Ascent – Part II

Introduction

1. Part I Review and Follow-Up
   • John’s goal for his readers: the Transforming Union
     • One’s will is completely transformed to be in complete harmony with God’s will
   • Meaning of perfection
     • Recall that perfection means completeness, being what one is created to be.
       • For an acorn, perfection consists in being an oak tree.
       • For a newly conceived child, perfection consists in reaching both physical maturity (essentially guaranteed) and moral maturity (definitely not guaranteed), which is harmony with God’s will.
     • It follows that the Transforming Union is a state of (moral) perfection
       • “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).
       • A questionable homily: Should not aim for perfection – it’s unattainable.
         • If, by perfection, a person means a sinlessness life, perfection is unattainable – for we have already sinned.
         • If, by perfection, a person means attaining a state in which one is confirmed in holiness, then what John urges us to pursue is what God had commanded us to be:
           • “He who called you is holy, [therefore] be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pt 1:15-16; also see Lev 19:2).
   • John’s audience: everyone
     • He is not writing for a select group of “predestined” individuals.
   • The two principal nights
     • The night of sense refers to the time of reformation of the voluntary desires that we attribute to the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch).
       • For example: the desire to eat for pleasure alone, the desire to hear things we do not need to hear, or to see things we do not need to see, etc.
     • The night of spirit refers to the reformation of the voluntary desires that arise in the will.
       • For example: the desire to be well thought of by other people, the desire to have one’s own way in doing things, the desire to exercise power over others, the desire for possessions, etc.
   • The “dark” in Dark Night does not refer to evil.
     • We have a saying that describes the situation in which we have struggled to understand a particular concept, and then, suddenly, we grasp the concept.
       • We say that “a light came on.” This implies, of course, that prior to the light coming on, we were intellectually in darkness regarding that concept.
     • This is analogous to the way in which John is using the words “dark,” and “darkness.”
     • Generally speaking, it points to an inability to understand the things of God, and the ways in which He works in our lives.
       • Teresa of Calcutta: “God writes straight with crooked lines.”
     • Speaking specifically as it relates to contemplation, the darkness John speaks of refers to an absence of concepts and images.
       • Concepts and images are characteristic of meditation, and intellectual activity in general; hence, we tend to be disturbed when these things are no longer present. The darkness bothers us.
2. Teresian Mansions: Paradigm of the Spiritual Life
   • In part one we spoke briefly of Teresa of Avila’s model of the spiritual life.
   • She speaks of seven mansions, or levels of the spiritual life. If we take a high-level view of her paradigm, we can group her seven levels into three: one being the first three mansions, the second being mansion four, and the third being mansions five through seven.
   • The first three mansions: Christian meditation.
     • Meditation takes place in the human manner. The one who is praying is in control.
     • There is typically a great deal of mental activity in mansions two; there is a gradual reduction in the activity involved in meditation as one moves from second to third mansions.
   • Fourth mansions: A time of transition
     • In the early stage of mansion four, one begins to experience a loss of the ability to meditate. It is being replaced with something much better: infused prayer (aka, contemplation).
     • At times, one will be able to meditate; at other times, one will discover that attempts to meditate are unproductive.
       • That is, the considerations of the intellect and the affections of the will, which came rather easily in meditation, tend to dry up, at times. One is inclined to think that his time at prayer is simply a waste of time.
       • In reality, something significant is going on, though one is inclined to miss it if not well instructed on how to recognize if the time is appropriate for meditation or contemplation.
       • This transition begins slowly, but over time one will get to the point where the time spent at prayer will essentially be given over to contemplation exclusively.
     • John of the Cross provides us with a set of signs that enable us to discern when it is appropriate to actively meditate, and when it is appropriate to be passively receptive to contemplation.
     • Entry into the fourth mansions is common for those individuals who are actively working to develop their spiritual lives.
       • Advancement beyond the fourth mansions is not common; few are willing to make the effort (as Mt 7:14 indicates).
   • The last three mansions: Contemplation
     • The last three mansions (i.e., mansions 5, 6, and 7) are characterized by contemplation and significant growth in virtue.
     • In seventh mansions, the transformation of the human will has reached the point where it is completely conformed to the will of God. As a result, the life of a person in seventh mansions, the transforming union, is a life of heroic virtue.
3. Virtue
   • What is virtue?
   • Theologically, the virtues are supernatural “habits” that are infused into our souls when we are baptized.
     • Because we have these supernatural habits, we can act in a supernatural way and we can gain supernatural merit through these actions.
       • By supernatural merit we typically mean we gain an increase in sanctifying grace, which is the life-principle of the soul. This grace gives us the ability to carry out acts of virtue in a more perfect way.
       • Note that we don’t get an increase of the virtues after Baptism. Rather, we receive, through the sacraments and through acts of virtue, an increase in sanctifying grace that gives us the strength to act ever more virtuously.
   • Sheen: Sin is that which feels good before, and feels bad after. Virtue is that which feels bad before, and feels good after.
   • Examples:
     • Kindness, especially toward one’s persecutors.
       • “But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Lk 6:27-28).
       • “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them” (Lk 6:32).
         • Meritless love.
     • Patience endurance (i.e., not complaining), especially in suffering.
       • “Like a lamb led to the slaughter, or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not His mouth” (Is 53:7)
       • “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10:22).
       • “By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Lk 21:19).
       • “[Lord], I will accept from thy hands with indifference, good and evil, sweet and bitter, joy and sorrow, and will give thee thanks for all that happens to me” (IOC).
         • This is not an uncaring indifference, but an indifference based in our confidence that whatever happens to us is permitted by God and He will use it for our glorification, if we are faithful to Him.
         • We need no more proof of this than the crucifixion of Jesus.
     • Humility, in imitation of the extreme humility of the Son of God who took on human flesh so as to die a horrendous death for the forgiveness of our sins.
       • “Though He was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at” (Phil 2:6-7 NAB).
       • St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) collected left overs on airplane flights for the poor. She also cleaned the toilets on airplane flights as well as in her daily work, for the benefit of maintaining a state of humility.
   • Virtue consists of those deeds that fulfill the two great commandments.
     • “And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ [Jesus] said to him, ‘What is written in the law? How do you read?’ And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have answered right; do this, and you will live.’  But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” (Lk 10:25-29)
     • A priest and a Levite walked passed the man on the other side of the road (to avoid ritual impurity).
     • A Samaritan dressed his wounds, etc.
       • “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (Jn 4:9)
   • The spiritual life is simple in concept (i.e., the two great commandments). We complicate it by playing the lawyer asking: “Who is my neighbor,” which is essentially to ask, where can I compromise?
     • Frank Sheed says that the typical Christian lives in a “hodge-podge of light and darkness” in that he lives according to a philosophy of getting as much pleasure from this life as is possible without losing heaven (“Theology and Sanity,” 446-2).
       • “The extremely practical question How little of heaven am I likely to get by this system? does not arise at all [in his mind]”(446-2).
       • This philosophy also raises the question as to whether I will take anyone to heaven with me.
         • “Your light must shine before men so they see your good works and give praise to your heavenly Father” (Mt 5:16).
   • In summary, virtue consists in living a life of devotion to God, which is a life lived out in the context of the two great commandments, doing what should be done, when it should be done, and in the way it should be done (St. Francis de Sales).
   • Regarding the spiritual life, Scripture speaks of fruits: There are bad fruits:
     • “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Mt 7:15:16).
   • And there are good fruits:
     • “He said therefore to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham’” (Lk 3:7-8).
   • St. Paul details some of the bad fruits:
     • “Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:19-21).
   • And some of the good fruits:
     • “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23).
       • Also, generosity, modesty, chastity
4. Heroic Virtue
   • The degree of virtue found in the seventh mansions is called heroic. It is vastly superior to that found in the prior mansions.
     • Heroic virtue is humanly impossible. It is only possible for one whose will has been completely transformed to the will of God, so that God can produce great works in him.
   • Heroic virtue, which is virtue at an extraordinarily high level across the entire spectrum of virtues, is a condition for canonization of the saints.
   • Heroic virtue corresponds to the 30, 60 and 100-fold return in the parable of the sower.

The Experience of Contemplation

1. Traits of Mystical Prayer (from part two, Theology Institute presentation, 2017)
   • Some traits that are typical of the early stages of mystical prayer (Fr Dubay, Fire Within, p. 86).
     • Can be experienced as dry yearnings for God or a delightful awareness of God
     • Is received (i.e., infused, as is sanctifying grace); not humanly produced or prolonged
     • Is nothing specific (i.e., no, images, ideas, or concepts)
     • Is not sensed (i.e., it’s not a matter of feelings or emotions)
     • Is something that grows over time but with many fluctuations
     • Notice two things about these traits:
       • They are experienced passively
       • They seem to describe almost nothing, as is the case when we try to describe spirit (non-material, no size, color, taste, smell, sound)
   • Some traits of a more advanced stage of mystical prayer
     • As expressed by St. John of the Cross: “Gem definitions” (per Fr. Dubay) of mystical prayer (most of these are found in “Dark Night of the Soul” book II). Mystical prayer is:
       • A secret and peaceful and loving inflow of God
       • A living thirst of love
       • A loving light and wisdom
       • A burning of love
       • A calm and repose of interior quietude
       • An unintelligible peace
   • Traits of mystical prayer as expressed in Scripture (there are many others that could be added to this list – the Psalms are full of such references.)
     • “O God, you are my God, for you I long. For you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry weary land without water. So I gaze on you in the sanctuary, to see your strength and your glory” (Ps 63:1-2 GP)
     • “My soul is longing and yearning, is yearning for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my soul ring out their joy to God, the living God” (Ps 84:2 GP).
     • “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10).

The Principles of Advancement and Christian Meditation

1. Three Principles
   • John speaks of three principles that form a basis for understanding the way in which God works to bring about the advancement of the soul through these two dark nights:
     • He finds the first principle in Romans 13:1: The works done by God are necessarily well ordered (Ascent II, 17, 2).
       • “There is no power but from God: and those that are, are ordained of God” (Rom 13:1 DR).
     • He finds the second principle in Wisdom 8:1: God disposes all things gently (Ibid.)
       • “[Wisdom] reaches therefore from end to end mightily, and orders all things sweetly” (Wis 8:1 DR).
     • He finds the third principle in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas who writes: “God moves each thing according to its mode” (“De Veritate”, q. 12, a. 6).
   • With these principles in mind, John says “In order that God lift the soul from the extreme of its low state to the other extreme of the high state of divine union, He must obviously, in view of these fundamental principles, do so with order, gently, and according to the mode of the soul . . . [Hence He] must begin by touching the low state and extreme of the senses . . . by first instructing him through discursive meditation and through forms, images, and sensible means, according to the individual’s own manner of acquiring knowledge” (“Ascent” II, 17, 3).
     • Different forms of prayer are analogous to different forms of physical exercise. Just as the various forms of exercise strengthen particular muscles and movements, thereby producing different results for different sports, so the various forms of prayer produce various spiritual fruits.
   • We should note that John is not alone in counseling the practice of Christian meditation:
     • We find this counsel in the first words of the Bible’s book of prayer, the Psalms:“Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked,
       Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in company of the insolent
       But delights in the law of the LORD
       And meditates on His law day and night” (Ps 1:1-2).
     • St. Francis de Sales [Doctor of the Church], in his “Introduction to the Devout Life” writes: “I especially counsel you to practice mental prayer . . . and particularly that which [is centered] on the life and passion of our Lord. By often turning your eyes on Him in meditation, your whole soul will be filled with Him” (St. Francis de Sales, “Introduction to the Devout Life,” Part II, 1, 2).
     • In “The Cloud of Unknowing,” which Fr. Dubay refers to as a “gem of a book,” the anonymous author writes: “Anyone who expects to advance without having meditated often on his own sinfulness, the Passion of Christ, and the kindness, goodness, and dignity of God, will most certainly go astray and fail in his purpose” (“The Cloud of Unknowing,” c. 7).
     • Fr. Dubay writes in “Saints: A Closer Look”: The growth in the spiritual life that comes about through baptism, vocal prayer, participation in the sacramental life of the Church and the efforts we make at overcoming our selfish clingings to created things, “leaps notably forward when we embrace a serious and habitual meditative prayer life” (Dubay, “Saints: A Closer Look,” 43).
   • Meditation Fits Our Nature
     • The practice of meditation is simple, because it fits our nature exactly, but one normally needs some instruction to put it into practice.

The Causes of the Dark Nights

1. Three Causes of the Dark Nights (Chapter 2)
   • After telling us of the two dark nights, in chapter one, in chapter two he speaks of three dark nights, rather than two, which can be confusing, since two isn’t three and three isn’t two.
   • A careful reading of the text, however, shows that the three items that he speaks of in chapter two are actually the three primary causes of the two dark nights. Together, they comprise the journey to the transforming union.
2. The First Cause: The Point of Departure
   • The first cause is related to the point of departure for the journey: “Because the individual must deprive himself of his appetite for worldly possessions [,] this denial and privation is like a night for all his senses” (Ascent I, 2, 1).
   • If the eyes are closed, the faculty of sight is in darkness, and similarly with the other four senses. Each is in darkness when its particular object is denied.
3. The Second Cause: The Road Traveled
   • The second cause “refers to the . . . road along which a person travels to [the transforming] union” (Ascent I, 2, 1).
     • The road is “faith,” and faith is a dark night for the intellect, because faith concerns that which the intellect cannot see.
       • “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1).
       • All of the mysteries of revelation are darkness to the intellect, for they are infinitely beyond our finite human understanding. Our intellect assents to belief in these mysteries, based on good evidence for them, but we cannot understand them; hence, they are darkness to us (e.g., the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Eucharist).
4. The Third Cause: The Point of Arrival, God
   • The third cause “pertains to the point of arrival, namely, God.
     • God “communicates Himself [to the soul] so secretly and intimately that He becomes another night for the soul” and this night is “far darker than those other two nights [i.e., the privation of the senses and faith]” (Ascent I, 2, 4)
     • God is a dark night to us in this life, for we cannot see Him as He is. This darkness will be lifted to some degree in the next life, for then, when we have attained the Beatific Vision, “we shall see him as he is” (1 Jn 3:2).
   • After speaking of these three causes of the two principle nights, the night of sense and the night of spirit, John writes: “In actuality these three nights comprise only one night, a night divided into three parts.
     • He doesn’t say why, but we can surmise he calls these three nights/causes one night/cause because God is the author of all three of them. Hence, there is one cause of the two dark nights.
       • He draws us into the point of departure, denial of the senses, for His sake. For this reason he is the purpose or final cause of this denial.
       • The road, being that of faith, is a gift from God via revelation. For this reason He is the efficient cause of the road.
       • The end, being God, who is the First Cause of all things, and the purpose, or final cause, of the journey.
5. A Closer Look at the First Cause of the Dark Night (Chapter 3)
   • As was stated above, John writes that the first cause of the dark night is “a deprival of the gratification of man’s appetite in all things” (Ascent I, 3, 1).
   • This statement expresses a fundamental theme found throughout John’s writings, and he devotes the greater part of book I of the Ascent to this theme.
   • As it is written, the statement lacks appeal. It is not particularly attractive to say that one’s journey to the transforming union doesn’t really get underway until one begins this “deprival of the gratification of man’s appetite in all things”
   • So, we need to take a closer look at the statement and make note of three points related to the statement.
   • First, John’s context is the night of sense. Hence, he is speaking of the desires that have their origin in the senses.
   • Second, the word “appetite” comes from the Latin “appetitio,” which means “desire.”
     • There are two kinds of desires that we experience: voluntary and non-voluntary.
     • Consider the natural desire for air, which is satisfied by breathing, and the natural desire of hunger, which we satisfy by eating.
     • Both of these are examples of non-voluntary desires. Of these non-voluntary desires, John writes:
       • “It is true that the sensory perceptions of hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch are unavoidable” (Ascent I, 3, 4).
     • If they are unavoidable, then it is not possible to “turn off” these desires and thereby avoid the associated gratifications.
     • Consequently, John is not speaking of the unintended gratifications that come from non-voluntary desires when he refers to appetites.
   • Third, John tells us elsewhere that the experience of sense pleasure that is an unintended byproduct of fulfilling a natural desire, such as hunger, causes no harm.
     • “[The sensory] perceptions will no more hinder a man – if he denies them – than if they were not experienced” (Ascent I, 3, 4).
   • The gratification that John says we must deprive ourselves of is the intentional seeking of pleasure for its own sake.
6. Scripture and the First Cause of the Dark Night
   • One might ask if this teaching if found in Scripture. The answer is that it is found explicitly in St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.
     • “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31).
   • Fr. Dubay explains the situation this way: Consider the case where a man has eaten a meal that was followed by a piece of pie for dessert:
     • If, after eating his piece of pie, the man’s natural desire for nourishment has been satisfied, and he decides to have a second piece of pie, he is no longer filling a natural desire. He has allowed a natural attraction to become a voluntary desire.
     • In this case, the second piece is desired in order to fulfill a voluntary desire for pleasure rather than the involuntary desire for nourishment.
     • Therefore, the second piece of pie is not for the glory of God. Rather, it is for the pleasure found in the pie.
     • Would sin be involved in eating the second piece of pie?
     • St. Francis de Sales (Doctor of the Church) writes: “To eat merely to satisfy our appetite [desire for pleasure] may be tolerated but not commended. Mere pleasure in satisfying a sensual appetite cannot be a sufficient reason to make an action praiseworthy but it is sufficient if the action is permissible.”
       • So, the second piece of pie would not be sinful, but it would also not be meritorious, and it would not advance us on the way to perfection.
       • On the other hand, denying the second piece of pie for the sake of the moral virtue of temperance is meritorious, and will advance us on the way to perfection.
   • The spiritual guidance John gives regarding sensual gratification may seem to be a matter of nitpicking, but this concern about small things is based on a principle found in Scripture.
     • “He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much” (Lk 16:10).
       • Recall the parable of the man who went on a journey and entrusted his property to his servants, giving one five talents, another two talents, and another one talent, each according to his ability. He returned after a long time.
       • The servant who was given the five talents earned another five and presented the ten talents to his master.
       • “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master’” (Mt 25:21).
     • John’s goal is to lead us to great things (the transforming union), and to lead us there quickly. Little things matter.
       • You have probably heard of the “Little Way” of St. Therese of Lisieux. She didn’t do anything “big” in her life, but she did the many little things of ordinary life for the sake of God and neighbor. In doing this, she attained the transforming union before dying at the age of twenty-four.
       • Her Little Way is not the discovery of something new. She simply popularized the concept through her writings. You will find the practice of the Little Way in the lives of all the saints.