An apostolate of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites community of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Dayton, Ohio.
Carmelite Conversations Podcast
Aug. 8, 2019

The Lord Thy God is a Consuming Fire: St. Teresa Margaret Redi of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Dark Night of the Spirit

After the great grace of “Deus Caritas Est/God is Love,” the Discalced Carmelite St. Teresa Margaret Redi of the Sacred Heart of Jesus enters a stage of marked passivity in which God is purifying her soul.  This stage is referred to as the Dark Night of ...

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After the great grace of “Deus Caritas Est/God is Love,” the Discalced Carmelite St. Teresa Margaret Redi of the Sacred Heart of Jesus enters a stage of marked passivity in which God is purifying her soul.  This stage is referred to as the Dark Night of the Spirit and falls in the 6thMansion of the Interior Castle of St. Teresa of Avila.  How does this purification through the dark rays of contemplation occur?  Why is it so painful?  St. John of the Cross uses the analogy of the log of wood and the fire to describe the process of purification of this more interior, darker night.  He also portrays the journey in this Dark Night of Spirit as going up a Secret Mystical Ladder of Love made up of 10 steps.  What are those steps? How do they differ from each other?  How is a soul in this darkest of nights described?  What kind of language does St. Teresa Margaret use to describe her interior sufferings?  What can we learn from all of this?

 

The Carmelite Conversations Podcast is an apostolate of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites community of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Dayton, Ohio. Discalced Carmelite Seculars are practicing members of the Catholic Church who, under the protection of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and inspired by St. Teresa of Jesus and St. John of the Cross, make the commitment to the Discalced Carmelite Order to seek the face of God for the sake of the church and the world. For more information about Secular Carmelites, visit our website.