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The science of the cross. Saint John of the Cross I

Edith stein. martyr in the Auschwitz Holocaust

the Cross is the symbol of all that is difficult and heavy, and that is so contrary to nature, that when one takes this burden on oneself, one has the sensation of walking towards death.

“Whoever wants to save her life will lose it; but whoever loses her life for love of me will save her.»

But in order to gain this eternal life, one must renounce the earthly life. We must die with Christ and rise with him: die with the death of suffering that lasts a lifetime, with the daily denial of oneself and, if necessary, with the bloody death of martyrdom for the Gospel

«Christ sent me… to evangelize and not with artificial words so that the Cross of Christ is not distorted. Because the doctrine of the Cross of Christ is foolishness for those who are lost, but it is the power of God for those who are saved”; «…the Jews ask for signs, the Greeks seek wisdom, while we preach Christ Crucified, a scandal for the Jews, madness for the Gentiles, more power and wisdom of God for those called, whether they are Jews or Greeks. For the folly of God is wiser than the wisdom of men, and the weakness of God more powerful than the strength of men.»

The saving force, that is, the power to resurrect to life those who were dead to divine life because of sin. This saving power of the Cross has passed into the word of the Cross and, through this word, it is communicated to those who receive it and open themselves to it without claiming miracles or foundations of human wisdom: in them it becomes that life-giving force. and trainer called Science of the Cross. Saint Paul himself has accomplished this to perfection; «but I, by the same law, have died to the Law, to live for God; I am crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, it is Christ who lives in me. And although I currently live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.»

The Crucified has appeared to Saint John of the Cross, on several occasions, of two of which we have concrete news. In his doctrine, the Saint considers visions, locutions and revelations as accidental elements of the mystical life. He has warned, first of all and with great insistence, of the danger of deception or, at least, of being stopped in the way of the union that can follow from giving value to such things. Furthermore, he was always very reticent to communicate anything that referred to his life, both externally and internally. If he has spoken of these visions, it has been because they had a particular meaning for him. Both were followed in his life by a storm of persecution and suffering and it is evident that these visions served as warnings.

The first apparition took place in Ávila, in the Monastery of the Incarnation, where Saint Teresa had called him as confessor of the nuns. Finding himself one day immersed in the contemplation of the Passion, he was shown the Crucified, visible to the eyes of the body, body covered with wounds and bathed in blood. So clear was his appearance that he was able to draw it in pen as soon as he came to. The yellowish leaf, on which he drew it, is still preserved today in the Monasterio de la Encarnación1. The drawing gives an impression of modernity. The Cross and the body are represented strongly foreshortened, as if seen from the side: the body in forced movement, far removed from the Cross, hanging by the hands (the hands, pierced by strong, very prominent nails, are particularly impressive), the The head is tilted forward in such a way that the features of the face cannot be seen, and the bare upper part of the back, marked with bruises, is uncovered. The Saint sent the little sheet to Sister María de Jesús, to whom he entrusted his secret. This is understandable because the Lord himself communicated to the soul of this nun some of the Saint’s most intimate secrets: the grace he received at her first Mass. We do not know if the Lord spoke to him as he bowed so deeply on the Cross. But what we can say is that a heart-to-heart exchange took place. This happened shortly before the persecution of the footwear against the Reformation was unleashed, whose main victim was to be precisely

The second apparition took place in Segovia towards the end of his life. He had called his brother Francisco there, who is the one who has transmitted the fact to us. «I went to see him and after having been there two or three days, I asked his permission to come. He told me that he should stop me for a few more days, that he didn’t know when we would see each other again. This was the last time I saw him. One afternoon after dinner he took me by the hand and led me to the garden and when we were alone he fixed me: «I want to tell you something that happened to me with Our Lord. We had a crucifix in the convent2 and when I was one day in front of him, it seemed to me that he would be more decent in the Church, and with the desire that not only the religious would revere him, but also those from outside, I did as I thought. After having him in the church dressed as decently as I could, one day in prayer in front of him, he told me: «Fr. Juan, ask me for whatever you want, and I will grant it to you for this service you have done for me.» And I told him: «Lord, what I want is that you give me work to suffer for you, and that I be despised and held in little»3 . When Juan expressed this desire, the circumstances of his life were such that he could easily fulfill it without intervening.

No human heart has ever penetrated such a dark night as the Word Incarnate in Gethsemane and Golgotha. No human spirit will be able, no matter how much he investigates, to penetrate the secret of the divine abandonment of the dying Christ. But Jesus can give chosen souls a taste of this extreme bitterness. They are his most faithful friends from whom he demands the supreme proof of love. In the event that they are not frightened by it and turn back, but voluntarily allow themselves to be drawn into the dark night, he himself becomes their guide. Oh night that you guided, oh kind night more than the dawn! Oh kind night that you joined loved with loved, loved in the loved transformed

This abandonment according to the will of God must be a death and annihilation of everything that the will appreciates in the temporal, natural and spiritual. Whoever carries the cross in this way will experience that it is a soft yoke and a light burden (Mt 2,3

«Because, if man determines to subject himself to carrying this cross, which is a true determination to want to find and carry work in all things for God, in all of them he will find great relief and smoothness to walk this way, naked of everything without wanting anything”. «And whatever comes to be resolved in nothing, which will be the utmost humility, the spiritual union between the soul and God will be made, which is the greatest and highest state to which in this life one can arrive. It does not consist, then, in recreations and tastes and spiritual feelings, but in a sensitive and spiritual death of the Cross, that is, interior and exterior»

Whoever wants to take part in his life must, like him, walk to death on the cross, crucify his own nature with a life of mortification and self-denial, and offer himself to the crucifixion in the Passion and in death as God wants. . The more perfect this active or passive crucifixion, the more intimate will be the union with the Crucified and the richer the participation in his life.

With this we have touched on the main points of the Science of the Cross

It is good to venerate the Crucified in image and to make crucifixes to stimulate his veneration. But better than images of wood and stone are living images. To form souls according to the image of Christ, to plant the Cross in his hearts, that was the ideal of the life of the Reformer of Carmel and guide of souls. All his writings were aimed at this and his letters and witness statements about his life give more personal testimony to this.