"This second dark night–which can continue for months or years–constitutes an invitation to live by radical trust in the absence of spiritual comforts.

“In the active night of the spirit we clear our minds and spirits of false ideas and limited means of knowing God. John of the Cross insisted that the intellect must be purged of its tendency to fixate on facts about God rather than to know God himself intimately. Furthermore, during this time God breaks the stubborn self-will that blocks the flow of the Spirit.” (p. 89)

“The passive night of the spirit represents the most severe yet significant phase of the soul’s purification. Like the sun being obscured by a dark cloud, so the light of God is extinguished in this phase. The perceived absence of God leaves saints feeling woefully abandoned.” (p. 90)

Demarest, Bruce. Seasons of the Soul: Stages of Spiritual Development. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009.