The Spiritual Canticle

This reprinting memorializes the translation of E. Allison Peers which was hailed at the time by the London Times as “the most faithful that has appeared in any European language.”

St. John of the Cross, the greatest of all mystical theologians, put his entire soul into the writing of the Spiritual Canticle, which has always exercised a profound influence over those who have “fallen in love with God.” Using the simple metaphor of Spouse and Bride, the sacred writer sketches a series of dialogues between God and the soul, made brilliant with rich images from nature.

So beautiful were the images of the Spiritual Canticle and so captivating was the music of its rhythm, that many who first heard it begged St. John to write a commentary explaining the hidden meaning of the subtle lines. That commentary, with its profound reflections on the relation of the soul to God, has become one of the richest sources of meditation in the treasury of Catholic literature. Those meditations, together with the poetry which inspired them, form the Spiritual Canticle.

"This book is a gift of God to man... one of the loveliest poems that the human heart has ever conceived, or the human mind expressed. No man has known more of love than this Carmelite friar.” E. Allison Peers, translator.