St. John of the Cross on Discerning the Dark Night
*Originally written by St. John of the Cross in his book Dark Night of the Soul. Translated into modern English by Modern Saints.
Periods of spiritual dryness in our lives could often stem not only from the night and purification of the sensual desires, but also simply from sins, imperfections, weakness, lukewarmness, or physical ailments.
Identifying the root cause of this dryness is crucial for navigating it faithfully. Here are three signs to help discern its source:
1. Lack of Pleasure in Both Spiritual and Earthly Things
The first sign is whether, when a soul experiences no pleasure or consolation in the things of God, it similarly lacks it in anything created.
When God leads the soul into this dark night to quench and purify its sensual desires, He denies it attraction or sweetness in everything. This suggests that the dryness may not be caused by recent sins or imperfections. If it were, the soul would naturally want to indulge in things other than those of God.
However, when there is a lack of enjoyment in both heavenly and earthly things, it could also indicate an illness or mental condition hindering the soul's ability to find pleasure. So, we turn to the second sign for further clarification.
2. Persistent Desire for God Amid Anxious Concern
The second sign indicating that a person may be undergoing purification is a persistent focus on God, accompanied by anxious care and concern, thinking that they aren’t serving God but are backsliding, instead. In this case, it’s clear that this dryness doesn't stem from weakness and lukewarmness, because the nature of lukewarmness is a lack of care or concern for the things of God.
There is a substantial difference between dryness and apathy. Purifying dryness is marked by thoughtful introspection and sorrow over feeling distant from God. Although depression or other mental conditions may exacerbate these feelings (as they often do), they still produce a purifying effect on the soul’s desire, redirecting it solely toward God.
When the cause is simply depression, the physical body is miserable and there is no desire to be with God. In contrast, depression leads to misery without any desire for God's presence.
While the dark night weakens the sensual aspect of the soul, the spirit remains ready and strong.
The cause of this dryness is that God transfers the good things and strength from the senses to the spirit. As the senses are incapable of utilizing these spiritual gifts, they remain barren, lacking the capacity for purely spiritual experiences.
So, when it is the spirit that tastes the gift, the flesh is starved of flavor and becomes weak and incapable of action. But the spirit remains nourished and attentive, striving not to falter in its devotion to God.
And if the spirit is not immediately aware of any spiritual delight but only feels dry, it's because it is unfamiliar with this exchange. The spiritual palate has become accustomed to sensual pleasures. As it hasn’t yet been prepared or purified for subtle spiritual gifts, it can only perceive dryness and lack of sweetness until it becomes ready through the purification of the dark night.
3. Difficulty Engaging in Meditation or Reflection
The third sign of this purification of the senses is the inability of the soul to use its mind and imagination for meditation or reflection as before. No matter how hard it tries, the soul cannot engage in the same way it previously could.
God no longer communicates with the soul through the sense as before, when He connected thoughts together to form ideas. Instead, He communicates directly through the spirit.
In this stage, God stops the flow of thought and communicates Himself through a simple act of contemplation, inaccessible to both the external and internal senses of the lower part of the soul. And so, from this point forward, the imagination finds no support or foothold in any previous form of meditation.
It's important to note that this distress and dissatisfaction of the faculties are not a temporary attitude. In the case of a mood, which is short-lived, the soul can, with some effort, resume its previous activities once the mood changes, and the faculties regain their usual support. But when the soul undergoes true purification of desire, this is not the case. As the soul progresses into this phase, its inability to engage with the faculties only intensifies.
Embracing the Spiritual Journey
It’s true that, in the beginning, this process may not always be continuous for some people (perhaps due to their weakness, making it inappropriate to immediately wean them from these things). However, for progress to occur, this inability to reflect must grow within them more and more until the senses stop working altogether.
But those who do not embark on this path of contemplation experience only intermittent nights of dryness in their senses. They may face darkness and meditative difficulties at times, while at other times, they may not. God places them in these brief periods of night to test and humble them, reforming their desires to prevent the nurturing of a sinful gluttony in spiritual things.
It's important to recognize that God does not guide every soul toward the contemplative path. He alone knows why not even half of those embarking on the spiritual journey are led to contemplation. This is why God never entirely weans these people from the milk of meditations and reflections, as we have said, instead allowing only brief and occasional periods of detachment.
