A wonderful book on prayer weaving together the Carmelite and Jesuit traditions with insights from the author's own experiences. A good reference book to keep on hand.

An accessible, pastoral description of one of the movements of the contemplative/purgative classical Christian journey: that of the transition from the dark night of the senses into the dark night of the spirit. For those whose prayer is leading into dryness or seeming emptiness, this is compassionate but clear diagnostic guidance.

Opening to God is good, but this is his stellar work, deftly synthesising the writings of the great masters of prayer, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross who can be quite dense to read unaided.

This is a contemporary spiritual classic for a reason: Fr. Green had decades-long experience as a spiritual director, as well as directee, and he was a serious practitioner of prayer as well as highly self-aware and honest.

This book is a great help to those who have moved past the "honeymoon" stage of the life of prayer and are seeking to understand experiences of dryness, when God no longer seems to be present. His image of "floating" - allowing God to control one's prayer, even when it seems that "nothing is happening" - is wonderful, and very challenging!

My only quibble - which I hesitate to mention as I am nowhere near Fr. Green's league - is that he seems to be very set on only one method of prayer, whereas it seems possible to me that God can work differently in different persons.

Some religious experience is needed to see where he is coming from. Nevertheless the ideas are very clear.

A very good book on prayer that uses the analogy of floating.

A good book on spiritual dryness with some really insightful moments (especially those drawn from Teresa of Avila). Green is an easygoing author (and individual--I've had the pleasure of meeting him), and that makes his prose readable and not too dry. However, I was troubled by his belief that, in the end, spiritual dryness is actually the order of the day for the Christian life. That felt a little too much like throwing in the towel on the complexity of the soul. 3.5 stars.

Lo valioso de este libro es porque es una síntesis y explicación de lo que otros SANTOS han escrito de la desolación. Lo que el mismo autor aporta, es también valioso. Me gustaría que hubiera un quiz para saber en donde te ubicas.

En cuanto a la estructura está 2/3. Y sí es disfrutable leerlo si te identificas con el problema:)

I found this an encouraging read in that Green makes it very clear the life discussed in this book takes a lifetime and more to achieve for even the most devoted followers. That translates to me that I'm doing ok for my stage. So stop fretting.
The material presented requires more attention than I gave it on the first pass and it also points to some work with St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and at least 2 other authors that could be helpful. He does explain the portions he used from those sources clearly, I am happy to say.

¡Madres lo BUENO que está este libro! Todos a leerlo ASAP (si quieres crecer en tu vida de oración). En serio, MADRES la aventura que es la vida interior. No es solo para seminaristas como yo, es para todos. Demasiado insight como director espiritual. Tiene demasiados ejemplos y habla mucho sobre Sta. Teresa de Ávila y San Juan de la Cruz. #TUVIAproved

A friend gifted me this book after I explained how challenging the Lenten season seems to be for me. It took me a while to read as I started and stopped several times: the reality of my experience felt too painful to confront in print. I’m glad I didn’t stop, though, because now the hardships of my interior prayer life have context and meaning, and above all, they have purpose. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to deepen their prayer life.

Seems good. Will help in the spiritual life.