Saint John of the Cross: Master of Contemplation (pp. He later recounted to Carmelite nuns that another important poem, “The Dark Night”, was completed before he left that prison cell. Only in the very last period of the nine months did he receive pen and paper from a sympathetic friar serving as his jailer and write down verses. That room served as a makeshift prison cell in the Calced Carmelite Friars’ monastery in Toledo, Spain, for nine months of his life, from December 1577 until August 1578.
#Divine office liturgy of the hours full
Many of the stanzas of this exquisite poem, full of lush natural images, were composed by Saint John of the Cross without pen or paper, the stanzas kept in his memory, while he was locked in a windowless, six-by-ten-foot converted closet, with only a thin slit of light high up in a wall.
But for now, as the poem commences, the pain is strong and irremediable. The mood of loneliness in the poem will shift over the course of its forty stanzas to a recognition of the Beloved’s presence even in his concealment. At times the dialogue is between the Church or individual soul.
The Hours are a meditative dialogue on the mystery of Christ, using scripture and prayer. The piercing lament of the bride, wounded in the depth of her soul, is an image of the lover of God who seeks for his return after earlier enjoying his close presence. The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Divine Office or the Work of God (Opus Dei), is the daily prayer of the Church, marking the hours of each day and sanctifying the day with prayer. In these opening lines of a lengthy poem, we hear the agonized voice of a lover tormented by her solitude, in a terrible suffering after the departure of her Beloved. This initial stanza of “The Spiritual Canticle” unlocks the bolt of a door, allowing us a first glimpse at the soul of Saint John of the Cross and his intense love for God. I went out calling you, but you were gone.
Planted by the hand of the Beloved O verdant meads And pass by the mighty and the frontiers.