St. John of the Cross Poetry Reflections Part 5 Stanzas Applied Spiritually to Christ and the Soul
St. John of the Cross Poetry Reflections Part 6 The Living Flame of Love
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O living flame of love
That tenderly wounds my soul in its deepest center!
Since now You are not oppressive, now consumate!
If it be Your will; tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!
O sweet cautery,
O delightful wound
O gentle hand!
O delicate touch that tastes of eternal life and pays every debt!
In killing you changed death into life.
O lamps of fire!
In whose splendors
The deep caverns of feeling,
Once obscure and blind,
Now give forth, so rarely, so exquisitely
Both warmth and light to their beloved
How gently and lovingly you wake in my heart
Where in secret you dwell alone;
And in your sweet breathing,
Filled with good and glory,
How tenderly you swell my heart with love.
The Living Flame of Love contains beautiful imagery that can be used to describe what takes place in Purgatory. St. John of the Cross more explicitly speaks of his experience of the purification of the soul in this poem. Here, the Beatific Vision of God is compared to a "living flame of love."
This flame is God himself and not only represents, but is his love for his people. It is a healthy flame that wounds, but in so doing cleanses the soul. St. John speaks of this quite eloquently as a "sweet cautery" and "delightful wound" that "tastes of eternal life and pays every debt."
St. John asks of Christ to come in haste so the living flame of love may overcome his soul because he knows when this time of purification is complete, he will experience eternal life with his Creator. The more the soul is purified, the more it is consumed by God's fire of love, the less obscure and blind the soul becomes towards God and the image of a painful fire is replaced by the "warmth and light" of God. As St. John states in the fourth stanza, the soul begins to radiate with the brightness of God himself. Finally at the end of this process, the soul finds himself more conscious than he was in his earthly life and discovers that he has a much greater capacity for God's love than he did before undergoing such purification.
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About the Author
Tim is a 2006 graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio with a BA in Catechetics. Previously he completed studies in Theology and Catholic literature at Our Lady of Corpus Christi Liberal Arts Institute in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he resides. Tim has contributed articles for his diocesan newspaper,The South Texas Catholic and served as Publications Coordinator for print media productions for an apostolate dedicated to spreading the Good News through print, video and audio productions as well as outreach and ministry to budding artists. Tim enjoys writing about the Catholic faith, especially in regards to its beautiful and rich literary patrimony.
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