The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross
Overview
This revised edition of The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross was produced to mark the fourth centenary of the death of St. John of the Cross (1542–1591). The result is an English translation of his writings that preserves the authentic meaning of the great mystic’s writings, presents them as clearly as possible, and at the same time gives the reader the doctrinal and historical information that will lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the teachings of the Mystical Doctor.
Included in The Collected Works are St. John’s poetry, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle, and The Living Flame of Love, as well as his extant letters and other counsels.
- Includes new translations of classic spiritual works
- Contains a biographical sketch and chronological outline of his life
- Preserves the authentic meaning of the great mystic’s writings and presents them as clearly as possible
- General Introduction
- The Poetry
- The Sayings of Light and Love
- The Ascent of Mount Carmel
- The Dark Night
- The Spiritual Canticle
- The Living Flame of Love
- Special Counsels
- The Letters
Top Highlights
“1. The third kind of harm the appetites bring upon a person is blindness and darkness. Vapors” (Page 135)
“Seek him in faith and love, without desiring to find satisfaction in anything, or delight, or desiring to understand anything other than what you ought to know.” (Page 482)
“In this purgation, these two portions of the soul will undergo complete purification, for one part is never adequately purged without the other. The real purgation of the senses begins with the spirit. Hence the night of the senses we explained should be called a certain reformation and bridling of the appetite rather than a purgation. The reason is that all the imperfections and disorders of the sensory part are rooted in the spirit and from it receive their strength. All good and evil habits reside in the spirit and until these habits are purged, the senses cannot be completely purified of their rebellions and vices.” (Pages 398–399)
“The only appetite God permits and wants in his dwelling place is the desire for the perfect fulfillment of his law and the carrying of the cross of Christ. Scripture teaches that God ordered nothing else to be placed in the Ark where the manna was than the Law and the rod of Moses (signifying the cross) [Dt. 31:26; Nm. 17:10]. Those who have no other goal than the perfect observance of the Lord’s law and the carrying of the cross of Christ will be true arks, and they will bear within themselves the real manna, which is God, when they possess perfectly, without anything else, this law and this rod.” (Page 130)
“They, therefore, who are well guided from the outset do not become attached to visible instruments or burden themselves with them. They do not care to know any more than is necessary to accomplish good works, because their eyes are fixed only on God, on being his friend and pleasing him; this is what they long for. They very generously give all they have. Their pleasure is to know how to live for love of God or neighbor without these spiritual or temporal things. As I say, they set their eyes on the substance of interior perfection, on pleasing God and not themselves.” (Page 366)
- Title: The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross
- Author: St. John of the Cross
- Translators: Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD
- Edition: Third Edition
- Publisher: Institute of Carmelite Studies
- Publication Date: 1991
- Pages: 814
- Christian Group: Catholic
- Resource Type: Collected Works
- Topic: Spirituality
St. John of the Cross, Carmelite friar and priest of Marrano origin, is a major figure of the Spanish Counter-Reformation, a mystic and Roman Catholic saint. He is one of thirty-six Doctors of the Church.