Mystical Word  |  Weekly Reflection
Mystical Word is a weekly reflection on the Sunday Gospel reading by L.J. Milone, Director of Faith Formation, Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle

The Mysticism of St. Paul of the Cross

In this reflection, we dive into the mysticism of St. Paul of the Cross.

October 19 is the feast day for a rather unknown Italian mystic, St. Paul of the Cross. Let us reflect on this wonderful mystic who once asked the flowers to be quiet because they kept screaming “God! God! God!” to him.

Paul was born on January 3, 1694, and died on October 18, 1775. He was born in Ovada in the Republic of Genoa. He converted at the age of 20 and had a special gift for prayer and a powerful desire to conform his life to and remember the passion of Jesus. He spent time as a hermit (1720-1726) and received the grace of “mystical marriage” but then spent forty years in spiritual darkness. In 1741, he founded the Passionist Congregation. Paul founded various Retreats in Italy between 1737 and 1773 (houses of Passionist fathers and centers of spirituality). At the Retreat of Saints John and Paul in Rome, just off the Roman Forum, St. Paul of the Cross passed into Life Eternal. We have 3 huge volumes of his letters as well as several short works: his Spiritual Diary, the Mystical Death, the Nativity, and some poetry.

Paul unites several significant streams of mysticism: contemplation through Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, practicing the Presence of God as with Brother Lawrence, the Gentleness of Francis de Sales, abandoning to God’s Will as with Jean-Pierre De Caussade, and medieval German mystical themes through John Tauler. Importantly, Paul of the Cross combines these streams practically. He highlights a key mystical practice: the embrace of the cross, embracing God in the suffering in our lives.

This practice is critical to dissolving the ego.

When he was a young man, Paul lived as a hermit in the parish church of Saints Charles and Anna in Castellazzo. He withdrew into an intense forty-day retreat on November 22, 1 720 until January 1, 1721. As Silvan Rouse describes, “During that time, Paul fasted on bread and water and slept on vine branches. Every night he arose for Matins and prayer and spent about three hours with the Lord. Each morning he served Mass and received Communion. With dedicated care, he swept the Church and cleaned the altars. Throughout the day he spent hours before the Blessed Sacrament, seeking wisdom from the wounds of Jesus. In response to the Bishop's request, he wrote down ‘all the lights which the Lord communicated to him at that time.’ These forty days will intensify the purification of Paul's spirit through the mysterious participation in the Passion of Christ. As Paul is immersed in the contemplation of Jesus Crucified, he is led "to imitate in all things His holy virtues and to copy His holy life. " This desert experience prepares Paul to become Father and Lawgiver of a new Congregation in the Church destined to proclaim the Gospel of the Passion in word and deed.

Paul emerges from this desert experience a deep mystic. He spent the rest of his life preaching retreats and directing souls to deep holiness in addition to founding and governing his fledgling Passionist congregation.

St. Paul of the Cross teaches prayer. He says, “Never abandon holy prayer.” He advises us to become “all lost in God in a sacred silence…attentive to God in pure and holy faith.” He even says, “In order to receive everything with resignation and bear all with fortitude, you must go often to be nourished in prayer.” All the virtues and good habits of a holy life, a mystical life, flow from a deep commitment to silent or contemplative prayer.

Once we are established in divine silence and lost in God, St. Paul of the Cross teaches us to suffer. He writes, “Let us embrace sufferings…and give them welcome, at least with the higher part of the soul…suffer out of love for God.” And, “Let us embrace the holy cross with all our heart…all lost in God.” This is a critical piece to living as a Christian mystic. The ego will not dissolve and unity with God then realized unless we know how to suffer.

Paul writes, “Oh, happy are they who are willingly crucified with Christ!” We can rejoice because suffering creates an opportunity for transformative prayer. He tells us the soul should be “suffering with joy, praying to God.” When suffering comes, Paul would tell us to sink into silence. He invites us to pray in the midst of suffering, through suffering. Transformation will ensue.