St. John of the Cross is one of 34 universal Doctors of the Church; which means he is noteworthy, even among the saints, for his devotion to God and his works and his life.
He is generally acclaimed to be one of Spain's greatest poets too.
I have been reading books on both St. John and his friend and contemporary St. Therese of Avila, of which more later, but I was caught by these phrases in St. John's work The Spiritual Canticle, where he describes the soul's longing for, finding and embracing God.
St. John's soul is wholly female, and he writes of his soul's -- of her -- union with God:
Our bed is in flower,
bound round with linking dens of lions,
hung with purple,
built up in peace,
and crowned with a thousand shields of gold.
Following your footprints
maidens run along the way;
the touch of a spark,
the spiced wine,
cause flowings in them from the balsam of God.
In the inner wine cellar
I drank of my Beloved, and, when I went abroad
through all this valley
I no longer knew anything,
and lost the herd that I was following.
There he gave me his breast;
there he taught me a sweet and living knowledge;
and I gave myself to him,
keeping nothing back;
there I promised to be his bride.
Now I occupy my soul
and all my energy in his service;
I no longer tend the herd,
nor have I any other work
now that my every act is love.
The Spiritual Canticle, verses 24-28When I read this as a small shivering person, I could not dare to think that I too could sing this song, because my soul couldn't be a girl's.
I am in awe that God shows me this now.
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