When You Are in Darkness

Saints who entered the night—and what they found there

This dark night is an inflowing of God into the soul, which purges it of its habitual ignorances and imperfections... and which the contemplatives call infused contemplation.
John of the Cross · Dark Night of the Soul, Book II, Chapter 5
Even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
Psalm 139:12
In this dark night of spirit, God secretly teaches the soul and instructs it in the perfection of love without its doing anything or understanding how this happens.
John of the Cross · Dark Night of the Soul, Book II, Chapter 5

What if the darkness is not punishment or abandonment,
but a deeper form of teaching?

The soul must journey through this dark night of spirit in order to attain the divine union of love.

However deep the soul's darkness may be,
God's light is deeper still.
John of the Cross · Dark Night of the Soul, Book II
O guiding night!
O night more lovely than the dawn!
O night that has united
the Lover with His beloved,
transforming the beloved in her Lover.
John of the Cross · Dark Night of the Soul, poem stanza 5

Three centuries later, Thérèse of Lisieux—the "Little Flower"—entered the same night:

He permitted my soul to be invaded by the thickest darkness, and that the thought of heaven, up until then so sweet to me, be no longer anything but the cause of struggle and torment.
Thérèse of Lisieux · Story of a Soul, Manuscript C
When I sing of the happiness of heaven,
I feel no joy in this,
for I sing simply what I WANT TO BELIEVE.
Thérèse of Lisieux · Story of a Soul, Manuscript C
I will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord.
Isaiah 45:3

The darkness you do not understand
may be the threshold of a deeper union.

A Prayer for the Night

Lord, I am in darkness.
Not the darkness of sin, but a deeper night—
one I did not choose and do not understand.

If this is Your work in me,
teach me to endure it.
If this is the threshold of union,
help me not to flee.

Through the intercession of John,
who called this night more lovely than the dawn,
and Thérèse, who sang what she wanted to believe—
let me trust that You are here,
deeper than I can perceive.

O guiding night.

Amen.

Go deeper with

John of the Cross Thérèse of Lisieux