Friday 7 September 2012

DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL (Peter Mubiana)


NAME:  MUBIANA PETER                                                                                                            REGISTRATION NUMBER: 11068T                                                                                                        TITLE OF THE BOOK: DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL, By St. John of the Cross
ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS                         
St. John of the Cross was born on 24th June in a poor family. As a young man, he worked as a servant of the sick in Medina. When he was 21 years old, John entered the Carmelite Order as a lay brother. He was ordained to the Priesthood after the Friars discovered some talents in him. After his priestly ordination, he thought of joining the Carthusian Order, but was prevented by St. Teresa of Avila who asked him to help her in the work of reforming the Carmelite Order. In his work of renewing the order, John was rejected and condemned by his friars who accused him of being a fugitive. John experienced trials and suffering. Despite all the trials and suffering, he never gave up his work of reforming the Order.
What he endured in life touches me!

I decided to study the book Dark Night of the Soul, because of the difficulties that St. John underwent during his earthly life. His life of perseverance has touched me a lot. The ups and downs that he passed are also the situations that I do experience in my life. Thus, just like St. John of the Cross, there are times when I face rejection from other people for doing what is right. Being a human being, full of emotions, most of the time I do give up. But from today, after being inspired by St. John’s life, I will continue doing what is good, no matter what people say. The difficulties are not only limited to my physical life but also in my spiritual life. From the book, I have come to learn that for the soul to be with God, it has to pass through privation and purgative stages. The Dark Night normally happens to me when I fail to let go those things which hinders my relationship with God.  




Reflection: THE SIN OF PRIDE (21st October 2012)

They are many sources that make the soul of the beginner imperfect. Among many origins of the imperfections of the beginner’s soul, I shall reflect on pride.
Many people whose souls undergo the Dark Night develop feelings of fervent and diligent in spiritual things. As they become devout in spiritual exercises, they develop a certain kind of pride. My personal experience is that, it is true many beginners develop the sin of pride. Beginners become victims of pride due to their eagerness to share their spiritual experiences in the present of other people. This is a kind of show off. Such beginners always desire people to appreciate their piety. This sin of pride is inescapable for most beginners. When a person develops a sin of pride, she/he becomes evil minded by being envious of other people who appear more spiritual. Many times when the behavior of people with pride is not approved, they tend to consider other people as unspiritual. This is very common in formation houses among postulants and novices. These beginners tend to judge their friends and their formators as unspiritual when they make simple mistakes. Beginners with the sin of pride, try by all means to live a life which is upright. When they find themselves to have committed a venial sin, they consider themselves as great sinners. For them, life has to be always straight. They tend to deny their human nature. This has happened to me when I was a novice. I always wanted to be upright. When I fall into sin unknowingly, even when I go for confession, I was still feeling as a great sinner. But from the moment I read the book of John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul, I have come to learn to accept my human nature.


Reflection: THE IMPERFECTION OF SPIRITUAL AVARICE (3rd November)

Spiritual avarice is one of the sins that the beginners’ soul encounters during its journey of the Dark Night. Beginners with this imperfection are not content with the spirituality that God has given them. Instead, beginners develop a tendency of over-burdening themselves with images and rosaries which are curious so that they can be seen that they are Holy and very spiritual. In most cases, according to my little experience, such beginners, especially in formation houses, do not last or finish their formation programs. Such beginners do not make progress because there aim is to be seen by formators and other people than for the glorification of God. As soon as beginners start portraying signs of spiritual avarice, they lose focus from God, rather, they concentrate on being seen and praised by people. For all those who have been victims of this imperfection, we are to be aware that God does not focus on our external outlook. God focuses on what is in one’s heart. Wearing hundred rosaries of different colors does not please God at all, nor does it make a person holy or more spiritual. To glorify God, we are to develop an interior holiness which is manifested externally by our moral good actions towards self, neighbor, creation and God Himself.     


SUMMARY: DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
Introduction                                                                                                                                       This reflection Paper is a summary of a spiritual classic book of St. John of the Cross. The book contains two books, book one and book two, compiled in one book, titled Dark Night of the Soul.  The paper gives a short biography of St. John of the Cross, and a summary of the two books; book one and book two. I shall conclude by pointing out the main ideas of the work.
Biography of St. John of the Cross                                                                                                 St. John of the Cross was born on 24th June in a poor family. As a young man, he worked as a servant of the sick in Medina. When he was 21 years old, John entered the Carmelite Order as a lay brother. He was ordained to the Priesthood after the Friars discovered some talents in him. After his priestly ordination, he thought of joining the Carthusian Order, but was prevented by St. Teresa of Avila who asked him to help her in the work of reforming the Carmelite Order. In his work of renewing the order, John was rejected and condemned by his friars who accused him of being a fugitive. John experienced trials and suffering. Despite all the trials and suffering, he never gave up his work of reforming the Order[1].
Book One                                                                                                                                           The first book of the Dark Night of the Soul starts by describing the journey that the soul of the beginner enters. The beginner’s soul is full of imperfections. These imperfections or defects have their origin in pride, avarice, lust, anger, spiritual gluttony, spiritual envy and sloth. The first book also describes the signs of initial contemplation and the passive cleansing of the senses. This book also describes some benefits that the dark night causes in the soul and in the night of the senses.                                                                                                                                     The feelings of fervent and diligent in the spiritual things and devout exercises form a certain kind of sacred pride in a beginner. This results into some vain desires in the beginner. Beginners start to speak of spiritual things in the present of others. The beginners start condemn other people when they do not see the kind of devotion in them which they themselves (the beginners) desire. The sin of pride in them makes them to be evil minded. This sin makes the beginners to have envious feelings of other people who appear more spiritual than them[2]. Sometimes when their behaviour and spirit goes unapproved or unappreciated by other people, beginners consider them as unspiritual[3]. At times beginners possess spiritual avarice. They are not content with the spirituality that God has given them. Instead, they burden themselves with images and rosaries which are curious. Beginners who start from this beginning do not make progress. Those beginners who make progress in their spiritual journey detach themselves entirely from all the visible instruments and set their eyes on God and desire to be right with Him. Many beginners also have the sin of lust. This imperfection is called spiritual lust because the imperfection proceeds from spiritual things. In their spiritual exercises, beginners experience some impure movements in their sensory part of their souls. Sometimes this happens even when one’s spirit is deep in prayer or engaged in the sacrament of penance or in the Eucharist[4]. Beginners also have the imperfection of wrath. This anger is caused by the lack of spiritual consolation in their exercises. When they are not consoled, beginners become naturally embittered and irritated even in small matters[5]. With regard to the imperfection of spiritual gluttony, most beginners find themselves to be victims to this imperfection. Many of them fall in this imperfection because they are hired by the sweetness and pleasure which they find in spiritual exercises. They tend to strive more for spiritual sweetness than spiritual purity. Beginners also possess two vices namely, spiritual envy and sloth.  Beginners with spiritual envy do not want to hear others being applauded when they are ahead in perfection. Such beginners are always envious with other people’s virtues.  They will try by all means to contradict and depreciate the praises which have been directed to others. Coming to spiritual sloth, beginners became weary in spiritual exercise and flee from them because they are not in accordance with sensible pleasure. Instead of pleasing God, they end up pleasing themselves[6].                                      God places the soul of the beginner in the dark night in order to purify it from its imperfections. In its journey in the dark night, the soul is purified from the sensual love and spiritual love. There are three signs which show that the person is walking in the way of the night and purgation of the senses[7]. First, the soul finds no attraction or sweetness in the things of God. Second, the memory of the person undergoing purgation is centered on God with painful care and solitude. Such a memory makes a beginner to think that he is not serving God because his memory does not find sweetness in the things of God. In such a situation, a person may think that it is impossible to escape from such misery. The person feels hopeless and never sees the future. The third sign is that the soul can no longer meditate or reflect in the imaginative sphere of the senses as it used to do[8].                                                                                                                 As the soul undergoes this night, the night causes some benefits in the soul. The dark night cause the knowledge of one self and of one’s misery. It also causes the soul to learn how to communicate with God with respect and courtesy. Through the dark night, God enlightens the soul, giving it knowledge of His greatness and His excellence[9].The soul draws spiritual humility, which is the contrary virtue to spiritual pride. In the condition of the dark night, souls become submissive and obedient by living in spiritual tranquility and peace.
Book Two                                                                                                                                          The second book gives a clear picture and analysis of the purgative contemplation that God infuses in the passive night of the spirit. “This dark night is an inflow of God into the soul that purges it of its habitual ignorance and imperfections, both natural and spiritual”[10]. The divine light illumines and purges the soul from its ignorance. The Divine wisdom afflicts and torments the soul in order to prepare it for its union with God. The divine wisdom is an affliction and torment because the divine wisdom goes beyond the soul’s capacity and the soul’s impurity and vileness. In its beginnings, dark contemplation causes pain and suffering to the soul. This is because the Divine infused contemplation which is good, purges the miseries of the soul which are extremely bad[11]. Another way by which the soul suffers pain is by reason of its natural, moral and spiritual weakness. In such situations of pain and oppression, the soul feels far from being favoured and it cannot find help from anywhere[12].                                                                                          Although the dark night is painful to the soul, it also gives light. We can therefore understand that just as this night of loving fire purges the soul in darkness, it is also in darkness that its work of enkindling is done. All the miseries that the soul faces, is for its benefit to be enkindled and begotten anew. When a person has been enkindled, he/she is raised up. By means of the Divine inflow the spirit is reborn in the life of the spirit. The soul experiences two fold peace; sensory peace and spiritual peace. When the soul is transformed by living light and wisdom, it starts longing for God[13].
My Personal Reflection                                                                                                                    I decided to study the book Dark Night of the Soul, because of the difficulties that St. John underwent during his earthly life. Suffering arises from the circumstances of life. John of the Cross went through ups and downs of life but never gave up. His life of perseverance has touched me a lot. The ups and downs that he passed are also the situations that I do experience in my life. Thus, just like St. John of the Cross, there are times when I face rejection from other people for doing what is right. Being a human being, full of emotions, most of the time I do give up. But from today, after being inspired by St. John’s life, I will continue doing what is good, no matter what people say. The difficulties are not only limited to my physical life but also in my spiritual life. From the book, I have come to learn that for the soul to be with God, it has to pass through privation and purgative stages. The Dark Night normally happens to me when I fail to let go those things which hinders my personal relationship with God. By reading the book,Dark Night of the Soul, I have come to learn that it is through the Dark Night experience that God brings me to the realization of my true nature.God purges all my imperfections and once my soul has been purified, I develop the courage to forgive even those people who persecute me in one way or another.
CONCLUSION                                                                                                                                 The dark night is a journey which the soul undergoes for it to be purified from all its imperfections. The dark night is a painful experience which helps the soul to reach its union with God. This union causes the soul to habitually employ all its faculties, operations, appetites and emotions in God. Although the dark night is painful, it also illumines the soul. When the soul is transformed by living light and wisdom, it resembles God. The dark night also helps a person who is undergoing it to have a better understanding of oneself.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bulter, A., Lives of the Saints, New York: Benziger Brothers Inc. 1955.

Peers, E.A., ed.,Dark Night of the Soul: A Classic in Literature of Mysticism by John of the
                 Cross, 3rd ed., New York: Image Book Publisher 1959.


[1] Cf. A. Bulter, Lives of the Saints, 365.
[2] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 39.
[3] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 40.
[4] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 47.
[5] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 52
[6] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 58-59.
[7] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 63.
[8] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 69.
[9] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 79.
[10] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 100.
[11] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 101.
[12] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 103.
[13] Cf. E.A. Peers, Dark Night of the Soul, 134. 

No comments:

Post a Comment