#darknight — Public Fediverse posts

St. Edith Stein Novena 2025, Day 7: Oppression and dryness

SCRIPTURE READING
Psalm 131

O Lord, my heart is not proud
nor haughty my eyes.
I have not gone after things too great
nor marvels beyond me.

Truly I have set my soul
in silence and peace.
A weaned child on its mother’s breast,
even so is my soul.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
both now and forever.

MEDITATION
The Science of the Cross, Chapter 1

Oppression and dryness

It was mentioned earlier that the active entrance of the soul into the dark night is only possible for her because God’s grace anticipates her, draws her, and supports her along the entire way.

But for beginners this anticipatory and enabling grace does not as yet have the character of the dark night. Rather, God treats them the way a tender mother treats her tiny children—carrying them in her arms and feeding them with sweet milk: in all their spiritual exercises—in prayer, meditation, and mortifications—they receive abundant joy and consolation. This joy then motivates them to devote themselves to spiritual exercises. They are unaware of the imperfections that lie therein and how many faults they commit in their practice of virtue.

In order to be freed from all these defects we must be weaned from the milk of consolations and be fed with strengthening nourishment….

“After beginners have exercised themselves for a time in the way of virtue and have persevered in meditation and prayer and through the delight and satisfaction they experience in this have become detached from worldly things and have gained some spiritual strength in God, which helps them to restrain their appetites for creatures, and for God’s sake are able to suffer a little oppression and dryness without yearning to return to those better times when they experienced more pleasurable satisfaction and gratification… then… God darkens all this light and closes the door and the spring of sweet spiritual water they were tasting as often and as long as they desired…. Now he leaves them in such darkness that they do not know which way to turn in their discursive imaginings.”

PRAYER

Saint Edith Stein,
faith in the holy angels gives me confidence—
confidence to believe, in the midst of all suffering,
in the divine life-force we all share,
which flows through all creation
as the sap flows from the vine into its branches.

We do not stand alone
in this fierce struggle between life and death.
“When my enemies press in on me…” (Ps 56:2),
“…then God fights for me.” (Josh 23:10)

In this valley of tears,
I lift my eyes in trust to you,
you holy angels and saints:
your task is to pass on that Love
whose “beginning and end is the triune God.”
(Edith Stein, Complete Works)

We are held and drawn into this radiant stream
of light and love, of life and truth.
The more we are united with you
through surrender to the divine will,
the more your love becomes our love,
your light our light.

If we believe in this communion,
we already walk in the light.

Intercede for us,
that we may take part in the restoration of all creation.

Here mention your intentions

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

℣. Saint Edith Stein,
℟. Pray for us.

Stein, E 2002, The Science of the Cross, The Collected Works of Edith Stein, Book 6, translated from the German by Koeppel, J, ICS Publications, Washington D.C.

All scripture references are from The Jerusalem Bible Reader’s Edition, copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday & Company, Inc. as accessed from The Internet Archive website.

Don’t become discouraged and give up prayer, says St. John of the Cross. We offer varying novenas to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, as well as novenas to St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and St. Joseph.

Let us unite in prayer

#darkNight #drynessInPrayer #novena #prayer #StEdithStein

Marie du jour, 6 May: St. Edith Stein

Divine virginity has a characteristic aversion to sin as the contrary of divine holiness. However, this aversion to sin gives rise to an indomitable love for sinners.

Christ has come to tear sinners away from sin and to restore the divine image in defiled souls. He comes as the child of sin—his genealogy and the entire history of the Old Covenant show this—and he seeks the company of sinners so as to take all the sins of the world upon himself and carry them away to the infamous wood of the cross, which thereby precisely becomes the sign of his victory.

This is precisely why virginal souls do not repulse sinners. The strength of their supernatural purity knows no fear of being sullied. The love of Christ impels them to descend into the darkest night.

And no earthly maternal joy resembles the bliss of a soul permitted to enkindle the light of grace in the night of sins. The way to this is the cross. Beneath the cross, the Virgin of virgins becomes the Mother of Grace.

Saint Edith Stein

Exaltation of the Cross, 14 September 1941

Stein, E. 2014, The Hidden Life: hagiographic essays, meditations, spiritual texts, translated from the German by Stein, W, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: The Crucifixion with Saints and a Donor (detail), Joos van Cleve and a collaborator, oil on wood, ca. 1520. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
How does Mary’s strength beneath the cross shape my view of purity, suffering, and love?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#CrossOfChrist #darkNight #ExaltationOfTheHolyCross #purity #sinners #StEdithStein #VirginMary #virginity #vows

Blessed Chiquitunga: Misery Meets Mercy

“How could I not tremble, Jesus, before the immensity of Your mercy toward this miserable one, a thousand times unworthy, chosen by You!”

Blessed Maria Felicia of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, Chiquitunga

A cracked-open door.
Two hinges: humility and wonder.
Through this door, we catch a glimpse of Blessed Maria Felicia of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament — Chiquitunga — a young Carmelite whose soul was shaped by trust in the night and total surrender to Love.

🎙️ Listen to this final episode of Season 2: Blessed Chiquitunga: Misery Meets Mercy.

https://youtu.be/H4yH-rVUHI0

As we close this season of Carmelite Quotes Podcast, thank you for listening, praying, and walking with us. Stay tuned for Season 3 — coming soon!

#BlessedMariaFeliciaOfJesusInTheBlessedSacrament #Chiquitunga #darkNight #humility #mercy #misery #Podcast

Quote of the day, 28 April: Blessed Chiquitunga

During her postulancy at the Carmel of Asunción, Blessed Maria Felicia of the Blessed Sacrament (Chiquitunga) passed through a dark night that tested her vocation.

After a month of “heaven” in her new Carmelite life, during Lent of 1955, Sister Maria Felicia began to feel profound insecurity about her choice, made against the advice of almost everyone she knew. She thought: Wasn’t my decision to enter a cloistered monastery simply an act of self-will?—an opinion expressed strongly by the newly appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Asunción, Monsignor Ramón Bogarín.

From this insecurity came the fear that she had taken the wrong path; the fear produced deep spiritual dryness; and from all of this arose the obsessive temptation: I must leave the cloister… and if I don’t, it’s because I’m a coward.

The community confessor, the same one who had actively resisted her entrance into Carmel, pressured her to decide once and for all. Finally, on 9 August, Sister Maria Felicia made her decision—to leave. She recounts it herself:

Today, I was resolved to leave, but with the anguish of bearing the cross of my infidelity without any merit. The confessor flatly told me to say whether I was leaving or staying. I told him I would leave. A coldness of death came over me, an anguish so deep it even choked back my tears (Spiritual Diary, C, folio 15).

Before giving her final word, Sister Maria Felicia suggested they cast lots—and the confessor, eager to settle the matter once and for all, agreed. Accompanied by the Prioress at that supreme moment, they prayed before the Blessed Sacrament and placed two folded papers at the feet of a statue of Mary.

Sister Maria Felicia drew one. The confessor opened it. It read: I want to die in Carmel.

Immediately, she cried out, convinced and determined: Jesus, my Jesus! Yes, this is Your will.

At the same time, she experienced her weakness and poverty: You see my weaknesses, my cowardice, my fears, my miseries! Alone I can do nothing!

She entrusted everything to the Lord: Jesus, into Your hands I entrust my vocation!

She knew that only He could give her the strength needed to overcome herself, for at times: The weight of Your will is so heavy that I would rather die! I fear sacrifice, I fear the Cross. Help me, Blessed Virgin! Little Jesus of Prague, miracle worker of my vocation! (Spiritual Diary, C, folios 15–16).

Supported by this conviction, trust, and surrender, she renewed the offering she had made from her early youth:

Father! My Father, God of my life. My nothingness—so truly Yours—I offer it back to You today, not knowing how many times I will yet snatch it away again, desperately kicking and screaming to do my own will and not Yours.

In reality, she had never truly withdrawn her will from God. The anguish before the Cross is not a rebellion—just as it was not rebellion in Jesus at Gethsemane.

Still, she renewed her complete surrender:

Here I am, Lord! Your will! But aided by Your strength, Your love, and Your mercy, my God!

Thus, even in the midst of the “dark night,” without emerging from it, in faith, hope, and love, God’s will triumphed.

The Carmelite postulant had died to herself, united to the death of Christ.

Father Julio Félix Barco, o.c.d.

Enseñanzas desde el Carmelo (Lessons from Carmel)

Monte Carmelo 2018, Enseñanzas desde el Carmelo. De los escritos de María Felicia de Jesús Sacramentado-Chiquitunga, no. 1, vol. 126, Monte Carmelo, Burgos. Available at: https://bcd.digicarmel.com (Accessed: 26 April 2025). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International.

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Blessed Maria Felicia of the Blessed Sacrament—Chiquitunga—on the day of her clothing in the Carmelite habit, 14 August 1955. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (Used by permission).

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
Where in my life is Christ asking me to entrust everything to Him, even when I cannot see the way forward?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#anguish #BlessedMariaFeliciaOfJesusInTheBlessedSacrament #Chiquitunga #darkNight #discernment #lottery #mercy #postulant #willOfGod

Guten Mortag U glorious basterds of #NAFO 🦊💪🏽🤪 defenders of democracy on both sides of Atlantic 🌊 

It's now or never coalition of the very hesitant 😳🇪🇺to stand & deliver for Europe & #Ukraine 💪🏽🇺🇦

"Never, never, never give up." -Winston Churchill 🇬🇧

#F16 🦅 #Eurofighter #Rafale #Skyshield 🛡️ #DarkNight 🦇 #NATO-1

#Apocalypse also means #revelation. For many, the apocalypse is mother of invention giving rise to science of the modern day… #Endoftime also contains seeds of #rebirth: Good Friday -->Easter Sunday. #DarkNight --> #Breakthru & #rebirth, Via Negativa -->Vias Creativa & Transformativa. https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.org/2025/03/31/more-artists-on-evil-an-opera-on-the-anti-christ-playing-in-berlin/

#Apocalypse also means #revelation. For many, the apocalypse is mother of invention giving rise to science of the modern day… #Endoftime also contains seeds of #rebirth: Good Friday -->Easter Sunday. #DarkNight --> #Breakthru & #rebirth, Via Negativa -->Vias Creativa & Transformativa. https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.org/2025/03/31/more-artists-on-evil-an-opera-on-the-anti-christ-playing-in-berlin/

#Apocalypse also means #revelation. For many, the apocalypse is mother of invention giving rise to science of the modern day… #Endoftime also contains seeds of #rebirth: Good Friday -->Easter Sunday. #DarkNight --> #Breakthru & #rebirth, Via Negativa -->Vias Creativa & Transformativa. https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.org/2025/03/31/more-artists-on-evil-an-opera-on-the-anti-christ-playing-in-berlin/

#Apocalypse also means #revelation. For many, the apocalypse is mother of invention giving rise to science of the modern day… #Endoftime also contains seeds of #rebirth: Good Friday -->Easter Sunday. #DarkNight --> #Breakthru & #rebirth, Via Negativa -->Vias Creativa & Transformativa. https://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.org/2025/03/31/more-artists-on-evil-an-opera-on-the-anti-christ-playing-in-berlin/

It is a topic that is often misunderstood or overlooked, yet it holds immense significance for personal growth and spiritual development.

Read more 👉 http://jo.my/gomqyv

#ProfoundSpiritualCrisis #FeelCompletelyDisconnected #DarkNight #IncrediblyChallenging #DarkNightOfTheSoul #Transformation #healing #akashicrecords #soulcoach

I give thanks to Providence for granting me the opportunity to come and venerate the relics and recall the figure and teachings of St. John of the Cross, to whom I owe so much in my spiritual formation. I came to know him in my youth and was able to enter into an intimate dialogue with this master of the faith, with his language and thought, culminating in the development of my doctoral thesis on Faith in St. John of the Cross. Since then, I have found in him a friend and teacher, who has pointed to the light that shines in the darkness, guiding me always toward God, “with no other light or guide / than the one that burned in my heart. / This guided me / more surely than the light of noon” (The Dark Night, stanzas 3–4, trans. Kavanaugh and Rodriguez).

The Saint from Fontiveros is the great teacher of the paths leading to union with God. His writings remain relevant and, in a way, explain and complement the works of St. Teresa of Jesus. He shows the paths to knowledge through faith, for only such knowledge in faith disposes the mind to union with the living God.

How many times, with a conviction born from experience, he tells us that faith is the most fitting and appropriate means for union with God! It is enough to cite a well-known text from The Ascent of Mount Carmel, book II, chap. 9, sec. 1: “Faith alone … is the only proximate and proportionate means to union with God. … Just as God is infinite, faith proposes him to us as infinite. Just as there are three Persons in one God, it presents him to us in this way. … Only by means of faith, in divine light exceeding all understanding, does God manifest himself to the soul. The greater one’s faith the closer is one’s union with God” (The Ascent of Mount Carmel, book II, chap. 9, sec. 1, trans. Kavanaugh and Rodriguez).

With this insistence on the purity of faith, John of the Cross does not wish to deny that the knowledge of God is attained gradually from the knowledge of creatures, as taught in the Book of Wisdom and echoed by St. Paul in the Letter to the Romans (cf. Rom 1:18–21; cf. Spiritual Canticle, st. 4, sec. 1). The Mystical Doctor teaches that in faith, it is also necessary to detach oneself from creatures, both those perceived through the senses and those reached through understanding, in order to unite oneself cognitively with God Himself. This path that leads to union passes through the dark night of faith.

Saint John Paul II

Homily, 4 November 1982
Convent of the Discalced Carmelite Friars
Segovia, Spain

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: At five in the afternoon on October 31, 1982, Pope John Paul II arrived at Barajas Airport in Madrid, kissing the ground upon his arrival. When the crowd erupted in excitement, officials began placing carpets along his path, which he bypassed to continue his custom of kissing the ground. That same day, before departing Rome, he had canonized two French nuns and led the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, as he did every Sunday. This marked his 15th official trip, covering sixteen locations in nine days at an intense pace. Image credit: Marisa Flórez / prisamedia.com

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/11/03/jp2-4nov82homly/

#darkNight #detachment #DoctorOfTheChurch #faith #inspiration #StJohnOfTheCross #StJohnPaulII #theology #unionWithGod

夜深後的窗台

#写真 #街角スナップ #taiwan #tainan #windows #darknight #photography #streetphotography #mobilephotography #streetsnap

It is a lifelong journey that holds infinite possibilities for growth, healing, and spiritual awakening.

Read more 👉 http://jo.my/gomqyv

#ProfoundSpiritualCrisis #FeelCompletelyDisconnected #DarkNight #IncrediblyChallenging #DarkNightOfTheSoul #Transformation #healing #akashicrecords #soulcoach

The Dark Night of the Soul is a profound, spiritual crisis that most of us go through at some point in our lives

Read more 👉 http://jo.my/gomqyv

#ProfoundSpiritualCrisis #FeelCompletelyDisconnected #DarkNight #IncrediblyChallenging #DarkNightOfTheSoul #Transformation #healing #akashicrecords #soulcoach

We can offer three reasons for calling this journey toward union with God a night.

1. The first has to do with the point of departure, because individuals must deprive themselves of their appetites for worldly possessions. This denial and privation is like a night for all one’s senses.
2. The second reason refers to the means or the road along which a person travels to this union. Now this road is faith, and for the intellect faith is also like a dark night.
3. The third reason pertains to the point of arrival, namely God. And God is also a dark night to the soul in this life. These three nights pass through a soul, or better, the soul passes through them in order to reach union with God.

In actuality, these three nights comprise only one night, a night divided into three parts like natural night. The first part, the night of the senses, resembles early evening, that time of twilight when things begin to fade from sight. The second part, faith, is completely dark, like midnight. The third part, representing God, is like the very early dawn just before the break of day.

Saint John of the Cross

The Ascent of Mount Carmel, I, chap. 2, nos. 1, 5

John of the Cross, St. 1991, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross, Revised Edition, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K and Rodriguez, O with revisions and introductions by Kavanaugh, K, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Canadian photographer James Wheeler captured this lakeside photo of the Milky Way in 2013. Image credit: James Wheeler / Pexels (Stock photo)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/06/29/juan-asc1ch2/

#appetites #darkNight #darkness #faith #God #possessions #selfDenial #soul #StJohnOfTheCross #unionWithGod

The concept of a Dark Night of the Soul has come to represent a universal experience of spiritual transformation

Read the full article: Journeying Through the Dark Night of the Soul: Finding Light in the Depths of Despair
▸ http://jo.my/gomqyv

#ProfoundSpiritualCrisis #FeelCompletelyDisconnected #DarkNight #IncrediblyChallenging #DarkNightOfTheSoul #Transformation #healing #akashicrecords #soulcoach

Maintaining spiritual growth and resilience after experiencing a Dark Night of the Soul requires ongoing self-care, self-compassion, and self-reflection

Read more 👉 http://jo.my/gomqyv

#ProfoundSpiritualCrisis #FeelCompletelyDisconnected #DarkNight #IncrediblyChallenging #DarkNightOfTheSoul #Transformation #healing #akashicrecords #soulcoach

Seeking support from loved ones or professional therapists can provide a safe space to express our feelings and receive guidance on navigating through the darkness

Read more 👉 http://jo.my/gomqyv

#ProfoundSpiritualCrisis #FeelCompletelyDisconnected #DarkNight #IncrediblyChallenging #DarkNightOfTheSoul #Transformation #healing #akashicrecords #soulcoach

Mentorship, therapy and counseling can be immensly helpful as ongoing support and guidance on the spiritual journey

Read more 👉 http://jo.my/gomqyv

#ProfoundSpiritualCrisis #FeelCompletelyDisconnected #DarkNight #IncrediblyChallenging #DarkNightOfTheSoul #Transformation #healing #akashicrecords #soulcoach

Journeying Through the Dark Night of the Soul: Finding Light in the Depths of Despair
▸ http://jo.my/gomqyv

#ProfoundSpiritualCrisis #FeelCompletelyDisconnected #DarkNight #IncrediblyChallenging #DarkNightOfTheSoul #Transformation #healing #akashicrecords #soulcoach

Spirituality can provide solace and support during the Dark Night of the Soul - a framework for understanding and making a deeper sense of any experience

Read more 👉 http://jo.my/gomqyv

#ProfoundSpiritualCrisis #FeelCompletelyDisconnected #DarkNight #IncrediblyChallenging #DarkNightOfTheSoul #Transformation #healing #akashicrecords #soulcoach

Has anyone else noticed that the #Apple #SpokenContent #ScreenReader has become #unusable?

Since #iOS 15, #Siri has lost the ability to #synchronize the spoken content of a webpage with what the screen reader highlights, which is supposed to be the entire point of the #accessibility feature

Now the reader is grayed out

Maybe it’s my (much larger than average) font size, or because I use the #DarkNight #app, but now I have to highlight the specific text I want to be read & command it to read

Has anyone else noticed that the #Apple #SpokenContent #ScreenReader has become #unusable?

Since #iOS 15, #Siri has lost the ability to #synchronize the spoken content of a webpage with what the screen reader highlights, which is supposed to be the entire point of the #accessibility feature

Now the reader is grayed out

Maybe it’s my (much larger than average) font size, or because I use the #DarkNight #app, but now I have to highlight the specific text I want to be read & command it to read

Has anyone else noticed that the #Apple #SpokenContent #ScreenReader has become #unusable?

Since #iOS 15, #Siri has lost the ability to #synchronize the spoken content of a webpage with what the screen reader highlights, which is supposed to be the entire point of the #accessibility feature

Now the reader is grayed out

Maybe it’s my (much larger than average) font size, or because I use the #DarkNight #app, but now I have to highlight the specific text I want to be read & command it to read

Has anyone else noticed that the #Apple #SpokenContent #ScreenReader has become #unusable?

Since #iOS 15, #Siri has lost the ability to #synchronize the spoken content of a webpage with what the screen reader highlights, which is supposed to be the entire point of the #accessibility feature

Now the reader is grayed out

Maybe it’s my (much larger than average) font size, or because I use the #DarkNight #app, but now I have to highlight the specific text I want to be read & command it to read

8.48 p.m, and outside, the world grows dark, already.
And I suddenly realise this is it. No more this year will I be able to sit outside, and type, unhurriedly, until almost eleven. Instead I will have to be indoors, putting on the electric light, ever earlier, in order to see.
At such times, every year, I wonder about moving to Alaska, where they have thirty days of daylight - but I would not like the flip-side of that, when it is dark all day and night.
#Darkness #DarkNight #Electricity

Suite de l'affaire de mon sac volé à #Lille : des transactions ont bien été faites avant que je fasse opposition dans la soirée du Lundi 6 janvier, les transactions s'intitulent: MR BURGER, l'Ariel, SASU Dark'night. Les personnes ont sans doute utilisé du sans contact: Est-ce que quelqu'un sait à quoi ca peut correspondre dans lille et sa région? #MRBurger #lAriel #DarkNight . Aussi si une personnes me rend mes papiers une compensation financière sera donnée, aucune question posée.

St. Edith Stein’s letter of 3 January 1939 says, “Rosa is making attempts to come to Holland.” Edith's older sister, who accompanied the Saint on visits to convents after her conversion, was baptized in Cologne on Christmas Eve 1936. But a dark night awaited Rosa when she returned home to rejoin the extended Stein Family in Breslau.

Learn more about St. Edith's sister and her path to freedom
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2022/11/15/edith-rosabio/

#EdithStein #RosaStein #Catholic #Carmelites #SaintQuotes #saints #DarkNight