POEM: Dark Night of the Soul

On Nov.22, 2007 a reader posted this question on my blog dated Oct. 12, 2007 in which I discussed the dark nights of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. He wrote: “I’m surprised at the apparently gloomy path through multiple dark nights one must traverse to reach spirituality. Why so difficult? How many nights? Night of Sense, Night of Spirit, is there a Night of the Soul? others?”

The question as to “Why so difficult? is an extremely complex one and is best answered by the mystical theologians of the Catholic Church. Interestingly enough, St. John of the Cross, Spanish mystic and Doctor of Mystical Theology, wrote of the Dark Night of the Soul which, originally, was the second part of his famous work, The Ascent of Mount Carmel. In it, he divides the Dark Night of the Soul into two parts: the Dark Night of Sense and the Dark Night of Spirit, which I briefly discussed in my Oct. 12, 2007 blog entry.

There seems to me to be a tendency in pious writings to stress the gloom and suffering which the great Saints underwent. This can have a very negative effect on people who are considering entering upon the spiritual journey or who are already consciously pursuing the spiritual life. That is one reason why I prefer reading the author’s original writings rather than commentaries and interpretations by others. For example, how many of us, when we think of the Dark Nights, ever think of the beautiful, mystical poem written by St. John of the Cross, which forms the very foundation for his treatise, The Ascent of Mount Carmel? Printed below is the eight verse poem as translated by E. Allison Peers. This mystical, nuptial poem is far from gloomy!

“Wherein the soul sings of the happy chance which it had in passing through the dark night of faith, in detachment and purgation of itself, to union with the Beloved.

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

“In darkness and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised
–Oh, happy chance–
In darkness and concealment,
My house being now at rest.

“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.

“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.

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

“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.

“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.

“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.”

Classic Spiritual Themes

In the previous post I discussed the Foundation of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary and the visionary, Dr. Gianna Talone-Sullivan. My first introduction to this visionary's writings was the book, I am your JESUS of MERCY, volume 1. As described in the Table of Contents, Part I of this book is titled "Lessons from Jesus Christ Our Lord". These Lessons so impressed me that, when I had finished reading all five sets of Lessons in volume 1 through 5, I wrote and published the following article on my website, http://www.ednamcgrew.com/

CLASSIC SPIRITUAL THEMES

IN THE LESSONS FROM OUR LORD

It is interesting to study the progression of these Lessons. They begin with the basic truths of the Christian life explained in clear and forceful language. Yet each Lesson is permeated with words of love and concern for our well being and spiritual growth. As the Lessons continue they become longer and provide more detailed instruction on the spiritual journey and the fruits of spiritual maturity. To study these Lessons and how they reflect Holy Scripture seems to me to be a very sure way to proceed on the contemplative journey to God.

Down through the centuries the great spiritual themes have been food for many souls. In her Revelations of Divine Love, Julian of Norwich emphasized the tender motherliness of God. Theresa of the Child Jesus, a Doctor of the Church, writes of her "little way." Abbot Keating, in his classic, Open Mind, Open Heart emphasizes the need of the contemplative to "rest in God." J. P. Caussade, S.J. in his exquisite book, Self-Abandonment to Divine Providence brings together the Carmelite and the Salesian traditions of abandonment to Divine Providence and confidence in God. The great Doctor of Mystical Theology, John of the Cross, describes the Dark Nights and their culmination in Divine Union. Countless writers speak of living in the present moment. All of these themes are covered in these Lessons in an unusually beautiful manner. Some examples are provided below.

God's Motherliness:

"Today, I wish for My people to know My Father...He will comfort you,...He will cradle you like a newborn babe."₁
"Silently, gently, delicately and oh-so-tenderly is the way I work on the vast, many souls."₂

Littleness:

"When you are "little," the Father is able to embrace your soul ever so tightly and He will protect you."₃
"I love My little ones and invite all to follow the way of littleness as that of My Mother, so secure in Her fidelity to follow God at all costs without consolation or promises."₄
"Do not mistake littleness with lack of power. Littleness is detachment from possessions and is purity of heart."₅

Centering/Rest in God/Prayer of the Heart:

"Rest in My love. Rest in My peace. Rest in Me as I rest in you. Let us unite for we are ONE."₆
"If you will absorb My love and rest in My love, your heart, mind, and soul will be rejuvenated and will rise to an ecstasy of joy."₇
"If you centered on Me and allowed Me to love you, you would be filled with love, purity and goodness."₈
"I do not want their words, I want their hearts."₉
"It is necessary that my people begin to strive for an inner harmony of quiet and peace, allowing the way for the unity of the Trinity to enter and find rest."₁₀
"Be in union with Me by reserving quiet, private time where I can make My abode of love in you."₁₁
"Always take time for Me to rest in you. Invite Me."₁₂
"...one of the greatest gifts of My merciful love is silence of the heart..."₁₃

Trust in Divine Providence:

"SURRENDER TOTALLY, AND RECEIVE ABUNDANTLY!"₁₄
"Surrender unto Love against all self-comprehension."₁₅
"I am truly guiding you if you trust that I am. This is self-abandonment to the Providence of God."₁₆
"When you abandon unto Me, I ensure that your union with and in Me is complete."₁₇
"Nothing happens to you in life unless My Father will it so. Trust in Divine Providence and surrender to His consoling truths."₁₈

Dark Nights:

"...be at peace when God allows you to be chastised and pressed through the mill of sweet graces.₁₉
"These, My little ones, many times feel abandoned by God,...Why must it be so? Because, little ones, all who love as I love must die as I died."₂₀
"It is the walk of the night where the light is so strong it blinds you...My point of this lesson, My dear one, is to teach My people to be still, quiet, silent, in dryness of the soul. WAIT PATIENTLY for God to show His face to you."₂₁
"This is where union begins, knowing you are nothing and experiencing by the purification of desolation and nothingness, that you can become everything in Me."₂₂

Transforming Union:

"The soul then commences in the journey of light until it unites with its Master in an encompassing brillance of illumination, the union with God."₂₃
"The silence of union is essential for the life of the soul. Even though your life of ministry be active, silence and solitude is vital and is possible."₂₄
"When you sit quietly and contemplate My words of love, your soul is suspended high into the abyss of love."₂₅

Present Moment:

"Live the moment, and be aware of all the beauty I give you."₂₆
"Take each day as I have prepared it for you."₂₇
"Live in Me in each moment. Do not run ahead."₂₈
"Do not lose the moment by dwelling on a topic regarding yourself."₂₉
"See the beauty in the simplest of God's creation...Listen. Listen to silence. See the richness through solitude."₃₀

'MOTHER TERESA: COME BE MY LIGHT'

Since I last wrote about Mother Teresa I have gathered enough information to write an in-depth article about her. However, that is not the purpose of this blog. Instead, I will restrict myself to the subject of the dark nights she experienced as part and parcel of her own special contemplative journey.

In an article titled ‘Atheists attempting a show of strength’ written by Jacqueline L. Salmon of the Washington Post, published by the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper of 9-23-2007, the writer quotes Christopher Hitchens as saying: “She (Mother Teresa) couldn’t bring herself to believe in God, but she wished she could.” And Jacqueline L. Salmon indicates that reading the book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, “has led some high-profile atheists to say her spiritual wavering was actually atheism.”

Reading this article reminded me of how I felt when I learned in Richard Dawkins’ book, The God Delusion, that he thought that Albert Einstein was basically a pantheist. And that “Pantheism is sexed-up atheism.” (P. 18) I had always thought that Einstein was religious by nature, but that he did not believe in a personal God. After reading Dawkins’ book I did not know what to think about Einstein and so I suspended my judgment until I got more information. After reading about what the modern atheists have to say about Mother Teresa, and deciding that what they said is very questionable, I now look back on Dawkins’ comments about Einstein with more skepticism.

My reading of the book, Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, convinced me that, in no way whatsoever, was Mother Teresa an atheist. Yes, she did suffer from doubts about the existence of God. But who hasn’t? As a matter of fact, in his excellent article in Time magazine, dated 8-23-2007, David Van Biema quotes James Martin, S.J. as saying he feels that as a result of this book Mother Teresa will have a new legacy, and that “It may be remembered as just as important as her ministry to the poor. It would be a ministry to people who had experienced some doubt, some absence of God in their lives. And you know who that is? Everybody. Atheists, doubters, seekers, believers, everyone.”

As I thought about Mother Teresa, the one big question that kept coming to my mind was “Why did God allow her to suffer such a prolonged dark night?” One of the answers may well be in Fr. Martin’s reference to a new ministry.

The classic definition of the mystical night of the soul is given by John of the Cross in his book, The Dark Night. He divides the dark night into two spiritual purgations. He calls the first part the Night of Sense and says that those who undergo this night are no longer "beginners" in the spiritual journey. John of the Cross says that they are starting on the way of the "progressives" which is the beginning of the contemplative state.

He calls the second part, the Dark Night of the Spirit. John of the Cross indicates that the dark night of the spirit does not usually commence until some period of time has elapsed following the night of sense. He states that during this period the soul experiences "morsels" of this dark night but they do not last very long. He calls these morsels "dark contemplation" and says of them that they "are never as intense as is that terrible night of contemplation...into which, of set purpose, God brings the soul that He may lead it to Divine Union."

In the Introduction to the Ascent-Dark Night in the book, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, translated by K. Kavanaugh, O.C.D. and O. Rodriguez, O.C.D., they outline the main aspects of the passive purification or dark night of the spirit. One point that they make gives us an insight into Mother Teresa's words that she felt "unwanted" and "unloved" by God. In the Introduction they write these profound words: "The knowledge this contemplation accords generates the feeling of being abandoned by God and by creatures and deprives the soul of the connatural satisfaction it ordinarily obtains in the actuation of its faculties."

The Spiritual Marriage between the soul and God, usually occurs when the dark night of the spirit is over. Based on my reading of Mother Teresa’s letters, I can only speculate about when this spiritual marriage/transforming union took place in her life. But I certainly think it did. To me, the most likely time would have been before she undertook her ministry to the poor in founding the Missionaries of Charity. The subsequent dark nights that she experienced for approximately 50 years, right up until her death in 1997, most likely were not the purgative nights of the spirit to which John of the Cross refers to as being preparatory for this transforming union with God. Rather, it seems to me that this almost continual dark night of the spirit served three primary functions. First, it had to increase the effectiveness of her mission to the very poor and needy of this world. And secondly, as I quoted above from James Martin, S.J., Mother Teresa's letters may well be the beginning of an equally important mission for her "to people who had experienced some doubt, some absence of God in their lives." Thirdly, I think God used this very prolonged spiritual night to raise Mother Teresa to an even more sublime state of union with Himself.