When it comes to the many choices we face along our journeyof faith, there is one that stands at the centre of all. For St John of the Cross, this is deeply connected with an experience that he describes as "night", and has come to be known as the "dark night of the soul".

For John, the night is not a negative image, but a positive one that shapes our spiritual journey, and leads to spiritual transformation. In one of his best-known poems, "La Noche Oscura" ("The Dark Night"), he begins by affirming that the journey that leads to an intimate encounter with Christ the Beloved (El Amado) begins and takes place in the night.

On a dark night,
on fire with love's deepest yearnings,
oh, blessed chance,
unnoticed I left my home,
my house being now all stilled.

At the end of the poem, the night, which is described as "more gentle than the dawn", becomes the backdrop for the transforming encounter with the Beloved. This encounter changes all things:

Oh, night that guided me,
oh, night more gentle
than the dawn,
oh, night that united
Beloved and loved one,
loved one transformed
in the Beloved!

The night, therefore, marks the beginning of the journey; it is the place where God is sought and found, and the locus where we can experience intimacy with Christ as Beloved. The night, for John, has a transformational power and a redemptive power.

On one level, the night describes a universal human experience shared by all people, when, at different times in our lives, we experience pain, loss, difficulties, and challenges. We might argue that these are the "nights" that choose us - nights over which we have no control.

The key thing, then, is how we respond to these nights, whether with hopelessness and defeat, or with the eyes of faith, putting our trust in the God who can be found in the night.

Classic mystical tradition saw the earthly journey of the human soulto union with God as taking three stages. The first was the purgative path (via purgativa), in which the soul had to purge itself from all the baggage that hindered union with God.

The second was known as the illuminative way (via illuminativa), in which the soul experienced glimpses of God's presence, and a new light, or understanding.

The third stage was the unitive path (via unitiva), in which full union with God was achieved, and the soul was transformed into the likeness of God.

So, for John, the night becomes the backdrop of the mystic jour-ney that involves inner purging,spiritual enlightenment, and final union with God. It also becomes a symbol both of our deliberatechoice to walk on the road less travelled, and of what God does in us and through us through that process.
 

This is the second of four edited extracts from  Transformed by the Beloved: A guide to spiritual formation with St John of the Cross by Daniel Muñoz (BRF, £6.99 (CT Bookshop £6.29); 978-1-84101-584-2).