32 — PURIFYING LOVE

Presence of God. — O Lord, help me to throw wide open my soul to the invasion of Your purifying love.

Meditation

1 — One of the greatest graces that God can grant to a soul is precisely that of introducing it into the desolating pains of the night of the spirit, because precisely in this way He prepares and disposes it to union. Although, for the soul that experiences its painful straits, this night may seem a punishment of God, it is instead a gift of His merciful love which in this way wishes to distract it from the last bonds of its imperfections. St. John of the Cross declares expressly that this night is the work “of the loving wisdom of God” which, purging the soul, “disposes it to the union of love” (N. II, 5, 1). But if it is the work of love, how come it is so painful? Something similar happens to the soul as occurs with a piece of green wood put to burn; first the fire begins to drive out the moisture from it, “then it blackens it and makes it give off also a bad odor; and while little by little it dries it, it draws out the light and removes all the unpleasant and dark accidents, contrary to fire. Finally, it begins to heat it on the outside, inflames it, transforms it into itself, rendering it as beautiful as fire itself.” Similarly, divine love “before uniting and transforming the soul in itself, purges it of all qualities contrary to it. It draws out its filth and renders it ugly and black, so much so that it seems worse, more abominable than before” (ibid., 10, 1 and 2). It is easily understood how under the press of similar purification the soul must suffer, and yet all this is the work of love. The loving Wisdom of God, investing the soul still imperfect, must necessarily begin to accomplish in it a work of demolition, of purification and, only when it will have thus freed it from all that is contrary to divine love, will it unite it to itself and in itself transform it. Then the work of love will no longer be painful for the soul, indeed it will be very sweet and delightful to it, but as long as it is not totally purified, it cannot but be a motive of affliction to it.

2 — The more we are intimately convinced that purification is the work of love, the more we will know how to embrace it with courage and show it a happy face even when it costs us much. Moreover, the general law of perfect love — even of human love — is precisely this: not to tolerate division of affections, not to tolerate rivals, not to bear disharmonies between those who love each other. If human love, so limited and weak, has such exigencies of totality, why will we not recognize the same rights, indeed, infinitely greater rights, to divine love?

Love tends by its nature to equality: it either finds or renders lovers equal; and God, seeing in a soul of good will that wishes to give itself entirely to Him, loves it to the point of wishing to render it similar to Himself, therefore He strips it of all that contrasts with His infinite perfection and, as He strips it, clothes it with Himself, clothes it with divine life.

Love tends by its nature to unity, wishes the full fusion of hearts; and God, who infinitely loves the souls that seek Him with sincere affection, desires nothing more than to unite them to Himself and therefore goes about purifying them from every stain that would impede perfect union with His infinite purity. Jesus Himself, at the Last Supper, expressed the supreme desire of His love for us asking precisely this perfect union: “As You, Father, are in me and I in You, so they also may be one in Us” (Jn. 17:21). But since, vitiated by sin and full of every misery, we were radically incapable of this, He took upon Himself our sins and washed them in His Blood. The Passion of Jesus tells us how much our purification cost the Son of God. And if it cost so much to Him, most innocent, will it not be just that it cost us a little also, guilty as we are, who have so many times offended God, who so many times, with our evil will, have placed obstacles to the invasion of His love in our soul? Now that this divine love, instead of abandoning us as we would deserve, comes to meet us to purify us, will we flee from its action? No, it must not be so! In the same way that the purifying sufferings are the work of God’s love for us, so we wish that the acceptance of them be proof of our love for Him. “True love consists in stripping oneself of all that is not God” (A. II, 5, 7).

Colloquy

“O Lord, remember me who lies in darkness and the shadow of death and resurrect this creature of Yours with Your love which is my vital spirit. May the divine fire of Your love consume in me all the bad humors of earthly affections and may there remain in my heart a single affection all turned to Your infinite beauty and goodness.

“O Jesus, the immense love with which You attract me to unite me to Yourself awakens in me a lively solicitude to love You in return. For this reason from the depths of my heart I cry to You and supplicate You, by the flames of immense charity with which You loved me and became incarnate for me, to send me the Holy Spirit, divine Fire who illumined the Church my mother and Your spouse, that He may illumine me and convert me renewing the face of my soul. May this divine Spirit come, O sweetest Son of God, to whom I throw wide open all my heart, that He may reform me, deformed by sin, and transform me into Your most beautiful form and grace.

“This is my petition, O Lord, and to be heard I offer myself to the fire and water of all tribulations and to all the torments of this life. For this I wake early and prepare myself with prayer and to sacrifice myself to You in the morning vigil. For this I will supplicate You in the silence of the night and will knock at the doors of Your clemency. My eyes will speak to You with tears and I will take no rest until You have satisfied my desire.

“If You deign to hear me sending Your fire, I will sacrifice to You the first fruits of my affections and will no longer serve foreign gods. I will praise You in public and in secret and will sing forever Your mercies celebrating the victories of Your love” (Ven. John of Jesus Mary, o.c.d.).