Overview

"In this ground-breaking new translation of Juan de los Angeles' treatise on the spiritual life , one of the great sixteenth-century Spanish mystics becomes accessible to the English-speaking public for the first time. Written for all, this work continues in the authentic Catholic mystical tradition taught through the centuries by Dionysius, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure as well as St. John of the Cross. Fray Juan himself promises that: 'In this book about the divine art of loving, should you read it with the aim of attaining that love and apply yourself as a student does to the study of grammar, I assure you of its profitability and that, before long, you will find yourself a changed person,' qualifying this encouragement with a warning that ""if you have loved much you will understand much, and if little, little, and if you have never truly loved, you will understand nothing at all."" By stressing that the self can never be the focus of true mysticism, the author provides a Catholic answer to the excesses of many 16th century charismatics who placed too much weight on subjective experience. ""[Juan de los Angeles] is very practical, experienced, and active ...the reverse of a dreamer. "" - E. Allison Peers."

Full Product Details

Author:   Fray Juan De Los Angeles ,  Juan de los Angles ,  Eladia Gomez-Posthill
Publisher:   Saint Austin Press
Imprint:   Saint Austin Press
Volume:   No. 3
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 21.50cm
Weight:   0.385kg
ISBN:  

9781901157260

ISBN 10:   1901157261
Pages:   224
Publication Date:   23 July 2001
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock  
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Table of Contents

Preface ix The Loving Struggle Approbations for the original Spanish edition xiv Dedication xvii Introduction: Declares the Intention of the Author in this Work. xxii Part One 1. Concerning Love and its many Manifestations, with special Emphasis on ecstatic and fruitful Love, of which we make special Mention in this Chapter. 1 2. Concerning the principal quality of Love, which is the Power to convert itself into the Object of its Love. 7 3. Of how Love extends to everything the beloved loves, and how the soul benefits in her transformation in God. 11 4. That only Love can triumph over God and wrestle with him, and of the right Time and Place for this Struggle to take Place. 16 5. On some Strategies the Soul could use in her Struggle with God. 23 6. On how the Soul, in her Struggle with God, wounds and bewitches Him. 29 7. That the Place where we wound God is his Heart. 37 8. On the Instrument by which God confesses to have been wounded by his Spouse. 43 9. When it is declared which Eye in the Soul wounds God. 47 10. Continues on the same Doctrine and treats of that most foolish Wisdom that reigns over human Intelligence. 54 11. On the Divine Darkness the Soul, journeying along the affective Path, will face. 61 12. Two Ways of knowing God: as Pilgrims and as Witnesses. 67 13. One sole Consideration: Discussion on whether it is necessary for the Understanding to precede or accompany the Affections in mystical Theology. It is significant. In Essence, it is at the Centre of what one needs to know to understand this Subject. 71 14. On how the Soul should continually engage in ejaculatory Prayer so as to wound God in Love. 77 15. On Love of Self: the greatest Obstacle in the spiritual Life. 82 16. On how the Love of God, when primary in our Hearts, is the Source of all Good, and Self-Love is the Root of all Evil. 85 17. On how Self-Love, by destroying Brotherly Love, brings about Division among Men, and Love of God brings them together, and makes Mankind one. 92 Part Two 1. On the Gaze of the loving Eyes of God and the first Triumph of Love: the Wounding of the Soul. 101 2. On the Arrows of Love. 105 3. On the second Triumph: the Chains of Love. 111 4. On the third Triumph: the Illness of Love. 116 5. On the Insatiability of Spiritual Love, and how it does not content itself with the possible. 121 6. On pure and mixed Delight. 126 7. On the second Delight: Joy at the Presence of God and Anguish at his Absence. 133 8. On the wondrous Effect that the Absence of God causes in the Soul and on Fainting in Love. 141 9. On perfect Mortification: the Hanging of the Soul in God. 145 10. Of the blessed Union that, by means of ecstatic love, exists between God and the Soul. 150 11. On Prayer: Mediator between God and the Soul. 156 12. Of the reciprocal Union that exists with God through the Most Sacred Sacrament of the Altar. 164 13. On the Relationship that exists between God and the Soul that receives him transubstantiated. 172 14. On the ultimate Triumph of Love: the Transformation or Death of the Soul. 184 15. On the Inebriation of Love. 194 16. On Rapture. Different Names in Scripture. 202

Reviews

"Reacting to an evangelical education in my late teens, I went into the town library and borrowed the Complete Works of St John of the Cross; I read it from cover to cover and earnestly began to put its demands into practice; being the sixties, it blew my mind. I would have done better to read this more modest, more practical teacher from the sixteenth-century Spanish mystic tradition, but it is only now that he has been translated into English. I have appreciated his erudition; the breadth of his quotation mixed with occasional homely images gives a context and perspective that adds real power to his exposition, while his emphasis on the sacrament and communion gives a clear focus for his search for union with God. Fine teaching and a good translation. - NT, 'New Directions' This is the first volume of a projected ""Honeycomb"" series (""the name chosen to represent the noble industry of the bee ... collecting wisdom from the Fathers and the Doctors""). Fr Jerome Bertram, of the Oxford Oratory, chairs a panel of editorial advisors who will suggest suitable texts. The aim of this new series is to bring unknown or little known classics, or those which have suffered poor or unreadable translations, back into the grasp of today's readers. This is the first of Fray Juan's works to be made available in English. He was a Franciscan Observant friar from Toledo, engaged in preaching, writing, and pastoral work. The title of Fr. Juan's book is very accurate - it's about love, and about struggle. He himself often mentions the most necessary requirement to understand his writing: ""I did warn you at the beginning, reader, that at some stage you might feel inclined to close this book and lay it aside. What I have been saying might seem rather strange, especially if you have never loved."" And at the end he quotes the delightful story where St. Bonaventure says a grandmother can love as much as a doctor of the Church. So, dear reader, if you have an authentic relationship of love with Christ, you will find much profit this treatise. This emphasis on affective love is crucial. In mystical tracts there is often an emphasis on going beyond all concepts and images. Fr Juan has some of this. But the classical writers always emphasize that love is what unites us with God. Grandma may not have achieved, in her prayer life, all the stages of unknowing, but she may be a real mystic if she loves greatly. Fr Juan's teaching is mostly about love. One of the most relevant features of this treatise for the modern world - and which I'd like to concentrate on here - is precisely his continued emphasis on the struggle (thus the title) necessary for the attainment of union with God. Without an affective struggle of the heart against self-love and all our idols, our love for God cannot be authentic. Our modern sensate culture seeks immediate and easy results, even in the spiritual quest. There is an atmosphere, fostered by New Age techniques and a misunderstanding of the disciplines of the East, that envelops our culture with a ""cloud of gnosticism"": in order to attain the Ultimate, all one needs to do is achieve some kind of positive thinking, a synchronization with the vibrations of the universe. Ruysbroeck warned us centuries ago that there is a ""rest that is nought else but idleness, and wholly contrary to the supernatural rest which one possesses in God. It is a bare vacancy."" Even wicked people can attain this, he says. (Adornment of Spiritual Marriage,lxvi) In this light, one of the most helpful sections was Chapters 4-9 where Fr Juan describes the early stages of the spiritual life in terms of Jacob's struggle with the angel/God. In this combat divine love ""wounds, enchains, depletes, empties, and then consumes."" Not particularly appealing words to our age! The struggle is caused precisely by our sinfulness which, unless overcome, will lull us into a false ""union with God."" Much pop spirituality and many meditative exercises offer an easy access to ""fulfilment."" But our author insists: ""The major struggle we face in our spiritual life is in not allowing self-centered love to enter our souls."" (P-82) This book would make a marvelous retreat for men - but not only for men - and would be seen as very contemporary for the trends in male/masculine spirituality today. ""Admirable contest, to be sure. God grappling with man and man prevailing over God."" He quotes actual wrestling techniques, and then gives them spiritual interpretations: You can ""throw"" God by lowering yourself in total humility. God wounds us in the struggle, and by our love we can wound the heart of God. Love is painful. Love has the power to hurt and wound the heart. We struggle to overcome our selfishness, and God must often wound us in the combat to purify us and make us love him above all others. Fr. Juan speaks with the authentic voice of the Catholic tradition when he says: ""But because he loves me, and it is this love that wounds and hurts, should I not repay him in the same coin! Have I not license to love God and wound him with my love?"" Fr. Juan, in his emphasis on both love and struggle, is in the authentic Catholic tradition. - Fr Bob Wilde, 'Faith Magazine' ""Those making the effort to read this book, written with an amazing breadth of scholarship and insight, may afterwards feel a little like the prospectors for gold in the old West: having had to expend much time and energy in 'panning' to find tiny but valuable nuggets. That such treasures are there is certain, but one wonders how many readers will make the effort required to discover them. The style is very much of the past and reflects the place of the author among the sixteenth-century mystics. Some of the biblical texts, as stated in the Preface, 'are quoted from memory, not exactly as thy appear on the page'; which fact, together with footnotes which are not always as helpful as intended, does interrupt the flow of thought of the reader. It is also noted that the interpreter has sought to present the author 'as he would appear to his contemporaries with occasional roughness of language' and the use of colloquialisms of the time. Some readers, accustomed to modern translations and commentaries, may be put off. However, those who feel the call to contemplative prayer will find in this volume much to inspire them, since contemplation shapes our love of God, and that is the central theme of the book, with its emphasis on the struggle to maintain the growth and development of that love. The first chapter, with its clarification of the many manifestations of love, highlights the poverty of our modern language, particularly in our use of the same word for our relationship with God and all other relationships. All elements of contempation are touched on: the inner life contact between the soul and Christ; the individual spiritual relationship renewed by prayer and meditation - balanced by the sacrament of the eucharist through which the individual contributes to the building up of the body of Christ, his church. All is aimed at helping to develop awareness of the One being contemplated, with very little suggestion of the movement from contemplation to action which we find in the work of Thomas Merton and other modern writers."" - Angelo SSF, 'Franciscan' magazine ""Attactively produced in 'durable format' this book fulfils the stated aim of this newly form publishing company. There are rich rewards for those prepared to struggle, with the determination of Jacob with the angel. Written by a Spanish Franciscan Observant Friar Juan (1552-1609), this is the first English published translation. The translation combines both the erudition of the writer and the homely friar-like vernacular...In the preface, the Series Editor, Father Jerome Bertram of the Oxford Oratory, draws attention to Brother Juan's emphasis on the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, which he sees as correcting the individualism of the mystical way by drawing us deeper into the Body of Christ."" - Bernard SSF, 'Theology', May/June, 2002"

Reacting to an evangelical education in my late teens, I went into the town library and borrowed the Complete Works of St John of the Cross; I read it from cover to cover and earnestly began to put its demands into practice; being the sixties, it blew my mind. I would have done better to read this more modest, more practical teacher from the sixteenth-century Spanish mystic tradition, but it is only now that he has been translated into English. I have appreciated his erudition; the breadth of his quotation mixed with occasional homely images gives a context and perspective that adds real power to his exposition, while his emphasis on the sacrament and communion gives a clear focus for his search for union with God. Fine teaching and a good translation. - NT, 'New Directions' This is the first volume of a projected Honeycomb series ( the name chosen to represent the noble industry of the bee ... collecting wisdom from the Fathers and the Doctors ). Fr Jerome Bertram, of the Oxford Oratory, chairs a panel of editorial advisors who will suggest suitable texts. The aim of this new series is to bring unknown or little known classics, or those which have suffered poor or unreadable translations, back into the grasp of today's readers. This is the first of Fray Juan's works to be made available in English. He was a Franciscan Observant friar from Toledo, engaged in preaching, writing, and pastoral work. The title of Fr. Juan's book is very accurate - it's about love, and about struggle. He himself often mentions the most necessary requirement to understand his writing: I did warn you at the beginning, reader, that at some stage you might feel inclined to close this book and lay it aside. What I have been saying might seem rather strange, especially if you have never loved. And at the end he quotes the delightful story where St. Bonaventure says a grandmother can love as much as a doctor of the Church. So, dear reader, if you have an authentic relationship of love with Christ, you will find much profit this treatise. This emphasis on affective love is crucial. In mystical tracts there is often an emphasis on going beyond all concepts and images. Fr Juan has some of this. But the classical writers always emphasize that love is what unites us with God. Grandma may not have achieved, in her prayer life, all the stages of unknowing, but she may be a real mystic if she loves greatly. Fr Juan's teaching is mostly about love. One of the most relevant features of this treatise for the modern world - and which I'd like to concentrate on here - is precisely his continued emphasis on the struggle (thus the title) necessary for the attainment of union with God. Without an affective struggle of the heart against self-love and all our idols, our love for God cannot be authentic. Our modern sensate culture seeks immediate and easy results, even in the spiritual quest. There is an atmosphere, fostered by New Age techniques and a misunderstanding of the disciplines of the East, that envelops our culture with a cloud of gnosticism : in order to attain the Ultimate, all one needs to do is achieve some kind of positive thinking, a synchronization with the vibrations of the universe. Ruysbroeck warned us centuries ago that there is a rest that is nought else but idleness, and wholly contrary to the supernatural rest which one possesses in God. It is a bare vacancy. Even wicked people can attain this, he says. (Adornment of Spiritual Marriage,lxvi) In this light, one of the most helpful sections was Chapters 4-9 where Fr Juan describes the early stages of the spiritual life in terms of Jacob's struggle with the angel/God. In this combat divine love wounds, enchains, depletes, empties, and then consumes. Not particularly appealing words to our age! The struggle is caused precisely by our sinfulness which, unless overcome, will lull us into a false union with God. Much pop spirituality and many meditative exercises offer an easy access to fulfilment. But our author insists: The major struggle we face in our spiritual life is in not allowing self-centered love to enter our souls. (P-82) This book would make a marvelous retreat for men - but not only for men - and would be seen as very contemporary for the trends in male/masculine spirituality today. Admirable contest, to be sure. God grappling with man and man prevailing over God. He quotes actual wrestling techniques, and then gives them spiritual interpretations: You can throw God by lowering yourself in total humility. God wounds us in the struggle, and by our love we can wound the heart of God. Love is painful. Love has the power to hurt and wound the heart. We struggle to overcome our selfishness, and God must often wound us in the combat to purify us and make us love him above all others. Fr. Juan speaks with the authentic voice of the Catholic tradition when he says: But because he loves me, and it is this love that wounds and hurts, should I not repay him in the same coin! Have I not license to love God and wound him with my love? Fr. Juan, in his emphasis on both love and struggle, is in the authentic Catholic tradition. - Fr Bob Wilde, 'Faith Magazine' Those making the effort to read this book, written with an amazing breadth of scholarship and insight, may afterwards feel a little like the prospectors for gold in the old West: having had to expend much time and energy in 'panning' to find tiny but valuable nuggets. That such treasures are there is certain, but one wonders how many readers will make the effort required to discover them. The style is very much of the past and reflects the place of the author among the sixteenth-century mystics. Some of the biblical texts, as stated in the Preface, 'are quoted from memory, not exactly as thy appear on the page'; which fact, together with footnotes which are not always as helpful as intended, does interrupt the flow of thought of the reader. It is also noted that the interpreter has sought to present the author 'as he would appear to his contemporaries with occasional roughness of language' and the use of colloquialisms of the time. Some readers, accustomed to modern translations and commentaries, may be put off. However, those who feel the call to contemplative prayer will find in this volume much to inspire them, since contemplation shapes our love of God, and that is the central theme of the book, with its emphasis on the struggle to maintain the growth and development of that love. The first chapter, with its clarification of the many manifestations of love, highlights the poverty of our modern language, particularly in our use of the same word for our relationship with God and all other relationships. All elements of contempation are touched on: the inner life contact between the soul and Christ; the individual spiritual relationship renewed by prayer and meditation - balanced by the sacrament of the eucharist through which the individual contributes to the building up of the body of Christ, his church. All is aimed at helping to develop awareness of the One being contemplated, with very little suggestion of the movement from contemplation to action which we find in the work of Thomas Merton and other modern writers. - Angelo SSF, 'Franciscan' magazine Attactively produced in 'durable format' this book fulfils the stated aim of this newly form publishing company. There are rich rewards for those prepared to struggle, with the determination of Jacob with the angel. Written by a Spanish Franciscan Observant Friar Juan (1552-1609), this is the first English published translation. The translation combines both the erudition of the writer and the homely friar-like vernacular...In the preface, the Series Editor, Father Jerome Bertram of the Oxford Oratory, draws attention to Brother Juan's emphasis on the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, which he sees as correcting the individualism of the mystical way by drawing us deeper into the Body of Christ. - Bernard SSF, 'Theology', May/June, 2002

Author Information

Juan de los Angeles was born in the village of Corchuela in Oropesa, near Toledo, in 1532, and studied at the University of Alcal?. He joined the Friars Minor before 1562, and was a member of the Province of San Jos?, based in Madrid. His life and ministry were spent travelling, as a friar should, preaching, writing and hearing confessions. His first published book was the Triumphs of the Love of God (1589), followed by the Dialogues of the Conquest of the Spiritual and Secret Kingdom of God in 1593. He continued to write, despite a busy active life. The Loving Struggle came out in 1600, followed by the Spiritual Treatise of the Divine Sacrifice of the Mass (1604) and the Manual of Perfect Life (1608). By far the longest of his works is the Spiritual Considerations upon the Book of the Song of Songs of Solomon which he published in 1607. While engaged in these works he held various offices in his Order, being Guardian of the Friary of San Antonio in Guadalajara in 1595, and in 1598 of San Bernardino in Madrid. In 1601 he was elected Provincial, a post which involved much more travelling and administration: his health was already poor, and he had to resign the post due to ill-health in 1603. Though most of his work must have lain among the poor, he was able to be spiritual director to a princess, the Infanta who entered religion under the name of Sor Margarita de la Cruz, and he preached on occasion before the imperial court. These contacts with royalty seem to have provoked some resentment among the friars, who also disapproved of his having resigned the Provincialate: this partly accounts for the obscurity into which his writings fell. He died in Madrid in 1609, having remained active in his pastoral ministry until the end.

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