..On the life and teachings of St. John of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish mystic and poet known for his insights on spiritual growth and the "dark night of the soul." Through a series of reflections and discussions, you'll learn about John's approach to spirituality, his insights on the nature of the spiritual journey, and his message of trust and surrender to the divine. Whether you're interested in mysticism, personal growth, or simply seeking inspiration for your own journey, St. John of the Cross offers a profound perspective on the human experience. Join us on this journey of self-discovery and learn about the teachings of this influential spiritual figure.
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one of the greatest factors lovers of
God the Christian faith has ever known
was that luminous Spanish Mystic of the
16th century Saint John of the Cross he
was first and always a lover and God is
beloved but these are pale words he was
a living Ember blown upon by the Breath
of God an ember glowing ever brighter on
account of that breath all he ever spoke
of all he ever admitted was the love of
God and the events of his life grim and
painful as they sometimes were seemed
only to Quicken this constant Act of
Love Saint John is rare if not unique
among Christian Saints for although the
church claims him and his daily work was
in and for the church he cannot be
encompassed by a church nor even by
Christianity in its broadest sense he
was purely and simply widely and deeply
a man of God but if this makes him sound
unapproachable it should be mentioned
that he was greatly loved when he lived
he was was a very small man less than
five feet tall then faced with dark
compelling eyes his manner was
unobtrusive whatever came to him honors
her humiliations he accepted with more
than serenity with joy the love of God
kept him joyful under all conditions his
greatest poems passionate poems of love
for God on which he later based his
whole teaching were actually written
while he was a prisoner in a very small
cell subject to indignities and cruelty
his early life was unremittingly hard
his mother was widowed shortly after he
was born and he was educated at an
Institute for Children of the poor where
he was also fed and clothed at 17 he
enrolled in a Jesuit college and
received a first-class education in the
humanities in 1563 at 21 he took vows as
a Carmelite at this time the strictness
of the Carmelite Order had relaxed
considerably the monks and nuns dressing
and living in comfort and luxury brother
John was unhappy about this and was
considering transferring to amoros to
your order but then he met Teresa of
Avila who had felt the same
dissatisfaction as a Carmelite nun it
was her hope to reform the order to
restore the Carmelite primitive rule for
Friars and nuns for a life more
restricted and more given to Solitude
and contemplation she persuaded John
that this was where his call was to work
within the order to reform it so John
agreed to join with brother Antonio De
Heredia a man of 57 who had willingly
given up a comfortable and important
position as a prior to work with Teresa
for establishing a monastery according
to this strict primitive rule we have
Teresa's humorous and affectionate
description of Brother John at this time
she was surprised to find him so small
and she called her two monks of Friar
and a half but she was impressed by John
by the depth of his dark eyes by his
composure also by his common sense and
his courage and she was to say much
later I never came across any
imperfection in him for her new
Monastery Teresa had been made a gift of
a tumbled down house in an isolated
Village called durrello she was dismayed
at her first sight of the place nothing
more than a pigsty she said but her
Friar and a half took it over with joy
and brother John felt free at last from
the Fetters of material things the
places in the Garrett where the two men
slept were so close under the roof they
could only sit or lie and at first in
such bad repair that often while they
meditated the snow sifted in on their
habits they considered it a time of
great rejoicing at a later visit Teresa
reported that she found the prior
brother Antonio in front of the
monastery this little stable of
Bethlehem busy sweeping like a simple
lay brother his face alight with
happiness I was amazed at the Spirit
which God had infused into the place the
two Merchants who traveled with me did
nothing but weed it seemed that there
was a need in the Carmelite Order for
just such a reform because once it was
started it grew rapidly the Friars and
nuns of the reform wore the plainest of
clothes and rope sandals instead of fine
Moroccan leather shoes they became known
as the disgust or unshod carmelites at
first they were ignored by the caked
members but inevitably as they drew new
enthusiasts to their lists jealousy
arose there began a struggle over
jurisdiction though he never wished it
so the influence of Brother John grew
until he stood with Teresa almost as a
symbol of what came to be thought of as
a rebellion certain factions of the
established order decided to stop the
expansion they kidnapped Jon took him to
Toledo and put him in a Cell six feet by
10 feet with the only light from a slit
high up in the wall he was there for
nine months during which time he was
treated with harshness and even
punishments such as might be given to a
criminal yet it was during this time
that he composed most of his great poems
it is said that at night is cell glowed
but that when the prison guards would
come to investigate the source of the
light it would disappear his escape from
that prison was extraordinary if not
miraculous he said the Virgin released
him the guard seemed to be deaf and
blind locks and walls no obstacle to him
by the time Teresa died in 1582 the
reform had become well established
brother John had presided over several
New Foundations and was now consultant
on the new administrative Council but
again problems and jealousies arose this
time within the organization the
original discosed carmelites were being
eliminated one by one and after five
years as a console alter brother John
was suddenly ordered out of the country
to a post in Mexico he never reached it
before he could leave he fell mortally
ill at a Convent in yubita southern
Spain where the prior disapproved of him
and made things as uncomfortable for him
as he could however his sanctity became
known by the people of that district and
his funeral was the occasion of a great
Outburst of love and appreciation he was
only 49 when he died it had never been
brother John's intention to be a teacher
as a matter of fact in his writing he
deferred to what he considered the
superior wisdom of Teresa his poems of
love for God however he allowed to pour
out of him without restraint he could
not help it the most Exquisite poetry
perfect in form flowed from his heart
with joyous spontaneity when he visited
Teresa's convents he found his verses on
the lips of all the nuns they were
constantly asking him for inter
interpretations of certain lines finally
Teresa's companion the saintly honored
to Jesus persuaded him that he should
write commentaries on his poems and so
he began the work of his lifetime four
great books the ascent of Mount Carmel
The Dark Knight of the soul the
spiritual Canticle of the soul and the
living flame of Love Saint John is not
easy to read his poems are a delight but
his prose is wordy diffusive and
repetitive as a teacher he is a
religious psychologist analyzing an
astonishingly minute detail the
religious process but he is not like
Teresa who talked endlessly about
herself her sufferings and her ecstasies
unself-consciously almost accidentally
he reveals the Sublimity of his own
experiences at any unexpected moment his
difficult prose will burst forth lofty
poetic Ardent joyful and soul-stirring
it is a glimpse of the fire that is
burning within the essence of his own
experiences in his three greatest poems
the ascent of Mount Carmel the living
flame of love and a spiritual Canticle
these he used like sutras or threads to
which his commentaries were to be strung
if he is defuse he is not disorderly his
commentaries make up for carefully
planned Progressive books the first the
ascent of Mount Carmel based on the poem
of that name describes the task of his
spiritual aspirant taking his first
steps in the upward path to Union with
God in a dark night with anxious love
inflamed zero happy lot fourth
unobserved I went my house being now
addressed the going forth is the
decision to find God the house at rest
is the first step on the journey and
Detachment is the key to setting the
house at rest in his commentary Saint
John makes it very plain what he means
by Detachment it is not the the things
of this world that occupy or injure the
soul for they do not enter within but
rather the wish for and desire of the mo
would that spiritual persons knew how
they are losing the good things of the
spirit because they will not raise up
their desires above Trifles the ascent
the first Dark Knight is the predation
of these sense desires and Saint John
takes up the job with Vigor and
thoroughness he himself has struggled
from the bottom of the path to the
Heights and knows every Pitfall and
stumbling block the disciple who is
willing to surrender himself to this
basic book to this determined teacher
will be made over will be finally and
wholly convinced that the only purpose
in life the only thing that matters at
all is to unite mind heart and soul with
God this is Saint John's constant
message this is his purpose in writing
to impress upon us the absolute
necessity as well as the ways and means
for stripping ourselves of all
hindrances to the knowledge of and all
ultimate Union with God it is simple
really the whole of religion is love and
the whole of spiritual exercise is to
free the soul from worldly entanglements
which prevent it from loving God
completely the second The Dark Night of
the soul the second of the four books is
also based on the poem the ascent once
The Apprentice Soul sets out on this
path of purification God begins to draw
it very quickly to himself after the
strenuous gaining of a measure of
self-control after learning to abide
with attention and loving waiting upon
God the ascent then the aspirant's duty
is to allow God to work all his activity
now should be bent towards submitting
his will to God's will this Saint John
calls the passive night and he is very
careful to give all the signs that show
when an aspirant is ready for passivity
lest the disciple fall into laziness or
complacency when all attachments and
ties are broken when all worldly
pleasures have become tasteless then is
the time to resign oneself utterly to
God what is required for this is Faith
the soul when at least uses its own
proper ability travels most surely
because it walks most by faith who shall
hinder God from doing his will in a soul
that is resigned detached
self-annihilated The Dark Knight the
third the living flame of love then
after much practice there comes a
blessed state in which the soul communes
easily with God and exercises itself in
love the description of this state is
the substance of Saint John's third book
The Soul already transformed and glowing
interiorly with the fire of Love Has Not
only United with the Divine fire but
becomes a loving flame hence then we may
say of the Soul which is transformed in
love that its ordinary state is that of
the fuel in the midst of the fire that
the acts of such a soul are the Flames
which rise up out of the fire of love
when the soul is on fire with love it
will feel as if a Seraph with a burning
brand had Struck it and when the burning
brand has thus touched it the soul feels
that the wound it has received is
delicious Beyond imagination the living
flame at this point then there is
nothing to do but wait for God's grace
but there need be no anxiety about this
waiting for Saint John assures us it is
impossible according to the Divine
goodness and mercy that God will not
perform his own work yes more impossible
than that the sun should not shine in a
clear and cloudless guy and he adds if
we are seeking the Beloved he is seeking
us much more living flame now the soul
has to acknowledge that all is the grace
of God and there is nothing else the
sooner we surrender the better for us
the Beloved is waiting the fourth the
spiritual Canticle in this beautiful
book comes the moment for which we have
long been preparing toward which we we
have been struggling the moment which
alone gives life its meaning when the
soul has lived for some time in this
perfect and sweet love God calls it and
leads it into his flourishing Garden for
the celebration of the spiritual
marriage then the two Natures are so
United what is divine is so communicated
to what is human that without undergoing
any essential change each seems to be
God this is the flame that consumes and
gives no pain the love of God is now
perfect and the Soul has changed it into
God wherein its movements and actions
are now Divine the soul in this estate
of the spiritual betrothal walks
habitually in Union with the love of God
spiritual Canticle my soul is occupied
and all my substance in his service now
I guard no flock nor have I any other
employment my soul occupation is love
the living flame of Love That wound is
tenderly my soul and it's in misdept as
Thou Art no longer Grievous perfect thy
Work If it be thy will break the web of
this sweet encounter oh sweet bum a
delicious wound oh tender hand zero
Gentle Touch savoring of everlasting
life and paying the whole debt by
slaying thou has changed death into life
o lamps of fire in the splendors of
which the Deep caverns of sense dim and
dark with unwanted brightness give light
and warmth together to their beloved how
gently and how lovingly thou wakeest in
my bosom where alone thou secretly
dwellest and in thy sweet breathing full
of grace and Glory how tenderly thou
fillest me with thy love the ascent of
Mount Carmel in a dark night with
anxious love inflamed oh happy lot
fourth unobserved I went my house being
now addressed in darkness and in safety
by the secret ladder disguised oh happy
lot in darkness and concealment my house
being now at rest in that happy night in
secret scene of none seeing not myself
without other lighter guides save that
which in my heart was burning that light
guided me more surely than the Noonday
sun to the place where he was waiting
for me whom I knew so well and where
none appeared oh guiding night o night
more lovely than the dawn o night that
is United the lover with his beloved and
changed her into her love on my flowery
bosom kept hold for him alone there he
reposed and slept and I caressed him and
the waving of the Cedars found him as I
scattered his hair in the breeze that
blew from the turret he struck me on the
neck with his gentle hand and all
sensation left me I continued an
oblivion lost my head was resting on my
love lost to all things and myself and
amid the lilies forgotten through all my
cares away
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