Have you ever considered yourself a mystic? What exactly is a mystic? What is mysticism? How does it apply to me? The mystic, St. John of the Cross, dives into what the “Dark Night of the Soul” entails. In general, many p...

St. John of the Cross speaks about the activity of the will as much if not more than any of the other faculties of the human person. The other two are intellect and memory. But it is the will that most significantly drives human behavior.

So often in the spiritual journey, we can run into roadblocks. We can mistakenly perceive that we have gotten off course, and we might immediately seek to turn back to find the right path again.

If you feel as though you have reached a plateau in your prayer life, or after many years of active prayer, you feel as though you are suddenly stuck, it may be the Lord is calling you to a deeper encounter with Him.

The most challenging phase of our spiritual journey is the transition from meditative prayer to contemplative prayer.  This transition literally requires us to begin to abandon the comfortable methods of prayer, and the use of our faculties, that we ...

One of the most difficult phases in the spiritual life of prayer, is the transition from meditation to contemplation. We explore the five critical means for identifying if a soul is being invited to move from discursive meditation to contemplation.

In this homily, Deacon Mark Danis asked himself what can souls do to prepare themselves in the Active Night to enter into the Passive Night of the Spirit, which St. John of the Cross discusses in his book, “Ascent to Mount Carmel".

In the life of prayer, there are always transitions.  We cannot remain static in our pursuit of God.  In this particular program, Mark and Frances identify the seven vices that often hold us back from progressing into deeper, more interior stages.

This program focuses first on the practice of asceticism, the healthy denial of our desires so that we can create space for God to fill us with the only desire that matters – Himself.

In pure faith we proceed with the greatest confidence that we will not lose our way. At the same time, we need to be wary of even perceived divine communications.

St. John of the Cross did not write for beginners in prayer.  His works are for those who have been practicing prayer for some time and have begun to make progress on the spiritual journey.

How does the teaching of St. John of the Cross help us to be “light” in the “dark” that surrounds us in our day?  This presentation by Deacon Baldwin was given to the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites in Dayton for their Day of Recollection.

When a Carmelite hears the word, “Nada,” they automatically think of the great Discalced Carmelite Doctor of Love, St. John of the Cross.  What does that word mean?  Why is this word so deeply associated with St. John of the Cross?

St. John of the Cross is known as one of the greatest Spanish Poets.  Thankfully, he was asked to expound upon his poems which resulted in the classics we may be familiar with…such as “The Spiritual Canticle,” “The Dark Night,” and “The Living Flame of L...

This program deals with the last and most difficult of St John of the Cross’ four stages of the spiritual journey, the Passive Night of Sense. Here the Lord takes us through the later stages of interior prayer. This is where God takes us through the very...

This program provides an introduction St John of the Cross’ teaching on the four nights that he uses to describe the spiritual journey. This program introduces the Active Night of Spirit. Here the soul must take responsibility to begin to detach itself ...

This program provides an introduction to St John of the Cross’ teaching on the second of the four nights, the Passive Night of Sense. In this night the Lord begins to finish the work of detaching us from our over dependence on material comforts, supports...

This program provides an introduction to the teaching of St John of the Cross on the first of the four nights that John uses to describe the progress of the interior life. The first stage in this process is the Active Night of Sense. Here the soul must t...

This program provides a brief biographical sketch of the life of St Joh of the Cross. It covers the experiences of his early life which help to shape, direct and inform his future teaching on mystical theology and the interior life.