St. John of the Cross on Apostolic Work, pt. 2

[N.B.: Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange quotes and agrees with the following excerpt of St. John of the Cross, writing: "This teaching of St. John of the Cross demonstrates how necessary it is that the preacher greatly purify his intention that his words may truly bear life-giving fruit, which will last for eternity. To effect this purification, his soul must live according to the spirit of immolation or of sacrifice, which assures the first place in the soul to the love of God and of souls in God" (Three Ages of the Interior Life, vol. 1, p. 376).]

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The second kind of distinct delightful goods in which the will can vainly rejoice comprises those that arouse or persuade one to serve God. We call these provocative goods. Preachers belong to this class, and we can speak of them in two ways: with reference to the preacher himself, and with reference to his hearers. It is needful to counsel [the preacher] as to how joy of will should be directed to God in this practice.

As for the preacher, in order to benefit the people and avoid the impediment of vain joy and presumption, he should keep in mind that preaching is more a spiritual practice than a vocal one. For although it is practiced through exterior words, it has no force or efficacy save from the interior spirit. No matter how lofty the doctrine preached, or polished the rhetoric, or sublime the style in which the preaching is clothed, the profit does not ordinarily increase because of these means in themselves; it comes from the spirit. God's word is indeed efficacious of itself according to David, who says that God will give to his voice the voice of power [Ps. 68:33]; yet fire also has power to burn but will not burn if the material is unprepared. [...]

[Christ] is opposed to those who preach the law of God yet do not keep it, and who preach to others the good spirit yet do not possess it themselves. He admonishes consequently through St. Paul: You teach others, but you do not teach yourselves. You who preach that others must not steal, steal [Rom. 2:21]. And the Holy Spirit says through David: God said to the sinner: Why do you preach my statutes and take my law in your mouth though you have abhorred discipline and cast my words behind you? [Ps. 50:16-17]. From this we deduce that he will not give them the spirit from which they may bear fruit.

We frequently see, insofar as it is possible to judge here below, that the better the life of the preacher the more abundant the fruit, no matter how lowly his style, poor his rhetoric, and plain the doctrine. For the living spirit enkindles fire. But when this spirit is wanting the gain is small, however sublime the style and doctrine. Although it is true that good style, gestures, sublime doctrine, and well-chosen words are more moving and productive of effect when accompanied by this good spirit, yet without it the sermon imparts little or no devotion to the will even though it may be delightful and pleasing to the senses and the intellect. For the will in this case will ordinarily be left as weak and remiss as before, even though wonderful things were wonderfully spoken; and the sermon merely delights the sense of hearing, like a musical concert or sounding bells. But the spirit, as I said, will not leave its natural ties any more than previously, since the voice does not possess the power to raise a dead man from his sepulcher.

It is of little significance that one kind of music is more pleasing to me than another if it fails to move me to the practice of works more than the other. Although the preacher may speak remarkable truths, these will soon be forgotten since they do not enkindle the will. Besides the fact of their unproductivity, the sensory adherence to the gratification provided by the doctrine hinders any effect the doctrine may have on the spirit, and people are left only with esteem for the mode and accidents of the sermon. They praise the preacher and listen to him for these reasons more than for the motivation they receive to amend their lives.

St. Paul gives an exceptionally clear explanation of this doctrine to the Corinthians: I, brothers, when I came to you, did not come preaching with sublimity of doctrine and wisdom, and my words and my preaching were not in the rhetoric of human wisdom, but in the manifestation of the spirit and of truth [1 Cor. 2:1-4]. Indeed, it is neither the Apostle's intention nor mine to condemn good style and rhetoric and effective delivery; these, rather, are most important to the preacher, as they are in all matters. Elegant style and delivery lift up and restore even those things that have fallen into ruin, just as poor presentation spoils what is good and destroys.

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Source: St. John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, in The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, trans. by K. Kavanaugh and O. Rodriguez (Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1991), 347-349, 3.45.1-5.