St John's Cross
"Let Christ crucified be enough for you, and with him suffer and take your rest, and hence annihilate yourself in all inward and outward things. Endeavor always that things be not for you, nor you for them, but forgetful of all, abide in recollection with your Bridegroom.
Have great love for trials and think of them as but a small way of pleasing your Bridegroom, who did not hesitate to die for you. Bear fortitude in your heart against all things that move you to that which is not God, and be a friend of the Passion of Christ.
Be interiorly detached from all things and do not seek pleasure in any temporal thing, and your soul will concentrate on goods you do not know...
...He who seeks not the cross of Christ seeks not the glory of Christ. To be taken with love for a soul, God does not look on its greatness, but on the greatness of its humility. 'Whoever is ashamed to confess me before others, I shall be ashamed to confess before My Father,' says the Lord (Mt 10:33]."
- St John of the Cross, "Sayings of Light and Love" (92-96; 102-1-3).
One of the most profoundly spiritual people who ever lived was Juan de Yepes (1542-1591), who upon his entering the Carmelite Order in Spain, adopted the name John of the Cross. Later of course, after his death, he was canonised. John was one of the greatest poets in the Spanish language (any language in fact), and he was also a supreme theological mind.
The reflection above was a meditation on the cross of Christ in relation to the faithful. During this time John also has a very powerful vision in which he was taken back to Golgotha to see the crucifixion of Christ from above. Until this time, every crucifixion imagined by artists was seen from below - looking up.
So John made a sketch of this vision, which still exists to this day. To be humbled before Christ and his cross means to be lifted up above the world of woe and death, and to be forever liberated, untouchable by the forces of evil. This has been the vision of every martyr who has put the Kingdom of God ahead of personal survival. Our spirits in God's Spirit are unquenchable! Do your worst Caesar for we cannot die! This is the message of Good Friday (why else is it called "good"?).
In Salvador Dali's, "Christ of Saint John of the Cross", we see this spiritual vision actualised in our world. Dali was a strange man, but he caught a glimpse of Spiritual Truth:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_of_Saint_John_of_the_Cross
For more music inspiration listen to J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor
St John's Cross
"Let Christ crucified be enough for you, and with him suffer and take your rest, and hence annihilate yourself in all inward and outward things. Endeavor always that things be not for you, nor you for them, but forgetful of all, abide in recollection with your Bridegroom.
Have great love for trials and think of them as but a small way of pleasing your Bridegroom, who did not hesitate to die for you. Bear fortitude in your heart against all things that move you to that which is not God, and be a friend of the Passion of Christ.
Be interiorly detached from all things and do not seek pleasure in any temporal thing, and your soul will concentrate on goods you do not know...
...He who seeks not the cross of Christ seeks not the glory of Christ. To be taken with love for a soul, God does not look on its greatness, but on the greatness of its humility. 'Whoever is ashamed to confess me before others, I shall be ashamed to confess before My Father,' says the Lord (Mt 10:33]."
- St John of the Cross, "Sayings of Light and Love" (92-96; 102-1-3).
One of the most profoundly spiritual people who ever lived was Juan de Yepes (1542-1591), who upon his entering the Carmelite Order in Spain, adopted the name John of the Cross. Later of course, after his death, he was canonised. John was one of the greatest poets in the Spanish language (any language in fact), and he was also a supreme theological mind.
The reflection above was a meditation on the cross of Christ in relation to the faithful. During this time John also has a very powerful vision in which he was taken back to Golgotha to see the crucifixion of Christ from above. Until this time, every crucifixion imagined by artists was seen from below - looking up.
So John made a sketch of this vision, which still exists to this day. To be humbled before Christ and his cross means to be lifted up above the world of woe and death, and to be forever liberated, untouchable by the forces of evil. This has been the vision of every martyr who has put the Kingdom of God ahead of personal survival. Our spirits in God's Spirit are unquenchable! Do your worst Caesar for we cannot die! This is the message of Good Friday (why else is it called "good"?).
In Salvador Dali's, "Christ of Saint John of the Cross", we see this spiritual vision actualised in our world. Dali was a strange man, but he caught a glimpse of Spiritual Truth:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_of_Saint_John_of_the_Cross
For more music inspiration listen to J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor