Quote of the day, 19 August: St. John of the Cross
I mentioned in the other letter how I desire to remain in this desert of La Peñuela, where I arrived about nine days ago, and which is about six leagues north of Baeza. I like it very much, glory to God, and I am well.
The vastness of the desert is a great help to the soul and body, although the soul fares very poorly. The Lord must be desiring that it have its spiritual desert. Well and good if it be for his service; His Majesty already knows what we are of ourselves.
I don’t know how long this will last, for Father Fray Antonio de Jesús threatens from Baeza that he will not leave me here for long. Be that as it may, for in the meanwhile, I am well off without knowing anything, and the life of the desert is admirable.
This morning, we have already returned from gathering our chickpeas, and so the mornings go by. On another day, we shall thresh them. It is nice to handle these mute creatures, better than being badly handled by living ones. God grant that I may stay here. Pray for this, my daughter. But even though I am so happy here, I would not fail to come should you desire.
Fray John of the Cross
Letter 28 to Doña Ana del Mercado y Peñalosa (excerpt)
From La Peñuela, 19 August 1591
On 10 August 1591, Saint John of the Cross transferred from the friars’ convent in Segovia to the solitude of La Peñuela, where at last he was relieved of all offices in the order; once again he was a humble friar, forgotten, despised, and neglected… as he had always desired.
John wrote this sweet letter to Doña Ana “about nine days” after he arrived from Segovia. Translator and editor Father Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. indicated that John of the Cross wrote The Living Flame of Love for Doña Ana.
His superior was the Provincial, Father Antonio de Jesús, with whom he had begun the reform under the guidance of Saint Teresa many years earlier in their humble abode in Duruelo.
Although John was able to pray gloriously in the solitude of rocks and forest, difficulties lay ahead; within weeks he would develop erysipelas, a skin infection on his foot that would lead to septicemia. By December, consumed by penances, trials, and his disease, Saint John of the Cross would die and go to “sing Matins in heaven.”
John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: This dehesa, a type of pastureland or meadow typical of the Iberian peninsula, is located near the road that leads from La Carolina to Centenillo in the province of Jaén. It was in this region where the convent of la Peñuela was located at the time of St. John of the Cross. Image credit: Rufus Gefangenen / Flickr (Some rights reserved).
#desert #garbanzos #LaPeñuela #spiritualDirection #StJohnOfTheCross