Sublime

Take These Words to Prayer I abandon myself entirely to you; enlighten me, lead me, uphold me, take possession of me. —Abandonment to Divine Providence

When I say “darkness,” I mean the absence of knowing. Whatever you don’t know and whatever you’ve forgotten are “dark” to you, because you don’t see them with your spiritual eyes. For the same reason, by “cloud” I don’t mean a cloud in the sky, but a cloud of unknowing between you and God.

Save me, O God, by your name,

This is the root meaning of the Spanish word oscura, translated as “dark,” as in noche oscura, “dark night.” As in the dark of a real night, Teresa could not see clearly.

The spiritual life for Teresa and John has nothing to do with actually getting closer to God. It is instead a journey of consciousness. Union with God is neither acquired nor received; it is realized, and in that sense it is something that can be yearned for, sought after, and—with God’s grace—found.

ST. LYDWINE OF SCHIEDAM (d. 1433), a victim soul who endured numerous afflictions that kept her perpetually bedridden, was once visited by the prior of the monastery of St. Elizabeth, which is situated near Brielle on the Island of Doorne. The Saint gave him a description so detailed of the cells, the chapel, the chapter house, the refectory and th