Pentecost Novena with St. John of the Cross (Day 9; May 23)
May 23, 2026
Day 9
Scripture: Romans 8:26-27
The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs that cannot be put into words. And the one who searches hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
Meditation
Stanza 4
How gently and lovingly
you wake in my heart,
where in secret you dwell alone;
and in your sweet breathing,
filled with good and glory,
how tenderly you swell my heart with love.
It should be known that God dwells secretly in all souls and is hidden in their substance, for otherwise they would not last. Yet there is a difference, a great difference, in his dwelling in them. In some souls he dwells alone, and in others he does not dwell alone. Abiding in some he is pleased; and in others, he is displeased.
He lives in some as though in his own house, commanding and ruling everything; and in others as though a stranger in a strange house, where they do not permit him to give orders or do anything.
Oh, how happy is this soul, which ever experiences God resting and reposing within it! Oh, how fitting it is for it to withdraw from things, flee from business matters, and live in immense tranquility, so that it may not, even with the slightest speck of dust or noise, disturb or trouble its heart where the Beloved dwells.
Although he is not displeased with other souls that have not reached this union, for after all they are in the state of grace, yet insofar as they are not well disposed his dwelling is secret to them, even though he does dwell in them. They do not experience him ordinarily, except when he grants them some delightful awakening.
But in this awakening of the Bridegroom in the perfect soul, everything that occurs and is caused is perfect, for he is the cause of it all. And in that awakening, which is as though one were to waken and breathe, the soul feels a strange delight in the breathing of the Holy Spirit in God, in which it is sovereignly glorified and
taken with love.
It is a spiration that God produces in the soul, in which, by that awakening of lofty knowledge of the Godhead, he breathes the Holy Spirit in it in the same proportion as its knowledge and understanding of him, absorbing it most profoundly in the Holy Spirit, rousing its love with a divine exquisite quality and delicacy according to what it beholds in him. Since the breathing is filled with good and glory, the Holy Spirit, through this breathing, filled the soul with good and glory in which he enkindled it in love of himself, indescribably and incomprehensibly, in the depths of God, to whom be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Musical Selection (Kathleen Deignan)
Soul afire in God’s presence, heart that smolders in God’s flame,
Life transforming in the yearning, hearing whispered a new name:
“Be you peace, now, be you mercy, be my love and care for earth.”
So the Spirit in God’s wisdom brings us to the second birth.
Tho’ we suffer into healing, tho’ we die to live anew,
Yet our soul and spirit prosper ever seeking what is true.
In our blindness we have vision, in our weakness power shown;
By the way of contradiction is God’s deepest wisdom known.
Through the dark night of the spirit, through the nights of flesh and soul,
We are taken into mystery, and our brokenness made whole.
In the knowing of unknowing shall the mind be filled with light;
Thus illumined and unfettered we behold with deeper sight.
Feast of joy and feast of pleasure, banquet of the bridal heart-
In the rapture of communion she will learn the Lover’s Art.
Herald now the sweet espousals; let the wedding anthem start:
She will marry every creature in the One Beloved’s heart.
Collect
Almighty God,
you poured your Spirit upon gathered disciples
creating bold tongues, open ears,
and a new community of faith.
We confess that we hold back the force of your Spirit among us.
We do not listen for your word of grace,
speak the good news of your love,
or live as a people made one in Christ.
Have mercy on us, O God.
Transform our timid lives by the power of your Spirit,
and fill us with a flaming desire to be your faithful people,
doing your will for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Book of Common Worship)