"In the dark night of the soul, bright flows the river of God."

--St. John of the Cross

Why does God allow us to fall into this empty void? Does He not love us? Will He not help us? How do we deal with feeling abandoned in hopeless darkness? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

In sixteenth-century Spain, a poor monk became a spiritual giant. His life was devoted to prayer, poverty, solitude, and silence in pursuit of the beauty and goodness of God. When his intimacy with Jesus led to imprisonment, John used the time to compose a spiritual masterpiece in which he takes...