About Dark Night of the Soul

Dark Night of the Soul is, in fact, part of a much larger work called the Ascent of Mount Carmel, wherein Saint John of the Cross teaches us how to deny ourselves, mortifying ourselves to sin so that we may be united with God in love. The theme of both works is thus the purgation or purification of the soul. While I have not yet read the Ascent, I have the impression that much of it deals with the Activity of the soul to purify itself, through self-mortification. The Dark Night, on the other hand, deals with the Passive purgation of the soul, brought about by God Himself. That is, the work that God Himself does in the believer's soul to draw them closer to Him, often despite their own best efforts or errors. Because "However greatly the soul itself labors, it cannot actively purify itself so as to be in the least degree prepared for the Divine union of perfection of love, if God takes not its hand and purges it not in that dark fire."(22)

There are two Dark Nights in this Passive purgation - that of Sense and of Spirit. The Dark Night of Sense is common to all believers and may recur at numerous times throughout life. These "desert times" serve to purge the soul of some of the faults described in the section "Imperfections of Beginners" in my notes, and lead the believer to rely more fully on God, seeking Him moreso than anything He can give them. The second Night, the Dark Night of Spirit, is far more rare and is experienced by a small number of people. It is a horrible, agonizing purgation of the deep roots of sin in the soul, which suffers terribly as God remakes it as He sees fit. The majority of Dark Night deals with this Night of Spirit because it is less well known, and requires considerable illucidation.

The Dark Night is, alas, an incomplete work. Some of the manuscripts end with an explanation that the Saint died before he could complete it, but we know from his history that he lived for some time afterward. Some of what might have followed may be intuited by his other works, though they do not seem to speak with the same power as the Ascent and Dark Night. Nonetheless, we do have in this great work, a bounty of mystical theology and philosophy that penetrates our deepest soul, illuming its darkest corners and forcing us to fall upon the mercy of God. But not without hope. For as E. Allison Peers says "These treatises are a wonderful illustration of the theological truth that grace, far from destroying nature, ennobles and dignifies it, and of the agreement always found between the natural and the supernatural - beween the principles of sound reason and the sublimest manifestations of Divine grace." (27)

The following are my personal notes, taken as I read the Dark Night and contain a number of my reflections or attempts to clarify the Saint's meaning. The text is occasionally quoted, without permission, but always with page references. I hope that God will bless you through my meager thoughts, and inspire you to read for yourself this amazing work of Christian mysticism.

Michael
25 March 2004