St. John of the Cross (24 November): Art of Contemplation

About this sermon

May the holy names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph be blessed now and forever. This video presents a powerful homily on St. John of the Cross, the great Spanish mystic, Carmelite reformer, and Doctor of the Church. Drawing from his early life, mystical experiences, sufferings, reforming mission, and timeless spiritual writings, this reflection guides viewers into a deeper understanding of the interior life, contemplation, and union with God. Saint John of the Cross, together with St. Teresa of Ávila, renewed the Carmelite Order through a return to prayer, silence, poverty, and contemplative union. His masterpieces—Dark Night of the Soul, Ascent of Mount Carmel, Spiritual Canticle, and Living Flame of Love—continue to illuminate souls seeking holiness. This sermon reminds us of the three stages of the spiritual life: Purgation – rooting out vice and detachment from the world Illumination – growth in virtue and deeper prayer Union – contemplative union with Christ, the mystical marriage of the soul We are invited to contemplate Christ crucified, guided always by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Mystics, who leads souls to divine union and eternal glory. May this message inspire deeper prayer, sacrifice, and a longing for holiness modeled after one of the greatest mystics of the Church. 00:00 – Introduction & Invocation 00:25 – Feast of St. John of the Cross 00:50 – Early Life and Marian Miracle 01:28 – Entrance into the Carmelite Order 02:26 – Ordination & Decision Not to Join Carthusians 02:48 – Meeting St. Teresa of Ávila 03:17 – Reform of Carmelite Order 03:25 – Taking the Name “John of the Cross” 03:30 – Opposition & Imprisonment 04:00 – Mystical Poetry Composed in Captivity 04:11 – Escape & Continued Reform 04:27 – Major Spiritual Writings 04:46 – Final Years & Sufferings 05:54 – His Joyful Character 06:21 – Death, Canonization & Legacy 06:48 – St. John Paul II on St. John of the Cross 07:06 – Lessons for the Interior Life 07:52 – The Three Stages of Spiritual Life 08:03 – Contemplation & Virtue 08:24 – The Way of Union 08:50 – True Contemplation of Christ Crucified 09:56 – St. John’s Petition to God 10:14 – Mary, Queen of Contemplatives 10:25 – Final Exhortation & Blessing For more please visit https://www.themarianfranciscans.org/ Please sign up at this link https://lifecrusade.org/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 Support Catholic Businesses here - https://sensusfidelium.com/catholic-businesses/ Sensus Fidelium Press - https://sensusfideliumpress.com/ Sensus Fidelium Apps - https://sensusfidelium.tv/ Support Sensus Fidelium - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴 🙏🏻PLEASE HELP OUR CHANNEL GROW 🙏🏻 ▶️ 1. Become a Channel Patron: https://www.patreon.com/SensusFidelium ▶️ 2. Visit the website https://www.sensusfidelium.com for Gueranger, Saint of the Day, Apologetics, Meditation by the Saints, Scripture Study and more. ▶️ 3. Subscribe to Other Video Platforms 🔴 SensusFidelium.TV - https://sensusfidelium.tv/@SensusFidelium 🔴 BitChute --- https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium/ 🔴 Rumble --- https://rumble.com/c/c-298311 🔴 My Catholic Tube - https://mycatholictube.com/videos/sensus-fidelium-channel/ 🔴 LBRY.tv --- https://lbry.tv/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 ODYSEE - https://odysee.com/@SensusFidelium:c 🔴 UGETube - https://videos.utahgunexchange.com/@Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 BrandNewTube - https://brandnewtube.com/@SensusFidelium 🔴 GabTV - https://tv.gab.com/channel/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 GloriaTV - https://gloria.tv/Sensus%20Fidelium 🔴 Brighteon - https://www.brighteon.com/channels/sensusfidelium ▶️ 4. Paypal, Bitcoin, Anedot, Stripe, Square & PO Box donations - https://sensusfidelium.com/donate-support/ ▶️ 5. YouTube: Click Subscribe, then Click "Notification Bell" = 🔔 Please "Like" our videos so that Youtube shares it to others by clicking the "Like" thumbs-up under the video = 👍🏻 ▶️ 6. Please share this video 📲, and help others find Christ inside the Catholic Church! Please share this video on Facebook and Twitter using the share button. ▶️ 7. Follow on Social Media: 🔴 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SensusFidelium/ 🔴 Twitter: https://https://twitter.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 Parler: https://parler.com/profile/Sensusfidelium/posts 🔴 SP3RN: https://www.sp3rn.com/community/pages/14-sensus-fidelium 🔴 GAB: https://gab.com/Sensus_Fidelium 🔴 Bastyon: https://bastyon.com/sensusfidelium 🔴 GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/sensus_fidelium 🔴 INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/sensusfidelium/ 🔴 Telegram: https//t.me/RealSensusFidelium 🔴 Truth Social - @SensusFidelium ▶️ 8. Follow on iTunes: 🔴 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sensus-fidelium-catholic-podcast/id1477010758 #StJohnoftheCross #CatholicHomily #ChristianMysticism #DarkNightOfTheSoul #CarmeliteSpirituality #CatholicSaints #TraditionalCatholic #StTeresaOfAvila #Contemplation #UnionWithGod #BlessedVirginMary #MysticalTheology #D

Topics

• Jesus Christ