Wisdom of the Spanish Mystics

by Stephen Clissold

Book by Clissold, Stephen (Selected by)

Genres: Religion

88 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1977

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume in New Directions’ “The Wisdom of the –——“ series was published fifty years ago, and I believe it is out of print now. If you are interested in spirituality, and see it in a used bookstore, pick it up and buy it. Although not without faults, it is a brief and useful introduction to the deeds and words of the Spanish mystics of the sixteenth century.

All the stars of the Counter Reformation are here (St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Rose of Lima), as well as some unjustly neglected major figures (Raymond Lull, St. John of God, St. Peter Claver, St. John of Avila) and some interesting minor figures as well (St. Alonzo the Doorkeeper, St. Francis Solano, Maria de Agreda, St. Toribio of Lima). Be they major saints or minor mystics, each of these Spaniards burns brightly with a passion for their blessed their Lord, a love they demonstrate not only in mystic flight but in homely advice and example.

Here are a dozen of the one hundred and fifty eight anecdotes and sayings you will find in The Wisdom of the Spanish Mystics:

XII

St. Alonzo [the Doorkeeper] on hearing the door-bell would raise up his heart to God and exclaim: lord, I shall open the door for you, for love of you! As he hurried to answer it he would feel as glas as if it really was God he was going to let in, and he would say: I’m coming, Lord. . . . No matter who the caller might be, it seemed to him that he was opening the door to his God.

XIX

St. Teresa, recognizing a spiritual giant in the tiny figure of St. John of the Cross, wraote to a friend: Though he is small in stature, I deem him great in the eyes of God.

XX

A nun once asked St. Joh of the Cross whether he composed his verses when he was in a state of ecstasy. Sometimes God gave them to me, he replied, and at others I sought them our for myself.

XXVII

When St. Teresa learned that St. John had been imprisoned, she commented: It is terrible what treatment God allows his friends to suffer. But then we should not really complain, for that is how he treats his own son.

XXIX

One day St. John of the Cross confided to a friend that there was still something which prevented his complete detachment from earthly affections. Fetching a bundle of papers he threw them into the fire and watched them burn. There were the letters he had received from St. Teresa and he treasured them dearly.

XXXII

Fray Luis, who loved to excape to the peace of the countryside, wrote: Christ dwells in the fields. St. Teresa, busy in the convent kitchen, used to say: The Lord walks amongst the pots and pans.

LIX

Some Moors, who were sitting round a fountain, taunted St. John of God about his faith and poured scorn on his belief in miracles. John, who was a very burly fellow, answered: Is it not miracle enough that God constrains me not to throw you into the water?

LXXXV

One of St. Teresa’s maxims was: Cultivate holy boldness, for God helps the strong.

LXXXIX

Someone who did not know St. Teresa well was surprised to see her sitting down for once to a good meal. There’s a time for partridge and a time for penance, the saint is said to have remarked.

CXI

St. John of the Cross taught: The purpose of God, who is divine by nature, is to make us gods through participation, as fire transforms all things into fire.

CXLIII

. . . One Christmas, a friar caught sight of [St. Francis Solano] rusihing along carrying some gifts under his cloak and called after him: Where are you off to so face, Friar Francis? To meet my Beloved! Came the reply. The friar later discovered that his Beloved was a toothless and bed-ridden old hag—once of the many sick and destitute whome the saint had taken under his care.

CXLV

Master Ramon Lull declared that the Sultan must have been truly amazed at the Pope and the Christian princes, because they strove to win back the Holy Land by the same methods as Muhammad, who used force of arms, whilst neglecting those of their Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles, who converted the world through preaching and suffering martyrdom.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated selection of maxims and proverbs of Catholic mystics of the sixteenth century, e.g. St Teresa, St John of the Cross, etc. A bit of a spiritual companion piece to Thomas Merton’s “Wisdom of the Desert,” also published by New Directions, which quotes bearded cranks of the fourth C., like St Anthony, who fled cities to contemplate God in the desert. The striving for purification, the austerities of self-inflicted poverty and starvation, fascinate me.