← [[about-the-syllabus-f2a|About the Syllabus]] | [[formation-II-a-handbook|Table of Contents]] | [[session-02-f2a|Disordered Desires and Inordinate Appetites Greatly Hinder One's Prayer Life]] → # Who John Is, Overview, and Terminology Part A. General Introduction: Biographical Sketch Required Reading: Collected Works of John of the Cross, pp. 9-37 – General Introduction, Biographical Chronology, the Writings, and Note on the Drawing of Christ on the Cross **Additional Reading:** John of the Cross — Man and Mystic, ICS Essential Points to discuss: • The early years: His birth; his early school years • Carmelite vocation — entering the Carmelite novitiate; studying at Salamanca University • Vocational crisis and meeting St. Teresa: “Fray John listened, he felt inspired, caught the enthusiasm, and beheld a new future opening before him” (Pg. 13). • Conflicts of jurisdiction and St. John’s imprisonment in a monastery in Toledo • A brief introduction to his writings (Pg. 33-34) • His drawing of Christ on the Cross (Pg. 37) • Final years • Death — Ubeda, Spain in 1591; his body was laid to rest in Segovia, Spain. • Honors bestowed by the Church: John was beatified by Clement X in 1675, canonized by Benedict XIII in 1726, and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pius XI in 1926. Part B. The Mount of Perfection: the path of Mount Carmel, the perfect spirit. Only the honor and glory of God dwells on this mount. (This session also covers the different terminologies used in the writings of St. John of the Cross.) Required Reading: Introduction to The Ascent of Mount Carmel, pg. 101-118, The Sketch of the Mount, the poem The Dark Night and the diagram of the mount Essential Points to Discuss: • The Sketch of the Mount serves as a summary of the doctrine contained in his treatise. John of the Cross gave many copies of his drawings to nuns and friars. Note: Go through the sketch of the Mount during the session. John’s doctrine is beautifully expressed in this sketch. • “It is a work that explains the path one must follow in order to reach perfection, or union with God… Yet the book amounts to far more than a collection of workable rules and techniques…; it is a work of spiritual theology” (pg. 102). • John tells his readers that he will explain the active night of purification of the senses in Book One of the Ascent of Mount Carmel (chapters 1-15) and the active night of the spirit (intellect, memory and will) in Books Two and Three of the Ascent. Side note: The Ascent of Mount Carmel is the most structured theological work of St. John of the Cross. The understanding of human behavior and its faculties (sense and spirit) as it 9 01.24 1-24-2024 OCDS Formation II, Year A relates to God in prayer is the main theme of Book One of the Ascent. It is important to spend a generous amount of time reading and reflecting on the different terminologies, images, metaphors, and symbols to understand the depth of his teachings that lead to one’s transformation in Christ. The following excerpt is taken from The Ascent of Mount Carmel: Reflections, Marc Foley, OCD, pages 2-16. The Dark Night: John uses the term “active night of the spirit” in Books Two and Three of the Ascent to The dark night is John’s primary metaphor for the periods of sensory and spiritual purification. It is John’s way of speaking of God’s transforming presence in our lives and our response to Him. The term “night” explained by him in Book One Chapter 2 of the Ascent has different meanings as the theme develops. In Book One, “night” symbolizes “the point of departure” because individuals are learning to lay down their possessive desires and attitudes in order to focus upon a higher purpose. “This denial and privation are like a night for all one’s senses” (see A.1.2:1). John uses the term “active night of the senses” to explain the purification process. Another reason is the darkness of the road travelled: “Now this road is faith (the means), and for the intellect faith is also like a dark night.” Night also “pertains to the point of arrival, namely God,” for God is also a dark night to the soul in this life (A.1.2:1). All who long for union with God must courageously enter this threefold darkness of the journey (A.1.4). In actuality, these three nights comprise only one night, the night of the senses, resembles early evening... The second part, faith, is completely dark, like midnight. The third part, representing God, is like the very early dawn just before the break of the day (see A.1.2:5). understand the purification process of the spiritual faculties (intellect, memory, and will). In Book Two of the Ascent (chapters 1-15) the “night” is the journey in faith, which is darkness or “night” to the natural understanding. It is the purification of one’s intellect by the practice of the virtue of faith. In Book Three of the Ascent (chapters 1-15), the “night” is the purification of the memory by the practice of the virtue of hope. It is “darkened” or purified of distinct forms, images and ideas which are not of God. In Book Three of the Ascent (chapters 16-45), the “night” is the purification of the will from all imperfection, feelings or emotion, by the virtue of charity. Senses: For John, the soul refers to the whole human person. Its two major divisions are sense and spirit. Sense includes the five bodily senses (touch, sight, smell, hearing, and taste) and the interior senses of the imagination, phantasy and sense memory. “All these components — the five bodily senses and the interior senses of the imagination, phantasy, and sense memory — are interrelated and work together. The five bodily senses receive impressions from the external world, the sense memory stores them, and the imagination and phantasy construct them” (The Ascent of Mount Carmel Reflections, pg. 4). Spirit: “The spirit, or the ‘higher part’ of the soul, consists primarily of the faculties of the intellect, memory, and will. They are not objects, but rather our capacities to know, to desire, and to love” (pg. 5). 10 Passive and Active: Just as sense and spirit are two interrelated parts of the soul, so passivity and activity are two inseparable dimensions of our purification and transformation. The active dimension of purification is the soul’s response to God’s invitation and presence. Active purification alone is insufficient for attaining transforming union. In The Dark Night, Books One and Two, St. John describes how God purifies the soul passively and perfects the theological life. Detachment: “The equivalent of poverty of spirit, refers to a freedom from the appetites so the heart may be surrendered entirely to God…” (see Glossary of Terms, pg. 768.) 11 01.24 1-24-2024 OCDS Formation II, Year A PART ONE The Active Night of the Senses --- **Source:** Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, *Formation II Year A: The Ascent of Mount Carmel* (US National Formation Program, 2024).