The Living Flame of Love

How gently and how lovingly
Thou liest awake in my bosom,
Where Thou secretly dwellest alone;
And in thy sweet breathing,
Full of grace and glory,
How tenderly Thou fillest me with Thy love.

HERE the soul turns towards the Bridegroom in great love, magnifying Him and giving Him thanks for two marvellous graces which He sometimes effects within the soul through its union with Himself. The soul, too, observes on the way He produces them and on their effects upon itself.

2. The first effect is the awakening of God in the soul, and that in gentleness and love. The second is the breathing of God in the soul, and that in grace and bliss given in that breathing. The effect of this upon the soul is to make it love Him sweetly and tenderly. The stanza therefore may be paraphrased as follows: O how gently and how lovingly dost Thou lie awake in the depth and centre of my soul, where Thou in secret and in silence alone, as its sole Lord, abidest, not only as in Thine own house or in Thine own chamber, but also as within my own bosom, in close and intimate union: O how gently and how lovingly! Sweet to me is Thy breathing in that awakening, for it is full of grace and glory. O with what tenderness dost Thou inspire me with love of Thee! The figure is borrowed from one awaking from sleep, and drawing his breath, for the soul in this state feels it to be so.

‘How gently and how lovingly
Thou liest awake in my bosom.’

3. The awakenings of God in the soul are manifold, and so many that were I to describe them I should never end. This awakening, to which the soul refers here, the work of the Son of God, is, in my opinion, of the highest kind, and the source of the greatest good to the soul. This awakening is a movement of the Word in the depth of the soul of such grandeur, authority and glory, and of such profound sweetness, that all the balsams, all the aromatic herbs and flowers of the world seem to be mingled and shaken together for the production of that sweetness: that all the kingdoms and dominions of the world, all the powers and virtues of heaven are moved; this is not the whole, all the virtues, substance, perfections and graces of all created things, shine forth and make the same movement in unison together. For as St. John saith, 'What was made in Him was life,'^[120:*] and in Him moves and lives; as the Apostle says, 'In Him we live and move and are.'^[120:†]

4. The reason is this: when the grand Emperor would reveal Himself to the soul, moving Himself in the light He gives, and yet not moving in it—He, upon whose shoulder is the principality,^[120:‡] that is, the three worlds of heaven, earth, and hell, and all that is in them, and Who sustains all by the word of His power^[120:§]—then all seem to move together. As when the earth moves, all natural things upon it move with it; so is it when the Prince moves, for He carries his court, not the court Him. This, however, is an exceedingly imperfect illustration; for here not only all seem to move, but also to manifest their being, their beauty, power, and loveliness, the root of their duration and life in Him. There, indeed, the soul sees how all creatures, higher and lower, live, continue, and energise in Him, and understands the words of the Wise Man, 'by me kings reign... by me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice.'^[121:*]

5. Though it is true that the soul here sees that all these things are distinct from God, in that they have a created existence; it understands them in Him with their force, origin and strength, it knows also that God in His own essence is, in an infinitely pre-eminent way, all these things, so that it understands them better in Him, their First Cause, than in themselves. This is the great joy of this awakening, namely, to know creatures in God, and not God in His creatures: this is to know effects in their cause, and not cause by its effects.

6. This movement in the soul is wonderful, for God Himself moves not. Without movement on the part of God, the soul is renewed and moved by Him; the divine life and being and the harmony of creation are revealed with marvellous newness, the cause assuming the designation of the effect resulting from it. If we regard the effect, we may say with the Wise Man that God moves, 'for wisdom is more moveable than all moveable things,' not because it moves itself but because it is the source and principle of all motion, and 'permanently in herself, she reneweth all things;'^[122:*] this is the meaning of the words, 'more moveable than all moveable things.'

7. Thus, then, strictly speaking, in this movement it is the soul that is moved and awakened, and the expression 'awake' is correct. God however being always, as the soul sees Him, the mover, the ruler, and the giver of life, power, graces, and gifts to all creatures, contains all in Himself, virtually, actually, and supremely. The soul beholds what God is in Himself, and what He is in creatures. So may we see, when the palace is thrown open, in one glance, both the magnificence of him who inhabits it, and what he is doing. This, according to my understanding of it, is this awakening and vision of the soul; it is as if God drew back some of the many veils and coverings that are before it, so that it might see what He is; then indeed—but still dimly, because all the veils are not drawn back, that of faith remaining—the divine face full of grace bursts through and shines, which, as it moves all things by its power, appears together with the effect it produces, and this is the awakening of the soul.

8. Though all that is good in man comes from God, and though man of himself can do nothing that is good, it may be said in truth, that our awakening is the awakening of God, and our rising the rising of God. 'Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord?'^[123:*] saith the Psalmist. That is in effect to say, Raise us up and awake us, for we are fallen and asleep. Thus then, because the soul had fallen asleep, and could never rouse itself again, and because it is God alone who can open its eyes, and effect its awakening, this awakening is most properly referred to God: 'Thou awakest in my bosom.'

'Thou awakest in my bosom.'

9. Awake us, O Lord, and enlighten us, that we may know and love the good things which Thou hast set always before us, and we shall know that Thou art moved to do us good, and hast had us in remembrance. It is utterly impossible to describe what the soul, in this awakening, knows and feels of the majesty of God, in the inmost depths of its being, that is, its bosom. For in the soul resounds an infinite power, with the voice of a multitude of perfections, of thousands and thousands of virtues, wherein itself abiding and subsisting, becomes 'terrible as an army set in array,'^[123:†] sweet and gracious in Him who comprehends in Himself all the sweetness, and all the graces of His creation.

10. But here comes the question, how can the soul bear so vehement a communication while in the flesh, when in truth it has not strength for it without fainting away? The mere sight of Assuerus on his throne, in his royal robe, glittering with gold and precious stones, was so terrible in the eyes of Esther, that she fainted through fear, so awful was his face. 'I saw thee, my lord, as an angel of God, and my heart was troubled, for fear of thy glory.'^[124:*] Glory oppresses him who beholds it, if it does not glorify him. How much more then is the soul now liable to faint away, when it beholds not an angel but God Himself, the Lord of the angels, with His face full of the beauty of all creatures, of terrible power and glory, and the voice of the multitude of His perfections. It is to this that Job referred when he said, 'We have heard scarce a little drop of His word; who shall be able to behold the thunder of His greatness?'^[124:†] and again, 'I will not that He contend with me with much strength, nor that He oppress me with the weight of His greatness.'^[124:‡]

11. The soul, however, does not faint away and tremble at this awakening so powerful and glorious. There are two reasons for this: one is that it is now in the state of perfection, and therefore the lower portion of it is purified and conformed to the spirit, exempt from that pain and loss which spiritual communications involve, when the sense and spirit are not purified and disposed for the reception of them. 2. The second and the principal reason is that referred to in the first line of this stanza, namely, that God shows Himself gentle and loving. For as He shows His greatness and glory to the soul in order to comfort and exalt it, so does He favour and strengthen it also, and sustain its natural powers while manifesting His greatness gently and lovingly. This is easy enough to Him, Who with His right hand protected Moses that he might behold His glory.^[125:*]

12. Thus the soul feels God’s love and gentleness to be commensurate with His power, authority, and greatness, for in Him these are all one. Its delight is therefore vehement, and the protection it receives strong in gentleness and love, so that itself being made strong may be able without fainting away to sustain this vehement joy. Esther, indeed, fainted away, but that was because the king seemed unfavourable towards her, for with ‘burning eyes’ he ‘showed the wrath of his breast.’^[125:†] but the moment he looked graciously upon her, touched her with his sceptre and kissed her, she recovered herself, for he had said to her, ‘I am thy brother, fear not.’

[120:*] St. John i. 3. The Carmelite Breviary used by St. John of the Cross till 1586 maintains the old punctuation: "Without Him was made nothing. What was made in Him was life."

[120:†] Acts xvii. 28.

[120:‡] Is. ix. 6.

[120:§] Heb. i. 3.

[121:*] Prov. viii. 15.

[122:*] Wisd. vii. 24.

[123:*] Ps. xliii. 23.

[123:†] Cant. vi. 3.

[124:*] Esth. xv. 16.

[124:†] Job xxvi. 14.

[124:‡] Ib. xxiii. 6.

[125:*] Exod. xxxiii. 22.

[125:†] Esth. xv. 10.