Sermons & Devotionals by St. John of the Cross

CHAPTER XIX Of the evils that may befall the soul when it sets its rejoicing upon temporal blessings. IF we had to describe the evils which encompass the soul when it sets the affections of its will upon temporal blessings, neither ink nor paper would suffice us and our time would be too short. For ... Read More

CHAPTER XL Which continues to direct the spirit to interior recollection with reference to what has been said. THE reason, then, why some spiritual persons never enter perfectly into the true joys of the spirit is that they never succeed in raising their desire for rejoicing above these things that ... Read More

CHAPTER XLI Of certain evils into which those persons fall who give themselves to pleasure in sensible objects and who frequent places of devotion in the way that has been described. MANY evils, both interior and exterior, come to the spiritual person when he desires to follow after sweetness of sen... Read More

CHAPTER XLII Of three different kinds of place for devotion and of how the will should conduct itself with regard to them. I CAN think of three kinds of place by means of which God is wont to move the will to devotion. The first consists in certain dispositions of the ground and situation, which, by... Read More

CHAPTER XLIII Which treats of other motives for prayer that many persons use -- namely, a great variety of ceremonies. THE useless joys and the imperfect attachment which many persons have to the things which we have described are perhaps to some extent excusable, since these persons act more or les... Read More

CHAPTER XLIV Of the manner wherein the rejoicing and strength of the will must be directed to God through these devotions. LET these persons, then, know that, the more reliance they place on these things and ceremonies, the less confidence they have in God, and that they will not obtain of God that ... Read More

CHAPTER XLV Which treats of the second kind of distinct good, wherein the will may rejoice vainly. THE second kind of distinct and delectable good wherein the will may rejoice vainly is that which provokes or persuades us to serve God and which we have called provocative. This class comprises preach... Read More

CHAPTER XV Which sets down the general method whereby the spiritual person must govern himself with respect to this sense. IN order to conclude this discussion on the memory, it will be well at this point to give the spiritual reader an account of the method which he must observe, and which is of un... Read More

CHAPTER XVI Which begins to treat of the dark night of the will. Makes a division between the affections of the will. WE should have accomplished nothing by the purgation of the understanding in order to ground it in the virtue of faith, and by the purgation of the memory in order to ground it in ho... Read More

CHAPTER XVII Which begins to treat of the first affections of the will. Describes the nature of joy and makes a distinction between the things in which the will can rejoice. THE first of the passions of the soul and affections of the will is joy, which, in so far as concerns that which we propose to... Read More

CHAPTER XVIII Which treats of joy with respect to temporal blessings. Describes how joy in them must be directed to God. THE first kind of blessing of which we have spoken is temporal. And by temporal blessings we here understand riches, rank, office and other things that men desire; and children, r... Read More

CHAPTER XX Of the benefits that come to the soul from its withdrawal of joy from temporal things. THE spiritual man, then, must look carefully to it that his heart and his rejoicing begin not to lay hold upon temporal things; he must fear lest from being little it should grow to be great, and should... Read More

CHAPTER XXI Which describes how it is vanity to set the rejoicing of the will upon the good things of nature, and how the soul must direct itself, by means of them, to God. BY natural blessings we here understand beauty, grace, comeliness, bodily constitution and all other bodily endowments; and lik... Read More

CHAPTER XXII Of the evils which come to the soul when it sets the rejoicing of its will upon the good things of nature. ALTHOUGH many of these evils and benefits that I am describing in treating of these kinds of joy are common to all, yet, because they follow directly from joy and detachment from j... Read More

CHAPTER XXIII Of the benefits which the soul receives from not setting its rejoicing upon the good things of nature. MANY are the benefits which come to the soul through the withdrawal of its heart from this rejoicing; for, besides preparing itself for the love of God and the other virtues, it makes... Read More

CHAPTER XXIV Which treats of the third kind of good thing whereon the will may set the affection of rejoicing, which kind pertains to sense. Indicates what these good things are and of how many kinds, and how the will has to be directed to God and purged of this rejoicing. WE have next to treat of r... Read More

CHAPTER XXIX Of the benefits which come to the soul through the withdrawal of its rejoicing from moral good. VERY great are the benefits which come to the soul when it desires not to set the vain rejoicing of its will on this kind of good. For, in the first place, it is freed from falling into many ... Read More

CHAPTER XXV Which treats of the evils that afflict the soul when it desires to set the rejoicing of its will upon the good things of sense. IN the first place, if the soul does not darken and quench the joy which may arise within it from the things of sense, and direct its rejoicing to God, all the ... Read More

CHAPTER XXVI Of the benefits that come to the soul from self-denial in rejoicing as to things of sense, which benefits are spiritual and temporal. MARVELLOUS are the benefits that the soul derives from self-denial in this rejoicing: some of these are spiritual and some temporal. 2. The first is that... Read More

CHAPTER XXVII Which begins to treat of the fourth kind of good -- namely, the moral. Describes wherein this consists, and in what manner joy of the will therein is lawful. THE fourth kind of good wherein the will may rejoice is moral. By this we here understand the virtues, and the habits of the vir... Read More