Characteristics of the “dark nights”:ġ) Contemplative :Although ordinary sufferings (eg. So when the Divine light of contemplation shines into the soul, not yet perfectly enlightened, it causes spiritual darkness, because it not only surpasses its strength, but because it obscures it and deprives it of its natural perceptions” (381). Thus the more clear the light the more does it blind the eyes of the owl, and the stronger the sun’s rays the greater the darkness of our visual organs for the sun, in its own strength shining, overcomes them, by reason of their weakness, and deprives them of the power of seeing. John says that it is “a principle of philosophy, namely, the more clear and self-evident Divine things are, the more obscure and hidden they are to the soul naturally. A “ray of darkness” (381) leads us on this path.ģ) The point of arrival:God, Who is endless light, is beheld by our minds as darkness because He utterly transcends us. John of the Cross use the “night” to describe these received purifications?ġ) The point of departure: In this journey to God, we are deprived of seeking finite things for themselves, and this emptying is perceived as a “night” for the senses.Ģ) The means:We travel this road to union with God by receiving His actions through the dark light of faith, which is a “night” to our human ways of thinking. John now explains how God prepares us for union with Him (“the passive nights”). Having already outlined how we are to prepare ourselves for union with God (“the active night”) in The Ascent of Mount Carmel, St. John’s forceful and energetic style give hope and comfort to those who have entered into the dark nights. John wrote The Dark Night of the Soul, a book that systematically describes John’s actual mystical experiences in poetic language.Īlthough it is one of the most difficult books to read on Christian mysticism, St. Teresa of Avila’s Convent of the Incarnation) was imprisoned for 9 months in a Carmelite house in Toledo.ĭuring this hellish imprisonment ( see page 2), St. John had already been approved in 1572 by his immediate superior to be the director and confessor of St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), due to refusing his provincial superior’s request to return to the house of his profession in Medina (St. John of the Cross, and the Gospel-On Prayer. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1864. 1) John of the Cross, Saint, David Lewis, and Nicholas
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