# Appendix - OCDS Ongoing Formation Volume II Summary explanation  St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church, is often referred to as the “Mystical Doctor” due to his profound writings on mystical theology. He is renowned for his deep understanding and explanation of the spiritual journey towards union with God.  The growth in prayer and the living witness to the Discalced Carmelite charism is a journey or path in the right direction. However, John does not lay out methods of prayer or offer a devotional treatise on prayer. Rather, his teachings involve how to behave as one embarks on a lifelong journey of love and transformation.  The process of purification and our behavioral changes in each stage of our spiritual journey constitute a form of prayer from meditation to contemplation and on to union. The entire spiritual journey is purifying, comprising God’s communication and the human person’s effort to respond through prayer.  Following the tradition of Discalced Carmelite spirituality, walking in silence and solitude, without imposing techniques and methods, is uniquely characteristic of John’s teaching. What John means by solitude is singleness of heart.  One of John’s central teachings is about the nature of one’s union with God. He describes both the substantial union (natural union) and the union of likeness (active participation). This “union of likeness” does not exist except where there is a likeness of love by active participation. The whole process of transformation requires our willing participation in the hidden action of the Holy Spirit.  According to John, progression in prayer is the increase in knowledge and love from lower to higher and from external to more interior. This increase in knowledge does not come from reading many books or meditating on abstract ideas; rather by imitation of Jesus Christ who is the knowledge and wisdom of God.  Grace increases one’s capacity to see the beauty that was always present. This increase of sight we call faith (or contemplation), which is the conscious awareness of the soul’s pre-reflective and pre-conscious knowledge of God. For John, there is an interface and interaction between knowing and loving. They are inseparable.  The kind of knowledge that is born of faith (contemplation) knows the difference between the shallow empirical knowing and contemplative knowing – a deeper kind of truth. As a result, one’s life is always directed by the wisdom of God, and it is a matter of seeing ordinary, everyday life as a place of God’s presence and action.  [Infused] Contemplation is the highest knowledge of God.  John’s teaching is about this great journey from slavery to liberty to divine union here and now in this earthly life. Union with God implies a new life, one that involves living the life of God while remaining different from God in its nature. The human person is transformed in God, and not vice versa.  John’s theological anthropology relating to the intellect, memory, and will is a key concept in understanding the transformation and union with God. According to John, the faculties of the soul have an infinite capacity for “knowing” and receiving the loving knowledge of God. Appendix – Summary p.127  When John speaks in terms of purifying human faculties, he is really concerned with the total person being purified, transformed, and united with Wisdom.  As John points out, the purpose of the continuous purgation from active to passive night is to prepare the soul for the union with Wisdom. For if a soul is not tempted, tried, and proved through temptations and trials, its senses will not be strengthened in preparation for Wisdom.  An important aspect of the purification process is that God acts in a well-ordered manner, always gentle, respecting our normal human growth. A human person undergoes transformation through a gradual process, taking small, consistent steps often requiring strength and support through setbacks along the way. As John observes: “In order that God lift the soul from the extreme of its low state to the other extreme of the high state of divine union, he must obviously … do so with order, gently, and according to the mode of the soul” (Ascent 2.17:3).  John goes on to make an important statement about the concept of “knowing” in the process of transformation: “Since the order followed in the process of knowing involves the forms and images of created things, and since knowledge is acquired through the senses, God, to achieve his work gently and to lift the soul to supreme knowledge, must begin by touching the low state and extreme of the senses. And from there he must gradually bring the soul after its own manner to the other end, spiritual wisdom...” (Ascent 2.17:3).  Accordingly, meditation is an important part of the process of transformation.  John explains that it is loving wisdom that accomplishes this transformation by imparting knowledge and love to human faculties. The wisdom of God illumines the human intellect with supernatural light, informs the will with love of God, and the memory is changed into eternal apprehension (a deep spiritual understanding) of glory.  John tells us how those who are transformed in God actually become God through participation. Thus, seeking God is a process of re-discovering our spiritual heritage and a realization that we are made in the image of God.  The whole person is now living their daily life with a redemptive sense of passion and freedom.  “Consequently this person, now of pure heart, finds in all things a joyful, pleasant, chaste, pure, spiritual, glad, and loving knowledge of God” (Ascent 3.26:6).  This loving knowledge is perceptible to souls who are free from particular ideas and concepts impressed on the senses. As we noted, progression in prayer consists of an increasing knowledge and love of God.  A transformed person discovers that everything in the world exists in God, and all is now known through God and not through creatures.  This person also sees and marvels at the harmonious unity in creation. They are aware (conscious) of themselves and their place in this immense universe.  In the final stages, John of the Cross sees the person being taken into the very life of the Holy Trinity through the activity of the Holy Spirit. “The Blessed Trinity inhabits the soul by divinely illumining its intellect with the wisdom of the Son, delighting its will in the Holy Spirit, and absorbing it powerfully and mightily in the unfathomed embrace of the Appendix – Summary p.128 Father’s sweetness” (LF.1:15). Here the human person is transformed into the very Wisdom of God. As can be seen, the process of transformation develops gradually, over a lifetime, within the context of one’s daily life and circumstances. Our Holy Father John points out, radical change in our attitudes and behavior is crucial to the process of transformation and union. John of the Cross has a message to those who claim his description of transformative union is exaggerated or that such a union in this life is impossible. His response is that God “... diffuses himself abundantly as the sun does its rays, without being a respecter of persons, wherever there is room — always showing himself gladly along the highways and byways — does not hesitate or consider it of little import to find his delights with the children of the earth at a common table in the world” (LF.1:15). Accordingly, no one is excluded. One’s willing participation is the key to this process of transformation and union. John sings passionately about how the transformed person becomes a living flame of love, giving life to the whole world. It seems the entire universe is a sea of love in which one is engulfed and feels the love within oneself. It is vast and beyond comprehension. You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before all, that they may see your good deeds and give glory to God. Mt. 5:14 p.129 ## Task Force Completion and Appreciation “In Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). The project that was entrusted to us has come to completion. We are thankful for the overwhelming support and positive feedback from our OCDS communities in all three provinces. We thank all former members of the Task Force for their hard work and dedication and for their prayers. We thank the superiors of the Order for their unwavering support and guidance to successfully meet the objectives of the formation program. We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Institute of Carmelites Studies for their gracious permission to use extracts from their copyrighted publications. We extend our deepest appreciation to all communities for their participation and support. May the joy of Carmel fill your hearts with love and gladness. Fraternally in Carmel, The members of the US Formation Task Force California-Arizona Province of St. Joseph Oklahoma - Semi-Province of St. Thérèse Washington Province of the Immaculate Heart of Mary p.130 ## Copyright Notice OCDS Provinces, Communities, and Groups are granted permission to print/copy the Formation Program solely for OCDS non-commercial use. Reproduction and/or distribution of the formation program for commercial purposes with the intent to make a profit is strictly prohibited. This includes selling booklets at fundraising events. Without limiting the use of the formation materials and to avoid any doubt as to its intent, you must not adapt, edit, change, transform, publish, or re-publish the Ongoing Formation Program on this provincial website or any of the formation materials in your possession. When citing materials contained in this ongoing formation handbook, a proper reference should include the title of the handbook and the revision number. We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Institute of Carmelite Studies for their gracious permission to use extracts from their publications. --- **Source:** Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites, *Ongoing Formation Volume II: Human Transformation and Union According to the Writings of St. John of the Cross* (US National Formation Program, 2025).