We often refer to Jacopone as a mystic, as well as a poet, emphasising that one cannot fully appreciate Jacopone’s poetry without understanding something about his mysticism.  

But what is mysticism?

Mysticism means different things to different people but at its simplest, it is the search for an experiential knowledge of God, as opposed to purely intellectual, traditional or ritual approaches.  Evelyn Underhill described mysticism as “the science or art of the spiritual life”.  Jacopone’s mysticism, then, was the spiritual journey leading to his experience of God.

Jacopone summarised the essentials of his spiritual journey – as perhaps no mystic has done – in the laude O amor de povertate (no. LX).  This autobiographical, realistic and detailed laude explains his goal, his route and the destination, corresponding to the aspiration of any mystic at any time, in his century as today. 

The goal of his spiritual journey is stated in stanza 9:

Deo no alberga en core stretto;

   tant’è granne quant’hai affetto;

povertate ha sì gran petto,

   che ci alberga deitate.

God does not live in a constricted heart;

a heart is only as big as the love it holds:

In the great heart of Poverty

God has room to dwell.

The objective is to eliminate from one's heart every impulse and presumption of the ego, to achieve true Gospel humility, which expands the heart to the point of being able to host God.  An objective that is easy to talk about but very difficult to achieve!

The route Jacopone describes is not a philosophical or theological elaboration of mysticism, but is simply the story of his life, passing through four stages of increasing difficulty. We could imagine this “path of the soul” as a spiral path of four turns, that with each turn takes one to a higher level of spirituality:

• The first turn of the spiral, at the time of Jacopone’s conversion, involved adopting the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience prescribed for Franciscan tertiaries. The adversary to be overcome, at this point, is the body’s instincts.

• The second turn of the spiral saw Jacopone fighting impulses of pride to which he was vulnerable because of his own life experience: cultural and intellectual pride, the desire to be considered holy, the aspiration for power or leadership in political movements agitating the Church.

• The third turn of the spiral – which Jacopone tells us was even more difficult than the previous one – is where emotional temptations must be fought.  The fear of hell and the hope of paradise, although widely promoted by a certain religiosity in his time as today, are not worthy of a soul that loves Jesus and entrusts itself unconditionally to him.

• In the fourth turn of the spiral, Jacopone – excommunicated by the Church and condemned to harsh imprisonment – even gives up fighting for his beliefs (though without abandoning his convictions) and fully accepts the most difficult commandment of Jesus: “Do not judge, do not condemn, forgive”.

At the end of this journey Jacopone mentions experiences of mystical ecstasy, in which everything changes and everything is renewed:  Onne luce è tenebria e onne tenebre c'è dia, “every light (of the earthly world) has become darkness and every darkness (of the supernatural world) has become light”.

The destination of this difficult ascension is not a prize to be enjoyed in the afterlife, invented by imaginative saints, possessed mystics or creative artists.  But it is a goodness that we will taste for eternity – indeed, the greatest good that human beings can aspire to.  Jacopone describes it in two lines placed at the most strategic points of the laude – the beginning and the end – so as to best attract the attention of his readers:

(first line)

O amor de povertate,

renno de tranquillitate!

(last line)

e onne cosa possedere

en spirito de libertate.

O love of poverty,

tranquil kingdom!...

possessing all things

in a spirit of freedom.

What a wonderful conclusion, for every mystic and for every human being: tranquility and peace of heart can be achieved by freeing ourselves from our prejudices and presumptions.  Gospel poverty sets us free and offers us, in exchange, the supreme gift of peace of heart.

Read the full laude O amor de povertate with translation in English here and in Italian here.