Libro Primero — Capítulo 1
The Transition from Childhood to Maturity
God nurtures the soul as a mother does a child, but eventually withdraws spiritual consolations to foster deeper growth.
He sets down the first verse and begins to address the imperfections of beginners. 1. Souls begin to enter this dark night when God is drawing them out of the state of beginners—which is that of those who meditate on the spiritual path—and starts to set them in the state of those who are making progress, which is already that of the contemplatives, so that, passing through here, they may reach the state of the perfect, which is the divine union of the soul with God.1 Therefore, to better understand and explain what this night is and why God places the soul there, it will be useful to first touch on some characteristics of beginners.2 Although I will keep this as brief as possible, it will still serve the beginners themselves; by understanding the weakness of their current state, they may take heart and long for God to place them in this night, where the soul is strengthened and confirmed in the virtues and for the inestimable delights of the love of God.3 And even if we linger a little, it will be no more than is necessary to move on to discuss this dark night. 2. So you should know that after the soul turns decisively to serving God, God ordinarily goes on nurturing her in spirit and treating her with tender care, just as a loving mother does with a little child: she warms him at the heat of her breast, feeds him with rich milk and soft, sweet food, and carries him in her arms and dotes on him. But as he grows, the mother gradually withdraws that comfort and, hiding her tender love, puts bitter aloes on the sweet breast; and setting him down from her arms, she makes him walk on his own feet, so that, leaving behind the ways of a child, he may give himself to greater and more substantial things. The loving mother of God's grace, once she has given the soul new birth through a fresh warmth and fervor for serving God, does the same with her; for she makes the soul find the spiritual milk sweet and rich, with no labor of her own, in all the things of God, and great delight in spiritual exercises—because here God gives her his breast of tender love, just as to a little child (1 Pet.✦ 2:2–3).
The Imperfections of the Beginner
Beginners often rely on spiritual pleasure rather than virtue, necessitating the cleansing work of the dark night.
3. So they find their delight in spending long stretches in prayer, and perhaps whole nights; their pleasures are penances, their joys are fasts, and their consolations are using the sacraments and sharing in the things of God—things to which spiritual people apply themselves with great force and persistence, and which they use and handle with great care, yet, speaking spiritually, they commonly carry themselves in them very weakly and imperfectly. Because they are moved to these spiritual exercises by the consolation and pleasure they find there, and because they haven't been trained through the hard struggle of virtues, they have many faults and imperfections in their spiritual work. In the end, everyone acts according to their level of perfection, and since they haven't had the chance to acquire strong habits, they must necessarily act like weak children—weakly.4 So that this may be seen more clearly — and how short these beginners fall in the virtues when it comes to what they so readily do under that pleasure we've spoken of — we'll go through it by the seven capital vices, noting some of the many imperfections they have in each of them. There it will be plain how childish their way of acting is; and it will also be seen how many goods the dark night brings with it, which we are about to take up next, since it cleanses the soul of all these imperfections and purifies it.
Read the original Latin
Pone el primer verso y comienza a tratar de las imperfecciones de los principiantes
1. En esta noche oscura comienzan a entrar las almas cuando Dios las va sacando de estado de principiantes, que es de los que meditan en el camino espiritual, y las comienza a poner en el de los aprovechantes, que es ya el de los contemplativos, para que, pasando por aquí, lleguen al estado de los perfectos, que es el de la divina unión del alma con Dios. Por tanto, para entender y declarar mejor qué noche sea ésta por que el alma pasa, y por qué causa la pone Dios en ella, primero convendrá tocar aquí algunas propiedades de los principiantes. Lo cual, aunque será con la brevedad que pudiere, no dejará también de servir a los mismos principiantes, para que, entendiendo la flaqueza del estado que llevan, se animen y deseen que los ponga Dios en esta noche, donde se fortalece y confirma el alma en las virtudes y para los inestimables deleites del amor de Dios. Y, aunque nos detengamos un poco, no será más de lo que basta para tratar luego de esta noche oscura.
2. Es, pues, de saber que el alma, después que determinadamente se convierte a servir a Dios, ordinariamente la va Dios criando en espíritu y regalando, al modo que la amorosa madre hace al niño tierno, al cual al calor de sus pechos le calienta, y con leche sabrosa y manjar blando y dulce le cría, y en sus brazos le trae y le regala. Pero, a la medida que va creciendo, le va la madre quitando el regalo y, escondiendo el tierno amor, pone el amargo acíbar en el dulce pecho, y, abajándole de los brazos, le hace andar por su pie, porque, perdiendo las propiedades de niño, se dé a cosas más grandes y sustanciales. La amorosa madre de la gracia de Dios, luego que por nuevo calor y hervor de servir a Dios reengendra al alma, eso mismo hace con ella; porque la hace hallar dulce y sabrosa la leche espiritual sin algún trabajo suyo en todas las cosas de Dios, y en los ejercicios espirituales gran gusto, porque le da Dios aquí su pecho de amor tierno, bien así como a niño tierno (1 Pe. 2, 2-3).
3. Por tanto, su deleite halla pasarse grandes ratos en oración, y por ventura las noches enteras; sus gustos son las penitencias, sus contentos los ayunos, y sus consuelos usar de los sacramentos y comunicar en las cosas divinas; las cuales cosas, aunque con grande eficacia y porfía asisten a ellas y las usan y tratan con grande cuidado los espirituales, hablando espiritualmente, comúnmente se han muy flaca e imperfectamente en ellas. Porque, como son movidos a estas cosas y ejercicios espirituales por el consuelo y gusto que allí hallan, y, como también ellos no están habilitados por ejercicios de fuerte lucha en las virtudes, acerca de estas sus obras espirituales tienen muchas faltas e imperfecciones; porque, al fin, cada uno obra conforme al hábito de perfección que tiene; y, como éstos no han tenido lugar de adquirir los hábitos fuertes, de necesidad han de obrar como flacos niños, flacamente.
Lo cual para que más claramente se vea, y cuán faltos van estos principiantes en las virtudes acerca de lo que con el dicho gusto con facilidad obran, irémoslo notando por los siete vicios capitales, diciendo algunas de las muchas imperfecciones que en cada uno de ellos tienen, en que se verá claro cuán de niños es el obrar que éstos obran; y veráse también cuántos bienes trae consigo la noche oscura de que luego habemos de tratar, pues de todas estas imperfecciones limpia al alma y la purifica.
Scripture echoes
- ↩1Pet.2.2-1Pet.2.3 — Like newborn babies, long for the pure, unadulterated milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into salvation. 1Pet.2.3 — if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good
Notes
- 1 ↩Spanish aprovechantes names the middle stage between principiantes (beginners) and perfectos (the perfect); rendered as “those who are making progress” for modern readability. Traditional spiritual-theology English often uses “proficients.”
- 2 ↩Source has por que (two words: “through which”), not porque (“because”); rendered as “through which the soul passes.” por qué causa rendered as “for what reason.”
- 3 ↩Source y para los inestimables deleites keeps a slightly elliptical construction: the night fortifies the soul in the virtues and orients it toward the delights of God’s love; English preserves both en and para without smoothing away the second preposition.
- 4 ↩hábito de perfección / hábitos fuertes keeps scholastic 'habit' (settled disposition of virtue), not mere custom or routine.
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