Carmelite Studies VI: John of the Cross: Conferences and Essays by Members of the Institute of Carmelite Studies and Others

About the book: In 1965, with a shared interest in Carmelite scholarship, a few friars of the Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites joined together to found the Institute of Carmelite Studies (ICS). Its first steps were modest enough, but aspirations were high. Among other activities, the group met occasionally to encourage each other in their work and share the fruits of their research; some of the results made their way into the pages of the province's quarterly, Spiritual Life.

Since 1991 marked both the twenty-fifth anniversary of ICS and the worldwide celebration of the fourth centenary of the death of St John of the Cross, the members of the Institute wanted to honour the occasion with a tribute to the Mystical Doctor with whom our fortunes are so closely tied. 

During the centenary year, with the organisational help of Father Kevin Culligan, OCD, various members of the ICS offered free public conferences on the life and teachings of St John of the Cross, through the local communities of the Washington Province.

These talks met with an enthusiastic response, and have been gathered here to make them available to a wider audience. Other contributions arrived later, and were added to round out this volume. This accounts for the variation in tone from article to article; wherever possible, we have retained the original oral style in which the talks were delivered, while adding appropriate notes for sources.

The essays by Michael Dodd, Daniel Chowning, Kevin Culligan, Denis Read, Regis Jordan, Emmanuel Sullivan and Steven Payne were part of the original lecture series. Finally, we added articles from other authors whose essays, some originally intended for Spiritual Life, seemed especially suited to this volume.

Carmelite Studies VI: John of the Cross: Conferences and Essays by Members of the Institute of Carmelite Studies and Others (1992) is edited by Steven Payne, OCD.