REMAINDER TITLE:
Saint John of the Cross (1542–1591), an acknowledged master of spirituality, wrote the poem The Living Flame and its accompanying commentary not for his fellow Carmelites but for a layperson, a widow whom he had befriended. Short though it is, it contains a complete synthesis of his teaching, in which John reveals that the way of union with God is open to everyone. This is one of a series of modern interpretations of spiritual treatises, making the thoughts of great Christian teachers from past centuries accessible to contemporary readers.