Lenten Meditation - April 9, 2006

2006-04-09 Sunday

Besides the many kinds of God’s visits to the soul in which He wounds it with love, there are commonly certain secret touches of love which, like a fiery arrow, pierce and penetrate the soul, and burn it with the fire of love. These are properly called the sounds of love.

These wounds so inflame the will that the soul becomes enveloped with the fire of love. They make it go forth out of itself and be renewed, like the phoenix from the fire.

There can be no remedy for the wounds of love except from Him who inflicted them, and so the wounded soul runs after the Beloved, crying to Him for relief.

This spiritual running after God has a two-fold meaning. The first is a going forth from all created things. The second, a going forth out of oneself by self-forgetfulness; and this can only be accomplished by the love of God.

- St. John of the Cross, Collected Works: Spiritual Canticle, st. I