[Return to Collected Works home]

Go backward to Letters 10-14
Go up to Top
Go forward to Letters 22-33

Letters 15-21

[To Madre Leonor de San Gabriel,34 discalced Carmelite in Córdoba

Segovia, July 8, 1589]

Jesus be in your soul, my daughter in Christ.

Thank you for your letter. And I thank God for having desired to use you in this foundation, since His Maje sty has done this in order to bring you greater profit. The more he wants to give, the more he makes us de sire - even to the point of leaving us empty in order to fill us with goods. You will be repaid for the goods (the love of your sisters) that you leave behind in Sevilla. Since the immense blessings of God can only en ter and fit into an empty and solitary heart, the Lord wants you to be alone. For he truly loves you with the desire of being himself all your company. And Your Reverence will have to strive carefully to be content only with his companionship, so you might discover in it every happiness. Even though the soul may be in hea ven, it will not be happy if it does not conform its will to this. And we will be unhappy with God, even though he is always present with us, if our heart is not alone, but attached to something else.

I truly believe the nuns in Sevilla will feel lonely without Your Reverence. But perhaps you have done all you could there and God desires you to be of use in the new place, for the foundation will be an important one. Endeavor to be of genuine help to your Mother Prioress,35 with great conformity and love in all things; alt hough I clearly see that I do not have to make this recommendation, for since you are older and more expe rienced, you already know what usually happens in these foundations. This was why we chose Your Rever ence. Were it simply a matter of nuns, there are so many in the region that there is hardly room for them all.

Best regards to Sister María de la Visitación, and thank Sister Juana de San Gabriel for her greetings. May God give Your Reverence his Spirit.

From Segovia, July 8, 1589

Fray John of the Cross

-=O=-

[To Madre María de Jesús, discalced Carmelite,

prioress in Córdoba

Segovia, July 18, 1589]

Jesus be in your soul.

You have the obligation of responding to the Lord in accordance with the acclaim with which you were recei ved in Córdoba, for I was certainly consoled in reading the account. It was ordained by God that you en ter such poor houses and in such heat so that you could give some edification and let them know what you profess, which is the naked Christ, so those who are inclined to join you may know with what spirit they ought to come.

Enclosed are all the permissions. Be very careful about whom you receive in the beginning, for those who come after will look to them. See to it that they preserve the spirit of poverty and contempt for all things, with the desire to be content with God alone. If they don't, be assured that they will fall into a thousand spiri tual and temporal necessities. And keep in mind that they will neither have nor feel any more needs than those to which they desire to submit their hearts. For the poor in spirit are happier and more constant in the midst of want because they have placed their all in nothingness, and in all things they thus find freedom of heart. O happy nothingness, and happy hiding place of the heart! For the heart has such power that it sub jects all things to itself; this it does by desiring to be subject to nothing and losing all care so as to burn mo re in love.

My greetings in the Lord to all the sisters. Tell them that since our Lord has chosen them as foundation sto nes, they should consider what kind they ought to be, for the others must rest on the stronger ones. May they profit by this initial spirit that God gives in these beginnings so as to take up once again the way of perfection in all humility and detachment, interior and exterior, not with a childish spirit but with a robust will. Let them follow the path of mortification and penance, desiring that this Christ cost them something, and not be like those who seek their comfort and consolation either in God or outside him; but let them seek suffe ring, both in God and outside him, for love of him, in silence and hope and loving remembrance. Tell this to Gabriela and to her companions from Málaga, for I am writing to the others. May God give you his Spirit. Amen.

From Segovia, July 18, 1589

Fray John of the Cross

Father Fray Antonio and the other fathers send their regards. Give my greetings to Father Prior of Gua dalcázar.

Address: For Madre María de Jesús, prioress of the monastery of Santa Ana de Córdoba, of the discalced Carmelites.

-=O=-

[To Magdalena del Espíritu Santo,36 discalced Carmelite in Córdoba

Segovia, July 28, 1589]

Jesus be in your soul, my daughter in Christ.

I am happy to see the good resolutions shown in your letter. I praise God who provides in all things, for you will truly have need of these resolutions at the beginning of the foundation because of the heat, crowded quarters, poverty, and work that is everywhere; there will be so much of all this that you will not notice whet her you suffer or not. Reflect that in these beginnings God does not want sluggish or cowardly souls, nor still less those who love themselves. And to avoid this, His Majesty helps more at these times so with a little diligence they can advance in every virtue. And it has been fortunate for you and a sign from God in that he has passed by others and chosen you. However much it costs you to leave everything behind, it shouldn't matter, because soon you would have had to leave it anyhow. To possess God in all, you should possess nothing in all. For how can the heart that belongs to one belong completely to the other?

Tell the same to Sister Juana, and commend me to God. May he be in your soul. Amen.

From Segovia, July 28, 1589

Fray John of the Cross

-=O=-

[To Padre Nicolás de Jesús (Doria),37 vicar general

of the discalced Carmelites

Segovia, September 21, 1589]

Jesus and Mary be with Your Reverence.

We were very glad to know that Your Reverence arrived in good health and that everything is so well there, and that the nuncio is well too. I hope that God will look after his family; the religious here are in good he alth and well united. I will try to carry out quickly what you ordered, although the floods have not yet arrived.

Regarding the reception of aspirants in Genoa without their having studied the humanities, the fathers38 say that this does not matter if the aspirants understand enough Latin to comply with the decrees of the Coun cil39 (that they know how to construct sentences well) and that, if with this alone they may be ordained the re, they can be admitted. But the fathers think that, if the Ordinaries there are not content with this, it would seem that these aspirants do not have the sufficient knowledge demanded by the Council and it would be burdensome to have to bring them here to ordain or teach them. And, to tell the truth, they would not want many Italians to come here.

The letters will be sent to Father Fray Nicolás40 as Your Reverence says. May our Lord watch over you as he sees is necessary.

From Segovia, September 21, 1589

Fray John of the Cross

-=O=-

[To Doña Juana de Pedraza, in Granada

Segovia, October 12, 1589]41

Jesus be in your soul and thanks to him that he has enabled me not to forget the poor, as you say, or be idle, as you say. For it greatly vexes me to think you believe what you say; this would be very bad after so many kindnesses on your part when I least deserved them. That's all I need now is to forget you! Look, how could this be so in the case of one who is in my soul as you are?

Since you walk in these darknesses and voids of spiritual poverty, you think that everyone and everything is failing you. It is no wonder that in this it also seems God is failing you. But nothing is failing you, neither do you have to discuss anything, nor is there anything to discuss, nor do you know this, nor will you find it, be cause all of these are doubts without basis. Those who desire nothing else than God walk not in darkness, however poor and dark they are in their own sight. And those who walk not presumptuously, or according to their own satisfactions, whether from God or from creatures, nor do their own will in anything, have nothing to stumble over or discuss with anyone. You are making good progress. Do not worry, but be glad! Who are you that you should guide yourself? Wouldn't that end up fine!

You were never better off than now because you were never so humble or so submissive, or considered yourself and all worldly things to be so small; nor did you know that you were so evil or God was so good, nor did you serve God so purely and so disinterestedly as now, nor do you follow after the imperfections of your own will and interests as perhaps you were accustomed to do. What is it you desire? What kind of life or method of procedure do you paint for yourself in this life? What do you think serving God involves other than avoiding evil, keeping his commandments, and being occupied with the things of God as best we can? When this is had, what need is there of other apprehensions or other lights and satisfactions from this sour ce or that? In these there is hardly ever a lack of stumbling blocks and dangers for the soul, which by its understanding and appetites is deceived and charmed; and its own faculties cause it to err. And thus God does one a great favor when he darkens the faculties and impoverishes the soul in such a way that one cannot err with these. And if one does not err in this, what need is there in order to be right other than to walk along the level road of the law of God and of the Church, and live only in dark and true faith and cer tain hope and complete charity, expecting all our blessings in heaven, living here below like pilgrims, the poor, the exiled, orphans, the thirsty, without a road and without anything, hoping for everything in heaven?

Rejoice and trust in God, for he has given you signs that you can very well do so, and in fact you must do so. If you do not, it will not be surprising if he becomes angry at seeing you walk so foolishly when he is leading you by a road most suitable for you and has brought you to so safe a place. Desire no other path than this and adjust your soul to it (for it is a good one) and receive Communion as usual. Go to confession when you have something definite; you don't have to discuss these things with anyone. Should you have some problem, write to me about it. Write soon, and more frequently, for you can do so in care of Doña Ana when you are unable to do so through the nuns.42

I have been somewhat ill. Now I am well, but Fray Juan Evangelista is sick. Commend him and me also to God, my daughter in the Lord.

From Segovia, October 12, 1589

Fray John of the Cross

Address: To Doña Juana de Pedraza, in the house of the archdeacon of Granada, in front of the College of the Abbots.

-=O=-

[To a discalced Carmelite nun suffering from scruples

Shortly before Pentecost, 1590]43

Jesus, Mary.

In these days try to keep interiorly occupied with a desire for the coming of the Holy Spirit and on the feast and afterward with his continual presence. Let your care and esteem for this be so great that nothing else will matter to you or receive your attention, whether it may concern some affliction or some other disturbing memories. And if there be faults in the house during these days, pass over them for love of the Holy Spirit and of what you owe to the peace and quietude of the soul in which he is pleased to dwell.

If you could put an end to your scruples, I think it would be better for your quietude of soul not to confess during these days. But when you do confess, you should do so in this manner:

In regard to thoughts and imaginings (whether they concern judgments, or other inordinate objects or repre sentations, or any other motions) that occur without being desired or accepted or deliberately adverted to: Do not confess them or pay attention to them or worry about them. It is better to forget them no matter how much they afflict the soul. At most you can mention in general any omission or remissness as regards the purity and perfection you ought to have in the interior faculties: memory, intellect, and will.

In regard to words: Confess any want of caution in speaking with truthfulness and rectitude, out of necessity, and with purity of intention.

In regard to deeds: Confess any lack of the proper and only motive - God alone without any other concern.

By such a confession you can be content and need not tell any other particular thing, however much it may battle against you. Receive Communion on Pentecost in addition to those days on which you usually recei ve.

When something distasteful or unpleasant comes your way, remember Christ crucified and be silent.

Live in faith and hope, even though you are in darkness, because it is in these darknesses that God pro tects the soul.

Cast your care on God, for he watches over you and will not forget you. Do not think that he leaves you alone; that would be an affront to him.

Read, pray, rejoice in God, both your good and your salvation. May he grant you this good and this salva tion and conserve it all until the day of eternity. Amen. Amen.

Fray John of the Cross

-=O=-

[To Madre María de Jesús, discalced Carmelite,

prioress of Córdoba

Madrid, June 20, 1590]44

Jesus be in your soul, my daughter in Christ.

The reason for my not having written during all this time is due more to my having been in such an out-of- the-way place, as is Segovia, than because of a lack of desire. My will to write remains ever the same, and I hope in God this will continue to be so. I have been sorry about your troubles.

I would desire that you not be so solicitous for the temporal things of the house because God will gradually forget you and you will come to a state of great spiritual and temporal need; for it is our anxiety that creates our needs. Cast your care on the Lord, daughter, and he will sustain you [Ps. 55:22], for he who gives, and wants to give, the highest cannot fail to give the least. Be careful that you do not lack the desire to be poor and in want; for if you do, at that very hour devotion will fail you and you will gradually weaken in the practi ce of virtue. If previously you desired poverty, now that you are superior you ought to desire and love it much more. You ought to govern and provide the house with virtues and ardent desires for heaven rather than with worries and plans about temporal and earthly things. The Lord tells us not to be thinking about food or clothing or tomorrow [Mt. 6:31-34].

What you should do is endeavor to keep yourself and the nuns most perfectly and religiously united with God, in forgetfulness of all creatures and of any concern about them, wholly one with God, and happy with him alone; for I assure you all the rest. I find it difficult to believe that the houses will help you out any lon ger,45 since you are in so good a locality and receiving nuns from such well-to-do families. However, if I see some chance anywhere of helping you, I will not fail to do what I can.

I desire to send great comfort to Mother Subprioress. I hope in the Lord you will extend it to her, encoura ging her to bear her pilgrimage and exile for love of him. Enclosed is a letter for her. To my daughters Mag dalena, San Gabriel, and María de San Pablo, María de la Visitación, San Francisco and all, many greetings in our Good.46 May he be ever in your spirit, my daughter. Amen.

From Madrid, June 20, 1590

Fray John of the Cross