Impressions on The Dark night of the Soul
This night is not a despondency of those starting their spiritual path, but a divine purgation
The Dark Night of the Soul is a famous book written by Saint John of the Cross. Judging the book by its title one might get the wrong impression of its main subject.
The said dark night is not despondency
If you approach this book thinking its center subject is an explanation about that laziness we have in prayer, or a help on how to deal with our tendency to do other things in expense of our spiritual life, like scrolling in social media, watching movies, playing games, etc, you will be a bit frustrated. The central theme of this masterpiece has its aim to help you to deal with a different challenge for the soul.
The Dark Night is not a night produced by our own laziness, but created by the Almighty Himself. It is not a simple lack of interest, or a lack of consolation in spiritual things that affect those who are fully convinced on the need of God, His love, His word, His truth.
The Dark Night of the Soul may first appear to be a deep depression as those who experience it not only lack interest in the things of God, but lack interest on pretty much anything:
When a soul finds no pleasure or consolation in the things of God, it also fail 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. (pg. 54)
This is very different from those that are despondent with spiritual practices due to "sins, imperfections, or from weakness and lukewarmness, or from some bad humor or indisposition of the body" (pg. 54).
The Dark Night is a "purgative contemplation, which causes passively in the soul the negation of itself" (pg. 2) and all affections of this world.
The imperfections of a devout person
This higher level of purgation may be far away from us, and even though this is the center of the book, the first few chapters should be profitable to all as it describes the imperfections of beginners.
For example, it exposes how through our spiritual exercises we could develop "imperfections, a certain kind of secret pride", "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" (pg. 28).
It also points out that these devout persons, who perform their devotions out of pride or any wrong purpose that "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" (pg. 28).
It also exposes those who "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" (pg. 29).
The description fits like a glove for some kinds of charismatics, and our saint was born 1542. He says that these people have a "defect as regards the practice of prayer", he points out that "they think that all the business of prayer consists in experiencing sensible pleasure and devotion and they strive to obtain this by great effort" (pg. 45).
Finally, there are those who move from devotion to devotion and "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" (pg. 33).
The true devout
Our saint points out that the devout person who is moving towards the right path is quite different "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" (pg. 30). Instead of being eager to teach others in spiritual things "these souls have a deep desire to be taught by anyone who can bring them profit" (pg. 31). They also don't post on social media all achievements they have, no, "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" (pg. 31). Instead, "they rejoice when others are praised; they grieve only because they serve not God like them" (pg. 31).
The secret
As a final comment, I heard some people saying that Saint John of the Cross is a gnostic. What a gross conclusion. Indeed, there is a "secret wisdom" mentioned in the book. But this "secret wisdom is likewise a ladder" with 10 steps that ends in the perfect union, a participation in the Divine Life. Here are the 10 steps of the ladder (from chapter 19 and 20):
The first step of love causes the soul to languish
The second step causes the soul to seek God without ceasing
The third step of the ladder of love is that which causes the soul to work and gives it fervor so that it fails not
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
The fifth step of this ladder of love makes the soul to desire and long for God impatiently.
sixth step the soul runs swiftly to God and touches Him again and again
The seventh step of this ladder makes the soul to become vehement in its boldness.
The eighth step of love causes the soul to seize Him and hold Him fast without letting Him go,
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.
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 vision of God which it then possesses.
Here is the stumbling block for some in the step 10: "the soul to become wholly assimilated to God" (pg. 168).
I can see some implying this is the gnostic reunion of the divine particle to God. However, didn't our saint just explained that this is the "immediate vision of God" (pg. 168), when one is fully participating in the divine life, through grace? This participation doesn't change human nature into divine nature, "just as that which has fire, but is not itself fire, is on fire by participation" (ST-I Q2 A4), so man's nature, continue to be the same, but now participating in the divine life, sharing its love, its light.
I personally like how Mr. Fedeli puts it:
... in addition to physical life and intellectual life, God, kindly, granted man a participation in the divine life itself. This is what is called supernatural life or grace.
Just as light penetrates the air without becoming its constituent element (air), just as fire penetrates iron -- which remains iron -- so, by sanctifying grace, God penetrated the soul, making it o participate in his divine life.
Red-hot iron remains iron, but acquires two qualities from the nature of fire: it gives light and burns.
In the same way, when a man is baptized, he receives God into his soul. God begins to live in the human soul, allowing him to perform actions together with God, thus acquiring infinite merits.
To be holy is to have participation in divine life, because God dwells in the soul through sanctifying grace. (Graus de Santidade)
What a most beautiful thought. The fire, which has light and heat, lends its perfections to iron, which is cold and opaque, but now, participating on the perfections of fire the once cold and opaque iron now give off light and burns. The iron is now in the likeness of fire, but maintain its iron nature. In the same way, God acts in our cold and opaque soul through grace, and perfects it giving the light of truth and the fire of charity, making it in the likeness of God, but preserving its human nature.
Gratia non tollit naturam, sed perficit
Grace perfects nature.
(ST-I Q1 A.8)