The Dark Night of the Soul

Out of the Depths have I called unto Thee

St. John of the Cross

In John’s time the idea of God was on firm if somewhat shaky ground. He wrote Ascent of Mount Carmel and Dark Night of the Soul in 1578-9, after his escape from a 9-month imprisonment in a Toledo monastery. The Spanish Colonial Era was in full swing, and the Church was in the midst of its own Counter-Reformation. The Pope was smuggl…