John of the Cross described two dark nights: the night of the senses, in which the soul loses its delight in devotional consolations, and the night of the spirit, a deeper purification in which it feels abandoned by God. Both, he taught, are God’s loving work, infused contemplation experienced as darkness by a soul not yet ready for its light.
Dark night of the soul
John of the Cross’s name for the painful purification through which God leads the soul to union.
Also: dark night