Ascent of Mt. Carmel - St. Patrick's Basilica

a meeting between the Definitors of the Order and Fr. JosŽ de Jesœs Mar’a, the
General, at VŽlez-M‡laga, where a new decision to publish the works of St. John of the
Cross was taken and put into effect (as a later resolution has it) 'without any delay or
condition whatsoever.' 45 The enterprise suffered a setback, only a week after it had
been planned, in the death of the learned Jesuit P. Su‡rez, who was on terms of close
friendship with the Discalced and had been appointed one of the censors. But P. Diego
de Jesœs (Salablanca), Prior of the Discalced house at Toledo, to whom its execution
was entrusted, lost no time in accomplishing his task; indeed, one would suppose that
he had begun it long before, since early in the next year it was completed and published
in Alcal‡. The volume, entitled Spiritual Works which lead a soul to perfect union with
God, has 720 pages and bears the date 1618. The works are preceded by a preface
addressed to the reader and a brief summary of the author's 'life and virtues.' An
engraving of the 'Mount of Perfection' is included. 46
There are several peculiarities about this editio princeps. In the first place,
although the pagination is continuous, it was the work of two different printers; the
reason for this is quite unknown, though various reasons might be suggested. The
greatest care was evidently taken so that the work should be well and truly approved: it
is recommended, in terms of the highest praise, by the authorities of the University of
Alcal‡, who, at the request of the General of the Discalced Carmelites, had submitted it
for examination to four of the professors of that University. No doubt for reasons of
safety, the Spiritual Canticle was not included in that edition: it was too much like a
commentary on the Song of Songs for such a proceeding to be just then advisable.
We have now to enquire into the merits of the edition of P. Salablanca, which met
with such warm approval on its publication, yet very soon afterwards began to be
recognized as defective and is little esteemed for its intrinsic qualities to-day.
It must, of course, be realized that critical standards in the early seventeenth
century were low and that the first editor of St. John of the Cross had neither the
method nor the available material of the twentieth century. Nor were the times
favourable for the publication of the works of a great mystic who attempted fearlessly
and fully to describe the highest stages of perfection on the road to God. These two
facts are responsible for most of the defects of the edition.
For nearly a century, the great peril associated with the mystical life had been
that of Illuminism, a gross form of pseudo-mysticism which had claimed many victims
among the holiest and most learned, and of which there was such fear that excessive,
almost unbelievable, precautions had been taken against it. These precautions,
together with the frequency and audacity with which Illuminists invoked the authority
and protection of well-known contemporary ascetic and mystical writers, give reality to
P. Salablanca's fear lest the leaders of the sect might shelter themselves behind the
doctrines of St. John of the Cross and so call forth the censure of the Inquisition upon
passages which seemed to him to bear close relation to their erroneous teaching. It was
for this definite reason, and not because of an arbitrary meticulousness, that P.
Salablanca omitted or adapted such passages as those noted in Book I, Chapter viii of
the Ascent of Mount Carmel and in a number of chapters in Book II. A study of these, all
of which are indicated in the footnotes to our text, is of great interest.
45 Memorias Historiales, B. 35.
46 Cf. General Introduction, I, above.
38