The Dark Night Of The Soul A Spiritual Canticle And The Living Flame Of Love Of Saint John Of The Cross Of The Order Of Our Lady Of Carmel Classic Reprint

Excerpt from The Dark Night of the Soul, a Spiritual Canticle, and the Living Flame of Love, of Saint John of the Cross, of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel How this awful night is like purgatory. How the divine wisdom illuminates men on earth with that light in which the angels are purified and enlightened in heaven. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The Dark Night of the Soul - A Spiritual Canticle, and the Living Flame of Love. Second Edition is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1891. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

St. John of the Cross described the stanzas of his poem, The Living Flame of Love, as the “songs of the soul in the intimate communication of the union of love with God.” The verses capture the mystical vistas from the summit of the saint’s spiritual journey, describing the mystery and powerful experience of divine transformation as the soul encounters and unites with the pure love of God. After the poem’s composition and at the request of his friend, the laywoman Doña Ana de Peñalosa, St. John of the Cross wrote the prose commentary that represents his final word on the journey of the soul’s transformation toward union with God. In these verses and commentary, our saintly guide teaches us as the “Mystical Doctor of the Church,” but also as a gentle pastor. Readers can aptly place themselves in the position of Doña Ana—a fellow soul on this journey of transformation in God’s grace—following this holy shepherd along the narrow paths of purification toward our eternal dwelling place in God and union with him. In this study edition, Father Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D., offers important context and contemporary interpretive notes concerning the teaching of St. John of the Cross in The Living Flame of Love. This edition includes: Study guides provided throughout the book, which provide helpful guidance and explanation; A glossary of terms offering definitions as they pertain to John’s specific usage throughout the work; Comprehensive indexes of key themes and biblical references, which make this edition an indispensable reference resource. With the combination of a modern scholarly translation of St. John of the Cross’s text and a contemporary commentary, The Living Flame of Love: Study Edition affords readers the opportunity to gain a much deeper appreciation for the beauty and richness of St. John’s perennial teaching on the experience and science of love. The indexes are fully linked.

Dark Night of the Soul is a theological commentary on the poem explaining the meaning of St John of the Cross' poem of the same name. The book describes its meaning by stanza. Dark Night of the Soul narrates the journey of the soul from bodily home to union with God. The journey occurs during night, representing the hardships and difficulties the soul meets in detachment from the world, and reaches the light of the union with God. The book is divided into two sections reflecting the two phases of the dark night. The first is a purification of the senses. The second, and more intense of the two stages, is that of the purification of the spirit. Dark Night of the Soul is part of four works by John dealing with the "Dark Night of the Soul," when the individual Soul undergoes earthly and spiritual privations in search of union with God. Along with The Ascent Of Mount Carmel, The Living Flame of God, and the Spiritual Canticle, Dark Night of the Soul is regarded as one of the greatest works of mysticism in Christianity. Saint John of the Cross was a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, Catholic saint, Carmelite friar and priest. He was also a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered, along with Saint Teresa of Avila, as a founder of the Discalced Carmelites.

In 1564, St. John of the Cross, a Spanish mystic, was arrested and banished to a remote Andalusian monastery for his involvement in leading the Carmelite order to reform. During his captivity, he had frequent visions of God and composed many mystical poems. Two of the greatest are "The Dark Night of the Soul", which explores the pain of his felt absence of God, and "The Living Flame", a paean to the joy and peace experienced by the soul after reunion with God.

St. John narrates this journey of the soul, which requires death to self and detachment from the world. In a step-by-step process, he shows how God can use this "dark night" to eventually bring our human spirits into great illumination, revealing: *Divine wisdom and the passion of divine love. How the soul can walk securely through the darkness and the wonderful effects that are wrought in the believer as a result of the dark night. *Includes CD of selected excerpts from book. Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591) was a poet, priest, philosopher, and mystic who helped to bring about reform within the Roman Catholic Church during the sixteenth century. A member of the Carmelite Order, he worked diligently with Saint Teresa of Avila to return their order to its proper foundation, a deep devotion to Jesus Christ. As a result of their efforts, John was imprisoned. Central to Saint John's beliefs are the death of the self-life, the mortification of the flesh, and overcoming the devil, the world, and all temptations so that the soul can be completely united to God and His love.