The Dark Night of the Soul

Prayer has many levels...St. John of the Cross, says it best, "I went forth without being observed, my house being now at rest"

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[hevora86]

Please pray for me. I have been at war for a long time. My soul resides in a dark place....my last crack of light dimming....please pray for me

[stevesilvia]

hevora86, I will keep you in my prayers.

[Annie9361296]

The Dark Night of the Soul,is how I feel my husband passed away it will be four months on 29.we were married 48yrs.with  Jesus by my side I'll make.

[stevesilvia]

Annie9361296, 48 years together, what a great gift! I will be remember you in my prayers. What was your secret for staying married for so long?

[ignatiusofantioch2]

The DArk Night of the Soul is perceived by mystics and others to be a blessing in disguise, whereby the individual extends from a state of contemplative prayer to an inability to pray. It is this purgatory, a purgation of the soul, that brings purity and union with God. Such blessings cannot be perceived while the soul suffers this "night." Thus, the Dark Night of the Soul is experienced as a severe test of one's faith that leads to deeper understanding and greater love.

[smilecolorsan]

@ignatiusofantioch2 Thank you Wikipedia and the internet. For me, finding out that others have/are experiencing the same thing, is comforting. This issue is something so sensitive and sacred that it would seem that people would choose not to speak openly about it. However, I thank those and St. John of the Cross for sharing this. Also, Wikipedia should replace the word "purgatory" with "hell". The "Dark Night of the Soul" is a hell that believers go through.

[chrstw71]

Going through it for a second time in my life. First it was a relationship, now its a job. This time around I feel a little bit stronger.

[ignatiusofantioch2]

@6MemoryOfForever9

Source for the arguments, passages, and figures from Scripture to prove that Faith is a dark night for the soul ----

St. John of the Cross, Book 2, Ch. 3, Ascent of Mount Carmel, pp. 157-159.

[ignatiusofantioch2]

@6MemoryOfForever9

6. Our deduction is that since faith is a dark night, it illuminates the soul that is in darkness. We verify, then, David’s assertion on this matter: “Night will be my illumination in the midst of my delights” (Ps. 139:11). This amounts to saying: The night of faith will be my guide in the delights of my pure contemplation and union with God. By this passage David clearly informs us of the darkness demanded on this road if a soul is to receive light.

[ignatiusofantioch2]

@6MemoryOfForever9

and this he does that they may have knowledge and enjoyment of him. And the night, which is the faith, present in the Church Militant where it is still night, manifests knowledge to the Church and, consequently, to every soul. This knowledge is night to the souls because they do not possess the clear beatific wisdom, and because faith blinds them as to their own natural light.

[ignatiusofantioch2]

@6MemoryOfForever9 continue from #5

A person in darkness does not receive adequate enlightenment except by another darkness, according to David’s teaching: “The day brims over and breathes speech to the day, and the night manifests knowledge to the night” (Ps. 19:3). Expressed more clearly, this means: The day, which is God (in bliss where it is day), communicates and pronounces the Word, his Son, to the angels and blessed souls, who are now day;

[ignatiusofantioch2]

@6MemoryOfForever9

5. The dark cloud in Ex. 14:20 illustrates how faith, a dark and obscure cloud to souls ( also a night in that it blinds and deprives them of their natural light), illumines and pours light into the darkness by means of its own darkness. This is fitting so that the disciple may be like the master.

[ignatiusofantioch2]

@ignatiusofantioch2 continue from #4

Faith was foreshadowed in that cloud that separated the children of Israel, just before their entry into the Red Sea, from the Egyptians (Ex. 14:19-20). Scripture says of the cloud: “The cloud was dark and illuminated the night”(Ex. 14:20).

[ignatiusofantioch2]

@6MemoryOfForever9

Faith, manifestly, is a dark night for souls, but in this way it gives them light. The more darkness it brings on them, the more light it sheds. For by blinding, it illuminates them according to those words of Isaiah that if you do not believe you will not understand; that is, you will not have light (Is. 7:9).

[ignatiusofantioch2]

@6MemoryOfForever9 continue from #4

Faith nullifies the light of the intellect; and if this light is not darkened, the knowledge of faith is lost. Isaiah said, “If you do not believe, you will not understand” (Is. 7:9).