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The Three Ways of the Spiritual Life and Prayer – The Fiery Nights

11th December 2021

2:45pm-4:25pm via Zoom

“Faith is a dark night for man, but in this very way it gives him light.”.

St John of the Cross

This presentation we will be looking at St John of the Cross’ approach to the traditional concept of the three ways of the spiritual life – the purgative; the illuminative & the unitive, taking as a guiding image John’s use of the log in the fire. This will lead into an exploration of what John means by the dark night of the senses and of the spirit, looking at all the connotations for John of the term “dark”. Exploring the relationship between John’s poem The Dark Night and the Easter hymn The Exsultet we will consider the centrality of the Paschal Mystery and the implications of baptism for any understanding of the dark night experience.

Schedule

2:45pm – Zoom opens
3:00pm – 3:05pm Welcome, Introduction and Opening Prayer
3:05pm – 3:40pm Session One
3:40pm – 3:50pm Break
3:50pm – 4:25pm Session Two
4:25pm – Concluding prayers

We hope to see you there!