The Ascent of Mount Carmel

[Poche]

CHAPTER XLI
Of certain evils into which those persons fall who give themselves to pleasure in sensible objects and who frequent places of devotion in the way that has been described.

Many evils, both interior and exterior, come to the spiritual person when he desires to follow after sweetness of sense in these matters aforementioned. For, as regards the spirit, he will never attain to interior spiritual recollection, which consists in neglecting all such things, and in causing the soul to forget all this sensible sweetness, and to enter into true recollection, and to acquire the virtues by dint of effort. As regards exterior things, he will become unable to dispose himself for prayer in all places, but will be confined to places that are to his taste; and thus he will often fail in prayer, because, as the saying goes, he can understand no other book than his own village.

2. Furthermore, this desire leads such persons into great inconstancy. Some of them never continue in one place or even always in one state: now they will be seen in one place, now in another; now they will go to one hermitage, now to another; now they will set up this oratory, now that. Some of them, again, wear out their lives in changing from one state or manner of living to another. For, as they possess only the sensible fervour and joy to be found in spiritual things, and have never had the strength to attain spiritual recollection by the renunciation of their own will, and submitting to suffering inconveniences, whenever they see a place which they think well suited for devotion, or any kind of life or state well adapted to their temperament and inclination, they at once go after it and leave the condition or state in which they were before. And, as they have come under the influence of that sensible pleasure, it follows that they soon seek something new, for sensible pleasure is not constant, but very quickly fails.

[Poche]

CHAPTER XLII
Of three different kinds of place for devotion and of how the will should conduct itself with regard to them.

I can think of three kinds of place by means of which God is wont to move the will to devotion. The first consists in certain dispositions of the ground and situation, which, by means of a pleasing effect of variety, whether obtained by the arrangement of the ground or of trees, or by means of quiet solitude, naturally awaken devotion. These places it is beneficial to use, if they at once lead the will to God and cause it to forget the places themselves, even as, in order to reach one’s journey’s end, it is advisable not to pause and consider the means and motive of the journey more than is necessary. For those who strive to refresh their desires and to gain sensible sweetness will rather find spiritual aridity and distraction; for spiritual sweetness and satisfaction are not found save in interior recollection.

2. When they are in such a place, therefore, they should forget it and strive to be inwardly with God, as though they were not in that place at all. For, if they be attached to the pleasure and delight of the place, as we have said, they are seeking refreshment of sense and instability of spirit rather than spiritual repose. The anchorites and other holy hermits, who in the most vast and pleasing wildernesses selected the smallest places that sufficed for them, built there the smallest cells and caves, in which to imprison themselves. Saint Benedict was in such a place for three years, and another — namely, Saint Simon674674E.p. omits: ‘namely, Saint Simon.’ The allusion is, of course, to Saint Simon Stylites. — bound himself with a cord that he might have no more liberty nor go any farther than to places within its reach; and even so did many who are too numerous ever to be counted. Those saints understood very clearly that, if they quenched not the desire and eagerness for spiritual sweetness and pleasure, they could not attain to spirituality.

3. The second kind is of a more special nature, for it relates to certain places (not necessarily deserts, but any places whatsoever) where God is accustomed to grant to a few special persons certain very delectable spiritual favours; ordinarily, such a place attracts the heart of the person who has received a favour there, and sometimes gives him great desires and yearnings to return to it; although, when he goes there, what happened to him before is not repeated, since this is not within his control. For God grants these favours when and how and where He pleases, without being tied to any place or time, nor to the free-will of the person to whom He grants them. Yet it is good to go and pray in such places at times if the desire is free from attachment; and this for three reasons. First, because although, as we said, God is not bound to any place, it would seem that He has willed to be praised by a soul in the place where He has granted it a favour. Secondly, because in that place the soul is more mindful to give thanks to God for that which it has received there. Thirdly, because, by remembering that favour, the soul’s devotion is the more keenly awakened.

4. It is for these reasons that a man should go to such places, and not because he thinks that God is bound to grant him favours there, in such a way as to be unable to grant them wheresoever He wills, for the soul is a fitter and more comely place for God than any physical place. Thus we read in Holy Scripture that Abraham built an altar in the very place where God appeared to him, and invoked His holy name there, and that afterwards, coming from Egypt, he returned by the same road where God had appeared to him, and called upon God there once more at the same altar which he had built.675675Genesis xii, 8; xiii, 4. Jacob, too, marked the place where God had appeared to him, leaning upon a ladder, by raising there a stone which he anointed with oil.676676Genesis xxviii, 13-19. And Agar gave a name to the place where the angel had appeared to her, and prized it highly, saying: ‘Of a truth I have here seen the back of Him that seeth me.’677677Genesis xvi, 13.

5. The third kind consists of certain special places which God chooses that He may be called upon and served there, such as Mount Sinai, where He gave the law to Moses.678678Exodus xxiv, 12. And the place that He showed Abraham, that he might sacrifice his son there.679679Genesis xxii, 2. And likewise Mount Horeb, where He appeared to our father Elias.6806803 Kings [A.V., 1 Kings] xix, 8.

6. The reason for which God chooses these places rather than others, that He may be praised there, is known to Himself alone. What it behoves us to know is that all is for our advantage, and that He will hear our prayers there, and also in any place where we pray to Him with perfect faith; although there is much greater opportunity for us to be heard in places dedicated to His service, since the Church has appointed and dedicated those places to that end.

[Poche]

CHAPTER XLIII
Which treats of other motives for prayer that many persons use — namely, a great variety of ceremonies.

The useless joys and the imperfect attachment which many persons have to the things which we have described are perhaps to some extent excusable, since these persons act more or less innocently with regard to them. But the great reliance which some persons place in many kinds of ceremonies introduced by uninstructed persons who lack the simplicity of faith is intolerable. Let us here disregard those which bear various extraordinary names or use terms that signify nothing, and also other things that are not sacred which persons who are foolish and gross and mistrustful in spirit are wont to interpolate in their prayers. For these are clearly evil, and involve sin, and many of them imply a secret compact with the devil; by such means these persons provoke God to wrath and not to mercy, wherefore I treat them not here.

2. I wish to speak solely of those ceremonies into which enters nothing of a suspicious nature, and of which many people make use nowadays with indiscreet devotion, attributing such efficacy and faith to these ways and manners wherein they desire to perform their devotions and prayers, that they believe that, if they fail to the very slightest extent in them, or go beyond their limits, God will not be served by them nor will He hear them. They place more reliance upon these methods and kinds of ceremony than upon the reality of their prayer, and herein they greatly offend and displease God. I refer, for example, to a Mass at which there must be so many candles, neither more nor fewer; which has to be said by the priest in such or such a way; and must be at such or such an hour, and neither sooner nor later; and must be after a certain day, neither sooner nor later; and the prayers and stations must be made at such and such times, with such or such ceremonies, and neither sooner nor later nor in any other manner; and the person who makes them must have such or such qualities or qualifications. And there are those who think that, if any of these details which they have laid down be wanting, nothing is accomplished.

3. And, what is worse, and indeed intolerable, is that certain persons desire to feel some effect in themselves, or to have their petitions fulfilled, or to know that the purpose of these ceremonious prayers of theirs will be accomplished. This is nothing less than to tempt God and to anger Him greatly, so much so that He sometimes gives leave to the devil to deceive them, making them feel and understand things that are far removed from the benefit of their soul, which they deserve because of the attachment that they show in their prayers, not desiring God’s will, rather than their own desires, to be done therein; and thus, because they place not their whole confidence in God, nothing goes well with them.681

[Shin]

It is for these reasons that a man should go to such places, and not because he thinks that God is bound to grant him favours there, in such a way as to be unable to grant them wheresoever He wills, for the soul is a fitter and more comely place for God than any physical place. Thus we read in Holy Scripture that Abraham built an altar in the very place where God appeared to him, and invoked His holy name there, and that afterwards, coming from Egypt, he returned by the same road where God had appeared to him, and called upon God there once more at the same altar which he had built. Genesis xii, 8; xiii, 4. Jacob, too, marked the place where God had appeared to him, leaning upon a ladder, by raising there a stone which he anointed with oil. Genesis xxviii, 13-19. And Agar gave a name to the place where the angel had appeared to her, and prized it highly, saying: ‘Of a truth I have here seen the back of Him that seeth me.’ Genesis xvi, 13.

5. The third kind consists of certain special places which God chooses that He may be called upon and served there, such as Mount Sinai, where He gave the law to Moses. Exodus xxiv, 12. And the place that He showed Abraham, that he might sacrifice his son there. Genesis xxii, 2. And likewise Mount Horeb, where He appeared to our father Elias.  Kings [A.V., 1 Kings] xix, 8.

Making a pilgrimage is something to remember forever!

[Poche]

CHAPTER XLIV

Of the manner wherein the rejoicing and strength of the will must be directed to God through these devotions.

LET these persons, then, know that, the more reliance they place on these things and ceremonies, the less confidence they have in God, and that they will not obtain of God that which they desire. There are certain persons who pray for their own ends rather than for the honour of God. Although they suppose that a thing will be done if it be for the service of God, and not otherwise, yet, because of their attachment to it and the vain rejoicing which they have in it, they multiply a large number of petitions for a thing, when it would be better for them to substitute others of greater importance to them, such as for the true cleansing of their consciences, and for a real application to things concerning their own salvation, leaving to a much later season all those other petitions of theirs which are not of this kind. And in this way they would attain that which is of the greatest importance to them, and at the same time all the other things that are good for them (although they might not have prayed for them), much better and much earlier than if they had expended all their energy on those things. For this the Lord promised, through the Evangelist, saying: 'Seek ye first and principally the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things shall be added unto you.'[682]

2. This is the seeking and the asking that is most pleasing to God, and, in order to obtain the fulfilment of the petitions which we have in our hearts, there is no better way than to direct the energy of our prayer to the thing that most pleases God. For then not only will He give that which we ask of Him, which is salvation, but also that which He sees to be fitting and good for us, although we pray not for it. This David makes clear in a psalm where he says: 'The Lord is nigh unto those that call upon Him in truth,[683] that beg Him for the things that are in the highest degree true, such as salvation; for of these he then says: 'He will fulfill the will of them that fear Him, and will hear their cries, and will save them. For God is the guardian of those that truly love Him.'[684] And thus, this nearness to God of which David here speaks is naught else than His being ready to satisfy them and grant them even that which it has not passed through their minds to ask. Even so we read that, because Solomon did well in asking God for a thing that was pleasing to Him -- namely, wisdom to lead and rule his people righteously -- God answered him, saying: 'Because more than aught else thou didst desire wisdom, and askedst not victory over thine enemies, with their deaths, nor riches, nor long life, I will not only give thee the wisdom that thou askest to rule My people righteously, but I will likewise give thee that which thou hast not asked -- namely, riches and substance and glory -- so that neither before thee nor after thee shall there be any king like unto thee.'[685] And this He did, giving him peace also from his enemies, so that all around him should pay tribute to him and trouble him not: We read of a similar incident in Genesis, where God promised Abraham to increase the generation of his lawful son, like the stars of Heaven, even as he had asked of Him, and said to him: 'Likewise I will increase the son of the bondwoman, for he is thy son.'[686]

3. In this way, then, the strength of the will and its rejoicing must be directed to God in our petitions, and we must not be anxious to cling to ceremonial inventions which are not used or approved by the Catholic Church. We must leave the method and manner of saying Mass to the priest, whom the Church sets there in her place, giving him her orders as to how he is to do it. And let not such persons use new methods, as if they knew more than the Holy Spirit and His Church. If, when they pray in their simplicity, God hears them not, let them not think that He will hear them any the more however many may be their inventions. For God is such that, if they behave towards Him as they should, and conformably to His nature, they will do with Him whatsoever they will; but, if they act from selfish ends, they cannot speak with Him.

4. With regard to further ceremonies connected with prayer and other devotions, let not the will be set upon other ceremonies and forms of prayer than those which Christ taught us.[687] For it is clear that, when His disciples besought Him that He would teach them to pray, He would tell them all that is necessary in order that the Eternal Father may hear us, since He knew the Father's nature so well. Yet all that He taught them was the Pater Noster, with its seven petitions, wherein are included all our needs, both spiritual and temporal; and He taught them not many other kinds of prayer, either in words or in ceremonies. On the contrary, He told them that when they prayed they ought not to desire to speak much, since our heavenly Father knows well what is meet for us. He charged them only, but with great insistence, that they should persevere in prayer (that is, in the prayer of the Pater Noster), saying elsewhere: 'It behoves us always to pray and never to fail.'[688] But He taught not a variety of petitions, but rather that our petitions should be repeated frequently and with fervour and care. For, as I say, in them is contained all that is the will of God and all that is meet for us. Wherefore, when His Majesty drew near three times to the Eternal Father, He prayed all these three times, using those very words of the Pater Noster, as the Evangelists tell us, saying: 'Father, if it cannot be but that I must drink this cup, Thy will be done.'[689] And the ceremonies which He taught us to use in our prayers are only two. Either we are to pray in the secret place of our chamber, where without noise and without paying heed to any we can pray with the most perfect and pure heart, as He said in these words: 'When thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber and shut the door and pray.'[690] Or else He taught us to go to a solitary and desert place, as He Himself did, and at the best and quietest time of night. And thus there is no reason to fix any limit of time, or any appointed days, or to set apart one time more than another for our devotions, neither is there any reason to use other forms, in our words and prayers, nor phrases with double meanings, but only those which the Church uses and in the manner wherein she uses them; for all are reduced to those which we have described -- namely, the Pater Noster.

5. I do not for this reason condemn -- nay, I rather approve -- the fixing of days on which certain persons sometimes arrange to make their devotions, such as novenas, or other such things. I condemn only their conduct as concerns the fixity of their methods and the ceremonies with which they practise them. Even so did Judith rebuke and reprove the people of Bethulia because they had limited God as to the time wherein they awaited His mercy, saying: 'Do ye set God a time for his mercies?' To do this, she says, is not to move God to clemency, but to awaken His wrath.[691]

[Poche]

CHAPTER XLV
Which treats of the second kind of distinct good, wherein the will may rejoice vainly.

The second kind of distinct and delectable good wherein the will may rejoice vainly is that which provokes or persuades us to serve God and which we have called provocative. This class comprises preachers, and we might speak of it in two ways, namely, as affecting the preachers themselves and as affecting their hearers. For, as regards both, we must not fail to observe that both must direct the rejoicing of their will to God, with respect to this exercise.

2. In the first place, it must be pointed out to the preacher, if he is to cause his people profit and not to embarrass himself with vain joy and presumption, that preaching is a spiritual exercise rather than a vocal one. For, although it is practised by means of outward words, its power and efficacy reside not in these but in the inward spirit. Wherefore, however lofty be the doctrine that is preached, and however choice the rhetoric and sublime the style wherein it is clothed, it brings as a rule no more benefit than is present in the spirit of the preacher. For, although it is true that the word of God is of itself efficacious, according to those words of David, ‘He will give to His voice a voice of virtue,’692692Psalm lxvii, 34 [A.V., lxviii, 33]. yet fire, which has also a virtue — that of burning — will not burn when the material is not prepared.

3. To the end that the preacher’s instruction may exercise its full force, there must be two kinds of preparation: that of the preacher and that of the hearer; for as a rule the benefit derived from a sermon depends upon the preparation of the teacher. For this reason it is said that, as is the master, so is wont to be the disciple. For, when in the Acts of the Apostles those seven sons of that chief priest of the Jews were wont to cast out devils in the same form as Saint Paul, the devil rose up against them, saying: ‘Jesus I confess and Paul I know, but you, who are ye?’693693Acts xix, 15. And then, attacking them, he stripped and wounded them. This was only because they had not the fitting preparation, and not because Christ willed not that they should do this in His name. For the Apostles once found a man, who was not a disciple, casting out a devil in the name of Christ, and they forbade him, and the Lord reproved them for it, saying: ‘Forbid him not, for no man that has done any mighty works in My name shall be able to speak evil of Me after a brief space of time.’694694St. Mark ix, 38-9. But He is angry with those who, though teaching the law of God, keep it not, and, which preaching spirituality, possess it not. For this reason God says, through Saint Paul: ‘Thou teachest others and teachest not thyself. Thou who preachest that men should not steal, stealest.’695695Romans ii, 21. And through David the Holy Spirit says: ‘To the sinner, God said: “Why dost thou declare My justice and take My law in thy mouth, when thou hast hated discipline and cast My words behind thee?”’696696Psalm xlix, 16-17 [A.V., l, 16-17]. Here it is made plain that He will give them no spirituality whereby they may bear fruit.

4. It is a common matter of observation that, so far as we can judge here below, the better is the life of the preacher, the greater is the fruit that he bears, however undistinguished his style may be, however small his rhetoric and however ordinary his instruction. For it is the warmth that comes from the living spirit that clings; whereas the other kind of preacher will produce very little profit, however sublime be his style and his instruction. For, although it is true that a good style and gestures and sublime instruction and well-chosen language influence men and produce much effect when accompanied by true spirituality, yet without this, although a sermon gives pleasure and delight to the sense and the understanding, very little or nothing of its sweetness remains in the will. As a rule, in this case, the will remains as weak and remiss with regard to good works as it was before. Although marvelous things may have been marvellously said by the preacher, they serve only to delight the ear, like a concert of music or a peal of bells; the spirit, as I say, goes no farther from its habits than before, since the voice has no virtue to raise one that is dead from his grave.

5. Little does it matter that one kind of music should sound better than another if the better kind move me not more than the other to do good works. For, although marvellous things may have been said, they are at once forgotten if they have not fired the will. For, not only do they of themselves bear little fruit, but the fastening of the sense upon the pleasure that it finds in that sort of instruction hinders the instruction from passing to the spirit, so that only the method and the accidents of what has been said are appreciated, and the preacher is praised for this characteristic or for that, and followed from such motives as these rather than because of the purpose of amendment of life which he has inspired. This doctrine is well explained to the Corinthians by Saint Paul, where he says: ‘I, brethren, when I came to you, came not preaching Christ with loftiness of instruction and of wisdom, and my words and my preaching consisted not in the rhetoric of human wisdom, but in the showing forth of the spirit and of the truth.’6976971 Corinthians ii, 1-4.

6. Although the intention of the Apostle here, like my own intention, is not to condemn good style and rhetoric and phraseology, for, on the contrary, these are of great importance to the preacher, as in everything else, since good phraseology and style raise up and restore things that are fallen and ruined, even as bad phraseology ruins and destroys good things . . .698698   E.p. adds: ‘End of the Ascent of Mount Carmel.’ The treatise thus remains incomplete, the chapter on the preacher being unfinished and no part of any chapter upon the hearer having come down to us. Further, the last two divisions of the four mentioned in Chap. xxxv, 1 are not treated in any of the MSS. or early editions.
   The fragments which P. Gerardo [Obras, etc., I, 402–10] added to the Ascent, forming two chapters, cannot be considered as a continuation of this book. They are in reality a long and admirable letter [Letter XI in The Complete Works of St. John of the Cross: Vol. III, p. 255], written to a religious, who was one of the Saint’s spiritual sons, and copied by P. Jerónimo de San José in his History of St. John of the Cross (Bk. VI, Chap. vii). There is not the slightest doubt that the letter which was written at Segovia, and is fully dated, is a genuine letter, and not an editor’s maltreatment of part of a treatise. Only the similarity of its subject with that of these last chapters is responsible for its having been added to the Ascent. It is hard to see how P. Gerardo could have been misled about a matter which is so clear.
   [This question was re-opened, in 1950, by P. Sobrino (see Vol. III, p. 240), who adds TG and a codex belonging to the Discalced Carmelite Fathers of Madrid to the list of the MSS. which give the fragments as part of the Ascent, making six authorities in all, against which can be set only the proved and admitted reliability of P. Jerónimo de San José. P. Sobrino, who discusses the matter (Estudios, etc., pp. 166–93) in great detail, hazards a plausible and attractive solution, which he reinforces with substantial evidence — that of a ‘double redaction.’ According to this theory, the Saint, in writing to the religious of Letter XI, made use, for the substance of his instruction, of two fragments which were to have gone into the Ascent. Considering how often in his writings he doubled passages, to say nothing of whole works, it is quite understandable that he should have utilized two unincorporated, and indeed unfinished, passages for a private letter.]


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692Psalm lxvii, 34 [A.V., lxviii, 33]. 693Acts xix, 15.694St. Mark ix, 38-9.695Romans ii, 21.696Psalm xlix, 16-17 [A.V., l, 16-17]. 6971 Corinthians ii, 1-4. 698   E.p. adds: ‘End of the Ascent of Mount Carmel.’ The treatise thus remains incomplete, the chapter on the preacher being unfinished and no part of any chapter upon the hearer having come down to us. Further, the last two divisions of the four mentioned in Chap. xxxv, 1 are not treated in any of the MSS. or early editions.
   The fragments which P. Gerardo [Obras, etc., I, 402–10] added to the Ascent, forming two chapters, cannot be considered as a continuation of this book. They are in reality a long and admirable letter [Letter XI in The Complete Works of St. John of the Cross: Vol. III, p. 255], written to a religious, who was one of the Saint’s spiritual sons, and copied by P. Jerónimo de San José in his History of St. John of the Cross (Bk. VI, Chap. vii). There is not the slightest doubt that the letter which was written at Segovia, and is fully dated, is a genuine letter, and not an editor’s maltreatment of part of a treatise. Only the similarity of its subject with that of these last chapters is responsible for its having been added to the Ascent. It is hard to see how P. Gerardo could have been misled about a matter which is so clear.
   [This question was re-opened, in 1950, by P. Sobrino (see Vol. III, p. 240), who adds TG and a codex belonging to the Discalced Carmelite Fathers of Madrid to the list of the MSS. which give the fragments as part of the Ascent, making six authorities in all, against which can be set only the proved and admitted reliability of P. Jerónimo de San José. P. Sobrino, who discusses the matter (Estudios, etc., pp. 166–93) in great detail, hazards a plausible and attractive solution, which he reinforces with substantial evidence — that of a ‘double redaction.’ According to this theory, the Saint, in writing to the religious of Letter XI, made use, for the substance of his instruction, of two fragments which were to have gone into the Ascent. Considering how often in his writings he doubled passages, to say nothing of whole works, it is quite understandable that he should have utilized two unincorporated, and indeed unfinished, passages for a private letter.]
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[Poche]

Index of Scripture References
Genesis

12:8   13:4   15:7   16:13   17:1   21:10   21:13   22:2   27:22   28:13-19   31:34-37   35:2   46:3-4   49:4

Exodus

3   4   4:14-15   14:20   18:21-22   20:19   23:8   23:21-22   24:12   27:8   32:7-28   33:20   33:20   33:20   33:22   34:2-3   34:6-7

Leviticus

10:1-2   10:1-2

Numbers

11:4   12:6-8   17:10   22:7   22:22-23   22:32

Deuteronomy

4:12   4:15   6:5   31:26   32:15   32:15   32:15   32:15

Joshua

6:21   9:14

Judges

2:3   7:11   8:16   13:22   16   16:16   16:21   18:22-24   20:12

1 Samuel

2:30   3:10   3:10   5:3-5   8:7   12:3   23:9   28:7   28:15

2 Kingdoms

14:25

2 Samuel

14:25

1 Kings

2:30   3:10   3:10   3:11-13   5:3-5   8:7   8:12   11:4   11:38   12:3   19:8   19:13   21:21   21:27-29   22:11   22:11   22:22   23:9   28:7   28:15

2 Kings

5:26   6:12

2 Chronicles

1:11-12   20:12

Job

6:6   20:22   31:27-28   38:1   40:1   40:16   40:21

Psalms

2:9   6:3   6:4   9:17   10:18   17:10-12   18:3   18:9-11   18:10-11   19:2   19:9-10   37:5   38:4   38:7   39:6   39:6   39:13   40:5   40:12   45:11   45:11   46:10   46:10   48:17-18   48:17-18   49:16-17   49:16-17   49:16-17   50:16-17   57:5   57:9   57:10   58:4-5   58:8   58:9   58:10   58:10   58:15-16   59:9   59:9   59:14-15   61:11   61:11   62:1-2   62:3   62:10   62:10   63:7   64:607   67:34   67:34   68:33   68:33   71:8   71:12   72:7   72:8   72:8   72:12   72:22   73:7   73:8   73:22   76:14   77:13   77:30-31   77:31   78:30-31   78:31   85:8   85:8   86:8   86:8   87:16   88:15   101:8   101:27   102:7   102:26-27   114:9   115:8   117:12   118:12   118:61   119:61   137:6   138:6   138:11   138:11   139:11   139:11   144:18   144:19-20   145:18   145:19-20   147:17

Proverbs

8:4-6   8:18-21   10:24   23:31-31   24:16   27:19   30:15   31:30   31:30

Ecclesiastes

1:14   2:2   2:2   2:10   3:12   4:10-12   5:1   5:2   5:9   5:11-12   5:12   7:1   7:3   7:4   7:5   8:4   10:1

Song of Solomon

4:12   5:2   6:11   8:6   8:6

Isaiah

1:23   3:12   5:20   6:2   6:4   7:9   7:12   9:20   19:14   28:9-11   29:8   30:2   40:18-19   48:18   55:1-2   57:20   59:10   64:4   64:4   64:4

Jeremiah

1:11   2:13   2:13   2:24   2:25   4:10   4:23   8:15   20:7-9   23:21   23:26   23:28-29   23:32   45:3   49:16

Lamentations

3:20   3:47   4:1-2   4:7-8

Ezekiel

1:5-9   8:10   8:12   8:14   8:16   14:7   14:7-9

Daniel

8:10   9:22   9:27

Hosea

2:24

Jonah

3:4   3:4   4:2   4:11

Micah

7:3

Habakkuk

2:1

Matthew

4:8   5:3   6:2   6:2   6:3   6:6   6:24   6:33   7:6   7:14   7:22   7:22-23   7:23   12:30   13:22   13:58   15:8   15:14   15:14   15:26   16:24   16:26   17:5   18:20   19:23   19:29   19:29   20:22   21:9   22:12-13   23:5   23:15   25:21   26:39   27:19   27:46   29:19

Mark

6:5   8:34-35   9:38-39

Luke

4:24   8:12   8:14   9:54-55   10:20   10:20   11:1-4   11:5   11:26   12:20   12:20   12:25   14:33   14:33   14:33   16:8   16:10   16:19   18:1   18:11   18:11-12   18:11-12   18:19   18:24   19:41   24:6   24:15   24:21   24:25   24:25-26

John

1:5   1:13   1:18   1:18   3:5   3:6   4:23-24   4:24   4:34   4:48   9:39   10:9   11:50   12   12:16   14:6   14:21   19:30   20:2   20:15   20:19   20:29   25

Acts

1:6   4:29-30   7:32   8:18-19   13:27   13:46   17:29   19:15

Romans

1:22   1:28   2:21   8:14   8:24   10:17   10:17   10:17   12:3   13:1

1 Corinthians

2:1-4   2:2   2:9   2:9   2:9   2:9-10   2:9-10   2:10   2:14   2:14   2:15   3:1-2   3:16   3:18-19   3:19   6:17   7:27   7:29-30   7:29-31   12:7   12:8-10   12:9-10   12:10   13:1-2   13:10   13:11

2 Corinthians

3:6   4:17   6:10   6:10   6:14   11:14   12:2   12:9

Galatians

1:8   1:8   2:2   2:14   5:17

Colossians

2:3   2:9   3:5

1 Thessalonians

5:19

Hebrews

1:1   11:1   11:1   11:1   11:6   11:6

James

2:20

2 Peter

1:19   1:19

1 John

2:16

Revelation

10:9   12:4   13:1   13:7   17:3-4   18:7   18:7

Tobit

14:13

Judith

8:11-12   11:12

Wisdom of Solomon

1:5   1:5   4:12   7:17-21   7:21   7:22   8:1   11:16   11:17   16:20

Baruch

3:23

Sirach

11:10   11:32   11:34   13:1   19:1   23:6

[Poche]

To study the writings of John of the Cross is to study the Bible.

[Shin]

since the voice has no virtue to raise one that is dead from his grave.

May God grant virtue! 

Deo gratias et Mariae semper Virgini!

[Shin]

Quite an achievement no Poche? The Ascent of Mount Carmel!

[Poche]

Index of Latin Words and Phrases
•Aaron frater tuus Levites, scio quod eloquent sit: ecce ipse egredietur in occursum tuum, vidensque te, laetabitur corde. Loquere ad eum, en pone verba mea in ore ejus: et ego ero in ore tuo, et in ore illius: 1
•Ab objecto et potentia paritur notitia: 1
•Accedentem ad Deum oportet credere quod est: 1
•Ad nihilum redactus sum, et nescivi: 1
•Adhuc escape eorum erant in ore ipsorum, et ira Dei descendit super cos.: 1
•Adhuc quadraginta dies, et Ninive subvertetur.: 1
•Anima mea turbata est valde: 1
•Animalis autem homo non percipit ea quoe sunt spiritus Dei: stultitia enim est illi, et non potest intelligere: quia de spiritualibus examinatur. Spiritualis autem judicat omnia.: 1
•Applica ad me Ephod: 1
•Arrogantia tua decepit te.: 1
•Aspexi terram, et ecce vacua erat, et nihil; et coelos, et non erat lux in eis: 1
•Audi vocem populi in omnibus quae loquuntur tibi: non enim te objecerunt, sed me.: 1
•Aufer a me Domine ventris concupiscentias: 1
•Candidiores sunt Nazaraei ejus nive, nitidiores lacte, rubicundiores ebore antiquo, sapphiro pulchriores. Denigrata est super carbones facies eorum, et non sunt cogniti in plateis: 1
•Circumdederunt me sicut apes: et exarserunt sicut ignis in spinis: 1
•Comprehenderunt me iniquitates meae, et non potui, ut viderem: 1
•Consummatum est: 1
•Cor impii quasi mare fervens: 1
•Cum essem parvulus, loquebar ut parvulus, sapiebam ut parvulus, cogitabam ut parvulus. Quando autem factus sum vir, evacuavi quae erant parvuli: 1
•Cum ignoremus quid facere debeamus, hoc solum habemus residue, ut oculos nostros dirigamus ad re.: 1
•Cum satiatus fuerit, artabitur, aestuabit, et omnis dolor inruet super eum: 1
•Cum vidissem, quod non recte ad veritatem Evangelii ambularent, dixi coram omnibus: Si tu judaeus cum sis, gentiliter vivis, quomodo Gentes cogis judaizare?: 1
•Daca, daca: 1
•Decipies, et praevalebis; egredere, et fac ita.: 1
•Declinabit ad dexteram, et esuriet: et comedet ad sinistram, et non saturabitur: 1
•Defecit anima ejus, et ad mortem usque lassata est: 1
•Desiderium pauperum exaudivit Dominus.: 1
•Desiderium suum justis dabitur.: 1
•Dicentes enim se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt: 1
•Dies diei eructat verbum et nox nocti indicat scientiam: 1
•Dominator Domine Deus, misericors et clemens, patiens, et multae miserationis, ac verax. Qui custodis misericordiam in millia.: 1
•Domine, Domine, nonne in nomine tuo prophetavimus, et in nomine tuo daemonia ejecimus, et in nomine tuo virtutes multas fecimus?: 1
•Domine, si in tempore hoc restitues Regnum Israel.: 1
•Domine, unde scire possum, quod possessurus sim eam?: 1
•Dominus miscuit in medio ejus spiritum vertiginis.: 1
•Duo mala fecit Populus meus: dereliquerunt fontem aquae vivae, ut foderunt sibi cisternas, dissipatas, quae continere non valent aquas: 1
•Ego Dominus decepi prophetam illum.: 1
•Ego dormio et cor meum vigilat: 1
•Erat nubes tenebrosa, et illuminans noctem: 1
•Et cum audieris quid loquantur, tunc confortabuntur manus tuae, et securior ad hostium castra descendes.: 1
•Et dominabitur a mari usque ad mare; et a flumine usque ad terminos orbis terrarum: 1
•Et habemus firmiorem propheticum sermonem: cui benefacitis attendentes, quasi lucernoe lucenti in caliginoso loco, donec dies elucescat: 1
•Et habemus firmiorem propheticum sermonem; cui bene factitis attendentes, etc.: 1
•Et inde adducam te revertentem: 1
•Et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis: 1
•Et os meum non interrogastis.: 1
•Et tunc confitebor illis, quia numquam novi vos: discedite a me omnes qui operamini iniquitatem.: 1
•Et, quoniam haec faciunt, certum est quod in perditionem dabuntur.: 1
•Exspectavimus pacem, et non erat bonum: 1
•Fallax gratia, et vana est pulchritudo: 1
•Famem patientur ut canes, et circuibunt civitatem. Si vero non fuerint saturati, et murmurabunt: 1
•Fides est sperandarum substantia rerum, argumentum non apparentium: 1
•Fides est sperandarum substantia rerum, argumentum non apparientium: 1
•Fides ex auditu: 1
•Formido et laqueus facta est nobis vaticinatio et contritio.: 1
•Fortitudinem meam ad te custodiam.: 1
•Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me: 1
•Gustato spiritu, desipit omni caro: 1
•Haec non cognoverunt discipuli ejus primum: sed quando glorificatus est Jesus, tunc recordati sunt quia haec erant scripta de eo.: 1
•Heu, heu, heu, Domine Deus, ergone decipisti populum istum et Jerusalem, dicens: Pax erit vobis; et ecce pervenit gladius usque ad animam?: 1
•Hic est filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui, ipsum audite: 1
•In desiderio animae sum attraxit ventum amoris sui: 1
•In ipso habitat omnis plenitudo Divinitatis corporaliter.: 1
•In judicium veni in hunc mundum: ut qui non vident, videant, et qui vident, caeci fiant: 1
•In quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae Dei absconditi.: 1
•Ipse dedit mihi horum, quae sunt, scientiam veram, ut sciam dispositionem orbis terrarum, et virtutes elementorum, initium et consummationem temporum, viccissitudinum permutationes, et consummationes temporum, et morum mutationes, divisiones temporum, et anni cursus, et stellarum dispositiones, naturas animalium et iras bestiarum, vim ventorum, et cogitationes hominum, differentias virgultorum, et virtutes radicum, et quaecumque sunt abscondita, et improvisa didici: omnium enim artifex docuit me sapientia.: 1
•Ira Dei descendit super eos: 1
•Jacob, Jacob, noli timere, descende in Aegiptum, quia in gentem magnam faciam te ibi. Ego descendam tecum illuc. . . .: 1
•Judicia Domini vera, justificata in semetipsa. Desiderabilia super aurum et lapidem pretiosum multum; et dulciora super mel et favum.: 1
•Lassus adhuc sitit, et anima ejus vacua est: 1
•Liberabit pauperem a potente, et pauperem, cui non erat adjutor.: 1
•Licet nos, gut Angelus de coelo evangelizet vobis praeterquam quod evangelizavimus vobis, anathema sit.: 1
•Littera enim occidit, spiritus autem vivificat: 1
•Loquens locutus sum, ut domus tua, et domus patris tui, ministraret in conspectu meo, usque in sempiternum. Verumtamen absit hoc a me.: 1
•Mecum sunt divitiae, et gloria, opes superbae et justicia. Melior est fructus meus auro, et lapide pretioso, et genimina mea argento electo. In viis justitiae ambulo, in medio semitarum judicii, ut ditem diligentes me, et thesauros eorum repleam.: 1
•Mittit crystallum suam sicut buccellas: 1
•Morte moriemur, quida vidimus Dominum.: 1
•Multifariam multisque modis olim Deus loquens patribus in Prophetis: novissime autem diebus istis Iocutus est nobis in Filio.: 1
•Ne forte in vacuum currerem, aut cucurrissem.: 1
•Nec fides habet meritum cui humana ratio praebet experimentum.: 1
•Nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit, qua praeparavit Deus iis, qui diligunt illum: 1
•Nequaquam, Domine mi Rex, sed Eliseus Propheta, qui est in Israel, indicat Regi Israel omnia verba, quaecumque locutus fueris in conclavi tuo.: 1
•Nihil est in intellectu quin prius non fuerit in sensu: 1
•Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua, et Spiritu Sancto, non potest videre regnum Dei: 1
•Nolite sanctum dare canibus: 1
•Non est bonum sumere panem filiorum, et mittere canibus: 1
•Non petam, et non tentabo Dominum.: 1
•Non videbit me homo, et vivet.: 1
•Non vidistis aliquam similitudinem in die, qua locutus est vobis Dominus in Horeb de medio ignis: 1
•Nonne cor meum in praesenti erat, quando reversus est homo de curru suo in occursum tui?: 1
•Nos autem sperabamus quod ipse esset redempturus Israel: 1
•Numquid poterit comedi insulsum, quod non est sale conditum?: 1
•O viri, ad vos clamito, et vox mea ad filios hominum. Intelligite, parvuli, astutiam, et insipientes, animadvertite. Audite quia de rebus magnis locutura sum.: 1
•Obsecro, Domine, numquid non hoc est verbum meum, cum adhuc essem in terra mea? propter hoc praeoccupavi, ut fugerem in Tharsis.: 1
•Omnes sitientes, venite ad aquas; et qui non habetis argentum, properate, emite, el comedite: venite, emite absque argento vinum et lac. Quare appenditis argentum non in panibus, et laborem vestrum non in saturitate?: 1
•Omnia movet secundum modum eorum: 1
•Omnis etiam mundus velut sub uno solis radio collectus, ante oculos eius adductus est.: 1
•Ostendit omnia regna mundi, et gloriam eorum.: 1
•Palpavimus, sicut caeci parietem, et quasi absque oculis adtrectavimus: impegimus meridie, quasi in tenebris: 1
•Pater Noster: 1
•Pauper sum ego, et in laboribus a indenture mea: 1
•Per quae quis peccat, per haec et torquetur.: 1
•Perversa est via tua, mihique contraria.: 1
•Priusquam intelligerent spinae vestrae rhamnum: sicut viventes, sic in ira absorber eos: 1
•Prohibe pedem tuum a nuditate, et guttur tuum a siti: 1
•Quam angusta porta, et arcta via est, quae ducit ad vitam, et pauci sunt, qui inveniunt eam: 1
•Quantum glorificavit se, et in deliciis fuit, tantum date illi tormentum, et luctum: 1
•Quare inquietasti me, ut suscitarer?: 1
•Quem docebit Dominus scientiam? et quem intelligere faciet auditum? ablactatos a lacte, avulsos ab uberibus. Quia manda remanda, manda remanda, expecta reexpecta, expecta reexpecta, modicum ibi, modicum ibi. In loquela enim labii, et lingua altera loquetur ad populum istum: 1
•Qui autem diligit rag, diligetur a Patre meo, et ego diligam eum, et manifestabo ei me ipsum.: 1
•Qui enim habitabant Jerusalem, et principes ejus, hunc ignorantes et voces prophetarum, quae per omne Sabbatum leguntur, judicantes impleverunt.: 1
•Qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt: 1
•Qui non renuntiat omnibus quae possidet, non potest meus esse discipulus: 1 2
•Qui tetigerit picem, inquinabitur ab ea: 1
•Quia igitur humiliatus est mei causa, non inducam malum in diebus ejus, sed in diebus filii sui.: 1
•Quod natura non dat, Salamtica non praestat: 1
•Quod sapit, nutrit: 1
•Quod si Angelus de coelo evengelizaverit, praterquam quod evangelizavimus vobis, anathema sit.: 1
•Quomodo in aquis resplendent vultus prospicientium sic corda hominum manifesta sunt proudentibus.: 1
•Reges eos in virga ferrea, et tamquam vas figuli confringes eos.: 1
•Sapientia hujus mundi stultitia est apud Deum: 1
•Si caecus caeco ducatum praestet, ambo in foveam cadunt: 1 2
•Si non credideritis, non intelligetis: 1
•Si quis inter vos fuerit Propheta Domini, in visione apparebo ei, vel per somnium loquar ad illum. At non talis servus meus Moyses, qui in omni domo mea fidelissimus est: ore enim ad os loquor ei, et palem, et non per aenigmata, et figuras Dominum videt: 1
•Si quis videtur inter vos sapiens esse in hoc soeculo, stultus fiat ut sit sapiens. Sapientia enim hujus mundi stultitia est apud Deum: 1
•Si quis vult me sequi, deneget semetipsum: et tollat crucem suam, et sequatur me. Qui enim voluerit animam suam salvam facere, perdet eam: qui autem perdiderit animam suam propter me. . . salvam lacier eam.: 1
•Si vis claro lumine cernere verum, gaudia pelle, timorem, spemque fugato, nec dolor adsit.: 1
•Sicut onus grave gravatae sunt super me: 1
•Sive in corpore, nescio, sive extra corpus, nescio, Deus scit.: 1
•Spes, quae videtur, non est spes: nam quod videt quis, quid sperat?: 1
•Spiritualis autem judicat omnia.: 1
•Spiritus enim omnia scrutatur, etiam profunda Dei.: 1
•Supercecidit ignis, et non viderunt solem: 1
•Susceperunt ergo de cibariis eorum, et os Domini non interrogaverunt.: 1
•Tamquam parvulis in Christo lac potum vobis dedi, non escam.: 1
•Tibi dabo terram hanc: 1
•Tradidit illos in reprobum sensum.: 1
•Transierunt in affectum cordis.: 1
•Tu quoque si vis lumine claro cernere vernum — Tramite recto carpere callem — Gaudia pelle — Pelle timorem — Spemque fugato — Nec dolor adsit: 1
•Ubi fuerint duo vel tres congregati in nomine meo, ibi sum ego in medio eorum.: 1
•Vae praegnantibus, et nutrientibus in illis diebus: 1
•Vae soli, quia cum ceciderit, non habet sublevantem se. Si dormierint duo
quomodo calefiet? et si quispiam praevaluerit contra unum, duo resistent ei.: 1
•Venite ad me omnes, qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos, et invenietis requiem animabus vestris: 1
•Video enim quia iniquitas ejus finem dabit ei.: 1
•Vigilavi, et factus sum sicut passer solitarius in tecto: 1
•Vocem verborum ejus audistis, et formam penitus non vidistis: 1
•editio princeps: 1
•gratis datas: 1
•non permanebitis: 1
•otium: 1
•passer: 1
•plateas: 1
•princeps: 1 2
•tabula rasa: 1
•ut videantur ab hominibus: 1