Born in Spain, John became a Carmelite monk in 1564. He studied philosophy and theology in one of Europe’s leading universities and was ordained in 1567. That same year his leadership and spirituality was recognised and John was put in charge of the order. During this time he was named "John of the Cross" as a testimony to his suffering and commitment. He spent the remainder of his life in service to Catholic Reform through his leadership and writings. Eventually arrested by those opposing reform, John wrote his most famous work The Dark Night of the Soul in confinement. 

The concept of the "dark night" is now an integral part of understanding the spiritual journey providing a framework in which we might better articulate the movement of God thought the life of a believer from as Paul might term it the "milk" of the new believer and the "meat" of maturity.

"At a certain point in the spiritual journey God will draw a person from the beginning stage to a more advanced stage. At this stage the person will begin to engage in religious exercises and grow deeper in the spiritual life. Such souls are likely to experience what is called ‘the dark night of the soul’... when those persons lose all pleasure that they once experienced in their devotional life. This happens because God wants to purify them and move them on to greater heights"

John’s contemplation strikes at the heart of many pastoral conversations. The question "Why don’t I feel like I used to about God? It feels like he is not there anymore" The contention here is that this experience of the dark night is a deliberate act on the behalf of God in order to develop our spiritual maturity.

This development of spiritual maturity is through the practice of religious exercises. These are practices such as prayer, which deepen the relationship between the believer and God.

In the early spiritual life John says it is as if God is nurturing the soul by the Spirit "like a loving mother, God cares for and comforts the infant soul by feeding it spiritual milk."  During this tender time it is noted that the believer will "begin praying with great urgency and perseverance"

When journeying through the dark night of the soul the life of prayer is also transformed into something more mature. While the prayer life is defined by urgency and perseverance, God purifies because "the devil will often inflame their fervour so that their pride will grow even greater"

The antidote to this spiritual pride is to work in humility, to focus on just how great God is and on how little we can in actual fact do for him. This is born in prayer, developed in prayer and shows its fruit in prayer.

By not avoiding the dark times, the dry times John teaches that we will see God’s will being done in it, growing us to be more Christlike.