Reflection 16: Dark Night of the Soul (Part 2/2)
Christ's body carried to the Tomb by Hans Burgkmair the Elder, ca. 1520
Blessed Holy Saturday, dear Pilgrims,
Today, everything falls into silence. The crowds are gone. The cross stands bare. Jesus, the one who was believed to be the Messiah, the long-awaited King, now lies in a tomb.
All the hope, the miracles, the teachings, the promises ended in death. This is a day of emptiness. A day of waiting. A day without answers.
Holy Saturday is the space between despair and resurrection. It is the in-between place where nothing seems to move, and God seems quiet. It is not yet Easter. And it is no longer Good Friday. It is the suspended breath of grief. The stillness after the storm.
This also mirrors our human experience in so many ways. When we are longing for something we deeply desire, but we don’t know if it will come. Waiting for healing. Hoping for a child. Searching for a job. Longing to meet a life partner. Praying for clarity. Desiring breakthrough. There are many moments in life that feel like Holy Saturday, when the old has died, but the new has not yet been born.
The dark night of the soul often feels just like this: a season of silence, where nothing seems to be happening outwardly, and yet, something is taking root deep within. Jesus teaches us through his own journey that this in-between space is not the end of the story. There is glory coming. After the silence, there will be rejoicing. After the emptiness, there will be new life. After the stillness, there will be resurrection. But we must trust. We must be patient. We must allow the silence to do its work.
Today, we will explore more deeply the dark night of the soul, drawing from the wisdom of those who have walked this path before us.
With blessings,
Swaady
The "dark night of the soul" is a profound spiritual and psychological experience of deep inner emptiness, disorientation, or suffering that often arises on the path of spiritual growth. The term comes from the 16th-century Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross, who wrote a poem and commentary describing this spiritual passage (see below).
At its core, the dark night is not simply depression or despair, but a divinely orchestrated process of purification. It often happens when the soul, having tasted God, is invited to go deeper beyond attachments, beyond spiritual consolations, beyond egoic frameworks.
Here are some key characteristics of the dark night:
Loss of spiritual "feeling": Prayers may feel dry, God may seem absent, and the spiritual practices that once brought joy now feel empty.
Stripping away of identity: Old roles, beliefs, and attachments fall away. One feels lost or “in the wilderness.”
Invitation to surrender: It's a passage of letting go, not because one wants to, but because there is no other choice. It's a death of the false self.
Transformation of desire: Through the darkness, one’s longing is refined. It's not about seeking God for comfort or reward, but seeking God for God’s sake.
St. John distinguishes between two phases:
The dark night of the senses (more external attachments)
The dark night of the spirit (deeper purification of the soul's inner workings)
The dark night is a sign of divine intimacy. A soul doesn’t enter the night unless it is being prepared for union with God in a deeper way.
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St. John of the Cross offers profound insight into the Dark Night of the Soul, especially in his two major works: The Dark Night and The Ascent of Mount Carmel. He describes it as a necessary and sacred passage by which the soul is purified in order to be united more deeply with God.
What Does John of the Cross Say?
The Purpose of the Night
The dark night is a divine process by which God purifies the soul of all attachments—sensual, emotional, mental, and spiritual. It is not inflicted out of wrath, but arises from love. It is the way by which the soul is emptied of self so it can be filled with divine presence.“The soul is purged and prepared for the union of love with God, just as the wood is prepared for transformation into fire.”
Two Kinds of Nights
John identifies two primary “nights”:The Dark Night of the Senses: A period when all sensory and emotional consolations are withdrawn. The soul begins to lose satisfaction in prayer, rituals, or spiritual “feelings.” It’s a detachment from the “outer” life of the soul.
The Dark Night of the Spirit: A much deeper and more painful purification. It touches the inner life of the soul—thoughts, desires, will, and even the sense of God’s presence. It feels like abandonment but is in fact God’s hidden work of transformation.
How to Discern a True Dark Night
St. John offers a few signs to help discern whether someone is going through a true dark night or merely a time of dryness or desolation due to other causes:
No delight in the things of God or the things of the world. The soul feels no joy in prayer, but also no attraction to worldly distractions. It’s not laziness or sin, but a hollowing-out.
A growing desire for God, even amidst the dryness. The soul longs for God even though it cannot feel Him. This is a key sign—it is not apathy, but a deep thirst in absence.
Impossibility of returning to old consolations. Former spiritual practices no longer “work” the way they once did—not out of rebellion but because the soul has outgrown them.
“God now removes the soul’s ability to feed itself with these former pleasures so it may grow hungry for the Infinite.”
The Role of Faith, Hope, and Love
During the night, God strengthens faith (in darkness), hope (in desolation), and love (in absence). The soul learns to love without reward, to trust without sight, and to hope without certainty.“God leads the soul into the dark that it may learn to walk by love, not by light.”
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