From Shadows to Truth: Saint John Henry Newman, Saint John of the Cross, and Saint Thomas Aquinas

Was there a shift in how humans understand themselves, their place in the world, and their relationship to the divine or the transcendent?

Axial Age is a term coined by the German philosopher Karl Jaspers. It refers to broad changes in religious and philosophical thought that occurred in a variety of locations from about the 8th to the 3rd century BC. According to Jaspers, during this period, universalizing modes of thought appeared in Persia, India, China, the Levant, and the Greco-Roman world, in a striking parallel development, without any obvious admixture between these disparate cultures. - Wikipedia

1. Ancient Greece: philosophers like Thales questioned the nature of reality, while Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle developed ethical and metaphysical systems.
2. Ancient Israel: the development of monotheism, with Yahweh as a transcendent creator God, and a focus on ethical conduct and individual relationship with God.
3. Ancient India: the rise of Hinduism with its emphasis on karma, rebirth, and different paths to spiritual enlightenment; the rise of Buddhism.
4. Ancient China: the emergence of Confucianism and Taoism, emphasizing social harmony, ethical behavior, and the interconnectedness of all things.

That period marked profound shifts in how humans organized societies, developed ethical systems, and pursued knowledge. In many ways, that age was a preparation for what was to follow.

Intersection of time and eternity.

Jesus Christ, true God and true man, restored man to friendship with God. Christianity is not about man's search for God. Rather, in Christianity is revealed God's search for man. Past rituals and myths are transcended, prophecies are fulfilled, philosophies are corrected and completed, and God is revealed in and through the Word-Made-Flesh. Human understanding was no longer confined to man's inventions or experimentations. God has supplied the definitive guidance to salvation.

Tantum ergo (by St. Thomas Aquinas)

Down in adoration falling, Lo! the sacred Host we hail;

Lo! o'er ancient forms departing, newer rites of grace prevail;

faith for all defects supplying, where the feeble senses fail.

The Incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word made flesh, invites humanity into a transformative relationship where love and grace abound. Believers, illuminated by the Holy Gospel, are called to reflect God's light - Presence and soul-saving teaching - in a world often shrouded in darkness.

Variations in emphasis have articulated the spiritual landscape. In Christianity, which is to say Catholicism, the religion of the Word Made Flesh, we uncover diverse spiritualities that reflect insights born of saintly personalities and their communities enlightened by the Holy Spirit. These diverse spiritualities not only shape individual devotion but also influence communal practices within the Church. As believers navigate their faith, they draw on these rich traditions to foster a disposition of heart and mind that disposes the soul to the transforming grace of God.

Darkness, Light, the Divine

John of the Cross (1542 – 1591)

Declared a Doctor of the Church in 1926 by Pope Pius XI, he is referred to as the "Mystical Doctor". Saint John of the Cross rendered his theological experiences in poetic form, a truly elegant and fitting form for inviting and guiding seekers into the mystery of God.

Saint John's works have been described as being exemplary works of the apophatic tradition or the way of negation. God is discovered beyond our attempts to capture Him. That is a rather elementary way of describing Saint John's thought and work. God is affirmed, indeed, by moving the intellect beyond the icon, the window through which God shines His light into the hearts and minds of believers. However, an affirmation of God, such as a poem or musical composition, could be understood to be both affirming and negating an attachment to an idea by how the composition enables the listener to transcend its content. Or, perhaps it is more appropriate to say that a composition achieves its purpose by how it enables in a person the ability to receive the grace of God that helps the person affirm and move beyond the gift to the Giver Who is God. Saint John's poetry does both. It entices the reader (or hearer) into considering God's influence and it, the poetry, disposes man's heart and mind to God's grace which illuminates the mind and enables one to rise above the created means to enter into the very meaning of the art, the One Who inspires the art.

Saint John of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish mystic and poet, is deeply associated with the via negativa, also known as the apophatic way. This approach to understanding God emphasizes what God is not rather than what God is, focusing on the limitations of human language and concepts in grasping the divine. John of the Cross's most famous work, Dark Night of the Soul, explores this concept, describing a process of spiritual purification where one detaches from sensory experiences and worldly attachments to reach a deeper union with God.

Via Negativa. The via negativa is a theological and philosophical approach that emphasizes the limitations of human language and concepts in describing or defining God. It suggests that God is ultimately unknowable through rational thought and human experience, and that the most accurate way to speak of God is by negating what God is not. 

John of the Cross and the Dark Night. In his Dark Night of the Soul, John of the Cross describes a period of spiritual desolation and purification where the individual experiences a withdrawal of God's presence and a sense of emptiness and abandonment. This "dark night" is not a negative experience in itself, but rather a necessary step in the soul's journey towards union with God. Through this process of detachment and negation, the soul is stripped of its attachments and imperfections, leading to a more profound experience of God's presence. 

Detachment and Illumination. John of the Cross believed that true union with God is achieved through detachment from sensory images, worldly attachments, and even from one's own understanding of God. By emptying the soul of these things, the soul can be filled with God's divine light and love.

The Dark Night by St. John of the Cross 

From: THE COLLECTED WORKS OF ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS, translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD, and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD, revised edition (1991). Stanzas 1-3 of 8 stanzas.

1. One dark night,
fired with love's urgent longings
- ah, the sheer grace! -

fired with love's urgent longings

- ah, the sheer grace! -

I went out unseen,

my house being now all stilled.

2. In darkness, and secure,

by the secret ladder, disguised,

- ah, the sheer grace! -

in darkness and concealment,

my house being now all stilled.

3. On that glad night,

in secret, for no one saw me,

nor did I look at anything,

with no other light or guide

than the one that burned in my heart.

Consider the poem The Pillar of the Cloud (Lead Kindly Light), composed by Saint John Henry Newman while "At Sea. June 16, 1833." The poem illustrates a shift from a former, self-reliant pride to a new, humble trust in God's unseen hand (D.K. Kim).

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'encircling gloom,

Lead Thou me on!

The night is dark, and I am far from home,

Lead Thou me on!

Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou

Shouldst lead me on;

I loved to choose and see my path; but now

Lead Thou me on!

I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,

Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still

Will lead me on.

O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till

The night is gone,

And with the morn those angel faces smile,

Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225 – 1274)

The Church has conferred upon Saint Thomas the title of Angelic Doctor, not only because of his astounding purity, but because his wisdom surpasses, so to speak, that of mere men. St. Thomas was, in the words of his teacher St. Albert the Great, “the flower and glory of the world.”

In Aquinas, we encounter both the cataphatic, or affirmative, way and the apophatic way, which together aid our understanding and facilitate our relationship with God. Aquinas helps us cooperate with God. He identifies how God manifests to us temporal beings and how we might better recognize God's Presence ("Who truly art within the forms before me") and His actions. Aquinas rids us of triteness and distractions by affirming who God is.

Humbly I Adore Thee (Adoro Te Devote) is a profound expression of adoration for the Eucharist, this hymn reflects Aquinas's deep reverence for the sacrament.

Adoro Te Devote

O Godhead hid, devoutly I adore Thee, Who truly art within the forms before me; To Thee my heart I bow with bended knee, As failing quite in contemplating Thee.

Jesu, eternal Shepherd! hear our cry; Increase the faith of all whose souls on Thee rely.

Sight, touch, and taste in Thee are each deceived; The ear alone most safely is believed: I believe all the Son of God has spoken, Than truth’s own word there is no truer token.

God only on the cross lay hid from view; But here lies hid at once the manhood too; And I, in both professing my belief, Make the same prayer as the repentant thief.

Thy wounds, as Thomas saw, I do not see; Yet Thee confess my Lord and God to be; Make me believe Thee evermore and more; In Thee my hope, in Thee my love to store.

[...]

Jesus, whom, for the present, veil’d I see, What I so thirst for, oh! vouchsafe to me; That I may see Thy countenance unfolding, And may be blest Thy glory in beholding.

Amen.

John Henry Newman (1801 – 1890)

Like Saint Thomas, Saint John Henry shared theological insights with a depth comparable to the artistry of a skilled musician, blending form, harmony, melody, and rhythm seamlessly. The sublime nature of his compositions reveals genuine content and direction, pointing toward the mystery of God. It invites the listener to rest in a place where grace touches both heart and mind, leading to a loving and vital communion with the Creator. And let us not overlook the importance of silence. Thomas, John Henry, and John encourage us to pause in the silence, in the spaces between words or sentences. Do we allow God to meet us in the silences of our daily lives? Do we take the time to rest in God? Do we pause so that God may rest in us?

In Newman we find a way to go deeply into mystery, the nature and person of God and His sacraments (mysteries).

Father Raymond de Souza writes:

https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/newman-is-the-doctor-of-the-church-we-need-now

Doctor of the Intellect

Newman’s life was devoted entirely to moving “from the shadows … into the truth” — the epitaph he composed for his tombstone. Assent to the truth is an act of the intellect, though Newman was sufficiently subtle and attentive to experience to recognize that other factors — our emotions, intuitions, relationships — can move us toward the ultimate Truth. Yet in a time when emotions reign supreme, and even faithful Christians try to discern God’s will in the sphere of subjective experience, Newman’s emphasis on the intellect as our faculty for knowing the truth is most welcome.

Saint John Henry excelled in the trio of art (poetry and music), theology, and rhetoric (prose and preaching). Father de Souza highlights other aspects of Newman's brilliance: Doctor of the Intellect, Courage, Moderation, Conviviality, Conscience, Preaching, and Unity. These titles showcase not just his intellectual strength but also his dedication to living the values he taught. Through his writings and teachings, Newman encouraged many to pursue a balanced life that unites faith, creativity, and communion with God and His Church.