Prayer and Supplication

Before the Sepulcher of St. John of the Cross

Friar John of the Cross. As a pilgrim traveling through lands and roads I have cometo you. I come in search of God. And you, Friar John, have discovered a way that surely leads to God.

Here I am, craving God. I instinctively see that who prevents me from God is my own "presence." And I see by intuition that I have to pass overmy own presence. Otherwise I will never come to God. And all this is taught to me by you, Friar John.

Your person, and your life subjugate me. I see that behind you hides a mysterious depth, much more than all those who have looked at you believe.I precisely need you, precisely your way. To be forgotten, to be despised, sinking into anonymity, "to disappear"... and this is what I need.

Let no one remember me, if not to despise me. Let no one look at me if it is not to mock. Suffer and love. Suffer loving. Love by suffering. I know, Friar John,where the fight awaits me. God awaits me in my "own house" just like you, Friar John.

I solemnly promise, here, in front of your tomb, to fight, to resist, to suffer, not to complain either internally or externally, to sink into a pious silence, into a silence not of rebellion but of fraternity.

I know this road is steep, cut to peak and dark. I understand you Fray John. Only in the Biblical nakedness of God alone, only in solitudewith the Lord, in enlightened intimacy with God, only in this way can we advance through this "cold night", and along this stony road. God will therefore be the Light, the Comfort, Warmth, Hope, and Eternal Life.

I'm leaving Friar John. It's time to go. I leave happy. Above all, I leave with a spirited, willing, cheerful heart.

Goodbye, Friar John. We will never separate. Together we will advance to the top of

the mountain, where God awaits me.

God, God, transcendent and immanent. You are THE REALITY. You are inside me and outside of me. God, God, eternal resonance of hearts and gravitation ofhorizons. Come to me. Enter forever in me. Like a Castilian takes possession of me. Stay with me. Increase Faith, and Hope. Increase Love.God, God, Love, Abyss, Depth, Universal Vibration, Efficient Cause of the Universe, Tenderness of the heart...

Goodbye Friar John. Together we will make the path that remains.

Amen, Amen.

Segovia, August 27, 1969 (age 41)

From the Diary of Father Ignacio Larrañaga. In nomine Domini Bilbao 1969-1975