END OF THE YEAR

QUIET NOVEMBER DAY

END OF THE YEAR

Robert Trabold

Quiet day – no people – beach

empty. Full sunshine but stiff

 breeze. Colder air coming tonight.

Seashore – yellow –brown

dunes going to sleep – green

will return in the springtime.

Sky is vast – blue for now

clouds went away. Air clean

can see far to the ocean.

Ocean deep blue – rough

sea waves in the distance

white foam wild.

November – end of the year

like the waves of the sea

time marches on – fast.

Where will it all end?

Big mystery – life can be

hard so many wars – violence.

Like deep blue sea – sky

life are mysterious – many questions

few answers – nothing clear cut.

Vast ocean – blue sky are

beyond me. God – Jesus

vast – mysterious.

I know Jesus loves me

whole world. Will not

forget us in this vast space.

Sea – sky are beautiful

beauty is beyond me.

I cannot reproduce it.

Sign, behind it all

Eternal love – welcoming Father.

He knows our pains – loneliness.

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END OF YEAR – 2014

Robert Trabold

            I was fortunate this year to make two long pilgrimages. I made a two week one to Spain and visited Castilla y León where John of the Cross and Theresa of Avila worked, died and are buried. I also made another two week one to Québec, Canada and visited the many shrines in Québec city, Trois Rivières and Montréal. These trips were deep spiritual experiences for me. I visited shrines dedicated to many saints and the Blessed Virgin reminding me how God has worked in history to reveal Himself/Herself through the ages. While at the shrine, I participated in the religious life with the many other pilgrims showing me how the Lord continues today to reveal Himself. To make these pilgrimages, I had to make two long trips. I flew to Madrid from New York City and then by bus travelled to the various shrines. I drove from New York City to Canada and visited the shrines in three cities. Those trips were long and I took time out to travel so that I could spend some time in these holy places. I know that the Lord and the saints appreciated my effort. Taking these long trips to holy spaces reminded me that they are symbolic also of my pilgrimage on earth. My life on earth in one sense is a long trip and I am travelling to my true home which is eternal life. I am a pilgrim during my many years on earth.

            As we end the year 2014, it is good for us to reflect on our pilgrimage on earth and what it should mean for our daily life. This stepping back is important because we can become so involved and busy with our everyday affairs that we forget the ultimate goal of our life and earthly pilgrimage. This forgetfulness is very common because as humans, we are busy in our adult life with work, studies, family, and all the responsibilities we have. They can overwhelm us.  Also the world and its many material things can seduce us.  Our life can be orientated around money, having many nice things, etc. Also we can live with pride and selfishness and forget that we are just human beings who are finite and need the assistance of the Lord to direct our life with maturity and Christian values.

            It is a challenge then to keep in mind the ultimate goal of our life and pilgrimage on earth.  One of the things that can help us focus on the important things is our faithfulness to meditating twice a day in silence, each time for twenty minutes. When we take time out to meditate daily, we step back from our many activities and cares and sit in silence in the presence of the Lord. It is a deep encounter where we feel that God loves us and wants us to reciprocate with the same. If we are faithful during the years to this prayer, our life changes and becomes orientated to the way of God. We are no longer pulled in every direction but focus on Christian living and being a witness to this in the world. This is a challenge because our life in the world has its temptations and it is hard to stay focused on the true path.

            I am grateful that I made these two long pilgrimages to Canada and Spain because they are symbolic of my life on earth. I have to keep focused on the final holy place where I am destined to go. I am also grateful that the Holy Spirit has led me to the contemplative prayers movements that have blossomed in Western Christianity in the last fifty years. Taking time out and being faithful to the two periods of meditation each day keeps me focused on the true meaning of my pilgrimage on earth. In this trip, the Lord is calling me and all humans to a life of love with Him and this should permeate our whole self. This is no easy task and we have to work on it. With the years, we will grow in our awareness of how Jesus loves us and is waiting for our response.  This growth in love on our part will be the basis of our life and will not let us feel lost in our world with its many cares and problems. Things do not go always as we want them but in all things, Jesus loves us and will care for us. This gives us confidence in our pilgrimage on earth. There will always be rocky days but we know that the Lord is with us. As we end the year 2014, it is good for us to reflect on this which will help us orientate our life in 2015 to the holy pilgrimage to which we are called.

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Progress in Prayer

TOMBSTONE :

MARIE DE L’INCARNATION, QUÉBEC

ROBERT TRABOLD

Stark  black tombstone

heavy – large

Marie de l’Incarnation

1599-1672.

Black sets tone for the room

silence – depth – mystery.

Tombstone – large – heavy

adds to the mystery.

I hear the words of John

of the Cross in his famous poem

“In a Dark Night”

darkness – blackness

mystery – depth.

Poem filled with passion.

Two lovers meet in the dark

night

filled with life – light.

Marie’s tombstone – black

dark – filled

with  love – life.

Her lover Jesus – she called

Him her bridegroom.

I sit in the presence of such

dark – black passion – love.

I ask Marie to help me

 enter – feel the love

unity between them.

Life is mysterious

So is love. Marie

fell in love with the Divine

despite the night – darkness.

We cannot expect much more on earth.

John’s poem – Marie’s tombstone

tell us this.

I am in a dark night

hope to feel the pulse of this love.

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PROGRESS IN PRAYER

ROBERT TRABOLD

            On occasion, it is worthwhile for us to sit back and reflect on what is happening in our daily practice of contemplative prayer. Each day twice a day for twenty minutes, we sit in silence and repeat our mantra. In this process, it is important to remember that during these periods, the Holy Spirit enters into our lives and this is an act of love on the divine’s part. This is vital because unless we are loved, we really cannot become full human beings. The faithful love of us by the Spirit is a great gift because in human life, we cannot find such unconditional love. In human life and despite the promises of the other, human love can come and go. So the love that the Spirit gives to us is a great gift that should impact our whole life. We do not have to worry about infidelity on the part of the Spirit because He/She is always there. This is a wonderful gift to us because we are humans and our life is subject to the effects of our failings and selfish. We are plagued with these things until our years on earth are over. Despite our many imperfections, the Spirit is present to us and loves us and ultimately transforms us into followers who can love the Lord and our neighbor.

            This gradual transformation of ourselves by the action of the Spirit reminds us of the story in the gospels where the apostles were very confused by the crucifixion and death of Jesus and locked themselves into the upper room afraid to go out. The gospel story tells us that Jesus appeared to them in their midst and breathed on them saying ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ At that point, the disciples became new people, not afraid any more of the police and Roman soldiers but left the room and began to preach the good news that Jesus has risen from the dead and offers us a new life in God.

            Our daily fidelity to prayer over time should give us also this transformation. The presence of the Spirit in our mediation sessions is making us new men and women like what happened to the disciples in the upper room. The same Spirit is present and within us, loving us and inviting us to do the same. This is a great gift.  No longer do we have to wander on earth aimlessly but the Spirit is on our side leading us to greater Christian maturity. There are many ways to live our life, some good, others bad which can be detrimental to us and our world.

            The essence of contemplative prayer then is this action of the Spirit within us during our meditation. This is the important part. It is action directly by God. It also puts into perspective our fidelity to the discipline of meditation. We are called to be faithful to the two twenty minute periods of prayer daily. This is very important because it shows our reciprocity to the Divine action. But we have to remember that our fidelity to meditation is not the primary action but the secondary one.  The primary action is the presence of the Spirit who loves us and breathes new life into us making us new men and women as what happened to the disciples in the upper room. If we grow in the realization of this primary action of the Spirit in our prayer, over the years, we will wonder at this action and be grateful that the Divine has made us the recipients of this love.

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Pilgrimage to Canada

ST. ANN DE BEAUPRÉ

QUÉBEC

Robert Trabold

Majestic basilica

on shores of a majestic river

the St.  Lawrence. Water is

blue like the sky.

Statue of St. Ann

holding her child, Mary. Large statue

red, gold, green

shines in the lights

beaming at it.

St. Ann has a sweet face

looking at her child – Mary.

St. Ann looks at us

pilgrims who come

with our cares – troubles of life.

I rest in this splendor.

St. Ann looks at me

she loves me – all the

pilgrims who travel

from far away to see her.

I listen to words – advice

St. Ann has for me.

She repeats words of the poem

of St. Theresa of Avila.

“Do not let anything disturb you

nothing should upset you.

………

Whoever has God

nothing will be missing.

Only God matters.”

I feel the weight of

the world

too many wars, violence, death.

St. Ann tells me

world is in God’s hands.

The Lord is my confidence

giving me peace.

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PILGRIMAGE TO QUÉBEC - 2014

Robert Trabold

            I was fortunate to have the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Montréal, Trois Rivières  and Québec, Canada and visit the many shrines that lie in the Saint Lawrence River valley. It was a contemplative pilgrimage because I went alone for two weeks and had plenty of time for meditation and silence. There are many shrines in this part of Canada which always have had a deep spiritual meaning for me. There is the beautiful one of St. Ann de Beaupré on the outskirts of Québec city. Devotion to St. Ann, the mother of the Virgin Mary, has a long tradition in Western and Eastern Christianity and the French colonists brought this to the New World when they arrived many centuries ago. In the city of Québec, I visited the chapel and tomb of Marie de l’Incarnation who was a great mystic and lived there in colonial times.  She was recently canonized and her writings testify to the depth of her contemplative life.  People call her the St. Theresa of Avila of North American. I had also the privilege to go to the shrine of Our Lady of the Cap in Trois Rivières where there were manifestations of the Virgin Mary at the end of the 19^th century. In Montréal, I went to the Oratory of St. Joseph and the tomb and chapel of Saint Bother André. He was a religious brother who lived in the 20^th century and had unusual gifts of counselling people and was a healer of physical infirmities. Crowds still come to this shrine to be beneficiaries of his help. In the same city, I also visited the shrines of Padre Pio, the famous stigmatic who lived in the 20^th century and that of Mary, the Queen of Heaven.

            In the two weeks of visiting the shrines, I reflected on their role in a pilgrimage. They are usually connected to holy places where religious people take time out to make a trip. They are looking for a renewal of their Christian faith and help in resolving the problems that beset their everyday life. In visiting these shrines, pilgrims refresh themselves in experiencing the many ways that God has been at work during the centuries in the saints to build up the Christian community. In a very existential way, God has taken the initiative to love these holy people and give them life on earth. The Lord has loved them before they loved Him. Pilgrims stand in awe and adoration at this fact. The Divine made a covenant with all people and is always faithful to it. 

            Secondly, shrines remind us that God is still active in our world and community working to bring people to salvation. In the visit, there are various religious activities, liturgical ceremonies and opportunities to meet other Christian people. In these, we feel that God is active now working to make us better people and Christians. It is part of the renewal of the Christian community.

Thirdly, the shrines have us look into the future and give us confidence that someday we will arrive at our heavenly homeland. We are pilgrims on earth and the visit to these gives us signs of hope of where we are going. Like the pilgrims in the Old Testament, they sang and were joyful to be in the presence of God in the holy temple.  In the same way, in this visit, we pilgrims await a conversion and renewal of ourselves and our community. In this change for the better, we have a glimpse of the new heaven and new earth to which we are called. We look into the future and have confidence in our voyage there. This earth is not our true home but we are destined for another place.

In reflecting on my two week pilgrimage of silence and meditation to the various shrines in the province of Québec, Canada, it was a rich experience of the Christian life. Each had its own experience, different saint, beauty of the church building and being situated on the lovely Saint Lawrence River. Two weeks were ample time to immerse myself in this religious experience.  Like all the pilgrims who have made similar trips through the centuries, hopefully this visit will renew my Christian life and allow me to be active to build a better world.

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COMING HOME

SOUNDS OF SILENCE 

Robert Trabold

Sounds of waves crashing on shore

fills whole landscape – hear it coming

from distance. Lovely day not too

cool despite sharp off shore breeze.

I sit on a bench – my eyes scan

seashore.  Dark –bright colors

alternate as sun travels through clouds.

Sunshine brightens sand – glimmers

around me – in the distance

bright borders to blue ocean.

Dark sea full of mystery!

I sit on a Jones Beach bench

dedicated to Pasquale Siccurella

passed away 2013. Wonder if he comes

back at times to enjoy ocean view.

Life goes on – one year after another.

Flow like ocean tides – waves.

Some years are calm – others rough.

Happy I came to the sea

grateful dreadful winter finished.

I can come now to the ocean – listen

to waves.

Sounds of waves wash over me swirl

around me. I sit in mystery – leave busy

city behind me – take a day off.

Mystery of life washes over me

noise of city life – endless wars of my country

cries of poor hungry people looking for work.

Jesus walked on the Sea of Galilee

surprised his disciple – awed.

He will come again - walk on

waters of Jones Beach

surprise me – hold me together.

Take me by the hand – give me hope

for a safe landing.

                             

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COMING HOME

Robert Trabold

            In religious traditions, eternal life and God are spoken about as the goal of our human life, as going home after our pilgrimage on earth. It is a place where we will be unconditionally accepted. Jesus spoke of this when He told his apostles that He is leaving in order to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house. In the eastern religions, this desire to go home is expressed in the three steps of our life’s journey. In the first 25-30 years, we are busy growing up, going to school, learning our work and profession, etc.  After that from 25 - 55, we are occupied in the world working in our profession, getting married and having our family and using our talents to accomplish our responsibilities.  After 55 – 60, the eastern religions describe this time as when the leaves fall off the tree, we are no longer so active in our tasks and obligations. Time opens up for us and opportunities arise to get closer to the transcendent. These years of semi-retirement and retirement can be times of growth in contemplative prayer and God touches people to grow in a deeper relationship with Him/Her. If we look at the contemporary contemplative prayer movements in our country such as the John Main Movement and the Centering Prayer Movement, many of the members have been touched by God to enter this deeper relationship in their later years, in the third stage of their life. In a very real sense, we are preparing ourselves to enter into the house of our Father that Jesus said that He would prepare for us. We are going and coming home.

            This desire to go home is also present within us in our younger years and especially felt in our growth in contemplative prayer. At the heart of contemplative and mystical prayer is the entry into silence, darkness and emptiness where we encounter a presence – the presence of a Beloved one who woos us to love Him/Her. This divine presence at our center is more intimate to ourselves than we are to ourselves, yet it is also transcendent and a mystery to us always slipping through our fingers. As we grow in mystical prayer, this divine presence becomes the rock of and defines our life.  In a very real sense, this desire on our part to go home, to encounter and receive that unconditional love begins on earth. This divine presence at our center is our home because we know that the earth that we live on is not our true one. Our life here is very fragile. Sudden illness can burst in on us and deprive us of many things, earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis threaten us and human relationships come and go, wars, etc. The universe we live in, in its human and material dimension, can be very unfriendly. If we anchor ourselves in contemplative prayer, however, and hear the call of the divine presence at our center, we begin to get a taste of the home to which we are called  - our Father’s house.

            The mystics in their deep relationship with God which they grew into in contemplative prayer have tasted this ‘coming home’ for which we yearn. Their relationship with God was central and defined their life.  Despite the unfriendliness of earthly life which they also experienced, God touched them giving them a calmness of being home. Theresa of Avila had this sense of coming home and being at peace in her Father’s house and expressed it beautifully in her famous poem ‘Only God Matters.’

‘Do not let anything disturb you.

Nothing should bother you.

Everything will pass on.

God does not go away.

With patience

It will all work out.

To those who have God

Nothing will be wanting.

Only God matters.’

            Theresa of Avila’s poem expresses the goal of our contemplative prayer and path. As we get closer to God and feel the divine presence at our center, we will share Theresa’s confidence. We will have that sense of coming home and experiencing that place of unconditional love that we desire despite the ups and downs of our life on earth which will someday end. We will taste that coming home which we will fully possess someday when we reach eternal life.

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CONFIDENCE

 

 

JOURNEY OF MY LIFE

 

Robert Trabold

 

Cutting onshore winds from ocean chill me to the bone

drive me to walk along harbor’s side.

Winter trees there and land calm sharp gusts

offer me shelter.

Bright sun – blue calm water –low tide

invite me to walk along shore.

Curving shore line – brown sand – white bleached sand

sea gulls looking for food in newly freed earth

rocks – old stone walls – bricks uncovered in low tide

leafless bushes – islands in the distance – all populate my walking.

A few humans like me are daydreaming – taking it all in.

 

Low tide changed contours of shore

things once hidden, now reappear.

Is not journey of my life like the zigzagging shore line?

So many events – currents – movements

some painful – others smiling!

My life – a big mystery like rising and falling of the tides

tides open up surprises – then cover them up.

 

Silence permeates ebb and flow of water

shore is silent.

Silence covers it all – embraces all.

I feel it

silence of my Beloved – silence of God.

In ebb and flow of the sea

in ebb and flow of my life

He stands next to me – will not let go. I am not alone.

Mystery of my life – mystery of the sea

mystery of my Beloved

He has a guiding hand – invisible hand – warm and firm.

Hand of God!

 

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CONFIDENCE IN GOD

 

Robert Trabold

 

 

            In the summertime, we might have more time to reflect on our life and where it is going. Our schedules may slow down and we can think of our prayer life of contemplation and where it is leading us. In our meditation, we have our discipline of prayer and attempt to touch God’s presence by repeating the mantra and watching our breathing in and out. Of course, there are always distractions, worries about our life and its many facets and the constant tumult of the world and its wars. But we put those thoughts behind us and again return to our mantra and breathing. This constant putting aside the many distractions, worries and cares that come into our prayer is a sign that God is more important in our life than the many concerns we have about the present and the future. For twice a day for twenty minutes each time, we set our sights on the Lord because He is the primary object of our life and guides us. We have confidence that the rest of life with its cares and worries is not important as the Divine.

 

 

            This putting behind us and away the worries and concerns of our daily living and those of the world reminds us of the teaching of Jesus. In the gospel of St. Matthew, the Lord tells us to put aside our constant worries about having enough to eat and drink and clothes for our bodies. He mentions that life is more than these material concerns.  These worries are basically about survival and Jesus in his teaching tells us that life is more than survival. Rather we have to concentrate on the Kingdom of God and its justice and the Lord will provide for the rest. This is quite a challenge for us because we are immersed in the world, can be sucked into its dynamic of desire for material things and security, etc. and be overwhelmed with the injustices and wars around us. It will take a life time for us to put aside these concerns and fix our sights on the Kingdom of God and grow in such confidence that Jesus proposes to us.

 

            Our contemplative prayer where we put aside these concerns of our material life and the world requires a trust. We have to grow in the belief that God is there for us and will never let us out of his sight. In the gospel, Jesus tells us to look how his Father takes care of the lilies of the fields, the grass and birds.   If this is so, He will extend to us the same care. Jesus exhorts us not to worry about tomorrow since it will take care of itself. This is one of the challenges that we face over the years; we are to be faithful to our daily meditation where the focus is on the Lord. Our relationship with Him will grow. Our love will deepen and so to the confidence of His care which Jesus promises us. This is an important horizon of our life and if we are persistent in growing in this, a peace will come within us. We will not be torn in every direction but keep our sights on Jesus and His promise who then will guide the boat of our life to a safe landing.

 

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SUMMER CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

BENCH ON JONES BEACH

Robert Trabold

In loving memory of

Margaret M. Ross – Adler

from your family, friends and colleagues

We love you – miss you more than the

number of waves that roll down front.

Ordinary bench – wooden seat

with steel – iron frame –gives it

strength. Wood – a bit worn from all

the sun – wind – salt water.

Dedicated to Margaret Ross - Adler

by her family - friends.  Bench looks over

sand into wide sea

endless blue sky – cloudy days

rainy days. At night looks at

black sky – stars – constellations.

I wonder what secrets are whispered.

Secrets of living – dying – health

sickness – peace – war. Bench watches

endless stream of life

world – universe.

I envy it such a perfect

beautiful place to wonder.  Every day

whole year – day – night.

I come to the sea

want to touch mystery - sky – seashore.

Let vastness wash – flow over me.

Bench - I on the same trip

travelling through the years with

its tears – laughter – health

sickness – life – death.  Bench sees it

all – we humans live it all.

Bench is persevering just sits here

does not give up. Example to me keep

walking in life – back – forth on

beach of life with sand – sky

ocean water. 

I should not become

overwhelmed too distressed with

flow of life. Bench is here each day

sunshine – rainy days.  I have

to keep on walking through the

years unraveling mysteries – finding

new ones.

Waves will not knock me down.

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SUMMER CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

Robert Trabold

            As we enter into summer time, it may be an occasion for us to enter more deeply into our understanding where our life is going. Summer can bring on a slowing down of our schedule and commitments so that we can take a breather from our many activities.  Those of us who live in these big modern cities, the never ending schedule of many meetings, telephone calls and commitments overwhelm us – so many things to do. I myself look forward to a break where there is more time for myself, enjoying the summer garden and taking a ride to the seashore. This slowing of our schedule can be a time to deepen our understanding of contemplation and the meaning to our meditating for twenty minutes each day. Our daily contemplation takes us on a mystical journey to an encounter to meet someone, the Divine. We are not thinking about deep theological issues or the dogmas of our faith. Rather it is a journey and quest to have an experience of God’s presence in silence.

            In the quiet of contemplative prayer, we are entering into a new level of consciousness. We leave behind the rational world of our daily living and enter into a new way to experience reality. We reject our self-orientated way of living where our ego is the center of attention. The quest in contemplation opens us up to a newer way of seeing things and living due to our contact with God. Slowly we begin to see things as the Lord sees them and who invites us into have a relationship of love. We realize that we are being loved by someone and it is imperative to us to respond to this with reciprocal love. We are now not enamored of our ego and its needs and importance but our life is now orientated around our love relationship with our Beloved.

            This new way of living and our understanding of it are very important and can help us orientate our life in a more authentic way. We will not find real happiness and meaning if we are just concerned with our material success and prosperity in society. This is a big temptation because the material world and its attractions are overwhelming with the mass media; it constantly bombards us with messages and images to participate more in consumer society. This causes unhappiness and restlessness since these things cannot really fulfill our deepest needs as humans. There are other dimensions which need to be fulfilled and answered. Our journey into contemplative prayer leads us to the center of our human spirit where we encounter the spirit of God in silence and darkness. It is a path to the love of the Lord around which then we orientate our existence. It does not mean that the problems of our personal life and those of the world will disappear but we will put them into perspective which then gives us a sense of hope and security. Our life then is in the hands of Someone who loves us and takes our hand to lead us through the years.

            If we read the lives of the great mystics who lived before us, this is the discovery which they made in their prayer and contemplation. In the silence of meditation, they met Someone at their center and still point which opened up for them a new way of existence. Today through the contemplative prayer movements, we are lead to the same path; we do not have to live in a monastery. We are now living in a ‘monastery without walls’ where we receive the invitation of the Lord to travel the same mystical journey. We do not have to look around in the world to meet this presence of the Divine but to travel within ourselves, to our center and still point. Here we meet the spirit of God who is our Beloved. The slowing down of our schedule in the summer time can be an occasion for us to take stock of this opportunity and grow in authentic living.

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Mary's Time - Springtime

OUR LADY OF FIFTH AVENUE

Black Madonna

St. Thomas Church

Robert Trabold

One does not have to travel far

make a pilgrimage to Lourdes – Fatima.

Right here in the heart of Manhattan

stately statue Mary – child

aura of holiness – sacred

black bronze.

Mary – child gaze into mystery

eternity.

Darkness of face, figures, clothing

draw us

statue exudes deep silence

reaching into silence of God.

Blackness has nothing

here has everything

leading us to walk into eternity

into dark mystery of God.

Mary – child 

take us by the hand

hand of love.

In utter blackness – mystery

someone calls our name

Our Beloved

call of love

an encounter

one that is eternal

one that is faithful.

Call beyond human ones

that come - go

call that grasps us – shapes us

gives us peace the world cannot give.

Black Madonna – child sit in mystery

inviting us to fullness

that no words can explain.

                                                                 

                         PILGRIMAGE INTO THE DARK NIGHT: BLACK MADONNA

Robert Trabold

            In the spring of 2011, I made a pilgrimage of silence to Castilla y León, Spain where the two great mystics, John of the Cross and Theresa of Avila lived and died. It was a pilgrimage of silence in so far that in visiting these holy sites and spaces, I was lead into contemplation trying to touch the presence of the divine at my center and still point. I did not bring along books to read but did bring one of the poems of John of the Cross.  While on the trip, I read slowly his major poems which helped me focus on the presence of the divine. The poem of John, ‘A Dark Night,’ helped me feel that this inward journey of contemplation to meet God at our center and still point is one that is always wrapped in mystery. It leads us to an encounter with God who is transcendent and completely other from ourselves and the natural world around us. In that sense, it is very different from relationships we have with other humans. In spite of this dimension of transcendence and otherness, this relationship is much closer and deeper to us than other relations can be. In human relationships, the other is always in front of us and exterior to us. But in this encounter in contemplation and silence, we feel the divine presence deep within us where no one else can enter. So this relationship has a dimension of mystery and darkness which John of the Cross so well celebrates in his poem. We note also that although this relationship is completely different from our ordinary experiences, it is an encounter of love where the divine touches and reminds us that He/She loves us and asks us to respond to this invitation.  As John of the Cross so well puts, it is an encounter in darkness but one that is also burning with fire of love. We are meeting our Beloved who takes us by the hand and asks us to respond with our love. While I was on pilgrimage to Segovia where John lived and is buried, his poem about the dark night was always present to me and helped me feel the presence of the divine within me.

            On this pilgrimage also to Castilla y León, I made it a point to visit several Marian shrines with statues of the Black Madonna and I wanted to enter more into their symbolism. Statues of the Black Virgin are all over Europe and are centers of pilgrimage for many people. I was able to visit such statues in the Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha in Madrid. I made a trip also to Toledo and in the cathedral, I visited the chapel of Our Lady of the Sanctuary and the beautiful statue of the ‘La Virgen Blanca.’ These two statues are very famous and attract many visitors to the church. I sat in meditation in front of these and the dark complexion of the mother and child had an aura of mystery. Because the faces and skin were black, I had the feeling that the Virgin was leading us into the mystery of the dark night that John of the Cross speaks about in his poem. With this dark color of the face and skin, Mary directs us in our inward journey to meet the transcendent God who is completely other than we are but loves us and wants to have our friendship. I believe that these Black Madonna pilgrim shrines not only in Europe but in many places in the world attract people for this reason.  Darkness is a symbol which draws and leads us into mystery of God to whom we want to orientate our life. Our daily life is full of many things, interests, occupations, concerns, etc, and it is a challenge to find the central focus which will push our life in the right direction. This focus is God and we have the challenge through our faith and prayer to know and love God better so that the divine can be the center of our activities and relationships and put them into the right direction. This is the challenge of our life and the Black Madonna is in these pilgrimage shrines reaching out to many people and assisting them in this journey of faith.

            The color black is also symbolic of the earth and fertility which are deep human realities.  We come from the earth and our mother’s womb. Looking at the Black Madonna, we ask her to help us with the many problems of our life and the world we live in. In a pilgrimage, we go to a holy space where we have a special encounter with the divine.  We bring the problems and cares of our daily life back home to this holy place asking God his help with these things. The Black Madonna celebrated and honored at these particular shrines can be an intercessor in this regard.

            In conclusion, in making the pilgrimage of silence to Castilla y León, I am always drawn to visit the place where John of the Cross lived and is buried.  I read his poems which set the tone for the trip and this year, I read many times his poem ‘In a Dark Night.’  We are on an inward journey of contemplation to meet God in silence and darkness. It is a meeting of love where the divine invites us into a relationship of friendship.  This year, I also coupled this pilgrimage with a visit to three chapels with statues of the Black Madonna. The darkness of the statues exudes mystery and invites us to take the hand of Mary who will lead us into the presence of the transcendent God who awaits our friendship.  Since this is a journey to meet God who is completely other and different, we must be content to make this trip in mystery and darkness. The poems of John of the Cross and the statues of the Black Madonna will help us find our way to this beautiful meeting with the Lord.

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