The great Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross helped St. Teresa of Avila to reform the Carmelite order. Both in his writing and in his life, he demonstrated eloquently his love for God. His written thoughts on man’s relationship with God were literacy endeavors that place him on an intellectual and philosophical level with such great writers as St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.

In this work he addresses several subjects, among them pride, avarice, envy, and other human imperfections. His discussion of the “dark night of the spirit,” which considered afflictions and pain suffered by the soul, is followed by an extended explanation of divine love and the soul’s exultant union with God.