The Value of Relationship in “The Living Flame of Love” By St. John of the Cross

Introduction

Is St. John of the Cross one of the most intimidating spiritual authors in the genre of spirituality? His ability to explain the depths of the soul can make people tremble to read his works, like the dark night of the soul. When people hear St. John of the Cross, they get shivers down their spine and sometimes people do not fully understand what he is talking about. Other people may think he is down to earth and relatable, where St. John can explain the deep truths of the faith with his beautiful poems and writings that go with the it to help understand the mind and heart of St. John. St John is in fact intimidating to some readers, but at the same time, he can simplify his poems to the lay faithful and explain, in depth, what this means for them. St. John, in my view, is a spiritual author who understands the deep reality of the spiritual life, and in the poem, “The Living flame of Love”, it shows us this reality of his profound knowledge of the heart. Others may say that St. John is to abstract and does not have any roots in the real world, but if we really read into his works, we see how much experience he has in the real world to properly explain himself in his expositions. St. John, even though he has a reputation of being perplexing in his works, he is truly down to earth and can help explain the beauty of our growing relationship with God, and the goal of St. Johns expositions are meant for a lay woman, Doña Ana de Peñalosa, who wants help in the spiritual life. St. John is an example of beautiful art that has a taste of mystery in his writing, but he can give reason to his mysterious poems and helps us see the path to God and we will see this in his poem The Living Flame of Love.

The Encounter

St. John of the Cross is a spiritual person who understands the importance of community and connection. In St. John’s first Stanza of The Living Flame of Love we are hit by these astonishing words:   «Oh, living flame of love That tenderly woundest my soul in its deepest centre, Since thou art no longer oppressive, perfect me now if it be thy will, Break the web of this sweet encounter.» The words of the first stanza give us the deep relationship that St. John has with God, but more importantly he shows the first steps into the spiritual life. In explaining his poem to Doña Ana de Peñalosa he starts to break up each phrase into a catechesis for the lay women to understand, giving the world a profound understanding of God’s love within our soul. He starts to explain the first phrase «Oh, living flame of love» with the image of a burning log which is inflamed by a fire, which he states:

Wherefore the soul that is a state of transformation of love may be said to be, in its ordinary habit, like to the log of wood that is continually assailed by the fire; and the acts of the soul dare the flame that arises from the fire of love: the more intense is the fire of union, the more vehemently does its flame issue forth. In the which flame the acts of the will are united and rise upward, being carried away and absorbed in the flame of the Holy Spirit, even as the angel rose upward to God in the flame of the sacrifice of Manue. In this state, therefore, the soul can perform no acts, but it is the Holy Spirit that moves it to perform them; wherefore all its acts are Divine, since it is impelled and moved to them by God. Hence it seems to the soul that whensoever this flame breaks forth, causing it to love with the Divine temper and sweetness, it is granting it eternal life, since it raises it to the operation of God in God.

This first stanza is the representation of the encounter with God, where you are set aflame to live accordingly to God and his mandates. This is the first step of an intimate relationship with God where we are brought up to God by the Holy Spirit. St. John gives us sufficient reason to believe his deep connection with the human world and the reason he can explain the spiritual life well. St. John’s capability of saying something profound in a poem and to deepen this in a tangible way by common images is very influential in his fame of being a stupendous spiritual author. He helps us to be conscious of our relationship with God which is this fire within our hearts that is propelled with the help of the Holy Spirit. We are called to be enflamed with the love of God which, St. John shows in the next stanza what this means.

Penetrating Love

St. John is now entering into this relationship with God where we have encountered the goodness of the Lord and now want to follow him more closely. St John in his second stanza states «Oh, sweet burn! Oh, delectable wound! Oh, soft hand! Oh, delicate touch That savours of eternal life and pays every debt! In slaying, thou hast changed death into life.» The four “Ohs” are a representation of the three persons of the trinity showing the different relationships we have with God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He further explains that «the hand, the burn, and the touch are the same thing; the soul assigns these names to describe the effects caused by each. The burn is the Holy Spirit, the hand is the Father, and the touch is the Son.» This explanation of the saint helps us understand our sensations of being with God. Just think of a hand on fire when the hand touches you, you do not think of them as three separate things but rather you feel the burn and jerk away. Yet St. John is telling us in this poem to wait, be patient for the “savours of eternal life” for this is what happens when you allow the hand of God to touch your heart. When he touches our hearts he cleans it with the flame of the Holy Spirit, the hand of the Father and the gentle touch of the Son. We must allow God to pierce our hearts but what will the hole in our hearts be filled with? St. John will explain this in his next stanza.

Interconnectedness

St. John is showing us the importance of relationship, in the last two stanzas first the encounter and the persisting love that we must have with God. Now we have another step towards a better relationship with God which, St Johns states «Oh lamps of fire! in whose splendours The deep caverns of feeling, Once obscure and blind, Now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely, Both warmth and light to their Beloved. » St. John explains here «In this stanza, the soul gives deepest thanks to its Spouse for the great favours which it receives from union with Him, for by means of this union He has given it great and abundant knowledge of Himself, where the faculties and senses of the soul, which before this union were dark and blinded by other kinds of love, have been enlightened and enkindled by love.» This next part given to us by St. John shows us the next step of our union with God which is this spousal love. A love that is full, one that fills the hole that has been punctured in our heart. In his last stanza it says “Oh detestable wound” but it never got filled, until now, with “the lamp of fire” that brings light to the hole of the heart. This lamp is profound to the human heart when it was essential to see in the dark during the time of St. John. He is speaking to human experiences here with this idea of the lamp because the lamp was the way of seeing at night and a way to give warmth. This is what God does in our hearts, he enlightens it and fills with the warmth of his presence. We are relational beings who need others to flourish, who need people to be by our side, and God is this person, if we allow him, who can fill our every desire. St. John knows this personally because he has felt the warmth of God and is now relating this reality to Doña. St. John is explaining to her this deep encounter where God fills the pierced hole of the soul with the fire of his love.

Dwelling

St. John has now explained the steps of relationship with God, first the encounter, secondly the penetrating love, and the interconnectedness that we have with God, now we are confronted with the final stanza of the poem «How gently and lovingly you wake in my heart, Where in secret you dwell alone; And in your sweet breathing, Filled with good and glory, How tenderly You swell my heart with love.» This stanza is about the indwelling of God within the soul, the journey of being enflamed, and punctured then being touched by the heavenly hand of God, to having the flame of love placed in the wound, and finally the dwelling of God within the soul. We see here the deep sense of feeling the presence of God within the soul with words like you wake in my heart, and you swell my heart with love. We get this perception of God dwelling within us, God is breathing in us, He is filling our heart with goodness and glory but not the goodness and glory of man, but the goodness and glory of God, which is everlasting.

Conclusion

St. John of the Cross in four short stanzas and pages of brief explanations has just explained the relationship of the soul with God. Doña, who is a lay woman and a student of St. John, is the whole purpose of why the expositions were written, she wants to know how to grow. This book is not just meant for Doña but rather for all the lay faithful who want to know how to grow in relationship with God. I believe, even though this is one of his last works, is a book that can explain the deep relationship with God that should be read first to understand who God is and how does he work. Others may say that we should start with others work but I say that it would be more helpful to start at the peak of the spiritual journey and to look down at the path that God has in store for you. St. John’s books are not just random ideas of the soul but how his soul has been transformed throughout his life, and with this final book we can see the peak of the spiritual life which is in deep union with God. St John of the Cross, though is a spiritual powerhouse, is one who is writing about his relationship with God and uniting it with the human aspects of life. [1]

[1] St. John of the Cross. “The Living Flame of Love.” Translated by E. Allison Peers. In The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, 32. Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1991.

St. John of the Cross. “The Living Flame of Love.” Translated by E. Allison Peers. In The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, 34. Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1991.

St. John of the Cross. “The Living Flame of Love.” Translated by E. Allison Peers. In The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, 58. Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1991.

St. John of the Cross. “The Living Flame of Love.” Translated by E. Allison Peers. In The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, 81. Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1991.