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"H e soar s on th e wings of Divine love

"It is perha ps not an exa ggerat ion to say tha t the verse an d pr ose works combined of St . John of the Cr oss form at once the most gr an diose an d the most melodious spiritua l can ticle to wh ich an y one ma n ha s ever given ut teran ce.

Th e most sublime of all the Span ish mystics, he soar s aloft on the wings of
Divine love to heigh ts kn own to ha rdly an y of them. . . . Tr ue to the cha racter of his
thought , his style is alwa ys forceful an d energetic, even to a fau lt.

Wh en we study his treat ises\u2014pr incipa lly tha t gr eat composite work kn own as theAscent of Mount Carm el an d theDark Night\u2014we ha ve the impression of a ma stermind tha t ha s scaled the heigh ts of mystical science;an d from their sum mit looks down upon an d domina tes the plain below an d the pa ths leading upwa rd. . . . Nowh ere else, again, is he qu ite so appealingly hu ma n; for, though he is hu ma n

even in his loftiest an d sublimest pa ssages, his int ermingling of ph ilosoph y with

mystical theology; ma kes him seem pa rticular ly so. Th ese treat ises ar e a wonderful illustrat ion of the theological trut h tha t gr aced far from destroying na tur e, enn obles an d dign ifies it, an d of the agreement alwa ys foun d between the na tur al an d the

superna tur al\u2014between the pr inciples of soun d reason an d the sublimest
ma nifestat ions of Divine gr ace."
E. ALLISON PE ERS
2
DARK NIGH T
OF TH E SOUL
by
Sa int John of th e Cr oss
DOCTOR OF TH E CH URCH
TH IRD RE VISE D EDITION
Tr an slat ed an d edited, with an Int rodu ction,
by E. ALLISON PE ERS
from the critical edition of
P. SILVERIO DE SANTA TE RE SA, C.D.
IMAGE BOOKS
A Division of Doubleda y & Compan y, Inc.
Ga rden City, New York
3
IMAGE BOOKS EDITION 1959
by special ar ran gement with Th e Newm an Pr ess
Ima ge Books edition pu blished Febr ua ry 1959
1st pr int ing Ja nu ar y 1959
Electronic edition scan ned by Ha rry Plan tinga, 1994
Th is electronic text is in the pu blic doma in.
NIHIL OBSTAT: GE ORGIVS SMITH , S.T.D, PH .D.
CE NSOR DE PVTATVS
IMP RIMATVR: E. MORROGH BE RNARD
VICARIVS GE NE RALIS
WE STMONASTERII: DIE XXIV SE PTEMBRIS MCMLII
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