The Dark Night of the Soul And the Living Flame of Love

In 1564, St. John of the Cross, a Spanish mystic, was arrested and banished to a remote Andalusian monastery for his involvement in leading the Carmelite order to reform. During his captivity, he had frequent visions of God and composed many mystical poems. Two of the greatest are "The Dark Night of the Soul", which explores the pain of his felt absence of God, and "The Living Flame", a paean to the joy and peace experienced by the soul after reunion with God.