With His gentle hand He wounded my neck And caused all my senses to be suspended. // Part poetic masterpiece, part mystic treatise, The Dark Night of the Soul by 16th century Carmelite monk, St. John of the Cross, addresses the feeling of being forgotten by the Presence of the Almighty that every Christian desirous of walking more closely with God must pass through in order to learn to walk by faith and not by sight. // Spiritual persons suffer great trials...by reason…of the fear which they have of being lost on the road, thinking that all spiritual blessing is over for them and that God has abandoned them since they find no help or pleasure in good things. Then they grow weary, and endeavor to concentrate their faculties with some degree of pleasure upon some object of meditation, thinking that, when they are not doing this and yet are conscious of making an effort, they are doing nothing. // Perhaps one of the most widely recognized of the mystical writings, St. John’s classic Dark Night of the Soul is not only practical theology but a beautiful balm of healing to anyone whose heart has ever echoed the words of Christ, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”
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"A companion from time to time along with writing of Teresa de Jesus. " — Margaretflynn (5 out of 5 stars)
"A companion from time to time along with writing of Teresa de Jesus. "
“To quote from this book would detract from the coiled power of its tightly focused picture of the soul’s progress; suffice it to say that there has never been a better book for discouraged Christians. When you cannot understand what or why you believe, but you find yourself unable to abandon faith, look to St. John for help.”
" Although St. John took great pains to distinguish between the two "Nights," I nevertheless think that an appropriate subtitle to this book would be "spiritual bipolar manifesto." "
" Not my type of book. "
" One of the best books I've ever read!! I LOVE IT!! "
" Difficult to read, but worth the trying. "
" not an easy or fun read. "
" I'm sure my rating will go up on a second read, but this is a complex book and I must say, reading it with a deadline isn't the best way to digest it. "
" This is a great book, even though I did have to reread it 2 or 3 times, I did because it was totally worth it. A very spiritual, very deep read. "
Saint John of the Cross (1542–1591), born Juan de Yepes Alvarez and also called San Juan de la Cruz, was a major figure of the Catholic Reformation, a Spanish mystic, and a Carmelite friar and priest. He was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered, along with Saint Teresa of Ávila, a founder of the Discalced Carmelites. Both his poetry and his studies on the growth of the soul are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature and one of the peaks of all Spanish literature. He was canonized as a saint in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII.
Saint John of the Cross (1542–1591) was a major figure of the Counter Reformation, a Spanish mystic, a Roman Catholic saint, a Carmelite friar, and a priest. He also wrote poetry, including “The Dark Night of the Soul” and “The Living Flame of Love.”
Michael Kramer is an AudioFile Earphones Award winner, a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, and recipient of a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award. He is also an actor and director in the Washington, DC, area, where he is active in the area’s theater scene and has appeared in productions at the Shakespeare Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and Theater J.
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