely to leave the soul free and disencumbered and at rest from all
knowledge and thought, troubling not themselves, in that state, about what
they shall think or meditate upon, but contenting themselves with merely a
peaceful and loving attentiveness toward God, and in being without anxiety,
without the ability and without desired to have experience of Him or to
perceive Him. For all these yearnings disquiet and distract the soul from
the peaceful quiet and sweet ease of contemplation which is here granted to
it.

5. And although further scruples may come to them”that they are wasting
their time, and that it would be well for them to do something else, because
they can neither do nor think anything in prayer”let them suffer these
scruples and remain in peace, as there is no question save of their being at
ease and having freedom of spirit. For if such a soul should desire to make
any effort of its own with its interior faculties, this means that it will
hinder and lose the blessings which, by means of that peace and ease of the
soul, God is instilling into it and impressing upon it. It is just as if
some painter were painting or dyeing a face; if the sitter were to move
because he desired to do something, he would prevent the painter from
accomplishing anything and would disturb him in what he was doing. And thus,
when the soul desires to remain in inward ease and peace, any operation and
affection or attentions wherein it may then seek to indulge [74] will
distract it and disquiet it and make it conscious of aridity and emptiness
of sense. For the more a soul endeavours to find support in affection and
knowledge, the more will it feel the lack of these, which cannot now be
supplied to it upon that road.

6. Wherefore it behoves such a soul to pay no heed if the operations of its
faculties become lost to it; it is rather to desire that this should happen
quickly. For, by not hindering the operation of infused contemplation that
God is bestowing upon it, it can receive this with more peaceful abundance,
and cause its spirit to be enkindled and to burn with the love which this
dark and secret contemplation brings with it and sets firmly in the soul.
For contemplation is naught else than a secret, peaceful and loving infusion
from God, which, if it be permitted, enkindles the soul with the spirit of
love, according as the soul declares in the next lines, namely:

Kindled in love with yearnings.
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[71] [Lit.,˜spoiling themselves in the one.]

[72] [Lit.,˜because they seek their spirit.]

[73] [Lit.,˜without doing anything themselves.]

[74] [Lit.,˜which it may then wish to have.]
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CHAPTER XI

Wherein are expounded the three lines of the stanza.

THIS enkindling of love is not as a rule felt at the first, because it has
not begun to take hold upon the soul, by reason of the impurity of human
nature, or because the soul has not understood its own state, as we have
said, and has therefore given it no peaceful abiding-place within itself.
Yet sometimes, nevertheless, there soon begins to make itself felt a certain
yearning toward God; and the more this increases, the more is the soul
affectioned and enkindled in love toward God, without knowing or
understanding how and whence this love and affection come to it, but from
time to time seeing this flame and this enkindling grow so greatly within it
that it desires God with yearning of love; even as David, when he was in
this dark night, said of himself in these words, [75] namely:˜Because my
heart was enkindled (that is to say, in love of contemplation), my reins
also were changed: that is, my desires for sensual affections were changed,
namely from the way of sense to the way of the spirit, which is the aridity
and cessation from all these things whereof we are speaking. And I, he says,
was dissolved in nothing and annihilated, and I knew not; for, as we have
said, without knowing the way whereby it goes, the soul finds itself
annihilated with respect to all things above and below which were accustomed
to please it; and it finds itself enamoured, without knowing how. And
because at times the enkindling of love in the spirit grows greater, the
yearnings for God become so great in the soul that the very bones seem to be
dried up by this thirst, and the natural powers to be fading away, and their
warmth and strength to be perishing through the intensity [76] of the thirst
of love, for the soul feels that this thirst of love is a living thirst.
This thirst David had and felt, when he said:˜My soul thirsted for the
living God. [77] Which is as much as to say: A living thirst was that of my
soul. Of this thirst, since it is living, we may say that it kills. But it
is to be noted that the vehemence of this thirst is not continuous, but
occasional although as a rule the soul is accustomed to feel it to a certain
degree.

2. But it must be noted that, as I began to say just now, this love is not
as a rule felt at first, but only the dryness and emptiness are felt whereof
we are speaking. Then in place of this love which afterwards becomes
gradually enkindled, what the soul experiences in the midst of these
aridities and emptinesses of the faculties is an habitual care and
solicitude with respect to God, together with grief and fear that it is not
serving Him. But it is a sacrifice which is not a little pleasing to God
that the soul should go about afflicted and solicitous for His love. This
solicitude and care leads the soul into that secret contemplation, until,
the senses (that is, the sensual part) having in course of time been in some
degree purged of the natural affections and powers by means of the aridities
which it causes within them, this Divine love begins to be enkindled in the
spirit. Meanwhile, however, like one who has begun a cure, the soul knows
only suffering in this dark and arid purgation of the desire; by this means
it becomes healed of many imperfections, and exercises itself in many
virtues in order to make itself meet for the said love, as we shall now say
with respect to the line following:

Oh, happy chance!

3. When God leads the soul into this night of sense in order to purge the
sense of its lower part and to subdue it, unite it and bring it into
conformity with the spirit, by setting it in darkness and causing it to
cease from meditation (as He afterwards does in order to purify the spirit
to unite it with God, as we shall afterwards say), He brings it into the
night of the spirit, and (although it appears not so to it) the soul gains
so many benefits that it holds it to be a happy chance to have escaped from
the bonds and restrictions of the senses of or its lower self, by means of
this night aforesaid; and utters the present line, namely: Oh, happy chance!
With respect to this, it behoves us here to note the benefits which the soul
finds in this night, and because of which it considers it a happy chance to
have passed through it; all of which benefits the soul includes in the next
line, namely:

I went forth without being observed.

4. This going forth is understood of the subjection to its sensual part
which the soul suffered when it sought God through operations so weak, so
limited and so defective as are those of this lower part; for at every step
it stumbled into numerous imperfections and ignorances, as we have noted
above in writing of the seven capital sins. From all these it is freed when
this night quenches within it all pleasures, whether from above or from
below, and makes all meditation darkness to it, and grants it other
innumerable blessings in the acquirement of the virtues, as we shall now
show. For it will be a matter of great pleasure and great consolation, to
one that journeys on this road, to see how that which seems to the soul so
severe and adverse, and so contrary to spiritual pleasure, works in it so
many blessings. These, as we say, are gained when the soul goes forth, as
regards its affection and operation, by means of this night, from all
created things, and when it journeys to eternal things, which is great
happiness and good fortune: [78] first, because of the great blessing which
is in the quenching of the desire and affection with respect to all things;
secondly, because they are very few that endure and persevere in entering by
this strait gate and by the narrow way which leads to life, as says Our
Saviour. [79] The strait gate is this night of sense, and the soul detaches
itself from sense and strips itself thereof that it may enter by this gate,
and establishes itself in faith, which is a stranger to all sense, so that
afterwards it may journey by the narrow way, which is the other night”that
of the spirit”and this the soul afterwards enters in order in journey to God
in pure faith, which is the means whereby the soul is united to God. By this
road, since it is so narrow, dark and terrible (though there is no
comparison between this night of sense and that other, in its darkness and
trials, as we shall say later), they are far fewer that journey, but its
benefits are far greater without comparison than those of this present
night. Of these benefits we shall now begin to say something, with such
brevity as is possible, in order that we may pass to the other night.
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[75] Psalm lxxii, 21 [A.V., lxxiii, 21-2].

[76] [Lit.,˜livingness: cf. the quotation below.]

[77] Psalm xli, 3 [A.V., xlii, 2].

[78] [Lit.,˜and chance: the same word as in the verse-line above.]

[79] St. Matthew vii, 14.
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CHAPTER XII

Of the benefits which this night causes in the soul.

THIS night and purgation of the desire, a happy one for the soul, works in
it so many blessings and benefits (although to the soul, as we have said, it
rather seems that blessings are being taken away from it) that, even as
Abraham made a great feast when he weaned his son Isaac, [80] even so is
there joy in Heaven because God is now taking this soul from its swaddling
clothes, setting it down from His arms, making it to walk upon its feet, and
likewise taking from it the milk of the breast and the soft and sweet food
proper to children, and making it to eat bread with crust, and to begin to
enjoy the food of robust persons. This food, in these aridities and this
darkness of sense, is now given to the spirit, which is dry and emptied of
all the sweetness of sense. And this food is the infused contemplation
whereof we have spoken.

2. This is the first and principal benefit caused by this arid and dark
night of contemplation: the knowledge of oneself and of ones misery. For,
besides the fact that all the favours which God grants to the soul are
habitually granted to them enwrapped in this knowledge, these aridities and
this emptiness of the faculties, compared with the abundance which the soul
experienced aforetime and the difficulty which it finds in good works, make
it recognize its own lowliness and misery, which in the time of its
prosperity it was unable to see. Of this there is a good illustration in the
Book of Exodus, where God, wishing to humble the children of Israel and
desiring that they should know themselves, commanded them to take away and
strip off the festal garments and adornments wherewith they were accustomed
to adorn themselves in the Wilderness, saying:˜Now from henceforth strip
yourselves of festal ornaments and put on everyday working dress, that ye
may know what treatment ye deserve. [81] This is as though He had said:
Inasmuch as the attire that ye wear, being proper to festival and rejoicing,
causes you to feel less humble concerning yourselves than ye should, put off
from you this attire, in order that henceforth, seeing yourselves clothed
with vileness, ye may know that ye merit no more, and may know who ye are.
Wherefore the soul knows the truth that it knew not at first, concerning its
own misery; for, at the time when it was clad as for a festival and found in
God much pleasure, consolation and support, it was somewhat more satisfied
and contented, since it thought itself to some extent to be serving God. It
is true that such souls may not have this idea explicitly in their minds;
but some suggestion of it at least is implanted in them by the satisfaction
which they find in their pleasant experiences. But, now that the soul has
put on its other and working attire”that of aridity and abandonment”and now
that its first lights have turned into darkness, it possesses these lights
more truly in this virtue of self-knowledge, which is so excellent and so
necessary, considering itself now as nothing and experiencing no
satisfaction in itself; for it sees that it does nothing of itself neither
can do anything. And the smallness of this self-satisfaction, together with
the souls affliction at not serving God, is considered and esteemed by God
as greater than all the consolations which the soul formerly experienced and
the works which it wrought, however great they were, inasmuch as they were
the occasion of many imperfections and ignorances. And from this attire of
aridity proceed, as from their fount and source of self-knowledge, not only
the things which we have described already, but also the benefits which we
shall now describe and many more which will have to be omitted.

3. In the first place, the soul learns to commune with God with more respect
and more courtesy, such as a soul must ever observe in converse with the
Most High. These it knew not in its prosperous times of comfort and
consolation, for that comforting favour which it experienced made its
craving for God somewhat bolder than was fitting, and discourteous and
ill-considered. Even so did it happen to Moses, when he perceived that God
was speaking to him; blinded by that pleasure and desire, without further
consideration, he would have made bold to go to Him if God had not commanded
him to stay and put off his shoes. By this incident we are shown the respect
and discretion in detachment of desire wherewith a man is to commune with
God. When Moses had obeyed in this matter, he became so discreet and so
attentive that the Scripture says that not only did he not make bold to draw
near to God, but that he dared not even look at Him. For, having taken off
the shoes of his desires and pleasures, he became very conscious of his
wretchedness in the sight of God, as befitted one about to hear the word of
God. Even so likewise the preparation which God granted to Job in order that
he might speak with Him consisted not in those delights and glories which
Job himself reports that he was wont to have in his God, but in leaving him
naked upon a dung-hill, [82] abandoned and even persecuted by his friends,
filled with anguish and bitterness, and the earth covered with worms. And
then the Most High God, He that lifts up the poor man from the dunghill, was
pleased to come down and speak with him there face to face, revealing to him
the depths and heights [83] of His wisdom, in a way that He had never done
in the time of his prosperity.

4. And here we must note another excellent benefit which there is in this
night and aridity of the desire of sense, since we have had occasion to
speak of it. It is that, in this dark night of the desire (to the end that
the words of the Prophet may be fulfilled, namely:˜Thy light shall shine in
the darkness [84] ), God will enlighten the soul, giving it knowledge, not
only of its lowliness and wretchedness, as we have said, but likewise of the
greatness and excellence of God. For, as well as quenching the desires and
pleasures and attachments of sense, He cleanses and frees the understanding
that it may understand the truth; for pleasure of sense and desire, even
though it be for spiritual things, darkens and obstructs the spirit, and
furthermore that straitness and aridity of sense enlightens and quickens the
understanding, as says Isaias. [85] Vexation makes us to understand how the
soul that is empty and disencumbered, as is necessary for His Divine
influence, is instructed supernaturally by God in His Divine wisdom, through
this dark and arid night of contemplation, [86] as we have said; and this
instruction God gave not in those first sweetnesses and joys.

5. This is very well explained by the same prophet Isaias, where he says:
˜Whom shall God teach His knowledge, and whom shall He make to understand
the hearing? To those, He says, that are weaned from the milk and drawn
away from the breasts. [87] Here it is shown that the first milk of
spiritual sweetness is no preparation for this Divine influence, neither is
there preparation in attachment to the breast of delectable meditations,
belonging to the faculties of sense, which gave the soul pleasure; such
preparation consists rather in the lack of the one and withdrawal from the
other. Inasmuch as, in order to listen to God, the soul needs to stand
upright and to be detached, with regard to affection and sense, even as the
Prophet says concerning himself, in these words: I will stand upon my watch
(this is that detachment of desire) and I will make firm my step (that is, I
will not meditate with sense), in order to contemplate (that is, in order to
understand that which may come to me from God). [88] So we have now arrived
at this, that from this arid night there first of all comes self-knowledge,
whence, as from a foundation, rises this other knowledge of God. For which
cause Saint Augustine said to God:˜Let me know myself, Lord, and I shall
know Thee. [89] For, as the philosophers say, one extreme can be well known
by another.

6. And in order to prove more completely how efficacious is this night of
sense, with its aridity and its desolation, in bringing the soul that light
which, as we say, it receives there from God, we shall quote that passage of
David, wherein he clearly describes the great power which is in this night
for bringing the soul this lofty knowledge of God. He says, then, thus:˜In
the desert land, waterless, dry and pathless, I appeared before Thee, that I
might see Thy virtue and Thy glory. [90] It is a wondrous thing that David
should say here that the means and the preparation for his knowledge of the
glory of God were not the spiritual delights and the many pleasures which he
had experienced, but the aridities and detachments of his sensual nature,
which is here to be understood by the dry and desert land. No less wondrous
is it that he should describe as the road to his perception and vision of
the virtue of God, not the Divine meditations and conceptions of which he
had often made use, but his being unable to form any conception of God or to
walk by meditation produced by imaginary consideration, which is here to be
understood by the pathless land. So that the means to a knowledge of God and
of oneself is this dark night with its aridities and voids, although it
leads not to a knowledge of Him of the same plenitude and abundance that
comes from the other night of the spirit, since this is only, as it were,
the beginning of that other.

7. Likewise, from the aridities and voids of this night of the desire, the
soul draws spiritual humility, which is the contrary virtue to the first
capital sin, which, as we said, is spiritual pride. Through this humility,
which is acquired by the said knowledge of self, the soul is purged from all
those imperfections whereinto it fell with respect to that sin of pride, in
the time of its prosperity. For it sees itself so dry and miserable that the
idea never even occurs to it that it is making better progress than others,
or outstripping them, as it believed itself to be doing before. On the
contrary, it recognizes that others are making better progress than itself.

8. And hence arises the love of its neighbours, for it esteems them, and
judges them not as it was wont to do aforetime, when it saw that itself had
great fervour and others not so. It is aware only of its own wretchedness,
which it keeps before its eyes to such an extent that it never forgets it,
nor takes occasion to set its eyes on anyone else. This was described
wonderfully by David, when he was in this night, in these words:˜I was dumb
and was humbled and kept silence from good things and my sorrow was
renewed. [91] This he says because it seemed to him that the good that was
in his soul had so completely departed that not only did he neither speak
nor find any language concerning it, but with respect to the good of others
he was likewise dumb because of his grief at the knowledge of his misery.

9. In this condition, again, souls become submissive and obedient upon the
spiritual road, for, when they see their own misery, not only do they hear
what is taught them, but they even desire that anyone soever may set them on
the way and tell them what they ought to do. The affective presumption which
they sometimes had in their prosperity is taken from them; and finally,
there are swept away from them on this road all the other imperfections
which we noted above with respect to this first sin, which is spiritual
pride.
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[80] Genesis xxi, 8.

[81] Exodus xxxiii, 5.

[82] [Job ii, 7-8].

[83] [Lit.,˜the deep heights.]

[84] Isaias lviii, 10.

[85] Isaias xxviii, 19. [The author omits the actual text.]

[86] To translate this passage at all, we must read the Dios c³mo of P.
Silverio (p. 403, 1. 20), which is also found in P. Gerardo and elsewhere,
as c³mo Dios.

[87] Isaias xxviii, 9.

[88] Habacuc ii, 1.

[89] St. Augustine: Soliloq., Cap. ii.

[90] Psalm lxii, 3 [A.V., lxiii, 1-2].

[91] Psalm xxxviii, 3 [A.V., xxxix, 2].
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CHAPTER XIII

Of other benefits which this night of sense causes in the soul.

WITH respect to the souls imperfections of spiritual avarice, because of
which it coveted this and that spiritual thing and found no satisfaction in
this and that exercise by reason of its covetousness for the desire and
pleasure which it found therein, this arid and dark night has now greatly
reformed it. For, as it finds not the pleasure and sweetness which it was
wont to find, but rather finds affliction and lack of sweetness, it has such
moderate recourse to them that it might possibly now lose, through defective
use, what aforetime it lost through excess; although as a rule God gives to
those whom He leads into this night humility and readiness, albeit with lack
of sweetness, so that what is commanded them they may do for Gods sake
alone; and thus they no longer seek profit in many things because they find
no pleasure in them.

2. With respect to spiritual luxury, it is likewise clearly seen that,
through this aridity and lack of sensible sweetness which the soul finds in
spiritual things, it is freed from those impurities which we there noted;
for we said that, as a rule, they proceeded from the pleasure which
overflowed from spirit into sense.

3. But with regard to the imperfections from which the soul frees itself in
this dark night with respect to the fourth sin, which is spiritual gluttony,
they may be found above, though they have not all been described there,
because they are innumerable; and thus I will not detail them here, for I
would fain make an end of this night in order to pass to the next,
concerning which we shall have to pronounce grave words and instructions.
Let it suffice for the understanding of the innumerable benefits which, over
and above those mentioned, the soul gains in this night with respect to this
sin of spiritual gluttony, to say that it frees itself from all those
imperfections which have there been described, and from many other and
greater evils, and vile abominations which are not written above, into which
fell many of whom we have had experience, because they had not reformed
their desire as concerning this inordinate love of spiritual sweetness. For
in this arid and dark night wherein He sets the soul, God has restrained its
concupiscence and curbed its desire so that the soul cannot feed upon any
pleasure or sweetness of sense, whether from above or from below; and this
He continues to do after such manner that the soul is subjected, reformed
and repressed with respect to concupiscence and desire. It loses the
strength of its passions and concupiscence and it becomes sterile, because
it no longer consults its likings. Just as, when none is accustomed to take
milk from the breast, the courses of the milk are dried up, so the desires
of the soul are dried up. And besides these things there follow admirable
benefits from this spiritual sobriety, for, when desire and concupiscence
are quenched, the soul lives in spiritual tranquillity and peace; for, where
desire and concupiscence reign not, there is no disturbance, but peace and
consolation of God.

4. From this there arises another and a second benefit, which is that the
soul habitually has remembrance of God, with fear and dread of backsliding
upon the spiritual road, as has been said. This is a great benefit, and not
one of the least that results from this aridity and purgation of the desire,
for the soul is purified and cleansed of the imperfections that were
clinging to it because of the desires and affections, which of their own
accord deaden and darken the soul.

5. There is another very great benefit for the soul in this night, which is
that it practices several virtues together, as, for example, patience and
longsuffering, which are often called upon in these times of emptiness and
aridity, when the soul endures and perseveres in its spiritual exercises
without consolation and without pleasure. It practises the charity of God,
since it is not now moved by the pleasure of attraction and sweetness which
it finds in its work, but only by God. It likewise practises here the virtue
of fortitude, because, in these difficulties and insipidities which it finds
in its work, it brings strength out of weakness and thus becomes strong. All
the virtues, in short”the theological and also the cardinal and moral”both
in body and in spirit, are practised by the soul in these times of aridity.

6. And that in this night the soul obtains these four benefits which we have
here described (namely, delight of peace, habitual remembrance and thought
of God, cleanness and purity of soul and the practice of the virtues which
we have just described), David tells us, having experienced it himself when
he was in this night, in these words:˜My soul refused consolations, I had
remembrance of God, I found consolation and was exercised and my spirit
failed. [92] And he then says:˜And I meditated by night with my heart and
was exercised, and I swept and purified my spirit”that is to say, from all
the affections. [93]

7. With respect to the imperfections of the other three spiritual sins which
we have described above, which are wrath, envy and sloth, the soul is purged
hereof likewise in this aridity of the desire and acquires the virtues
opposed to them; for, softened and humbled by these aridities and hardships
and other temptations and trials wherein God exercises it during this night,
it becomes meek with respect to God, and to itself, and likewise with
respect to its neighbour. So that it is no longer disturbed and angry with
itself because of its own faults, nor with its neighbour because of his,
neither is it displeased with God, nor does it utter unseemly complaints
because He does not quickly make it holy.

8. Then, as to envy, the soul has charity toward others in this respect
also; for, if it has any envy, this is no longer a vice as it was before,
when it was grieved because others were preferred to it and given greater
advantage. Its grief now comes from seeing how great is its own misery, and
its envy (if it has any) is a virtuous envy, since it desires to imitate
others, which is great virtue.

9. Neither are the sloth and the irksomeness which it now experiences
concerning spiritual things vicious as they were before. For in the past
these sins proceeded from the spiritual pleasures which the soul sometimes
experienced and sought after when it found them not. But this new weariness
proceeds not from this insuffficiency of pleasure, because God has taken
from the soul pleasure in all things in this purgation of the desire.

10. Besides these benefits which have been mentioned, the soul attains
innumerable others by means of this arid contemplation. For often, in the
midst of these times of aridity and hardship, God communicates to the soul,
when it is least expecting it, the purest spiritual sweetness and love,
together with a spiritual knowledge which is sometimes very delicate, each
manifestation of which is of greater benefit and worth than those which the
soul enjoyed aforetime; although in its beginnings the soul thinks that this
is not so, for the spiritual influence now granted to it is very delicate
and cannot be perceived by sense.

11. Finally, inasmuch as the soul is now purged from the affections and
desires of sense, it obtains liberty of spirit, whereby in ever greater
degree it gains the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. Here, too, it is
wondrously delivered from the hands of its three enemies”devil, world and
flesh; for, its pleasure and delight of sense being quenched with respect to
all things, neither the devil nor the world nor sensuality has any arms or
any strength wherewith to make war upon the spirit.

12. These times of aridity, then, cause the soul to journey in all purity in
the love of God, since it is no longer influenced in its actions by the
pleasure and sweetness of the actions themselves, as perchance it was when
it experienced sweetness, but only by a desire to please God. It becomes
neither presumptuous nor self-satisfied, as perchance it was wont to become
in the time of its prosperity, but fearful and timid with regard to itself,
finding in itself no satisfaction whatsoever; and herein consists that holy
fear which preserves and increases the virtues. This aridity, too, quenches
natural energy and concupiscence, as has also been said. Save for the
pleasure, indeed, which at certain times God Himself infuses into it, it is
a wonder if it finds pleasure and consolation of sense, through its own
diligence, in any spiritual exercise or action, as has already been said.

13. There grows within souls that experience this arid night concern for God
and yearnings to serve Him, for in proportion as the breasts of sensuality,
wherewith it sustained and nourished the desires that it pursued, are drying
up, there remains nothing in that aridity and detachment save the yearning
to serve God, which is a thing very pleasing to God. For, as David says, an
afflicted spirit is a sacrifice to God. [94]

14. When the soul, then, knows that, in this arid purgation through which it
has passed, it has derived and attained so many and such precious benefits
as those which have here been described, it tarries not in crying, as in the
stanza of which we are expounding the lines,˜Oh, happy chance!”I went forth
without being observed. That is,˜I went forth from the bonds and
subjection of the desires of sense and the affections,˜without being
observed”that is to say, without the three enemies aforementioned being
able to keep me from it. These enemies, as we have said, bind the soul as
with bonds, in its desires and pleasures, and prevent it from going forth
from itself to the liberty of the love of God; and without these desires and
pleasures they cannot give battle to the soul, as has been said.

15. When, therefore, the four passions of the soul”which are joy, grief,
hope and fear”are calmed through continual mortification; when the natural
desires have been lulled to sleep, in the sensual nature of the soul, by
means of habitual times of aridity; and when the harmony of the senses and
the interior faculties causes a suspension of labour and a cessation from
the work of meditation, as we have said (which is the dwelling and the
household of the lower part of the soul), these enemies cannot obstruct this
spiritual liberty, and the house remains at rest and quiet, as says the
following line:

My house being now at rest.
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[92] Psalm lxxvi, 4 [A.V., lxxvii, 3-4].

[93] Psalm lxxvi, 7 [A.V., lxxvii, 6].

[94] Psalm l, 19 [A.V., li, 17.]
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CHAPTER XIV

Expounds this last line of the first stanza.

WHEN this house of sensuality was now at rest”that is, was mortified”its
passions being quenched and its desires put to rest and lulled to sleep by
means of this blessed night of the purgation of sense, the soul went forth,
to set out upon the road and way of the spirit, which is that of
progressives and proficients, and which, by another name, is called the way
of illumination or of infused contemplation, wherein God Himself feeds and
refreshes the soul, without meditation, or the souls active help. Such, as
we have said, is the night and purgation of sense in the soul. In those who
have afterwards to enter the other and more formidable night of the spirit,
in order to pass to the Divine union of love of God (for not all pass
habitually thereto, but only the smallest number), it is wont to be
accompanied by formidable trials and temptations of sense, which last for a
long time, albeit longer in some than in others. For to some the angel of
Satan presents himself”namely, the spirit of fornication”that he may buffet
their senses with abominable and violent temptations, and trouble their
spirits with vile considerations and representations which are most visible
to the imagination, which things at times are a greater affliction to them
than death.

2. At other times in this night there is added to these things the spirit of
blasphemy, which roams abroad, setting in the path of all the conceptions
and thoughts of the soul intolerable blasphemies. These it sometimes
suggests to the imagination with such violence that the soul almost utters
them, which is a grave torment to it.

3. At other times another abominable spirit, which Isaias calls Spiritus
vertiginis, [95] is allowed to molest them, not in order that they may fall,
but that it may try them. This spirit darkens their senses in such a way
that it fills them with numerous scruples and perplexities, so confusing
that, as they judge, they can never, by any means, be satisfied concerning
them, neither can they find any help for their judgment in counsel or
thought. This is one of the severest goads and horrors of this night, very
closely akin to that which passes in the night of the spirit.

4. As a rule these storms and trials are sent by God in this night and
purgation of sense to those whom afterwards He purposes to lead into the
other night (though not all reach it), to the end that, when they have been
chastened and buffeted, they may in this way continually exercise and
prepare themselves, and continually accustom their senses and faculties to
the union of wisdom which is to be bestowed upon them in that other night.
For, if the soul be not tempted, exercised and proved with trials and
temptations, it cannot quicken its sense of Wisdom. For this reason it is
said in Ecclesiasticus:˜He that has not been tempted, what does he know?
And he that has not been proved, what are the things that he recognizes?
[96] To this truth Jeremias bears good witness, saying:˜Thou didst chastise
me, Lord, and I was instructed. [97] And the most proper form of this
chastisement, for one who will enter into Wisdom, is that of the interior
trials which we are here describing, inasmuch as it is these which most
effectively purge sense of all favours and consolations to which it was
affected, with natural weakness, and by which the soul is truly humiliated
in preparation for the exaltation which it is to experience.

5. For how long a time the soul will be held in this fasting and penance of
sense, cannot be said with any certainty; for all do not experience it after
one manner, neither do all encounter the same temptations. For this is meted
out by the will of God, in conformity with the greater or the smaller degree
of imperfection which each soul has to purge away. In conformity, likewise,
with the degree of love of union to which God is pleased to raise it, He
will humble it with greater or less intensity or in greater or less time.
Those who have the disposition and greater strength to suffer, He purges
with greater intensity and more quickly. But those who are very weak are
kept for a long time in this night, and these He purges very gently and with
slight temptations. Habitually, too, He gives them refreshments of sense so
that they may not fall away, and only after a long time do they attain to
purity of perfection in this life, some of them never attaining to it at
all. Such are neither properly in the night nor properly out of it; for,
although they make no progress, yet, in order that they may continue in
humility and self-knowledge, God exercises them for certain periods and at
certain times [98] in those temptations and aridities; and at other times
and seasons He assists them with consolations, lest they should grow faint
and return to seek the consolations of the world. Other souls, which are
weaker, God Himself accompanies, now appearing to them, now moving farther
away, that He may exercise them in His love; for without such turnings away
they would not learn to reach God.

6. But the souls which are to pass on to that happy and high estate, the
union of love, are wont as a rule to remain for a long time in these
aridities and temptations, however quickly God may lead them, as has been
seen by experience. It is time, then, to begin to treat of the second night.
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[95] [Thespirit of giddiness of D.V., and˜perverse spirit of A.V.,
Isaias xix, 14.]

[96] Ecclesiasticus xxxiv, 9-10.

[97] Jeremias xxxi, 18.

[98] [Lit.,˜for certain days.]
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[20] [More exactly:˜purificative.]
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BOOK THE SECOND

Of the Dark Night of the Spirit.
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CHAPTER I

Which begins to treat of the dark nights of the spirit and says at what
time it begins.

THE soul which God is about to lead onward is not led by His Majesty into
this night of the spirit as soon as it goes forth from the aridities and
trials of the first purgation and night of sense; rather it is wont to pass
a long time, even years, after leaving the state of beginners, in exercising
itself in that of proficients. In this latter state it is like to one that
has come forth from a rigorous imprisonment; [99] it goes about the things
of God with much greater freedom and satisfaction of the soul, and with more
abundant and inward delight than it did at the beginning before it entered
the said night. For its imagination and faculties are no longer bound, as
they were before, by meditation and anxiety of spirit, since it now very
readily finds in its spirit the most serene and loving contemplation and
spiritual sweetness without the labour of meditation; although, as the
purgation of the soul is not complete (for the principal part thereof, which
is that of the spirit, is wanting, without which, owing to the communication
that exists between the one part and the other, [100] since the subject is
one only, the purgation of sense, however violent it may have been, is not
yet complete and perfect), it is never without certain occasional
necessities, aridities, darknesses and perils which are sometimes much more
intense than those of the past, for they are as tokens and heralds of the
coming night of the spirit, and are not of as long duration as will be the
night which is to come. For, having passed through a period, or periods, or
days of this night and tempest, the soul soon returns to its wonted
serenity; and after this manner God purges certain souls which are not to
rise to so high a degree of love as are others, bringing them at times, and
for short periods, into this night of contemplation and purgation of the
spirit, causing night to come upon them and then dawn, and this frequently,
so that the words of David may be fulfilled, that He sends His crystal”that
is, His contemplation”like morsels, [101] although these morsels of dark
contemplation are never as intense as is that terrible night of
contemplation which we are to describe, into which, of set purpose, God
brings the soul that He may lead it to Divine union.

2. This sweetness, then, and this interior pleasure which we are describing,
and which these progressives find and experience in their spirits so easily
and so abundantly, is communicated to them in much greater abundance than
aforetime, overflowing into their senses more than was usual previously to
this purgation of sense; for, inasmuch as the sense is now purer, it can
more easily feel the pleasures of the spirit after its manner. As, however,
this sensual part of the soul is weak and incapable of experiencing the
strong things of the spirit, it follows that these proficients, by reason of
this spiritual communication which is made to their sensual part endure
therein many frailties and sufferings and weaknesses of the stomach, and in
consequence are fatigued in spirit. For, as the Wise Man says:˜The
corruptible body presseth down the soul. [102] Hence comes it that the
communications that are granted to these souls cannot be very strong or very
intense or very spiritual, as is required for Divine union with God, by
reason of the weakness and corruption of the sensual nature which has a part
in them. Hence arise the raptures and trances and dislocations of the bones
which always happen when the communications are not purely spiritual”that
is, are not given to the spirit alone, as are those of the perfect who are
purified by the second night of the spirit, and in whom these raptures and
torments of the body no longer exist, since they are enjoying liberty of
spirit, and their senses are now neither clouded nor transported.

3. And in order that the necessity for such souls to enter this night of the
spirit may be understood, we will here note certain imperfections and perils
which belong to these proficients.
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[99] [Lit.,˜from a narrow prison.]

[100] [i.e., between sense and spirit.]

[101] Psalm cxlvii, 17 [D.V. and A.V.].

[102] Wisdom ix, 15.
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CHAPTER II

Describes other imperfections [103] which belong to these proficients.

THESE proficients have two kinds of imperfection: the one kind is habitual;
the other actual. The habitual imperfections are the imperfect habits and
affections which have remained all the time in the spirit, and are like
roots, to which the purgation of sense has been unable to penetrate. The
difference between the purgation of these and that of this other kind is the
difference between the root and the branch, or between the removing of a
stain which is fresh and one which is old and of long standing. For, as we
said, the purgation of sense is only the entrance and beginning of
contemplation leading to the purgation of the spirit, which, as we have
likewise said, serves rather to accommodate sense to spirit than to unite
spirit with God. But there still remain in the spirit the stains of the old
man, although the spirit thinks not that this is so, neither can it perceive
them; if these stains be not removed with the soap and strong lye of the
purgation of this night, the spirit will be unable to come to the purity of
Divine union.

2. These souls have likewise the hebetudo mentis [104] and the natural
roughness which every man contracts through sin, and the distraction and
outward clinging of the spirit, which must be enlightened, refined and
recollected by the afflictions and perils of that night. These habitual
imperfections belong to all those who have not passed beyond this state of
the proficient; they cannot coexist, as we say, with the perfect state of
union through love.

3. To actual imperfections all are not liable in the same way. Some, whose
spiritual good is so superficial and so readily affected by sense, fall into
greater difficulties and dangers, which we described at the beginning of
this treatise. For, as they find so many and such abundant spiritual
communications and apprehensions, both in sense and in spirit wherein they
oftentimes see imaginary and spiritual visions (for all these things,
together with other delectable feelings, come to many souls in this state,
wherein the devil and their own fancy very commonly practise deceptions on
them), and, as the devil is apt to take such pleasure in impressing upon the
soul and suggesting to it the said apprehensions and feelings, he fascinates
and deludes it with great ease unless it takes the precaution of resigning
itself to God, and of protecting itself strongly, by means of faith, from
all these visions and feelings. For in this state the devil causes many to
believe in vain visions and false prophecies; and strives to make them
presume that God and the saints are speaking with them; and they often trust
their own fancy. And the devil is also accustomed, in this state, to fill
them with presumption and pride, so that they become attracted by vanity and
arrogance, and allow themselves to be seen engaging in outward acts which
appear holy, such as raptures and other manifestations. Thus they become
bold with God, and lose holy fear, which is the key and the custodian of all
the virtues; and in some of these souls so many are the falsehoods and
deceits which tend to multiply, and so inveterate do they grow, that it is
very doubtful if such souls will return to the pure road of virtue and true
spirituality. Into these miseries they fall because they are beginning to
give themselves over to spiritual feelings and apprehensions with too great
security, when they were beginning to make some progress upon the way.

4. There is much more that I might say of these imperfections and of how
they are the more incurable because such souls consider them to be more
spiritual than the others, but I will leave this subject. I shall only add,
in order to prove how necessary, for him that would go farther, is the night
of the spirit, which is purgation, that none of these proficients, however
strenuously he may have laboured, is free, at best, from many of those
natural affections and imperfect habits, purification from which, we said,
is necessary if a soul is to pass to Divine union.

5. And over and above this (as we have said already), inasmuch as the lower
part of the soul still has a share in these spiritual communications, they
cannot be as intense, as pure and as strong as is needful for the aforesaid
union; wherefore, in order to come to this union, the soul must needs enter
into the second night of the spirit, wherein it must strip sense and spirit
perfectly from all these apprehensions and from all sweetness, and be made
to walk in dark and pure faith, which is the proper and adequate means
whereby the soul is united with God, according as Osee says, in these words:
˜I will betroth thee”that is, I will unite thee”with Me through faith.
[105]
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[103] [Lit.,˜Continues with other imperfections.]

[104] [i.e.,˜deadening of the mind.]

[105] Osee ii, 20.
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CHAPTER III

Annotation for that which follows.

THESE souls, then, have now become proficients, because of the time which
they have spent in feeding the senses with sweet communications, so that
their sensual part, being thus attracted and delighted by spiritual
pleasure, which came to it from the spirit, may be united with the spirit
and made one with it; each part after its own manner eating of one and the
same spiritual food and from one and the same dish, as one person and with
one sole intent, so that thus they may in a certain way be united and
brought into agreement, and, thus united, may be prepared for the endurance
of the stern and severe purgation of the spirit which awaits them. In this
purgation these two parts of the soul, the spiritual and the sensual, must
be completely purged, since the one is never truly purged without the other,
the purgation of sense becoming effective when that of the spirit has fairly
begun. Wherefore the night which we have called that of sense may and should
be called a kind of correction and restraint of the desire rather than
purgation. The reason is that all the imperfections and disorders of the
sensual part have their strength and root in the spirit, where all habits,
both good and bad, are brought into subjection, and thus, until these are
purged, the rebellions and depravities of sense cannot be purged thoroughly.

2. Wherefore, in this night following, both parts of the soul are purged
together, and it is for this end that it is well to have passed through the
corrections of the first night, and the period of tranquillity which
proceeds from it, in order that, sense being united with spirit, both may be
purged after a certain manner and may then suffer with greater fortitude.
For very great fortitude is needful for so violent and severe a purgation,
since, if the weakness of the lower part has not first been corrected and
fortitude has not been gained from God through the sweet and delectable
communion which the soul has afterwards enjoyed with Him, its nature will
not have the strength or the disposition to bear it.

3. Therefore, since these proficients are still at a very low stage of
progress, and follow their own nature closely in the intercourse and
dealings which they have with God, because the gold of their spirit is not
yet purified and refined, they still think of God as little children, and
speak of God as little children, and feel and experience God as little
children, even as Saint Paul says, [106] because they have not reached
perfection, which is the union of the soul with God. In the state of union,
however, they will work great things in the spirit, even as grown men, and
their works and faculties will then be Divine rather than human, as will
afterwards be said. To this end God is pleased to strip them of this old man
and clothe them with the new man, who is created according to God, as the
Apostle says, [107] in the newness of sense. He strips their faculties,
affections and feelings, both spiritual and sensual, both outward and
inward, leaving the understanding dark, the will dry, the memory empty and
the affections in the deepest affliction, bitterness and constraint, taking
from the soul the pleasure and experience of spiritual blessings which it
had aforetime, in order to make of this privation one of the principles
which are requisite in the spirit so that there may be introduced into it
and united with it the spiritual form of the spirit, which is the union of
love. All this the Lord works in the soul by means of a pure and dark
contemplation, as the soul explains in the first stanza. This, although we
originally interpreted it with reference to the first night of sense, is
principally understood by the soul of this second night of the spirit, since
this is the principal part of the purification of the soul. And thus we
shall set it down and expound it here again in this sense.
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[106] 1 Corinthians xiii, 11.

[107] [Ephesians iv, 24.]
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CHAPTER IV

Sets down the first stanza and the exposition thereof.

On a dark night, Kindled in love with yearnings”oh, happy chance!”
I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest.

EXPOSITION

INTERPRETING this stanza now with reference to purgation, contemplation or
detachment or poverty of spirit, which here are almost one and the same
thing, we can expound it after this manner and make the soul speak thus: In
poverty, and without protection or support in all the apprehensions of my
soul”that is, in the darkness of my understanding and the constraint of my
will, in affliction and anguish with respect to memory, remaining in the
dark in pure faith, which is dark night for the said natural faculties, the
will alone being touched by grief and afflictions and yearnings for the love
of God”I went forth from myself”that is, from my low manner of
understanding, from my weak mode of loving and from my poor and limited
manner of experiencing God, without being hindered therein by sensuality or
the devil.

2. This was a great happiness and a good chance for me; for, when the
faculties had been perfectly annihilated and calmed, together with the
passions, desires and affections of my soul, wherewith I had experienced and
tasted God after a lowly manner, I went forth from my own human dealings and
operations to the operations and dealings of God. That is to say, my
understanding went forth from itself, turning from the human and natural to
the Divine; for, when it is united with God by means of this purgation, its
understanding no longer comes through its natural light and vigour, but
through the Divine Wisdom wherewith it has become united. And my will went
forth from itself, becoming Divine; for, being united with Divine love, it
no longer loves with its natural strength after a lowly manner, but with
strength and purity from the Holy Spirit; and thus the will, which is now
near to God, acts not after a human manner, and similarly the memory has
become transformed into eternal apprehensions of glory. And finally, by
means of this night and purgation of the old man, all the energies and
affections of the soul are wholly renewed into a Divine temper and Divine
delight.

There follows the line:

On a dark night.
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CHAPTER V

Sets down the first line and begins to explain how this dark contemplation
is not only night for the soul but is also grief and torment.

THIS dark night is an inflowing of God into the soul, which purges it from
its ignorances and imperfections, habitual natural and spiritual, and which
is called by contemplatives infused contemplation, or mystical theology.
Herein God secretly teaches the soul and instructs it in perfection of love
without its doing anything, or understanding of what manner is this infused
contemplation. Inasmuch as it is the loving wisdom of God, God produces
striking effects in the soul for, by purging and illumining it, He prepares
it for the union of love with God. Wherefore the same loving wisdom that
purges the blessed spirits and enlightens them is that which here purges the
soul and illumines it.

2. But the question arises: Why is the Divine light (which as we say,
illumines and purges the soul from its ignorances) here called by the soul a
dark night? To this the answer is that for two reasons this Divine wisdom is
not only night and darkness for the soul, but is likewise affliction and
torment. The first is because of the height of Divine Wisdom, which
transcends the talent of the soul, and in this way is darkness to it; the
second, because of its vileness and impurity, in which respect it is painful
and afflictive to it, and is also dark.

3. In order to prove the first point, we must here assume a certain doctrine
of the philosopher, which says that, the clearer and more manifest are
Divine things in themselves the darker and more hidden are they to the soul
naturally; just as, the clearer is the light, the more it blinds and darkens
the pupil of the owl, and, the more directly we look at the sun, the greater
is the darkness which it causes in our visual faculty, overcoming and
overwhelming it through its own weakness. In the same way, when this Divine
light of contemplation assails the soul which is not yet wholly enlightened,
it causes spiritual darkness in it; for not only does it overcome it, but
likewise it overwhelms it and darkens the act of its natural intelligence.
For this reason Saint Dionysius and other mystical theologians call this
infused contemplation a ray of darkness”that is to say, for the soul that is
not enlightened and purged”for the natural strength of the intellect is
transcended and overwhelmed by its great supernatural light. Wherefore David
likewise said: That near to God and round about Him are darkness and cloud;
[108] not that this is so in fact, but that it is so to our weak
understanding, which is blinded and darkened by so vast a light, to which it
cannot attain. [109] For this cause the same David then explained himself,
saying:˜Through the great splendour of His presence passed clouds [110]
”that is, between God and our understanding. And it is for this cause that,
when God sends it out from Himself to the soul that is not yet transformed,
this illumining ray of His secret wisdom causes thick darkness in the
understanding.

4. And it is clear that this dark contemplation is in these its beginnings
painful likewise to the soul; for, as this Divine infused contemplation has
many excellences that are extremely good, and the soul that receives them,
not being purged, has many miseries that are likewise extremely bad, hence
it follows that, as two contraries cannot coexist in one subject”the soul”it
must of necessity have pain and suffering, since it is the subject wherein
these two contraries war against each other, working the one against the
other, by reason of the purgation of the imperfections of the soul which
comes to pass through this contemplation. This we shall prove inductively in
the manner following.

5. In the first place, because the light and wisdom of this contemplation is
most bright and pure, and the soul which it assails is dark and impure, it
follows that the soul suffers great pain when it receives it in itself, just
as, when the eyes are dimmed by humours, and become impure and weak, the
assault made upon them by a bright light causes them pain. And when the soul
suffers the direct assault of this Divine light, its pain, which results
from its impurity, is immense; because, when this pure light assails the
soul, in order to expel its impurity, the soul feels itself to be so impure
and miserable that it believes God to be against it, and thinks that it has
set itself up against God. This causes it sore grief and pain, because it
now believes that God has cast it away: this was one of the greatest trials
which Job felt when God sent him this experience, and he said:˜Why hast
Thou set me contrary to Thee, so that I am grievous and burdensome to
myself? [111] For, by means of this pure light, the soul now sees its
impurity clearly (although darkly), and knows clearly that it is unworthy of
God or of any creature. And what gives it most pain is that it thinks that
it will never be worthy and that its good things are all over for it. This
is caused by the profound immersion of its spirit in the knowledge and
realization of its evils and miseries; for this Divine and dark light now
reveals them all to the eye, that it may see clearly how in its own strength
it can never have aught else. In this sense we may understand that passage
from David, which says:˜For iniquity Thou hast corrected man and hast made
his soul to be undone and consumed: he wastes away as the spider. [112]

6. The second way in which the soul suffers pain is by reason of its
weakness, natural, moral and spiritual; for, when this Divine contemplation
assails the soul with a certain force, in order to strengthen it and subdue
it, it suffers such pain in its weakness that it nearly swoons away. This is
especially so at certain times when it is assailed with somewhat greater
force; for sense and spirit, as if beneath some immense and dark load, are
in such great pain and agony that the soul would find advantage and relief
in death. This had been experienced by the prophet Job, when he said:˜I
desire not that He should have intercourse with me in great strength, lest
He oppress me with the weight of His greatness. [113]

7. Beneath the power of this oppression and weight the soul feels itself so
far from being favoured that it thinks, and correctly so, that even that
wherein it was wont to find some help has vanished with everything else, and
that there is none who has pity upon it. To this effect Job says likewise:
˜Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, at least ye my friends, because the
hand of the Lord has touched me. [114] A thing of great wonder and pity is
it that the souls weakness and impurity should now be so great that, though
the hand of God is of itself so light and gentle, the soul should now feel
it to be so heavy and so contrary, [115] though it neither weighs it down
nor rests upon it, but only touches it, and that mercifully, since He does
this in order to grant the soul favours and not to chastise it.
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[108] Psalm xcvi, 2 [A.V., xcvii, 2].

[109] [Lit.,˜not attaining.]

[110] Psalm xvii, 13, [A.V., xviii, 12].

[111] Job vii, 20.

[112] Psalm xxxviii, 12 [A.V., xxxix, 11].

[113] Job xxiii, 6.

[114] Job xix, 21.

[115] [There is a reference here to Job vii, 20: cf. sect. 5, above.]
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CHAPTER VI

Of other kinds of pain that the soul suffers in this night.

THE third kind of suffering and pain that the soul endures in this state
results from the fact that two other extremes meet here in one, namely, the
Divine and the human. The Divine is this purgative contemplation, and the
human is the subject”that is, the soul. The Divine assails the soul in order
to renew it and thus to make it Divine; and, stripping it of the habitual
affections and attachments of the old man, to which it is very closely
united, knit together and conformed, destroys and consumes its spiritual
substance, and absorbs it in deep and profound darkness. As a result of
this, the soul feels itself to be perishing and melting away, in the
presence and sight of its miseries, in a cruel spiritual death, even as if
it had been swallowed by a beast and felt itself being devoured in the
darkness of its belly, suffering such anguish as was endured by Jonas in the
belly of that beast of the sea. [116] For in this sepulchre of dark death it
must needs abide until the spiritual resurrection which it hopes for.

2. A description of this suffering and pain, although in truth it transcends
all description, is given by David, when he says:˜The lamentations of death
compassed me about; the pains of hell surrounded me; I cried in my
tribulation. [117] But what the sorrowful soul feels most in this condition
is its clear perception, as it thinks, that God has abandoned it, and, in
His abhorrence of it, has flung it into darkness; it is a grave and piteous
grief for it to believe that God has forsaken it. It is this that David also
felt so much in a like case, saying:˜After the manner wherein the wounded
are dead in the sepulchres, being now cast off by Thy hand, so that Thou
rememberest them no more, even so have they set me in the deepest and lowest
lake, in the dark places and in the shadow of death, and Thy fury is
confirmed upon me and all Thy waves Thou hast brought in upon me. [118] For
indeed, when this purgative contemplation is most severe, the soul feels
very keenly the shadow of death and the lamentations of death and the pains
of hell, which consist in its feeling itself to be without God, and
chastised and cast out, and unworthy of Him; and it feels that He is wroth
with it. All this is felt by the soul in this condition”yea, and more, for
it believes that it is so with it for ever.

3. It feels, too, that all creatures have forsaken it, and that it is
contemned by them, particularly by its friends. Wherefore David presently
continues, saying: Thou hast put far from me my friends and acquaintances;
they have counted me an abomination. [119] To all this will Jonas testify,
as one who likewise experienced it in the belly of the beast, both bodily
and spiritually.˜Thou hast cast me forth (he says) into the deep, into the
heart of the sea, and the flood hath compassed me; all its billows and waves
have passed over me. And I said,œI am cast away out of the sight of Thine
eyes, but I shall once again see Thy holy temple (which he says, because
God purifies the soul in this state that it may see His temple); the waters
compassed me, even to the soul, the deep hath closed me round about, the
ocean hath covered my head, I went down to the lowest parts of the
mountains; the bars of the earth have shut me up for ever. [120] By these
bars are here understood, in this sense, imperfections of the soul, which
have impeded it from enjoying this delectable contemplation.

4. The fourth kind of pain is caused in the soul by another excellence of
this dark contemplation, which is its majesty and greatness, from which
arises in the soul a consciousness of the other extreme which is in
itself”namely, that of the deepest poverty and wretchedness: this is one of
the chiefest pains that it suffers in this purgation. For it feels within
itself a profound emptiness and impoverishment of three kinds of good, which
are ordained for the pleasure of the soul which are the temporal, the
natural and the spiritual; and finds itself set in the midst of the evils
contrary to these, namely, miseries of imperfection, aridity and emptiness
of the apprehensions of the faculties and abandonment of the spirit in
darkness. Inasmuch as God here purges the soul according to the substance of
its sense and spirit, and according to the interior and exterior faculties,
the soul must needs be in all its parts reduced to a state of emptiness,
poverty and abandonment and must be left dry and empty and in darkness. For
the sensual part is purified in aridity, the faculties are purified in the
emptiness of their perceptions and the spirit is purified in thick darkness.

5. All this God brings to pass by means of this dark contemplation; wherein
the soul not only suffers this emptiness and the suspension of these natural
supports and perceptions, which is a most afflictive suffering (as if a man
were suspended or held in the air so that he could not breathe), but
likewise He is purging the soul, annihilating it, emptying it or consuming
in it (even as fire consumes the mouldiness and the rust of metal) all the
affections and imperfect habits which it has contracted in its whole life.
Since these are deeply rooted in the substance of the soul, it is wont to
suffer great undoings and inward torment, besides the said poverty and
emptiness, natural and spiritual, so that there may here be fulfilled that
passage from Ezechiel which says:˜Heap together the bones and I will burn
them in the fire; the flesh shall be consumed and the whole composition
shall be burned and the bones shall be destroyed. [121] Herein is
understood the pain which is suffered in the emptiness and poverty of the
substance of the soul both in sense and in spirit. And concerning this he
then says:set it also empty upon the coals, that its metal may become hot
and molten, and its uncleanness may be destroyed within it, and its rust may
be consumed. [122] Herein is described the grave suffering which the soul
here endures in the purgation of the fire of this contemplation, for the
Prophet says here that, in order for the rust of the affections which are
within the soul to be purified and destroyed, it is needful that, in a
certain manner, the soul itself should be annihilated and destroyed, since
these passions and imperfections have become natural to it.

6. Wherefore, because the soul is purified in this furnace like gold in a
crucible, as says the Wise Man, [123] it is conscious of this complete
undoing of itself in its very substance, together with the direst poverty,
wherein it is, as it were, nearing its end, as may be seen by that which
David says of himself in this respect, in these words:save me, Lord (he
cries to God), for the waters have come in even unto my soul; I am made fast
in the mire of the deep and there is no place where I can stand; I am come
into the depth of the sea and a tempest hath overwhelmed me; I have laboured
crying, my throat has become hoarse, mine eyes have failed whilst I hope in
my God. [124] Here God greatly humbles the soul in order that He may
afterwards greatly exalt it; and if He ordained not that, when these
feelings arise within the soul, they should speedily be stilled, it would
die in a very short space; but there are only occasional periods when it is
conscious of their greatest intensity. At times, however, they are so keen
that the soul seems to be seeing hell and perdition opened. Of such are they
that in truth go down alive into hell, being purged here on earth in the
same manner as there, since this purgation is that which would have to be
accomplished there. And thus the soul that passes through this either enters
not that place [125] at all, or tarries there but for a very short time; for
one hour of purgation here is more profitable than are many there.
_________________________________________________________________

[116] Jonas ii, 1.

[117]

[118] Psalm lxxxvii, 6-8 [A.V., lxxxviii, 5-7].

[119] Psalm lxxxvii, 9 [A.V., lxxxviii, 8].

[120] Jonas ii, 4-7 [A.V., ii, 3-6].

[121] Ezechiel xxiv, 10.

[122] Ezechiel xxiv, 11.

[123] Wisdom iii, 6.

[124] Psalm lxviii, 2-4 [A.V., lxix, 1-3].

[125] [i.e., purgatory.]
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CHAPTER VII

Continues the same matter and considers other afflictions end constraints
of the will.

THE afflictions and constraints of the will are now very great likewise, and
of such a kind that they sometimes transpierce the soul with a sudden
remembrance of the evils in the midst of which it finds itself, and with the
uncertainty of finding a remedy for them. And to this is added the
remembrance of times of prosperity now past; for as a rule souls that enter
this night have had many consolations from God, and have rendered Him many
services, and it causes them the greater grief to see that they are far
removed from that happiness and unable to enter into it. This was also
described by Job, who had had experience of it, in these words:˜I, who was
wont to be wealthy and rich, am suddenly undone and broken to pieces; He
hath taken me by my neck; He hath broken me and set me up for His mark to
wound me; He hath compassed me round about with His lances; He hath wounded
all my loins; He hath not spared; He hath poured out my bowels on the earth;
He hath broken me with wound upon wound; He hath assailed me as a strong
giant; I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and have covered my flesh with
ashes; my face is become swollen with weeping and mine eyes are blinded.
[126]

2. So many and so grievous are the afflictions of this night, and so many
passages of Scripture are there which could be cited to this purpose, that
time and strength would fail us to write of them, for all that can be said
thereof is certainly less than the truth. From the passages already quoted
some idea may be gained of them. And, that we may bring the exposition of
this line to a close and explain more fully what is worked in the soul by
this night, I shall tell what Jeremias felt about it, which, since there is
so much of it, he describes and bewails in many words after this manner:˜I
am the man that see my poverty in the rod of His indignation; He hath
threatened me and brought me into darkness and not into light. So far hath
He turned against me and hath converted His hand upon me all the day! My
skin and my flesh hath He made old; He hath broken my bones; He hath made a
fence around me and compassed me with gall and trial; He hath set me in dark
places, as those that are dead for ever. He hath made a fence around me and
against me, that I may not go out; He hath made my captivity heavy. Yea, and
when I have cried and have entreated, He hath shut out my prayer. He hath
enclosed my paths and ways out with square stones; He hath thwarted my
steps. He hath set ambushes for me; He hath become to me a lion in a secret
place. He hath turned aside my steps and broken me in pieces, He hath made
me desolate; He hath bent His bow and set me as a mark for His arrow. He
hath shot into my reins the daughters of His quiver. I have become a
derision to all the people, and laughter and scorn for them all the day. He
hath filled me with bitterness and hath made me drunken with wormwood. He
hath broken my teeth by number; He hath fed me with ashes. My soul is cast
out from peace; I have forgotten good things. And I said:œMine end is
frustrated and cut short, together with my desire and my hope from the Lord.
Remember my poverty and my excess, the wormwood and the gall. I shall be
mindful with remembrance and my soul shall be undone within me in pains.
[127]

3. All these complaints Jeremias makes about these pains and trials, and by
means of them he most vividly depicts the sufferings of the soul in this
spiritual night and purgation. Wherefore the soul that God sets in this
tempestuous and horrible night is deserving of great compassion. For,
although it experiences much happiness by reason of the great blessings that
must arise on this account within it, when, as Job says, God raises up
profound blessings in the soul out of darkness, and brings up to light the
shadow of death, [128] so that, as David says, His light comes to be as was
His darkness; [129] yet notwithstanding, by reason of the dreadful pain
which the soul is suffering, and of the great uncertainty which it has
concerning the remedy for it, since it believes, as this prophet says here,
that its evil will never end, and it thinks, as David says likewise, that
God set it in dark places like those that are dead, [130] and for this
reason brought its spirit within it into anguish and troubled its heart,
[131] it suffers great pain and grief, since there is added to all this
(because of the solitude and abandonment caused in it by this dark night)
the fact that it finds no consolation or support in any instruction nor in a
spiritual master. For, although in many ways its director may show it good
reason for being comforted because of the blessings which are contained in
these afflictions, it cannot believe him. For it is so greatly absorbed and
immersed in the realization of those evils wherein it sees its own miseries
so clearly, that it thinks that, as its director observes not that which it
sees and feels, he is speaking in this manner because he understands it not;
and so, instead of comfort, it rather receives fresh affliction, since it
believes that its directors advice contains no remedy for its troubles.
And, in truth, this is so; for, until the Lord shall have completely purged
it after the manner that He wills, no means or remedy is of any service or
profit for the relief of its affliction; the more so because the soul is as
powerless in this case as one who has been imprisoned in a dark dungeon, and
is bound hand and foot, and can neither move nor see, nor feel any favour
whether from above or from below, until the spirit is humbled, softened and
purified, and grows so keen and delicate and pure that it can become one
with the Spirit of God, according to the degree of union of love which His
mercy is pleased to grant it; in proportion to this the purgation is of
greater or less severity and of greater or less duration.

4. But, if it is to be really effectual, it will last for some years,
however severe it be; since the purgative process allows intervals of relief
wherein, by the dispensation of God, this dark contemplation ceases to
assail the soul in the form and manner of purgation, and assails it after an
illuminative and a loving manner, wherein the soul, like one that has gone
forth from this dungeon and imprisonment, and is brought into the recreation
of spaciousness and liberty, feels and experiences great sweetness of peace
and loving friendship with God, together with a ready abundance of spiritual
communication. This is to the soul a sign of the health which is being
wrought within it by the said purgation and a foretaste of the abundance for
which it hopes. Occasionally this is so great that the soul believes its
trials to be at last over. For spiritual things in the soul, when they are
most purely spiritual, have this characteristic that, if trials come to it,
the soul believes that it will never escape from them, and that all its
blessings are now over, as has been seen in the passages quoted; and, if
spiritual blessings come, the soul believes in the same way that its
troubles are now over, and that blessings will never fail it. This was so
with David, when he found himself in the midst of them, as he confesses in
these words:˜I said in my abundance:œI shall never be moved. [132]

5. This happens because the actual possession by the spirit of one of two
contrary things itself makes impossible the actual possession and
realization of the other contrary thing; this is not so, however, in the
sensual part of the soul, because its apprehension is weak. But, as the
spirit is not yet completely purged and cleansed from the affections that it
has contracted from its lower part, while changing not in so far as it is
spirit, it can be moved to further afflictions in so far as these affections
sway it. In this way, as we see, David was afterwards moved, and experienced
many ills and afflictions, although in the time of his abundance he had
thought and said that he would never be moved. Just so is it with the soul
in this condition, when it sees itself moved by that abundance of spiritual
blessings, and, being unable to see the root of the imperfection and
impurity which still remain within it, thinks that its trials are over.

6. This thought, however, comes to the soul but seldom, for, until spiritual
purification is complete and perfected, the sweet communication is very
rarely so abundant as to conceal from the soul the root which remains
hidden, in such a way that the soul can cease to feel that there is
something that it lacks within itself or that it has still to do. Thus it
cannot completely enjoy that relief, but feels as if one of its enemies were
within it, and although this enemy is, as it were, hushed and asleep, it
fears that he will come to life again and attack it. [133] And this is what
indeed happens, for, when the soul is most secure and least alert, it is
dragged down and immersed again in another and a worse degree of affliction
which is severer and darker and more grievous than that which is past; and
this new affliction will continue for a further period of time, perhaps
longer than the first. And the soul once more comes to believe that all its
blessings are over for ever. Although it had thought during its first trial
that there were no more afflictions which it could suffer, and yet, after
the trial was over, it enjoyed great blessings, this experience is not
sufficient to take away its belief, during this second degree of trial, that
all is now over for it and that it will never again be happy as in the past.
For, as I say, this belief, of which the soul is so sure, is caused in it by
the actual apprehension of the spirit, which annihilates within it all that
is contrary to it.

7. This is the reason why those who lie in purgatory suffer great misgivings
as to whether they will ever go forth from it and whether their pains will
ever be over. For, although they have the habit of the three theological
virtues”faith, hope and charity”the present realization which they have of
their afflictions and of their deprivation of God allows them not to enjoy
the present blessing and consolation of these virtues. For, although they
are able to realize that they have a great love for God, this is no
consolation to them, since they cannot think that God loves them or that
they are worthy that He should do so; rather, as they see that they are
deprived of Him, and left in their own miseries, they think that there is
that in themselves which provides a very good reason why they should with
perfect justice be abhorred and cast out by God for ever. [134] And thus
although the soul in this purgation is conscious that it has a great love
for God and would give a thousand lives for Him (which is the truth, for in
these trials such souls love their God very earnestly), yet this is no
relief to it, but rather brings it greater affliction. For it loves Him so
much that it cares about naught beside; when, therefore, it sees itself to
be so wretched that it cannot believe that God loves it, nor that there is
or will ever be reason why He should do so, but rather that there is reason
why it should be abhorred, not only by Him, but by all creatures for ever,
it is grieved to see in itself reasons for deserving to be cast out by Him
for Whom it has such great love and desire.
_________________________________________________________________

[126] Job xvi, 13-17 [A.V., xvi, 12-16].

[127] Lamentations iii, 1-20.

[128] Job xii, 22.

[129] Psalm cxxxviii, 12 [A.V., cxxxix, 12].

[130] [Lit.,˜like to the dead of the world (or of the age).]

[131] Psalm cxlii, 3 [A.V., cxliii, 3-4].

[132] Psalm xxix, 7 [A.V., xxx, 6].

[133] [Lit.,˜and play his tricks upon it.]

[134] B. Bz., C, H. Mtr. all have this long passage on the suffering of the
soul in Purgatory. It would be rash, therefore, to deny that St. John of the
Cross is its author, [or to suppose, as P. Gerardo did, that he deleted it
during a revision of his works]. An admirably constructed synthesis of these
questions will be found in B. Belarmino, De Purgatorio, Bk. II, chaps. iv,
v. He asks if souls in Purgatory are sure of their salvation. This was
denied by Luther, and by a number of Catholic writers, who held that, among
the afflictions of these souls, the greatest is this very uncertainty, some
maintain that, though they have in fact such certainty, they are unaware of
it. Belarmino quotes among other authorities Denis the Carthusian De
quattuor novissimis, Gerson (Lect. I De Vita Spirituali) and John of
Rochester (against Luthers 32nd article); these writers claim that, as sin
which is venial is only so through the Divine mercy, it may with perfect
justice be rewarded by eternal punishment, and thus souls that have
committed venial sin cannot be confident of their salvation. He also shows,
however, that the common opinion of theologians is that the souls in
Purgatory are sure of their salvation, and considers various degrees of
certainty, adding very truly that, while these souls experience no fear,
they experience hope, since they have not yet the Beatific vision.
Uncertainty as to their salvation, it is said, might arise from ignorance of
the sentence passed upon them by the Judge or from the deadening of their
faculties by the torments which they are suffering. Belarmino refutes these
and other suppositions with great force and effect. St. John of the Cross
seems to be referring to the last named when he writes of the realization of
their afflictions and their deprivation of God not allowing them to enjoy
the blessings of the theological virtues. It is not surprising if the Saint,
not having examined very closely this question, of which he would have read
treatments in various authors, thought of it principally as an apt
illustration of the purifying and refining effects of passive purgation; and
an apt illustration it certainly is.
_________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER VIII

Of other pains which afflict the soul in this state.

BUT there is another thing here that afflicts and distresses the soul
greatly, which is that, as this dark night has hindered its faculties and
affections in this way, it is unable to raise its affection or its mind to
God, neither can it pray to Him, thinking, as Jeremias thought concerning
himself, that God has set a cloud before it through which its prayer cannot
pass. [135] For it is this that is meant by that which is said in the
passage referred to, namely: He hath shut and enclosed my paths with
square stones. [136] And if it sometimes prays it does so with such lack of
strength and of sweetness that it thinks that God neither hears it nor pays
heed to it, as this Prophet likewise declares in the same passage, saying:
˜When I cry and entreat, He hath shut out my prayer. [137] In truth this is
no time for the soul to speak with God; it should rather put its mouth in
the dust, as Jeremias says, so that perchance there may come to it some
present hope, [138] and it may endure its purgation with patience. It is God
Who is passively working here in the soul; wherefore the soul can do
nothing. Hence it can neither pray nor pay attention when it is present at
the Divine offices, [139] much less can it attend to other things and
affairs which are temporal. Not only so, but it has likewise such
distractions and times of such profound forgetfulness of the memory that
frequent periods pass by without its knowing what it has been doing or
thinking, or what it is that it is doing or is going to do, neither can it
pay attention, although it desire to do so, to anything that occupies it.

2. Inasmuch as not only is the understanding here purged of its light, and
the will of its affections, but the memory is also purged of meditation and
knowledge, it is well that it be likewise annihilated with respect to all
these things, so that that which David says of himself in this purgation may
by fulfilled, namely: I was annihilated and I knew not. [140] This
unknowing refers to these follies and forgetfulnesses of the memory, which
distractions and forgetfulnesses are caused by the interior recollection
wherein this contemplation absorbs the soul. For, in order that the soul may
be divinely prepared and tempered with its faculties for the Divine union of
love, it would be well for it to be first of all absorbed, with all its
faculties, in this Divine and dark spiritual light of contemplation, and
thus to be withdrawn from all the affections and apprehensions of the
creatures, which condition ordinarily continues in proportion to its
intensity. And thus, the simpler and the purer is this Divine light in its
assault upon the soul, the more does it darken it, void it and annihilate it
according to its particular apprehensions and affections, with regard both
to things above and to things below; and similarly, the less simple and pure
is it in this assault, the less deprivation it causes it and the less dark
is it. Now this is a thing that seems incredible, to say that, the brighter
and purer is supernatural and Divine light, the more it darkens the soul,
and that, the less bright and pure is it, the less dark it is to the soul.
Yet this may readily be understood if we consider what has been proved above
by the dictum of the philosopher”namely, that the brighter and the more
manifest in themselves are supernatural things the darker are they to our
understanding.

3. And, to the end that this may be understood the more clearly, we shall
here set down a similitude referring to common and natural light. We observe
that a ray of sunlight which enters through the window is the less clearly
visible according as it is the purer and freer from specks, and the more of
such specks and motes there are in the air, the brighter is the light to the
eye. The reason is that it is not the light itself that is seen; the light
is but the means whereby the other things that it strikes are seen, and then
it is also seen itself, through its reflection in them; were it not for
this, neither it nor they would have been seen. Thus if the ray of sunlight
entered through the window of one room and passed out through another on the
other side, traversing the room, and if it met nothing on the way, or if
there were no specks in the air for it to strike, the room would have no
more light than before, neither would the ray of light be visible. In fact,
if we consider it carefully, there is more darkness where the ray is, since
it absorbs and obscures any other light, and yet it is itself invisible,
because, as we have said, there are no visible objects which it can strike.

4. Now this is precisely what this Divine ray of contemplation does in the
soul. Assailing it with its Divine light, it transcends the natural power of
the soul, and herein it darkens it and deprives it of all natural affections
and apprehensions which it apprehended aforetime by means of natural light;
and thus it leaves it not only dark, but likewise empty, according to its
faculties and desires, both spiritual and natural. And, by thus leaving it
empty and in darkness, it purges and illumines it with Divine spiritual
light, although the soul thinks not that it has this light, but believes
itself to be in darkness, even as we have said of the ray of light, which
although it be in the midst of the room, yet, if it be pure and meet nothing
on its path, is not visible. With regard, however, to this spiritual light
by which the soul is assailed, when it has something to strike”that is, when
something spiritual presents itself to be understood, however small a speck
it be and whether of perfection or imperfection, or whether it be a judgment
of the falsehood or the truth of a thing”it then sees and understands much
more clearly than before it was in these dark places. And exactly in the
same way it discerns the spiritual light which it has in order that it may
readily discern the imperfection which is presented to it; even as, when the
ray of which we have spoken, within the room, is dark and not itself
visible, if one introduce a hand or any other thing into its path, the hand
is then seen and it is realized that that sunlight is present.

5. Wherefore, since this spiritual light is so simple, pure and general, not
appropriated or restricted to any particular thing that can be understood,
whether natural or Divine (since with respect to all these apprehensions the
faculties of the soul are empty and annihilated), it follows that with great
comprehensiveness and readiness the soul discerns and penetrates whatsoever
thing presents itself to it, whether it come from above or from below; for
which cause the Apostle said: That the spiritual man searches all things,
even the deep things of God. [141] For by this general and simple wisdom is
understood that which the Holy Spirit says through the Wise Man, namely:
That it reaches wheresoever it wills by reason of its purity; [142] that is
to say, because it is not restricted to any particular object of the
intellect or affection. And this is the characteristic of the spirit that is
purged and annihilated with respect to all particular affections and objects
of the understanding, that in this state wherein it has pleasure in nothing
and understands nothing in particular, but dwells in its emptiness, darkness
and obscurity, it is fully prepared to embrace everything to the end that
those words of Saint Paul may be fulfilled in it: Nihil habentes, et omnia
possidentes. [143] For such poverty of spirit as this would deserve such
happiness.
_________________________________________________________________

[135] Lamentations iii, 44.

[136] [Lamentations iii, 9.]

[137] Lamentations iii, 9.

[138] Lamentations iii, 28.

[139] [Lit.,˜at the Divine things.]

[140] Psalm lxxii, 22 [A.V., lxxiii, 22].

[141] 1 Corinthians ii, 10. [Lit.,˜penetrates all things.]

[142] Wisdom vii, 24.

[143] 2 Corinthians vi, 10.
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CHAPTER IX

How, although this night brings darkness to the spirit, it does so in
order to illumine it and give it light.

IT now remains to be said that, although this happy night brings darkness to
the spirit, it does so only to give it light in everything; and that,
although it humbles it and makes it miserable, it does so only to exalt it
and to raise it up; and, although it impoverishes it and empties it of all
natural affection and attachment, it does so only that it may enable it to
stretch forward, divinely, and thus to have fruition and experience of all
things, both above and below, yet to preserve its unrestricted liberty of
spirit in them all. For just as the elements, in order that they may have a
part in all natural entities and compounds, must have no particular colour,
odour or taste, so as to be able to combine with all tastes odours and
colours, just so must the spirit be simple, pure and detached from all kinds
of natural affection, whether actual or habitual, to the end that it may be
able freely to share in the breadth of spirit of the Divine Wisdom, wherein,
through its purity, it has experience of all the sweetness of all things in
a certain pre-eminently excellent way. [144] And without this purgation it
will be wholly unable to feel or experience the satisfaction of all this
abundance of spiritual sweetness. For one single affection remaining in the
spirit, or one particular thing to which, actually or habitually, it clings,
suffices to hinder it from feeling or experiencing or communicating the
delicacy and intimate sweetness of the spirit of love, which contains within
itself all sweetness to a most eminent degree. [145]

2. For, even as the children of Israel, solely because they retained one
single affection and remembrance”namely, with respect to the fleshpots and
the meals which they had tasted in Egypt [146]”could not relish the
delicate bread of angels, in the desert, which was the manna, which, as the
Divine Scripture says, held sweetness for every taste and turned to the
taste that each one desired; [147] even so the spirit cannot succeed in
enjoying the delights of the spirit of liberty, according to the desire of
the will, if it be still affectioned to any desire, whether actual or
habitual, or to particular objects of understanding, or to any other
apprehension. The reason for this is that the affections, feelings and
apprehensions of the perfect spirit, being Divine, are of another kind and
of a very different order from those that are natural. They are pre-eminent,
so that, in order both actually and habitually to possess the one, it is
needful to expel and annihilate the other, as with two contrary things,
which cannot exist together in one person. Therefore it is most fitting and
necessary, if the soul is to pass to these great things, that this dark
night of contemplation should first of all annihilate and undo it in its
meannesses, bringing it into darkness, aridity, affliction and emptiness;
for the light which is to be given to it is a Divine light of the highest
kind, which transcends all natural light, and which by nature can find no
place in the understanding.

3. And thus it is fitting that, if the understanding is to be united with
that light and become Divine in the state of perfection, it should first of
all be purged and annihilated as to its natural light, and, by means of this
dark contemplation, be brought actually into darkness. This darkness should
continue for as long as is needful in order to expel and annihilate the
habit which the soul has long since formed in its manner of understanding,
and the Divine light and illumination will then take its place. And thus,
inasmuch as that power of understanding which it had aforetime is natural,
it follows that the darkness which it here suffers is profound and horrible
and most painful, for this darkness, being felt in the deepest substance of
the spirit, seems to be substantial darkness. Similarly, since the affection
of love which is to be given to it in the Divine union of love is Divine,
and therefore very spiritual, subtle and delicate, and very intimate,
transcending every affection and feeling of the will, and every desire
thereof, it is fitting that, in order that the will may be able to attain to
this Divine affection and most lofty delight, and to feel it and experience
it through the union of love, since it is not, in the way of nature,
perceptible to the will, it be first of all purged and annihilated in all
its affections and feelings, and left in a condition of aridity and
constraint, proportionate to the habit of natural affections which it had
before, with respect both to Divine things and to human. Thus, being
exhausted, withered and thoroughly tried in the fire of this dark
contemplation, and having driven away every kind [148] of evil spirit (as
with the heart of the fish which Tobias set on the coals [149] ), it may
have a simple and pure disposition, and its palate may be purged and
healthy, so that it may feel the rare and sublime touches of Divine love,
wherein it will see itself divinely transformed, and all the contrarieties,
whether actual or habitual, which it had aforetime, will be expelled, as we
are saying.

4. Moreover, in order to attain the said union to which this dark night is
disposing and leading it, the soul must be filled and endowed with a certain
glorious magnificence in its communion with God, which includes within
itself innumerable blessings springing from delights which exceed all the
abundance that the soul can naturally possess. For by nature the soul is so
weak and impure that it cannot receive all this. As Isaias says:˜Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, that
which God hath prepared, etc. [150] It is meet, then, that the soul be
first of all brought into emptiness and poverty of spirit and purged from
all help, consolation and natural apprehension with respect to all things,
both above and below. In this way, being empty, it is able indeed to be poor
in spirit and freed from the old man, in order to live that new and blessed
life which is attained by means of this night, and which is the state of
union with God.

5. And because the soul is to attain to the possession of a sense, and of a
Divine knowledge, which is very generous and full of sweetness, with respect
to things Divine and human, which fall not within the common experience and
natural knowledge of the soul (because it looks on them with eyes as
different from those of the past as spirit is different from sense and the
Divine from the human), the spirit must be straitened [151] and inured to
hardships as regards its common and natural experience, and be brought by
means of this purgative contemplation into great anguish and affliction, and
the memory must be borne far from all agreeable and peaceful knowledge, and
have an intimated sense and feeling that it is making a pilgrimage and being
a stranger to all things, so that it seems to it that all things are strange
and of a different kind from that which they were wont to be. For this night
is gradually drawing the spirit away from its ordinary and common experience
of things and bringing it nearer the Divine sense, which is a stranger and
an alien to all human ways. It seems now to the soul that it is going forth
from its very self, with much affliction. At other times it wonders if it is
under a charm or a spell, and it goes about marvelling at the things that it
sees and hears, which seem to it very strange and rare, though they are the
same that it was accustomed to experience aforetime. The reason of this is
that the soul is now becoming alien and remote from common sense and
knowledge of things, in order that, being annihilated in this respect, it
may be informed with the Divine”which belongs rather to the next life than
to this.

6. The soul suffers all these afflictive purgations of the spirit to the end
that it may be begotten anew in spiritual life by means of this Divine
inflowing, and in these pangs may bring forth the spirit of salvation, that
the saying of Isaias may be fulfilled:˜In Thy sight, O Lord, we have
conceived, and we have been as in the pangs of labour, and we have brought
forth the spirit of salvation. [152] Moreover, since by means of this
contemplative night the soul is prepared for the attainment of inward peace
and tranquillity, which is of such a kind and so delectable that, as the
Scripture says, it passes all understanding, [153] it behoves the soul to
abandon all its former peace. This was in reality no peace at all, since it
was involved in imperfections; but to the soul aforementioned it appeared to
be so, because it was following its own inclinations, which were for peace.
It seemed, indeed, to be a twofold peace”that is, the soul believed that it
had already acquired the peace of sense and that of spirit, for it found
itself to be full of the spiritual abundance of this peace of sense and of
spirit”as I say, it is still imperfect. First of all, then, it must be
purged of that former peace and disquieted concerning it and withdrawn from
it. [154] Even so was Jeremias when, in the passage which we quoted from
him, he felt and lamented [155] thus, in order to express the calamities of
this night that is past, saying:˜My soul is withdrawn and removed from
peace. [156]

7. This is a painful disturbance, involving many misgivings, imaginings, and
strivings which the soul has within itself, wherein, with the apprehension
and realization of the miseries in which it sees itself, it fancies that it
is lost and that its blessings have gone for ever. Wherefore the spirit
experiences pain and sighing so deep that they cause it vehement spiritual
groans and cries, to which at times it gives vocal expression; when it has
the necessary strength and power it dissolves into tears, although this
relief comes but seldom. David describes this very aptly, in a Psalm, as one
who has had experience of it, where he says:˜I was exceedingly afflicted
and humbled; I roared with the groaning of my heart. [157] This roaring
implies great pain; for at times, with the sudden and acute remembrance of
these miseries wherein the soul sees itself, pain and affliction rise up and
surround it, and I know not how the affections of the soul could be
described [158] save in the similitude of holy Job, when he was in the same
trials, and uttered these words:˜Even as the overflowing of the waters,
even so is my roaring. [159] For just as at times the waters make such
inundations that they overwhelm and fill everything, so at times this
roaring and this affliction of the soul grow to such an extent that they
overwhelm it and penetrate it completely, filling it with spiritual pain and
anguish in all its deep affections and energies, to an extent surpassing all
possibility of exaggeration.

8. Such is the work wrought in the soul by this night that hides the hopes
of the light of day. With regard to this the prophet Job says likewise:˜In
the night my mouth is pierced with sorrows and they that feed upon me sleep
not. [160] Now here by the mouth is understood the will, which is
transpierced with these pains that tear the soul to pieces, neither ceasing
nor sleeping, for the doubts and misgivings which transpierce the soul in
this way never cease.

9. Deep is this warfare and this striving, for the peace which the soul
hopes for will be very deep; and the spiritual pain is intimate and
delicate, for the love which it will possess will likewise be very intimate
and refined. The more intimate and the more perfect the finished work is to
be and to remain, the more intimate, perfect and pure must be the labour;
the firmer the edifice, the harder the labour. Wherefore, as Job says, the
soul is fading within itself, and its vitals are being consumed without any
hope. [161] Similarly, because in the state of perfection toward which it
journeys by means of this purgative night the soul will attain to the
possession and fruition of innumerable blessings, of gifts and virtues, both
according to the substance of the soul and likewise according to its
faculties, it must needs see and feel itself withdrawn from them all and
deprived of them all and be empty and poor without them; and it must needs
believe itself to be so far from them that it cannot persuade itself that it
will ever reach them, but rather it must be convinced that all its good
things are over. The words of Jeremias have a similar meaning in that
passage already quoted, where he says:˜I have forgotten good things. [162]

10. But let us now see the reason why this light of contemplation, which is
so sweet and blessed to the soul that there is naught more desirable (for,
as has been said above, it is the same wherewith the soul must be united and
wherein it must find all the good things in the state of perfection that it
desires), produces, when it assails the soul, these beginnings which are so
painful and these effects which are so disagreeable, as we have here said.

1l. This question is easy for us to answer, by explaining, as we have
already done in part, that the cause of this is that, in contemplation and
the Divine inflowing, there is naught that of itself can cause affliction,
but that they rather cause great sweetness and delight, as we shall say
hereafter. The cause is rather the weakness and imperfection from which the
soul then suffers, and the dispositions which it has in itself and which
make it unfit for the reception of them. Wherefore, when the said Divine
light assails the soul, it must needs cause it to suffer after the manner
aforesaid.
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[144] [Lit.,˜with a certain eminence of excellence.]

[145] [Lit.,˜. . . sweetness, with great eminence.]

[146] Exodus xvi, 3.

[147] Wisdom xvi, 21.

[148] [Lit.,˜from every kind. But see Tobias viii, 2. The˜deprived of
e.p. gives the best reading of this phrase, but the general sense is clear
from the Scriptural reference.]

[149] Tobias viii, 2.

[150] Isaias lxiv, 4 [1 Corinthians ii, 9].

[151] [Lit.,˜be made thin.]

[152] Isaias xxvi, 17-18.

[153] [Philippians iv, 7.]

[154] [We have here split up a parenthesis of about seventy words.]

[155] [Lit.,˜and wept.]

[156] Lamentations iii, 17.

[157] Psalm xxxvii, 9 [A.V., xxxviii, 8].

[158] [Lit.,˜. . . sees itself, it arises and is surrounded with pain and
affliction the affections of the soul, that I know not how it could be
described. A confused, ungrammatical sentence, of which, however, the
general meaning is not doubtful.]

[159] Job iii, 24.

[160] Job xxx, 17.

[161] Job xxx, 16.

[162] Lamentations iii, 17.
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CHAPTER X

Explains this purgation fully by a comparison.

FOR the greater clearness of what has been said, and of what has still to be
said, it is well to observe at this point that this purgative and loving
knowledge or Divine light whereof we here speak acts upon the soul which it
is purging and preparing for perfect union with it in the same way as fire
acts upon a log of wood in order to transform it into itself; for material
fire, acting upon wood, first of all begins to dry it, by driving out its
moisture and causing it to shed the water which it contains within itself.
Then it begins to make it black, dark and unsightly, and even to give forth
a bad odour, and, as it dries it little by little, it brings out and drives
away all the dark and unsightly accidents which are contrary to the nature
of fire. And, finally, it begins to kindle it externally and give it heat,
and at last transforms it into itself and makes it as beautiful as fire. In
this respect, the wood has neither passivity nor activity of its own, save
for its weight, which is greater, and its substance, which is denser, than
that of fire, for it has in itself the properties and activities of fire.
Thus it is dry and it dries; it is hot and heats; it is bright and gives
brightness; and it is much less heavy than before. All these properties and
effects are caused in it by the fire.

2. In this same way we have to philosophize with respect to this Divine fire
of contemplative love, which, before it unites and transforms the soul in
itself, first purges it of all its contrary accidents. It drives out its
unsightliness, and makes it black and dark, so that it seems worse than
before and more unsightly and abominable than it was wont to be. For this
Divine purgation is removing all the evil and vicious humours which the soul
has never perceived because they have been so deeply rooted and grounded in
it; it has never realized, in fact, that it has had so much evil within
itself. But now that they are to be driven forth and annihilated, these
humours reveal themselves, and become visible to the soul because it is so
brightly illumined by this dark light of Divine contemplation (although it
is no worse than before, either in itself or in relation to God); and, as it
sees in itself that which it saw not before, it is clear to it that not only
is it unfit to be seen by God, but deserves His abhorrence, and that He does
indeed abhor it. By this comparison we can now understand many things
concerning what we are saying and purpose to say.

3. First, we can understand how the very light and the loving wisdom which
are to be united with the soul and to transform it are the same that at the
beginning purge and prepare it: even as the very fire which transforms the
log of wood into itself, and makes it part of itself, is that which at the
first was preparing it for that same purpose.

4. Secondly, we shall be able to see how these afflictions are not felt by
the soul as coming from the said Wisdom, since, as the Wise Man says, all
good things together come to the soul with her. [163] They are felt as
coming from the weakness and imperfection which belong to the soul; without
such purgation, the soul cannot receive its Divine light, sweetness and
delight, even as the log of wood, when the fire acts upon it, cannot
immediately be transformed until it be made ready; wherefore the soul is
greatly afflicted. This statement is fully supported by the Preacher, where
he describes all that he suffered in order that he might attain to union
with wisdom and to the fruition of it, saying thus:˜My soul hath wrestled
with her and my bowels were moved in acquiring her; therefore it shall
possess a good possession. [164]

5. Thirdly, we can learn here incidentally in what manner souls are
afflicted in purgatory. For the fire would have no power over them, even
though they came into contact with it, if they had no imperfections for
which to suffers. These are the material upon which the fire of purgatory
seizes; when that material is consumed there is naught else that can burn.
So here, when the imperfections are consumed, the affliction of the soul
ceases and its fruition remains.

6. The fourth thing that we shall learn here is the manner wherein the soul,
as it becomes purged and purified by means of this fire of love, becomes
ever more enkindled in love, just as the wood grows hotter in proportion as
it becomes the better prepared by the fire. This enkindling of love,
however, is not always felt by the soul, but only at times when
contemplation assails it less vehemently, for then it has occasion to see,
and even to enjoy, the work which is being wrought in it, and which is then
revealed to it. For it seems that the worker takes his hand from the work,
and draws the iron out of the furnace, in order that something of the work
which is being done may be seen; and then there is occasion for the soul to
observe in itself the good which it saw not while the work was going on. In
the same way, when the flame ceases to attack the wood, it is possible to
see how much of it has been enkindled.

7. Fifthly, we shall also learn from this comparison what has been said
above”namely, how true it is that after each of these periods of relief the
soul suffers once again, more intensely and keenly than before. For, after
that revelation just referred to has been made, and after the more outward
imperfections of the soul have been purified, the fire of love once again
attacks that which has yet to be consumed and purified more inwardly. The
suffering of the soul now becomes more intimate, subtle and spiritual, in
proportion as the fire refines away the finer, [165] more intimate and more
spiritual imperfections, and those which are most deeply rooted in its
inmost parts. And it is here just as with the wood, upon which the fire,
when it begins to penetrate it more deeply, acts with more force and
vehemence [166] in preparing its most inward part to possess it.

8. Sixthly, we shall likewise learn here the reason why it seems to the soul
that all its good is over, and that it is full of evil, since naught comes
to it at this time but bitterness; it is like the burning wood, which is
touched by no air nor by aught else than by consuming fire. But, when there
occur other periods of relief like the first, the rejoicing of the soul will
be more interior because the purification has been more interior also.

9. Seventhly, we shall learn that, although the soul has the most ample joy
at these periods (so much so that, as we said, it sometimes thinks that its
trials can never return again, although it is certain that they will return
quickly), it cannot fail to realize, if it is aware (and at times it is made
aware) of a root of imperfection which remains, that its joy is incomplete,
because a new assault seems to be threatening it; [167] when this is so, the
trial returns quickly. Finally, that which still remains to be purged and
enlightened most inwardly cannot well be concealed from the soul in view of
its experience of its former purification; [168] even as also in the wood it
is the most inward part that remains longest unkindled, [169] and the
difference between it and that which has already been purged is clearly
perceptible; and, when this purification once more assails it most inwardly,
it is no wonder if it seems to the soul once more that all its good is gone,
and that it never expects to experience it again, for, now that it has been
plunged into these most inward sufferings, all good coming from without is
over. [170]

10. Keeping this comparison, then, before our eyes, together with what has
already been said upon the first line of the first stanza concerning this
dark night and its terrible properties, it will be well to leave these sad
experiences of the soul and to begin to speak of the fruit of its tears and
their blessed properties, whereof the soul begins to sing from this second
line:

Kindled in love [171] with yearnings,
_________________________________________________________________

[163] Wisdom vii, 11.

[164] Ecclesiasticus li, 28-9 [A.V., li, 19-21].

[165] [Lit.,˜more delicate.]

[166] [Lit.,˜fury.]

[167] [The sudden change of metaphor is the authors. The˜assault is, of
course, the renewed growth of the˜root.]

[168] [Lit.,˜. . . from the soul, with regard to that which has already
been purified.]

[169] [Lit.,˜not enlightened: the word is the same as that used just
above.]

[170] [The word translated˜over is rendered˜gone just above.]

[171] [Lit.,˜in loves; and so throughout the exposition of this line.]
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CHAPTER XI

Begins to explain the second line of the first stanza.
Describes how, as the fruit of these rigorous constraints, the soul finds
itself with the vehement passion of Divine love.

IN this line the soul describes the fire of love which, as we have said,
like the material fire acting upon the wood, begins to take hold upon the
soul in this night of painful contemplation. This enkindling now described,
although in a certain way it resembles that which we described above as
coming to pass in the sensual part of the soul, is in some ways as different
from that other as is the soul from the body, or the spiritual part from the
sensual. For this present kind is an enkindling of spiritual love in the
soul, which, in the midst of these dark confines, feels itself to be keenly
and sharply wounded in strong Divine love, and to have a certain realization
and foretaste of God, although it understands nothing definitely, for, as we
say, the understanding is in darkness.

2. The spirit feels itself here to be deeply and passionately in love, for
this spiritual enkindling produces the passion of love. And, inasmuch as
this love is infused, it is passive rather than active, and thus it begets
in the soul a strong passion of love. This love has in it something of union
with God, and thus to some degree partakes of its properties, which are
actions of God rather than of the soul, these being subdued within it
passively. What the soul does here is to give its consent; the warmth and
strength and temper and passion of love”or enkindling, as the soul here
calls it”belong [172] only to the love of God, which enters increasingly
into union with it. This love finds in the soul more occasion and
preparation to unite itself with it and to wound it, according as all the
souls desires are the more recollected, [173] and are the more withdrawn
from and disabled for the enjoyment of aught either in Heaven or in earth.

3. This takes place to a great extent, as has already been said, in this
dark purgation, for God has so weaned all the inclinations and caused them
to be so recollected [174] that they cannot find pleasure in anything they
may wish. All this is done by God to the end that, when He withdraws them
and recollects them in Himself, the soul may have more strength and fitness
to receive this strong union of love of God, which He is now beginning to
give it through this purgative way, wherein the soul must love with great
strength and with all its desires and powers both of spirit and of sense;
which could not be if they were dispersed in the enjoyment of aught else.
For this reason David said to God, to the end that he might receive the
strength of the love of this union with God:˜I will keep my strength for
Thee; [175] that is, I will keep the entire capacity and all the desires
and energies of my faculties, nor will I employ their operation or pleasure
in aught else than Thyself.

4. In this way it can be realized in some measure how great and how strong
may be this enkindling of love in the spirit, wherein God keeps in
recollection all the energies, faculties and desires of the soul, both of
spirit and of sense, so that all this harmony may employ its energies and
virtues in this love, and may thus attain to a true fulfilment of the first
commandment, which sets aside nothing pertaining to man nor excludes from
this love anything that is his, but says:˜Thou shalt love thy God with all
thy heart and with all thy mind, with all thy soul and with all thy
strength. [176]

5. When all the desires and energies of the soul, then, have been
recollected in this enkindling of love, and when the soul itself has been
touched and wounded in them all, and has been inspired with passion, what
shall we understand the movements and digressions of all these energies and
desires to be, if they find themselves enkindled and wounded with strong
love and without the possession and satisfaction thereof, in darkness and
doubt? They will doubtless be suffering hunger, like the dogs of which David
speaks as running about the city [177] ; finding no satisfaction in this
love, they keep howling and groaning. For the touch of this love and Divine
fire dries up the spirit and enkindles its desires, in order to satisfy its
thirst for this Divine love, so much so that it turns upon itself a thousand
times and desires God in a thousand ways and manners, with the eagerness and
desire of the appetite. This is very well explained by David in a psalm,
where he says:˜My soul thirsted for Thee: in how many manners does my soul
long for Thee! [178]”that is, in desires. And another version reads:˜My
soul thirsted for Thee, my soul is lost (or perishes) for Thee.

6. It is for this reason that the soul says in this line that it was
˜kindled in love with yearnings. [179] For in all the things and thoughts
that it revolves within itself, and in all the affairs and matters that
present themselves to it, it loves in many ways, and also desires and
suffers in the desire in many ways, at all times and in all places, finding
rest in naught, and feeling this yearning in its enkindled wound, even as
the prophet Job declares, saying:˜As the hart [180] desireth the shadow,
and as the hireling desireth the end of his work, so I also had vain months
and numbered to myself wearisome and laborious nights. If I lie down to
sleep, I shall say:œWhen shall I arise? And then I shall await the evening
and shall be full of sorrows even until the darkness of night. [181]
Everything becomes cramping to this soul: it cannot live [182] within
itself; it cannot live either in Heaven or on earth; and it is filled with
griefs until the darkness comes to which Job here refers, speaking
spiritually and in the sense of our interpretation. What the soul here
endures is afflictions and suffering without the consolation of a certain
hope of any light and spiritual good. Wherefore the yearning and the grief
of this soul in this enkindling of love are greater because it is multiplied
in two ways: first, by the spiritual darkness wherein it finds itself, which
afflicts it with its doubts and misgivings; and then by the love of God,
which enkindles and stimulates it, and, with its loving wound, causes it a
wondrous fear. These two kinds of suffering at such a season are well
described by Isaias, where he says:˜My soul desired Thee in the night
[183]”that is, in misery.

7. This is one kind of suffering which proceeds from this dark night; but,
he goes on to say, with my spirit, in my bowels, until the morning, I will
watch for Thee. And this is the second way of grieving in desire and
yearning which comes from love in the bowels of the spirit, which are the
spiritual affections. But in the midst of these dark and loving afflictions
the soul feels within itself a certain companionship and strength, which
bears it company and so greatly strengthens it that, if this burden of
grievous darkness be taken away, it often feels itself to be alone, empty
and weak. The cause of this is that, as the strength and efficacy of the
soul were derived and communicated passively from the dark fire of love
which assailed it, it follows that, when that fire ceases to assail it, the
darkness and power and heat of love cease in the soul.
_________________________________________________________________

[172] [Lit.,˜cling,˜adhere.]

[173] [Lit.,shut up.]

[174] [Here, and below, the original has recogidos, the word normally
translated˜recollected]

[175] Psalm lviii, 10 [A V., lix, 9].

[176] Deuteronomy vi, 5.

[177] Psalm lviii, 15-16 [A.V., lix, 14-15].

[178] Psalm lxii, 2 [A.V., lxiii, 1].

[179] [Lit., as in the verses,˜in loves.]

[180] [For cievro, hart, read siervo, servant, and we have the correct
quotation from Scripture. The change, however, was evidently made by the
Saint knowingly. In P. Gerardos edition, the Latin text, with cervus,
precedes the Spanish translation, with ciervo.]

[181] Job vii, 2-4.

[182] [No cabe: Lit.,˜it cannot be contained,˜there is no room for it.]

[183] Isaias xxvi, 9.
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CHAPTER XII

Shows how this horrible night is purgatory, and how in it the Divine
wisdom illumines men on earth with the same illumination that purges and
illumines the angels in Heaven.

FROM what has been said we shall be able to see how this dark night of
loving fire, as it purges in the darkness, so also in the darkness enkindles
the soul. We shall likewise be able to see that, even as spirits are purged
in the next life with dark material fire, so in this life they are purged
and cleansed with the dark spiritual fire of love. The difference is that in
the next life they are cleansed with fire, while here below they are
cleansed and illumined with love only. It was this love that David
entreated, when he said: Cor mundum crea in me, Deus, etc. [184] For
cleanness of heart is nothing less than the love and grace of God. For the
clean of heart are called by our Saviour˜blessed; which is as if He had
called them˜enkindled with love, [185] since blessedness is given by
nothing less than love.

2. And Jeremias well shows how the soul is purged when it is illumined with
this fire of loving wisdom (for God never grants mystical wisdom without
love, since love itself infuses it), where he says:˜He hath sent fire into
my bones, and hath taught me. [186] And David says that the wisdom of God
is silver tried in fire [187]”that is, in purgative fire of love. For this
dark contemplation infuses into the soul love and wisdom jointly, to each
one according to his capacity and need, enlightening the soul and purging
it, in the words of the Wise Man, from its ignorances, as he said was done
to himself.

3. From this we shall also infer that the very wisdom of God which purges
these souls and illumines them purges the angels from their ignorances,
giving them knowledge, enlightening them as to that which they knew not, and
flowing down from God through the first hierarchies even to the last, and
thence to men. [188] All the works, therefore, which are done by the angels,
and all their inspirations, are said in the Scriptures, with truth and
propriety, to be the work of God and of themselves; for ordinarily these
inspirations come through the angels, and they receive them likewise one
from another without any delay”as quickly as a ray of sunshine is
communicated through many windows arranged in order. For although it is true
that the suns ray itself passes through them all, still each one passes it
on and infuses it into the next, in a modified form, according to the nature
of the glass, and with rather more or rather less power and brightness,
according as it is nearer to the sun or farther from it.

4. Hence it follows that, the nearer to God are the higher spirits and the
lower, the more completely are they purged and enlightened with more general
purification; and that the lowest of them will receive this illumination
very much less powerfully and more remotely. Hence it follows that man, who
is the lowest of all those to whom this loving contemplation flows down
continually from God, will, when God desires to give it him, receive it
perforce after his own manner in a very limited way and with great pain.
For, when the light of God illumines an angel, it enlightens him and
enkindles [189] him in love, since, being pure spirit, he is prepared for
that infusion. But, when it illumines man, who is impure and weak, it
illumines him, as has been said above, according to his nature. It plunges
him into darkness and causes him affliction and distress, as does the sun to
the eye that is weak; [190] it enkindles him with passionate yet afflictive
love, until he be spiritualized and refined by this same fire of love; and
it purifies him until he can receive with sweetness the union of this loving
infusion after the manner of the angels, being now purged, as by the help of
the Lord we shall explain later. But meanwhile he receives this
contemplation and loving knowledge in the constraint and yearning of love of
which we are here speaking.

5. This enkindling and yearning of love are not always perceived by the
soul. For in the beginning, when this spiritual purgation commences, all
this Divine fire is used in drying up and making ready the wood (which is
the soul) rather than in giving it heat. But, as time goes on, the fire
begins to give heat to the soul, and the soul then very commonly feels this
enkindling and heat of love. Further, as the understanding is being more and
more purged by means of this darkness, it sometimes comes to pass that this
mystical and loving theology, as well as enkindling the will, strikes and
illumines the other faculty also”that of the understanding”with a certain
Divine light and knowledge, so delectably and delicately that it aids the
will to conceive a marvellous fervour, and, without any action of its own,
there burns in it this Divine fire of love, in living flames, so that it now
appears to the soul a living fire by reason of the living understanding
which is given to it. It is of this that David speaks in a Psalm, saying:
˜My heart grew hot within me, and, as I meditated, a certain fire was
enkindled. [191]

6. This enkindling of love, which accompanies the union of these two
faculties, the understanding and the will, which are here united, is for the
soul a thing of great richness and delight; for it is a certain touch of the
Divinity and is already the beginning [192] of the perfection of the union
of love for which it hopes. Now the soul attains not to this touch of so
sublime a sense and love of God, save when it has passed through many trials
and a great part of its purgation. But for other touches which are much
lower than these, and which are of ordinary occurrence, so much purgation is
not needful.

7. From what we have said it may here be inferred how in these spiritual
blessings, which are passively infused by God into the soul, the will may
very well love even though the understanding understand not; and similarly
the understanding may understand and the will love not. For, since this dark
night of contemplation consists of Divine light and love, just as fire
contains light and heat, it is not unbefitting that, when this loving light
is communicated, it should strike the will at times more effectively by
enkindling it with love and leaving the understanding in darkness instead of
striking it with light; and, at other times, by enlightening it with light,
and giving it understanding, but leaving the will in aridity (as it is also
true that the heat of the fire can be received without the light being seen,
and also the light of it can be seen without the reception of heat); and
this is wrought by the Lord, Who infuses as He wills. [193]
_________________________________________________________________

[184] Psalm l, 12 [A.V., li, 10].

[185] [Lit.,˜enamoured.]

[186] Lamentations i, 13.

[187] Psalm xi, 7 [A.V., xii, 6].

[188] The Schoolmen frequently assert that the lower angels are purged and
illumined by the higher. Cf. St. Thomas, Summa, I, q. 106, a. 1, ad. 1.

[189] [Lit.,˜and softens.]

[190] [More literally,˜is sick.]

[191] Psalm xxxviii, 4 [A.V., xxxix, 3].

[192] [Lit.,˜the beginnings.]

[193] The Saint here treats a question often debated by philosophers and
mystics”that of love and knowledge. Cf. also Spiritual Canticle, Stanza
XVII, and Living Flame, Stanza III. Philosophers generally maintain that it
is impossible to love without knowledge, and equally so to love more of an
object than what is known of it. Mystics have, however, their own solutions
of the philosophers difficulty and the speculative Spanish mystics have
much to say on the matter. (Cf., for example, the M©dula Mistica, Trat. V,
Chap. iv, and the Escuela de Oraci³n, Trat. XII, Duda v.)
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CHAPTER XIII

Of other delectable effects which are wrought in the soul by this dark
night of contemplation.

THIS type of enkindling will explain to us certain of the delectable effects
which this dark night of contemplation works in the soul. For at certain
times, as we have just said, the soul becomes enlightened in the midst of
all this darkness, and the light shines in the darkness; [194] this mystical
intelligence flows down into the understanding and the will remains in
dryness”I mean, without actual union of love, with a serenity and simplicity
which are so delicate and delectable to the sense of the soul that no name
can be given to them. Thus the presence of God is felt, now after one
manner, now after another.

2. Sometimes, too, as has been said, it wounds the will at the same time,
and enkindles love sublimely, tenderly and strongly; for we have already
said that at certain times these two faculties, the understanding and the
will, are united, when, the more they see, the more perfect and delicate is
the purgation of the understanding. But, before this state is reached, it is
more usual for the touch of the enkindling of love to be felt in the will
than for the touch of intelligence to be felt in the understanding.

3. But one question arises here, which is this: Why, since these two
faculties are being purged together, are the enkindling and the love of
purgative contemplation at first more commonly felt in the will than the
intelligence thereof is felt in the understanding? To this it may be
answered that this passive love does not now directly strike the will, for
the will is free, and this enkindling of love is a passion of love rather
than the free act of the will; for this heat of love strikes the substance
of the soul and thus moves the affections passively. And so this is called
passion of love rather than a free act of the will, an act of the will being
so called only in so far as it is free. But these passions and affections
subdue the will, and therefore it is said that, if the soul conceives
passion with a certain affection, the will conceives passion; and this is
indeed so, for in this manner the will is taken captive and loses its
liberty, according as the impetus and power of its passion carry it away.
And therefore we can say that this enkindling of love is in the will”that
is, it enkindles the desire of the will; and thus, as we say, this is called
passion of love rather than the free work of the will. And, because the
receptive passion of the understanding can receive intelligence only in a
detached and passive way (and this is impossible without its having been
purged), therefore until this happens the soul feels the touch of
intelligence less frequently than that of the passion of love. For it is not
necessary to this end that the will should be so completely purged with
respect to the passions, since these very passions help it to feel
impassioned love.

4. This enkindling and thirst of love, which in this case belongs to the
spirit, is very different from that other which we described in writing of
the night of sense. For, though the sense has also its part here, since it
fails not to participate in the labour of the spirit, yet the source and the
keenness of the thirst of love is felt in the superior part of the soul”that
is, in the spirit. It feels, and understands what it feels and its lack of
what it desires, in such a way that all its affliction of sense, although
greater without comparison than in the first night of sense, is as naught to
it, because it recognizes within itself the lack of a great good which can
in no way be measured.

5. But here we must note that although, at the beginning, when this
spiritual night commences, this enkindling of love is not felt, because this
fire of love has not begun to take a hold, God gives the soul, in place of
it, an estimative love of Himself so great that, as we have said, the
greatest sufferings and trials of which it is conscious in this night are
the anguished thoughts that it [195] has lost God and the fears that He has
abandoned it. And thus we may always say that from the very beginning of
this night the soul is touched with yearnings of love, which is now that of
estimation, [196] and now again, that of enkindling. And it is evident that
the greatest suffering which it feels in these trials is this misgiving;
for, if it could be certified at that time that all is not lost and over,
but that what is happening to it is for the best”as it is”and that God is
not wroth, it would care naught for all these afflictions, but would rejoice
to know that God is making use of them for His good pleasure. For the love
of estimation which it has for God is so great, even though it may not
realize this and may be in darkness, that it would be glad, not only to
suffer in this way, but even to die many times over in order to give Him
satisfaction. But when once the flame has enkindled the soul, it is wont to
conceive, together with the estimation that it already has for God, such
power and energy, and such yearning for Him, when He communicates to it the
heat of love, that, with great boldness, it disregards everything and ceases
to pay respect to anything, such are the power and the inebriation of love
and desire. It regards not what it does, for it would do strange and unusual
things in whatever way and manner may present themselves, if thereby its
soul might find Him Whom it loves.

6. It was for this reason that Mary Magdalene, though as greatly concerned
for her own appearance as she was aforetime, took no heed of the multitude
of men who were at the feast, whether they were of little or of great
importance; neither did she consider that it was not seemly, and that it
looked ill, to go and weep and shed tears among the guests provided that,
without delaying an hour or waiting for another time and season, she could
reach Him for love of Whom her soul was already wounded and enkindled. And
such is the inebriating power and the boldness of love, that, though she
knew her Beloved to be enclosed in the sepulchre by the great sealed stone,
and surrounded by soldiers who were guarding Him lest His disciples should
steal Him away, [197] she allowed none of these things to impede her, but
went before daybreak with the ointments to anoint Him.

7. And finally, this inebriating power and yearning of love caused her to
ask one whom she believed to be a gardener and to have stolen Him away from
the sepulchre, to tell her, if he had taken Him, where he had laid Him, that
she might take Him away; [198] considering not that such a question,
according to independent judgment and reason, was foolish; for it was
evident that, if the other had stolen Him, he would not say so, still less
would he allow Him to be taken away. It is a characteristic of the power and
vehemence of love that all things seem possible to it, and it believes all
men to be of the same mind as itself. For it thinks that there is naught
wherein one may be employed, or which one may seek, save that which it seeks
itself and that which it loves; and it believes that there is naught else to
be desired, and naught wherein it may be employed, save that one thing,
which is pursued by all. For this reason, when the Bride went out to seek
her Beloved, through streets and squares, [199] thinking that all others
were doing the same, she begged them that, if they found Him, they would
speak to Him and say that she was pining for love of Him. [200] Such was the
power of the love of this Mary that she thought that, if the gardener would
tell her where he had hidden Him, she would go and take Him away, however
difficult it might be made for her.

8. Of this manner, then, are the yearnings of love whereof this soul becomes
conscious when it has made some progress in this spiritual purgation. For it
rises up by night (that is, in this purgative darkness) according to the
affections of the will. And with the yearnings and vehemence of the lioness
or the she-bear going to seek her cubs when they have been taken away from
her and she finds them not, does this wounded soul go forth to seek its God.
For, being in darkness, it feels itself to be without Him and to be dying of
love for Him. And this is that impatient love wherein the soul cannot long
subsist without gaining its desire or dying. Such was Rachels desire for
children when she said to Jacob:˜Give me children, else shall I die. [201]

9. But we have now to see how it is that the soul which feels itself so
miserable and so unworthy of God, here in this purgative darkness, has
nevertheless strength, and is sufficiently bold and daring, to journey
towards union with God. The reason is that, as love continually gives it
strength wherewith it may love indeed, and as the property of love is to
desire to be united, joined and made equal and like to the object of its
love, that it may perfect itself in loves good things, hence it comes to
pass that, when this soul is not perfected in love, through not having as
yet attained to union, the hunger and thirst that it has for that which it
lacks (which is union) and the strength set by love in the will which has
caused it to become impassioned, make it bold and daring by reason of the
enkindling of its will, although in its understanding, which is still dark
and unenlightened, it feels itself to be unworthy and knows itself to be
miserable.

10. I will not here omit to mention the reason why this Divine light, which
is always light to the soul, illumines it not as soon as it strikes it, as
it does afterwards, but causes it the darkness and the trials of which we
have spoken. Something has already been said concerning this, but the
question must now be answered directly. The darkness and the other evils of
which the soul is conscious when this Divine light strikes it are not
darkness or evils caused by this light, but pertain to the soul itself, and
the light illumines it so that it may see them. Wherefore it does indeed
receive light from this Divine light; but the soul cannot see at first, by
its aid, anything beyond what is nearest to it, or rather, beyond what is
within it”namely, its darknesses or its miseries, which it now sees through
the mercy of God, and saw not aforetime, because this supernatural light
illumined it not. And this is the reason why at first it is conscious of
nothing beyond darkness and evil; after it has been purged, however, by
means of the knowledge and realization of these, it will have eyes to see,
by the guidance of this light, the blessings of the Divine light; and, once
all these darknesses and imperfections have been driven out from the soul,
it seems that the benefits and the great blessings which the soul is gaining
in this blessed night of contemplation become clearer.

11. From what has been said, it is clear that God grants the soul in this
state the favour of purging it and healing it with this strong lye of bitter
purgation, according to its spiritual and its sensual part, of all the
imperfect habits and affections which it had within itself with respect to
temporal things and to natural, sensual and spiritual things, its inward
faculties being darkened, and voided of all these, its spiritual and sensual
affections being constrained and dried up, and its natural energies being
attenuated and weakened with respect to all this (a condition which it could
never attain of itself, as we shall shortly say). In this way God makes it
to die to all that is not naturally God, so that, once it is stripped and
denuded of its former skin, He may begin to clothe it anew. And thus its
youth is renewed like the eagles and it is clothed with the new man, which,
as the Apostle says, is created according to God. [202] This is naught else
but His illumination of the understanding with supernatural light, so that
it is no more a human understanding but becomes Divine through union with
the Divine. In the same way the will is informed with Divine love, so that
it is a will that is now no less than Divine, nor does it love otherwise
than divinely, for it is made and united in one with the Divine will and
love. So, too, is it with the memory; and likewise the affections and
desires are all changed and converted divinely, according to God. And thus
this soul will now be a soul of heaven, heavenly, and more Divine than
human. All this, as we have been saying, and because of what we have said,
God continues to do and to work in the soul by means of this night,
illumining and enkindling it divinely with yearnings for God alone and for
naught else whatsoever. For which cause the soul then very justly and
reasonably adds the third line to the song, which says:

. . . oh, happy chance!” I went forth without being observed.
_________________________________________________________________

[194] St. John i, 5.

[195] [Lit.,˜the yearning to think of it.]

[196] [The word translated˜estimation might also be rendered reverent
love. The˜love of estimation, which has its seat in the understanding, is
contrasted with the˜enkindling or the˜love of desire, which has its seat
in the will. So elsewhere in this paragraph.]

[197] St. John xx, 1 [St. Matthew xxvii, 62-6].

[198] St. John xx, 15.

[199] [Lit.,˜outskirts,suburbs.]

[200] Canticles v, 8.

[201] Genesis xxx, 1.

[202] Ephesians iv, 4.
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CHAPTER XIV

Wherein are set down and explained the last three lines of the first
stanza.

THIS happy chance was the reason for which the soul speaks, in the next
lines, as follows:

I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest.

It takes the metaphor from one who, in order the better to accomplish
something, leaves his house by night and in the dark, when those that are in
the house are now at rest, so that none may hinder him. For this soul had to
go forth to perform a deed so heroic and so rare”namely to become united
with its Divine Beloved”and it had to leave its house, because the Beloved
is not found save alone and without, in solitude. It was for this reason
that the Bride desired to find Him alone, saying: Who would give Thee to
me, my brother, that I might find Thee alone, without, and that my love
might be communicated to Thee. [203] It is needful for the enamoured soul,
in order to attain to its desired end, to do likewise, going forth at night,
when all the domestics in its house are sleeping and at rest”that is, when
the low operations, passions and desires of the soul (who are the people of
the household) are, because it is night, sleeping and at rest. When these
are awake, they invariably hinder the soul from seeking its good, since they
are opposed to its going forth in freedom. These are they of whom Our
Saviour speaks in the Gospel, saying that they are the enemies of man. [204]
And thus it would be meet that their operations and motions should be put to
sleep in this night, to the end that they may not hinder the soul from
attaining the supernatural blessings of the union of love of God, for, while
these are alive and active, this cannot be. For all their work and their
natural motions hinder, rather than aid, the souls reception of the
spiritual blessings of the union of love, inasmuch as all natural ability is
impotent with respect to the supernatural blessings that God, by means of
His own infusion, bestows upon the soul passively, secretly and in silence.
And thus it is needful that all the faculties should receive this infusion,
and that, in order to receive it, they should remain passive, and not
interpose their own base acts and vile inclinations.

2. It was a happy chance for this soul that on this night God should put to
sleep all the domestics in its house”that is, all the faculties, passions,
affections and desires which live in the soul, both sensually and
spiritually. For thus it went forth˜without being observed”that is,
without being hindered by these affections, etc., for they were put to sleep
and mortified in this night, in the darkness of which they were left, that
they might not notice or feel anything after their own low and natural
manner, and might thus be unable to hinder the soul from going forth from
itself and from the house of its sensuality. And thus only could the soul
attain to the spiritual union of perfect love of God.

3. Oh, how happy a chance is this for the soul which can free itself from
the house of its sensuality! None can understand it, unless, as it seems to
me, it be the soul that has experienced it. For such a soul will see clearly
how wretched was the servitude in which it lay and to how many miseries it
was subject when it was at the mercy of its faculties and desires, and will
know how the life of the spirit is true liberty and wealth, bringing with it
inestimable blessings. Some of these we shall point out, as we proceed, in
the following stanzas, wherein it will be seen more clearly what good reason
the soul has to sing of the happy chance of its passage from this dreadful
night which has been described above.
_________________________________________________________________

[203] Canticles viii, 1.

[204] St. Matthew x, 36.
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CHAPTER XV

Sets down the second stanza and its exposition.

In darkness and secure, By the secret ladder, disguised”oh, happy chance!
In darkness and concealment, My house being now at rest.

IN this stanza the soul still continues to sing of certain properties of the
darkness of this night, reiterating how great is the happiness which came to
it through them. It speaks of them in replying to a certain tacit objection,
saying that it is not to be supposed that, because in this night and
darkness it has passed through so many tempests of afflictions, doubts,
fears and horrors, as has been said, it has for that reason run any risk of
being lost. On the contrary, it says, in the darkness of this night it has
gained itself. For in the night it has freed itself and escaped subtly from
its enemies, who were continually hindering its progress. For in the
darkness of the night it changed its garments and disguised itself with
three liveries and colours which we shall describe hereafter; and went forth
by a very secret ladder, which none in the house knew, the which ladder, as
we shall observe likewise in the proper place, is living faith. By this
ladder the soul went forth in such complete hiding and concealment, in order
the better to execute its purpose, that it could not fail to be in great
security; above all since in this purgative night the desires, affections
and passions of the soul are put to sleep, mortified and quenched, which are
they that, when they were awake and alive, consented not to this.

The first line, then, runs thus: [205]

In darkness and secure.
_________________________________________________________________

[205] [Lit.,˜The line, then, continues, and says thus. In fact, however,
the author is returning to the first line of the stanza.]
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CHAPTER XVI

Explains how, though in darkness, the soul walks securely.

THE darkness which the soul here describes relates, as we have said, to the
desires and faculties, sensual, interior and spiritual, for all these are
darkened in this night as to their natural light, so that, being purged in
this respect, they may be illumined with respect to the supernatural. For
the spiritual and the sensual desires are put to sleep and mortified, so
that they can experience [206] nothing, either Divine or human; the
affections of the soul are oppressed and constrained, so that they can
neither move nor find support in anything; the imagination is bound and can
make no useful reflection; the memory is gone; the understanding is in
darkness, unable to understand anything; and hence the will likewise is arid
and constrained and all the faculties are void and useless; and in addition
to all this a thick and heavy cloud is upon the soul, keeping it in
affliction, and, as it were, far away from God. [207] It is in this kind of
˜darkness that the soul says here it travelledsecurely.

2. The reason for this has been clearly expounded; for ordinarily the soul
never strays save through its desires or its tastes or its reflections or
its understanding or its affections; for as a rule it has too much or too
little of these, or they vary or go astray, and hence the soul becomes
inclined to that which behoves it not. Wherefore, when all these operations
and motions are hindered, it is clear that the soul is secure against being
led astray by them; for it is free, not only from itself, but likewise from
its other enemies, which are the world and the devil. For when the
affections and operations of the soul are quenched, these enemies cannot
make war upon it by any other means or in any other manner.

3. It follows from this that, the greater is the darkness wherein the soul
journeys and the more completely is it voided of its natural operations, the
greater is its security. For, as the Prophet says, [208] perdition comes to
the soul from itself alone”that is, from its sensual and interior desires
and operations; and good, says God, comes from Me alone. Wherefore, when it
is thus hindered from following the things that lead it into evil, there
will then come to it forthwith the blessings of union with God in its
desires and faculties, which in that union He will make Divine and
celestial. Hence, at the time of this darkness, if the soul considers the
matter, it will see very clearly how little its desire and its faculties are
being diverted to things that are useless and harmful; and how secure it is
from vainglory and pride and presumption, vain and false rejoicing and many
other things. It follows clearly, then, that, by walking in darkness, not
only is the soul not lost, but it has even greatly gained, since it is here
gaining the virtues.

4. But there is a question which at once arises here”namely, since the
things of God are of themselves profitable to the soul and bring it gain and
security, why does God, in this night, darken the desires and faculties with
respect to these good things likewise, in such a way that the soul can no
more taste of them or busy itself with them than with these other things,
and indeed in some ways can do so less? The answer is that it is well for
the soul to perform no operation touching spiritual things at that time and
to have no pleasure in such things, because its faculties and desires are
base, impure and wholly natural; and thus, although these faculties be given
the desire and interest in things supernatural and Divine, they could not
receive them save after a base and a natural manner, exactly in their own
fashion. For, as the philosopher says, whatsoever is received comes to him
that receives it after the manner of the recipient. Wherefore, since these
natural faculties have neither purity nor strength nor capacity to receive
and taste things that are supernatural after the manner of those things,
which manner is Divine, but can do so only after their own manner, which is
human and base, as we have said, it is meet that its faculties be in
darkness concerning these Divine things likewise. Thus, being weaned and
purged and annihilated in this respect first of all, they may lose that base
and human way of receiving and acting, and thus all these faculties and
desires of the soul may come to be prepared and tempered in such a way as to
be able to receive, feel and taste that which is Divine and supernatural
after a sublime and lofty manner, which is impossible if the old man die not
first of all.

5. Hence it follows that all spiritual things, if they come not from above
and be not communicated by the Father of lights to human desire and free
will (howsoever much a man may exercise his taste and faculties for God, and
howsoever much it may seem to the faculties that they are experiencing these
things), will not be experienced after a Divine and spiritual manner, but
after a human and natural manner, just as other things are experienced, for
spiritual blessings go not from man to God, but come from God to man. With
respect to this (if this were the proper place for it) we might here explain
how there are many persons whose many tastes and affections and the
operations of whose faculties are fixed upon God or upon spiritual things,
and who may perhaps think that this is supernatural and spiritual, when it
is perhaps no more than the most human and natural desires and actions. They
regard these good things with the same disposition as they have for other
things, by means of a certain natural facility which they possess for
directing their desires and faculties to anything whatever.

6. If perchance we find occasion elsewhere in this book, we shall treat of
this, describing certain signs which indicate when the interior actions and
motions of the soul, with respect to communion with God, are only natural,
when they are spiritual, and when they are both natural and spiritual. It
suffices for us here to know that, in order that the interior motions and
acts of the soul may come to be moved by God divinely, they must first be
darkened and put to sleep and hushed to rest naturally as touching all their
capacity and operation, until they have no more strength.

7. Therefore, O spiritual soul, when thou seest thy desire obscured, thy
affections arid and constrained, and thy faculties bereft of their capacity
for any interior exercise, be not afflicted by this, but rather consider it
a great happiness, since God is freeing thee from thyself and taking the
matter from thy hands. For with those hands, howsoever well they may serve
thee, thou wouldst never labour so effectively, so perfectly and so securely
(because of their clumsiness and uncleanness) as now, when God takes thy
hand and guides thee in the darkness, as though thou wert blind, to an end
and by a way which thou knowest not. Nor couldst thou ever hope to travel
with the aid of thine own eyes and feet, howsoever good thou be as a walker.

8. The reason, again, why the soul not only travels securely, when it
travels thus in the darkness, but also achieves even greater gain and
progress, is that usually, when the soul is receiving fresh advantage and
profit, this comes by a way that it least understands”indeed, it quite
commonly believes that it is losing ground. For, as it has never experienced
that new feeling which drives it forth and dazzles it and makes it depart
recklessly from its former way of life, it thinks itself to be losing ground
rather than gaining and progressing, since it sees that it is losing with
respect to that which it knew and enjoyed, and is going by a way which it
knows not and wherein it finds no enjoyment. It is like the traveller, who,
in order to go to new and unknown lands, takes new roads, unknown and
untried, and journeys unguided by his past experience, but doubtingly and
according to what others say. It is clear that such a man could not reach
new countries, or add to his past experience, if he went not along new and
unknown roads and abandoned those which were known to him. Exactly so, one
who is learning fresh details concerning any office or art always proceeds
in darkness, and receives no guidance from his original knowledge, for if he
left not that behind he would get no farther nor make any progress; and in
the same way, when the soul is making most progress, it is travelling in
darkness, knowing naught. Wherefore, since God, as we have said, is the
Master and Guide of this blind soul, it may well and truly rejoice, once it
has learned to understand this, and say:˜In darkness and secure.

9. There is another reason why the soul has walked securely in this
darkness, and this is because it has been suffering; for the road of
suffering is more secure and even more profitable than that of fruition and
action: first, because in suffering the strength of God is added to that of
man, while in action and fruition the soul is practising its own weaknesses
and imperfections; and second, because in suffering the soul continues to
practise and acquire the virtues and become purer, wiser and more cautious.

10. But there is another and a more important reason why the soul now walks
in darkness and securely; this emanates from the dark light or wisdom
aforementioned. For in such a way does this dark night of contemplation
absorb and immerse the soul in itself, and so near does it bring the soul to
God, that it protects and delivers it from all that is not God. For this
soul is now, as it were, undergoing a cure, in order that it may regain its
health”its health being God Himself. His Majesty restricts it to a diet and
abstinence from all things, and takes away its appetite for them all. It is
like a sick man, who, if he is respected by those in his house, is carefully
tended so that he may be cured; the air is not allowed to touch him, nor may
he even enjoy the light, nor must he hear footsteps, nor yet the noise of
those in the house; and he is given food that is very delicate, and even
that only in great moderation”food that is nourishing rather than
delectable.

11. All these particularities (which are for the security and safekeeping of
the soul) are caused by this dark contemplation, because it brings the soul
nearer to God. For the nearer the soul approaches Him, the blacker is the
darkness which it feels and the deeper is the obscurity which comes through
its weakness; just as, the nearer a man approaches the sun, the greater are
the darkness and the affliction caused him through the great splendour of
the sun and through the weakness and impurity of his eyes. In the same way,
so immense is the spiritual light of God, and so greatly does it transcend
our natural understanding, that the nearer we approach it, the more it
blinds and darkens us. And this is the reason why, in Psalm xvii, David says
that God made darkness His hiding-place and covering, and His tabernacle
around Him dark water in the clouds of the air. [209] This dark water in the
clouds of the air is dark contemplation and Divine wisdom in souls, as we
are saying. They continue to feel it is a thing which is near Him, as the
tabernacle wherein He dwells, when God brings them ever nearer to Himself.
And thus, that which in God is supreme light and refulgence is to man
blackest darkness, as Saint Paul says, according as David explains in the
same Psalm, saying:˜Because of the brightness which is in His presence,
passed clouds and cataracts [210]”that is to say, over the natural
understanding, the light whereof, as Isaias says in Chapter V: Obtenebrata
est in caligine ejus. [211]

12. Oh, miserable is the fortune of our life, which is lived in such great
peril and wherein it is so difficult to find the truth. For that which is
most clear and true is to us most dark and doubtful; wherefore, though it is
the thing that is most needful for us, we flee from it. And that which gives
the greatest light and satisfaction to our eyes we embrace and pursue,
though it be the worst thing for us, and make us fall at every step. In what
peril and fear does man live, since the very natural light of his eyes by
which he has to guide himself is the first light that dazzles him and leads
him astray on his road to God! And if he is to know with certainty by what
road he travels, he must perforce keep his eyes closed and walk in darkness,
that he may be secure from the enemies who inhabit his own house”that is,
his senses and faculties.

13. Well hidden, then, and well protected is the soul in these dark waters,
when it is close to God. For, as these waters serve as a tabernacle and
dwelling-place for God Himself, they will serve the soul in the same way and
for a perfect protection and security, though it remain in darkness,
wherein, as we have said, it is hidden and protected from itself, and from
all evils that come from creatures; for to such the words of David refer in
another Psalm, where he says:˜Thou shalt hide them in the hiding-place of
Thy face from the disturbance of men; Thou shalt protect them in Thy
tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues. [212] Herein we understand
all kinds of protection; for to be hidden in the face of God from the
disturbance of men is to be fortified with this dark contemplation against
all the chances which may come upon the soul from men. And to be protected
in His tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues is for the soul to be
engulfed in these dark waters, which are the tabernacle of David whereof we
have spoken. Wherefore, since the soul has all its desires and affections
weaned and its faculties set in darkness, it is free from all imperfections
which contradict the spirit, whether they come from its own flesh or from
other creatures. Wherefore this soul may well say that it journeys˜in
darkness and secure.

14. There is likewise another reason, which is no less effectual than the
last, by which we may understand how the soul journeys securely in darkness;
it is derived from the fortitude by which the soul is at once inspired in
these obscure and afflictive dark waters of God. For after all, though the
waters be dark, they are none the less waters, and therefore they cannot but
refresh and fortify the soul in that which is most needful for it, although
in darkness and with affliction. For the soul immediately perceives in
itself a genuine determination and an effectual desire to do naught which it
understands to be an offence to God, and to omit to do naught that seems to
be for His service. For that dark love cleaves to the soul, causing it a
most watchful care and an inward solicitude concerning that which it must
do, or must not do, for His sake, in order to please Him. It will consider
and ask itself a thousand times if it has given Him cause to be offended;
and all this it will do with much greater care and solicitude than before,
as has already been said with respect to the yearnings of love. For here all
the desires and energies and faculties of the soul are recollected from all
things else, and its effort and strength are employed in pleasing its God
alone. After this manner the soul goes forth from itself and from all
created things to the sweet and delectable union of love of God,˜In
darkness and secure.

By the secret ladder, disguised.
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[206] [Lit.,˜taste.]

[207] Some have considered this description exaggerated, but it must be
borne in mind that all souls are not tested alike and the Saint is writing
of those whom God has willed to raise to such sanctity that they drain the
cup of bitterness to the dregs. We have already seen (Bk. I, chap. xiv,
sect. 5) that˜all do not experience (this) after one manner . . . for (it)
is meted out by the will of God, in conformity with the greater or the
smaller degree of imperfection which each soul has to purge away, (and) in
conformity, likewise, with the degree of love of union to which God is
pleased to raise it (Bk. I, chap xiv, above).

[208] Osee xiii, 9.

[209] Psalm xvii, 12 [A.V., xviii, 11].

[210] Psalm xvii, 13 [A.V., xviii, 12].

[211] Isaias v, 30.

[212] Psalm xxx, 21 [A.V., xxxi, 20].
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CHAPTER XVII

Explains how this dark contemplation is secret.

THREE things have to be expounded with reference to three words contained in
this present line. Two (namely,secret and˜ladder) belong to the dark
night of contemplation of which we are treating; the third (namely,
˜disguised) belongs to the soul by reason of the manner wherein it conducts
itself in this night. As to the first, it must be known that in this line
the soul describes this dark contemplation, by which it goes forth to the
union of love, as a secret ladder, because of the two properties which
belong to it”namely, its being secret and its being a ladder. We shall treat
of each separately.

2. First, it describes this dark contemplation assecret, since, as we
have indicated above, it is mystical theology, which theologians call secret
wisdom, and which, as Saint Thomas says is communicated and infused into the
soul through love. [213] This happens secretly and in darkness, so as to be
hidden from the work of the understanding and of other faculties. Wherefore,
inasmuch as the faculties aforementioned attain not to it, but the Holy
Spirit infuses and orders it in the soul, as says the Bride in the Songs,
without either its knowledge or its understanding, it is called secret. And,
in truth, not only does the soul not understand it, but there is none that
does so, not even the devil; inasmuch as the Master Who teaches the soul is
within it in its substance, to which the devil may not attain, neither may
natural sense nor understanding.

3. And it is not for this reason alone that it may be called secret, but
likewise because of the effects which it produces in the soul. For it is
secret not only in the darknesses and afflictions of purgation, when this
wisdom of love purges the soul, and the soul is unable to speak of it, but
equally so afterwards in illumination, when this wisdom is communicated to
it most clearly. Even then it is still so secret that the soul cannot speak
of it and give it a name whereby it may be called; for, apart from the fact
that the soul has no desire to speak of it, it can find no suitable way or
manner or similitude by which it may be able to describe such lofty
understanding and such delicate spiritual feeling. And thus, even though the
soul might have a great desire to express it and might find many ways in
which to describe it, it would still be secret and remain undescribed. For,
as that inward wisdom is so simple, so general and so spiritual that it has
not entered into the understanding enwrapped or cloaked in any form or image
subject to sense, it follows that sense and imagination (as it has not
entered through them nor has taken their form and colour) cannot account for
it or imagine it, so as to say anything concerning it, although the soul be
clearly aware that it is experiencing and partaking of that rare and
delectable wisdom. It is like one who sees something never seen before,
whereof he has not even seen the like; although he might understand its
nature and have experience of it, he would be unable to give it a name, or
say what it is, however much he tried to do so, and this in spite of its
being a thing which he had perceived with the senses. How much less, then,
could he describe a thing that has not entered through the senses! For the
language of God has this characteristic that, since it is very intimate and
spiritual in its relations with the soul, it transcends every sense and at
once makes all harmony and capacity of the outward and inward senses to
cease and be dumb.

4. For this we have both authorities and examples in the Divine Scripture.
For the incapacity of man to speak of it and describe it in words was shown
by Jeremias, [214] when, after God had spoken with him, he knew not what to
say, save˜Ah, ah, ah! This interior incapacity”that is, of the interior
sense of the imagination”and also that of the exterior sense corresponding
to it was also demonstrated in the case of Moses, when he stood before God
in the bush; [215] not only did he say to God that after speaking with Him
he knew not neither was able to speak, but also that not even (as is said in
the Acts of the Apostles) [216] with the interior imagination did he dare to
meditate, for it seemed to him that his imagination was very far away and
was too dumb, not only to express any part of that which he understood
concerning God, but even to have the capacity to receive aught therefrom.
Wherefore, inasmuch as the wisdom of this contemplation is the language of
God to the soul, addressed by pure spirit to pure spirit, naught that is
less than spirit, such as the senses, can perceive it, and thus to them it
is secret, and they know it not, neither can they say it, [217] nor do they
desire to do so, because they see it not.

5. We may deduce from this the reason why certain persons”good and fearful
souls”who walk along this road and would like to give an account of their
spiritual state to their director, [218] are neither able to do so nor know
how. For the reason we have described, they have a great repugnance in
speaking of it, especially when their contemplation is of the purer sort, so
that the soul itself is hardly conscious of it. Such a person is only able
to say that he is satisfied, tranquil and contented and that he is conscious
of the presence of God, and that, as it seems to him, all is going well with
him; but he cannot describe the state of his soul, nor can he say anything
about it save in general terms like these. It is a different matter when the
experiences of the soul are of a particular kind, such as visions, feelings,
etc., which, being ordinarily received under some species wherein sense
participates, can be described under that species, or by some other
similitude. But this capacity for being described is not in the nature of
pure contemplation, which is indescribable, as we have said, for the which
reason it is called secret.

6. And not only for that reason is it called secret, and is so, but likewise
because this mystical knowledge has the property of hiding the soul within
itself. For, besides performing its ordinary function, it sometimes absorbs
the soul and engulfs it in its secret abyss, in such a way that the soul
clearly sees that it has been carried far away from every creature and; has
become most remote therefrom; [219] so that it considers itself as having
been placed in a most profound and vast retreat, to which no human creature
can attain, such as an immense desert, which nowhere has any boundary, a
desert the more delectable, pleasant and lovely for its secrecy, vastness
and solitude, wherein, the more the soul is raised up above all temporal
creatures, the more deeply does it find itself hidden. And so greatly does
this abyss of wisdom raise up and exalt the soul at this time, making it to
penetrate the veins of the science of love, that it not only shows it how
base are all properties of the creatures by comparison with this supreme
knowledge and Divine feeling, but likewise it learns how base and defective,
and, in some measure, how inapt, are all the terms and words which are used
in this life to treat of Divine things, and how impossible it is, in any
natural way or manner, however learnedly and sublimely they may be spoken
of, to be able to know and perceive them as they are, save by the
illumination of this mystical theology. And thus, when by means of this
illumination the soul discerns this truth, namely, that it cannot reach it,
still less explain it, by common or human language, it rightly calls it
secret.

7. This property of secrecy and superiority over natural capacity, which
belongs to this Divine contemplation, belongs to it, not only because it is
supernatural, but also inasmuch as it is a road that guides and leads the
soul to the perfections of union with God; which, as they are things unknown
after a human manner, must be approached, after a human manner, by unknowing
and by Divine ignorance. For, speaking mystically, as we are speaking here,
Divine things and perfections are known and understood as they are, not when
they are being sought after and practised, but when they have been found and
practised. To this purpose speaks the prophet Baruch concerning this Divine
wisdom:˜There is none that can know her ways nor that can imagine her
paths. [220] Likewise the royal Prophet speaks in this manner concerning
this road of the soul, when he says to God:˜Thy lightnings lighted and
illumined the round earth; the earth was moved and trembled. Thy way is in
the sea and Thy paths are in many waters; and Thy footsteps shall not be
known. [221]

8. All this, speaking spiritually, is to be understood in the sense wherein
we are speaking. For the illumination of the round earth [222] by the
lightnings of God is the enlightenment which is produced by this Divine
contemplation in the faculties of the soul; the moving and trembling of the
earth is the painful purgation which is caused therein; and to say that the
way and the road of God whereby the soul journeys to Him is in the sea, and
His footprints are in many waters and for this reason shall not be known, is
as much as to say that this road whereby the soul journeys to God is as
secret and as hidden from the sense of the soul as the way of one that walks
on the sea, whose paths and footprints are not known, is hidden from the
sense of the body. The steps and footprints which God is imprinting upon the
souls that He desires to bring near to Himself, and to make great in union
with His Wisdom, have also this property, that they are not known. Wherefore
in the Book of Job mention is made of this matter, in these words:˜Hast
thou perchance known the paths of the great clouds or the perfect
knowledges? [223] By this are understood the ways and roads whereby God
continually exalts souls and perfects them in His Wisdom, which souls are
here understood by the clouds. It follows, then, that this contemplation
which is guiding the soul to God is secret wisdom.
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[213]˜Propter hoc Gregorius (Hom. 14 in Ezech.) constituit vitam
contemplativam in charitate Dei.˜ Cf. Summa Theologica, 2a, 2ae, q. 45, a.
2.

[214] Jeremias i, 6.

[215] Exodus iv, 10 [cf. iii, 2].

[216] Acts vii, 32.

[217] [Or:˜and they know not how to say it nor are able to do so.]

[218] [Lit.,˜to him that rules them.]

[219] [Lit.,˜that is set most far away and most remote from every
creatures.]

[220] Baruch iii, 31.

[221] Psalm lxxvi, 19-20 [A.V., lxxvii, 18-19].

[222] [Lit.,˜of the roundness of the earth.]

[223] Job xxxvii, 16.
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CHAPTER XVIII

Explains how this secret wisdom is likewise a ladder.

IT now remains to consider the second point”namely, how this secret wisdom
is likewise a ladder. With respect to this it must be known that we can call
this secret contemplation a ladder for many reasons. In the first place,
because, just as men mount by means of ladders and climb up to possessions
and treasures and things that are in strong places, even so also, by means
of this secret contemplation, without knowing how, the soul ascends and
climbs up to a knowledge and possession of [224] the good things and
treasures of Heaven. This is well expressed by the royal prophet David, when
he says:˜Blessed is he that hath Thy favour and help, for such a man hath
placed in his heart ascensions into the vale of tears in the place which he
hath appointed; for after this manner the Lord of the law shall give
blessing, and they shall go from virtue to virtue as from step to step, and
the God of gods shall be seen in Sion. [225] This God is the treasure of
the strong place of Sion, which is happiness.

2. We may also call it a ladder because, even as the ladder has those same
steps in order that men may mount, it has them also that they may descend;
even so is it likewise with this secret contemplation, for those same
communications which it causes in the soul raise it up to God, yet humble it
with respect to itself. For communications which are indeed of God have this
property, that they humble the soul and at the same time exalt it. For, upon
this road, to go down is to go up, and to go up, to go down, for he that
humbles himself is exalted and he that exalts himself is humbled. [226] And
besides the fact that the virtue of humility is greatness, for the exercise
of the soul therein, God is wont to make it mount by this ladder so that it
may descend, and to make it descend so that it may mount, that the words of
the Wise Man may thus be fulfilled, namely:˜Before the soul is exalted, it
is humbled; and before it is humbled, it is exalted. [227]

3. Speaking now in a natural way, the soul that desires to consider it will
be able to see how on this road (we leave apart the spiritual aspect, of
which the soul is not conscious) it has to suffer many ups and downs, and
how the prosperity which it enjoys is followed immediately by certain storms
and trials; so much so, that it appears to have been given that period of
calm in order that it might be forewarned and strengthened against the
poverty which has followed; just as after misery and torment there come
abundance and calm. It seems to the soul as if, before celebrating that
festival, it has first been made to keep that vigil. This is the ordinary
course and proceeding of the state of contemplation until the soul arrives
at the state of quietness; it never remains in the same state for long
together, but is ascending and descending continually.

4. The reason for this is that, as the state of perfection, which consists
in the perfect love of God and contempt for self, cannot exist unless it
have these two parts, which are the knowledge of God and of oneself, the
soul has of necessity to be practised first in the one and then in the
other, now being given to taste of the one”that is, exaltation”and now being
made to experience the other”that is, humiliation”until it has acquired
perfect habits; and then this ascending and descending will cease, since the
soul will have attained to God and become united with Him, which comes to
pass at the summit of this ladder, for the ladder rests and leans upon Him.
For this ladder of contemplation, which, as we have said, comes down from
God, is prefigured by that ladder which Jacob saw as he slept, whereon
angels were ascending and descending, from God to man, and from man to God,
Who Himself was leaning upon the end of the ladder. [228] All this, says
Divine Scripture, took place by night, when Jacob slept, in order to express
how secret is this road and ascent to God, and how different from that of
mans knowledge. This is very evident, since ordinarily that which is of the
greatest profit in it”namely, to be ever losing oneself and becoming as
nothing [229]”is considered the worst thing possible; and that which is of
least worth, which is for a soul to find consolation and sweetness (wherein
it ordinarily loses rather than gains), is considered best.

5. But, speaking now somewhat more substantially and properly of this ladder
of secret contemplation, we shall observe that the principal characteristic
of contemplation, on account of which it is here called a ladder, is that it
is the science of love. This, as we have said, is an infused and loving
knowledge of God, which enlightens the soul and at the same time enkindles
it with love, until it is raised up step by step, even unto God its Creator.
For it is love alone that unites and joins the soul with God. To the end
that this may be seen more clearly, we shall here indicate the steps of this
Divine ladder one by one, pointing out briefly the marks and effects of
each, so that the soul may conjecture hereby on which of them it is
standing. We shall therefore distinguish them by their effects, as do Saint
Bernard and Saint Thomas, [230] for to know them in themselves is not
possible after a natural manner, inasmuch as this ladder of love is, as we
have said, so secret that God alone is He that measures and weighs it.
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[224] [Lit.,˜rises to scale, know and possess.]

[225] Psalm lxxxiii, 6 [A.V., lxxxiv, 7].

[226] St. Luke xiv, 11.

[227] Proverbs xviii, 12.

[228] Genesis xxviii, 12.

[229] [Lit.,˜and annihilating oneself.]

[230]˜Ut dicit Bernardus, Magna res est amor, sed sunt in eo gradus.
Loquendo ergo aliquantulum magis moraliter quam realiter, decem amoris
gradus distinguere possumus˜ (D. Thom., De dilectione Dei et proximi, cap.
xxvii. Cf. Opusc. LXI of the edition of Venice, 1595).
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CHAPTER XIX

Begins to explain the ten steps [231] of the mystic ladder of Divine love,
according to Saint Bernard and Saint Thomas. The first five are here
treated.

WE observe, then, that the steps of this ladder of love by which the soul
mounts, one by one, to God, are ten. The first step of love causes the soul
to languish, and this to its advantage. The Bride is speaking from this step
of love when she says:˜I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, that, if ye
find my Beloved, ye tell Him that I am sick with love. [232] This sickness,
however, is not unto death, but for the glory of God, for in this sickness
the soul swoons as to sin and as to all things that are not God, for the
sake of God Himself, even as David testifies, saying:˜My soul hath swooned
away [233]”that is, with respect to all things, for Thy salvation. For
just as a sick man first of all loses his appetite and taste for all food,
and his colour changes, so likewise in this degree of love the soul loses
its taste and desire for all things and changes its colour and the other
accidentals of its past life, like one in love. The soul falls not into this
sickness if excess of heat be not communicated to it from above, even as is
expressed in that verse of David which says: Pluviam voluntariam segregabis,
Deus, haereditati tuae, et infirmata est, [234] etc. This sickness and
swooning to all things, which is the beginning and the first step on the
road to God, we clearly described above, when we were speaking of the
annihilation wherein the soul finds itself when it begins to climb [235]
this ladder of contemplative purgation, when it can find no pleasure,
support, consolation or abiding-place in anything soever. Wherefore from
this step it begins at once to climb to the second.

2. The second step causes the soul to seek God without ceasing. Wherefore,
when the Bride says that she sought Him by night upon her bed (when she had
swooned away according to the first step of love) and found Him not, she
said:˜I will arise and will seek Him Whom my soul loveth. [236] This, as
we say, the soul does without ceasing as David counsels it, saying:seek ye
ever the face of God, and seek ye Him in all things, tarrying not until ye
find Him; [237] like the Bride, who, having enquired for Him of the
watchmen, passed on at once and left them. Mary Magdalene did not even
notice the angels at the sepulchre. [238] On this step the soul now walks so
anxiously that it seeks the Beloved in all things. In whatsoever it thinks,
it thinks at once of the Beloved. Of whatsoever it speaks, in whatsoever
matters present themselves, it is speaking and communing at once with the
Beloved. When it eats, when it sleeps, when it watches, when it does aught
soever, all its care is about the Beloved, as is said above with respect to
the yearnings of love. And now, as love begins to recover its health and
find new strength in the love of this second step, it begins at once to
mount to the third, by means of a certain degree [239] of new purgation in
the night, as we shall afterwards describe, which produces in the soul the
following effects.

3. The third step of the ladder of love is that which causes the soul to
work and gives it fervour so that it fails not. Concerning this the royal
Prophet says: Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, for in His
commandments he is eager to labour greatly. [240] Wherefore if fear, being
the son of love, causes within him this eagerness to labour, [241] what will
be done by love itself? On this step the soul considers great works
undertaken for the Beloved as small; many things as few; and the long time
for which it serves Him as short, by reason of the fire of love wherein it
is now burning. Even so to Jacob, though after seven years he had been made
to serve seven more, they seemed few because of the greatness of his love.
[242] Now if the love of a mere creature could accomplish so much in Jacob,
what will love of the Creator be able to do when on this third step it takes
possession of the soul? Here, for the great love which the soul bears to
God, it suffers great pains and afflictions because of the little that it
does for God; and if it were lawful for it to be destroyed a thousand times
for Him it would be comforted. Wherefore it considers itself useless in all
that it does and thinks itself to be living in vain. Another wondrous effect
produced here in the soul is that it considers itself as being, most
certainly, worse than all other souls: first, because love is continually
teaching it how much is due to God; [243] and second, because, as the works
which it here does for God are many and it knows them all to be faulty and
imperfect, they all bring it confusion and affliction, for it realizes in
how lowly a manner it is working for God, Who is so high. On this third
step, the soul is very far from vainglory or presumption, and from
condemning others. These anxious effects, with many others like them, are
produced in the soul by this third step; wherefore it gains courage and
strength from them in order to mount to the fourth step, which is that that
follows.

4. The fourth step of this ladder of love is that whereby there is caused in
the soul an habitual suffering because of the Beloved, yet without
weariness. For, as Saint Augustine says, love makes all things that are
great, grievous and burdensome to be almost naught. From this step the Bride
was speaking when, desiring to attain to the last step, she said to the
Spouse:set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for
love”that is, the act and work of love”is strong as death, and emulation and
importunity last as long as hell. [244] The spirit here has so much
strength that it has subjected the flesh and takes as little account of it
as does the tree of one of its leaves. In no way does the soul here seek its
own consolation or pleasure, either in God, or in aught else, nor does it
desire or seek to pray to God for favours, for it sees clearly that it has
already received enough of these, and all its anxiety is set upon the manner
wherein it will be able to do something that is pleasing to God and to
render Him some service such as He merits and in return for what it has
received from Him, although it be greatly to its cost. The soul says in its
heart and spirit: Ah, my God and Lord! How many are there that go to seek in
Thee their own consolation and pleasure, and desire Thee to grant them
favours and gifts; but those who long to do Thee pleasure and to give Thee
something at their cost, setting their own interests last, are very few. The
failure, my God, is not in Thy unwillingness to grant us new favours, but in
our neglect to use those that we have received in Thy service alone, in
order to constrain Thee to grant them to us continually. Exceeding lofty is
this step of love; for, as the soul goes ever after God with love so true,
imbued with the spirit of suffering for His sake, His Majesty oftentimes and
quite habitually grants it joy, and visits it sweetly and delectably in the
spirit; for the boundless love of Christ, the Word, cannot suffer the
afflictions of His lover without succouring him. This He affirmed through
Jeremias, saying:˜I have remembered thee, pitying thy youth and tenderness,
when thou wentest after Me in the wilderness. [245] Speaking spiritually,
this denotes the detachment which the soul now has interiorly from every
creature, so that it rests not and nowhere finds quietness. This fourth step
enkindles the soul and makes it to burn in such desire for God that it
causes it to mount to the fifth, which is that which follows.

5. The fifth step of this ladder of love makes the soul to desire and long
for God impatiently. On this step the vehemence of the lover to comprehend
the Beloved and be united with Him is such that every delay, however brief,
becomes very long, wearisome and oppressive to it, and it continually
believes itself to be finding the Beloved. And when it sees its desire
frustrated (which is at almost every moment), it swoons away with its
yearning, as says the Psalmist, speaking from this step, in these words:˜My
soul longs and faints for the dwellings of the Lord. [246] On this step the
lover must needs see that which he loves, or die; at this step was Rachel,
when, for the great longing that she had for children, she said to Jacob,
her spouse:˜Give me children, else shall I die. [247] Here men suffer
hunger like dogs and go about and surround the city of God. On this step,
which is one of hunger, [248] the soul is nourished upon love; for, even as
is its hunger, so is its abundance; so that it rises hence to the sixth
step, producing the effects which follow.
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[231] [The word translatedstep may also (and often more elegantly) be
rendered˜degree. The same word is kept, however, throughout the
translation of this chapter except where noted below.]

[232] Canticles v, 8.

[233] Psalm cxlii, 7 [A.V., cxliii, 7].

[234] Psalm lxvii, 10 [A.V., lxviii, 9].

[235] [Lit.,˜to enter (upon).]

[236] Canticles iii, 2.

[237] Psalm civ, 4 [A.V., cv, 4].

[238] St. John xx.

[239] [The word in the Spanish is that elsewhere translatedstep.]

[240] Psalm cxi, 1 [A.V., cxii, 1].

[241] [Lit.,˜makes in him this labour of eagerness.]

[242] Genesis xxix, 20.

[243] [Lit.,˜how much God merits.]

[244] Canticles viii, 5.

[245] Jeremias ii, 2.

[246] Psalm lxxxiii, 2 [A.V., lxxxiv, 2].

[247] Genesis xxx, 1.

[248] [Lit.,˜On this hungering step.]
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CHAPTER XX

Wherein are treated the other five steps of love.

ON the sixth step the soul runs swiftly to God and touches Him again and
again; and it runs without fainting by reason of its hope. For here the love
that has made it strong makes it to fly swiftly. Of this step the prophet
Isaias speaks thus: The saints that hope in God shall renew their
strength; they shall take wings as the eagle; they shall fly and shall not
faint, [249] as they did at the fifth step. To this step likewise alludes
that verse of the Psalm: As the hart desires the waters, my soul desires
Thee, O God. [250] For the hart, in its thirst, runs to the waters with
great swiftness. The cause of this swiftness in love which the soul has on
this step is that its charity is greatly enlarged within it, since the soul
is here almost wholly purified, as is said likewise in the Psalm, namely:
Sine iniquitate cucurri. [251] And in another Psalm:˜I ran the way of Thy
commandments when Thou didst enlarge my heart; [252] and thus from this
sixth step the soul at once mounts to the seventh, which is that which
follows.

2. The seventh step of this ladder makes the soul to become vehement in its
boldness. Here love employs not its judgment in order to hope, nor does it
take counsel so that it may draw back, neither can any shame restrain it;
for the favour which God here grants to the soul causes it to become
vehement in its boldness. Hence follows that which the Apostle says, namely:
That charity believeth all things, hopeth all things and is capable of all
things. [253] Of this step spake Moses, when he entreated God to pardon the
people, and if not, to blot out his name from the book of life wherein He
had written it. [254] Men like these obtain from God that which they beg of
Him with desire. Wherefore David says:˜Delight thou in God and He will give
thee the petitions of thy heart. [255] On this step the Bride grew bold,
and said: Osculetur me osculo oris sui. [256] To this step it is not lawful
for the soul to aspire boldly, unless it feel the interior favour of the
Kings sceptre extended to it, lest perchance it fall from the other steps
which it has mounted up to this point, and wherein it must ever possess
itself in humility. From this daring and power which God grants to the soul
on this seventh step, so that it may be bold with God in the vehemence of
love, follows the eighth, which is that wherein it takes the Beloved captive
and is united with Him, as follows.

3. The eighth step of love causes the soul to seize Him and hold Him fast
without letting Him go, even as the Bride says, after this manner:˜I found
Him Whom my heart and soul love; I held Him and I will not let Him go.
[257] On this step of union the soul satisfies her desire, but not
continuously. Certain souls climb some way, [258] and then lose their hold;
for, if this state were to continue, it would be glory itself in this life;
and thus the soul remains therein for very short periods of time. To the
prophet Daniel, because he was a man of desires, was sent a command from God
to remain on this step, when it was said to him:˜Daniel, stay upon thy
step, because thou art a man of desires. [259] After this step follows the
ninth, which is that of souls now perfect, as we shall afterwards say, which
is that that follows.

4. The ninth step of love makes the soul to burn with sweetness. This step
is that of the perfect, who now burn sweetly in God. For this sweet and
delectable ardour is caused in them by the Holy Spirit by reason of the
union which they have with God. For this cause Saint Gregory says,
concerning the Apostles, that when the Holy Spirit came upon them visibly
they burned inwardly and sweetly through love. [260] Of the good things and
riches of God which the soul enjoys on this step, we cannot speak; for if
many books were to be written concerning it the greater part would still
remain untold. For this cause, and because we shall say something of it
hereafter, I say no more here than that after this follows the tenth and
last step of this ladder of love, which belongs not to this life.

5. The tenth and last step of this secret ladder of love causes the soul to
become wholly assimilated to God, by reason of the clear and immediate [261]
vision of God which it then possesses; when, having ascended in this life to
the ninth step, it goes forth from the flesh. These souls, who are few,
enter not into purgatory, since they have already been wholly purged by
love. Of these Saint Matthew says: Beati mundo corde: quoniam ipsi Deum
videbunt. [262] And, as we say, this vision is the cause of the perfect
likeness of the soul to God, for, as Saint John says, we know that we shall
be like Him. [263] Not because the soul will come to have the capacity of
God, for that is impossible; but because all that it is will become like to
God, for which cause it will be called, and will be, God by participation.

6. This is the secret ladder whereof the soul here speaks, although upon
these higher steps it is no longer very secret to the soul, since much is
revealed to it by love, through the great effects which love produces in it.
But, on this last step of clear vision, which is the last step of the ladder
whereon God leans, as we have said already, there is naught that is hidden
from the soul, by reason of its complete assimilation. Wherefore Our Saviour
says:˜In that day ye shall ask Me nothing, etc. [264] But, until that day,
however high a point the soul may reach, there remains something hidden from
it”namely, all that it lacks for total assimilation in the Divine Essence.
After this manner, by this mystical theology and secret love, the soul
continues to rise above all things and above itself, and to mount upward to
God. For love is like fire, which ever rises upward with the desire to be
absorbed in the centre of its sphere.
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[249] Isaias xl, 31.

[250] Psalm xli, 2 [A.V., xlii, 1].

[251] Psalm lviii, 5 [A.V., lix, 4].

[252] Psalm cxviii, 32 [A.V., cxix, 32].

[253] 1 Corinthians xiii, 7.

[254] Exodus xxxii, 31-2.

[255] Psalm xxxvi, 4 [A.V., xxxvii, 4].

[256] Canticles i, 1.

[257] Canticles iii, 4.

[258] [Lit.,˜attain to setting their foot.]

[259] Daniel x, 11.

[260]˜Dum Deum in ignis visione suscipiunt, per amorem suaviter arserunt˜
(Hom. XXX in Evang.).

[261] [i.e., direct, not mediate.]

[262] St. Matthew v, 8.

[263] St. John iii, 2.

[264] St. John xvi, 23.
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CHAPTER XXI

Which explains the word˜disguised, and describes the colours of the
disguise of the soul in this night.

Now that we have explained the reasons why the soul called this
contemplation asecret ladder, it remains for us to explain likewise the
word˜disguised, and the reason why the soul says also that it went forth
by thissecret ladder in disguise.

2. For the understanding of this it must be known that to disguise oneself
is naught else but to hide and cover oneself beneath another garb and figure
than ones own”sometimes in order to show forth, under that garb or figure,
the will and purpose which is in the heart to gain the grace and will of one
who is greatly loved; sometimes, again, to hide oneself from ones rivals
and thus to accomplish ones object better. At such times a man assumes the
garments and livery which best represent and indicate the affection of his
heart and which best conceal him from his rivals.

3. The soul, then, touched with the love of Christ the Spouse, and longing
to attain to His grace and gain His goodwill, goes forth here disguised with
that disguise which most vividly represents the affections of its spirit and
which will protect it most securely on its journey from its adversaries and
enemies, which are the devil, the world and the flesh. Thus the livery which
it wears is of three chief colours”white, green and purple”denoting the
three theological virtues, faith, hope and charity. By these the soul will
not only gain the grace and goodwill of its Beloved, but it will travel in
security and complete protection from its three enemies: for faith is an
inward tunic of a whiteness so pure that it completely dazzles the eyes of
the understanding. [265] And thus, when the soul journeys in its vestment of
faith, the devil can neither see it nor succeed in harming it, since it is
well protected by faith”more so than by all the other virtues”against the
devil, who is at once the strongest and the most cunning of enemies.

4. It is clear that Saint Peter could find no better protection than faith
to save him from the devil, when he said: Cui resistite fortes in fide.
[266] And in order to gain the grace of the Beloved, and union with Him, the
soul cannot put on a better vest and tunic, [267] to serve as a foundation
and beginning of the other vestments of the virtues, than this white garment
[268] of faith, for without it, as the Apostle says, it is impossible to
please God, and with it, it is impossible to fail to please Him. For He
Himself says through a prophet: Sponsabo te mihi in fide. [269] Which is as
much as to say: If thou desirest, O soul, to be united and betrothed to Me,
thou must come inwardly clad in faith.

5. This white garment of faith was worn by the soul on its going forth from
this dark night, when, walking in interior constraint and darkness, as we
have said before, it received no aid, in the form of light, from its
understanding, neither from above, since Heaven seemed to be closed to it
and God hidden from it, nor from below, since those that taught it satisfied
it not. It suffered with constancy and persevered, passing through those
trials without fainting or failing the Beloved, Who in trials and
tribulations proves the faith of His Bride, so that afterwards she may truly
repeat this saying of David, namely:˜By the words of Thy lips I kept hard
ways. [270]

6. Next, over this white tunic of faith the soul now puts on the second
colour, which is a green vestment. By this, as we said, is signified the
virtue of hope, wherewith, as in the first case, the soul is delivered and
protected from the second enemy, which is the world. For this green colour
of living hope in God gives the soul such ardour and courage and aspiration
to the things of eternal life that, by comparison with what it hopes for
therein, all things of the world seem to it to be, as in truth they are, dry
and faded and dead and nothing worth. The soul now divests and strips itself
of all these worldly vestments and garments, setting its heart upon naught
that is in the world and hoping for naught, whether of that which is or of
that which is to be, but living clad only in the hope of eternal life.
Wherefore, when the heart is thus lifted up above the world, not only can
the world neither touch the heart nor lay hold on it, but it cannot even
come within sight of it.

7. And thus, in this green livery and disguise, the soul journeys in
complete security from this second enemy, which is the world. For Saint Paul
speaks of hope as the helmet of salvation [271]”that is, a piece of armour
that protects the whole head, and covers it so that there remains uncovered
only a visor through which it may look. And hope has this property, that it
covers all the senses of the head of the soul, so that there is naught
soever pertaining to the world in which they can be immersed, nor is there
an opening through which any arrow of the world can wound them. It has a
visor, however, which the soul is permitted to use so that its eyes may look
upward, but nowhere else; for this is the function which hope habitually
performs in the soul, namely, the directing of its eyes upwards to look at
God alone, even as David declared that his eyes were directed, when he said:
Oculi mei semper ad Dominum. [272] He hoped for no good thing elsewhere,
save as he himself says in another Psalm:˜Even as the eyes of the handmaid
are set upon the hands of her mistress, even so are our eyes set upon our
Lord God, until He have mercy upon us as we hope in Him. [273]

8. For this reason, because of this green livery (since the soul is ever
looking to God and sets its eyes on naught else, neither is pleased with
aught save with Him alone), the Beloved has such great pleasure with the
soul that it is true to say that the soul obtains from Him as much as it
hopes for from Him. Wherefore the Spouse in the Songs tells the Bride that,
by looking upon Him with one eye alone, she has wounded His heart. [274]
Without this green livery of hope in God alone it would be impossible for
the soul to go forth to encompass this loving achievement, for it would have
no success, since that which moves and conquers is the importunity of hope.

9. With this livery of hope the soul journeys in disguise through this
secret and dark night whereof we have spoken; for it is so completely voided
of every possession and support that it fixes its eyes and its care upon
naught but God, putting its mouth in the dust, [275] if so be there may be
hope”to repeat the quotation made above from Jeremias. [276]

10. Over the white and the green vestments, as the crown and perfection of
this disguise and livery, the soul now puts on the third colour, which is a
splendid garment of purple. By this is denoted the third virtue, which is
charity. This not only adds grace to the other two colours, but causes the
soul to rise to so lofty a point that it is brought near to God, and becomes
very beautiful and pleasing to Him, so that it makes bold to say:˜Albeit I
am black, O daughters of Jerusalem, I am comely; wherefore the King hath
loved me and hath brought me into His chambers. [277] This livery of
charity, which is that of love, and causes greater love in the Beloved, not
only protects the soul and hides it from the third enemy, which is the flesh
(for where there is true love of God there enters neither love of self nor
that of the things of self), but even gives worth to the other virtues,
bestowing on them vigour and strength to protect the soul, and grace and
beauty to please the Beloved with them, for without charity no virtue has
grace before God. This is the purple which is spoken of in the Songs, [278]
upon which God reclines. Clad in this purple livery the soul journeys when
(as has been explained above in the first stanza) it goes forth from itself
in the dark night, and from all things created,˜kindled in love with
yearnings, by this secret ladder of contemplation, to the perfect union of
love of God, its beloved salvation. [279]

11. This, then, is the disguise which the soul says that it wears in the
night of faith, upon this secret ladder, and these are its three colours.
They constitute a most fit preparation for the union of the soul with God,
according to its three faculties, which are understanding, memory and will.
For faith voids and darkens the understanding as to all its natural
intelligence, and herein prepares it for union with Divine Wisdom. Hope
voids and withdraws the memory from all creature possessions; for, as Saint
Paul says, hope is for that which is not possessed; [280] and thus it
withdraws the memory from that which it is capable of possessing, and sets
it on that for which it hopes. And for this cause hope in God alone prepares
the memory purely for union with God. Charity, in the same way, voids and
annihilates the affections and desires of the will for whatever is not God,
and sets them upon Him alone; and thus this virtue prepares this faculty and
unites it with God through love. And thus, since the function of these
virtues is the withdrawal of the soul from all that is less than God, their
function is consequently that of joining it with God.

12. And thus, unless it journeys earnestly, clad in the garments of these
three virtues, it is impossible for the soul to attain to the perfection of
union with God through love. Wherefore, in order that the soul might attain
that which it desired, which was this loving and delectable union with its
Beloved, this disguise and clothing which it assumed was most necessary and
convenient. And likewise to have succeeded in thus clothing itself and
persevering until it should obtain the end and aspiration which it had so
much desired, which was the union of love, was a great and happy chance,
wherefore in this line the soul also says:

Oh, happy chance!
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[265] [Lit.,˜that it dislocates the sight of all understanding.]

[266] 1 St. Peter v, 9.

[267] [Lit.,˜a better undershirt and tunic.]

[268] [Lit.,˜this whiteness.]

[269] Osee, ii, 20.

[270] Psalm xvi, 4 [A.V., xvii, 4].

[271] 1 Thessalonians v, 8.

[272] Psalm xxiv, 15 [A.V., xxv, 15].

[273] Psalm cxxii, 2 [A.V., cxxiii, 2].

[274] Canticles iv, 9.

[275] Lamentations iii, 29.

[276] Ibid. [For the quotation, see Bk. II, chap. viii, sect. 1, above.]

[277] Canticles i, 3. [A.V., i, 4.] [For˜chambers the Spanish has˜bed.]

[278] Canticles iii, 10.

[279] [Or˜health.]

[280] Romans viii, 24.
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CHAPTER XXII

Explains the third [281] line of the second stanza.

IT is very clear that it was a happy chance for this soul to go forth with
such an enterprise as this, for it was its going forth that delivered it
from the devil and from the world and from its own sensuality, as we have
said. Having attained liberty of spirit, so precious and so greatly desired
by all, it went forth from low things to high; from terrestrial, it became
celestial; from human, Divine. Thus it came to have its conversation in the
heavens, as has the soul in this state of perfection, even as we shall go on
to say in what follows, although with rather more brevity.

2. For the most important part of my task, and the part which chiefly led me
to undertake it, was the explanation of this night to many souls who pass
through it and yet know nothing about it, as was said in the prologue. Now
this explanation and exposition has already been half completed. Although
much less has been said of it than might be said, we have shown how many are
the blessings which the soul bears with it through the night and how happy
is the chance whereby it passes through it, so that, when a soul is
terrified by the horror of so many trials, it is also encouraged by the
certain hope of so many and such precious blessings of God as it gains
therein. And furthermore, for yet another reason, this was a happy chance
for the soul; and this reason is given in the following line:

In darkness and in concealment.
_________________________________________________________________

[281] i.e., in the original Spanish and in our verse rendering of the poem
in The Complete Works of St. John of the Cross, Ed. by E. Allison Peers,
Vol. II (The Newman Press, Westminster, Md.).
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CHAPTER XXIII

Expounds the fourth line [282] and describes the wondrous hiding place
wherein the soul is set during this night. Shows how, although the devil
has an entrance into other places that are very high, he has none into
this.

˜IN concealment is as much as to say˜in a hiding-place, or˜in hiding;
and thus, what the soul here says (namely, that it went forth˜in darkness
and in concealment) is a more complete explanation of the great security
which it describes itself in the first line of the stanza as possessing, by
means of this dark contemplation upon the road of the union of the love of
God.

2. When the soul, then, says˜in darkness and in concealment, it means
that, inasmuch as it journeyed in darkness after the manner aforementioned,
it went in hiding and in concealment from the devil and from his wiles and
stratagems. The reason why, as it journeys in the darkness of this
contemplation, the soul is free, and is hidden from the stratagems of the
devil, is that the infused contemplation which it here possesses is infused
into it passively and secretly, without the knowledge of the senses and
faculties, whether interior or exterior, of the sensual part. And hence it
follows that, not only does it journey in hiding, and is free from the
impediment which these faculties can set in its way because of its natural
weakness, but likewise from the devil; who, except through these faculties
of the sensual part, cannot reach or know that which is in the soul, nor
that which is taking place within it. Wherefore, the more spiritual, the
more interior and the more remote from the senses is the communication, the
farther does the devil fall short of understanding it.

3. And thus it is of great importance for the security of the soul that its
inward communication with God should be of such a kind that its very senses
of the lower part will remain in darkness [283] and be without knowledge of
it, and attain not to it: first, so that it may be possible for the
spiritual communication to be more abundant, and that the weakness of its
sensual part may not hinder the liberty of its spirit; secondly because, as
we say, the soul journeys more securely since the devil cannot penetrate so
far. In this way we may understand that passage where Our Saviour, speaking
in a spiritual sense, says:˜Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
doeth. [284] Which is as though He had said: Let not thy left hand know
that which takes place upon thy right hand, which is the higher and
spiritual part of the soul; that is, let it be of such a kind that the lower
portion of thy soul, which is the sensual part, may not attain to it; let it
be a secret between the spirit and God alone.

4. It is quite true that oftentimes, when these very intimate and secret
spiritual communications are present and take place in the soul, although
the devil cannot get to know of what kind and manner they are, yet the great
repose and silence which some of them cause in the senses and the faculties
of the sensual part make it clear to him that they are taking place and that
the soul is receiving a certain blessing from them. And then, as he sees
that he cannot succeed in thwarting them in the depth of the soul, he does
what he can to disturb and disquiet the sensual part”that part to which he
is able to attain”now by means of afflictions, now by terrors and fears,
with intent to disquiet and disturb the higher and spiritual part of the
soul by this means, with respect to that blessing which it then receives and
enjoys. But often, when the communication of such contemplation makes its
naked assault upon the soul and exerts its strength upon it, the devil, with
all his diligence, is unable to disturb it; rather the soul receives a new
and a greater advantage and a securer peace. For, when it feels the
disturbing presence of the enemy, then”wondrous thing!”without knowing how
it comes to pass, and without any efforts of its own, it enters farther into
its own interior depths, feeling that it is indeed being set in a sure
refuge, where it perceives itself to be most completely withdrawn and hidden
from the enemy. And thus its peace and joy, which the devil is attempting to
take from it, are increased; and all the fear that assails it remains
without; and it becomes clearly and exultingly conscious of its secure
enjoyment of that quiet peace and sweetness of the hidden Spouse, which
neither the world nor the devil can give it or take from it. In that state,
therefore, it realizes the truth of the words of the Bride about this, in
the Songs, namely:see how threescore strong men surround the bed of
Solomon, etc., because of the fears of the night. [285] It is conscious of
this strength and peace, although it is often equally conscious that its
flesh and bones are being tormented from without.

5. At other times, when the spiritual communication is not made in any great
measure to the spirit, but the senses have a part therein, the devil more
easily succeeds in disturbing the spirit and raising a tumult within it, by
means of the senses, with these terrors. Great are the torment and the
affliction which are then caused in the spirit; at times they exceed all
that can be expressed. For, when there is a naked contact of spirit with
spirit, the horror is intolerable which the evil spirit causes in the good
spirit (I mean, in the soul), when its tumult reaches it. This is expressed
likewise by the Bride in the Songs, when she says that it has happened thus
to her at a time when she wished to descend to interior recollection in
order to have fruition of these blessings. She says:˜I went down into the
garden of nuts to see the apples of the valleys, and if the vine had
flourished. I knew not; my soul troubled me because of the chariots”that
is, because of the chariots and the noise of Aminadab, which is the devil.
[286]

6. At other times it comes to pass that the devil is occasionally able to
see certain favours which God is pleased to grant the soul when they are
bestowed upon it by the mediation of a good angel; for of those favours
which come through a good angel God habitually allows the enemy to have
knowledge: partly so that he may do that which he can against them according
to the measure of justice, and that thus he may not be able to allege with
truth that no opportunity is given him for conquering the soul, as he said
concerning Job. [287] This would be the case if God allowed not a certain
equality between the two warriors”namely, the good angel and the bad”when
they strive for the soul, so that the victory of either may be of the
greater worth, and the soul that is victorious and faithful in temptation
may be the more abundantly rewarded.

7. We must observe, therefore, that it is for this reason that, in
proportion as God is guiding the soul and communing with it, He gives the
devil leave to act with it after this manner. When the soul has genuine
visions by the instrumentality of the good angel (for it is by this
instrumentality that they habitually come, even though Christ reveal
Himself, for He scarcely ever appears [288] in His actual person), God also
gives the wicked angel leave to present to the soul false visions of this
very type in such a way that the soul which is not cautious may easily be
deceived by their outward appearance, as many souls have been. Of this there
is a figure in Exodus, [289] where it is said that all the genuine signs
that Moses wrought were wrought likewise in appearance by the magicians of
Pharao. If he brought forth frogs, they brought them forth likewise; if he
turned water into blood, they did the same.

8. And not only does the evil one imitate God in this type of bodily vision,
but he also imitates and interferes in spiritual communications which come
through the instrumentality of an angel, when he succeeds in seeing them, as
we say (for, as Job said [290] : Omne sublime videt). These, however, as
they are without form and figure (for it is the nature of spirit to have no
such thing), he cannot imitate and counterfeit like those others which are
presented under some species or figure. And thus, in order to attack the
soul, in the same way as that wherein it is being visited, his fearful
spirit presents a similar vision in order to attack and destroy spiritual
things by spiritual. When this comes to pass just as the good angel is about
to communicate spiritual contemplation to the soul, it is impossible for the
soul to shelter itself in the secrecy and hiding-place of contemplation with
sufficient rapidity not to be observed by the devil; and thus he appears to
it and produces a certain horror and perturbation of spirit which at times
is most distressing to the soul. Sometimes the soul can speedily free itself
from him, so that there is no opportunity for the aforementioned horror of
the evil spirit to make an impression on it; and it becomes recollected
within itself, being favoured, to this end, by the effectual spiritual grace
that the good angel then communicates to it.

9. At other times the devil prevails and encompasses the soul with a
perturbation and horror which is a greater affliction to it than any torment
in this life could be. For, as this horrible communication passes direct
from spirit to spirit, in something like nakedness and clearly distinguished
from all that is corporeal, it is grievous beyond what every sense can feel;
and this lasts in the spirit for some time, yet not for long, for otherwise
the spirit would be driven forth from the flesh by the vehement
communication of the other spirit. Afterwards there remains to it the memory
thereof, which is sufficient to cause it great affliction.

10. All that we have here described comes to pass in the soul passively,
without its doing or undoing anything of itself with respect to it. But in
this connection it must be known that, when the good angel permits the devil
to gain this advantage of assailing the soul with this spiritual horror, he
does it to purify the soul and to prepare it by means of this spiritual
vigil for some great spiritual favour and festival which he desires to grant
it, for he never mortifies save to give life, nor humbles save to exalt,
which comes to pass shortly afterwards. Then, according as was the dark and
horrible purgation which the soul suffered, so is the fruition now granted
it of a wondrous and delectable spiritual contemplation, sometimes so lofty
that there is no language to describe it. But the spirit has been greatly
refined by the preceding horror of the evil spirit, in order that it may be
able to receive this blessing; for these spiritual visions belong to the
next life rather than to this, and when one of them is seen this is a
preparation for the next.

11. This is to be understood with respect to occasions when God visits the
soul by the instrumentality of a good angel, wherein, as has been said, the
soul is not so totally in darkness and in concealment that the enemy cannot
come within reach of it. But, when God Himself visits it, then the words of
this line are indeed fulfilled, and it is in total darkness and in
concealment from the enemy that the soul receives these spiritual favours of
God. The reason for this is that, as His Majesty dwells substantially in the
soul, where neither angel nor devil can attain to an understanding of that
which comes to pass, they cannot know the intimate and secret communications
which take place there between the soul and God. These communications, since
the Lord Himself works them, are wholly Divine and sovereign, for they are
all substantial touches of Divine union between the soul and God; in one of
which the soul receives a greater blessing than in all the rest, since this
is the loftiest degree [291] of prayer in existence.

12. For these are the touches that the Bride entreated of Him in the Songs,
saying: Osculetur me osculo oris sui. [292] Since this is a thing which
takes place in such close intimacy with God, whereto the soul desires with
such yearnings to attain, it esteems and longs for a touch of this Divinity
more than all the other favours that God grants it. Wherefore, after many
such favours have been granted to the Bride in the said Songs, of which she
has sung therein, she is not satisfied, but entreats Him for these Divine
touches, saying: Who shall give Thee to me, my brother, that I might find
Thee alone without, sucking the breasts of my mother, so that I might kiss
Thee with the mouth of my soul, and that thus no man should despise me or
make bold to attack me. [293] By this she denotes the communication which
God Himself alone makes to her, as we are saying, far from all the creatures
and without their knowledge, for this is meant by˜alone and without,
sucking, etc.”that is, drying up and draining the breasts of the desires
and affections of the sensual part of the soul. This takes place when the
soul, in intimate peace and delight, has fruition of these blessings, with
liberty of spirit, and without the sensual part being able to hinder it, or
the devil to thwart it by means thereof. And then the devil would not make
bold to attack it, for he would not reach it, neither could he attain to an
understanding of these Divine touches in the substance of the soul in the
loving substance of God.

13. To this blessing none attains save through intimate purgation and
detachment and spiritual concealment from all that is creature; it comes to
pass in the darkness, as we have already explained at length and as we say
with respect to this line. The soul is in concealment and in hiding, in the
which hiding-place, as we have now said, it continues to be strengthened in
union with God through love, wherefore it sings this in the same phrase,
saying:˜In darkness and in concealment.

14. When it comes to pass that those favours are granted to the soul in
concealment (that is, as we have said, in spirit only), the soul is wont,
during some of them, and without knowing how this comes to pass, to see
itself so far with drawn and separated according to the higher and spiritual
part, from the sensual and lower portion, that it recognizes in itself two
parts so distinct from each other that it believes that the one has naught
to do with the other, but that the one is very remote and far withdrawn from
the other. And in reality, in a certain way, this is so; for the operation
is now wholly spiritual, and the soul receives no communication in its
sensual part. In this way the soul gradually becomes wholly spiritual; and
in this hiding-place of unitive contemplation its spiritual desires and
passions are to a great degree removed and purged away. And thus, speaking
of its higher part, the soul then says in this last line:

My house being now at rest. [294]
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[282] i.e., in the original Spanish and in our verse rendering of the poem
in The Complete Works of St. John of the Cross, Ed. by E. Allison Peers,
Vol. II (The Newman Press, Westminster, Md.).

[283] [The Spanish also admits of the rendering:˜remain shut off from it by
darkness.]

[284] Matthew vi, 3.

[285] Canticles iii, 7-8.

[286] Canticles vi, 10 [A.V., vi, 11-12].

[287] Job i, 1-11.

[288] Such is the unanimous opinion of theologians. Some, with St. Thomas
(Pt. III, q. 57, a. 6), suppose that the appearance which converted St. Paul
near Damascus was that of Our Lord Jesus Christ in person.

[289] Exodus vii, 11-22; viii, 7.

[290] Job xli, 25.

[291] [Lit.,step. Cf. Bk. II, chap. xix, first note, above.]

[292] Canticles i, 1.

[293] Canticles viii, 1.

[294] The word translated˜at rest is a past participle: more literally,
stilled.
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CHAPTER XXIV

Completes the explanation of the second stanza.

THIS is as much as to say: The higher portion of my soul being like the
lower part also, at rest with respect to its desires and faculties, I went
forth to the Divine union of the love of God.

2. Inasmuch as, by means of that war of the dark night, as has been said,
the soul is combated and purged after two manners”namely, according to its
sensual and its spiritual part”with its senses, faculties and passions, so
likewise after two manners”namely, according to these two parts, the sensual
and the spiritual”with all its faculties and desires, the soul attains to an
enjoyment of peace and rest. For this reason, as has likewise been said, the
soul twice pronounces this line”namely, [295] in this stanza and in the
last”because of these two portions of the soul, the spiritual and the
sensual, which, in order that they may go forth to the Divine union of love,
must needs first be reformed, ordered and tranquillized with respect to the
sensual and to the spiritual, according to the nature of the state of
innocence which was Adams. [296] And thus this line which, in the first
stanza, was understood of the repose of the lower and sensual portion, is,
in this second stanza, understood more particularly of the higher and
spiritual part; for which reason it is repeated. [297]

3. This repose and quiet of this spiritual house the soul comes to attain,
habitually and perfectly (in so far as the condition of this life allows),
by means of the acts of the substantial touches of Divine union whereof we
have just spoken; which, in concealment, and hidden from the perturbation of
the devil, and of its own senses and passions, the soul has been receiving
from the Divinity, wherein it has been purifying itself, as I say, resting,
strengthening and confirming itself in order to be able to receive the said
union once and for all, which is the Divine betrothal between the soul and
the Son of God. As soon as these two houses of the soul have together become
tranquillized and strengthened, with all their domestics”namely, the
faculties and desires”and have put these domestics to sleep and made them to
be silent with respect to all things, both above and below, this Divine
Wisdom immediately unites itself with the soul by making a new bond of
loving possession, and there is fulfilled that which is written in the Book
of Wisdom, in these words: Dum quietum silentium contineret omnia, et nox in
suo cursu medium iter haberet, omnipotens sermo tuus Domine a regalibus
sedibus. [298] The same thing is described by the Bride in the Songs, [299]
where she says that, after she had passed by those who stripped her of her
mantle by night and wounded her, she found Him Whom her soul loved.

4. The soul cannot come to this union without great purity, and this purity
is not gained without great detachment from every created thing and sharp
mortification. This is signified by the stripping of the Bride of her mantle
and by her being wounded by night as she sought and went after the Spouse;
for the new mantle which belonged to the betrothal could not be put on until
the old mantle was stripped off. Wherefore, he that refuses to go forth in
the night aforementioned to seek the Beloved, and to be stripped of his own
will and to be mortified, but seeks Him upon his bed and at his own
convenience, as did the Bride, [300] will not succeed in finding Him. For
this soul says of itself that it found Him by going forth in the dark and
with yearnings of love.
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[295] [Lit.,˜twice repeats”a loosely used phrase.]

[296] H omits this last phrase, which is found in all the other Codices, and
in e.p. The latter adds:˜notwithstanding that the soul is not wholly free
from the temptations of the lower part. The addition is made so that the
teaching of the Saint may not be confused with that of the Illuminists, who
supposed the contemplative in union to be impeccable, do what he might. The
Saints meaning is that for the mystical union of the soul with God such
purity and tranquillity of senses and faculties are needful that his
condition resembles that state of innocence in which Adam was created, but
without the attribute of impeccability, which does not necessarily accompany
union, nor can be attained by any, save by a most special privilege of God.
Cf. St. Teresas Interior Castle, VII, ii. St. Teresa will be found
occasionally to explain points of mystical doctrine which St. John of the
Cross takes as being understood.

[297] [Lit.,˜twice repeated.]

[298] Wisdom xviii, 14.

[299] Canticles v, 7.

[300] Canticles iii, 1.
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CHAPTER XXV

Wherein is expounded the third stanza.

In the happy night, In secret, when none saw me, Nor I beheld aught,
Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart.

EXPOSITION

THE soul still continues the metaphor and similitude of temporal night in
describing this its spiritual night, and continues to sing and extol the
good properties which belong to it, and which in passing through this night
it found and used, to the end that it might attain its desired goal with
speed and security. Of these properties it here sets down three.

2. The first, it says, is that in this happy night of contemplation God
leads the soul by a manner of contemplation so solitary and secret, so
remote and far distant from sense, that naught pertaining to it, nor any
touch of created things, succeeds in approaching the soul in such a way as
to disturb it and detain it on the road of the union of love.

3. The second property whereof it speaks pertains to the spiritual darkness
of this night, wherein all the faculties of the higher part of the soul are
in darkness. The soul sees naught, neither looks at aught neither stays in
aught that is not God, to the end that it may reach Him, inasmuch as it
journeys unimpeded by obstacles of forms and figures, and of natural
apprehensions, which are those that are wont to hinder the soul from uniting
with the eternal Being of God.

4. The third is that, although as it journeys it is supported by no
particular interior light of understanding, nor by any exterior guide, that
it may receive satisfaction therefrom on this lofty road”it is completely
deprived of all this by this thick darkness”yet its love alone, which burns
at this time, and makes its heart to long for the Beloved, is that which now
moves and guides it, and makes it to soar upward to its God along the road
of solitude, without its knowing how or in what manner.

There follows the line:

In the happy night. [301]
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[301] Thus end the majority of the MSS. Cf. pp. lxviii“lxiii, Ascent of
Mount Carmel (Image Books edition), 26“27, on the incomplete state of this
treatise. The MSS. say nothing of this, except that in the Alba de Tormes
MS. we read:˜Thus far wrote the holy Fray John of the Cross concerning the
purgative way, wherein he treats of the active and the passive [aspect] of
it as is seen in the treatise of the Ascent of the Mount and in this of the
Dark Night, and, as he died, he wrote no more. And hereafter follows the
illuminative way, and then the unitive. Elsewhere we have said that the
lack of any commentary on the last five stanzas is not due to the Saints
death, since he lived for many years after writing the commentary on the
earlier stanzas.
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Indexes
_________________________________________________________________

Index of Scripture References

Genesis

[1]21:8 [2]28:12 [3]29:20 [4]30:1 [5]30:1

Exodus

[6]3:2 [7]4:10 [8]7:11-22 [9]8:7 [10]16:3 [11]32:31-32 [12]33:5

Numbers

[13]11:5-6

Deuteronomy

[14]6:5

Job

[15]1:1-11 [16]2:7-8 [17]3:24 [18]7:2-4 [19]7:20 [20]7:20
[21]12:22 [22]16:12-16 [23]16:13-17 [24]19:21 [25]23:6 [26]30:16
[27]30:17 [28]37:16 [29]41:25

Psalms

[30]6:11-12 [31]11:7 [32]12:6 [33]16:4 [34]17:4 [35]17:12
[36]17:13 [37]17:13 [38]18:11 [39]18:12 [40]18:12 [41]24:15
[42]25:15 [43]29:7 [44]30:6 [45]30:21 [46]31:20 [47]36:4
[48]37:4 [49]37:9 [50]38:3 [51]38:4 [52]38:8 [53]38:12
[54]39:2 [55]39:3 [56]39:11 [57]41:2 [58]41:3 [59]42:1
[60]42:2 [61]50:12 [62]50:19 [63]51:10 [64]51:17 [65]58:5
[66]58:10 [67]58:15-16 [68]59:4 [69]59:9 [70]59:14-15 [71]62:2
[72]62:3 [73]63:1 [74]63:1-2 [75]67:10 [76]68:2-4 [77]68:9
[78]69:1-3 [79]72:21 [80]72:22 [81]73:21-22 [82]73:22 [83]76:4
[84]76:7 [85]76:19-20 [86]77:3-4 [87]77:6 [88]77:18-19 [89]83:2
[90]83:6 [91]84:2 [92]84:7 [93]84:9 [94]85:8 [95]87:6-8
[96]87:9 [97]88:5-7 [98]88:8 [99]96:2 [100]97:2 [101]104:4
[102]105:4 [103]111:1 [104]112:1 [105]118:32 [106]119:32
[107]122:2 [108]123:2 [109]138:12 [110]139:12 [111]142:3
[112]142:7 [113]143:3-4 [114]143:7 [115]147:17

Proverbs

[116]18:12

Song of Solomon

[117]1:1 [118]1:1 [119]1:3 [120]1:4 [121]3:1 [122]3:2 [123]3:4
[124]3:7-8 [125]3:10 [126]4:9 [127]5:7 [128]5:8 [129]5:8
[130]6:4 [131]6:10 [132]8:1 [133]8:1 [134]8:5

Isaiah

[135]5:30 [136]19:14 [137]26:9 [138]26:17-18 [139]28:9
[140]28:19 [141]40:31 [142]58:10 [143]64:4

Jeremiah

[144]1:6 [145]2:2 [146]31:18

Lamentations

[147]1:13 [148]3:1-20 [149]3:9 [150]3:9 [151]3:17 [152]3:17
[153]3:28 [154]3:29 [155]3:44

Ezekiel

[156]24:10 [157]24:11

Daniel

[158]10:11

Hosea

[159]2:20 [160]2:20 [161]13:9

Jonah

[162]2:1 [163]2:3-6 [164]2:4-7

Habakkuk

[165]2:1

Matthew

[166]5:8 [167]6:3 [168]7:3 [169]7:14 [170]7:14 [171]7:14
[172]10:36 [173]16:25 [174]23:24 [175]25:8 [176]27:62-66

Luke

[177]14:11 [178]18:11-12

John

[179]1:5 [180]3:2 [181]3:6 [182]16:23 [183]20 [184]20:1
[185]20:15

Acts

[186]7:32

Romans

[187]8:24

1 Corinthians

[188]2:9 [189]2:10 [190]13:6 [191]13:7 [192]13:11

2 Corinthians

[193]6:10

Ephesians

[194]4:4 [195]4:24

Philippians

[196]4:7

1 Thessalonians

[197]5:8

1 Peter

[198]5:9

Revelation

[199]3:8

Tobit

[200]8:2 [201]8:2

Wisdom of Solomon

[202]3:6 [203]7:11 [204]7:24 [205]9:15 [206]16:21 [207]18:14

Baruch

[208]3:31

Sirach

[209]34:9-10 [210]51:19-21 [211]51:28-9
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Index of Latin Words and Phrases

* [212]Cor mundum crea in me, Deus
* [213]Dum Deum in ignis visione suscipiunt, per amorem suaviter arserunt
* [214]Dum quietum silentium contineret omnia, et nox in suo cursu medium
iter haberet, omnipotens sermo tuus Domine a regalibus sedibus
* [215]Omne sublime videt
* [216]Osculetur me osculo oris sui
* [217]Propter hoc Gregorius (Hom. 14 in Ezech.) constituit vitam
contemplativam in charitate Dei.
* [218]Spiritus vertiginis
* [219]Ut dicit Bernardus, Magna res est amor, sed sunt in eo gradus.
Loquendo ergo aliquantulum magis moraliter quam realiter, decem amoris
gradus distinguere possumus
* [220]agnusdei
* [221]agnusdeis
* [222]cervus
* [223]hebetudo mentis
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