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Union with God: According to St. John of the Cross
Christian perfection consists in the twofold way of charity: service of neighbor and our direct quest for God's love. Many of us discover ways to love our neighbor, but few achieve intimacy with God. Why? Because we don't know how to prepare ourselves properly to reach this exalted goal.
In these pages, Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen lays out for us a time-tested path toward achieving complete intimacy with God, the path first mapped out centuries ago by the Church's acclaimed master of the contemplative life, St. John of the Cross (1542-1591).
St. John showed that God hungers for union with each of us but also requires arduous efforts on our part, the many details of which Father Gabriel explains in these enlightening pages.
Do you perceive holiness as an unattainable goal for you?
Or is fear of the fatigue of such an effort holding you back?
Absorb this book, and allow gentle St. John to take you by the hand and lead you as he has led so many others to true intimacy with our Lord.
180 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 13, 2019
64 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 30, 2024
September 30, 2024: You can never get to the bottom of St. John of the Cross and before I retackle his actual works, I wanted to reread some of those who knew him best. I began with this book by the renown Carmelite, Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, who devoted his life to presenting St. John of the Cross as a master of the contemplative life — that is, of the life that seeks intimate union with God — in response to a need of Christians of his specific generation. Fortunately for us, this book, is timeless and transcends that time and the need the author saw then.
Fr. Gabriel was devoted to the laity and knew they held the key to transforming the church, which is the importance of this book and so many others like it.
He wants to help us not be afraid of St. John of the Cross and his stark message of abnegation, aridity and darkness. As a modern first world culture, we don’t like words like that, but we live with them even so. Far from being a ‘doom and gloom’ saint, the Mystical Doctor assists us toward the Theological Virtues, the keys which open the door to Union with God.
A beautiful read. My second but not last read.
November 19, 20202: Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, better known for his Divine Intimacy, the classic daily book of meditations, which most Carmelites and many others use year in and year out, has also written this book on the spirituality of St. John of the Cross. Accessible, extremely helpful and insightful.
Highly recommended.
Fr. Gabriel was devoted to the laity and knew they held the key to transforming the church, which is the importance of this book and so many others like it.
He wants to help us not be afraid of St. John of the Cross and his stark message of abnegation, aridity and darkness. As a modern first world culture, we don’t like words like that, but we live with them even so. Far from being a ‘doom and gloom’ saint, the Mystical Doctor assists us toward the Theological Virtues, the keys which open the door to Union with God.
A beautiful read. My second but not last read.
November 19, 20202: Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, better known for his Divine Intimacy, the classic daily book of meditations, which most Carmelites and many others use year in and year out, has also written this book on the spirituality of St. John of the Cross. Accessible, extremely helpful and insightful.
Highly recommended.
February 9, 2022
If you want to study and understand St. John the Cross, this is a must-have book! I know I will be using it as a reference text for years to come. Fr. Gabriel has a great way of giving tight definitions that can be confusing in the writing of St. John of the Cross. Father Gabriel also offers in this book a great movement of different themes that you’ll see scattered all over the work of St. John of the Cross. I am thrilled that I read this book, and I cannot recommend it enough.
January 27, 2021
God is like a sun over souls, ready to communicate Himself to them. --St. John of the Cross
I read this book to better understand the thought and life of St. John of the Cross. After doing so, I am unsure as to whether I accomplished that goal. I am also unsure as to whether that is the fault of the author or the reader. As the reader, however, I will take the bulk of the blame for failing to understand what the author was presenting.
St. John of the Cross, the Carmelite monk (1542-1591) is by no means easy to understand. His mysticism and esoteric writing will confound anyone who dares to wade into his theological or spiritual writings. Fr. Gabriel attempts to help any would be reader by introducing them to the basics of his thought.
Fr. Gabriel chooses "Union with God" as his central theme because at his heart, St. John is attempting to show Christians how they can have union with God. The way is rigorous and filled with self-denial (abnegation) and the payoff comes with the sense of the 'Dark night of the soul'...a sense of abandonment by God. Fr. Gabriel is able to do a great job at explaining some of the deep concepts of the Spiritual Doctor by simplifying them into bite-sized bits.
Fr. Gabriel is able to help bridge the gap between the modern world and St. John's. In reading this, I cannot believe that St. John would be very popular today, as much of his teaching is anathema in today's Christian world. Yet, Fr. Gabriel also helps put St. John in his historical setting so that we can see the very different cultures at work between today's world and the past. We are very different people and not everything that would make sense to St. John would be understandable for us, and vice versa.
In choosing his theme of 'union with God', Fr. Gabriel also wants to show how the Christian can grow in their relationship with God. However, I believe it is here that the book fails to accomplish it's goal. Whereas I am loathe to read Christian 'self-help' books so popular in mainstream Evangelicalism today, I fear that this book becomes too obscure to be of any true help. I was often confused as to what this approach might look like in a real life setting.
I had difficulty following the author at times and this led to frustration with the book. Like I've said above, this may be entirely my fault. My inability to follow the author may be partly his writing, but it may also be the distractions that filled my head at the time. All the same, I would encourage anyone who chooses to read this book to make sure they have a quiet setting and minimal distractions to take them away from reading.
I recommend this book to pastors and spiritual directors and anyone who wants to discover more about St. John of the Cross.
Grade: B-
I read this book to better understand the thought and life of St. John of the Cross. After doing so, I am unsure as to whether I accomplished that goal. I am also unsure as to whether that is the fault of the author or the reader. As the reader, however, I will take the bulk of the blame for failing to understand what the author was presenting.
St. John of the Cross, the Carmelite monk (1542-1591) is by no means easy to understand. His mysticism and esoteric writing will confound anyone who dares to wade into his theological or spiritual writings. Fr. Gabriel attempts to help any would be reader by introducing them to the basics of his thought.
Fr. Gabriel chooses "Union with God" as his central theme because at his heart, St. John is attempting to show Christians how they can have union with God. The way is rigorous and filled with self-denial (abnegation) and the payoff comes with the sense of the 'Dark night of the soul'...a sense of abandonment by God. Fr. Gabriel is able to do a great job at explaining some of the deep concepts of the Spiritual Doctor by simplifying them into bite-sized bits.
Fr. Gabriel is able to help bridge the gap between the modern world and St. John's. In reading this, I cannot believe that St. John would be very popular today, as much of his teaching is anathema in today's Christian world. Yet, Fr. Gabriel also helps put St. John in his historical setting so that we can see the very different cultures at work between today's world and the past. We are very different people and not everything that would make sense to St. John would be understandable for us, and vice versa.
In choosing his theme of 'union with God', Fr. Gabriel also wants to show how the Christian can grow in their relationship with God. However, I believe it is here that the book fails to accomplish it's goal. Whereas I am loathe to read Christian 'self-help' books so popular in mainstream Evangelicalism today, I fear that this book becomes too obscure to be of any true help. I was often confused as to what this approach might look like in a real life setting.
I had difficulty following the author at times and this led to frustration with the book. Like I've said above, this may be entirely my fault. My inability to follow the author may be partly his writing, but it may also be the distractions that filled my head at the time. All the same, I would encourage anyone who chooses to read this book to make sure they have a quiet setting and minimal distractions to take them away from reading.
I recommend this book to pastors and spiritual directors and anyone who wants to discover more about St. John of the Cross.
Grade: B-
July 4, 2025
This book is good with a lot of great content but it is very hard to read and understand. The only reason I understood anything of what he was saying is b/c I read this book with my book study. But if you like a challenge this might be good for you.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews