# Formation Guidelines The following formation guidelines are divided into four separate categories for proper understanding of human transformation and union within the context of Christian and Carmelite formation.  Active night of the sense: Sense includes the five bodily senses (touch, sight, smell, hearing, and taste) and the interior senses of the imagination, phantasy, and sense memory (The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book One)  Active night of the spirit: Purification of intellect, memory, and will by the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love (The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Books Two and Three)  Passive nights of sense and of spirit: Summary of the dark night (passive purification) leading to God’s action (The Dark Night, Books One and Two)  Glorification: Understanding the concept of transformation and union – Trinitarian life (The Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love) Side note: “Before we continue, we need to recognize that the four nights – the active nights of sense and of spirit, and the passive nights of sense and of spirit – do unfold, in some way, like stages or phases that we pass through. At the different points of our journey, our focus is more exterior or interior, and we experience ourselves as more active or as more evidently receptive. There is a type of progression... This logical arrangement, however, does not coincide exactly with their normal unfolding in life... Thus, while acknowledging that the divine and human are active in each level and that these are not absolutely separable stages, we can see that the two nights of sense, active and passive, precede the two nights of spirit, active and passive” (Love Awakened by Love, ch. 7, pg. 127-128). ## Active Night of the Sense Book One of the Ascent of Mount Carmel: As discussed previously, (see Formation II, Year A, Part One), John uses the term “active night of the sense” to explain the purification process of our senses. He calls this night “the point of departure” (A.1.2:1). Its focus is on behavioral change, correcting obvious faults and self-centered ego. “The point of departure” is a sense of need, a recognition that our life will not be complete until God is at the center. In this active night, we work with God’s grace to free ourselves from disordered desires that we perceive through our senses. Note: A brief review of the syllabus (Formation II, Year A, Part One) would help the definitively professed members to understand the purification process of the senses (active night) according to St. John of the Cross. ## Active Night of the Spirit Realizing the need of continuous purgation, in Books Two and Three of the Ascent, John explains the purification of the spirit or higher part of the soul, consisting primarily of the faculties: intellect, memory and will. He also introduces the function of the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love in the purification process of a human person. This period of purification is identified by John as the “active night of the spirit,” when the intellect is purified by faith, the memory is purified by hope, and the will is purified by charity. John is searching for union with a transcendent God. Accordingly, his explanation is that the soul might leave the “point of departure” for the means, which is “faith” “hope” and “love” – a way to emptying and purifying the spiritual faculties (intellect, memory, and will) of all that is not God (see A.2.6:6, emphasis added). This process of letting go of our disordered desires is not an intellectual pursuit, rather it is a passion, an encounter that enlightens and transforms the person. “What clearly follows is that when individuals have finished purifying and voiding themselves of all forms and apprehensible images, they will abide in this pure and simple light and be perfectly transformed in it. … [The] soul in its simplicity and purity would then be immediately transformed into simple and pure Wisdom, the Son of God” (A.2.15:4). Note: The active purification of the intellect by the practice of faith has already been covered in Formation II, Year A, Part Two. A quick review of the syllabus would help the definitively professed members to understand the purification process of the intellect by faith according to St. John of the Cross. Book Three of the Ascent: “We have already given instructions for the intellect, the first faculty of the soul, so that in all its apprehensions it may be united with God through pure faith, the first theological virtue. The same has to be done for the other two faculties, memory and will. They must undergo a purification of their respective apprehensions in order to reach union with God in perfect hope and charity” (A.3.1:1). ## Faith, Hope, and Love Theological virtues: faith, hope, and love (charity); working interdependently and being the likeness of God, they are the means that bridge the infinite distance between God and His creatures. They are the only proper and proximate means to union with Him (see Collected Works Glossary of Terms, pg. 776). Moral theologian Fr. Mark O’Keefe, O.S.B., makes an important observation about the three theological virtues: “For John of the Cross, faith, hope, and love are gifts of God as well as instruments of what I am calling an inner liberation, given to us precisely so that we can be ready to receive the gift of contemplative prayer that God wants to give. In this way, John of the Cross offers us a critical tool for the deepening of the Christian life, yet his teaching in this area is little discussed in commentaries on his thought, at least not in English. To understand his thinking on these virtues, it is necessary to see how these three virtues function within the context of the broader work of liberation that must first occur within the Christian and that must continue into a still deeper purification” (Love Awakened by Love, Introduction, pg. 5). Note: The point is that we need to prepare the soil (of the soul) with the help of the three theological virtues and make it a fertile ground to receive the prayer of contemplation that is ultimately a gift from God. Definitively professed members are called to live their life of prayer beyond initial stages within the context of active and passive purification of the intellect (by faith), the memory (by hope), and the will (by charity). According to the OCDS Constitutions, Secular Carmelites are called to live the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. A few quotations are worth citing here:   Natural moral virtues are “acquired,” which is to say that we ourselves develop these good habits, with the help of grace, by our choices and actions over time. The theological virtues of faith, hope, and love are infused virtues that direct us beyond this merely human life. They are described as “infused” because they are given by God and not “acquired” by our own effort. More particularly they are “theological” virtues because they are directed immediately to God and enable us to cooperate with God’s action, drawing us into the divine life. Through the gift of the three theological virtues, we are given the necessary means to embrace this divine friendship and participate in it in this life. For John of the Cross, the same theological virtues that aim to unite us with God do so precisely by purifying us at the deepest level. (see Love Awakened by Love, ch. 3). The Rule of St. Albert is the original expression of the spirituality of Carmel. One of the principles of the Rule is: Arming ourselves with the practice of virtues, as we live an intense life of faith, hope, and charity (see [[05-03-constitutions#^ocds-c-6|OCDS Constitutions Art. 6.f]], emphasis added). One of the fundamental elements of the vocation of the OCDS is: “to give particular importance to prayer which, nourished by listening to the Word of God and by the liturgy, is conducive to relating with God as a friend, not just in prayer but in daily living. To be committed to this life of prayer demands being nourished by faith, hope and, above all, charity in order to live in the presence and the mystery of the living God” (Const., 9.c, emphasis added). “In the Secular Order a special place is given to the liturgy, understood as God’s Word celebrated in active hope, after having received it by faith and the commitment to live it in effective love” (Const., 23, emphasis added). “… Secular Carmelites are called to strive to make prayer penetrate their whole existence, in order to walk in the presence of the living God, through the constant exercise of faith, hope and love...” (Const., 17, emphasis added). Every aspect of life of the lay faithful enters into the plan of God, who desires that these very areas be the “places in time” where the love of Christ is revealed and realized for both the glory of the Father and service to others. Every activity, every situation, every responsibility are occasions ordained by Providence for a “continuous exercise of faith, hope and charity” (see Christifideles Laici, #59, emphasis added).  “Saint John of the Cross… inspires the Secular Carmelite to be vigilant in the practice of faith, hope and charity.” ([[05-03-constitutions#^ocds-c-8|Const. 8]], emphasis added). Because these virtues of faith, hope and love have the function of withdrawing the soul from all that is less than God, they consequently have the mission of uniting the soul with God (see DN.2.21:11-12). # Links - [[fo2-ascent-3]] - [[fo2-the-dark-night-intro]] - [[fo2-the-dark-night-1]] - [[fo2-the-dark-night-2]] - [[fo2-glorification]] - [[fo2-spiritual-canticle]] - [[fo2-living-flame]] - [[fo2-appendix]] --- ![[maps/bibliography#^biblio-ocds-on2|OCDS Ongoing Formation Volume II]]