Reviews for The collected works of Saint John of the Cross

The average rating for The collected works of Saint John of the Cross based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-08-30 00:00:00 Harold Phipps This is the master of Christian Spirituality and Spiritual direction. There are too many nuggets of wisdom to list. Some folks might get lost in his poetic depth. Don't let it didscrourage you because it's the kind of lost you can rest in and know that more is happening in that space than you'll ever be able to describe.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-07-04 00:00:00 Paul Cooper February 4, 2012: Restarted The Ascent Of Mount Carmel today. I haven't been reading this as quickly as I would like. A trip, school starting and a very busy time at work is causing me to pick this up, put it down and leave it for long stretches. Fortunately, this is the type of book I can do this with. Just ran across this in Book 2, Chapter 15.5... 'When the spiritual person cannot meditate, let him learn to be still in God, fixing his loving attention upon Him, in the calm of his understanding, although he may think himself to be doing nothing. For thus, little by little and very quickly, Divine calm and peace will be infused into his soul, together with a wondrous and sublime knowledge of God, enfolded in Divine love. And let him not meddle with forms, meditations and imaginings, or with any kind of reasoning, lest his soul be disturbed, and brought out of its contentment and peace, which can only result in its experiencing distaste and repugnance. And if, as we have said, such a person has scruples that he is doing nothing, let him note that he is doing no small thing by pacifying the soul and bringing it into calm and peace, unaccompanied by any act or desire, for it is this that Our Lord asks of us, through David, saying: Vacate, et videte quoniam ego sum Deus. (Psalm 16:2) As though he had said: Learn to be empty of all things (that is to say, inwardly and outwardly) and you will see that I am God.' Have also been cross referencing with this translation: The Complete Works Of St. John Of The Cross, Doctor Of The Church: Spiritual Canticle, Poems I've had this book on my shelves for years and know I started Ascent of Mount Carmel sometime in the past as the first twenty pages or so are heavily highlighted. However, I never progressed past that point. Now I'm listening to the Hovel Audio edition of the book as well as reading the written text. This is allowing for a more in depth experience of the work. Although I do not know when I attempted my earlier read, I note a high degree of consistency with which I would still highlight the same key sentences/texts I marked at much earlier date. Either that indicates a lack of spiritual progress over the ensuing years or a consistent understanding of the text; I pray the former is the case.