Dear Master: Letters on Spiritual Direction Inspired by Saint John of the Cross

Spiritual Life, Summer 2000 by Jordan, Regis

Dear Master: Letters on Spiritual Direction Inspired by Saint John of the Cross. By Susan Muto. Liguori, MO: Liguori/Triumph. 1999. Pp. 118. Paper. $14.95.

Whether you're a beginner in search of a spiritual life or are at a more advanced stage of contemplation, this work furnishes you with a wealth of clear advice from one of the Church's finest spiritual masters-Saint John of the Cross. Dear Master is a companion text to, and commentary on, Saint John's celebrated poem The Living Flame of Love. This commentary is told through an imaginative series of letters between Saint John of the Cross and Dona Ana de Penalosa, the spiritual directee for whom he originally wrote The Living Flame of Love-perhaps his most personal and passionate work. Dona Ana's letters contain questions of spiritual direction no different from ours of today: "Who am I most deeply?", "What is God asking of me?", "Have I the courage to answer His call?" In his replies, Saint John provides general truths to guide you in your journey toward spiritual enlightenment-such as coping with issues of abandonment, remedies for scruples, what it takes to free the soul for union with God, how to handle inordinate attachments, and dealing with distractions. Saint John has been a source of inspiration to faith seekers, both religious and lay, for over 400 years. Profound and timeless, the works penned by Saint John contain clear directives, as fresh today as when he originally wrote them.