Although I am not much for organized religion, I do believe in the power of prayer. This book gives guidance into finding hope and using prayer to get through when life feels unbearable.

Great book

A good resource for learning about the dark night of the soul and what God is doing in a persons soul while they feel in the dark. Green talks about going from knowing God to loving God in chapters 1-3, and then from loving God to truly loving God in chapters 4-6. He unpacks multiple parts of John of the Cross’ teaching throughout. I really loved his image of getting to the place where one is totally surrendered to God - like “floating” in the river of God, not trying to swim where you will, but open to wherever God wants to take you. Part of the book seemed like they were only applicable to monks, devoted to life in prayer, but the epilogue was so helpful for me in making it feel the topic feel personally relatable.

The best chapter is Chapter 6, the final chapter. Sometimes it feels like the last chapter should be the first chapter.

ⓒ1979. Excellent book on the place of dark night of the soul in Christian prayer. Cites the classic sources (Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, et al.) and interprets them in a way understandable to modern people. A hopeful and positive view of a very difficult experience.

This is one of the best books I have read on contemplative prayer. The author clearly writes from experience; his own and groups he has led. He combines and explains the meanings from some of the masters of contemplative prayer such as St. John of the Cross and the Cloud of Unknowing in a way I have not read elsewhere. Even if you have read the works of St. John of the Cross, The Cloud of Unknowing, St. Teresa, etc this book will place all those writings in perspective and understandable. So if you find St. John of the Cross a little hard to understand at times and also find the well you draw from for prayer runs dry at times you need to read this book. A real gem on prayer.

even though i am still reading this book, i really like it! it's basically teresa of avila and st. john of the cross for dummies. he talks about prayer in a way that makes sense of how i am praying these days. more to come as i keep reading...

ok, i've now finished the book. i would recommend it to anyone who finds himself or herself in a "dark night of the soul," the wilderness, dryness, any imagery that is stark, barren, bad. i appreciated that he articulated things i felt and made me feel less crazy. he also really likes images, so if you are an image appreciative person, you'll like him. clouds, gardens, wells, night, floating - all images he alludes to.

at times, i thought it was a bit slow and dense to read, but i bet i will find myself going back to it and re-reading passages.

fantastic book, it goes deeper than I originally thought. it answers my very question about spiritual dryness on why it is necessary to experience it. before reading the heavy stuff on the subject of prayer and prayer life such as "dark night of the soul" by St. John of Cross, or "way to perfection" by St. Theress Avila, I recommend reading this book.

surely i'll read this book again in the future.

Fantastic book on prayer and the ways God uses darkness and dryness to awaken our souls to him. If your well is dry pick up and read and discover the dryness is where God does his best work.?

Nice view of the prayer life. It is always strange to read the catholic "prayer guru's". Very often it just seems like warmed over buddhism (statments about destroying the will abound). Other times it seemed very tender and sweet. The common thread that I see in all of this type of literature is the belief that prayer is the one necessary step to the process of Christian maturity. This seems silly and one sided to me. There are so many important parts to becoming a mature Christian such as the Bible, fellowship (this one really burns the community fearing contemplatives), faith, obedience. They seem consumed by this idea of an experience that is wholly other, unworldly and strange, but it always seems to lead back to the simple and quiet thing they always knew. Imagine a marriage book that suggested that the best way to grow in your marriage was to sit silently together for extended periods of time, talking, walking, meeting with friends, and learning together are to be discouraged in favor of staring blankly into eachother's faces. Rediculous! God wants a relationship with us! He wants us to speak to Him and hear His words, share His love with others and grow closer to us each day. Why the need for this exclusive "few really get here" club of people who need to feel more specially selected?
Those criticisms being recognized Green comes to a great conclusion that most Catholics are not capable of coming to because of their dogma - God has done everything in Jesus Christ. It is not for us to DO something, but to rest in His great love and provision. He writes beautifully and tenderly. I don't doubt his heart for one moment, however he is so steeped in anti-Biblical teachings (i.e. continually returnig to the need for purgatory!) that I wouldn't reccomend the book to anyone who wasn't already well informed about the subject and it's common (often univeralist) pitfalls.

A stunningly good, pastorally sensitive description of the Christian experience of God's absence: what it's for, how to exist helpfully within it, how to cede control of one's relationship with God from oneself to God. Clearly the author has a tremendous amount of credibility from his own relationship with God and his many years as spiritual director to worshippers in crisis. The authority of his words is hard-earned, persuasive, and comforting.

From the beginning I was captivated. I mean, it's hard not to be when you're being immersed in the writings of St. Ignatius, St. John of the Cross, and St. Teresa of Avila. Fr. Green did a great job bringing it all together and breaking down their somewhat intimidating writings into something manageable.

However, I am a bit wary to suggest this book to someone who does not have a solid understanding of basic Catholic theology, especially when it comes to the idea of "emptying oneself". I found the writing of the Cloud of Unknowning to walk that very fine line. This is the reason why it won't get 5 stars from me. But if I ignore that second half of chapter 5, it would get 5 stars!