Stanza 6
—
ESPOSA:
¡Ay, quién podrá sanarme!
Acaba de entregarte ya de vero;
no quieras enviarme
de hoy más ya mensajero,
que no saben decirme lo que quiero.
—
BRIDE:
Oh! who can heal me?
Give me at once Yourself,
Send me no more
A messenger
Who cannot tell me what I wish.
Excerpt of Saint John +’s teaching on stanza 6:
Since creatures gave the soul signs of her Beloved and showed within themselves traces of his beauty and excellence, love grew in her and, consequently, sorrow at his absence. The more the soul knows of God the more the desire and anxiety to see him increase. Since she is conscious that nothing can cure her grief other than her Beloved’s presence and the sight of him, she asks him in this stanza, distrusting any other remedy, to surrender his presence so she may possess him. She asks him that from henceforth he no longer detain her with any other knowledge, communications, and traces of his excellence since, rather than bringing her satisfaction, these increase her longings and suffering. The will is content with nothing less than his presence and the sight of him. She asks, therefore, if it be his will, that he truly surrender himself to her in complete and perfect love.
Personal reflection on stanza 6:
This commentary by SJ+ makes my heart squeeze with love-longings for Jesus. I want the veil of my sin to rend open widely and more of the pure light from his own countenance to befall the eyes of my soul. Oh soul–will you not surrender wholly to the Infinite, Eternally Beloved so that he may chance to surrender more of himself to you?
Again, there is an undercurrent of near-scandal for me in the teaching that SJ+ presents to us here: namely, that the soul can petition and is even justified in its petitions to transcend the messengers in favor of the Message–The Word who made himself flesh.
Oh God, grace us to persist with determined faith to be satisfied only by Thee. You alone can heal me. Amen.
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